When was I born? I can't remember much about my past. The only thing that is clear as day in my mind is the sound of a sweet voice calling to me. Altan...is that my name? How did I come to be standing outside the iron crafted gates of the Monastery? Even that simple question eludes me in the mists of my mind.

They took me in, out of the cold that night and nursed my wounds. I remember trying to leave the next day and being held back. So I stayed, thinking that the next day would be the day I left. Days turned into weeks...weeks turned into months. And the seasons passed by without me. Soon, five long years had passed and I had still not moved on.

All these years, the monks lived in their vows of silence; never uttering a word to me as I lived among them. Yet, somehow, they started to mold me into their ways. Teaching me how to control my mind and my body. And still, they kept me from seeking the clues of my past.

Their ways almost seemed burned into me. My body left to their order. My mind became closed off to everything outside the Monastery walls. Silence became my native tongue, enforced on me by those that lived around me. Still, in my soul, I knew that there was more out there. To speak. To listen. To live. To learn more about who I am.

And so, I left the Monastery one warm summer night. I stepped past the very same gate I had come to be outside of five years ago. Even now, I can't recall ever being outside the walls during my time with them. But what happened to me between then and now? I wish I could tell you, my friend.

There is a void inside my mind, blocking me from many of my memories. My childhood is gone to me. The year between now and when I came to be here is just as clouded. But, it is here that fate has brought me. Her gentle hands have laid me here in the Shire of Whispering Winds; surrounded by people who seem to care. Another world outside of what I had known in the Monastery. A place that people can speak, and listen to what I have to say.

It is here that I have made my home. Slowly learning and growing in strength...free to seek the answers to my questions. What has caused the void in my mind? Will it return? Where did I come from? And will I ever remember anything?

Unphotographed

Jasmine

Krinshar

Rotax