Role

Chapter 1

Donatien knew of the origins of many of the races of Thera. How the duergar evolved from the
dwarves, the drow and orcs from the elves and other changes made over time. Sometimes he dreamed
he had come from another race but not a humanoid one. Donatien had vivid dreams of crawling out
from brackish water onto the land for the first time. He could remember growing legs and clumsily
chasing down bugs and frogs. He could remember returning to the depths and his legs turning to
flippers, and becoming a cunning hunter feared by all but the mightiest of beasts lurking in the depths.
He would thrill as his teeth sunk into the elongated neck of what would become his latest meal, then he
would wake and find himself the pathetic stooped little man he was.

Donatien was born the son of a bread merchant in the large city of Galadon. His mother baked bread
that his father would try to sell. However, it was not very good bread, so there was never a shop or
anything like that. His father would walk the streets hawking his poor product to those who could not
afford anything better some days, would end up throwing away hardening bread on others, or found
himself accosted and his goods taken from time to time as well.

Needless to say, Donatiens life in Galadon was one of squalor. Some days his father would drag him
along to try to make him sell bread as well. On these days Donatien would try to slip off and throw his
bread in the river, watching the fish come to eat it and, if particularly lucky would see something rise
from deeper in the river to eat those fish.

As donation grew older, he realized he preferred his sleeping world to his waking one. He did not know
the source of his dreams, but did know he felt alive when he dreamed and a shell when he woke. He
knew he had nothing in Galadon, so he decided to see if there was a way to replace his life with his
dreams.