It's been a year since I washed up on the shore of Good Harbor in Ruyn without a memory to call my own and no possessions save the gray coat I still wear when the weather gets cold.
At first, I thought the only thing I needed to do was to find out who I was, why I was shipwrecked, and what I had left behind in my previous life.
How much a year can change one's mind!
I met my friend and mentor, Holve Bravestead and was taken on an adventure I'll not soon forget.
The continent of Ruyn may not be better off than when I found it one year ago, but I doubt it could get much worse. The lunatic Androlion Fellgate no longer controls the Southern Republic. He met his end at the hands of the man, if that's what he really was, Rayg.
The war to cleanse all races from the continent is over. What few elves and dwarves of Ruyn we could protect now seek to rebuild. Men commit to live in peace. The Dark Comet, which still hovers in the night sky, burns dimmer than it had just a moon ago. Demons that had leapt from the surface of the rock were beaten or returned to the infernal thing.
I did my part as well as I could, I suppose.
It was Holve who took me under his wing and it was with him that I stumbled upon the friends I now have and can claim as the closest thing to a family.
The most interesting of them being a girl named Blume Dearcrest.
When we met her, she had just witnessed the death of her brother and parents. The ruins of her city surrounded her.
Though most children might have succumbed to grief, she proved to be resilient beyond any of our expectations.
More curious still, was the fact that she was an accomplished Speaker, one who can control the elements through Rimstone and perform magic.
All this she did with an heirloom, a rather beaten up necklace that was her family's most prized possession.
After the war ended and her part, which turned out to be of more significance than my own, she found herself without her ability to speak to the elements as she had done so previously.
Holve believes that her necklace holds more mysteries than we yet know.
The demons, rimstone, and Blume's own necklace are linked in some way.
He hasn't shared all of this with her and I feel like he hasn't shared with me all that he knows.
The only clue we have is the mention of an ancient and magical plant on Irradan: The Everring Tree.
So now we sail to another continent in search of a clue to a mystery we don't rightly know yet.
Holve is determined to find out the meaning of these events.
We, who are now called "The Swords," follow him as our leader and guide.
I find myself glad to have friends who surround me and call me friend in return.
Perhaps someday I'll find out who I was before I was found bloody and near dead on the shores of Good Harbor.
But that adventure will be another time.
For now, we sail for Irradan.
Ealrin Belouve.