Love knows no bounds, the saying claims. History knows no better proof of this adage than the romance between Lara Dorren and Cregennan of Lod.

She – a powerful elven Sage, bearer of the Elder Blood, promised to the great Avallac'h. He – a human mage of great talent and humble birth. She – able to live centuries, if not millennia. He – likely to live no more than three score years and ten, like each of us. They should have hated each other, scorned each other. Instead, they burned for one another with powerful love.

Heedless to the war raging around them, to the condemnations and curses raining down on them from all sides, they led a humble and happy life. Soon Lara was with child. A babe born of Lara and Cregennan might have joined the best of both races, united them at long last. Alas, this was not to be.

Humans considered Cregennan a traitor and a renegade. They demanded he abandon Lara – and when he refused, they decided to murder them both. Cregennan died, while Lara, still heavy with child, escaped with her life. She ran to Tretogor, to beg succor and support from Cerro, Queen of Redania.

What then came to pass? Here elven and human sources diverge, presenting two irreconcilable versions. According to the chroniclers of the Aen Seidhe, "...Her pleas did not soften the stony dh'oine hearts, the hearts of merciless and cruel humans. When Lara, pleading for mercy, if not for her, then at least for her child, clutched on to the door of the royal carriage, the queen ordered her maimer to strike with his sword and cut off her fingers. That night, crushed by a fierce frost, Lara breathed her last sigh, on a hill, in the woods, giving birth to a daughter whom she protected with the fading embers of her own warmth."

Human legends, however, have Cerro saying, "Ask not me for grace, ask instead those whom you have harmed with your magic. Brave you were when you wrought those foul deeds, brave be you now, when the pursuit of justice nears. Your sins are not in my power to forgive." In reply, Lara said, "My doom is at hand, but yours, queen, is also nigh. Remember Lara Dorren in that terrible hour, queen, remember her death and her curse. And know that my curse will hound you and your seed, to the tenth generation will it damn your line."

Wherein lies the truth cannot be said. Both versions are surely false, for both seek to blacken their enemy. Sad is Lara's end – the hate between races which Cregennan wished so badly to end is now so strong that its darkness has forever obscured the truth of her fate.