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Talmar
A soft rustle in the trees overhead indicated that she was up there. Again.Talmar shook his head and sighed, ignoring it for the moment. He willed her to goaway and went back to preparing for his evening meditation. With a calm andpracticed precision, he retrieved the meditation candles from a chest outside the door
of the Keeper’s Hall, and set them on plain, stoneware pl
ates at the four directionpoints around the edge of the Lifespring. From a brightly painted jar, he placed aspoonful of ground incense next to each candle.It was a simple arrangement, but in the near dark of the just set sun, the fourcandles would create a warm, peaceful glow, the incense would shroud them in asweet, earthy haze, and Talmar would dip his Spiritstone into the cold, dimly
glowing water, and feel Taloria’s essence soak into it and thus to him. That small
pool, with its luminescent crystals growing along its walls was the center of 
Talmar’s rather small world in the Southern reaches of Carimar.
 The Springcircle was beautiful in its simplicity. Moss covered rock encircledthe spring where clear water flowed silently out over the lip and slipped away to thesouth. It was surrounded on three sides by log buildings with high peaked, shingledroofs where all major activities in the village occurred. A low, ivy-blanketed, stonewall connected the buildings and met at a high arching gateway where the streamexited and the villagers entered up a flagstone walk. It was all shrouded by five greatLifetrees, whose massive branches stretched out nearly behind the roofs of thebuildings their broad, emerald green leaves covering it all in soft, cool shade.Lifetrees nourished themselves directly from the blood of Taloria, havingbeen planted and nourished by the village from time out of memory. During thesegrowing months, when the leaves overlapped to the point that no sunlight camethrough, Talmar was the most content. The constant twilight was tranquil, and would
keep the growing season’s heat at bay.
 Talmar knelt on the soft moss and peered into the clear, glowing depths of the spring. He felt he gazed into the heart of Taloria herself. It had transfixed himsince he first looked into it as a boy, forever being admonished for sneaking into the
Welcome to Carimar 
 
Carimar is a large, J-shaped valley, land-
locked by its geographical features. It’s main cities
are Achenar, Volonar, and Westkeep. The peopleare a peaceful folk, mostly farmers and craftsmen,bound by the traditions dedicated to worshippingTaloria. The focal point for most is around the manyLifesprings scattered throughout, having a higherconcentration of the magical springs than any otherregion on the continent. They currently wage a
losing battle against the influx of Takidor’s
merchants, who bring their strange mercantile waysto the unsuspecting and gullible Carimarans, manyof whom are being caught up in the tide of wealthand greed that they bring.In the southern reaches, nestled against thetowering Ulsgareth Peaks, is Springwood, a smallforest and home to the village of the same name. Itis where one of our heroes, Talmar Woodbornbegins his journey.
 
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Springcircle at night, to stare into the ethereal glow of the Spiritstones growing onthe walls.From that very first moment he had felt a connection. There was somethingpowerful in that water, and Talmar had felt at one with it. He could not explain itthen, and was hard pressed to do so now. Mendalar, his mentor and Springkeeper of the village, had let him make his secret, nightly vigils to the spring, and now he wasan apprentice Springkeeper, learning the ways of focusing the energy that came fromthe waters.The sound of a snapping twig refocused his attention. Milara.She was spying on him again, hiding somewhere in the dense canopy above.How or why she had become infatuated with him, Talmar still did not understand.He was not handsome. He was your typical brown haired, brown-eyed Carimaranmale. He had that rare touch of green in the eyes, but still, it was nothing to gossipwith the other girls about. He was an apprentice Keeper, which was a very mundaneand boring vocation to others beside himself. He did not have the exceptionalwoodworking skills of his father. There was just nothing about him that he wouldhave considered worth being infatuated about, and yet there she was.Milara was fifteen seasons old, and a very healthy fifteen at that. Talmar wasnot beyond noticing, but much to her frustration, he had little interest. The womanhe was meant for lived in his dreams. A woman with hair the color of honey, whoalways floated up to him from the chill waters of the Lifespring, her eyes blazingwith blue fire. She never spoke to him, but the message was clear. She needed him,and always beckoned for him to follow her back into the glowing depths, but Talmarrefused, afraid to enter, afraid of what he might find down there, and that whateverneed the beautiful woman had, he would fail her.The dreams were almost always the same, and Talmar would wake fromthem terribly afraid, sweating, his wool blanket clenched up tightly under his chin.They were compelling to, and the woman fascinated him. Taloria was telling himsomething, if only he could fathom its meaning, and he knew without doubt that hisfuture was linked with the mysterious woman. He had told no one of his dream, evenhis mentor, who might have clearer understanding of such things. Talmar wished to
decipher it for himself. It was Taloria’s challenge to him as a Keeper.
 Milara seemed to be obsessed with him of late, taken to spying on him at all
 I have watched him these past few seasons, fromthe first moment I sensed his presence in the watersof the Lifespring, knowing that he would be the onewith the power to heal. I have given him visions of the Shadow, the one whom he must save, for I have foreseen their meeting, and I must conspire to makeit so.-Tulbonae, the Seer of UberaTalmar is an apprentice Springkeeper, under thetutelage of Mendalar, the Keeper of the village of Springwood. He wishes nothing more than to learnand one day become
his village’s Keeper. He feels
the touch of Taloria, drawn to the power in the Lifespring, knowing that his life belongs in serviceto her. He questions though, what to make of therecurring dream of the beautiful, troubled womanwith the honey-colored hair whom forever calls out  for his help.
 
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hours of the day, always being there when he left the Keeper’s Hall in the evening,
and always out on an errand at sunrise to catch him by chance on his way in for hismorning meditation. It was flattering but mostly annoying, and Talmar did not carefor her breaking the village rules on his account. Nobody was allowed to climb inthe sacred Lifetrees surrounding the spring.
“
Milara
,” he said, loud enough for her to certainly hear. There was noresponse, but a faint rustling in the branches above. “
Milara, please. I know you are
up there, and it is against the rules to be climbing the Lifetrees.” There
was another
snap of wood and a muffled cry. “No need to hurry, Mila. It is nearly dark. You will
fall to your death if you keep that
 —“
 He was cut off by a sudden, short scream and several bits of twig tumbleddown in front of him into the waters of the spring. He would have to clean them out
of the water before he could do his meditation now. “
Milara, please be careful. This
has got to stop.”
 
“Tal,” she cried out. “Help—“
 He started to get up, but then a longer scream pierced the shadows above,and then the harsh, sickening crack of bone striking wood. He could see her comingdown through the branches in a shower of twigs and leaves, her limp body buffetedback and forth. She flopped like a rag doll, tumbling headfirst and Talmar cringedwhen her head narrowly missed the larger of the lowest branches stretching over thespring. For a moment, Talmar thought she might be dropping right on top of him, orworse, landing on the stone ring around the spring. He was frozen, unable to movefrom where he stood and could only turn and close his eyes as her shadowy figureplummeted down.By some fortunate quirk of fate, the body plunged down with a loud,thumping whoosh into the middle of the spring, dousing Talmar in a shower of coldwater. When he turned to look, he could only see the dim outline of her figure,sinking into the faint glow of the pool, a smoky swirl of blood trailing up above her.Talmar hesitated for only a moment. It was strictly forbidden for anyone to enter thespring other than the Springkeeper. You could not taint the blood of Taloria withmortal flesh. However, someone was about to die, and that tipped the scales easilyenough for Talmar. Leaping forward, he arched in the air, landed with an awkwardsplash, and swam madly down toward
Milara’s dim
outline.
Lifesprings
Scattered through Taloria, are the magicalLifesprings. The water that flows from them isknown as the Blood of Taloria. It is here that thosewith the ability can feel the power of the goddessTaloria, and commune with the all-knowing powerthat guides their lives.Within these natural springsgrows crystalline rocks called Spritstones. Thesestones have the power to absorb the spiritual energygiven off by all living things. They are harvested bythe Keepers of the springs, and tradition states thatthey shall be given to all upon reaching their fifthseason, to be worn close the breast in the form of anecklace, worn until death, at which time the stoneis cast
 back to the Lifespring so that the person’s
spirit may be joined with Taloria. The Keepers arethe few born with the power to access the energybuilt up within the stones, to heal or be used forother beneficial purposes. Because of this, theKeepers are the central figures in Carimaran life.
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