Chapter One: Prologue
She walked with light footsteps from the Market Square, her boots making little sound on the cobblestone below. A soft smile playing on her pale lips, she made her way west, down the busy street, past the Waterdeep Bank, past the general store, past the tailor's. Her emerald eyes shone with innocence, but were also deep with hidden knowledge, as she turned her head to look at the quaint stone buildings. These were the buildings of the Waterdeep Market, and there were many of them lining the sides of the seats. Those who passed her were more than happy to offer her a warm greeting and a 'How do you do?' as they went by. Some of the men who would walk by would offer her more attention than others, which brought out some red in her cheeks, as she would brush her hair back behind a pair of delicately pointed ears. As she made her way towards the Temple of Oghma, a small amulet she wore around her neck swayed with the motion of her walking. The amulet depicted a river being surrounded by a ring of stars, symbolic of the origin of magic, the Weave, and the Goddess of Magic, Mystra.
"Ah, here we are." Her voice sounded happy, but she was more curious than anything. She had heard someone talking about a friend of hers whom she had met some time ago. The person had said something about her friend leaving, and the emerald eyed half-elf needed to find out just what was going on. The swaying of her amulet came to a stop as he arrived at the entrance of the temple, where a rectangular board had been erected for people to post notes of importance. Her emerald eyes gazed over the board, observing the old posts that had been left there for one reason or another, until she came to a fresh piece of parchment on the board. She glanced at the writing, recognizing the slight tilt in the words that suggested it had been written with the left hand, and not the right. She knew this was the note from her friend, and so, she began to read:
To Whom It May Concern,
A farewell...for now
For those of you who know me, I must apologize for my leaving so abruptly, but I have done so only out of necessity. I have come by some information stating that someone has been making some sort of reputation for themselves in a distant town. Moreover, they have been making this reputation under the name of "Bearfang".
As the last of my family, I have decided to investigate this further, to find out who is using my family name, and just what kind of reputation they are making with it.
I have no idea what lies ahead, thus I may be gone for some time. To my friends, I say I shall miss you while I am gone.
To my fellow followers of Selune, I deeply apologize for my hasty departure. I truly wish I could have said goodbye to all of you before I left, and I pray that things will be well with all of you, as well as the church.
To my fiancé, I promise that I will return as soon as I can, whether my efforts are for good or ill.
I will miss the wonderful people of this city while I am gone. May Stars guide you all, and may we meet again soon.
Bugoron Bearfang, The Blue Moon Cleric
The emerald eyed half-elf clutched the book she held in her grasp tightly against her side. The book was covered in symbols and runes, indicating a spellbook of a Mystran mage. She thought about her friend for a moment, how he reminded her so much of her dear older brother, Kladian, and let out a small sigh, followed by a soft smile. Quickly glancing at the note one last time, Tandria Sandail uttered the words, "May your journey be wonderful and mysterious wherever you go, Bugoron." With those words, she turned and left, meshing in with the rest of the market's crowd.
