For a year and a day have I dwelt in the house of despair; in halls of pain and discord have I toiled away the seasons. Each day has served to remind me that every action, for weal or woe, whether by will or whim, exacts a price. Neither healer nor warrior nor sinner nor saint finds exemption from this truth, and when healer finds it within his heart to injure another, the world becomes a darker place for the deed.

And though I may sooth the wounds, ease the spirits of those ravaged by the violence spawned by intolerance and ignorance, how may I avert the darkness of my own actions? The ever-darkening world we live in seems to chew souls up and spit them out much faster than any patch on the dam against the flood of woe can withstand, even without my aid, and I have forsaken the teachings I profess to follow, forgotten the face of my father much to my sorrow. How much does it take to set aright that which is so horrifically wrong?

They tell me you watched one last sunrise, killed by love. But how can love have killed you? Did you not learn that love does not injure, does not seek to control or contain? Did you not see that love does not erode the soul, leaving only an unending ache to fill your waking hours? And yet, if you knew not this about love, if you knew not love, then the fault that may be found can be cast upon neither yourself nor your memory. Had you known love, known that you were yet loved, seen your inherent worth and the inestimable value of your life mirrored in the eyes around you, had we but shown you a glimpse of your own magnificence, would that love have been sufficient to sustain you?

In your memory, three shelters offer protection against the elements to any stranded on the mountainside when the darkness meets the daylight. Though Spartan by any definition, they offer life-sustaining shelter against the more deadly elements of change.

Let those who gaze upon these words and all that may seek refuge within those walls reflect upon the love you knew, the love you didn't, and the difference that a single action or inaction may make in the world.