It truly saddens me to see one of my own kind to go so astray as to almost become a monster in the eyes of many, even myself. This is the fate of one of the brightest and best of my kind, the Miza'har, one who I proudly called a friend, comrade, and student. The story of Thryn does not begin nearly as it ends, and I feel that it is my duty to fill in what seem to be some very large holes in his story.

Thryn is nearly as old as I, possibly even older; I am not sure for certain. When I first encountered him, it was as I try to remember him then, in the form of a young elf. Golden hair and fair skin, nothing at all like how those of modern day know of him, as a dirty, foul-smelling, manipulative little unwashed goblin. Thryn, as well as myself, and others of my kind, can take what forms we choose, more than not a form which can easily blend in and hide our inherent magics and power that we have; and that is the form he chose, a completely innocent looking young elven lad. If only I had known then what I do now, maybe things would have turned out differently.

Thryn came to me seeking knowledge. He sought knowledge of the lands and their terrain, of the inhabitants of the world and their various abilities and attributes, of the magics of the land, and of anything that I spoke of honestly. He absorbed my words like a sponge takes in water, carefully and quietly filing away everything he saw and heard in his mind for later use. If only I had known his uses, possibly I would have stayed silent.

Thryn and I walked the lands together, with him jotting down notes on parchment as he saw things, but usually simply remembering things with little effort. He asked question upon question about nearly everything; every plant, every animal, every rock, every living and non-living thing he saw. I thought him to be the perfect pupil, the true student of the world who simply wished to know what I knew, to learn what I taught, and in turn teach others my knowledge. If only I had known whom he would impart my knowledge upon I would have never accepted him as a student.

As time went on, Thryn’s presence at my side became an after-thought. When I went to counsel this lord or that duke, he was there, quietly at my side, quietly listening and learning the arts of diplomacy and war. He read every book he could find at every keep and castle we visited. He talked to every chirugeon, scholar, and court mage from every noble house and principality we found refuge in, using his natural charm and charisma to learn everything he could from those persons as well. If only I had known his plans then, I would have never extended my trust to him to this extent.

The day finally came when Thryn decided to go off on his own in the world, and with great sorrow in my heart, I set him free to do his own bidding. Everything I had known he now knew. Everything that I had seen, he now saw. We were two very different beings, but the similarities were uncanny. There were times when a question would be asked of me, and he and I would answer with nearly identical answers, which un-nerved myself as well as others. His training had been that lengthy and in depth, and now his training, at least with myself, had come to an end. I sat on the side of a road watching Thryn walk away in the opposite direction, looking exactly as he did the day he came to me for the first time, an innocent young elven boy with a gleam in his eye and a skip in his step. I watched him walk away from me with a bit of sadness, but also with pride, knowing that I had taught him all that I could, and that he now would find his own place in the world, and do not only me proud, but all of the Miza’har proud as well. If only I had known what his place would be, I would have stopped him dead where he stood.

My life continued much as it had before, only without my constant young shadow. I was sought out for counsel as always, and spent time researching what I could in my spare time, and in general I simply enjoyed life as I always had, with the exception of not having Thryn to share my experiences with and talk to. I truly did miss the lad, and on occasion I even attempted to find out his whereabouts, but I was unsuccessful, and eventually stopped trying. If he wanted to be found, he would be, it was as simple as that. I was asked on many occasions for years to come where the boy was, and my only response to their queries was that he was “out making a name for himself”. If only I had known that his name would be one of the most hated and reviled in the history of the world, never in my wildest dreams would I have molded and shaped him into what he became.

Despite several very intriguing requests, I have led nothing in my life. I am an advisor, not a leader. This is the way of my people in general, we give counsel, not lead the charge or take the throne, for a being with the power we hold can only be taken over by that power in the end. Unfortunately for Thryn, this was his fate, to be consumed by his power and want for more of it. I began to hear reports of disappearing supplies, sentries and scouts not returning to their posts, and mysterious unexplainable accidents befalling castles and nobles. I never thought to put the pieces together to form the complete picture, to see what was cleverly hidden from me, and was by my own inability to see what was unfolding left powerless to stop the onslaught in the making. Thryn on the other hand, had no qualms in taking the lead, sitting on the throne, and unlike myself, his view of the bigger picture was crystal clear. If only I had known that it was I who provided his clarity, he would have learned nothing from myself or anyone else I knew.

Humans, elves, and dwarves are generally better with one of their own at their head, be it from tradition or some other factor, this is simply how they exist and do so quite effectively. There are those races however, such as goblins, orcs, trolls, and the like whom can be swayed by nearly anyone charismatic and powerful to hold them in thrall, which is exactly what Thryn did, just as I had explained could be done over the years. I shall not go into detail of his exploits and atrocities during the Goblin Wars, for they are known well from coast to coast. His ability to lead what most everyone had thought to be bands of poorly trained, poorly equipped, and supposedly dim-witted troops was nothing short of extraordinary. He honed his forces into a weapon, which he wielded with broad slashing strokes across the lands of Kirganthis, leaving havoc, chaos, and death in his wake. If only I had known that I in turn had also forged the weapon that he had become, I would have ruined it in the forge before finishing it and unleashing it upon the world.

Thryn assumed that he would simply be able to roll over the forces set against him, and for many a year through battle after battle, this is exactly what he and his armies did. What he did not assume is that I would take up the lead against him, not directly, but in giving counsel to the allied forces of the humans, dwarves, and elves. I had created the monster that now ravaged the world, and it was my duty to cage him. I knew what he did, and he knew what I knew, or so he believed. We were evenly matched in nearly every way, except for the fact that he was slowly going truly mad with the power he held, and the power he felt he could hold in the future. The time spent after his leaving me was not spent idle, nor were the years he spent actively gathering his forces, for it was during this time that I knew that he would not be killed my any normal means, and more than likely knew how to protect himself from most abnormal ones as well. I laid a trap for my former student at Stonegate, the one prize he had yet to take, and the one prize he so desperately wanted, the final feather in his cap before he moved to his next conquest. If only he had known what I had planned and in store for him, he would have been more cautious and not so full of bravado and glee in the thought of capturing his goal.

When I first set eyes upon him again after so many decades I was truly shocked. Gone was the innocent elven lad waiting on my every word. Where a beacon of good should have stood was replaced by a festering mass of insane power in the form of an unwashed and unkempt goblin. The Thryn I knew was truly gone, and this fact made his capture so much easier upon myself, for this was not the Thryn I remembered, this was a monster. The trap was set and unleashed, and with a howl heard across the lands, Thryn was caught in my web. There were cries to destroy him from nearly every camp and leader who was left alive, but it was my decision to deal with him as I thought best, and I was left at that. I should have ended his life right then and there. It would not reverse anything that he had done, but it would stop any future acts of insanity from having the chance to happen, at least those led by him. I should have heeded the counsel of others, and I should have had the courage and strength to kill him, but alas, I did not. If only had I known what I know now, the decision would have been a much easier one.

Thryn was caught and held securely by my magics, there was no escaping unless I allowed it; the web was perfect in that way. What I did not expect was the sight I saw upon checking on him one morning. There before me sat a young elven boy, his golden hair dirty and fair skin looking sallow, but it was the Thryn of old nonetheless. He begged for forgiveness from me, knowing that only I in the entire world would even contemplate forgiveness. For days upon days he pleaded with me to not kill him, to let him once again follow me and learn the wrongness of his ways. I knew that his freedom was truly an impossibility; I would be looked upon as an even bigger monster than he was, and I honestly think he knew that as well. I had not the heart to kill him, he and I had spent too much time together, me as his teacher and he as my disciple. So I gave him mercy that no one felt he deserved, I granted him exile, but not just any simple exile, but one from which he could never escape. If only had I known what I know now, his exile would entail his death, not my mercy.

I traveled with Thryn to the isle known as Khyrene, haven to those known as saurials. Far enough from the civilized world, it was here that Thryn found his home of exile, if you can call it a home. Carved from the very rock of the volcano that built the islands of the chain, Thryn’s cavern was not large by any means, but it was serviceable. The dweomers that I cast upon the walls were impenetrable from inside and out. Nothing could escape from this prison, and with sadness in my heart I placed Thryn within it and released him from his web. Instantly the form I knew so well was gone, and in its place returned the snarling, frothing, unwashed goblin. Screaming in fury that he would have his revenge upon me for his entrapment, the last thing Thryn saw was my back as I left him in solitude for what I thought would be eternity. If only had I known that nothing is truly impenetrable, I would have done what I should have done all along and not had the compassion to imprison him instead.

My thoughts in the following years nearly every day were taken up with Thryn and what he became under my tutelage, and how he was now locked away to protect the world from the monster that he had become. On occasion I would travel to Khyrene and observe Thryn in his cage, quietly and unseen as to not set off his rage any further than it was on its own. He did little all day but pace back and forth in the cavern, muttering things under his breath, more often than not about how he would get his revenge on me or die trying. I could not bear to watch any further and for many years I did not set foot on his prison isle. If only had I known that his prison would break open in my absence, I would have made my constant presence with the lizard folk who resided there with him.

Beginning quite innocently enough, the destruction of Khyrene was forewarned by a series of earthquakes, some strong enough to be felt all the way in Stonegate, thousands of miles away. Thinking it a natural occurrence, I honestly thought little of it. My time was spent in counsel with several noble houses that were in turmoil, and not where it should have been spent, observing and guarding my now completely insane disciple Thryn. If the earthquakes did not garner my attention the eruption of the volcano upon the island most assuredly did, and with that attention came my greatest fears come alive. Thryn had his freedom once again. I traveled once again to Khyrene, or what was left of it, which was honestly very little that resembled its former beauty. Gone were the lush jungles that climbed the sides of the mountain, gone were the lagoons filled with fish, and gone were the gentle saurials whom lived and thrived on its slopes. And also gone was Thryn, completely without a trace, except for a carving left on the side of the mountain that still stood. A simple message, and one that left my blood cold, it simply said, “I’m coming for you Etanos.”

If only had I known what I now know oh too well, things would be very different.