Once upon a time there was a beautiful woman, the last of an ancient line. She had the world at her fingertips but lacked the one thing she was tasked with providing, an heir to carry on her storied bloodline. Though she did not lack for partners, her womb remained barren and so her only duty remained unfulfilled. Using all her wealth and power she searched about the world, seeking some tincture, some draught, some herb, some person who could remedy her situation. Desperate, she traveled to Thalasa Limenas to consult the Oracle herself. Moved by the plight of her countrywoman, the Oracle meditated and, with an indrawn breath of horror, delivered her prophecy,
"Beware. Your line carries great power, but its nature is that of a double-edged sword. It cuts both wielder and victim alike. Any child of yours will carry this power, but always will it rebound upon them according to their nature. Let your line die and its power will die too, safe from the hands of those who would wield it!"
But the woman was full of pride and felt the weight of her Ancestors bearing down upon her. She left the Oracle, paying her prophecy no heed, and continued to search for some remedy to correct her lack. Eventually, with no more options open to her, she turned to the one creature that could possibly grant her request, a giver of gifts and player of tricks known to her people as the Provisioner. She wandered for days through realms familiar and strange until at last she came upon his vardo. He welcomed her with open arms and seated her next to the fire.
"But why have you come such a long way to see me? Do you not worry what others will say? What could be so important?" he asked.
"I must carry on my line, but I cannot conceive. Please help me to remedy this and you will have my gratitude and any other price you may require. Anything," she replied.
"Oh my, and what sort of child do you seek that you would offer such a payment?"
"I would have my child strong enough to withstand the world and wise enough to see its path, an heir in whose destiny our family may continue and grow in strength!"
And the Provisioner smiled, his eyes glittering gold in the light of the fire.
"And so you shall. In fact, your plight moves me to generosity. Instead of one child you shall have three, each of the virtues of which you speak. And this pledge I make you also, each child of yours may also be assured of three children, in this way your line will continue without fading. A caution to you though, only your heir and her heirs will bear the full power of your line, the better to keep it intact. So you shall have three, a guardian to protect your family, a seer to warn you of the paths fate may take, and an heir possessed of a grand destiny."
The woman was overjoyed with the Provisioner's pronouncement, but also wary. What was the cause of this generosity?
"And what price must I pay for this generosity, my lord? What shall you ask of me in return for this gift?"
"It is not you I shall collect from my dear. You have nothing to give but what you already have. In generations hence I shall collect my due from one who can pay, so fear not. It will not be you who pays this price."
And with that the Provisioner disappeared.
Before the year was out the woman had given birth to a daughter, the first of her three children and powerfully possessed of the gift of Sight. She was joined years later by a sister, a self-possessed girl of great cunning and independence, and then by a brother, a serious boy of quiet strength and determination. For a time they were happy and all was well. This came to an end the day the eldest daughter fell crying to the ground and uttered a terrible prophecy.
"You have defied your fate and you and your children shall pay the price. Your Seers shall know only visions they cannot stop, your Guardians shall fail to protect the thing most important to them, and your Heirs shall know peace and happiness only to have it ripped from their hands again and again and again! But, yours shall be the harshest fate as you have forced yours upon the world! You shall be betrayed by the very things you sought most in the world and die at their collective hands! So speaks Fate!"
And so it was that the woman gained all she had hoped for and lost it in doing so, for in a few scant centuries she met her end at the hands of her own children. But that is a story for another time.