The Wanderer

I just imagined an entity so obscure that, even if one were that entity, they would almost certainly not realize it. The Wanderer travels and observes, along paths and from angles that none can fathom. Even The Wanderer knows not how this happens, and barely grasps the significance of the power he holds. When reality goes static, however, The Wanderer walks on, imagining narrative blooming, from what is essentially an ornate and complex statue. Perhaps the source of narrative sense, perhaps the inspiration for it, perhaps a cog in a well restricted machine that perpetuates it, The Wanderer is the unexpected main character, in a story already thought to be saturated and complete.

Narrative sense kicked in once I had pinpointed this title, and a whisper could be heard in my mind, which now echoes as "You will find his footprints in your memory, more and more, until they lead back to you, in this moment." Already pieces fall into place, pieces that do not precisely fit my characters or personas already established- Kal'Drel, The Bard, or even Deonis- but that fill in the spaces between them. Dreams regarding unimaginable Arcane levels, essentially hiding The Wanderer in plain sight and even from consideration, are like the threshold between known self and where these footprints lie. The Night of Mysteries Objects, a dream of wandering a lifeless land full of objects, and finding a snake staff that I could still converse with, is like a flash of The Wanderer's journey through static reality, only seen from this angle with this identity conceived. My other personas may be like guards, stabilizers, heralds, messagers, in light of The Wanderer. 

The Wanderer is to be handled carefully. Ingrained within his code is freedom, and the natural unbinding of chains. None have ever been able to keep him, though I now realize that many have tried, in a variety of ways. Even The Phoenix, who has found a way to synchronize orbits, so as to cross his path with frequency, dares not try to chain him. It is thought that the answer to the age old question of the unstoppable force and immovable object might actually be found if she tried, but the lonely image of devastation, static locked into eternity, whether she would succeed or fail, haunts its own untouched corner in the possibility field of reality. It seems that he does not even register lesser attempts, his location naturally shifting away from imprisonment with every step. Any such attempt of sufficient power, to cause an interaction with him, find their harvest empty, The Wanderer untraceably slipped away, with no reliable method known to track him, or even predict when he might return.

While The Wanderer may have been initially called mindless, naive, innocent for quite some time, it seems as though the careful grooming of personas, or at least codifying them when they have naturally emerged, has shifted this slightly. One might find that The Wanderer feels more like The Bard, if attempting to deceive or falsely persuade him. Pray that you never know how few words Bard's Tongue takes to strip away all facades erected of your secured position within your mind and environment, leaving your eyes open, and revealing that what you considered to be logical, correct, and good are intrinsically worthless, leaving you in absolute insanity, chaos. A dream recently with The Ancient One on The Council brings to mind precisely how wrathful Kal'Drel can be, when The Wanderer is locked for any amount of time, into witnessing something distasteful. As a continuation of this thought- here cut short- when Kal'Drel and The Bard join to protect or avenge The Wanderer, Power Word: Kill becomes the truest mercy, and all will wish that certain games can stay as games, never manifesting to "real" from any experienced perspective.

"So The Bard takes to the dirt road, establishing his journey along the path of endless crossroads. He knows not why he walks, but it is to find The Wanderer. Kal'Drel vaults the pathways to other realms, narratively ensuring that The Bard may find rest along the way, and will accomplish his aim. Will The Bard bring The Wanderer home, bring home to The Wanderer, or is it sufficient for each to meet and remember the meeting, before going their separate ways? In every crack remaining in this static reality, and perhaps even through some newly formed, The Daughter Tree grows, illuminating these footsteps whispered of, shifting now from one foot to another, where self ends, and select beloved others begin, each in their own corner."