It had been her thirteenth year, traveling across all of Krynn, it seemed, with her father. Her father had been a wise man, over three hundred years old when he died, as a traveling wizard without a real home. He had been exiled for his craft after the clan had been conquered. So, he had taken his daughter and travelled south, away from the cold hearth, and away from vicious Aoby, the red sand desert. The Aobics had conquered their people, had exiled their wizards and wise men, and forced their monotheistic ways upon the remnants. They were the enemy, but were still friends of the Hearthlanders.

The two had travelled south, across the deserts and oceans, to Anasalon, to Palanthas. At Palanthas they were greeted coldly by the locals, who mistrusted wizards with a passion. So they travelled further south, to Qualanesti, where the elves treated them with kindness, offered them succor and traded goods and spells with them. The elves respected the Hearthlanders, for they could see their dragonic heritage, unlike the citizens of Palanthas. There Talashar cast her first spell, a simple illusion spell, that blurred her outline, and made her appear to be a shade.

It was a good year, spring was nearly over when they left Qualanesti, to wander across the new continent, and their next stop was to be the quiet town of Solace.



On the road to Solace a man who claimed to be a priest stopped them and asked for aid. Talashar's father, being a good person, jumped to assist the preist, who had fallen into the ditch by the road. He leapt into the murky waters and lifter the man out, and pulled himself out with little effort. The man told them he was a priest of the god Belzor, lord of serpents. At this her father laughed and questioned the man thoroughly about Belzor, his worship and ways. Her father then began to speak of Paladine, and said that though he was silent, he was not forgotten by his people. The priest asked him then why he was a wizard if he also worshipped Paladine.

"Because, the two are not mutually exclusive," Her father smiled broadly, exposing his long dragonic fangs.

The man spoke to them for a while and night fell, the three sat around the fire, the men discussing religion, while young Talashar studied her spell book, hoping to learn the sleep spell soon.

The next morning the preist of Belzor offered her father a gift, a small leather bound book, with a strange metal spine. He told her father that it was a book detailing the worship of Belzor and how it related to magic users. Her father accepted the book, and bid the man farewell as he was off to Haven, and they to Solace.



During the daythey decided to leave the road and cut throught the trees, the quiet forest calming them both. Her father continously turned the book in his hands, examining the spine and covers, but not opening it. At lunch he turned to Talashar and smiled as they sat on a fallen log, on the outskirts of the valenwood forest.

"So, should we open it now, and see what this supposed god has to say about mages, my dear?" He paused and pulled out the book, "or shall we wait till we reach Solace?"

"Can we see it now, da?" She asked, excited about the mystery of the book.

"Alright." He set the book's spine in his left palm, as he always did with books, and opened the covers with his index finger.

A metallic click sounded from the book, and he stiffened, his hand filling with blood, he jerked ineffectivly at the book, andslumped sideways, his eyes rolling back.

"Da!" Talashar screamed, leaping down next to him, his body twitching as he lay, poisoned. Talashar did not recognize that it was poison, all she knew was that something bad had occured. She gripped the book, one hand on each end of the spine, cutting herself on the razor edge. She tore the book from his hand, but it was too late, the concentrated vemon that had been hidden in the spine had done its work, he was dying with no hope of salvation. He looked up at her for a final moment, his eyes blurring, his face showing that all his focus was in these final moments.

"My child, my daughter, go home beloved, the war is over." He whispered, his eyes rolling back and his body convulsed again.

Talashar felt the cobra fangs, which had been the method of delevery for the venom, dig into her little hands, the razor down the middle cut her palms. blood poured out onto the ground, staining her white robes red. She felt darkness overwhelm her and nothing more.