I have existed as long as this land;

As long as liquid fire gave it form,

As long as the wind danced across the sky,

As long as the waves crashed against the shore,

As long as the earth stood firm,

Since the dawn of my existence, I have been a witness to all events that have occurred on this isle.  My memory cannot fade, so I can easily recall every heated argument, every momentous birth, every tearful reunion, every devastating war, and every precious life.

I saw division, pain, conflict...; all one would expect to see with the emergence of varying cultures on an island landscape. In time, a rift formed among factions of one race, the one that I probably favored above the others. One left the island forever, going to the southwest. The other two sub-groups left the plains that had been their home, going west and south. The combination of magic from within themselves and the magic of this island altered their bodies to suit their new homes. Instead of having wings, they had fins or the stranger trait of being one with the trees.... Literally.

At this time, I was contacted directly for the first time in my life. Another race had been watching from the sidelines as well. In speaking with them I'd learned these strange warm-blooded lizards with wings had been forced to flee their homeland because of persecution. They called themselves dragons. After a short time, the dragons revealed themselves to the remnants of my long favored race, and in turn, exposed me. My sanctuary at the island's heart saw the light of day for the first time when the leader of this race were brought to me by the dragons.

I had grown weary of isolation and bound myself to the bloodline of the race's leader. They called themselves the Gaelmorians. I had never chosen a name for myself, but I could think of none better to choose in the spirit of this pact than a variation such as Gael. The conditions of the pact would bind me to as a servant to the royal family, who I marked with a sign of out pact. I'd watch over and aid them, and in exchange I finally received freedom. Now, I was no longer confined to my earthen prison. I could travel anywhere on the island, in any form I desired.

The royal line wished to unite all the races of the island under one rule. I was hesitant, knowing the races would be reluctant to follow them without a good reason, but the argument presented by young Terik was a good one. They would all benefit from the alliance.

I went to speak with my kin in hopes they would use their influence with the races to give support to the idea. My brothers and sisters hadn't seen me in ages. Some have never seen me at all. When I appeared before my brother, the fire spirit, in his home, he was immediately suspicious of me. There was no fire in the cavern that --

Pardon, I became caught up in my own story. In short, my siblings and I helped work out an alliance between the six races. As a sign of their alliance to the Gaelmorian King, Terik the leaders of the other races joined their resources to make a blade worthy of his position.

Under the rule of Terik and his descendants, the land flourished. The kingdom's influence grew over the ages until it was a mighty empire. As outsiders began coming to the island and having families with the Gaelmorians, the wings they held dear began to slowly disappear. Out of fear, the ruler at the time, Raina, forbid the marriage of pure bloodlines to those of outsiders. With this poorly made choice, Gaelmoria began to decline.

It was not long after, only a few generations, when a traveling group of entertainers came to the land during the reign of Queen Daelyte. There was a dancer among the troupe by the name of Myrna. She immediately caught the attention of the late King's only son and heir, Luminus.

Over a year passed, and the Prince spent more and more time in the dancer's company. His mother had engaged him to a spoiled noblewoman the same age as himself. They did not like each other in the least, but in the Queen's mind, being pure Gaelmorian was enough.

When Luminus approached his mother about breaking his engagement with the unwanted betrothed, his mother was outraged at the very suggestion. The noble woman was thrilled at the idea of being freed from the engagement but Daelyte ordered her son from the throne room in disgust with the words, 'I will not permit you to sully our bloodline!'

Following several attempts on Myrna's life by the queen, Prince Luminus fled the land with the dancer and two of his most trusted servants.  Since I had done nothing to stop the escape of her son and his companions, the queen decided to punish me with the thing I feared most: being sealed back into the crystal I had been liberated from by the first Gaelmorian king. You may think that such a fate would not be so bad, especially since I had endured it once before, but this was hardly the same as my first imprisonment. When Daelyte sealed me, every emotion I possess, even my very personality, was suppressed to the point that I was little more than a mindless puppet. In the depths of my very being, I wept the first time she used my power against the people I treasured.

The Queen soon progressed from controlling her family's lives to controlling those of her people. Her tyranny knew no bounds and as her reign continued the state of the kingdom worsened. She sent her best spies and assassins after her runaway son in hopes of returning him, but they were all unsuccessful in their efforts. There was no sign of the Prince, his love, or servants for fifteen long years. I would later learn that this was when a fearsome storm engulfed the waters around the small island of Lanura. A sailboat with six passengers was sunk in the storm. The only survivors were two adolescent girls, who lost their parents in the storm.

And that is here the real story begins....