The Book of Love "Nastassia grew up an orphan, you see, Unloved and unwanted by all; Today she walks cloaked in solitude, Awaiting her destiny's call." --Nastassia's Song, as penned by De Maria, bard of Cove |
. . .and so the shrines throughout the realm went neglected, unvisited--abandoned to the winds and rains and weeds. All, that is, save one. . . the shrine of Compassion, derived from Love itself, and the tale of Nastassia is, perhaps, a tale of Love known to all men and women of the land. Some claim Nastassia's destiny was dictated two centuries before her birth, when the Avatar met her great-great-grandmother, Ariana. Little did Ariana know that the rune she gave to the Avatar would prove essential in the quest to aid the gargoyles. Though she may never have known the importance of her gift, an impression was made upon her, so deep and everlasting that it was carried down three generations to Nastassia herself. And so the tradition of caring for the shrine continued until Nastassia's father ran away before she was born, leaving Natassia's mother unmarried and with child. And within days after Nastassia was born, her mother, through grief and shame, took her own life in the Shrine she so dearly cared for. The fair lass Nastassia grew up an orphan with those who might have loved her long dead. But 'twas the Avatar, who had returned to Britannia after so many years, who brought love and compassion with the vindication of her father's name, thus allowing Nastassia's soul and the soul of her mother to rest. Tales spread, then, of a love between the Avatar and Nastassia, one so deep and committal that it could only be spoken in rumors and whispers. Some claimed it the passion of lovers, others denounced this as folly and said 'twas the love siblings might share. Nevertheless, the tale of Nastassia is to be remembered as a portent that Love is the one principle that carries with it both glory and grief.