:: Alturiak 10th :: Year 153 :: Vanished. He just vanished.

He vanished - and with him, all the glory, all the wealth at my hand. Our dignity. Our 'family'. Mother's the only one left - and I don't know how much longer she will last. Maybe another couple of years maybe three years.

But I shall recover it. I shall take back all which we lost, I know I will, and I will make sure it goes so much further than he ever imagined.

How will I do it? The answer should be obvious enough: I'll walk the same path he did. And this time, I'll make sure to have the holes he left behind covered. And of course, finish my studies. The latter should be done easily and quickly enough - my mind has yet to fail me.

- Gregory Prestes

:: Alturiak 28th :: Year 153 ::

My studies are done, most certainly. Not with the perfection I am usually proud of, but I would not have been able to afford to do it as as I always do. It will have to work - and now I should be off and ready to the next step of my rise: The Serena Tower. The place where the best of the best work and live in, as I am told.

Mystra only knows what I'm going to find there...

- Gregory

Alturiak 30th, year 153. Old Sanctuary Wrriten by Gregory Prestes, Spellguard Aspirant.

I have decided to start recording my tasks, research projects and immediate goals in this journal. James wouldn't have approved of having such an amount of zurkh-paper put to waste. About time I learned that I don't have time for trivialities anymore.

And now that I have definitively started walking, I can't afford to stop and look back anymore. The future holds everything I can possibly have, all I can dream of, and much more.

But for now - I'll just work and work and get getting my hands on these robes I have always dreamed of wearing - and now I'm so close it seems so easy and so disappointing, that would be a word for it. It would be best that, even though I will always act as I am absolutely sure that I will always succeed, that I am careful at this point.

Who knows what holes and traps old Jimmy would've left behind in his seemingly perfectly clear wide way.

THE PRESTES FILES[¹]

Project Prestes' General Filing & Cathegorization for Neutralizing & Control Purposes:

As the result of several years of work and research, the PPGFCNC is now brought into reality once more. It's purpose, as the names say, is to amass any and all information gathered about EVERYTHING and EVERYONE of note so as to better and more efficiently grant a brighter future for all and the author. It is a long term project and should be completed as the years pass and the proper sources locate the information gathering efforts properly.

The PPGFNC has the advantage of being held to no ideology, no biasing. It is completely neutral, as information stained by the colorful workings of the disparate and bickering factions of Sanctuary is well known to be useless. Obviously, that will mean safer and better work coming from author and that more use will be made of the information provided, filed and cathegorized.

[1] The Prestes Files are simply another name for the PPGFCNCP. The simple, although genious concept, was idealized by the late James C. Prestes but never reached conclusion.

Of course, as all of his work went missing after J.C.P's dubious' and sudden disapearance, it would be the author's duty and role to start over. As such, while the concept may belong to James', authorship is exclusive to G. Prestes. The fact that G. Prestes has the same family name, surprisingly, isn't a coincidence.

A note, in shaky hand writing, neatly folded and hidden within his journal can be found.

I remember the moment I joined the Order of the Spellguard. Regardless of my mother's hesitancy to accept the fact that I wanted to follow father's footsteps, regardless of my first failures, regardless of my idealist 'freedom loving' uncle's rants, I had managed. I had joined the Spellguard. The way was open - the path to a glorious future, amongst the best of the best. A moment of change for myself and possibly for the people of Sanctuary. A moment where I finally understood my role within this City, to protect, defend always, no matter the price. Not only did I comprehend that, but now I was finally perceived as someone capable of such a thing. I was proud beyond my comprehension.

But my perception of things has changed, even though they are still the same. In my skill to deceive others into thinking what I wanted them to think, I winded up deceiving myself. Reality couldn't be farther from the truth. Now, I'm not as proud of being what I am and doing what I have done.

I have sought alternatives. I have spoken to Seekers, the men my uncle spoke of so proudly. Father was right about them. They are nothing but reckless, incopetent fools. They can do nothing. Nor could they ever.

My way is my own now. I need not to rely on the Seekers. I need not to rely on Symbaern. I will not rely on anyone else. Not ever again. No longer will I complain about what needs change. No longer will I try to convince my fellows of the necessity of such things. No, now I understand. I understand my purpose now.

I shall watch, hiding behind the veil of deception that I always relied on. Hiding on plain sight. And when the time is right and the opportunity ripe, change will come and it will have to be FORCED. My hands will be stained, but it will be for a time where hands will no longer need to be stained. A necessary sacrifice.

I swear by my father's soul, by the honor of the Prestes: I will see it through. And may the gods have mercy on those who stand in my way.