My name is Lady Gamina. An elven magic user... or if you prefer, a spellweaver. As the middle child of a warrior father and spellweaver mother, I had a happy and carefree existence. I was a quiet child, unlike my older brother Ordrevel who always had a pert remark or a question hovering on his lips along with an devilish smile. And much unlike my little sister who always had sassy retorts and impish grins. Between them, they would launch arguments and that drove me and my mother to distraction. When this happened, my father would take them both outside and make them practice with their weapons. Both my brother and sister showed a proficiency in weapons skills that I never did. I preferred my books and scrolls.
You see, at an early age, I began to show signs of being a spellweaver. My mother was my first instructor in the arcane arts. Not to be left out, my father taught me the use of weapons... although sadly, I was never to become an expert at it. I excelled at the magical arts and my mother, who felt she had taught me everything she knew decided that I should go and seek out other elven spellweavers and learn more. Although my father disagreed with this decision, he saw the wisdom in it and gave me his blessings. So when I reached my 50th birthday, my mother and father presented me with an amulet. It was a magical amulet attuned to members of our family. My brother Ordrevel had one when he left home and went out in the world to learn his craft. The next day, I left our little village and went out into the world.
I felt sad leaving my family and my home but at the same time excited at the prospect of learning new things, seeing new places and meeting new people. For those first few years, I solely concentrated on elven lore and magic. Learning many things from the ancient spellweavers in the different enclaves that I visited... or should I say lived. Learning the magic arts took years of study, so I was obliged to live in different places for years at a time. One day, on my way to finding the next village or town and my next master, I came upon a small town by a lake and took a room at the inn. The innkeeper thought it unusual for a woman to travel alone and asked what brought me to these parts. I told him that I was a student in search of a new master to instruct me in the magic arts. A glimmer of understanding entered his eyes... "now I know why you travel alone... a female magic user in search of instruction. Well girl, you've found it... across that lake is an island of magicians. They have an school of learning there. Take the ferry in the morning and go talk to those magicians about being a student." A school of learning?? I had never heard of such a thing and yet, I grew excited at the prospect of living and learning from a community composed solely of magicians.
The next day, I ate breakfast hurriedly and left the inn. I wandered down to the ferry landing and told the ferry man I needed to get across the lake to the island. After we'd settled on a price, he rowed me to the island. A human greeted me when we landed and inquired as to why I was here. I told him that I was a student of magic and looking for a new master to instruct me. He said that I would have to be tested before I would be accepted as student. With that, he lead me towards a low building that would be my home for the next few years. I was tested by several instructors and passed with flying colors. Happy that I was to be part of this community, I immersed myself in my studies. Here, they did not just specialize in elven, human or giant magic but other world magic as well as the Great Master had been to other worlds and studied magic there.
I kept my parents apprised of my progress. Once a month I would send them dispatches through the Guild of Porters when I went back to the mainland to purchase items not available on the island. Once in a while I would receive word from them of how my family was... my brother sent them dispatches as well... and so did Alissande once she went out in the world.
One day my studies took me to inquire from the master how it was that he was able to go to other worlds. As he sat and explained it to me, I knew that I wanted to learn these level of spell casting. I voiced my thought, and he smiled at me knowingly. He did not say anything for a few moments but sat there staring at me. When he did speak, he consented to teach me. As the months passed, I learned a great deal from him. Then one day, the master told me that he needed to go to another place and that when he returned, we would resume our studies. I begged him to take me but he only said that it was not yet time for me to see other worlds. He did, however, pick me and other senior students along with some instructors to witness the phenomenon. On that day, we all filed into his study. The master took a black leather bound tome from his desk and began reading the incantation. Since he was quietly speaking the words, I could not make out too many of them. When he finished reading, he put down the tome, raised is arms over his head and clapped. There was a flash of light that blinded us momentarily. When the light subsided and the tears from our eyes cleared, I saw a glowing portal that rippled like quicksilver in the middle of the room. The master smiled at us and walked through. As soon as he did the portal winked out of existence. Having witnessed this phenomenon, the instructors turned to us and commanded us to go back to our studies. With that, we all walked out and went back to our daily duties.
A week had passed and my master had not returned. I talked to one of the instructors about it and all she told me was that the Great Master would be back when he finished what he went to do. So I went about my studies and waited. One morning, having been preoccupied with a task, I found myself in the corridor close to the masters study. Well, I reasoned since I was here anyway, I could go into his study, tidy up then leave. I opened the door and walked in. Closing the door behind me, I set about tidying up his work table. When I had finished that, I looked at his desk to see if there was any thing I could straighten out. His desk was clean except for the black leather bound tome that he had used when he incanted that spell that brought the portal into existence. Feeling excited at the prospect of looking at the spell that the master utilized to travel between worlds, I walked up to the desk and reverently looked at the open page that presented itself to me.
Reading it for the first time, I felt that the written spell did not feel right. After reading it again, I thought maybe if I were to say it out loud, it may make more sense to me. So I started reading the spell quietly like the master had done. After I had recited it, I felt a chill come over me...then the world faded away from view.
How long I was out I could not say. But when I finally woke up it was evening. I was lying on a cot in a small room with a candle by my bedside. A knock on the door and a person that looked like a healer came through. She smiled at me and said she was pleased I was finally awake since I had been asleep for 2 days. Then another lady came through the door with a bowl of soup. I didn't realize how hungry I was until I saw that steaming bowl. I ate quickly and went back to sleep. In the morning, the same healer came in again and said that if I felt well enough, I could join them for breakfast. I said I would, got out of bed, dressed and followed her out. In the dining hall, I was introduced to others as we sat down for the morning meal. I commented that I had not seen this room in all the time I had spent at the academy and which building was it in?? All I got were confused stares from the people around me. I let it pass and concentrated on eating instead.
After the meal, I asked the healer that had first come to me the same question. She looked at me with sympathy in her eyes and asked me what I remember prior to walking up. I told her that I remember researching a magical problem that one of my instructors had given me as a task, walking down a corridor and going into a study. She waited for me to give her more information but when none was forthcoming, she said "you don't remember everything?" When I said I didn't, she told me that she was in the temple one morning 3 days ago when a blinding flash appeared in front of her eyes. When she regained use of her eyes, I was in front of her on the floor. She said I was so cold that she thought I was dead but she felt my breath on her hand when she put it in front of my face. That's when she brought me into the cell and helped me recuperate.
I was stunned... whatever power brought me here I will never know. But here I am, in a land called The Realm. I left the temple and went out to put my life back together. In time I settled in one of the towns, resumed my studies, made friends and even found my brother Ordrevel and sister Alissande here. They told me of the fate of our parents which saddened me and how they came to this land. I was introduced to UD, my brother's life friend who is the founder of the UD Clan. As my brother is patriarch of our family now, both Alissande and I both are a part of that extended family. My brother and sister live in neighboring towns and we get together and hunt down the evil that lives in the vast wilderness and deserts of this land. We also make sure we help all those less fortunate than we are, and protect those who would be preyed upon. This is not just a Clan credo... it's a way of life for us.
