"This crew wants not a tale of myth, nor even one of love! This arcane lore they push away, this horror tale they shove! For a history, they will not sit. For a mystery...they lack the wit.

"So no such stories will they hear, for such would fail to bring them cheer. The tale I'll tell—I tell it true—is one of war, and heroes too!

"A tale of battle, champions bold, of fire bolts and blasts of cold. Of swords and axes, stealth and spells, that's the tale that I shall tell! Now listen close, attend and hear of guard and knight, of lance and spear!

"So grab a drink! Equip a plate! For this story shall be great. It contains giants, aye, forsooth, and dragons sharp of claw and tooth! It tells of wizards, fighters too, of priests and rogues there are a few! Prince and princess, king and queen, all these people shall be seen. It boasts of armies, monsters, war, and lest you doubt, aye, there is more. Adventure! Glory! Victory!

"And last and least, it contains me.

"For as in all the tales I tell, I play a part—I play it well! But this story is not mine, so on myself I'll spend scant time. More interesting, says my Muse, are those that I shall introduce. The tale is theirs; I only act, I swear to thee upon this fact. But now about what you might hear: rest assured and never fear, for what mine eyes have failed to see, my fartruths have revealed to me. With mental probe and scrying spell, and divinations cast quite well, I know of things I did not view, and all these things I'll tell to you.

"These revelations shall be thine—but only given in due time. Beginnings first, and last the end, is how these stories often bend. Did our heroes live or die, best their foes or fail to try? I'd tell you now but that's bad art, to tell the end before the start. You soon shall learn of which side wins—because the story now begins!"

--Fauvial Elegere, Tenjin Bard/Diviner.