The Outer Mind.

The key to knowledge is knowing what you do not know.

For so much of history, my people have sought knowledge by delving more deeply within. Retreating to an island of our own, shunning the company of other races at best, treating them as lab subjects at worst. Even on our own island, we built walls around ourselves, retreated from others of our kind who disagreed with us, sought quiet and solitude to further delve into our own minds.

There is peace in solitude, yes, but it is a small peace, a tiny island in a vast archipelago. A greater peace can only be found by reaching out. Greater knowledge can only be found by exposing oneself to the unknown. We are too quick to judge others as our inferiors, when in my experience, simply listening to them can open up entire new vistas of understanding.

My parents do not understand why I have shortened my given name so that other races can better write and remember it. Nor do they understand why I plan to journey to the Queen’s Colony and begin training to serve Qeynos in the broader world. They feel I am turning my back on my heritage, but it is quite the opposite. I will not know true peace until I understand what has happened to the larger, more diverse world written about in legends.

The answers are not found within the walls of Starcrest Commune, or even in greater Qeynos. The answers are buried out there, in the shattered wilds. I will need protection on this journey, which means I will need to befriend others who may be different from me and who may have other priorities. This, too, will be a learning experience. I am not afraid. Quellious may be absent from Norrath, and she may have taken her tranquility with her, but the child-goddess is never absent from my heart.