Author's Note:

Oh, I see someone has finally picked me up.  Hey, wait, don't put me down yet; you don't even know what kind of book I am.  Yes, I'm sure you read the cover already, and you're thinking this is some fanciful story about heroes and dragons and wizards and some nobody saving the world.  Well, you might be half right.  The problem is, you see, Jacob didn't save the world.  I'm all that's left, sadly.  I've spent what seems like an eternity waiting for someone like you to find me, or rather, what's left of me.  Yes, even the most powerful of wizards eventually fade into nothingness.  Well, eventually, that is, but I'm not quite there yet; I'm still here as a book.

Perhaps now you'd like to know what you've gotten yourself into, picking up this book.  I'd like to say you've a role to play in this story, but alas, it's a bit too late for that, so you'll have to settle for learning the truth about the past, or at least the truth from my point of view.  After that, well, you can decide for yourself whether the story is truly ended, or whether you've yet a role to play.  Dragons, kings, wizards, heroes, you shall find them aplenty within these pages.  You'll also find ordinary people, people like yourself, in extraordinary situations.  Of prime importance is one of these, a writer named Jacob.  No, not me. I may be limited to the role of an author now, but I am certainly not he.

Though Jacob was only an author, he also possessed a unique enthusiasm for something I find extremely boring: recording the present for those in the future.  Yes, I understand the irony in that, seeing as I am now a book.  Irony aside, Jacob didn't just want to document the world, history, nature and philosophy.  He wanted to live it, experience it, and only then record it.

Oh bother, don't look at me like that.  Perhaps I'm just confusing you further?  Where should I start then... stories like this normally have a prologue, yes?  Hmm, well, I don't think a prologue will work in this situation; I don't know that part.  I think I'll simply start...

... at the beginning.

END PROLOGUE