Life of Alhaani (book)
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The Life of Alhaani
-Onlakh Hhsrant, Saar'adu'hhssho
=========================================
It is with a heavy heart that I, Onlakh Hhsrant,
twenty-first Master of the Warrior Mage Tower of the
Sun's Egg, write these words describing the life -- and
death -- of Alhaani ner'ha'Tlanhh.
It is unusual that the life of one guildleader should be
laid down by another, but these are unusual circumstances.
It has become clear now that Alhaani's unfortunate death
did not end her time with us. Her tortured shade now lurks
in the halls where the living lady once walked. We are told
that the events that led to her suicide are so deeply rooted
in this very tower that it would be impossible to banish her
from it. It is possible that she may never be freed.
I must apologize to the reader if I seem to dwell on these
things overmuch. Many tears have I shed over Pohoju'ludan
Alhaani's death, for, before she... fell... she was my most
revered teacher, and -- dear friend.
Never will you hear of a mage more dedicated to our art --
and this, sadly, was her undoing. That one who lived in such
professional excellence as she should suffer so -- she who
should have been celebrated as one of the greatest of our order --
has instead come to such tragedy, sickens the heart and fills
one with a rage against fate and Hav'roth's will.
But such rage is not befitting one of my station, and be
assured that I am a pious man. Perhaps, then, before relating
the events surrounding my august mistress's death, I will tell
of her life. It is fitting.
Even as an untried youth, Alhaani's masters saw the greatness
that would be hers. It is said that she summoned her first
familiar -- a huge white crow she called Dshaan -- at the tender
age of ten years old. Due to the loss of so much information
prior to the formation of the Empire we are unable to determine
whether any had summoned a familiar at a younger age, but I would
find such hard to believe.
By age fifteen Alhaani had mastered every known spell in the Fire
book, having greatly idolized that comrade of the founder of this
guild -- her many-times great-grandfather Hhshalhh -- the human
Arhat, called the Fire Lion. I am told that she spent much time
in Arhat's Garden (whose official title, as you know, is the
Fire Garden, but it is said that Arhat spent much time there
when visiting his friend after the creation of the southern
five provinces). There, Alhaani spoke with the elementals.
Whether this was what led to her later discoveries, I cannot
know, but it would seem to follow.
When she turned eighteen she had mastered the Air, Earth,
and Electricity books -- electricity having been only recently
rediscovered at this time. The Water book she shunned, saying
that one so connected with the elementals of Fire had no
business mucking about in puddles. It is evident, therefore,
that her relationship with the creatures of Fire
was in fact quite deep.
It was during her studies in the Earth arts that she met another
mage, a caretaker of the Earth garden who had made a pilgrimage
from Ratha to study the Elanthian mainland, in the garden one day.
Then, as now, the elementals told their tales to any who would
provide them comfort, and Talhaan, as was often his wont, had
become distracted by one. He stood, leaning upon a rake,
listening intently.
I am told that it happened this way.
"Don't listen to him, he has rocks for brains." The comment was
made playfully and in passing as Alhaani moved to gather a bundle
of a particular herb that Dshaan favored. Talhaan at that
moment looked up, the expression of fascination still alive
on his features. It captured Alhaani, as she saw in him the
wonder and passion that she herself nurtured and cherished in the
elemental arts.
Within a year, the two had married. Talhaan's regard for the Earth
element had quite an effect on Alhaani -- she, as one with such
a powerful thirst for all knowledge, was easily swayed by one
whom she so respected, and it was probably due to Talhaan that
she did not become a pure Fire mage as a follower of Arhat. It
has been suggested that, had she so focused, she may have come
to equal or even surpass the legendary Fire Lion in power.
As was expected of her, Alhaani became Guildmistress of the
Muspar'i Guildhall. She and Talhaan pleased the family by producing
three children, the oldest of whom showing signs of fulfilling
the vast potential that was to be Alhaani's legacy to him. But
there the pair's fortune ended.
After the glow and newness of a husband and family dimmed,
Alhaani returned to her old restlessness and thence to her studies.
She spent days on end without setting foot outside the Relic Room,
having artifacts from across the world brought to her there at
great expense. And all the while her husband and children
made ends meet, but lived with a gaping hole in their lives that
would never be healed. The children grew up without a mother, and
if not for the unfaltering vigilance and love of their father,
they may have drifted away into the world, destroying the hereditary
legacy of the Hhsrant line of Guildmasters.
Finally, though, with his children grown and the void in his soul
spreading increasingly, Talhaan could take no more. You see, the
passion that he had once held for the Earth element had been
transferred when he found Alhaani, into a passion for his wife --
one that would in at least one critical way always remain unrequited.
To Alhaani's defense, he gave no visible sign of his distress, though
all in the Tower save Alhaani knew that something -- and they were
helpless to stop it -- was gravely amiss.
On the night that shattered us all, Talhaan walked quietly up to
the Relic Room and said only softly, "Alhaani, please come down.
I have prepared a special meal for us." Alhaani responded distractedly,
though her exact words have been lost to time.
When, three anlaen later, Alhaani did descend, the damage had already
been done. Talhaan, lost in his deep depression and pain, had
ingested greenthorned desert rose -- a fast, deadly poison. When
Alhaani found him in their quarters, he had fallen into a sleep
from which there would be no awakening.
Alhaani, at that moment, seemed to awaken from a long daze. The
shriek of unrelieved, spirit-rending agony she gave voice to at
that moment of realization sent me running to their chambers --
but when I found the Guildmistress, she had retreated far back
into herself, and could not be reached.
We tended her as best we could, but for weeks she would respond
to nothing, taking food and drink perfunctorily, and it seemed
not to nourish her. It was a dark time for the Tower Council,
and we despaired of what to do.
It was on my watch that Alhaani finally came back to reality. Who
could know that a S'Kra in her state and at her age could move
so swiftly? Near sunset, she suddenly leapt upward from bed and,
in eerie silence, made a mad dash for the staircase. I tried
to stop her, but, Hav'roth forgive me, I was not fast enough!
I reached the Solarium, where Alhaani had fled, just in time to
see her perform a series of mad gestures. With a roar of fury,
a massive, angry Air elemental thundered into being. It shattered
the glass of the Solarium and rocked the Tower on its foundation.
For myself, I clung for dear life to the staircase as the world
was ripped asunder around me.
After a few scant moments that felt like an eternity, the mad
elemental swept out into the desert, carrying the Guildmistress
with it. However, her spirit, ripped by elemental force from
her body, remained behind. The elemental, furious and devoid
of a commanding mage, fragmented -- and what remains of it, we
believe, is what now causes the ferocious desert storms that
roll across the sands and rearrange the dunes separating Hvaral
and Muspar'i.
The guild passed into mourning, and closed the chapter of
Alhaani's leadership. A search party was sent out to retrieve
the body, and after some weeks scouring the desert they did in
fact find it -- ravaged and pale, her once lustrous black scales
dulled to a deathly grey. They set her to rest next to Talhaan
in the Hall of Masters.
The rest is as you know it. Alhaani's spirit remains in this hall,
seeming to pervade all we do. In time we are told that she may
fade into a mere remnant, but for now it is almost as if she never
left. I myself lead the guild with what meager abilities I possess,
though I believe it will be some time before this stigma passes
from our Tower, if it ever does.
By my hand,
Onlakh Hhsrant, Saar'adu'hhssho
Firstborn son of Alhaani and Talhaan
Arhat 241