My name is Lethalia. I do not know how I came upon such a name and I have never known my true ancestral name, although this may be a blessing. There are only parts of my past that I remember, as the memories come in waves, more often than not, in the form of nightmares. I have chosen to write these memories as small notes upon awakening from each of my dreams and now put them together as one writing on this parchment, to remind myself of the blessings I have received through the hands of the gods of Temuair and also to hopefully stop this journey of dreams I have endured for some time.

I began my past life as an orphan babe with not even a simple fragment of information left from my kinship to unveil the mystery of my heritage. I was abandoned, cold and alone in the woods, with my eldest brother who was but a child himself. It had always been unknown to me if we had other siblings that we were separated from. We were found by a kind and gentle woman and raised as her own. She later married a brave man who also accepted us as his own and always affectionately attended to our needs. Almost as abruptly as I had been given a family to call my own, I was swept away from them at a fairly early age. My parents' names were etched in the back of my mind in all my dreams, perhaps to remind me of a burning sorrow, painfully revealed, knowing that I cannot save those who once loved me. My mother, who's name was Purity, a gentle and kind woman, so appropriately named, with the heart as beautiful as the softest first winter snow. My father Caedmon, a strong, brave and noble warrior, always venturing out to save the people of our humble town from the occasional beast that wandered in from the wood. I vaguely remember two other brothers that were later born, one a mere babe, but sadly I cannot remember their names.

Our town was a small quiet place for quite some time. As people heard of our town, they appeared from who knows where. Some came for peaceful reasons, to live in a quiet land rich in simplicity. The others, I cannot even begin to fathom the reasons, perhaps greed, perhaps to spread chaos to our naive and peaceful lives. I remember that slowly, as more people came, more hardships followed. There were numerous creatures, always more monstrous and vile than the last, that appeared more frequently as time went on. I learned the ways of bandaging and healing others, and more often than my mother would have liked, I ventured out with the hunting parties to care for their wounds. Studying all I could from those that I was with, I learned many skills and fine arts, although I was still fairly young as age is explained. Naively thinking that I was capable of taking care of myself, I sometimes foolishly ventured out alone, knowing that I had the ability to travel though the rips in time to escape a fatal attack.

I suppose though, not all creatures were as they appeared. I was lured into the trap of a vile creature that I only vaguely remember to be called a vampire. He presented himself to me as a caring mentor and friend. As time passed, I was convinced to leave my family to follow him. Much too late though, I learned of his true nature. He was a selfish beast that manipulated me solely for his own amusement and as a way of satisfying his need for blood, while his actual concern was with himself. While I believed he cared for my well being, I eventually found that he was a cold and seemingly heartless creature. He stole my innocence and took of my blood as he desired, to keep the evilness known as his life-light burning. Eventually, all my human existence had withered away and I too had become a vampire. This original creature was a presumably ancient being who was theorized by some tales and fables to have some sort of connection with bats and the like, a creature of the dark. How strange that sounds to me now. Even as the creature I had become, I often times still longed to see my family and friends, who I thought were forever lost to me and were progressively becoming fading memories in the back of my mind. One day I happened across a beautiful man. Memories had started to flood my mind of knowing him long ago. With my new eyes and understanding, I realized that he too, had part of the bloodline that flowed within my veins, but he came to be part of what I was in a different manner than I had. He was only half vampire, still half human, as he was born from a very rare and almost impossible union between a vampire and a human. I was unaware before this time that he had the gifts, skills, strengths, and understanding of a vampire, but so much more wondrously, he had the love, compassion, and life of a human. His gentle nature and kindness was so great that I, as a human, would never have known that he was not fully human himself. As he knew me, and also my family, he tried to show me the way back to my loved ones, but I was either too stubborn and confused, frightened, or even too ashamed to return to them. I do know that I loved him, long before I was willing to admit it, even to myself. Eventually, I did return with him to what was once my home, although my life was never to be the same again. Some of my family and friends were apprehensive, or even terrified of me. Others said I was an abomination and should not be trusted or accepted back into their lives even in the smallest proportion. Perhaps, as I was cursed by this blood reaping creature, even though I do not know, nor do I wish to know where, or even if he exists now, and I am now in a different place, I can still at times feel the bloodlust rise up within the pit of my soul. Still to this day I crave the excitement and blood of a good fight, although I no longer consume it, nor do I require this blood to survive. Eventually, this love of my life broke me from the spell of the creature that had made me what I was. We were married and together from that time until the last day I can remember of that horrendous past life. With his love for me, he drove away that vile creature that stole my life, never to be heard from again.

I have a love in this life also. His name is Xilan. As I sit here pondering, I can only come to the conclusion that Xilan must have been my love in my past life. I believe that a love as strong as ours could only happen once in a lifetime of many. I also believe that our love has spanned between worlds and we have found each other again with the help of the gods. Nevertheless, this does not matter to me now. The only thing that matters is that thanks to the gods of Temuair, I am with him now and I know we shall be together always, in this lifetime or another.

After some time had passed, something happened in that world. No one knew quite what went wrong. There was always a mist surrounding our world. There was only so far that a person could venture before reaching an impenetrable boundary. It appeared likely that with all the creatures that emerged, there was most undoubtedly a way in, but seemingly no way out. One day, chaos befell our town. The mists appeared to be partially lifting, or expanding our boundaries in the least. New areas had appeared that were never before seen. New people appeared as if they were but summoned by the gods of that realm. But with this new beginning, also came mass destruction. Many well known people were then lost to us, never to be seen or heard from again. There seemed to be an unimaginable and destructive battle amongst the gods of our realm. Even though new towns, deserts, wooded areas, and caves appeared almost as if out of thin air, our founding town was divided in two. About a third of the town was blazing in an unending fire that will burn on for eternity never to be put to rest, that is, if that realm still exists. Maybe this fire was to remind the citizens of the town that there were gods there that were never recognized, but this is contemplation only, as I cannot say for sure. Everyone was ripped of their belongings and loved ones were lost. All of the skills that the people had acquired throughout their lives were lost, as if forgotten in a flash of lightning. The memories of all this remained, but even though the knowledge was there, the abilities were not. By way of our dreams we could still reach our old home for short periods of time, but after a while, this ability was also torn from us. Perhaps this ability was not real, but a mass gathering of memories and dreams. As everyone was attempting to start over and beginning to practice the skills they had once mastered, there were still numerous creatures to deal with, many more in fact, than could easily be restrained.

As time passed on, many lives were mended as best as could be expected, and reconstruction was begun on everyone's surroundings. Again, new faces appeared and our world was never the same. Hate, torment, and despair rose within the people, mostly new, but also some old. People lied, cheated, stole from one another, and began to kill others for their own evil satisfaction. Not that it would have made the carnage any better in my eyes, but not even vengeance played a part in this heinous bloodshed. It was simply hate and malicious attacks of covetousness, greed, and envy, and the desire to be well known and feared, in my humble opinion. I suppose they believed that fame and fortune would be their prize for their hostile and offensive ignorance and inexperience. Who knows from where this maliciousness sprang forth. The new inhabitants of the land were just simply not of the same variety as the original founders were. I was growing older and wiser and saw many changes. The new citizens of that realm were for the most part, indecent beings who lacked honor and dignity. They consciously chose not to offer respect and appreciation to those who founded this land for them. This hatred and demoralizing way of life led me to extreme despair. I found myself crying uncontrollably and bellowing out for help, to no one in particular, for the salvation of myself and my beloved husband from this life of hopelessness and melancholy. In my deliberation, I can only assume at this moment, that the gods of Temuair heard my pleas for help and offered me an escape from my torment.

As I awoke one morning, I was in a bed in a strange new place. Vague memories that I could not steady or even begin to comprehend were dizzying my mind. I stumbled out of the bed and found some clothing at hand and wearily dressed myself. I wandered out of the room and realized I must have been at an inn. Not knowing where I was or how I came to be in this place, I spoke with the keep, Riona, I believe was her name, and immediately and almost instinctively left the inn. I met several people that were unfamiliar to me, yet most kind, standing around a large altar. I learned that I was in a town I had never before heard of, called Mileth. As I was in such a state, I do not remember the name of the kind person that introduced me to the most kindhearted and understanding Elecktra, priestess of Glioca, the goddess of compassion. Elecktra told me of my new found home and guided me through the ways of the people. I also learned that our calendar year was created to honor one of the gods, Deoch. I had arrived in Mileth in summer of Deoch 4. I spoke with many people of Temuair and found that there were different paths I could choose to follow in my new life. I spoke with Fae priestesses and other townspeople and learned many things. I traveled to other places in my new world, some on foot, others by ship. Once I had gained some insight on my new world, I decided to study more about the different paths that were offered to me and found that there was only one choice to be made, as if through divine intervention.

With the salvation of the gods of Temuair, and the love of the man that I can only hope to never forget, but almost inevitably will, I had learned compassion. Out of respect for them, and my new found love for others, I am always willing to lend a helping hand to those in need. I have decided to follow my path in my Aisling life as a priestess, to spread the love and compassion of all the gods and to help those who need guidance and understanding as I once did. I was initiated as a priestess, by oath of Elecktra, in fall of Deoch 4. I can only hope that I will someday be as great a priestess as she. I also pray I do not anger the gods by following one who may not have delighted in bringing me here, although, I do not think that I would have arrived in Temuair if not for a mutual decision of all of the gods. I have chosen to follow the ways and teachings of Deoch. As I was educated in the ways and teachings of the gods I was overwhelmed by his love for Danaan and the way it changed him, and I honor him in the highest regard. For one to love another so much as to see that their name and work lives on, and to go so far as to create a race of beings to honor their name is a most perfect love to me.

My winter of Deoch 4 has been very active and fulfilling. Although my life in Mileth has been brief, shortly after my awakening, I met a wonderful and loving man here by the name of Xilan, as I have mentioned before. He seemed to have arrived in Mileth at about the same time as I had, and under almost remarkably similar circumstances. I fell deeply in love with him instantly, and in winter of Deoch 4, we professed Fae love for one another and are still as inseparable as the day we met. I have, also this winter, initiated two priests, Paleo and Lupaz, who I will guide, and pray they will know the love of the gods and that they too will help all those who are in need to the best of their ability. Although it is more a personal thing for myself than something to share with others, I would like to write that I was delighted and grateful to be recognized by the gods as a Mileth Altar worshiper this winter also.

Together with my love, Xilan, I have explored many lands of Temuair. I try to learn all I can about others so that in a time of need, I may help them. There are many places where creatures roam free that should be cleared out. As young Aislings, we try the best we can to remove these creatures, but there are still many places that we are not yet strong enough to venture. I do my best to create potions with the help of the Fae that will bring back precious life to companions who are injured in these quests. I still have much to learn.

Perhaps I will hide this parchment where it shall never be found. Only out of fear, but, of what I do not know, do I choose not burn them and watch my memories go up in the rising smoke as an offering of my past from which I was so mercifully removed. I have read these memories completely through in their entirety, and partially and temporarily understand where I have come from, but I realize now that I do not wish to keep this knowledge that I had struggled so strenuously to remember. Perhaps after some time has passed, I will add some writings of my life as an Aisling to my library of other Temuairian information, but I will not have the times of my past weighing down upon my mind. It will be only of my life in Temuair, without even so much as a faint memory of this desecrated scroll.

Hide this scroll where you found it and choose another