I should probably begin by correcting a misunderstanding.
My name is Adorevil.
That does not mean I adore evil.
It means my parents had a sense of humor.
At least, I assume they did.
I have not yet ruled out prophecy.
People become strangely uncomfortable when they discover I'm a Warlock.
I find this unfair.
Nobody becomes uncomfortable when an Engineer says they're experimenting with explosives.
Well.
Not immediately.
My interest has always been very simple.
I want to know how things work.
Unfortunately, some of the things I want to know about have horns.
This is apparently where society draws the line.
I began with books.
Everyone begins with books.
Then someone told me one of the books was forbidden.
That was useful information, because until that moment I hadn't known which book I wanted to read next.
One thing led to another.
There may have been a summoning circle.
There may have been several.
The scorch marks are unrelated.
Probably.
Now I travel with demons, brew potions, collect herbs, and belong to a guild called Vanilla Veterans, which seems to contain an alarming number of people willing to follow me into caves.
I appreciate this.
I also question their judgment.
The Crosswefts are a strange family.
Onno runs toward things.
Dezel takes things apart.
Aurik hits things with hammers until they improve.
I ask questions everyone else was perfectly happy leaving unanswered.
It works surprisingly well.
I don't believe darkness becomes safer because you refuse to look at it.
I think you look carefully.
You learn what it is.
You learn what it wants.
You learn where the edges are.
And then—
preferably—
you remain on the correct side of them.
I am still working on that last part.
If you see me around the guild hall, say hello.
If you see me drawing a circle on the floor, ask first.
And if you hear me say:
“Interesting…”
you may wish to stand somewhere else.