Maya Tempora's Journal: Entry 1
by Carl van Ostrand

I bid no goodbyes, for there was nobody I cared to say goodbye to - nobody that understands why I did what I did. As I walked slowly under the Arc of Joka this morning, and through the city gates, I imagined the surrounding statues of my ancestors crumbling to the ground in to great piles of forgotten rubble and dust. For I know that the day will come when the sands of this planet's unbounded deserts will bury our cities as if they never stood.

My "elite" guard escorts were the standard mindless brutes that plague all of our cities. As one of them shoved me through the gates and slammed them behind me, another snickered and spit on the back of my neck. Foolish humans and their everlasting ignorance. Why must they so easily forget all that this planet sacrificed for our well being? If my sword had not been out of reach, I would not have been escorted so peacefully.

As Helios flickers above my tent this evening, providing my light, I can hear the Stone Golems in the far distance. Their nightly rituals include ridding themselves of the cracked and weakened stone on their massive bodies. The parts they smash off can be consumed in the slow process that follows. Truly amazing beasts they are - but of course wary of most humans. I will see if their herd has moved on in the morning. They may be able to help me.

I have known for years that the vast Jukano Desert offers far more contentment than Joka Yilsi ever could - a sort of peace for those like me, who try first to understand it, rather than simply fear it. Not that the dessert doesn't offer a fair share of danger, but we too quickly assume that everything out here is inherently dangerous. Helios knows this too - he was created here, in the brilliant instant that fire familiars are born. This is his home, and I am his family. He is so young for a familiar, only about the size of my hand and glowing a reddish flame, but I could not ask for a better companion. He will grow to be quite a force indeed.

Sometimes I do miss my brother. I tried though - I really tried to give him a chance - to open his eyes before he crossed the line. I do not know whom he was working for, but I do know it had to end. I am yet to find guilt or regret in my actions, only pity and sorrow.

The second moon has risen, and I have much traveling to do tomorrow. My shortcut between the Cliffs of Ashrock will most certainly require a full night's rest.