Our journey wended between the streets out into the forest to a small dell that held no particular interest for me.  He touched his nose and his eyes twinkled as he did offer this comment:

"You, my son, are one of the last magicians in this world."

He leaned way back on his heals observing my reaction, which was none.  He leaned forward once again and stated the same phrase once again.  I looked about and prepared to head back but he grasped my arm and pulled me closer.  He grabbed my hand and held it in a tight clasp looking me in the eyes.  When he let go, I felt something warm and hard in my hand.  A coin.  A small coin.  Smaller than a dime yet with exquisite detail and beauty.  

I do not know how long I looked at that coin but realized I must have stood there for hours.  Only the grumbling of my stomach brought me back.  When my focus returned he gave me a smile and a wink.

"You are beginning a journey that will at first confuse you.  As you continue to travel and search, you will then find that all will slowly come to you.  You were there before and now it is time for your return."

I looked at him puzzled and wondered just what the hell he was talking about!  Then a shroud of darkness fell over me.  Oh god I wished I had a light with me.  The darkness fell like threads wrapped about my eyes that no one could possibly remove.  I felt around yet felt nothing.  I stepped forward yet moved nowhere.  Then a dim awareness entered my mind; the coin.

My hand felt warmer and the coin began to glow brightly as if to cut through the darkness around me.  Slowly I felt as if I was leaving a cocoon.  Yes....that was it....a cocoon of darkness from which a new being would step forward into the world.  Slowly I took a step and the darkness took on a hue of gray.  The more I stepped the grayer it grew.  Soon the gray turned to a lighter shade of white and then....I tripped and hit my head.

When I awoke I was inside this strange shack that appeared to be made of paper.  I instinctively went to adjust my glasses but they no longer existed.  Yet my sight was perfect.  I looked around and found only a large scroll to pick up.  I walked around outside a bit but grew fearful of not finding my way back and returned.  A map on the wall soon gave me the courage to leave the safety of the shack and explore.

And my adventure began.

Day 1 - 8 of my adventure

In my travels I encountered a strange beast blocking the road.  I ran down to the Armory and was allowed to enter and recruit several beasts.  Upon my return to fight the creature, shades rose from the previously-empty roads and I found myself fighting the darkness once again.  After the darkness I met Mirand and she appeared while I was lost in a carnival.  I know not why but I put my faith in her and succeeded in escaping an eternal capture in that strange place.  By the time I returned to the road, the beast had run off.

I now had developed my beasts and they have begun to get stronger.   With their new strengths I've developed new ways to construct my attacks.  I continued to travel and discovered the gates to the Loreroot region.  But the gates were blocked by what appeared to be living trees.  By the suggestion of one of the guards, I now seek to change the way I see them so that I may see them for what they truly are.  I must learn a way to change my perception which seems to involve Nightshade and some device hidden within the Willows Shop.

Day 11 of my adventures:

I traveled to the archivist and climbed the ladders to read any volumes that may be of interest.  I came upon one that greatly concerns me.  It talks of the controller -- that there is another world parallel to this one where someone else controls my thoughts and being.  How could this be????  First I'm told I'm the last magician and I cannot even do a single card trick!  Now I read a writing that someone controls me and does thing such as 'go idle' or 'logout' whatever that may mean??!!!  I think I'll stop reading those books in the archives!  All I see there is heresy!

After some research I found the documents I needed to find the hidden entrance beneath Mirand Bell, got my nightshade and water a used the device in the weapons shop.  Unfortunately I saw that I got the heck beat out of me when I ended up fighting the tree creatures.  I now seek to strengthen myself before revisiting them.