It was another beautiful morning in Neverwinter Wood, as Dorvyn and Rosilys started out on their monthly trek into town for supplies. Though they did truly love the quiet, peaceful life they had recently made for themselves in the Wood, they sometimes still longed for the rush of adrenaline brought on by the antics that were once so prevalent in a typical day. Not long ago they both agreed that it was time to settle down and get ready to start a family, and they were still adjusting to the idea of being tied down to one place that they could call 'home'. So when they happened upon an unconscious man along the bank of Neverwinter River, they couldn't help but feel a slight twinge of excitement.

They checked for any sign of life in the man and found that he was still breathing but was in very rough shape. With a more extensive examination, Dorvyn determined that the man had actually been poisoned. Though not an alchemist himself, he had garnered a vast amount of knowledge from years and years of assisting his father (who was an obsessive transmutation alchemist) in his lab. Dorvyn had made it a habit during his days as an adventurer to collect certain supplies that might come in handy for emergencies such as this. With only a slight struggle, the two gnomes carried the man back to their burrow. After several attempts at reviving him and one close call, Dorvyn was successful in healing the man who awoke in a disconcerted stupor a few days later.

After the gnomes explained to the man where and how they found him, he told them a bit about himself. He was a half-elf wizard named Oriminar and was a highly esteemed Professor of Illusion who was often sought after by up-and-coming wizards wishing to be his apprentice. He had been on his way to Neverwinter to visit the infamous Cloak Tower which was once home to a guild of mages called the Many-Starred Cloaks, but after several mysterious events, had ended up becoming home to a clan of orcs. However, he couldn't recall exactly why he had planned to go there, and felt very disoriented every time he tried to think about it.

Oriminar was profoundly grateful for the kindness that the two gnomes had shown him and insisted on somehow returning the favor to them for saving his life. Despite all of his extravagant offers of gold and valuable treasures, Dorvyn and Rosilys humbly declined. Not wanting to leave in such a great debt to the two of them, Oriminar offered them one last thing: a magical piece of parchment which would vanish when used and would find its way to him no matter where he was in the world. That way if they ever wanted to take him up on his offer they could simply write him a letter. The gnomes liked the idea and graciously accepted the gift. And with that, Oriminar went on his way.

Many years went by as the two gnomes struggled to have children. Just when they were about to give up trying, they were finally blessed with a daughter whom they named Rowyn. Rowyn was a precocious child; she read every book that she could get her hands on and had depleted the burrow's stash of literature before most gnomes her age could even read at all. Her parents knew early on that she was destined for greatness and that it would be a travesty to let her intelligence go to waste. With very little gold to their name, a school of wizardry was basically out of the question. They searched and searched for a wizard that would take her under their wing as an apprentice for a nominal price, but no one was willing to accept for what they could afford to pay.

They had not overlooked the possibility of Oriminar mentoring Rowyn. They had heard that he had quit teaching and declared that he would be taking on no more apprentices. Rumor also had it that he had started to lose his mind a bit after spending so much time alone researching the mysterious happenings at Cloak Tower. With all other options exhausted, Rosilys and Dorvyn decided to ignore the rumors and finally cash-in on the favor promised to them by their old acquaintance. They wrote him of their plight and, just like he had said it would, the letter vanished immediately after they finished writing their message on the parchment.

Several weeks later, on a cold and dreary night, the family was going about their normal evening routine when all of a sudden a tall, quirky man showed up at their door. They did not recognize him until he spoke, and even then they weren't entirely sure it was really him. Despite his bedraggled appearance, it was in fact Oriminar. He told them that he had received their letter and that, although he owed them a great debt, he could not take their daughter on as an apprentice. He had given up teaching and could not bear the thought of shaping the mind of yet another young wizard.

The two older gnomes were very upset. They begged and pleaded with him for almost an hour, but he was very adamant. Rowyn was quiet almost the whole time, just taking in what the adults were saying with a look of contemplation and also that of slight amusement. Then suddenly she spoke up and suggested that instead of studying as his apprentice maybe should could just work as his assistant. Her parents looked surprised at her proposal, but Oriminar seemed impressed. He was actually relieved that she was willing to forgo the apprenticeship and at the same time could possibly release him from his debt to her parents. He quickly accepted her proposition and told her to pack her things. Rowyn's parents were left speechless and not too happy with the compromise. Nevertheless, after giving it some more thought they accepted the idea and figured that if nothing else Rowyn would be able to get out and see other parts of the world and hopefully have access to many more books than she ever would at home.

Oriminar and Rowyn made their way east to his home in Deepingdale. Rowyn found it disconcerting to be around Oriminar because he seemed so powerful yet too scatterbrained to focus on what he was doing. Aside from that, her time with him started out very banal. He would rarely ask for her help, and when he did it was mostly just to go out to collect the ingredients that he needed for his crazy concoctions and occasionally help prepare them. Rowyn quickly grew to love being sent out to get ingredients though. She could get away from the wild wizard and after promptly finding the components she was tasked with collecting she could explore on her own or read.

Oriminar started to notice that Rowyn had no trouble bringing back the things he asked for in much less time than it should've taken for her to gather them. She also never had any problems preparing the ingredients when asked. Even some of the top students he'd had in the past weren't as efficient as she was at most tasks. Gradually, he started giving her more and more responsibility, and they started to enjoy each others' company.

Oriminar started revealing more and more about the questions he had been trying to answer for almost a whole century, and found out that Rowyn was an excellent study. She could read books in half the time that he could, if not faster! He started sending her to different places to search for old and rare books and sometimes during her searches she would find spellbooks. One day Rowyn came across a very peculiar book that should could not read. She took it back to Oriminar who was ecstatic after merely glancing at it. He was able to find answers to many of his pressing questions after studying the contents of this ancient tome. He had not had this big of a breakthrough in all his previous years of research. From that day forward he treated Rowyn as his apprentice and started training her to be a wizard.

After several years of training under Oriminar, tragedy struck.

The master and his apprentice had just started in on the second week of training the latest spell that the budding wizard had added to her arsenal, which was called "Burning Hands". As the name implies, this spell involves working with fire. Therefore, in order to avoid accidently burning down Oriminar's abode, they had been conducting their practice sessions outside. Rowyn ran out to the practice spot with Oriminar following behind her and just as she was about to cast the spell, a deafening crack behind her brought her to her knees. She quickly turned around to see Oriminar grasping at his throat. He had been struck by what looked like a fatal blow by a very powerful spell. She watched the color quickly drain from his face and before she had time to run to his aid a black, shadowy figure charged at him. As soon as the figure made it to Oriminar and grabbed him, they both vanished. Stupefied, Rowyn just sat there for quite some time.

Helplessness and confusion consumed her as she started to realize that Oriminar was gone and she had no idea who or what had just attacked him. After what seemed like hours, Rowyn finally gathered the strength to get up and walk back into Oriminar's study to see if she could figure out why this had happened. As she walked in, she saw an envelope on the table that had not been there when she and Oriminar had gone out for their training session. It had her name on it, so she opened and read it:

Rowyn,

If you are reading this, I am dead and you are on your own. For years I have been trying to get down to the bottom of what happened at the Cloak Tower in Neverwinter, as you know. What I've shared with you about that place is just a small piece of the very large and dangerous puzzle. I am leaving all of my possesions and my home to you. You should be able to find all of my notes and research on what I've learned about that mystifying place. Use the information wisely and proceed with caution.

I've truly enjoyed having you as my apprentice. You are on your way to becoming an exceptional wizard.

Oriminar

She read the letter a few times, only stopping when she could no longer see past her tears. When she was finally able to pull herself together, Rowyn looked around for more clues. She didn't find much, but she did notice that the cryptic book that had helped Oriminar answer so many questions was missing from its spot on the shelf. Oriminar must've gone too far in his quest for answers.

Rowyn spent a few days moping around before she decided that she was going to go home to see her parents. Being at Oriminar's house without him was too hard; she was lonely and needed to see a familiar face or two. She made the trip back home to Neverwinter Wood. Her parents were sad to hear about what had happened to Oriminar, but were happy to see Rowyn. They set her up in her old room and tried to comfort her in any way that they could.

A few weeks passed and Rowyn gradually started to cheer up. Not wanting to forget any of the things that Oriminar had taught her, she kept practicing her spells. Staying with her parents was nice, and was exactly what she had needed after losing her mentor, but she was starting to get the itch to get out and adventure. She wanted to start using her spells in a real life situations instead of just practicing them on artificial foes. She had seen a sign the last time she was in town asking for volunteers willing to guard and transfer a supply cart to Phandolin. Given her size, Rowyn wasn't your typical guard, but she had a lot of skills that could come in handy and also had immense knowledge of the area. She broke the news to her parents, packed her things, and headed out to begin her new adventure.