"Lady, please come upon this stage and share with us all a story."
Iskierka Stormspeaker walks up, "With pleasure."
Iskierka Stormspeaker walks up, "With pleasure."
"I once had a very good friend who taught me a very important lesson. Though it was not given to her, she took her name from the very heavens, and made it her own. I asked her once how she did this. She smiled, and took my hand, and we walked to a remote spot, high up in the mountains. She pointed to a spot up in the sky and said 'There. That is where I belong.'"
"I was confused, and a little saddened. I had hoped her place would be here, with me. When I told her this, she smiled, and said that it wasn't meant to be. That Althyk had made her from the stars, and that he had a place for me somewhere, too, I had only to find it. We could only be with each other for as long as it took us our individual places. We promised each other that we would help each other get there."
"I was confused, and a little saddened. I had hoped her place would be here, with me. When I told her this, she smiled, and said that it wasn't meant to be. That Althyk had made her from the stars, and that he had a place for me somewhere, too, I had only to find it. We could only be with each other for as long as it took us our individual places. We promised each other that we would help each other get there."
"Often I would find her in that spot, alone, talking to the stars. She told me she was spending time with her family. When I sat with her, she would talk about all the things she was going to do when she got home. I told her I would look up at her, and admire her, just like I was doing now. She told me she would shine all the brighter for me, knowing I was looking at her."
"Time passed, and we began to grow apart. I had become busy with my studies. She had to begin working to support her family. We saw each other less and less, but every now and then, I'd make my way up to our spot. It was rare that I'd catch her there. Often I'd see signs that I had just missed her, or I'd wait there for hours in vain. Eventually I just stopped going."
"One day she came to me, and took my hand, and she led me to our place under the stars. She told me that she couldn't be around anymore. She finally found a way to her place in the stars. It was the last night I saw her. Every night after I looked up to her spot in the sky and saw nothing. Moons later, on the trip I took to Limsa Lominsa to study at the Arcanist guild, I looked up at her spot, and saw a new star."
"I learned a valuable lesson from her. That it's often difficult to know ones place in the world. Times change, and we drift about like sands in the desert. So apt that Althyk commands the element of Earth. But there is a place for us all here, just like there is a place for each star in the sky. As it is above, so it is below. The wisdom to find your place must be followed by the will to be there."
"And once you're there, just as the stars have a role in helping us find our place, so must you help those around you find theirs."
"Thank you."
Fittingly, the night twinkled above, clouds breaking to reveal the star-filled sky. As the pilgrims applauded the masked lady, many looked up to the heavens, gazing to see if they knew anyone up above as well.