As the cloak of night embraces the road to Amberwatch in a romantic embrace. In the distant horizon the twin moons of Vinter and Thorn. Vinter dims pale as a polished bone and Thorn pulses red as a coal buried in ash. Their light dance across the road in long, shifting bands, catching on puddles of the frequent travelers, broken stone, and sweat-darkened flanks of horse.

The rhythmic cadence of a horse's hooves striking the earth resonates, echoing the celestial dance of twin moons ascending into the velvet cloak of night. With each pound of a hoof against the ground as the horse accelerates, their pace quickens to chase the twin moons. However, that's not the case, as the stillness of the night shatters under the weight of a colossal roar, a sound so menacing and fearsome it deafens the quiet sounds of the night.

The glint of light from the moons is caught on an exhausted figure clinging to the horse's back. Kaius Holloway clung to the saddle with an iron grip of a fearful man. His other hand pressed against his ribs, where his once elegant robes had gone black with blood.  The fabric still tries to show the elegance of fine travel robes, stitched with quiet enchantment and the kind of subtle warding a cautious arcane master wore. Now the robes of a begger one sleeve shreded and burned. His left boot flopping around like an awakened object speaking its first words. The brim of his steeple hat slashed, scorched, and looks like a milliner would have their work cut out with restoration. 

The weary rider looking back to see the location of the deafening roar. His eyes, widen with a primal fear, dart frantically across the velvet cloak of night, searching for the source of chaos. Hoping to see one of the four mercenaries he hired to join him on the journey from Aceitunas. However that wasn't the case. 

All that rushes into his head is the memories of the last two nights before. He recalled the note handed to him by Vincent "Vinton" Tonga a strange wound up gnome only an insane person could really understand. Kaius's understanding this note is an omen or congratulations but is is hard to tell with the riddles of Vinton. Kaius then hired a escort team of mercenaries from the mercenary guild in Aceitunas as the road to Amberwatch can be hazardous to ones life if traveling alone. The leader of this mercenary band was Captain Merris Vale, who only seemed to smile when sharpening his swords. Their archer Orren Pike wasn't known for his stealth as his laugh could wake the dead. Then there was Cleric Yvanna, a hedge-priestess with weathered hands and an iron holy symbol of Trithereon worn smooth from use. Lastly the greenhorn Pell, recently aloud to join the mercenaries guild but barely old enough to grow a proper beard. Pell insists on calling Kaius 'sir' no matter how often Kaius tells him otherwise. 

Their faces flash though Kaiu's memory however so does each one of their deaths. The dragon had come without a proper warning. One moment, the road had been peaceful of story telling and classic party banter. The next, the tress snapped and cracked as they had bent backward under a pressure not unlike a gale wind storm. A shape vast enough to blot out the moon Thorn and a shadow silhouette echoed with the border of blood red from Thorn behind. A dragon silhouette none the less. 

Merris seen the dragon first and shouted, "Down!"

Then came the blazing heat and light of the dragon's fire. 

Not the reddish orange of ordinary fire. These flames burned blue-white at the heart and green at the edges, hot enough to turn rainwater to steam before it touched the ground.  Orren's horse screamed and vanished into the blast.  Cleric Yvanna threw herself from the saddle and raise a shield of prayer that cracked like glass beneath the dragon's breath. Pell tried to ride between Kaius and the flame but ended up becoming the ash that covers Kaius robs on the back. Kaius remembered Pell's horse rearing. He also remembered someone shouting "RIDE!" Was it Merris, or Yvanna. All of them?  Then the dragon landed.

The earth buckled the cobblestone shattered. Trees splintered and snapped like old bones.  Moonlight ran along the scales the color of storm clouds and old iron.  Its wings dragged shadows across the road, and when it lowered its head, Kaius saw intelligence in its eyes, not hunger and not rage. The dragon had eyes of recognition. Kaius realized the dragon had come for the message. He didn't care who Vinton got the information from or not. he drove is heels into his horse and fled.

Behind him, Merris charged. Her war cry cut short by the snapping of a dragon's maw. Orren's arrows sang across the night sky like wipping weeds in the wind. The dragon just batted them down like a pesky flies. Then the chimes of a final prayer from Cleric Yvanna attempting to aid in Kaius's survival, it didn't provide much just seconds.

Kaius used every one of those precious seconds. He whispered the first magical ward as branches slashed at his face.  He burned a second magical ward when the dragon's shadow passed over him.  His third spell fizzled in his hands like the fiz from a carbonated drink. 

Kaius's horse stumbled and he nearly fell. The dragon came low behind him, jaws opening so close he swears to this day the he felt the dragon's tongue on his back. Kaius twisted in his horses saddle. Terror enhanced his vision to the point the world was in pieces: Thorn above the dragon's left wing, Vinter in the creatur's eye, his scroll case tied to his belt, and a half-amulet beneath his torn colar burning cold against his skin. 

"Not yet," he thought.

"Not this road. Not this beast. Noth with this message undelivered," internalized Kaius.

In a elegant movement he tore the amulet from beneath his robes and pressed his thumb against its broken edge. The pendant was only half a symbol: one side of a seven-spoked star circling a veiled eye, the metal split cleanly down the center as if it had once been part of a greater seal.  its surface was blackened silver, etched with runes so fine they could only be read when the moonlight and magic touched them at the same time.  To most, it woud have looked like a ruined charm. To those who knew the hidden fellowship within the Acadamy of Thorn'Adan, it was a key, an oath and a warning.

Kaius had not used it in twenty years. Yet now his pendant flared.

A shild of fractured starlight burst around the horse and rider just as the dragon released another breath attack. The world became an inferno of heat, screaming, and white flame.  The ward held for a heartbeat. Then another. Then finally on the third heartbeat it shattered. 

Kaius flew from the saddle.

He hit the road hard enough to empty his lungs. Pain exploded down his back. The scroll case cracked against his hip but did not break.  his horse bolted into the dark, reins snapping loose. 

Then the scrapping sounds of the dragon's claws on the cobble stone path grew louder as the dragon advanced. 

Kaius rolled onto his side, spitting up some his precious crimson, and one hand clawing at the mud.  The amulet smoked in his palm. its broken edge had cut him. His blood filled the old runes, and for the first time in two decades the secret symbol answered fully.  

A voice that was not a voice rang inside his skull. "Deliver the message of the old gnomes omen."

Kaius laughed, as the sound of the voice broke him halfway out of his daze.

He replied, "Easy for you to say." Just as the dragon lunged.

Kaius lifted both hands. his eyes ignited with a hard blue light. 

"It's not my time to die!" he roared into the monster's open jaws. "It's yours, you bastard!" 

Magic lashed out of Kaius hands and amulet. It wasn't a clean spell, nor proper working ritual with chalk, study, and discipline. It was panic harnessed by training, grief sharpened by rage, and every surviving thread of Kaius Holloway's will turned into force. Bolts of arcane light slammed into the dragon's face, throat, and wing joints. One struck its eye. Another burst against the roof of its mouth.

The dragon reconciled, shirking. Then the world went dark. Kaius only remembers the sound of a horse and seeing the faint glow of Vinter and Thorn, before the world goes blank in sound and color.

"Mister...Mister...are you okay?" says a little girl.

"....," Kaius ignores the girl.

"Mister, are you dead?"

That was harder to ignore.

He opened one eye.

A little girl stood over him with her hands on her hips. She could not have been more than ten, though the wary tilt of her chin suggested she had seen enough of the world to distrust that number. Her hair was tied back with two different ribbons, neither of which matched. One of her boots had a hole near the toe. The other looked too large for her foot.

Behind her, morning had broken over Amberwatch.

The shoreline glittered with pale light. Wooden docks stretched into fresh water that moved gently beneath mist. Boats knocked softly against their moorings. Gulls screamed overhead with the offensive confidence of creatures who had not spent the night being hunted by a dragon.

Kaius groaned.

The girl leaned closer. 'That means not dead, I think.'

Groggily, the blood-tattered man looks up at this joyful little girl with a glaze of death.  He says in an incoherent mutter, "I'm fine. Where am I."

'Amberwatch, mister.'

He closed his eye again. 'Good.'

'You don't look good.'

'I meant the location.'

'You look like something chewed you and then changed its mind.'

Kaius gave a weak laugh, then regretted it immediately. Pain tore through his ribs, hot and sharp.

The smell of water hit him then.

Fresh water. Mud. Fish. Morning rain on old wood.

His mouth went dry with need. He pushed himself up on one elbow and nearly collapsed back into the dirt.

The girl stepped forward. 'You should not stand.'

'I agree.'

Then he stood anyway.

The world tilted.

The girl grabbed his sleeve, which was brave of her, considering the sleeve had very little structural integrity left.

'You're bleeding,' she said.

'I had noticed.'

'You're bleeding a lot.'

'I had noticed that too.'

'Do adults always ignore obvious things?'

'Only when children are correct.'

That earned him a suspicious look.

The man gets off the ground, his horse nowhere in sight, and walks to the shoreline.  He throws his head into the water to clean his bloodied face and takes a drink. He didn't mind the copper taste of the water as he was so parched and exhausted from his travels.  He then approaches the little girl, hands her one gold piece, and says, "Thanks for the wake-up call; I have another gold piece for you if you know where I can find Gildra Almentas and Tythos Veabrid."

The little girl looked like she was in deep thought and said, "Oh, umm, they would be near the tower." So the man tossed her not just one piece of gold but also one piece of platinum. He said, "Keep the gold for yourself, but feed the urchins and the vagabonds with the other."

Gobsmacked and surprised by this destroyed man's generosity, she quickly did what she was told. While doing so, she started to wonder who this man was.

After being so generous, the man tries to stand a bit taller and decides to head in the direction the little girl gave him.  As he stretched for the first time this morning, a sharp pain ran down his back and caused him to hunch over while walking. It was not the most graceful way to wake up in the morning, but at least he was alive. While he was walking to the tower, he attempted to recall the evening's events.

The earliest thing I remember is a missive arriving via blood hawk to the tavern he was in while staying in Aceitunas. The in-keeper asked, "Is there a Kaius Holloway present tonight?" "Well at least I remember I traveled to Amberwatch because of a missive i received, now where did i put it." while Kaius started patting his person down looking for the missive he received. He started feeling strange looks while walking, talking, and padding down like a madman. Then he realized and asked, "Where are my hat and books?" He quickly darted back to where he had left the little girl and noticed his book open to the elements and his big bounty hat developing his book to prevent pages from flying every which way.  "Aw, thank you, goddess of magic, that I am safe," said Kaius.

He picked up his belongings and returned to the tower to find Gildra and Tythos. While walking to the tower, he picked up the missive and started to read. The missive read:

In the world of Stendaaris, where the veil between the celestial and infernal realms thins, a prophecy was whispered on the lips of both angels and demons alike. It spoke of a child born under the confluence of opposing forces, a beacon of balance in a world teetering on the brink of chaos. This child, the prophecy foretold, would possess the power to either bridge the eternal divide or become the harbinger of an unending rift.

Kaius read this numerous times and still can't believe what is happening. He had to deliver an omen or prophecy to an old friend. He knew with a bit of magical foresight that the house he needed to knock on was the elegant but quaint house with all the different colors. Kaius knocked on the door and shouted, "Tythos, my old friend, are you home?" Moments passed, and Kaius knocked again and said, "Miss Almentas, are you home?" Still no answer. So Kaius waited on the stoop for someone to come home. 

After what seemed like an eternity, Kaius bolts up in extreme pain. "Ow, why, what bastard kicks a sleeping person?"  A mysterious voice returned, "One that doesn't want migrant dock dwellers crashing on their property!" After Kaius heard that, he looked at the man and said, "Tythos, is that you?" In return, the mysterious voice replied, "I am indeed Tythos, but I don't recognize you!" "Aw, yes, yes, that is probably so. Let me ask this then: how long has it been since you had the other half of this pendant?" Kaius said while pulling out a perfectly broken-in-half pendant. Tythos replied shockingly, "What! It can't be you. I saw you get killed!" I should have known you probably had some divine way of escaping like always, but why not show up for twenty years, my friend?"

Kaius stood up, grasped his dear old friend, and whispered, "I indeed had a way out via divine methods; however, that isn't why I am here. I am here because your life is about to change for the better, if not a little troublesome."

Tythos replied, "What do you mean?"

Well, the goddess of magic has pestered my brain again with another divine prophecy, and this time, I couldn't shake how closely it resembled yours and Miss Almentas's union," answered Kaius.

"What do you mean by that now, you sly and bloodied fox? Oh my goodness, Kaius, get in the house and clean yourself up, and remember you don't have to be so formal around me. You can call me Gildra," replied a very graceful female, Aasimar, with a vibrant robe that flutters like a kaleidoscope of dreams as she walked past Kaius and opened the door for him. She holds the door open with a radiant smile and says to Tythos, "A day we are visited by ghosts."

Kaius entered the house and was amazed by the decor, which had so many shades of color that could normally only be seen with the use of magic. In the amazement and shock of the color, Kaius was handed a wet rag from Tythos. Meanwhile, Gildra went and gathered the medical kit.

"Now, Kaius, how did you come to be so beat up and almost lifeless-looking? " Gildra asked.

"It looks like you really did die twenty years ago and just magically arrived here today! Wait, you didn't, did you? I wouldn't be surprised if you did such a thing," said Tythos.

"Nah, I was just attacked by a dragon while coming into the city last night. However, I do not remember how I actually got to town, though. Last i remember was riding a horse and causing as much chaos on that dragon as I could. Then it went black and was kicked awake by an urchin girl near the docks, answered Kaius. "But this isn't why I came. I came to deliver this." Kaius hands over the missive he received just a few days ago and was quite surprised by the contents."

As Tythos and Gildra read the missive, they started to exchange looks as they read. They looked at Kaius, the missive, and back to each other. Gildra finally said "Well i was going to tell you at dinner tonight but yes we are expecting and it seems the gods have plans for our daughter as well." Tythos looked at her and tried to respond but finally said, "You mean our son, correct?"  "It's to early to tell," replied Gildra, "i just have a feeling."

"Well, my mission is over, my dear friends. Come back and visit at the next arcanium summit," said Kaius. The friends departed with great conversations and joyous memories and lived once again. As the night turned to the sadness of a friend leaving again, it quickly became a joyous event as Gildra confirmed she was expecting some time in Necromay. Kaius vowed he would return, but only if necessary.

The woman, a descendant of the celestial beings known for their unwavering grace and light, and the man, bearing the infernal mark of his ancestors, found love in the shadow of prejudice. Their union, frowned upon by many, was destined to fulfill the ancient foretelling. This is truly how Gildra and Tythos felt alienated by the people of Amberwatch because of their unique union and how magical this pregnancy actually turned out to be.

On the 21st of Necromay, under a sky where shooting stars danced with the northern lights, Ascelin Joy Veabrid was born. The moment she drew her first breath, the air shimmered with magic unseen, and the tattoos adorned her shoulders glowed with a soft, ethereal light. These marks, a blend of celestial elegance and infernal strength, were the first sign that the prophecy was not merely a tale spun by the old to entertain the young.

The news of her birth spread like wildfire, reaching the secluded corners of Stendaaris. Some saw her as a symbol of hope, a promise of unity and peace. Others, fearful of change and the power she might wield, whispered darkly of the need to control her fate.

As Ascelin grew, so too did her powers. Her parents, keenly aware of their daughter's weight, taught her the virtues of both heritages. They spoke of the light and darkness within her not as a curse but as a gift that, if balanced, could lead to greatness.

But the prophecy remained ambiguous, its true meaning shrouded in mystery. Would Ascelin be the one to mend the world's rifts, or would her existence provoke a divide too vast to bridge? The answers lay hidden within the fabric of her being, waiting for the day she would step forth to claim her destiny.

As the moons continued their eternal dance, and the realms watched with bated breath, Ascelin Joy Veabrid's journey began. It would traverse the depths of magic, challenge the essence of her soul, and test the bonds of love and loyalty.