Changes: Tales of Nomad

My life began here, at the Village Edge.
Walls of stone were my home, but now they are all but gone.
Trees instead have taken my place.
The trees are not me.

A rune aflame hangs in the air east of me.
I lay beneath a dead thing, it's arms shield me from the sun's fury.
To my west a sapphire hangs in the night sky.

After I had made the streets my own, a man came to me with promises of even more power.
He took me to a place where magic is solidified into stones, varied and powerful.

My master lacked vision.
More interested in learning about souls than he was about harnessing their limitless power.
Soon I realised he was a chain weighing me down.
I needed power enough to vanquish him and I knew of only one place where I could harvest enough.

I had power and I had knowledge, but I knew that I could not defeat my greatest enemy, death.
I delved into forbidden lore and sought out in the darkest magical knowledge.

Necromancy, the mastery over death itself, seemed like the answer I sought and yet none possessed the knowledge I needed.
Finally I learned of a necromancer of great skill.

Imagine my disappointment to learn that he had lost the true faith and fallen to the worship of the Adversary.

Dragith Nurn had been a dead end. His corpse held no more secrets than any other and I returned to my research.
I learned of a new necromancer, a powerful being called Lucien.

I needed his attention and I know being his rival would earn more notice than being a sycophant.

I knew he was preparing a great attack and I would get his attention by standing against him.

I called the mahjarrat Lucien my master and he in turn treated me like a servant.
Whereas Oreb had taught me how to manipulate souls and even absorb their power, Lucien had kept all his greatest secrets of necromancy hidden from me.

But he had power, I could sense it.
Something external, an object of great potency and I desired it.
I knew I was no match for Lucien on my own and so I created a new means to empower myself, granting myself strength that would rival Lucien's own.

By sending the warriors forth to battle mighty avatars, I knew that their souls would be enriched.
Each death that befell them drained them of a portion of their soul and funneled it to me.

But Lucien was no fool and he learned of my actions.
He sent agents to face me, but none were a match.

None but one, an agent with strength enough to kill me.

But the power of the soul obelisk healed me enough to grant me my escape.
I went into hiding and the world changed.
The gods returned.

I needed information, I needed to know the new games the gods were playing.
So I sought out the Kinshra spymaster, hidden in the heart of the enemy.
In seclusion we spoke and to ease his ego I named him master.

My new master was weak and found himself corrupted by those he was sent to observe.
I no longer feel a loyalty for the god of my parents, but I cannot abide weakness.

I asked him to meet me near the place that he once called home and I asked him to tell me what he sees in the shadows below.
Death and blood he said.

He was right.

The world had changed and with it I discovered a new source of power.
Power that seemed to float from the very ground, it sustained and strengthened me.
I craved more and more of it.

In a place where the water itself was lethal, I devoured the divine energy that flickered around me.
There it was that my greatest foe finally caught up with me.

Death finally took me and for a moment all was lost.
Then we met again [player].

We always return to the beginning, to where it all started, don't we?