Nalenthi's Lament

Ciri sighs, "It's always Avallac'h, isn't it..."

Reima shrugs, "The dude got around in his lifetime, isn't surprising he influenced your Ancestors."

Ciri shakes her head, "Let's read on, maybe there's something about the White Frost within it." she says, continuing to read the journal.

"With my teacher's disappearance, I dedicated myself to the pursuit of knowledge, trying to master any magic I could get my hands on. Slowly my fame began to grow, news of my strength and abilities had apparently reached the leaders of countries who wanted to make use of me. Some even suspected that I held the Elder Blood, making me a prime target to produce heirs, or some I'm told... Soon enough there was nowhere I could run, every country knew me and wished to capture me.

I was fed up with people at this point and wanted to be left alone... I used my abilities to appear within the desert to the east. With magic it wasn't difficult to life there in peace, I'd created an artificial oasis where small amounts of wild-life had begun to live... I do not know how many years I spent there, but I'd focused almost entirely on my studies, achieving many great insights in my seclusion.

But, as always, my peace was broken... A dehydrated traveller who was almost dead had found my Oasis. After throwing himself into the water, taking heaving mouthfuls and passing out I was left with many options to deal with them. Thoughts of killing them or teleporting them out of the desert flashed with my mind, but, something stayed my hand... Was it loneliness? Or boredom? I still do not have the answer, I allowed the man to temporarily stay.

His name was Adalvin, a simple peasant that'd escaped the razing of his village by fleeing into the desert. He had blonde hair and blue eyes, something you'd not commonly see in this region, of course, with my appearance I'd be remiss to say anything.

At first I found the man annoying... His bumbling attempts at making conversation, cleaning up, preparing food, or anything else for that matter had me almost throw him out a number of times. Unfortunately, the void that my former teacher had left within me had made me more receptive to his advances than I had expected.

I found I was pregnant not long after, and, Adalvin was nowhere to be seen... As if he'd vanished from the face of the earth. I was, furious. I unleashed my magic in a fit of rage, creating storms of fire than turned my Oasis to dust, and melted the nearby sand into glass. To this day desert Nomads visit the "Glass Shrine", they believe that a dragon had created it with its breath... I've chosen not to interfere with their beliefs.

I searched for Adalvin for months, using every magical and non-magical method I knew... To no avail, its as if he was abducted to another world, or simply annihilated by a godly being. Eventually, I had to stop my search as my child was coming... I didn't trust anyone to help me give birth without clamping Dimiritium shackles on me during my moment of vulnerability, or stealing my child. And as such, I chose to perform the procedure myself.

It, did not go well... Despite all the planning and precautions I took, there was a limit to what I could do by myself. As I was giving birth my child umbilical had wrapped around their neck, suffocating them... I could feel their life-force waning and felt as if my soul was going to tear itself apart, the thought of losing my child causing me unimaginable pain...

It cried out for the gods to help me, to save my child, for Avallac'h, for anything... It was then, that He, appeared... I must note, that this is my third attempt to recount the details, every time I write his name the journal would burst into flames, and such, I will refrain from attempting to refer to him by any known alias.

The being that looked like a man stood there with a small smile that didn't extend to his eyes... It should have noticed something was off about him, but the physical pain of labour and emotional pain of losing my child had made me almost delirious... He offered to save my child, in exchange for one request. He didn't specify it at the time, but I wasn't able to refuse.

I agreed without hesitation, something that still haunts me to this day. My child was successfully birthed, and I passed out from physical, emotional, and magical exhaustion... That was the last time I saw my child, I had yet to even give him a name before he disappeared from my arms...

Again, I was alone... When I awoke I was in a panic, trying to find my lost child even with the post-labour weakness I was experiencing. The being who I'd made a deal with, stood nearby watching me, I accused him of stealing them, but they told me he hadn't done it, and that he was unable to lie... Somehow, I believe him, even more so when he described a man appearing inside of the room and taking my child from my arms.

When pressed for information he described a man who looked identical to my former teacher, Avallac'h... It seemed, I had been betrayed. A few days after learning this I attempting to find my former teacher, but was stopped by the being... It wanted to make it's one request.

I was to be its agent, the being had difficulties manifesting in the physical realm... And wanted me to find a power source which would allow it to bypass its limitations. I wish I hadn't, but, in order to keep my child safe from him, I did as I was told. I needed to accomplish the task set for me, but I didn't know where to start... So, I began at the most powerful thing I knew of... The Elder Blood.