Dantia/Stories/For the Sake of the World

"They would function, incomplete in their full potential, for the sake of the world that needed their touch," Dantia reads, reciting the words quietly, her voice further dampened by the weight of formality in this place of study and research.

She slips a folded piece of parchment between the pages of the book and folds the cover closed. The light from the nearest window has weakened enough that it's difficult to make out one word from another, which was a sure sign that she should call it a day. Pressing one hand to the floor she pushes herself up off of the stone ground and rises to her feet. She had always found herself more at ease on the floor, free to spread her books across the ground in front of her so that she could more easily check and cross-reference one against another. It was becoming tiresome, this double and triple checking, but something nagged at the back of her mind that what she was after might just be found in a tiny, overlooked detail.

Maybe this was a fool's errand, she thought to herself for the millionth time. There had been thousands of Empaths who had come before her and no doubt hundreds of hands who had held these same books. What could she possibly hope to find that they had not? But her questions loomed large and despite her best efforts they overshadowed her daily activities until they were nearly all consuming. She slides the book carefully back into the open slot along the bookshelf, fingers absently tracing over the title embossed in the spine; "Kahlo: A Student's Primer".

"For the sake of the world," she repeats with a wry twist to her lips. Her parents had said something similar to her when they realized the strength of her Empathetic tendencies. She would be a healer, a helper, a servant to the adventurers who protect our lands, "for the sake of the world." But now that she was here, housed within the Crossing Empath Guild undergoing her formal training, she wasn't sure how much of that she believed anymore.

Perhaps it had been her sister's fault. Kyssandra had been their parent's first child, with a wild streak a mile wide and a hundred fathoms deep. As it was told to Dantia, who came many years later, Kyssandra had been called to the forest from her very first steps and as she grew older she would disappear for days, weeks, months, and finally years at a time, only returning home to ensure their parents were well. Although Kyssandra and Dantia had always shared a sisterly, if distant, love, their upbringings had been very different and where Kyssandra had found her identity, Dantia had been given hers. It was a point Kyssandra had made to her on several occasions, especially now that Dantia was out from under the watchful eyes of their parents and had a modicum of freedom. As much as the Guild would allow, anyway. She would challenge Dantia to explain what she was learning from the Guild, and why. She would ask, "How is this improving you, not just shaping you into a tool for someone else's use?"

Dantia bites down on her lower lip. She had run through this course of thought a thousand times, and at every end she found she could not blame Kyssandra. In fact, Kyssandra had cared that Dantia was working toward a future she actually wanted before Dantia even had. So no, it was not fair to blame Kyssandra for shining light where Dantia had not even known there was darkness. But she was why Dantia found herself in this library, scouring the books looking for thoughts, ideas, answers to questions that she had not even formed yet. And after months of research she had found... well, something... in this small, darkened section at the back of the room. A few books neatly arranged one beside the other, no different than any of the other dozens of shelves lining the bookcases and walls.

The first was "Jomays Story," a retelling of the rise and fall of Khalo'rae'Fand Jomay Maveinelei, who used an ability called Shifting to escape capture for her accused crimes. This was followed by the story of Trylaine, one of the First Empaths, who reemerged from seclusion to teach how to Manipulate the friendship of creatures. In Dantia's years of training at the Guild, in her countless lessons, and dozens of conversations with her Guild Leaders, her tutors, her elders, these abilities had not only been withheld from her, but outright denied when asked about. It was then that she understood. The Guild was not her beacon of ultimate knowledge, progression, and strength. It was another force tying strings to her hands, molding her abilities and aptitudes to fit their needs, for their use. And Dantia made a decision that day, one that would forever shape the rest of her life.

She takes a deep breath and pushes herself forward, crossing the length of the library with a renewed sense of purpose. As she pushes open the door and crosses back into the outside world she repeats the phase again to herself. "For the sake of the world, I will not be used."

The following article contains player-created lore or theories. It is not necessarily an accurate reflection of official game lore.