On occasion you find something, a little clue, in the world of Maldene, that has been staring right in the face of its citizens for ages on end and completely missed.  Something– or someone– thought of as mere myth, a fictional archetype that is perhaps not so fictional.

Take the Tarot card “The Mystic” as an example.

No matter which corner you take, this card refers to knowledge and its seeking out; whether it is to act in your favor or not depends on which corner is pointing up.  The picture is of your typical image of an old sage, the mystic squirreled away in the middle of a deep maze of ancient tomes.  An image that could refer to anyone from a retired librarian to someone living in a cave far away from civilization.  A cliche or trope, not a real person.

Or is it?

All cliches start somewhere, with some one.  In this case, legend has it that there exists the Great Sage At The Foot Of The World, living somewhere in the Southern Wastelands.  Stories exist of the occasional individual questing to seek him out for an answer that only he knows.  Of course, these stories are scattered over the course of hundreds of rels, at the least.  So what manner of man is he, if he indeed exists?

This is a picture of his home, by the way.

He must exist, right?  After all, Maldene is a place where legends walk out along cobble-stoned streets.  Well, let us hope so, because Sabu, Eldar, and the rest have a question they need to have answered.  Specifically, that of a certain map they finmd towards the end of the first Maldene novel.  Yes, that map…