Rei took a deep breath as the stinging cold wind slapped against her face. She raised her face towards the sky and smiled. High in the mountains was the only place Rei truly felt at home. With her feet planted firmly on the solid rock and her eyes closed she could feel the stone beneath her reaching down impossibly far to the fiery heart of Telios. If she stilled her thoughts she could almost sense some immense presence just beyond her perception. Rei snapped her eyes open and turned her gaze to the east. There on the waters of the endless sea she could just make out the white sails of an Isofarian galley patrolling the waters and protecting the local fishing trade. No doubt some of her more militantly minded fellow conscripts were aboard pulling the oars and keeping a lookout. Rei was in the second year of her 4 year military conscription. Due to Falmund's constant aggression, every Isofarian was forced to become a soldier. However, Rei decided that the life of a common foot soldier was not for her. She couldn't stand the thought of having to kill someone so she devoted herself to medical studies instead. The military was always in need of doctors and nurses to patch the soldiers up, and if she got the chance to forage for medicinal herbs alone in the mountains that was just fine with her.

Rei turned back to the task at hand and headed towards a patch of thick growth that looked to yield a promising amount of herbs. As she bent to harvest a few sage leaves she was startled to hear someone call out to her. She turned to see who had followed her up the mountain but she didn't see anyone. What she DID see made her heart stop. Red sails. Falmund had come. She counted five ships sleek and low to the water with massive battering rams affixed to the front of each. The lone Isofarian galley stood no chance. Rei dropped her herbs and ran down the mountain as fast as she could, but it was so far. She knew she would never make it it time, and she didn't know what she would do even if she did. She had never felt more helpless in her life. She dropped to her knees and cried out in anguish. In her heart she raged against Falmund and its neverending quest for dominance. She cried out against the unfairness of generation after generation of Isofarians having their youth ripped away in service to war. She wished she had the power to just make it all stop. She reached down to feel the reassuring presence of the mountain beneath her and suddenly the voice returned. She couldn't make out the words, but they filled her with determination and hope.

She rose to her feet and raced to the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea. The ships were there below her about 300 yards away. Suddenly a ball of flame shot forth from the deck of one of the red ships. It traced a lazy arc in the sky and began its descent towards the Isofarian galley. Rei cried out in a wordless scream and the voice from the mountain echoed her fury. A wave of force burst forth from Rei and snuffed the fireball out of the sky.

On the galley deck below forty pairs of eyes looked up in amazement to see the woman who had saved them from a fiery death. Their amazement turned to horror when they witnessed the tiny figure leap from the cliff. However, instead of falling to her death the woman flew towards the lead Falmundian ship as if she had wings! Halfway through her flight a bright flash lit up the sky and the woman was instantly weilding a spear made of blinding light. A heartbeat later she plunged through the deck of the ship blasting sea spray and splinters high into the air.

Weeks later, the Isofarian sailors were still telling stories of the woman who had fallen from the sky to save them, and in each telling the tale grew more fanciful. After destroying all five Falmundian ships some versions of the story had her flying south to lay siege to Falmund itself while other versions had the mysterious woman disappearing back into the wilds. A search party was put together for Rei, the young medic who had never returned after picking herbs. After a few weeks the search was reluctantly called off and there was a small funeral service held in the mountains. Those who knew her best mourned the sweet girl who detested violence and instead devoted herself to helping others.