Life Story
Page 1
"Let us drink deeply of this world's unknowns. For the likes of us might go anywhere."
Long, long ago, the young elf mage Erwin took the hand of his twin sister and sallied forth from the untrodden forest where they had been born and raised.
The Nightwisp siblings, who had grown up without contact with other races, gathered elf companions and set out on adventures.
At times, the brother's wisdom and determination led the way. At times, the sister's consideration and forbearance saved companions. The two overcame many dangers, traversed unexplored regions and dungeons, honed their magic, and accumulated new knowledge.
"The world is so vast. However much we might know of it, there's no end to it!"
Erwin pressed on, driven by his curiosity. He truly felt he could go anywhere.
And so, time-accounting for many generations had he been human-passed in the blink of an eye.
Page 2
"Erwin. Shouldn't we see our home again? Even for a short while?" asked his sister once the siblings had become accustomed to adventuring. He refused, saying, "Adventure just thrills me too much right now."
"Erwin. Even now our homeland may seem new and unfamiliar," said his sister once the siblings had become seasoned adventurers. He refused, saying, "Elven woods change but rarely."
"Erwin. Shall we not find respite beneath familiar boughs at times?" said his sister in a land far from their home. He refused, saying, "We have come this far. A little farther yet."
A hundred years later, before the sister could suggest another homecoming, he finally said, "Shall we return to our homeland?" It was so he could compile the magical knowledge he had gained during his adventures, that he might leave it for future generations.
So much time had passed since the siblings departed their homeland that Erwin had come to dwell on his own twilight years and beyond his death.
And thus, he came to find that the untrodden forest, which he had not seen for so long, was in the midst of crisis.
Page 3
The siblings' homeland was located in a deep woodland, far from human habitation. Spellcraft had secreted the presence of their lives, and they had dwelt in obscurity for long years. But if discovered by a monster of great magic power, their tranquility would be shattered.
The forest was ringed by a horde of monsters. The siblings stood rooted on a hill overlooking their homeland.
They had both reached great age. They and their scant allies were far too few to take on the horde. The forest was too remote to call for aid.
His sister wept, saying nothing. But Erwin sensed something akin to fate.
"Mayhap it is for this day that I have adventured all these long years."
In his hands he carried a book of spells that he had obtained at the end of his adventures. A spell of aging. It would pave the way, he was sure of it.
Page 4
"Erwin, you mustn't. Not that spell."
As he took the spellbook in hand, his sister stopped him.
But calling out, "It is on this we will chance!" he rushed forward.
Leaving his sister and his allies on the overlook, he ran doggedly on legs no longer so limber as in his youth, toward the monsters encircling his homeland. Then, just before the monsters noticed him, he stopped and opened the spellbook that contained the spell of aging.
It was no mere spell to cause aging. The caster steals the lifespan of those around them, causing them to age as a result. The area of effect was so vast as to encompass all the monsters surrounding the forest of his homeland.
Any other person living within the forest would perish along with the monsters. But elves, with their long lifespans, would survive despite aging.
Great achievements come at a cost. Erwin had made his decision and invoked the spell of aging. All life around him advanced in decades.
Page 5
Erwin's gamble paid off. The spell of aging laid waste to the monsters attacking his homeland-while aging all life within the forest.
"Lo, it is done! What an incredible spell!"
Turning to look at his sister, who had finally caught up to him, Erwin looked every inch the boy he was when he first sallied forth from his homeland. Riding high on the success of this rare and powerful spell, he did not notice the look on his sister's face.
The price of survival was that half the forest had withered and the elves had grown older. Erwin, who had been made young again, was accused of encroaching upon the forbidden arts, and was never allowed to return to his homeland. But his mind was drawn to the many magical spells that had yet to be discovered.
"There is still much unknown in this world. Let us venture where we will. We can--" he said, eager for new adventure. But the younger sister, back bent with age, quietly shook her head and refused.
The siblings went their separate ways. The fate of the older brother remains unknown.