Iuri steps up to the fireside. "So, this isn't going to be as useful as some of the other versions of this I've heard floating around, but the first time I went to the Luma Crystal Caverns did not go... ideally. I was with a sort of big group of people including Vezek and Crakador... And I had Shadow with me. My crystal was right near the front of the caves, which I guess is... convenient? But I avoided it initially. We ended up visiting some other crystals first. And when things seemed to go fine for them, I... ended up touching my crystal. And I remembered something bad. Really bad. Something that I still wish I'd never known or experienced and could forget. And at the time, I was really upset about it. But it was also the first time there had ever been any kind of... external acknowledgment of it? And as hard as it was, and as genuinely painful and upsetting, it was also sort of the impetus for being the first time I ever spoke to anyone about it. And when I was able to talk about it, I was able to start letting it go. Stop letting it control me from the depths of my subconscious.

"The memories people encounter in the Luma Crystal Caverns aren't always good ones, happy ones, or satisfying ones. And the feedback I got from my crystal at the time was honestly... confusing. But then when I talked to Crakador about it, it felt better. And when I talked to Steven and Eron about it, I felt better still. Not about what happened, necessarily, but feeling less alone in it. It turns out sharing burdens does make them easier to carry. But it takes a lot of honesty and bravery, more so than fighting any physical monsters.

"The Caverns can be scary or confusing at first. You don't always like what you get. But I can honestly say that that moment, that connection, was the first step towards moving away from being haunted by memories from my past. So as hard or uncomfortable as visiting that cave might be initially, and as incredibly difficult as talking to others definitely is, in the long run, it's the best and most important quest there is. It's the only quest you take with you everywhere you go, and the only one where the rewards make a difference every single day.

"That day the crystal called me may not have been a day that went the way I wanted. But it went the way I needed, which is better in the long run."

With that, he steps down, tale recounted.