Endings and Beginnings

I awoke in the ruins of my home - at least I feel certain it was my home though I cannot manage to recall a single memory about it.  Searching about the ruins I find a fragment of mirror and see my reflection.  An old man with a haunted look as if it bore witness to many terrible things stared back.  I was certain it was me, but not a single recollection of the years before that must have been came to mind.  My childhood, my youth, my years as an apprentice... I could feel them like something just out of reach - I could almost touch them but yet they escaped my grasp.

Did I say apprentice?  Yes, that's right!  I am, or was a wizard.  With this small fragment of information a small flood of memories came back to me.  With some effort I found the remains of my study and found the hidden place where my books were kept.  While most had been destroyed, one that contained the most rudimentary spells was still intact.  As I perused the book, the old words of power began to fill my mind once again.  Yes, while much of who I was missing, my mastery of the arcane was still with me.

As I walked the ruins of my home, salvaging what I could, a nagging sensation began gnawing away at the back of my mind.  "This place is unsafe" the feeling said.  "You must go before they return!" it urged with increasing intensity.  Heeding its warning I gather my things and prepare to leave when the glint of silver catches the corner of my eye.  Digging in the rubble I find a mirrored mask - why I had such a thing I had no idea - but the urging in the back of my mind pressed me to take it. "Your name, your face are not safe!" it said and so I put on the mask as I prepared to leave my home for the last time.

But what to call myself?  I was not sure who I was so any name should do right?  Z... Za... Zar...  No.  Z... Zo.... Zol... Zoltan.  Zoltan, yes, that felt familiar and yet not at the same time.  Guess I will know for sure when I find my first settlement.  With one parting glance at the home I couldn't remember, I head south to what I hoped was civilization.