KULUNG'S TALE

I travel the back roads of human civilization, following a quest I do not always understand. Some unseen force, some inner desire, drew me away from my tribe and brought me to the towns and cities of humanity. Does this mean I reject my place as an ogre mage? I do not think so. Instead, I believe I am trying to enhance it.

I wander the edges of human settlements, drawn like an insect to the brightly burning torch of civilization. Like an insect, I cannot turn away from the intense heat. Like an insect, I will be destroyed if I get too close to the flame. I am fascinated, captivated, afraid.

But the fear flows both ways. While I fear the screaming mobs of humans with their swords and clubs and sharp-tipped arrows, they also fear me. To most of them, I am a monster. I look different. I sound different. I pray to different gods. Humans are quick to show fear toward that which is different. And what they fear, they often destroy.

Why did I leave my tribe? the answer is at once simple and complex. I was not like my tribe mates. 1 rejected the practice of catching and keeping slaves. I followed a path that was closer to good than to evil. I even sought out knowledge and scholarly endeavors while my tribe mates reveled in combat and conquest. In short, I was different, much different, and humanoids are less tolerant of differences than even the humans and demihumans whose lands I now roam.

I live in humanity's shadow, but I am not a shadow of humanity. Indeed, those few humans who I have come to call friend proclaim that I am more human than most of their kind. Sometimes I take this as a compliment, sometimes a foul curse, for I have seen the heights that humanity can reach and I have witnessed the dark depths it can sink to. They are grand, these humans, but they are also desperately dangerous. And the greatest danger lies in the bright center of civilization's flame, for it draws me toward its scrolls and books and epic ballads, where its searing heat can consume me. Perhaps it is better in the shadows, for the darkness offers some small protection from the flame.

Am I a monster? It depends on the point of view. To my own people, I am a weakling, a coward, a failure. To the humans and demihumans who know me, I am a trusted companion, a learned associate and a friend. To those who refuse to see beyond my appearance, I am a foul creature, a hated enemy, a monster. I am all these things and none of them. I am Kulung the Ogre Mage, the Tribeless One, the Searcher.

I am the Humanoid, and I walk the perimeter of humanity's blazing flame.


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