I come from a family with a long scholarly tradition. In Shan Deral, I taught courses dealing with philosophy, ethics and government at a small university in the coastal city of South Port (on the east coast of Shan Deral, near halfling country). I also volunteered frequently at the local hospital, gaining great satisfaction from comforting those who were sick, particularly the poor and the forgotten, though I was never acquainted with the kind of healing magic taught in the isles.
I met two very important people during my early adult life at the university, my wife and my clan-brother (a term which has a different meaning in the isles). Elocin was mostly a good friend to me, as opposed to a wife. She being a nurse and me a scholar, our busy lives crossed only long enough to establish weak bonds of intimacy and trust. Like me, Elocin was a lone wolf, spending most of her time alone or immersed in her life's work.
Appalled by the lack of freedom in the Ascendancy, I frequently taught my classes in a subversive manner that was barely tolerated by the local Inquisitor chief, who was fortunately quite dim-witted. More perilous were my secret political activities. Those who regularly met in South Port to discuss ways to oppose the Ascendancy were organized into cells called "clans". Each cell member was assigned a "clan-brother" to work with. And so I formed a deep bond of friendship with a halfling by the name of Siri, a tailor by trade with a love of fine fabrics and furs.
When the local Inquisitor was eventually replaced by a much quicker and more stringent man, the university was all but shut down. In addition, many infiltrated clans were exposed and exiled, mine among them (though Siri escaped immediate exile, he eventually followed me to the isles after a few more years of troublemaking on the mainland).
I arrived on the isles shattered of all purpose, knowing my life's work at the university was lost, my marriage as good as gone (Elocin vanished for her own protection shortly before I left, not wishing to abandon her family and work to go into exile). It didn't take long for me to realize, though, that there was powerful magic at work here.
I soon spoke with Master Hekus and took up the greatest joy of my life, the art of healing. I found myself with the power to help people in a direct and tangible way, as opposed to the more abstract teaching of philosophy and freedom or the physical comforting of the wounded. It was absolutely addicting.
So addicting that I went out of my way to seek out fallen exiles, both because of my desire to help the downtrodden and forgotten exiles and because I just loved the power of the moonstone. Some exiles couldn't be healed by moonstone magic, but a trainer named Horus offered insights into overcoming these limitations, and I began studying with him to the exclusion of all else, hoping to fill a niche others had ignored and help those who could not be helped by any other.
I now can be found roaming the lands usually as a lone rescue healer. I am a fast runner, a skilled chainer and (usually) a pretty good finder of fallens. As a fighter, I make a pretty good healer, but regardless of the danger, a share with me when you are fallen will get you a rescue if at all possible.
My training in the mysteries of death have not been without difficulty. For a time, many thought I was going insane as the knowledge opened doorways in my mind that allowed me to hear voices, suffer delusions and recite poetry. This has been an ongoing problem and is discussed in more detail in my journal.
Truer words were never spoken.
My perseverance was eventually recognized by Horus when he offered me the opportunity to begin training other exiles. I saved from sketches from that great day on this page. I now have a training ledger and teach many exiles in the art of healing those closer to death.
After I had been on the Isles for about a year, I was invited into the Lounge Lizards clan, often simply called "The Lizards". At the time, the chief members were Tara, Mork, Eyeball and Thuja. Newer members included Tippy, Sook, Quartz, Selucreh and Celaeno. I happily wore the Lizard colors (red and black) and was responsible for clan mascot Gordon, a spotted lizard given to us by Vagile Savane. Sadly, our clan drifted apart as more and more members spent most of their days buried in their studies. But our friendships have transcended our clan bonds, so I will always be a Lizard at heart, even though I no longer wear the uniform.
I've then joined the Clan of the Rising Claw, one of the most powerful and respected clans in the isles. You can find out out more about them here. I've also because a member of the chainers' guild founded by Cronos known as Catenae. My time with Rising Claw did not last, sadly, as I discovered the clan's ideals and mine were not in harmony, and I did not wish for clan affairs to interfere with friendships. In the Winter of 544, I was inducted into Clan Hunter, the same clan as the love of my life, the fen healer Felicity.
Back to Koric's journal.