Never before have I been so reluctant to put words to paper before. I find myself torn between contrary ideals, that of my duty as a scholar to transmit my thoughts and experiences to paper without bias, and my honor as a gentleman to protect the weak and defenseless. If it were not for the insistence of my dearly beloved, I would not see fit to publish such information to the world. Yet, I know in my heart that my desire to write of this place and its people is not as pure and noble as I would so like to say; rather it is the fault of that lovely nectar, that vile poison, that root of good and evil that all men who walk this beautiful earth cannot shy away from — of course, I speak of love, the pure love sung of by bards and written of by poets, the gentle love that is everything, the terrifying love that is so powerful that it can bring kingdoms to ruin, and corrupt the hearts of all who dare to taste it.
I must not get ahead of myself, for I shall not deign to linger on the reasons for my writing for too long. Let it be known that I have decided, after much deliberation, to record in this tome the events and discoveries I have made upon my journey, regardless of the consequences that may occur thereafter, so that all who read of them shall know of the greatness of this discovery. Without further ado, I believe I must start at the beginning of all of this.
My name is Cornelius von Fredrickson, of the house of Fredrick, though I do not carry any significant peerage or holdings within the kingdom. While I belong to the honorable Order of the Silver Thread, I had scarcely lived a day in my life without being consumed with boredom. My family, my noble obligations, my titles, all of it was meaningless to me, for what good did it do for me other than keep me alive, held further from the simple pleasures of life? To any who read this who may feel resentment towards me for throwing away such privilege, I deeply apologize, but I have no regrets. In the years leading up to my adventure's outset, I sold my last possessions to buy myself a sailing ship, with a small crew, and set sail for distant horizons, armed only with a genuine desire for escape, and a lust for exploration that could not be sated. We were all the same in our hearts and minds, my crew and I.
There are many questions asked by those who find themselves suddenly immersed in the world of the adventurous seaman, most prominently "where will we go?" and "how long will it take?". Those are fine questions, and ones worthy of honest answers. Unfortunately, for those aboard this particular vessel they would get very few, as I found myself with little interest in pursuing them. We had no destination, nor any particular timetable or schedule that a lesser explorer might find themselves obsessing over. Rather, we simply followed the wind and the sea until either fate dictated otherwise, or we forged on by the fire of our own burning souls.
Ah, such youthful folly still makes me tremble when thinking about it to this day. We were fools, and the winds of fate are not kind to such free-spirited folks at all. We had set sail into the most dangerous ocean in the world, and to its credit, every day was more frighteningly than the last. The horrific storms battered our poor vessel almost beyond recognition, the sky above blackened and cracked open with lightning bolts, while rain poured down upon us, pounding harder with each passing hour; our food stores slowly dwindled into nothingness with not a single fish swimming within the water. And still we continued onwards, deeper towards the heart of the chaos and despair around us.
Yet, while the gods of fate are fickle, those of valor are generous. And so it was, after enduring the cruelty of the journey, we made port on an undiscovered landmass for the first time. It was told to me later that the island was protected by a divine providence of sorts, having emerged from the depths of ocean with little fanfare and remained there without interference. Upon closer inspection, I came to realize just how beautiful this place really was; a small nation surrounded by a storms, doldrums, and impassable currents in the middle of nowhere where no one could ever come to harm. The land's imposing, symmetrical mountains rose out above the forested lowlands like magnificent beacons in the sea, and seemed to reach up forever into the clouds of heaven.
The air of the crew was electrifying. We had all read stories as children of explorers and adventurers disembarking upon distant lands, and now as we rowed our wooden boats towards the beaches of this island, we could not help but laugh and sing, for here at last, we found ourselves in the world we had always dreamed about.
It was there on the beach that we met the natives of this land for the first time. Surely one reading this has an idea of the primary subject of this memoire, so I shall not belabor the reader with any more delays. On that beach, we — nay, mankind, had its first encounter with the Elves.
How should I describe the essential differences between elvenkind and us men? A simple description of their physical features could surely suffice for a lesser chronicler, but I shall not fall into such error. The elves were more than just their youthful, feminine bodies, their refreshing variety of complexions and hairs, and their unmistakable pointed ears (which I must return in more detail later; it is a disservice to simply mention the perfection of elven ears in passing). Rather, the true essential character of elves, which sets them apart from men, would be their grace beyond measure, their wisdom beyond understanding, and most of all, their purity, for they were a people born without being tainted by sin or imperfection.
It was at that moment, looking into the perfect eyes of these perfect creatures, that I became firm in my conviction, and first formulated the thoughts which have led me to where I am today. We, the human race of man, are nothing in comparison to the blessed beings who inhabit this land of perpetual wonder and beauty. Is it not unfair? Born isolated from war, from ugliness, from famine, or disease, or the ravages of age, or suffering of any kind, these elves were so devoid of every imaginable fault. I cursed the gods who had created such a cruel reality that we had to look upon what we could have been, but never could be.
There, on that beach, I swore upon my heart an oath, which I carry with me to this day: I will drag them down, not just to our level, to the darkness of mankind, but even further, to a realm beneath us. I would show them their own corruption, for all the world to see, and force them to know the depths of regret, until there was no choice left except for them to accept their rightful place as our inferiors. No other outcome could be tolerated.
Ah, but I mustn't get ahead of myself again, for while my intention to bring the elves under the heels of mankind's boots was born in that moment, I must accurately chronicle the events that occurred in that fateful meeting. The two elves we saw upon the beach as we stepped off our boats were