The Story of Siolenas Darkleaf

by David LaSelle



A sage, withered by age, sits down at
an old oak table. In an unstable hand he writes: 
The future of this boy is to be unknown
even to the gods.  He takes a sip from
his canter and continues.

Siolenas
was born of a simple family of marauders and raiders. 
Then he pauses for a second and take breath
and whispers to himself, “If only this boy would grown up in a town
that
treasures magic instead of disdains it”. 




He continues to write: Valenar, he
writes, is a village that was used in the
great town, more or less a barrack for the neighboring kingdoms. style="">  They trained the elves that dominate that
town to do battle with a scimitar and bow instead by spell. He
sighs. Siolenas was born in this town and like many
in Eberon born with the wondrous gift of magic. 

Needless
to say, Siolenas was beaten and subjected to many forms of punishment,
that on
any good day that should have claimed his life. He often wishes it
would
have.   He
smiles to himself, and thinks, Siolenas
was strong and knew himself.  Siolenas
grew more disfigured by the day,
after many beatings, you could barely tell that he was an elf.

Siolenas
eventually took comfort within his beatings and the pain become he
source of
survival. Many nights Siolenas clung to his old tattered spell book to
do
nothing more then to memorize that one spell that could grant his
freedom.
Little did the fates defer, Siolenas would get his chance.

On
a chilling night, Siolenas conjured up a small fire out of air. style="">  The guards shaken by this act opened the gate
that prevented his retreat and restrained his freedom. 
The guard rushed with a clinched fist and
swung only and sent Siolenas stumbling to the floor, leaving a
distinguished
scar across his brow.



The sage took a drink from his
canter, and with a heavy sigh turned to his wife whom just entered the
room and
whispers, “I still recall the look of horror on the guards face, my
love” His
wife came over and hugged him closely, He continued to write, as his
wife eyes
followed silently:  Siolenas
regained his composer, and in only one swift move grasped the
guards hand with resolute and utters the spidery language. 
Sparks raised up the guards hands and coursed
through his veins until he became limp” 



His
wife whispers, “Which spell was that dear,”
and he replied, “Even though the spell was is only that of an
apprentice, in the hands of Siolenas it very well could have been one
of great
power.  They called that spell, “Shocking
Grasp”



The wife smiled, “At least the boy
finally stood up for himself”, but with a hollow smile the husband
replied,
“The effects of that one spell changed his composition forever”. style="">



The
force of the spell along sent Siolenas flying through the air and hit
the wall
with incredible force.  Weakened by the
spell along, Siolenas somehow managed to climb to his feet and claimed
the
guards bow and a few arrows.

Siolenas
limped out of his cell and heavy on breath and desperate for a rest, he
continues to duck in and out of doors and around the various tents that
made up
that encampment.   The
sage whispered, “What happened next not
even the wisest of scholars could have predicted”. 
He refills his pen and continues, a young guard just
introduced into the family
of marauders came across Siolenas, and rather unluckily I must. style="">  The guard not raises his sword and rushed
Sioleans.   He evaded the first attack
with ease and fellow to the ground awkwardly. 
The old sages sighs, and whispers,” Sometimes even the gods
can be
fickle you see what I am about to explain only I could see from my tend
window
as I bandaged up many of the wounded from the war.”



“As I was”,  Siolenas
notched an arrow and sent into the kidneys of the guard who fellow
weakened to
the floor.  The guard
begged and pleaded for his life as
Siolenas took his hand and utter that dark language, and once again
bolts of
lighting sprang from his hand into that guards body, but here's what
was
strange instead of incapacitating the guard 
 and killing him somehow
the currents back flowed
and brought Siolenas to his knees. 

The
guard reached for Siolenas neck this ill intentions of killing him only
to rip
his pendant by accident.  Tears flooded
down the guards face as he buried his face into the soft green grass. style="">  He whispers, “ I am sorry brother, if I would
have known before hand”

For
the first time sense Siolenas parents sent him off for his love of
magic. He
found family that day”  I rushed out
their immediately and ran to both of their aids.  Aniond
and myself took the wakened boy and
hid him well within a supple carriage that was heading to w:st="on">Freeport. style=""> 

The
effects of the spell backfire drained Siolenas of any extra strengths
and power
the dwelled within. The gods I can only defer decided that Siolenas
power could
not be used against his own blood and therefore stripped him of it. style="">  Even though Siolenas would have a good career
and possibly become a great wizard some day, He would have to do it
with his
own whims, not by powers that were given at birth.

As he signs the book with a
fluster, “Perhaps one day I would like to meet up with this lost child
and see
the man he grew into.”