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INTRODUCTION
The first time Evi told me about a clear idea for the last chapter of the Quest Trilogy was back in January 2000. I remember it vividly. It was January, 7th 2000. The Epilogue of Quest 2 had been published only a week before. And then she came to me and said: "Here's the good news. Ali and I had a chat, a really heart-to-heart chat, and guess what? Finally we found a basic plot for Q3. This idea hit me as a thunderbolt this morning..." Of course I was delighted and excited. She told me: "You can say that today Q3 is officially in process." In that moment I was sure Q3 was going to be something great, that would have exceeded, as each of Evi's stories did, all my expectations. This story was going to be one of the most wonderful experiences I've ever been through. The joy and excitement it brought, and still brings, to my life is something I could never forget. And again, I'm sure this is just the beginning of many other beautiful journeys. This is why I thought about writing The Art of Q3: Azrak's Legacy. The Quest Trilogy and its characters are a part of me now. A major part of me. Writing and preparing The Art of Q3: Azrak's Legacy has been a wonderful journey and something I felt I really needed to do. The whole purpose of it is thanking some people for all the magic and inspiration they've brought into my life, and showing to the readers the kind of hard work, dedication and research a story like Q3 required. I wish to thank Ali and Azul in the first place, for they've given to me SO much during all this time they've been alive, and I'll be forever grateful to the both of them. What I thank them the most is hope, and everything that goes with it... hope that maybe the kind of love they share can still exist. Hope, happiness, strength, dreams, belief... Thus, there's one person on this world I have to thank for giving life to A+A, and that's Evi. Thank you for your amazing friendship and unconditional support, for being there for me all the time, always. And for making me live such a journey having you and A+A by my side. But without the help and inspiration of my partner in the Q3 site project, none of this would have been possible. Lisa showed me one more time the kind of professional designer she can be, beside the wonderful friend she's always been. Thank you for your great friendship, your support, your contributions. And for making things better for me even when I felt I was going nowhere. Many thanks to Kristin, for the kind of hard work she put in Q3, and also for accepting to collaborate to a special section of this project. My deepest thanks to Gaia, not only for being the oldest and closest friend of my life, but also for her support and suggestions through The Art of Q3. And eventually, my gratitude goes to whoever will read this, and especially to Alex, who showed me a particular interest and encouragement about this essay. This project took me way longer than expected. I started writing soon after my final exam in High School in July 2000, until the first exams at University in January 2001. I kept reviewing and adding notes in the meanwhile, since the amount of material useful to build an Art of kind of essay is immense. And now, more than a year after the conclusion of the Q3 adventure, I eventually decided to publish what I had done so far, in over six months of work and researches. Actually, I don't think it is possible to write everything about Q3, a complete essay. It would end up being two times longer than the actual story, and it wouldn't make sense anymore. So I decided to collect only what could be the most interesting stuff to read, in my personal opinion. Most of what is reported here comes from the talking Evi and me shared during the whole Q3 production. I just put them together and tried to order them. Reflections, symbologies, trivia and so on... a sort of guided tour of what's behind Q3. If you are a Quest fan, I hope you will enjoy this journey through its several, magical aspects. Sestri Levante, 21st January 2002.
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