An Old Man and His Tale

Water, Earth, Fire, Air. Long ago the four nations lived in harmony…no that's not the way to start a tale. Forgive me, I am old and my memory is fleeting, but my story is one worth telling. The great keepers of the archives have requested that I write this chapter in our world's history. But who am I to speak for those long gone? I cannot write about famous warriors, dark powers, and hidden love. For having experienced all these things I would be writing with a biased tongue. Nonetheless, I shall try.

Now that I have come to this great endeavor I cannot help but wonder who will read my story or if anyone will even remember my name. But those are concerns for the future, and I don't have much to look forward to and doubtlessly you, reader, must ask who am I to speak of such things? The truth is I am no one but a mere shadow of the man that once existed. A fragile double of what once was.

But, enough of this holy wisdom, you are doubtlessly anxious to hear my tale. Give me your patience reader, for I speak with knowledge acquired over decades of life. My story is not that of a general or a warrior. I have no particular love of war, but I have often found myself forced to fight. And so, with these last parting words, I leave you my reader. Never take your life for granted, it is an ill omen to do so. The winds of change are ever blowing. And having lived through the torrent we call life I wish that I had never changed. But now I must move on with my story. The ink grows dry and your patience grows thin.

I will start my story in media res, in the middle of events, for to tell the whole tale would take forever, and I don't have much time left to me. As I lift this quivering brush I cannot help, but hope that this is all an elaborate lie. That perhaps now I can change the events on paper that I was unable to change in real life. But to do so would be to dishonor my friends and to take what is not mine to claim. So now by candle light the story unfolds….