Free as the Wind

"Not the most graceful beginnings..."

Prologue - Duality
Aquila.

A world as young and small as it is rife with crime, war, fairy tales, and endless adventure.

In its beautiful expanse can be found vivid landscapes ranging from lush plains to arid deserts, from the rolling waves of the vast ocean to the frigid gales of the treacherous taiga, from miniature islands inhabited by unsightly fiends to massive continents home to architectural wonders; in every corner of Aquila is a treasure waiting to be found - and a tale longing to be told.

Unfortunately, the same can not be said of my native Voshe, a small island continent in the Gulf of Mes Raina sun-baked by day and frozen white by night. Underneath the torturous weather is a place torn asunder by poverty, anarchy, and bandit wars. In my home village of Pauper, by eventide, children gather by the campfire in the square to listen to the elders tell mournful tales of centuries-long oppression of the Oceanic people or some other hokey.

I, on the other hand, stay awake by candlelight into the wee hours of the morning mesmerized by epics telling of valiant heroes, vile tyrants, unthinkable treasures, and even the folly of gods good and evil. Amidst the tales, I escape into a world free of the boredom, hunger, and sorrow so pervasive on my island.

As I haphazardly toss "In The Heart of Kilran" into my crumbling bookshelf, I drift off wondering if I, myself, will one day be as beloved and admired as these mythical godslayers.

More importantly, I hope that I, like them, will one day be as free as the wind.