There have been many great explorers and adventurers in the days of yore. Immortalized through epic tales and thrilling plays. The best have mountains, or seas, or even nations named after them. But the very best, the ones that truly saw the unseen. Who crossed the uncrossable. Who few and far between who achieve true greatness. They are become something more.

Myth, or legend.

They become, gods.

Now, this is the story of one such explorer.

But not of his rise to godhood. No, there are enough of those littering your opera houses and libraries already.

No, this is the tale of his beginning. And it has never been told before.

So gather round, and listen well.

To the Ballad of Remier Grace.

*****

Born was he, in the distant mountains of Feldfar.

Home of giants and great warriors. Leaders of warbands and conquest.

Feldfar was the name of both the great silver capital upon the mountain, and the nation itself

And in the silver city, on the red mountain, in a humble inn.

He, was born. Remier Grace, a name as unusual to the brutish Feldfarians as was the boy himself.

Short, where they were tall.

Fair, where they were swarthy.

Weak, where they were strong.

And Strong, where they were weak.

From his early days Remier was an outcast.

Cast from his home to die upon the cruel mountainside.

But Remier was loved by the world.

Spirits of the fire brought him food, and warmed him through the cold nights.

Spirits of the wind told him bedtime tales, teaching him the virtues of wit and wisdom.

Spirits of the mounain guided his first steps, and told him of old secrets.

Spirits of the river sang to him, and taught him all their forgotten songs.

Remier grew, as all young do.

What he lacked in height me made in mirth.

What he lacked in martial skill he made in musical gifts

What he lacked in family he made with friends.

Time passed, and soon word of the silver haired bard of Feldfar spread.

Distant courts sought to have him play for them.

Princesses sought his poems and sonnets with unseemly excitement.

Dukes and Princes sought to hire him into their retinue.

Remier was the most influential man in all of Feldfar by age 17.

But this did not please him.

The crowds swarmed his house and favorite places.

Seeking to hear his lovely voice and wonderous melodies.

But they scared away his Spirit-friends, whom he sought to play for.

So Remier went further and further into the wilds.

To play for his friends, and to share his joy with them.

It was here, far from the lands of civilized men.

That Remier met the Spirit of Love.

None know how the Spirit appeared to him.

But all know the depth of his feelings for the Spirit.

Remiers song, The Tiny World, was written for her.

In it He promised her his everything.

It is stilled played to this day as one of the greatest love songs ever penned.

But, as is the case with all great people, trouble arose.

When Remier played her his song, The Spirit of Love merely laughed.

For, as she told him, Love belonged to everyone.

And so she could not be his alone as he desired.

Remier was heartbroken, but understanding.

Rather than trying to make all the Love in the world his.

He set out to spread Love to all. In accordnce with her wishes.

And so the Spirit of Love traveled with him.

Finally settling down in his home in Feldfar

But one day, a great evil befell Feldfar.

The red mountain was struck down.

The silver city reduced to dust.

Remiers friends were slaughtered.

And the Spirits who raised him devoured.

Including the Spirit of Love.

And the gentle bard swore revenge.

A dark forest grew upon his former home.

Nothing living or well dwelled under those grim branches.

Great warrior charged in, only to vanish among screams

Remier knew he was no match for the evil in martial might.

So Remier called upon his greatest assets.

His voice, and his friends.

He Shouted his pain.

And the Spirits of Earth and Fire awoke.

Tearing apart the lands around the darkness.

He Screamed his hatred and wrath.

The spirits of Earth and Wind rallied to him.

And surrounded the darkness in a wall of blades.

Unable to spread the darkness roiled in fury.

Clashing against the cage that surrounded it.

But it could not escape Remiers wrath.

Finally, Remier Wailed his loss.

The world wept alongside him.

The Spirits of Fire and Water put aside their quarrel.

And the walls were surrounded by a bitter boiling sea.

But in the end Remier was unable to end it.

Unable to destroy the one who caused him such pain.

Unable to go that final step.

For he was too weak.

Exhausted by his three Voices.

Remier had to content himself with mere imprisonment.

Afterwards, bitter and silent.

Remier turned his back on the known world.

And walked into the shadowlands of Dunia.

But that, is a different story altogether.

THE END

*****

Well, that is the story. I know what you want to say.

The hero didn't slay the evil?

No, he did not. Remier was yet a young man. Distraught and weak.

I have no doubt his inability to protect his friends and end the one who took them shaped his later adventures. And eventually led him to the highest of points.

So if you must learn something from this then let it be this: Your past mistakes will shape your future. Whether those mistakes raise you up or cast you down, well, that is up to you.

Be like Remier children, use your flaws as fuel to rise, not as reasons to fail.