My earlier years

I am Morgolta. I was the first daughter in a family which had four children. There were three daughters, and one son. I was the eldest child. As such, I had more responsibilities but was also given more freedom. Initially, my family planned for me to be a priestess, and I was trained along those lines for most of my youth. However, before I became a priestess, one of my sisters was born and being trained to become one anyway. My mother expected another daughter at this time, and I demanded I be allowed to study to become a mage. I pointed out I was the eldest child in the family, and that there would be two priestesses anyway if the next child were trained to become one. My parents gave their consent, and I studied diligently under an ancient mistress. She was as I recall from our lessons a woman who had taken the unusual direction among dark elves of becoming an enchantress. She was also an infamous battlemage who would fight those males who messed with her. She had a keen mind, and although she was an expensive tutor, she was paid well to teach me her craft. I would say that this mistress still knew a lot about her old craft, more than she led most others to believe. She told me that few knew just how much power she had one day, and I asked her, "Mistress, what do you mean?" She laughed and said, "Few really know what I can do. Have you ever wondered why you are my only apprentice, Morgolta?" I shook my head, and she said, "Well, I could easily charge less for your lessons. I choose to charge a high price to those who seek my knowledge. I value those who want nothing but the finest things." I nodded, and she continued, "I could give you some of my power if you wish." I agreed to take what she gave me. She quickly went to an old cupboard, took out a flask with a colorless substance in it, and heated it over a fire. It started to bubble, and the stopper came loose. She pulled open the flask, told me to drink half of it. I swallowed the first sip and nearly choked. "Drink, child." She forced my mouth open, tilted my head back, and poured half of the contents down my throat. I felt like my throat was on fire, could feel something warm going through my body. She muttered something, put the flask over the fire again, and when a cloud of steam arose, she poured the rest of the contents down my throat. "Swallow, child," she intoned. I shivered slightly, but managed to swallow the last sip of the liquid. Then I broke out into sweat, and became unconscious. When I woke up, my mistress was trying to rouse me. She said, "I was not aware the potion would have such side effects." I said "What?" And a cloud of steam came out of my mouth. She covered my mouth and said, "This potion will grant you more power with the arcane than I have, child. I was not aware it would make you so attuned with it that you would begin to breathe the very elements. Go ahead, say something or exhale." I exhaled, and a cloud of smoke blew out of my mouth. "Again." I exhaled again, and a few shards of ice flew out. "Okay, one last thing." She rubbed my hair with a pair of fur gloves while holding two weird stones with spiders inside them in her hands. My hair started to crackle and she told me to look in the mirror. It was now somewhat blue as well. My mistress said, "thats enough for today." It was my last lesson. When I returned home, my mother asked me what had happened to me. I tried to give her an excuse, but she saw the smoke coming from my mouth and said that was it for my lessons. I saw the mistress one last time, and she told me if I wanted more power, to head to Darkhaven, where I would have sanctuary from the light of the surface world, and enlist in the academy as an invoker. I went there, and this was just the beginning...

The surface world

I went to the surface world and Darkhaven after seeing my mistress that last time. I was advised to reach my pinnacle within my guild, and I worked towards that goal. As I went towards pinnacle, I made some friends and some enemies. Two necromancers were among my first friends, but I did not like them. The first one, Veladia, took my soul in a duel. The other one, Keegan, used me as a pawn. I also dealt with Legion briefly, purchasing protection from them. One of their weakest members, Ivhih, ordered me to strip myself of certain items, and I had no choice but to comply. Because of these interactions, I grew to hate both the undead and Legion, in no particular order. Sentient undead reminded me of both Keegan and Veladia, so it should be no surprise that I killed Vella when I saw her around as an undead. She claimed that her brother would kill me, but I did not care. I was already under oath, it was not like I was going to aid Legion again when I had already come to hate them! As I worked towards my final rank, I talked to Sir Tuston of the Knights. Initially I was more concerned with reaching pinnacle than anything, so I asked for assistance and it was granted. It took some time, but along the way the subject came up of conversion to the Light. I was not sure what to think at first, but Valours citizens mostly helped me. I was already as far as I was concerned a fugitive in Darkhaven, for I thought I was contracted. I was not, but even now I do not feel I belong in Darkhaven. I have no true friends among the darkness, whereas the Light is beckoning me to seek its embrace. Because my friends mostly dwell in the Light, I seek to convert to the Light myself. If I succeed, I hope to join Soluminuss religion and move to Valour. If I am denied what my heart desires, I will continue on alone, and I will continue to fight Legion and those sentient undead I encounter. I am willing to pay a price in order to convert to the Light. I am willing to die for this cause. I do not fear that there will be consequences, and accept that I will most likely pay a great toll to pass through the barrier from darkness to light. All that remains to be seen is the judgment of the gods...

Serendipity

I was judged as worthy of becoming a follower of the Light after some time. I became an Outcast for one short Renewal, but otherwise little happened. After that, I chose to join Myria's religion instead of Soluminus's. It was just luck, happenstance, serendipity, or whatever you want to call it that I became a follower of Myria. I will say it was serendipity. A lot has happened since I converted to the Light, far too much for me to list. I was accepted by most people, that is all that matters. I planned to marry Tuston, and I was even engaged to him for a time, but things did not work out in the end as I would have liked. He accepts me as his sister, however. I had planned while engaged to him to become a Page after his death, so that I would not have to be his subordinate while he lived. But now that we are no longer engaged, and the situation different, I have decided I still wish to join the Knights. I said recently that when the time comes, I will be ready to take up the call to arms for Valour. I may well do the same thing Myria did before me, and forget about marriage to fight the darkness. Whether this is possibly ironic as a dark elf, I do not know, but that is what I want to do.

The fire within...

Life has continued on for some time. I am older now, possibly wiser, definitely more mature. I joined the Knights, as I had planned. Unfortunately for me, Tuston committed suicide soon after. I will miss my brother, but the only thing I can do is move on and learn from what he did. When I met him, he set off a spark inside of my heart, which turned into a fire. This fire is why I am now a part of the Light, albeit a follower of Myria and not Soluminus. This inner fire guides me, radiating warmth and passion, while giving me the power to purify evil. And I cannot live without this fire; the heat it radiates is what makes me strong, and compels me to remain a Knight, and do what is best and right. So long as my fire remained unquenched and my body can sustain more beatings, I plan to be here for many more years to come.

War and peace

The time has come for war. Although there is a time and place for peace, with each passing day I sense the darkness creeping in subtly. For as long as I have known peace, I have remained uneasy knowing that my enemies are simply lurking in the shadows, waiting for their chance to strike. War will come eventually, whether I like it or not, but I can choose to either do something about it now, or wait for it to happen to me. Although I am loath to thrust my former squire into the fray now, I am unsure whether I will even have a choice in the long run. Khonorhik may be a Footman now, but he is not ready for combat. He is not yet pinnacle, and he still needs some guidance. This weighs heavily upon my heart, knowing that my actions will affect him no matter what I do. Ever since I named him my squire, I have felt a strong bond with Khonorhik. I sometimes feel like he is my son. It puts a heavy burden upon me knowing that he will be affected by my actions, even if he goes along with it blindly. But should we stumble into war blindly? Absolutely not. I do however wish for this war to be commenced, fought, and concluded long before our enemies have a chance to gather their beaten forces. If they are given a chance to regain their strength, it will be much harder to beat them the second time around. It is clear that the Light and the virtues must guide my actions, and as such I would like to wait until Khonorhik reaches pinnacle. However, this is where it gets tricky. If I act quickly enough, Legion might be forced to their knees. But if I wait, Khonorhik might be better prepared to handle his duties, and is less likely to become a casualty in action. I am unsure what to do, but I know that before long, I must go to war... - Morgolta