Alanar the Firehearted's page

From the Journal of Alanar Illani, 4715 AR

Last night, I dreamed of fire again.

I was in Katapesh, before the Firebleeder wiped it from the world. My home, my streets. I saw their faces again. Mother, and Father, and my little sister Jalani, her husband and her daughter Marisa. It didn't make sense, because Mother died fifteen years ago in her sleep, and Father five years after her, and I had forgotten my sister's husband's face because he was always away in the caravans. But there they were together, in the tiny house that was our home, just as I had last seen it.

It was strange because Mother and Father looked as they did when I was just a young boy. They didn't know that I was different until my skin started to change, and Jalani overtook me in height. It became obvious that I was one of the planetouched, fire dancing along my fingertips and entranced by the flames. Father did his best to teach me how to be a decent stall merchant, but I was always distracted and could barely assist him. It was placed on my sister to inherit the business instead, and I was given an apprenticeship with a local goldsmith to try and learn a trade I liked. I like the forge, and the heat.

She married a man that gave her a child, little Marisa, who grew up so fast as well. I think that I was good in helping to raise her. I could prepare her meals, even when they got a little burnt, and she always liked playing with her uncle. I really miss her a lot. I hope that she's still alive.

The dream was about the day that Katapesh burned. In the dream Mother and Father were there, but really they weren't, and it was just me and Jalani and Marisa in our house in the Lower City. It was strange to watch the city but also relaxing, but I had to run with my family. We lost everything then, the house and all of our possessions and everything but the savings box that Jalani took and the clothes on our back. But in the dream, I saw Mother and Father and Jalani's husband in the house and they were burning and I watched them become ashes and bones.

Then the dream move to Osirion, but really it took us months to travel there with all of the rest of the refugees, and Marisa got pretty sick and I remember Jalani getting angry at me for no reason at times but I forgave her for that because I knew that that she was just sad that our home was gone. The dream was in Sothis, but we didn't get there for a while because we had to travel down river from Ipeq and the ferrymen were charging obscene rates so we had to do some work - I made some jewelry and Jalani and Marisa peddled it, and we managed to earn the fees. We thought it would be safer there, because we had heard the Pactmasters lived there now.

The dream showed me when I lost Jalani. It was when all the refugees were brought outside the city gates for that speech. Jalani was pretty sure that there was something wrong because we were all being forced to attend, and she had Marisa go hide in the city with me since I looked really young and could play the part of her brother. We waited for her to come back, but all we could see in south was fire. In my dream, I saw Jalani burning, and so many other people burning with her. They danced and they shouted and they all became ash.

The dream didn't end there. We didn't end there, either. I had to take care of Marisa now, even though it was hard because no one would believe me when I told them that I was a good goldsmith, and had to try and feed both myself and Marisa while we left the city and tried heading to Thuvia with everyone else. I made sure to give her lots of water and bread, but she was still getting sicker and the travel wasn't help her get any better. Thuvia was hard, because we weren't allowed into the cities and food was even scarcer there.

In the dream, Marisa burned and danced like all the others. But she didn't burn, because I knew that I couldn't take care of her and so I tried to find someone who could. I asked many people to try and save her, and there was a man who came to me and said that he could help her get better, but I had to go with him and leave Marisa. I had to agree because I knew that my sister would be sad if I let her die. He did something I really didn't understand, but afterwards she was breathing better and she even opened up her eyes. I said good bye to her, and left her in the care of some traveling priests of Sarenae, and I left to Azir in Rahadoum.

I'm in Azir now, and it looks like we're going soon. Hokuto says that I have a destiny. I wonder if it's the same as the end of my dream. Where everyone was dancing and burning and I was laughing, because I was the one burning them. The flames were so pretty. But I was taught that not everyone likes fire the way I do, so I have to be careful. As fun as it may look, I have to remember that burning things is bad.

Alanar is a friendly child, bright and speaking in long and drawn out sentences. He's drawn to fire, as it is in his blood, easy to distract with a bonfire or a fireplace or a forge or a furnace. He is bright, and possessed a keen mind, but has trouble focusing on one subject for long, getting bored easily and moving on to the next thing that excites him. He tends to feel lonely, having the soul and body of a child but knowing that his human friends and siblings will grow old all around him while he stays young. He tends to keep his head in the clouds when he's not preoccupied, letting his train of thought wander to strange places, often coming out and saying whatever's on his mind no matter what the current discussion is about.

Alanar has a very youthful face, his skin the color of brass and smooth all over. He has a head of thick and curly black hair that often smoulders at the tips, smelling like burnt incense. His eyes are a pale amber in color, bright and always darting around, looking at everything of interest. He stands around 5'4", and weighs about 120lbs.

His clothing is mismatched and rather gaudy, a red vest over a linen robe, with a cloth belt that he's interwoven tiny bits of scrap metal into, enjoying how they gleam in the light. During warm weather, he eschews the robe and wears only the vest, as well as the canvas trousers underneath. In either case, he wears a pair of shoes that look extremely old and worn thin, the decorations nearly faded away.

The Empty Throne
(lawful good, Charisma) has a sense of loss that is palpable. The ghost signifies that those who are gone will always be with us. They taught us important lessons, if only we choose to listen. This card can bring information from a far-of or ancient source. If misaligned, the ghosts of the past are restless, and might require effort to set at peace.

Hokuto
The Twins (Crown, Neutral)
Score: +5

Ilesea
The Waxworks (Shield, Chaotic Evil)
Score: -1