1.

After Irenicus, I believed it was over. We all did. Cursed as I was, I had achieved the improbable. Irenicus lay dead, Suldenessellar hailed me as a hero when really all they ever saw was an outcast. Like the wingless averiel they heaped their pitying looks upon, they viewed me as a construct of elfin flesh housing only darkness. I was the stuff of nightmares, the blood soaked so deep into my fingernails, they seeped into every dream. Talons so black they raked their very souls. My mouth was a gaping maw, my tongue spilling only lies.

Such thanks for saving their beloved city, their precious lives. The mothers seized their children, their older brothers hovering over their blades. None of them stood a chance, but that didn't stop the whispers, the hateful lies. I was worse than Irenicus; I had seduced their queen with dark sorcery. The taint whispered within me, urging me to slay them all, to suck the ichor from their flesh, to rid myself of their lying eyes.

Peace was denied me even amongst the groves.

Even my companions began to question me. They, who had suffered so much, were battle-hardened husks, scarred shells, a mimicry of their former selves. The averiel's eyes were deadened. It wasn't Spellhold that had ruined her; it was me. It was always me. This journey, this path, e'er soaked in blood, stained the very earth we walked on, slept on. Wherever I trod, death followed. It stole my companions from me. Loyal, armoured, dead inside. What little remained…

The horrors we witnessed were beyond description. The terrors of the illithid, the cruelties of the Underdark, the surface cities of men and the abominations that stalked both night and day. Men with the hearts of savages, men with the hearts of greed. Selfish ambition, desire, lust, longing for glory, power, love. Gnomes and halflings no better; elves standing apart, dwarves as bad as men. What I saw between the bright eyes of children and the tender arms of their mothers should have softened me; those same eyes held fright, their mothers' mistrust. No matter who I helped, no matter how hard I tried, it was easier for others to destroy. Easier for me to destroy. I tried reason, appealing to their better nature, to their purse, anything to keep from slaughter. Most preferred to take, then to take more. My purse, my life.

The corpses piled higher and higher. Those upholding the law were driven by ambitious, greedy lords, hungry to hang onto their thrones. Justice was perverted, corruption ruled the streets. Taxes imposed upon those who could not pay were enforced with the blade. All the while, I was hunted. Hunted by my brothers, my sisters, hunted by those who claimed to follow righteousness.

Some did help. Some offered shelter. How soon did they return to their lives, forget my kindness? Some did not forget, but those were the ones who fell prey to banditry as soon as I moved on. 'Adventurers' pillaged the tombs and ruins of former glories, facing both monster within and their fellow man.

We were hunted in every town, driven out of every shelter. Those we stayed in we were tracked to. Nowhere was safe. Nowhere held peace.

Irenicus struck from nowhere. No sooner had I fended off one assassin then another took his place, and then another. More and more came; half elves, humans, even a blue dragon. My oldest mentor was burnt alive, lightning arcing through her, spat from the wyrm's foul mouth. I returned her to my side, but part of her was lesser. Our foes rose up in the same manner, over and over. We learnt to destroy the body, to leave no trace. Every corpse we made ash and dust, and even then, their foul spirits returned to haunt our every step. Wraiths and men, monsters and demons. On and on and on.

Eventually, I prevailed. My sire's throne lay within my grasp. There was never a choice. Behind those men were gods, gods like my dead father. Gods who stood by and did nothing; gods who used their followers to strike at us again and again. To remain mortal would be suicide; without my sire's power, this divine might, I would be dead within a tenday. And so I ascended. The war was only beginning.