Everyone has lamented having to write a "story" for themselves, and I am no exception. I do not relish the idea of talking about myself, and do wish someone could say a few words on my behalf. However, the request for information has been phrased in the manner of a challenge. For that, and the respect I offer those Marenthan and Argentum, I will comply in my own hand.

I was born in the year 475 in the underground city of Kirishai, home of the dark elven Clan Bokenjen. My entire life I have spent trying to support my House rather than merely exist within its walls. I lived my infancy through two wars that stretched for decades each, once with an undead horde, and again with strange surface creatures, both conflicts that embroiled the entire city. My childhood was spent during some of the most brutal inter-house fighting House Tenshi has ever known. I am not a stranger to the conditions of war or battle (despite whatever I may wish) but nothing that I experienced could have prepared me for the... 'up close and personal' clashes of the Vale.

I had been studying within the Uchi Shinda, the Kirishai academy of Earth magics. Around the end of our studies there, a time of training is required of all studies. We must spend at least a year away from our respective Houses, learning and practicing to better ourselves. Some give themselves up to ceaselessly patrolling the Suramu, the unchecked section of the city. Many are employed by the other academies, mostly as healers. Through much effort, one can obtain permission for the time of training to consist of wandering the surface lands. That is how I came to be in Tyrangel, in the spring of 601.

It was fortunate that the caravan I traveled with passed by Stormbridge at the time of the gather, and gave me the opportunity to meet others. I knew that members of my House had ties to the County Marentha, but I was not expecting anything like what I found. Those of the County and the Barony alike were present, and I watched these individuals meld to and from a cooperative. Although having been raised in a like environment, I admit to having been somewhat jaded at first. With time I have come to feel it strongly; these are people who know a community to be more than those brought together by land or family or common cause or what have you.

It was during my first gather I became apprenticed to Sir Trevor Tenshi. Unsurprising it may seem, but in Kirishai we are rarely given such personal guidance, and I welcome the chance to learn more of Earth magics. Later that very year, I swore an oath of fealty to Baron Tiger de Danaan and joined the Barony of Argentum. It might not have seemed much of a swearing-in to others, and I wish I could say that I followed this with all that I am (in a sense, I do), but by then my oath was an afterthought. I am bound to Argentum and Marentha and all within by ties of honor the likes of which can never be given words. However, I will make my devotion felt.

Despite a wealth of experiences within one year, and a growing appreciation for some things 'surface', I have no intention of rushing ahead. My time of training has recently been extended, of which I am grateful for, but I much prefer to take this learning at my own pace. Of course, others will be glad to know that I do speak up more now, as opposed to being mistaken as perpetually under a Silence spell. There are so many things to be said that I do not want the words crowded.

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