I shall not live or die as a common Cobbler.

In the Quenched Lands, one's fate is determined by their Anointing. There are those who are Anointed as Knights, Warriors! Hunters! Swordsmen! How, then, can my destiny be that of a man whose gaze will ever linger at the feet of others?

I want to be great, like the men in my uncle's tales. I want to enjoy feasts, fell great beasts, and taste wine sweet. These ambitions are said to be beyond my reach, yet, in my uncle's tales, not a single man has ever tasted the fruit of greatness by accepting meekly the hand of providence.

I know not what tales they shall tell of me, in the Eras after the Flickering. I know only one thing shall be true.

I, Nikolaos Mire, shall not live or die as a common Cobbler.