Part I

I start my history with an apology. Minor scholar that I am, I feel I will not
do full justice to the depth and complexities of the subject I cover. Yet even
the knowledge that my skills are not up to this task will not sway me from my
course. I could claim I was driven by an erudite desire to inform yet that
would be a lie. I can accept myself as an inferior historian. I cannot accept
myself as a liar. No, I am driven by purely selfish motivations. Namely, the
desire to once again have a night of peaceful rest. Since I first heard that
ancient Aslaran regaling the children gathered at his feet with a story of a
young man named Kerinth Asceru, my mind has burned with the need to tell this
story.

I know that at this point some of you will scoff and turn away. There are
countless histories of the Lightweaver, known in his younger years as Kerinth
Asceru. Almost as many as there are of his peer Tasra Dawnbreaker. What more
can there possibly be to say? Every child knows how they were companions from
youth who grew to great prominence in New Celest. It is well known that their
disagreements on how to handle the Tainted almost sparked a civil war in the
city. Who doesn't recall with pride or horror the Shanthin massacre where Tasra
and her Paladin Knights put to the sword no less than fifty tainted children?
Could any forget that the Lightweaver is the only mage who managed to
singlehandedly weave barriers that could contain the taint or the rumors that
he could actually cleanse it? And as for their finish, well, it is impossible
to go a day without hearing a minstrel singing one of the numerous songs
written of that. So, what need is there for more?

Before I heard that Aslaran speak, I would have thought the need did not exist.
Yet hearing him, Calen, grandson of Talis who served as valet for the
Lightweaver, it struck me, like a lightning bolt to be honest, that there was
no discussion of these icons as people. We all knew what they had done but who
knew who they actually were? How had they grown up? What circumstances shaped
them? What were the driving forces behind their actions? These were the things
I was driven to find out and for the past eleven years I have been gathering -
scraps of paper, old journals, tattered letters, and most rare and precious -
stories of those who were there.

I give these up to you. The story sections of the history cannot be completely
accurate as it is my perception of how events may have happened based on the
knowledge of them that was passed to me. Yet, I feel they serve to better draw
the reader directly into the lives of these remarkable people than a dry
historical recitation might.

And so, with no further posturing or ado, I introduce to you Tasra Dawnbreaker
and the Lightweaver, Kerinth Asceru.
* * *

Grandfather always smiled when he spoke of the Lightweaver as a young man. By
the time I came along, he was already very old. He had started his family late
you see and then only at the urging of his master. I think he viewed Asceru as
his son to be honest. I remember him saying that the Lightweaver might not have
the claws of an Aslaran but he certainly had the heart of one. Grandfather was
hired on by Asceru's father, Harenth when Asceru was just a young cub. He
basically raised him and the Lightweaver, great man that he was, never forgot
that. I always told him he needed to write his stories down but he would smile
sadly and say that some things aren't meant to be remembered. But I remembered
and now you're writing it down. So, there we have it.

Anyway, the Lightweaver as a young man. According to grandfather he was
frighteningly intelligent. He mastered planar magics as easily as another child
might master playing ball. It was just as well though because apparently his
father was extremely demanding. He expected his son to be perfect. Perhaps to
offset the fall of his eldest daughter. I hate to think how much worse it would
have been for him had he not been a prodigy. Even after the rift between them, I
think Asceru was driven by a need for his father's approval. Family was very
important to him obviously.

His mother? She was a gentle woman by my grandfather's accounts. An
accomplished mage and artisan in her own right she had withdrawn from society
after her daughter's betrayal. There was always a sadness about her. She loved
her son but grandfather maintained that she added a further burden of
responsibility. Asceru felt that he needed to be twice the son to make up for
the loss of his sister.

Grandfather never spoke much of Tasra. Sometimes he would tell stories of her
playing with Asceru and he spoke of the pranks she would play but he would
always grow sad after this. Mother said it was because of all the troubles
between her and Asceru in later years. The worst wounds are from those you
love.

- excerpt from an interview with Calen Morti'on, Grandson of Talis Plainsrunner
trusted valet of Kerinth Asceru.

* * *
When I look back on my youth, I am shocked that one individual could have been
so ignorant and so brilliant all at once. Perhaps the brilliance stemmed from
the ignorance of what was and was not possible. I often yearn for those simpler
times when my heart was intact and my soul pure. - The Lightweaver, Kerinth
Asceru, Aquamancer Archmage

It was the waves that woke him. Their gentle sighs had guided him to
consciousness every morning for seventeen years. Each morning he would cast his
thoughts to the Inner Sea, letting them sink into its cool embrace. He claimed
to be centered by this practice and would not face any day without it.
Excepting this day.
This day he immediately roused himself. On this most important of days he
wanted to savor every moment. "Talis!" he called, glancing about for his valet.
Swinging his legs over the side of his bed, he stood and quickly descended to
the main portion of his sleeping chamber. A frown creased his brow. Where was
that thrice-damned cat? "Talis!!"
"You bellowed, sir?" inquired the slight aslaran as he swept silently into the
room.
"Talis! Where have you been? You know what day it is, I must be ready!" his
words came in a breathless rush as he strode to the tall wardrobe in the corner
of the chamber. Throwing open its doors, young Kerinth Asceru anxiously perused
the elegant garments held within.
Talis merely raised an eyebrow at his young charge's anxiety. "Naturally, sir.
However as the ceremony will not take place until after noon and it is currently
an hour before dawn, might I recommend forestalling your preparations for a
time?"
The young man paused at this, a perplexed look crossing his handsome face as
he glanced out a nearby window. His confused eyes met the fading darkness of
pre-dawn with an impatient scowl. "Yes. Of course. But still I must at least
choose my outfit. It won't do to have me looking like a fishmonger. Not that
there's anything wrong with a fishmonger of course but it would be quite
inappropriate for me to look like that things being as they are and what would
father say? No that wouldn't-"
Though clearly amused by his young Master's prattling, Talis smoothly cut him
off, "Your Lady Mother has already chosen an outfit for you. If I recall
correctly, and I'm confident I do, she showed the design to you a fortnight
ago. And if my audacious memory serves me further you also stood for several
hours while the tailor fitted it to you not two days hence. And if I dare
remember even more, you complained bitterly for a period of no less than two
hours about being stuck by the pins of the ‘alarmingly sadistic' tailor ."
The handsome merian youth stared at him as if he had sprouted another tail
before regaining his composure. "O-of course. How could I have forgotten that?"
Flopping himself onto a nearby couch he sighed dramatically. "I clearly must be
losing my mind. Do you think they'll still take me if I'm insane?" he asked,
quirking a wry smile at his dependable valet.
"Judging by the current makeup of the Guild I would say you have nothing to
fear." Ignoring the boy's choked guffaw he continued, "Now, since you are
clearly most awake and most eager to start the day, your Lord Father desires
your company in his study. When you have finished and have endeavored to eat
something, I will be but a bellow away to assist you with your dress." With
that he gave an elegant bow and glided from the chamber.
Kerinth sighed and rested his chin on his hand, willing his thoughts to order
themselves. It would not do to go before his father in anything but a perfectly
calm state. Frowning slightly at this thought, he rose and drew some casual
robes over his lanky frame. Positioning himself in front of a mirror he
grimaced at the wild state of his hair. He treated the mess to a few quick
pulls of a comb, deemed himself presentable enough, and quickly strode from the
room.
As he walked through the halls of his family home, his mind wandered ahead to
his father. Harenth Asceru was a hard man to please. As the head of an ancient
noble house of Celest, he had struggled greatly with the new realities
presented after the Taint wars. Harenth had only been a child at the time but
had lost his mother and eldest sister to the Taint. He had watched his father
struggle with the rest of the Celestian survivors to rebuild their world, the
burden of it eventually killing the eldery merian. He had taken his own place
as a leader in the new city, always remembering what was lost, always bearing
some guilt for the Taint. And then his eldest daughter, pride of Asceru,
abandoned the family to join with a Tainted Viscanti of Magnagora. He had never
recovered from that.
All of his hopes for his family, his expectations, and his fears for the
future were firmly embodied in his mind by his son. As such, young Kerinth had
been living under expectations far too vast for his slender frame to bear.
Fortunately for all, he had been blessed with a superior intelligence and
remarkable talent in all the usual noble pursuits. Yet what truly set him apart
was his skill at planar theory and manipulation. He had an innate understanding
of how to weave planar energies to achieve astounding results. The Celestines
heralded him as a gift from Celestia. His peers often called him weird. Being a
well-grounded boy he generally ignored it all.
A solid wooden door looming suddenly in front of him snapped him out of his
musings. He nervously smoothed his hair a final time before rapping sharply on
the door and sending a quick telepathic alert to his father identifying
himself. The door was jerked open by his father's guard captain, Nalius. The
gruff human smiled briefly upon seeing Kerinth and stepped aside to allow him
entrance. "Finally awake eh? Well, your da's been waiting," nodding to Kerinth
and the room's current occupant, he let himself out, closing the door softly
behind him.
As his father had not yet acknowledged his presence, he took a moment to study
him and assess his mood. His black brows, so reminiscent of his son's, were
drawn down sharply in displeasure at whatever was in the report he was reading
and his small gills shifted irritably. Despite the early hour, his hair was
perfectly groomed, flowing down his back to blend with the black of his
utilitarian robe. The rich, cerulean hue of his skin was paler than usual -
mute evidence of recent months spent mostly indoors. He rarely left the house
these days. So closely matched were their features that only a fool would
question that Kerinth was his son. Putting aside the report he locked his
intense storm-grey gaze on his child.
"Kerinth. Good. Sit.". The orders issued in clipped tones clearly expected to
be obeyed and they were. After his son was seated before him he leaned forward,
resting his weight on his forearms and spoke directly. "Today you are a man,
Kerinth. You join ranks with the Aquamancers and there will be much fanfare.
Your talent makes you much sought after. They will seek to claim you as their
own. The city will seek to claim you as their own. You must resist this." At
his son's carefully blank expression he sighed and continued, "You are a Scion
of the House Asceru. No, you are THE Scion of the House Asceru. You belong to
your House first and foremost. Always. Your House will be there regardless of
your talents. Your House will shelter you when you falter. Your House is your
security and you owe all to it. The rest, regardless of how hard you toil for
them, offer only false security. They will be there for you only so long as you
are useful to them. Do you understand?"
Kerinth did understand but it caused unease in his heart. He knew when he
entered into the service of the Aquamancers they would demand much the same
from him and when he was a recognized adult in Celest, they too would demand
it. How could he swear to all three that he would be loyal to them first and
foremost without destining himself to be forsworn? Yet, looking into his
father's eyes he knew nothing less would satisfy him. He wouldn't have to worry
about his loyalty or anything else if he was locked in his father's house for
the rest of his life! So, quelling his doubts, he spoke firmly, "My loyalty and
trust will always lie with Asceru, father."
"And your duty?" Harenth spoke softly but with unmistakable fervor. Kerinth
met the gaze directly, "And my duty." Those sharp eyes darted over his face in
much the same manner as they had the report until, apparently satisfied,
Harenth nodded sharply and sat back, allowing himself to relax slightly.
"Good.", he said, the clipped tones still in place but much of the intensity
gone. "Your Lady Mother insists I send you along to the salon immediately. I
believe she wants to fuss over you as much as possible prior to your leaving.
Go to her before she comes looking for you." With that, he nodded curtly in
dismissal and returned to his reports.
Rising swiftly, Kerinth left the room. He brutally suppressed the
disappointment threatening to overcome him. Expecting more from his father was
an exercise in futility. This was all there had ever been and it was all there
ever would be. It was childish to yearn for more.
* * *
Light streamed through the delicate glass window, illuminating the
figure of a young woman leaning casually against its frame. A soft humming
emanated from her still form, filling the wide hallway she occupied with
tuneless noise. Tasra Nal'dar really had other things to be doing at the
moment. Break fast, bathe, dress, groom herself appropriately, practice her
oath, and pack to name just a few. Many things to be doing but at this moment
she would rather lean here, absorbing the light of the breaking dawn.
The window looked out over the vastness of the inner sea. Kerinth often said
that he could cast his thoughts out onto the sea and play in its depths. But
Kerinth could do many strange things and was merian besides. They enjoyed the
idea of sinking into the depths of the sea. She, a human completely lacking
gills, preferred just looking. On clear days she was positive she could see all
the way to Bondero Bay. The cries of the gulls and the playful antics of the
dolphins soothed her agitated mind. The normalcy of it reassured her that even
on this most auspicious of days, the world carried on as usual.
She did not turn when a boot scuffed behind her. Even her inattentive mind
could recognize the comforting scent of her father, Nalius. Her earliest
memories were of being carried through the streets on his shoulders, the rich
scent of leather, metal, and spices wafting up to surround her in a protective
cocoon.
"Ye gonna stand there all day, eh? Yeh'll never hear the end of it if you show
up for your induction smelling like day old horse." His gruff but affectionate
tones brought a smile to her face. Her da would always be the same. She turned
to face him and shrugged one shoulder slightly.
"I dunno da, I was thinking I might shake up the stodges a bit. Let em know
who they're dealing with eh?" she responded cockily.
"Oh ho! Don't be worrying about that girl! They'll see who they're dealing
with soon enough. But yeh don't wanna be dealing with your ma if you don't
clean yerself up."
"Too true." she murmured, pushing herself away from the window. "I have plenty
of time still and I need to eat first anyway. Think how bad she'd whoop me if I
passed out during the ceremony? Squire or not, she'd take a paddle to me."
They both chuckled at the thought of the fiery woman so dear to both their
hearts and began walking towards the kitchens.
As they walked he put his arm around her and gave an affectionate squeeze. "Ye
know how proud of ye I am right? My daughter a Paladin Knight. It's enough to
give me a big ‘ead".
"I have you to thank for it da. It's your service to Lord Asceru that got me a
place." she demurred.
"Aye but it was you who passed their admission tests. No noble patron will get
ye through those. No my girl, it's all you from this point. And I know ye'll do
us proud." he stated with the pride and confidence of a father.
Had he been looking at her when he said this, he would have noticed the unease
that flitted across her face at his words. She felt them as a burden upon her.
To fail would crush her father. He would always love her but he had his heart
set on her becoming a mighty Holy Warrior, able to protect and provide for her
family once he was gone. The trouble was she was unsure she would make it
through her Squirehood much less become Knighted. She saw the Paladins as they
strode about the city. Besides the wealth evidenced by their ornate armour and
weaponry, they had a wisdom in their eyes and a determination on their face
that she didn't feel she could match. Whatever internal fire drove them, she
doubted she had it. Yet she would try. Her father had never let her down and
she would do her best to return the favor.
"Yer quiet. Nervous?" he asked, glancing down at her in concern.
"A little", she admitted.
"Ye aint got nuthin to worry ‘bout. A Paladin is a warrior same as any other.
They just dress fancy and get more learning," he said, clapping her on the
shoulder heartily, "Yer just as good as any of them and better than most."
Not trusting herself to speak for fear of her uncertainties flooding out and
shaming her, she simply nodded.
"I need to get about my duties but I'll see you later on when we leave." with
that Nalius gave her another squeeze and disappeared down a side hallway,
whistling a jaunty tune.
Expelling her breath in a frustrated sigh, she put aside her disquieting
thoughts and resumed her journey to the kitchens. An arm darting out of a room
and jerking her inside cut short her trip. Her belt dagger was half-way from
its sheath before she recognized her ambusher.
"Bloody fates, Kerinth!! What are you playing at? I might have skewered you!"
she yelled at the grinning young man before her, slamming the dagger back into
place.
"Pah, I knew you'd recognize me before you did too much damage." he breezily
responded.
"Oh aye? And what makes you think I wouldn't just hit harder after seeing it
was you, eh?" she replied, attempting to look menacing.
He flashed her a cocky grin, "My trust in your innate holiness?"
She snorted in dismissal. "Better to trust in our friendship I think! What are
you doing lurking in here?"
He rolled his eyes, tsking in disgust. "Hiding from my most noble Lady Mother.
I can abide no more discussions on how one gem or another brings out the blue in
my eyes. I don't see why she doesn't just create an illusion of me and save me
the misery."
She grinned cheekily. "She's your ma, Kerinth. It's her job to bring you
misery. Are you hungry?"
"Famished," he replied, a spark of mischief lighting his eyes as he looked
upon his lifelong friend, "There is a good chance there are some delicacies to
be had in the kitchens if the menu I saw mother working on is anything to go
by."
"Well, my dear Lord Kerinth, shall we tempt the fates and risk life and limb
in a daring raid upon the aforementioned bastion of tastiness?" she asked,
offering him her arm with a flourish.
"Certainly Lady Tasra, let us venture forth and see what the fates offer us."
he replied grandly, grasping her arm. As their gazes met each other, they burst
into an infectious laughter that filled the halls as they set out on their
mission.
* * *
Here I stop the story as I was only able to obtain accounts of them retrieving
two pies, a prime cut of meat, and some cheese from the kitchens. It is known
that they took their bounty outside to enjoy but what they spoke about, they
never told nor did anyone else hear. Also, while their individual ceremonies
were of utmost important in their lives and history, they have been well
recounted elsewhere. Only one quote remains from either of them regarding the
occasions:

"I realize now that I died that day. My soul was given over to the Supernals
and reforged by Methrenton into something better able to serve the Light. I ask
myself, "Was I chosen from birth or was I simply in the right place at the right
time?" Had I any tears, I might weep for the death of the girl that was. But my
tears dried up long ago and the Light soothes all my pain. Glory to the Light."
- Lady Tasra Drawnbreaker, General of the Armies of Light