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Worlde Arcane: Aniada: The Enchanted Forest ("The Channyfor")


Enchanted Forest


The Enchanted Forest is a magickal and wonderful place. Many strange and exciting creatures, and objects have been found in this forest. Within the folds of its branches, a traveler may be lulled into a sense of peace and harmony, however a traveler should always be on guard for those with dark desires have also been known to frequent here.

Art by Philip Straub

 An Obscure Game Trail July 21, 2004 - 3:41 am

 Concept Nation October 17, 2010 - 3:15 am

 Eastern Reaches of the Forest September 19, 2007 - 4:25 am

 Grove of Pelion  November 28, 2004 - 6:24 pm

 Grove of the Painted Tree August 20, 2005 - 5:45 pm

 Old Elven Village Ruins January 19, 2004 - 4:48 pm

 Southern Reaches of the Forest January 28, 2005 - 10:25 pm

 The Lorimar Road 8: Enchanter’s Highway October 17, 2010 - 3:15 am

 The Lorimar Road 9: Bridgewest October 16, 2010 - 1:47 am

  The Shadow's Edge Inn and Tavern March 30, 2005 - 1:29 am

 The Shrouds July 7, 2004 - 9:39 pm

 The Valley of the Wizard's Tower March 27, 2007 - 3:52 pm

 Western Reaches of the Forest August 10, 2004 - 4:25 pm

 What may I create?

By 1/2 high elf, 1/2 drow with a limp (Anya)

Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - 1:13 am GMT | Edit | Link |

Once safely under the shelter of the trees, Anya slides off Baron's back, giving him a pat on the neck. "Thank you. I know you've been working hard to get us here so quickly."

Baron just snorted, nuzzled the elf's hair and proceeded to get down to the important business of grazing the nearest patch of grass.

Anya laughed. "Come on, Horse, we have someone to go see first."

With that, she continued walking into the forest, Baron following her, until coming to a quiet, secluded clearing. Underneath the largest tree was a small pile of stones. Anya smiled slightly upon finding it, though the smile was tinged with sadness. She walked over to the grave - for it is, indeed a gravesite - and brushed away the dirt that had collected, and re-piled the rocks that had fallen in the time since she had last been here, when she had buried her best friend.

A solitary tear traced down her cheek as she spoke, "It's been a long time, I know, Vi'Tor. I'm sorry I haven't come to see you sooner. A lot of things have happened since I last saw you. I'm all alone in the world now-", here she is interrupted by Baron snorting and nudging her with her nose, "- except for Baron. I miss you...so much. I can't help but lay blame on myself that you died. If it wasn't for me, you would've never left the Forest, much less gone into that thrice-cursed Tower..." she trails off and sits in silence a few moments, trying to hold back the tears threatening to come.

"I don't know where Dyess is. I never thought she would just leave. I guess she did, though. I suppose she didn't want to stay in Terajin because of Peebo...but you probably don't want to hear about that, do you?"

Anya ended up spending the rest of the day and camped overnight in that clearing, talking to Vi'Tor, caring for Baron, and generally resting.

That night, curled up against Baron again, she had the strangest feeling Vi'Tor was there with her as well, keeping watch over her. It was her most peaceful sleep in years.

The next morning, she dallied, as if trying to put off having to leave what was left of her first and best friend. But finally, it was time to go. "I have to go now, Vi'Tor. But I'll be back, and sooner this time, I promise." She gave a slight smile at that.

So after placing a bouquet of freshly-picked flowers atop Vi'Tor's grave, Anya left the clearing, Baron following behind her as she traveled southward.

((ooc- to Southern Edge of Forest))

By Anonymous

Sunday, March 28, 2004 - 7:39 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

*The two men moved along at a faster pace, trying to get out of sight of the road as quickly as possible. Somewhere in this forest was that tavern, and perhas his daughter. Storm's eyes were clouded deeply with thought.*

By Anonymous

Tuesday, March 30, 2004 - 4:52 am GMT | Edit | Link |

*They continued moving along through the forest, heading in a more westerly direction. Their pace was a fast one. Damiana was not far now, or so they both hoped.*

By Aroni of Ufaeria (Stormdancer)

Thursday, May 27, 2004 - 8:51 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

Aroni, a young elf with waist length black hair and cat-like green eyes peeked out rom behind a tree. The ranger surveyed the forest carefully. She slowly walked out from behind the tree, tredding softly on the moss covered ground.

By Red Robed Lady - - (Marie)

Sunday, August 1, 2004 - 7:04 am GMT | Edit | Link |

Marie left the inn and disappeared into the forest, just as her father had taught her all those years ago. Stealth and subterfuge were the tools of his trade, and now they were hers.

By Steelhoof of the Cenutars (Hoof)

Sunday, November 28, 2004 - 6:19 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

Steelhoof,a large an a bit well kown Cenutar,stomps through the forest,in which he has been livivng in since he could remeber. He grabs one of the higher up fruits from a tree and munches on it,keeping his ears and eyes keen.

By Damiana (Damiana)

Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - 1:31 am GMT | Edit | Link |

*She drew Vhude's cloak about her shoulders. It was comforting to her for some strange reason. On she rode in silence with no true goal in mind.*

By 1/2 high elf, 1/2 drow with a limp (Anya)

Wednesday, March 22, 2006 - 3:34 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

The night was dark and cool. Somewhere nearby some forest animal could be heard scrabbling through the trees and the quiet call of a night bird.

At the edge of a small clearing, curled up asleep in a nook among the roots of a large tree can be seen an elf with the silver-white hair of a drow but skin much too pale for one of the Dark Elves. Something, perhaps the wind that suddenly rises up and whispers through the trees, or some dark nightmare in her mind awakens the elf with a start. She sits bolt upright and looks around with wide eyes, not recognizing where she is for several long moments. It is only once she realises she is safe among the familiar trees of the Enchanted Forest that she relaxes.

"How silly of me to startle so. There's nothing here to be afraid of, right, Baron?"

She pauses, waiting for the answering nicker she usually gets when she addresses the horse but there is nothing of the sort. In fact, as her eyes scan the clearing and nearby trees, she realises there is no sign of her equine companion at all. "....Baron?" She calls louder, standing, searching the ground for hoofprints, anything to suggest he is nearby but...there is nothing.

Anya the elf is all alone...and as she thinks further on it, she realises that her last recollection is of being in some tavern with a group of people she did not know and then...nothing. What had happened? Why could she not remember? Where did Baron go?

Why was she alone?

By 1/2 high elf, 1/2 drow with a limp (Anya)

Tuesday, April 11, 2006 - 1:15 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

After some time of feeling sorry for herself, Anya realised that sitting around doing such things really were no help to her. Besides which, her stomach began growling. And so, the first order of business is to find something to eat. Luckily, she knows this forest like she knows an old friend and it takes a relatively short amount of time to hunt down some edible plants that she can chew on while walking through the woods.

With no better direction to choose, she decides to head for the edge of the Forest nearest to the Road.

By Anonymous

Tuesday, April 11, 2006 - 2:46 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

A tall, thin figure marked a path through the wood with long strides. Wrapped entirely in a dark cloak the figure strode on, head down, with intense purpose. An animal followed closely on two sets of mis-matched feet.

Whether or not paths crossed, only fate would show.

By Drow Of the Green Wood (Dyess)

Tuesday, April 11, 2006 - 3:26 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

It had been a long time since Anya and Dyess had spoken. Their paths had been crossed a hundred times in the short expanse that they had known each other, and through it all they had become unlikely friends. A Drow, and a half-drow.

But then, they had been forced to part agian, and time passed them by. But Dyess did not forget easily, and had (at long last) turned to hunt out her only friend the worlde had to offer...

But in the search she had discovered rather by accident, the cloaked figure who seemed bent upon crossing the woods without notice. But notice, at least in her mind, was the very thing he would get if that creature always followed them. And so she followed at a distance, given that the individual was headed vaguely in the same direction she was...though not searching out, she hoped, Anya of the Enchanted Wood.

By 1/2 high elf, 1/2 drow with a limp (Anya)

Tuesday, April 11, 2006 - 3:33 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

After some time of walking and not yet finding herself near the road, Anya pauses, both to rest her aching leg (cursing a wyrm as she does so) and to get her bearings.

It's only now, pausing from the single-minded trek she had been bent upon that soft sounds of someone (or several someones?) attempting to slip through the forest unnoticed reached her ears. She frowned and looked about, blue eyes searching for any sign of the source of the sound. It could just be an animal. She didn't think so.

"Hello?" She called out, "Is someone else there?"

Dyess? she thinks, a little desperately, is that yew, my friend?

By Anonymous

Tuesday, April 11, 2006 - 4:24 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

The figure caught the voice on the wind, and he stopped short. His head perked up, revealing a tangle of long blue hair and the profile of a black-skinned face, shimmering and long-featured. He listened ever so closely to the voice, trying to place it - trying to remember. But it was not the voice he wanted to hear.

Squarawwwk. The animal beside him said. He extended a long arm, and it hopped up, climbing to his shoulder - a griphon yearling, about the size of a large cat. It walked across the figure's shoulders, making itself comfortable behind his neck. With nothing left to pause for, they started on again.

By Drow Of the Green Wood (Dyess)

Tuesday, April 11, 2006 - 5:24 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

Dyess arched a brow slightly as she regarded the figure. Interesting, to say the least. But more so was the voice she too had caught on the wind...

Smirking slightly, she settled the had on her shoulder as she leaned against a tree, taking note of the strangers continued progress.

Well, where is the fun in that? she mused, as long fingers tapped the golden collar about her neck.

"It has been a long time, Anya..." she called out in return to her friend's amusing appearance of worry. "Yew wouldn't believe what I found in the woods...It's...something blue."

By 1/2 high elf, 1/2 drow with a limp (Anya)

Tuesday, April 11, 2006 - 5:34 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

Anya's eyes widened at the sound of Dyess' voice. She hadn't expected for her thought to be answered and yet...here was her friend.

"Dyess! How did yew get here? When? Something blue?" She seemed to remember parting ways at some point...when was that?

And, a bit hesitantly she adds, "How long is a long time?"

By Anonymous

Tuesday, April 11, 2006 - 5:40 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

The figure was not out of earshot - not yet, not while the wind was blowing from them to him. He paused again at the second voice, paused and turned and glanced back.

And his eyes swirled and ebbed and flowed from one color to the next, never halting, never slowing - wide and bright and fluid, as if they saw all the Worlde, and one could see all the Worlde within them. He turned and he watched and listened, but still the voice was not the right one; its notes, though feminine, did not follow those he hoped they might.

Yet, this time he remained where he was - he did not turn and contine, though he did not approach the voices, either. He simply stood and waited. At his side, there hung a sword in readiness.

By Drow Of the Green Wood (Dyess)

Tuesday, April 11, 2006 - 6:08 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

"Two years, Anya, since last we spoke..." She assured the other elf, pushing off the tree she had leaned against.

But instead of trailing off toward Anya, she followed after the blue haired one with light steps.

"And yes, something blue...or at least it's hair is. An unusual thing, there is no doubt."

She didn't care if the creature heard her, as the Drow had always been bold. She was curious, and rather wanted it to stop so that could inspect it closer...

"It's rather like a wizard's experiment gone horridly wrong, I should think."

By 1/2 high elf, 1/2 drow with a limp (Anya)

Tuesday, April 11, 2006 - 6:19 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

Anya frowned. Two years?

However, now didn't seem the time to have a conversation about how Anya seemed to have lost a rather decent chunk of her life for no apparent reason.

So instead, she follows Dyess, albeit slowly, and comments in a wry tone, "I don't want to know how yew know that. Well...think that."

By Anonymous

Tuesday, April 11, 2006 - 6:59 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

The figure remained still as the pair approached, though no longer did he remain silent. With his nebulous, swirling eyes fixed upon the nearing pair, he spoke.

"I could easily take offense to such assumptions." He said. His voice was a deep rumble of the earth, a sharp crackle of flame, a rushing babble of water, a stirring howl of wind - and a thunderous resonance rolled through it all. "I do not care much for wizards, nor their experiments. I have suffered far too much of both."

And the yearling at his shoulder let out a Sqwrawk! in agreement.

By Drow Of the Green Wood (Dyess)

Tuesday, April 11, 2006 - 7:35 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

"Indeed, Yew could take offense to it, or yew could ignore it and continue upon yer way. But then, I might be inclined to follow."

She waited just long enough for Anya to catch up before she started to move closer to the man, who was holding her attention more and more with each passing minute.

"Yew aren't, what I would say, a usual find. Though, perhaps yew are a product of this forest. It has been known to produce strange things."

By 1/2 high elf, 1/2 drow with a limp (Anya)

Tuesday, April 11, 2006 - 7:39 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

Anya would be offended by Dyess' last comment, having been born here, if it weren't for the simple truth of it. There were strange things to be found here that were unlike anything else in the Worlde. It was, in a way, part of why she loved it so, beyond that it was and always will be her true Home.

Having caught up to the others, she looks curiously both at the cloaked figure and the yearling upon his shoulder, before deciding mediation may be necessary before Dyess says something they'll both end up regretting. "Please forgive my companion, it seems she was never taught the manners to allow her to coexist gracefully with the rest of the Worlde." This, too, is something Dyess might take offense at, except for the fact of it being true. "If I may ask, what brings yew here to the Enchanted Forest?"

By The Everblessed (Xerestal)

Tuesday, April 11, 2006 - 8:03 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

"For the moment, I shall refrain from either course." He said to the first - the Drowess. "I shall also correct you on another point, M'lady - I am not of this forest. And I must say, your inclination to follow has quite piqued my own curiosity. Having lived all my life as I am, I am never quite used to being treated as a spectacle." Here he paused, and made a half bow to the pair - careful so as not to unseat his griphon companion. The yearling flapped its wings in response, quite enjoying the ride. "My name is Xerestal, and I am, as you say, quite an unusual find." Here again he paused, and adjusted his gaze to take in the second speaker. He smiled slightly.

"Your friend's manners are forgiven freely." He said. "For I am merely passing through, with no reason to quarrel with anyone. I have made a promise to keep myself whole - and I am trying to do my best not to break it."

By Drow Of the Green Wood (Dyess)

Tuesday, April 11, 2006 - 8:15 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

"I wouldn't say yew were a spectacle...simply unusual, and intriguing."

Dyess shrugged, while giving Anya a sidelong glance. It was true, and Dyess was well aware of that particular fact. Manners had never been a strong suit where she was concerned.

"I am Dyess Of Green Forest, and this is Anya of the Enchanted Wood." She added as she nodded in a slight bow. "And I can at least claim that I have no care to fight, for the moment...though, one can never be sure when the need might arise."

Still, Xerestal more than had the Drow's attention now, and she had no interest in doing else but following along. Another example of her long list of lack manners.

"To where are yew heading?"

By 1/2 high elf, 1/2 drow with a limp (Anya)

Tuesday, April 11, 2006 - 8:22 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

Anya smiled slightly at the introductions made. "It is a pleasure to meet yew, Xerestal." A short pause, and, ever mindful that many seemingly lesser creatures were more than they appeared -- Baron having taught her that, she nods toward the griphon, "and may I ask yer companion's name?"

By The Everblessed (Xerestal)

Tuesday, April 11, 2006 - 9:52 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

"Well, that is a relief." Xerestal said, though he did not specify whether it was Dyess' lack of desire to fight, or her assurance that he was not a spectacle. He did not answer her question immediately, though he replied to her introductions with another bow - once more giving his yearling friend an enjoyable ride. "Likewise, a pleasure to meet you both, Dyess and Anya of Green and Enchanted Forests." His slight smile lengthened into a full one at Anya's request. "This little one is Zephyr. He takes care of me."

At this, the griphon produced a resounding Squrawawk!. Xerestal reached up to scratch his chin with a long-fingered, leather-gloved hand. The Elementelle did not yet answer Dyess - he tried not to think about where he was going, lest his composure deteriorate.

"I am searching for someone." He said at last. "The last I heard, she was in Trinsic - but that was a long while ago now."

By Drow Of the Green Wood (Dyess)

Tuesday, April 11, 2006 - 11:06 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

"Seems to me that yew would want to travel upon the road, then...if Trinsic was were yew were heading. It also seems to me that, if yew were looking to not draw attention to yerself...though, maybe yew are...that yew would not wish to travel alone. The worlde is unsafe, yew know."

She didn't much care about his little friend, or Anya's interest in him.

"But, if Trinsic is where yew are headed, then we won't get there very quickly just tattling along while standing her."

By 1/2 high elf, 1/2 drow with a limp (Anya)

Tuesday, April 11, 2006 - 11:12 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

Anya looked at Dyess with an expression that quite clearly implied we?

However, all she did was take a deep, slow breath, then just as slowly let it out. It's not as if she had anything else to do, it seemed.

Except find Baron. And, not knowing which way he had gone, or been taken, Trinsic was as good a direction as any, wasn't it?

However, she tries to keep these not-so-fun thoughts from showing on her face and instead smiles, "Well, it's a pleasure to meet yew as well, Zephyr."

By The Everblessed (Xerestal)

Thursday, April 13, 2006 - 10:11 am GMT | Edit | Link |

Xerestal's long features marked their surprise quite plainly, and his cloudy chameleon eyes widened slightly at Dyess. Had he implied an invitation? To his knowledge, He hadn't even broached the subject. He turned and glanced at Zephyr on his shoulder, who merely Squark-ed at him and bobbed his beak.

"Quite forward of you, Miss Dyess." The Elementelle said. "Considering that you know nothing of me, and I less of you. And, as you said, it is an unsafe Worlde. Are you not in the least bit afraid?"

The wind picked up, rustling the trees above, flinging leaves from the ground and whipping Xerestal's cloak about. What little light that streamed through the leaves faded, and thunder crashed overhead - while lightning danced deep within the Elementelle's nebulous eyes.

"I am a dark and dangerous person." He said. "If you follow me, I cannot say that you will be safe - not even for a moment, not even from me. Knowing that, would you still continue? Will you still follow, if your very lives were endangered by my presence?"

It was no idle question - for certainly, everyone that Xerestal had travelled with had met misfortune and danger. Kael, Sam and everyone else - even Dryn, whom he would quite easily die for, even now. Above, the storm clouds dissipated, and the winds died down, and Xerestal turned from the pair and began to walk.

"If you still wish to follow, then by all means - I shall enjoy talking with someone." Zephyr interrupted with an indignant Sqwrawk! and nipped at the side of the Elementelle's face. The Elementelle retaliated by shrugging, nearly unseating the little yearling from his perch.

By 1/2 high elf, 1/2 drow with a limp (Anya)

Thursday, April 13, 2006 - 12:45 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

Anya's lips twitched, just slightly at Xerestal's statements which seemed to border on melodrama, really.

"We've been in dangerous situations before." There was the Caliastros thing. And the Jakrog thing. And the Scarlet Brigade thing. And the Botharel thing. And the Slyrt thing. And....uhm, yes. Her life got very interesting after she met Dyess. Even if she suddenly can't remember two years of it. Vaguely, she wonders if this is because nothing interesting happened for the last two years...

"Quite honestly, Sir Xerestal, I know that I, at least, have nowhere else to be at this point in time. As long as yew don't mind yer company being a little slow..." she glanced ruefully down at her legs and then back up at him. "I had a horse but he seems to have gone missin-...." she pauses and blinks at Dyess. "Dyess, what did yew do with Windwalker?"

For Dyess and Wind had been just as inseperable as Anya and Baron.

By Drow Of the Green Wood (Dyess)

Thursday, April 13, 2006 - 5:43 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

"I seem to recall that he took to the wild again," Dyess murmured to Anya, as she too started after Xerestal.

"Anya is correct, Sir, we've had our fair share of danger. I sometimes suspect that given our past, there is little that could still cause me fear. Besides, we are still walking in the same direction."

She smiled to herself, nodding her head for Anya to follow along, "I've completed one quest, Anya...now it is time to complete another."

There was a black orc, and a key that the Drow needed to find.

By The Everblessed (Xerestal)

Thursday, April 13, 2006 - 11:39 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

"Please," Xerestal said, raising a hand. "Sir is quite unnecessary. I am no more a Knight than I am a Wizard, and I have no blood in me that could be called Noble, or any other name, for that matter." His strides were long, and he took them quickly - but he found that the distance between him and his (for lack of a better word) 'followers' grew at his normal pace, and so he slowed his strides, and matched the pace of woman with the limp. "I pray you do not think ill of me for attempting to dissuade you - it is not because I think you incapable." He chose to leave it at that.

As he walked, he showed tiny, almost imperceptible signs of discomfort - a slight restlessness, as if he itched and could not scratch. The Magick of the Channyfor, though natural in its own way, was at odds with the Four Elements within him, and though it was only ambience in this expanse of trees it still made his journey less than pleasant. He tried to cover the feeling with speech.

"So, what is there to speak of, aside from your names?" The tall Elementelle asked. "We are on the road together now, so we might as well spend it in sociable company - I would begin, but it is more appropriate to let you ladies speak first."

By Drow Of the Green Wood (Dyess)

Friday, April 14, 2006 - 1:00 am GMT | Edit | Link |

"I could tell yew my life story, but I cannot say it would be terribly entertaining."

She shrugged lightly as she walked along, sparing tall man a sidelong look.

"I'm currently in search of someone, or something rather. A key. The once king of Churt, Jakrog the Black Orc, had it when last I saw. It is rather like searching for the needle in a haystack, but I have hope that eventually it will surface..."

There were, really, many things that Dyess was looking for. The key, Windwalker, A faerie friend that she feared had suffered ill, and countless other things.

"Perhaps yew will give me a piece of my puzzle?" She mused, a smile creeping over her face (a recent change in the Drow's usual foul temperment).

By 1/2 high elf, 1/2 drow with a limp (Anya)

Friday, April 14, 2006 - 1:08 am GMT | Edit | Link |

Anya glanced significantly at Dyess' collar. Yes, indeed, the Drow needed a key. Of course, she also shot Dyess something of an eye-roll, for Dyess' story was hardly boring, either.

At any rate, Anya waved her hand at the trees about them. "I was born here, as, I suppose, my introduction suggested. I did not really leave it, however until about si-..." she corrected herself, "eight years ago. I wished to see the Worlde and...got rather more than I bargained for." Adventure and danger and travel, oh my!

By The Everblessed (Xerestal)

Friday, April 14, 2006 - 4:59 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

"A key?" Xerestal said. He frowned. "Truly a pity. I once had an amorphous key, which could fit any lock." He thought of Borror's Swap Hutch in Daelows, what seemed like ages ago. "At least, I had assumed it could fit any lock - I never did find the occasion to try it. But, alas, I bartered the key for necessities." He was still wearing the mail-shirt that he had gotten from the Armorer in Slig's Caravan. He still did not know how long ago it had been since he'd broken from that Caravan and his friends, in Terajin, on his desperate venture to Saghane. "I know not what other help I can provide - but if there is aught that I can do, I will." There was no hesitation at all, and no sign of anything but complete honesty in his amalgam voice.

"So it is always, Miss Anya - the Worlde is complicated and ever-changing, and fate is a fickle thing." The Elementelle reached up and rubbed the top of Zephyr's head idly, thinking about how much he'd been through - and how much these two women must have been through, on their own journeys. "There is little a single person may understand - even one such as I, who feels the movement of the Worlde. I am an Elementelle, yew know." He said it as if it had been apparent, and perhaps it was - his dark skin rippled with its own internal light, his eyes swirled from color to color to color incessantly, and he radiated warmth. No mud clung to his boots, no dust wrapped about his cloak.

"Every nine generations, an Elementelle is born that is unlike all the others." Xerestal went on. Even as he spoke, he knew that this was the first time he had related the story - not even when he confessed his heritage to Kael did he know everything, not as he did now. "This Elementelle combines all of the Worlde's forces into one being - the Everblessed. This one mad, bloodthirsty being sought to destroy creation eight times, and eight times the Elementelles rose up and stopped it - at tremendous cost. Ages ago, when the last incarnation of the Everblessed was slain, that mad soul was separated from its body - the very body yew see before yew. My soul, unborn, was placed within, and when the Everblessed was reincarnated, a hundred and twenty five years ago, it was me, not the ancient, mad soul, that inhabited the body." He paused, not sure why he had chosen to share this history. He looked at the two women, trying to gauge their reactions. "I have been searching all of my life for the truth of what I was. I have only just learned it all, and in learning I realized that what I was never mattered - it was who I was that was important."

By Drow Of the Green Wood (Dyess)

Saturday, April 15, 2006 - 5:00 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

Dyess frowned, and glanced back at Anya for a moment. Elementelles were a new breed of creature, as far as she knew. But then, she had never left the small worlde that was presently, Aniada. Whatever strange and unheard of creatures that existed beyond the shores of Aniada, had never held much interest for her.

"'Everblessed' seems an unusual name to call a creature that is mad, but I am not one to judge." She said after a moment, adjusting her pack as they walked. "Though, I have learned over the past, that it mattered little about how important the past is. Those that do no know it, always long to learn it."

By 1/2 high elf, 1/2 drow with a limp (Anya)

Sunday, April 16, 2006 - 10:02 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

Dyess' comment about the unusual-ness of the name Everblessed struck Anya as sounding about right, but then...Dyess usually was fairly sensible in such things, if brash in others.

"Thank yew for sharing yer story," she smiled, "though I must admit I can't recall hearing its like." Except perhaps a few legends here and there, as a child.

By The Everblessed (Xerestal)

Tuesday, April 18, 2006 - 2:06 am GMT | Edit | Link |

The Elementelle stopped, turning to Dyess and Anya. The Drowess' comment struck him, too. A bitter smile crept across his thin face.

"I suppose the name was chosen with a certain sense of irony." Xerestal said. He pulled one of his leather gloves free, rolling up the long sleeve of his tunic, then extended his right hand. Zephyr, knowing what was coming, retreated to his opposite shoulder. "But, there is much truth to it, as well."

Without any ado, the Elementelle's hand and forearm burst aflame. The fire writhed and moved of its own volition, but never broke its form - always it held the shape of the hand, the long fingers, the arm up to the elbow. His eyes glowed with flaming red-orange, then faded white, as the fires were blown out. In their place, a cycle of winds swept about - impossible to see, save for the motion around them, again holding the form of his hand and arm. The winds condensed and flowed out, filling the space of the forearm with water, flowing from elbow to fingers, while Xerestal's eyes glimmered blue. As they watched, the blue faded to deep browns, and the water solidified into cold stone - and then, the stone faded into the luminescent black of the Elementelle's flesh, and his eyes resumed their incessant cycle of colors. He rolled his sleeve back down, pulled his leather glove on again.

"Everblessed, because all Elements have given it Their blessing - Their power." He said, turning again and continuing to walk. "Such power is what drove it mad - and that is why it is more important that I know who I am, rather than what. Else, I may suffer the same madness before the end."

By Drow Of the Green Wood (Dyess)

Tuesday, April 18, 2006 - 5:28 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

Dyess watched the display with growing interest. To her, this revelation had as much worth to her, as a vain of mitheral had for a dwarf...

"A command of the elements?" She smiled slowly, "I can understand a dislike of wizards in that case."

She, herself, was curious as to how much power he possessed, not that she planned to test him. Wizards and the like often hungered for power, and anything they thought could help the better achieve it? Was often less than mortal, and nothing more than an object- whither or not it was breathing.

"That is a great amount of power that I imagine many would want for themselves. A hard life for anyway..."

She shrugged and started walking again. Xerestal story, as far as she was concerned, certainly got more interesting each time he added a piece.

By 1/2 high elf, 1/2 drow with a limp (Anya)

Friday, April 21, 2006 - 2:55 am GMT | Edit | Link |

Anya watched Xerestal's display with wide, blue, eyes. She had seen magick of various types in her time traveling the Worlde, but it never ceased to amaze her, still. Perhaps because she had no real magick of her own. "Some would call that a gift, though I can see, easily, how it would be more a curse."

Curiously, "Do you think you are likely to go mad?"

By The Everblessed (Xerestal)

Saturday, April 22, 2006 - 10:46 am GMT | Edit | Link |

"Indeed." Was Xerestal's only reply, and after he was silent for a long moment. Dyess' words had brought back a flood of unpleasant memories - of both of his encounters with Rulluse, in the Swamp he had too recently left. Thoughts of Qu'Velder, and of his imprisonment, and of Dryn. He was angry and desperate and on the edge of hopelessness, and she brought it all to the surface with a few simple words. And what Anya said struck too close to the mark.

"That, I do not know." He replied, all his emotions granting an even stranger resonance to his amalgam voice. "I might very well, and that was the purpose of the warning I gave you not long ago." He paused, recollecting himself, and when he spoke again his voice was once more even and (relatively) calm. "It is never an easy thing to know the workings of one's own mind. Who can tell what it is like to be mad? For certainly a madman must think himself sane - else, would he not recognize that he was indeed mad, and work to change it? So, if ever I am to go mad, how shall I tell? These thoughts plague me all the time - but what conclusion can I reach? Perhaps I am mad now, and the two of you are merely figments of my imagination." At this, he smiled broadly over his shoulder. "If such is the case, then what choice do I have but to go on being mad?"

By Drow Of the Green Wood (Dyess)

Monday, April 24, 2006 - 6:21 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

"Well, if yew go mad...I shall hardly hold it against yew, if that is yer worry. If yew don't, then we will count our blessing. Thus far, I think I like yew...would be a shame to kill yew before I had a chance to be sure."

Smiling back at them, and continued her trek toward through the forest.

"There is, of course, little sense in worrying about it. Perpahs we are all doomed to madness, any of control the art of magick, That is."

By 1/2 high elf, 1/2 drow with a limp (Anya)

Sunday, April 30, 2006 - 9:34 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

Anya looked vaguely surprised at Dyess' statement of liking the Elementelle. The Drow rarely made such quick decisions about people, after all.

Ah well, she decided, perhap Dyess has...loosened up some...since we last saw one another.

"Personally," she spoke, "I think I may go mad of hunger soon enough." For she couldn't remember the last time she had eaten. Not that this was very surprising...

By The Everblessed (Xerestal)

Friday, May 5, 2006 - 4:41 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

"Well, that is a reassurance." Xerestal replied to the Drowess. "I should not like to be killed, mad or otherwise." Whether or not Dyess would have been capable of killing him was open to debate, and certainly would not have been as easy as she made it sound - but he refrained from mentioning any of that. He could not help himself, however, when Dyess mentioned Magick.

"I do not control Magick." The way he said it, one might think that Magick was the very worst thing a person could control - because that was about how he felt. "I commune with the Elements of the Worlde. I speak to Them, and They speak to me. We are bonded, They and I, like two sides of a single coin. The Everblessed is the embodiment of the Four and the One - Fire, Wind, Earth, Water, and Thunder which stands apart. Magick is a reversal of the balance between the Four, and as such it is a reversal of my being."

He had, he realized, just told both of these relative strangers the single surest way to destroy him - and, Dyess had said we, which carried with it the implication that she was a Magicker. It was no longer as improbable for Dyess to kill him, should things devolve in such a way. Still, he thought that unlikely - yet, even so, he gave a moment of serious consideration to the notion of escape. Involuntarily, the space between him and the Drowess grew.

Anya's complaint about food, however, made the danger seem far less apparent, and Xerestal put thoughts of Magick from his head. He reached for a pouch on his belt and extended it to the half-blood woman.

"I collected these berries for Zephyr." He said. "He seems to like them, but I do not know how they would taste to the Elvish palate. I have no notion of taste myself."

Zephyr Squrwawk-ed at seeing his treats offered to Anya, but he seemed willing enough to share.

By Drow Of the Green Wood (Dyess)

Friday, May 5, 2006 - 11:53 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

It had long been a practice to notice the subtle changes in behavior, a trick anyone learned when often they traveled alone. She could not, however, place the sudden growth of distance between herself and Xerestal as being out of fear, or out of loathing. Neither were unexpected, in her mind...though never had it been because of magick.

But she made no remark to it, instead taking to herself and moving forward without a word to either. She shifted her pack again, and lightly ran her fingers over the golden collar about her neck. Magick was easy enough to loath, she imagined, more so if it could bring about the distruction of yer life. But Dyess did not often call upon her own knowledge, though she could never explain the whys of that to anyone.

"It will be dark soon," she called back to the others without stopping, "Unless yew plan to walk through the night, we should find a place to make camp...I can hunt well enough to feed us, no need to feed her berries."

And beside that, Anya would find the walk to Dealows long and hard if her walk was any indication. Frowning, Dyess wondered why she had choosen to not purchase any steed- aside from the usual reasons the drow avoided populated towns at the like.

By 1/2 high elf, 1/2 drow with a limp (Anya)

Monday, May 8, 2006 - 12:44 am GMT | Edit | Link |

Anya let out a sigh of relief at the prospect of rest. And tried very hard not to think about how once a walk such as this one would not have had her ready to end it so soon.

Nothing to be done for it, however. Can't change the past nor can one heal what refuses to be mended.

She smiles in thanks to Xerestal -- and Zephyr as well -- "Thank you for the offer, but I do believe the prospect of a warm meal and a camp sound too good to pass up." She gave a short pause and looked a bit hesitantly at Xerestal, "Unless you did plan on walking through the night?"

By The Everblessed (Xerestal)

Tuesday, May 9, 2006 - 11:37 am GMT | Edit | Link |

The Elementelle was put further at ease by Dyess's simple practicality, and her talk of camp helped dissuade any further notions of danger and flight. He nodded in agreement with her words, even as Anya confirmed them. He offered the berries up to Zephyr, instead, who plucked out a beak-full and began munching away.

"Alas, I could not walk so long, even if I wished." He said. In truth, there had been many nights he had trudged on, Zephyr asleep in the hood of his cloak, unsure of direction or pacing or distance, driven by the desire to see Dryn once more. Had he not run in to these two women in the forest, he might very well have continued through the darkness. It troubled him to stop, even now.

Yet, stop he did, though Dyess had not yet. It was for the best - distance would be safest. He even stepped away from Anya, motioning for her to stay where she was. He pulled the glove from his hand once more, though this time he knelt and placed it upon the soft turf at his feet. His eyes stopped their cycle of colors, flowing instead with nebulous earthtones as he let himself and the Worlde merge.

"Not too far, that way." His voice was deep and rumbly, like a cascade of stones down a mountainside, as he raised his free hand and pointed with a long finger toward the northeast. "A clearing, wide and level. A brook nearby. Good cover, should we need it." He closed his eyes and pulled his hand free of the earth.

Immediately, his exposed hand caught fire, as it had before - though this flame leapt past his hand, reaching up to his shoulder and causing Zephyr to leap away from him. His eyes flashed with brilliance as the fire was met with a sudden downpour, as if a cloud of rain had chosen to drench him alone and leave the rest of the Worlde dry. Even as the rains fell, a great wind swept up, flinging leaves and the edge of his cloak about as it span into a cyclone about the Elementelle - Three reacting, as they always did, to the use of one of the Four. Balance restoring itself.

The ordeal lasted under a minute, all told, but it seemed to have taken longer - especially for Xerestal, who stood almost in a daze afterward as he took a moment to recollect himself.

By Drow Of the Green Wood (Dyess)

Thursday, May 11, 2006 - 3:07 am GMT | Edit | Link |

Dyess paused long enough to watch the reaction of elements that hide Xerestal for a moment. Intriguing, she thought to herself. She could not deny the urge to learn all she could from him, as like any mage the idea of so many elements controlled by one creature was a seductive lure.

Frowning, she canted her head to the side then nodded slowly. She pulled her pack from her shoulder and moved back to the pair slowly...

"I will hunt, and find yer camp." she said, before dropping the pack in Anya's hands. "A rest would do yew both well I think."

By 1/2 high elf, 1/2 drow with a limp (Anya)

Monday, May 22, 2006 - 10:01 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

Anya watched again in amazement at the evidence of Xerestal's gift. "Sorcery, magick, and mystery..." she murmured under her breath, shaken out of her reverie only when Dyess gives her the Drow's pack.

"Don't go too far," she cautioned, only having just found her friend, the elf was loath to lose her again and the Drow did have a habit of...disappearing.

Xerestal she watches a moment and his daze before asking, concerned, "Are yew well?" She hopes that whatever he'd just done hadn't taken too much out of him...

By The Everblessed (Xerestal)

Wednesday, May 24, 2006 - 11:26 am GMT | Edit | Link |

Xerestal was becoming aware of changes, deep within his being. He could not say what, nor how - not exactly, though his ordeal in Saghane had taught him many things about himself. He had only half-knowledge, could only speculate - but he knew that he felt different now, even communing with the Four in so simple a way as he had just done.

He looked at Dyess and her Drowess-frown, not sure that he liked the way she had watched him as the Four balanced themselves, but neither any surer that he had seen any malevolence in her gaze. He simply nodded to her assertion that a rest would do him - and Anya - good. That, he knew he could agree with.

Anya's words again seemed to draw him away from his incessant mistrust of Dyess. He nodded at her, slowly, a thin, reassuring smile on his long face.

"I am quite all right, thank you." The Elementelle said. "The Four are jealous, and vie equally for my attention - if I do not grant it to all in turn, their balance is upset and they act against me. It is something I am rather used to by now."

It was the best explanation that Xerestal could give, and one he had practiced before. It was harder to put it any better than that - the Four were strange companions, even when they were a very part of one's being. To understand them any better, one would have to live as Xerestal lived.

By Drow Of the Green Wood (Dyess)

Thursday, May 25, 2006 - 4:41 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

Dyess smirked lightly at Anya, shrugging her shoulders as she turned and disappeared into the woods. She would, in her mind, go only far enough to find them food.

As she moved she readied her bow, eyes narrowing with each silent step.

By 1/2 high elf, 1/2 drow with a limp (Anya)

Wednesday, May 31, 2006 - 1:35 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

Anya sighed as the Drow moved off and then smiled at Xerestal, "I am glad to hear you are well, even if the power you display is...disconcerting." She tries for a mild joke, "I can imagine what a stir it might cause in a crowd."

By The Everblessed (Xerestal)

Friday, June 9, 2006 - 10:11 am GMT | Edit | Link |

"Yes, well," The Elementelle replied, "I try to avoid making my presence known in crowds, whenever possible." He took a seat on the ground, underneath a tall tree. Both tree and ground seemed to accept his presence. "Granted, I do find company quite enjoyable - yet, it seems that the greater the number gather in a single place, the worse their reaction to sudden surprises. And, as you have seen, my talents can be quite surprising." He shrugged easily, having long since been accustomed to strange stares and unfriendly reactions.

A rustling nearby, in the bushes, indicated Zephyr's return - though it seemed he had discovered something he considered of greater importance than returning to the Elementelle. Xerestal assumed it was a lizard or some small rodent - griphons were apt hunters, and even without a proper parental example Zephyr was starting to show certain talent at catching things smaller than he. It brought a bit of a smile to Xerestal's face.

"I fear I have droned on quite endlessly about myself." He said. "I apologize - I have had much I have needed to say, and though Zephyr is a fine listener his responses are somewhat limited. I hope I have not given you a bad impression - I do not wish to be egocentric."

By Drow Of the Green Wood (Dyess)

Wednesday, June 14, 2006 - 7:33 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

(OOC:

I do think Anya has left the game, at leas that was the impression she gave me the other day. I'll just keep her Character going for a bit, until they can all part ways again.)



"Oh, no. I am not bothered. I've traveled with Dyess for many years, and she can be rather unresponsive herself." Anya said lightly with a shrug. Indeed...the drow and herself had traveled almost a month when they first met without much conversation. "In truth, I hope that my friend hasn't given yew a bad impression."

Carefully the limping elf settled herself to the ground, glancing out into the trees. She hoped Dyess would come back, hoping that the pack was an indication of that...but she worried still.

"I think we all talk a bit about ourselves when we've got new people to meet. How else are yew going to learn?"

By The Everblessed (Xerestal)

Friday, June 16, 2006 - 12:03 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

(OOC:

Has she left us? That's a shame. I hope she reconsiders - but, if she doesn't, let her know I wish her well.)


"Well said." Xerestal replied. He paused a moment before addressing the question of Dyess - the impression the Drowess had left on the Elementelle was mixed, to say the least. He wondered just how much of his sudden apprehension the women had detected - and he wondered how travelling together with them would fare with the knowledge that Dyess was a Magicker.

"Your friend has done nothing to lower my opinion of her, if that is your worry." He reassued Anya. "But, I do find myself slightly ill at ease - as I said, Magick and I do not mix very well, and I fear I've developed certain . . . reservations about the Magickally inclined." He shook his head sadly. "It is no fault of hers. A shameful prejudice, that I fear I shall never be fully rid of."

He shifted his position slightly, bringing one long leg up toward his chest and draping his arms across his elevated knee. His blue hair rustled in the slight breeze, and the streaks of white seemed to play about like little flashes of lightning. He frowned, his mind drifting down vaguely unpleasant tangents. He decided to change the subject, before the unpleasantness grew any further.

"Do you have any plans, Miss Anya?" He asked. "Where do you think you will go, once we have left this forest?"

By Drow Of the Green Wood (Dyess)

Friday, June 16, 2006 - 4:27 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

Anya smiled softly as she glanced up at her new friend. As for herself, she did find Xerestal's company pleasent. Taking his lead, she too dropped the subject of Dyess, knowing that she could only add that in all the years that Anya had known Dyess...she had only seen the drow use magick a handful of times.

"No, I do not like so. I suppose I will travel with Dyess for sometime, in her quest for the key." It was the least she could do, as friend of the Drow...and the reason the Drow had become the unfortunate owner of that bloody collar.

"Maybe we'll even leave Aniada for once." She chuckled lightly at the idea, before jesturing about. "We've traveled the land a dozen times alone in the last eight years. Never once have we set foot off of it. I don't think there is much left here for us...Not much at all."

By The Everblessed (Xerestal)

Thursday, June 22, 2006 - 10:07 am GMT | Edit | Link |

Xerestal nodded thoughtfully, curious to hear what had befallen Dyess, and how she had come to be collared under lock and key by an Orcan named Jakrog (Argentalis once would have some choice things to say about that - alas, it sat now silent and empty at the Elementelle's side). He did not want to pry, especially not into what sounded like traumatic memories - but, given Anya's opinion on discussion, he decided to venture a question.

"How did Dyess come by that strange collar?" He was tenative, unsure of how delicate the subject was. "If you would rather not discuss it, I understand - but I am curious." It seemed that the Elementelle's curiosity got the better of him, for more questions followed soon after: "And this Once King, Jakrog? Have you any notion of where he might be? I would think that he would be reason enough to stay in Aniada, if he were still here. Just what does Churt do with their Kings?" He stopped himself, his mouth curling into a look of dismay.

"Forgive my interrogation." He said. "I simply wish to get to know the two of you a little better, and your adventures sound quite intriguing."

By Drow Of the Green Wood (Dyess)

Saturday, June 24, 2006 - 2:12 am GMT | Edit | Link |

Anya smiled softly, shaking her head only a little. He did have a handful of questions, but better to ask her than Dyess. The Drow might (and like would) not answer them.

"Nay, friend, it is fine. Dyess was unfortunate to fall prisoner to Jakrog, by means of that collar; however, I am grateful for her because of it. She saved me, yew see, because I was prisoner to the Orc first. We'd become seperated in Green Forest, Dyess had disappeared...following a troop of orcs, while I fled with several friends." She paused there, her eyes growing dim with memories. It had been so long ago, but yet it seemed like only yesterday. "I do not know what happened to her in our time away, she has never spoken of it...She is like that, yew see. She doesn't share her stories...but, I suppose she doesn't need to. I was just surprised that she had come back, certain that she'd just abandoned us. Yew see, she'd told me many times before- 'I am no friend'."

Anya laughed lightly, shaking her head at that. No friend. Aye, Dyess lied on that fact. She had become Anya's closest friend, repeatedly appearing when the elf had needed her most.

"She marched so determinedly into Jakrog's castle, and arrogantly preclaimed that we belonged to her. I think she was hoping the reputation of the Drow would make the orcs give in. In the end, she won our freedoms, at the cost of her own. And oh...there was more fighting, and eventually we did get away...but, she wasn't ever truly free. Yew see, the collar is connected magickally to the key, and whoever has the key may command the collared individual. She has no choice, no will to defy it."

And that there was the rub of it. Dyess was proud, very proud. Even if Jakrog were dead, she would hunt down the key because the drow simply would not stand to be caged...simply waiting for someone else to discover the artifact.

"I am not sure I know where Jakrog is...it has been years since he was in power. He disappeared not long after that. Maybe he is dead, maybe he isn't. Of course, she can't go to Churt...They meant to sell us all as slaves before, and I doubt it has changed much." She paused for a moment, and frowned before looking up at Xrestal, "What would yew do, if yew were looking for someone that has disappeared?"

By The Everblessed (Xerestal)

Tuesday, June 27, 2006 - 12:21 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

Xerestal, out of politeness, remained silent throughout Anya's story. He was fascinated by the tale - though he had certainly had his own misadventures, he still thought himself an unusual case. The Elf he spoke with seemed entirely the wrong kind to be adventuring as she was - Dyess he could understand, because she was like many Drow (Kael's friend Jack sprang to mind), but the seemingly soft-spoken Anya fighting her way from Churt was remarkable.

And the errant Jakrog had put the two of them in an impossible situation. Xerestal's heart went out (well, the Elementelle equivalent did) - he felt a certain empathy, having endured the captivity of a merciless enemy, faced with a daunting search ahead of him, having had, in a certain sense, his freedom stripped away, even after he had broken his way from Rulluse's grip. He realized he had told his companions very little of what had happened to him before they met.

And then, Anya asked. What would he do if he were looking for someone lost? What he was doing.

"An astute question, Miss Anya." The Elementelle said. "For I am at this very moment in search of someone I have lost." He paused, wondering where to begin - how to begin. In the end, he settled on Dryn; she was the heart of it. Perhaps she had always been. "I am searching for a woman, whom I have loved for a long while now. She was taken from me, by a Warlocke - one whom I made my enemy. She was bait in a trap, set for me in hopes of violent revenge. Against all hope, I broke free of it, though I found that she was not in the trap at all. I learned that the Warlocke sent her to Trinsic - and since I have marched day and night, sleeping only when I could no longer keep my feet, broaching no delays. I will not relent - I must keep my pace. I cannot rest until I have found her again."

He stopped, realizing that he was talking to the greatest delay he had yet encountered - Anya and Dyess had stopped his march, distracted him from his search. Yet, he had chosen to stop, and he had chosen to stay with them. Perhaps he thought they could help. Perhaps he was simply lonely. He was not certain.

"I do not know if I can offer much advice, Anya." The Elementelle said. "I can say only that you and Dyess should press on, no matter how hopeless the search may be. If the object of your search is worth having, then you should let nothing keep yew from it."

By Drow Of the Green Wood (Dyess)

Wednesday, June 28, 2006 - 10:49 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

She nodded at the sound advice, smiling wistfully at it. She might have considered it hopeless, but the Overlord himself knew...Dyess would have climbed a mountain, fought a dragon, aye anything in truth if it meant to get that key.

"I hope, Xrestal, that yew do find yer love. This worlde is a bit empty without it..." Her eyes dimmed about, more memories burning bright in her mind. Vi'tor. That was why she'd come here, abandoned by Dyess on another unexplainable disappearance...Vi'tor had always been her friend.

Looking about, she frowned. Dyess was still gone, and given her habits Anya began to fear the worse about the Drow. What if she had...had left again? Fear had started to creep into her mind when a rustling noise alerted her to the arrival of another.

"No fire?" The Drow asked, a brow raised questioningly as she dropped two large rabbits, each of an unusual tint, to the ground in front of Anya. "I imagine it will be cool, tonight...without one."

Brigthening, Anya nodded before glancing at the rabbits. Obviously she was expected to clean them. "Yew did well," she remarked upon the kill, fishing out a knife to begin skinning the catch. "Took longer than I thought it would..."

Dyess smirked a bit, a look of possible bemusement on her features as she gathered fallen limbs that were scattered about the clearing. "I had to convince them that they wanted to die for me," she remarked casually.

Anya smiled, a light laugh upon her lips as she shook her head. "Then we should have no meal, this night, if yew had to convince the rabbits." She glanced at the drow, curious of how the jest would be taken, and was rewarded with an amused look and a light nod of agreement.

"Tis good that the rabbits are not overly bright." She moved closer to the pair, kneeling carefully between them. With a practiced hand she began to arrange the limbs and dried leaves so to start a flame.

"Tis very good, indeed."

By The Everblessed (Xerestal)

Saturday, July 8, 2006 - 10:09 am GMT | Edit | Link |

Anya's words silenced the Elementelle as he reflected on the truth of them. The worlde was indeed empty - he had never imagined how empty it could be. All thoughts bent one way, all else was shadow and mist. He cared so little for anything outside of his search - save for little Zephyr, whom he had been forced to raise. And even Zephyr had only been a reminder of Dryn, who had found him as a hatchling - how long ago was it, now? Xerestal had lost track in the depths of Qu'Velder, and hadn't bothered to count the days since his escape.

Dyess emerged, and Xerestal was once again nervous in her presence - though he had gotten better at hiding it since she had left. He watched the exchange between Drowess and half-Drowess, smiling slightly at the practiced relationship, the banter and the jests and the ease with which they dealt with one another. He missed his own companions dearly.

"Here." He said, leaning forward as Dyess began arranging kindling and fallen limbs for a campfire. Trying not to get in her way, he made minute adjustments - a slight tilt here, a shift there. "The fire will be more comfortable this way, and in turn more friendly."

To any eye but Xerestal's, the limbs and leaves would have seemed relatively unchanged - but a fire might very well have noticed the difference. The Elementelle pulled his glove free again.

"I make a handy tinderbox, as well." He smiled and snapped his fingers - and on his thumb a small flame danced. He touched it to the dried leaves, and a small fire came alive almost immediately. The Elementelle drew his hand away swiftly, before the three took hold of it - a tiny breeze, a cloud of dew, and a small layer of dust, any of which could have stifled the fire had he not been careful.

"There." He said, as the flame began to grow. "I believe that shall suit us."

(OOC:

Sorry for the delays.)

By Drow Of the Green Wood (Dyess)

Tuesday, July 11, 2006 - 4:51 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

"One most wonder, Xerestal, is there anything yew are not handy for?" Dyess asked in a jest, but settled back to create spit. "Though I did forget to ask, do yew like rabbit?"

Anya's brow perked up a bit at the question, unsure as to why Dyess would ask such a thing...but then considered that after they had met such people as they have, it was not wholly out of place.

"I met a man once, who did not eat meat. He seemed to think it were a sin of sorts..." Dyess offered in explanation. She smiled a bit, her knife working the end of the spit into a point.

(OOC:

Aww, no worries, love.)

By 1/2 high elf, 1/2 drow with a limp (Anya)

Wednesday, July 12, 2006 - 10:55 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

((OOC- So, I thought I had gotten mysteriously disappeared and was feeling kind of icky and fed up with other things so said I wouldn't come back. Then I found out I had to move out of the place I was in and find a new place. Then I had company for a week. Then I found out my account wasn't deleted and I really missed playing here. So, uhm, here I am? :-) ))

Still skinning the rabbits, Anya curiously looked down at the fire. "Is it more friendly because you created it or because of how you arranged the wood?"

More or less implicit in that question is the question of whether his own creations were still controlled by him after he had 'released' them.

By The Everblessed (Xerestal)

Saturday, July 15, 2006 - 12:57 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

"Well, you have now met another." Xerestal replied to Dyess. "Though I cannot blame religion of any sort. You see, I simply do not eat. I do not drink, either - I haven't the proper body for it." He had often gotten strange looks for spending a day in a tavern without ordering anything at all. "This was what I meant when I said I had no notion of taste - it would be rather pointless for one who does not eat." He gave a little shrug of his thin shoulders, for there was nothing to be done about it.

Anya's question was just as simple, and the answer was almost as complicated - nothing about the Elementelle seemed easy to explain.

"In rearranging the wood, I allowed the flame to move more freely within the fire-pit." He explained. Looking at the wood within would show the small fire dancing merrily - though perhaps no more or less distinctly than any other fire. "Fire is serpentine, and it prefers to coil as it moves. I made it easier for the flame to do so. Now, it will not be unpleasant - it will be less apt to smoke and to snap, and it will throw less ash into the air." He seemed unconvinced by his own explanations. "Of course, there is a certain affinity the flame has to me - but no more so than any other flame, because all fire is a part of me, and it recognizes me as one of its own."

(OOC:

However yew made it back to us, it's good to have yew back, Anya.)

By Drow Of the Green Wood (Dyess)

Monday, July 17, 2006 - 10:00 am GMT | Edit | Link |

"A shame, I suppose. I once knew someone that felt fine foods were without equal in worldely delights." But Dyess shrugged all the same. If the man did not eat, she would certainly not force him. And then too, the extra meat could them be salted and dried. Saved from tomorrow.

Finishing the spit, she glanced from it to Anya and then to Xerestal as he spoke of the fire being a part of his own.

She watched it then twist and turn, trying to discover what differences were made by the limbs, and what was simply by the nature of it's creation. It could, after much thought, just be a combination of them both...or at least it was the only conculsion should could say had any merit.

"If a fire is created by yew, it is...in a manner of speaking, in the natural order of things, is it not?" She lifted a brow curiously before she continued, her thoughts upon her own education and not much else, "But yet magick is a...how did yew say it, 'unnatural'?...Er, no 'reversal' of balance. Is the fire which can be created by that...less than real? Would it sicken yew, as assuredly as any spell cast directly at yew?"

By 1/2 high elf, 1/2 drow with a limp (Anya)

Friday, July 21, 2006 - 12:03 am GMT | Edit | Link |

Anya smiled and nodded at Xerestal's explanation, "Thank you for explaining," even if he didn't seem entirely convinced about it.

Finished with the rabbits, she passed them over to Dyess to be spitted.

By The Everblessed (Xerestal)

Saturday, July 22, 2006 - 7:18 am GMT | Edit | Link |

Dyess's questions caused Xerestal to pause and think. For a brief moment, he considered the possibility that she was malign in asking - but he dismissed that possibility quickly.

"Much demends on the nature of the spell that summoned the flame." The Elementelle said. "A flame that feeds off of the Magick that created it will retain the nature of that Magick - it will be repulsive to me, as Magick is. It is still a true flame, but there is Magick entwined within it, and to that Magick I react badly." He thought of the Magick torches in Rulluse's underground chamber, from which the Everblessed had extracted flame when it took control of his body. His fingers twitched uncomfortably at the memory. "On the other hand, a flame that is started by Magick but left to burn on its own will eventually lose that entwinded Magick, and begin to burn purely from its own nature - such a flame will behave as any other, and will react to me as any normal flame would. You see, the Nature of the Flame, as with all the Elements, is always true to itself, no matter what its source. Magick can create Flame, and fuel it - and the Flame will take some of the nature of Magick in so doing - but the Flame is not changed by the Magick."

Xerestal could no longer surpress his shudder - even the idea of Magick, especially here, in the Magick-laden Channyfor, was enough to make him tremble.

"Of course, one can never be sure about Magickers." He said. "They can bend the laws of nature beyond common understanding. They might very well pervert even the Four, if they tried."

He glanced up at Dyess, then frowned apologetically.

"I am sorry - I do not mean to offend."

By Drow Of the Green Wood (Dyess)

Tuesday, July 25, 2006 - 12:02 am GMT | Edit | Link |

Dyess shrugged, considering his explanation of magick and the elements. It seemed both logical and understandable, as well as informative.

"Offend?" She blinked as the word caught her off-guard. "I am not sure." Perhaps she should have been, but then she so rarely used magick it seemed silly to get offended over it. "Mages and wizars all seem to have a desire to hoard power, but not all of them do. I can understand the worry, that they could corrupt all that yew love about yer worlde."

She paused, taking the rabbits up to spit. With a glance to Anya she continued softly, "But the greater the power, the greater the risk. I think the four at quite safe."

By 1/2 high elf, 1/2 drow with a limp (Anya)

Monday, July 31, 2006 - 3:16 am GMT | Edit | Link |

Something about this conversation about magick just made Anya's nose wrinkle in distaste. She'd never really cared one way or the other about magick beyond finding it useful at times (or not, if they were finding themselves opposed by someone who used it) but something about the talking now just made her feel...disgusted...about it. Or...dirty...might be a better term. Which was strange, but not a thought she wanted to pursue, feeling more comfortable in changing the subject.

"I think I much prefer not using it at all." She tilted her head, as she looked about the clearing, "and I suppose someone," meaning herself, "should go fetch water while the rabbit is cooking." And with that comment, she picked up Dyess' nearly-empty waterskin which had been left near the Drow's pack. As Anya stood, she raised an eyebrow at Xerestal, "shall I do the same for yew?"

By Drow Of the Green Wood (Dyess)

Tuesday, August 1, 2006 - 4:34 am GMT | Edit | Link |

Dyess frowned and raised a brow at Anya. True Anya had never been one to talk about magick, and true that Dyess had never really spoken about it in front of her; however, Dyess wasn't sure what prompted the sudden dislike of it that Anya seemed to have.

But she shrugged, and glanced at Xerestal before tending to the rabbits. "Magick does have it's draw backs." Though, it certainly had it's uses as well.

By The Everblessed (Xerestal)

Monday, August 7, 2006 - 11:48 am GMT | Edit | Link |

"Indeed. A point well made." Xerestal said. He found Dyess' words a reassurance - both that not all Magickers were power-hungry (like Rulluse, the Elementelle recalled), and that Magick itself was a power as fragile as the Four - different, yes, but still as tenuous. It seemed to cast Dyess in a different light, as well; no longer did Magick seem to define her to the Elementelle - she possessed the talent, obviously, but she was not a Wizard.

Anya's interjection caught Xerestal much as his comment had cought Dyess. Having been looking at the drowess, he had not seen Anya's face, but there was something in her words that he percieved - not fully, but he caught enough of it to realize it was there. But, he did not dwell on it for long, for she stood and offered to fetch water while the rabbits cooked.

"I am quite all right, thank you. I have no need to carry water." He said. He didn't even have a waterskin - he had little more than his cloak, his sword, and the pouch he had made to hold Zephyr's berries. Errantly, the Elementelle glanced around the clearing, watching for the little griphon - he had curled up into a ball near the fire, padding into the middle of the camp so quietly that Xerestal had not noticed him.

"Certainly." The Elementelle said, his attention drawn back to Dyess while she prepared the rabbits. "It is rare that something in this Worlde is without some manner of flaw. All things exist in balance, and no side of the coin is without it's opposite."

By 1/2 high elf, 1/2 drow with a limp (Anya)

Thursday, August 10, 2006 - 12:53 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

Anya nodded, hardly waiting for Xerestal to complete his sentence before heading down to the nearby stream. She planned on taking her time with fetching the water and perhaps by the time she returned, they'd have found a new subject to discuss.

Once at the stream, the elf carefully knelt beside the water. Before filling the waterskin, she dipped her hands into the fresh water, bringing them up to splash her face a little. It was just the right amount of cooling and refreshing and if she wasn't expected back soon and it wasn't already late enough as it was, she would have been tempted to bathe -- when did she last have a bath? Maybe then she would feel cleaner.

It still bothered her that the talk of magick had affected her as it had, since she didn't remember ever feeling that way before but...maybe something had happened to her during the time she couldn't remember? Perhaps it was magick that had caused her to forget?

She let out a frustrated sound and dipped the waterskin into the stream, she could go around in circles thinking like this and it would just drive her crazy. But how do yew find answers when yew don't remember who to ask?

By Drow Of the Green Wood (Dyess)

Tuesday, August 15, 2006 - 7:49 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

Dyess let her gaze linger on the patch of trees that Anya disappeared around, before slowly looking over the cooking rabbit again.

"A flaw, I've heard it said, is what makes an item desirable. In that flaw it becomes beautiful. It could be that the dance of the natural versus the unnatural is what attracts some to the arts of magick." The Drow gave Xerestral a wry smile, her shoulders shrugging lightly. "I have no real reason to study it...gave that I have done so my whole life. A Father's demand in hopes of rebuilding a fallen House. But that dream, as yew can see, has hardly been made real. I have, in experience, discovered that there is no such thing as true control of a spell. For those that practice daily, for mundane purposes that have no rhyme or reason...I cannot help but thing they dance with their death."

Looking again at the trees that masked the other elf from sight, Dyess sighed before laying back on the ground. Strange, Anya’s behavior. It seemed so out of place, and yet the drow could little identify why it was odd.

(OOC:

sorry, I've been slow getting back in the swing.)

By Ruby Soleil (Ruby)

Monday, August 28, 2006 - 4:21 am GMT | Edit | Link |

Ruby walked for miles until she reached the enchanted forest.Sparticus,her black stallion, was looking dreary and was now lapping up water from a large puddle that lay next to where they were positioned in the forest.Ruby lay among the moss under a massive tree and pondered what she was going to eat to suffice her hunger.Some berries or maybe some mushrooms or both.As she was pondering she took out her flask and began to take a few swigs for she too had grown thirsty from her walk.After a few moments she got up and went in search of berries and mushrooms and whatever else caught her eye for she was going to have a feast...After eating her meal she decided that she was going to take a nap for awhile for she was tired.

By Anonymous

Monday, August 28, 2006 - 3:13 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

Willow stepped out from behind a tree and walked slowly towards the lone traveler. She almost laughed. Lone ones were always the best. If Ruby had been awake, she would have certainly been startled to see Willow. Willow was half Dryad and half uman, although none could spot the uman blood in her. She was 5'7 and all women, with wreaves of vines and pretty flowers woven about her body to hide her most...intimate parts. She had pale skin, and long silvery hair with twigs, leaves, and flowers scattered throughout, giving her a wild appearance.


Willow sat gracefully down in indian style right in front of Ruby, tilting her head to the side to study the woman. Willow's hair fell over her should and absently tugged on a twig.

Come awake traveler, for yew have a guest She said, chuckling quietly, brown eyes dancing in mischeif.

By 1/2 high elf, 1/2 drow with a limp (Anya)

Tuesday, August 29, 2006 - 6:17 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

Eventually, Anya returned with the water, smiling a bit awkwardly to her traveling companions.

"I do hope you've not burnt our dinner, Dyess." It was teasing in line with that which had gone between the elf and the Drow not so much earlier and yet something in Anya's tone was a bit...strained. She was trying too hard for cheer.

By Drow Of the Green Wood (Dyess)

Friday, September 1, 2006 - 3:35 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

Dyess glanced from the rabbit to the other elf, and back before shrugging. The Drow was the first to admit her cooking was far from a feast served at royal courts.

"If it is burnt, I can only say you are at fault. Surely after so long, you have learned I am not the finest of cooks." Still, she poked the meat a little was a dagger, before turning it once again. "Does not seemed to burnt to me. I was thinking of waiting till it was black...and then I could serve you."

Any while merry in her tones, the Drow cast a concerned glance to her friend again. Her nature was not one to pry...but something was not right with Anya. If only she could know what...

"Yew took some time to get the water...did yew get lost?"

By 1/2 high elf, 1/2 drow with a limp (Anya)

Tuesday, September 12, 2006 - 1:09 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

Anya shook her head, "No, not lost, I just...I took my time."

She smiled briefly, "Truly, that's all." More or less.

(OOC: Xerestal? Did yew disappear on us?)

By The Everblessed (Xerestal)

Friday, September 15, 2006 - 7:13 am GMT | Edit | Link |

Xerestal had gone quiet - as was his wont when presented with things he considered worth thinking about. Dyess' words on Magick and death had been worth a considerable bit of thought - and he was pondering them intensely when Anya returned from her water-gathering excursion.

He smiled slightly at the banter between the two old friends - he hadn't had many friendships as easy as this one, and he sorely missed those he had. Even so, he thought he detected something amiss - something about Anya's voice, about the way she said things. He was not sure how to interperet it - but something inside of him wanted it to be nothing serious.

"I can see why you might wish to take your time." He ventured. "It is quite pleasant now, and the forest seems inviting; I imagine it would be moreso at the creekbed. Certainly such a scene would tempt one to sit a while and enjoy the ambiance - it must be quite nostalgic for you, having been born in this forest."



(OOC:

Sorry - it's been a rough month.)

By Drow Of the Green Wood (Dyess)

Friday, September 29, 2006 - 6:23 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

Dyess sat there for a moment, thinking that perhaps it was worth pushing the subject of odd behavior. But eventually she shrugged to herself, and pulled the cooked rabbit off the fire.

"Yew should eat. I'll dry the meat from the other." She said quietly, using a piece of fabric to clean her knife, before she turned back to the second rabbit. "Do yew require Sleep, Xerestal?"

By Freya, Aka...Dyess....The long lost one. (Freya)

Wednesday, November 15, 2006 - 9:25 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

(OOC:

Seems we have lost Anya again. I suggest just moving on?)

By Rogue Elementelle (Xerestal)

Thursday, November 16, 2006 - 7:56 am GMT | Edit | Link |

(OOC:

Agreed. Sorry I haven't been proliferous of late - I'm going to rectify that as soon as I can.)

By The Everblessed (Xerestal)

Tuesday, November 28, 2006 - 4:06 am GMT | Edit | Link |

Xerestal did indeed require sleep - the one form of sustenance he had always depended upon. The powers of the Worlde kept him alive, but his mind still needed its recuperation - especially of late, for he had done without it as much as possible in his days on the march from Saghane.

So great was his need, in fact, that he did not hear Dyess' question, nor did he answer it; at least, the answer was not a direct reply to the Drowess. All the same, there was an answer, for Xerestal had nodded off under his tree, with little Zephyr curled up at his feet.

By Anonymous

Tuesday, December 12, 2006 - 10:27 am GMT | Edit | Link |

From the Eastern Edge of the Forest, a long crystal blade span through the air.

It had been thrown, but the direction it had been aimed had not exactly dictated the path it followed. More responsible for it's trajectory was a distinct pull - an attraction to a blade all but identical to itself, which rested at the side of the tall Elementelle sleeping against his tree.

Quietly, the flying blade fell to earth, sinking its point into the ground at the Elementelle's feet. There it would rest, and wait - wait for its master to claim it.

By The Everblessed (Xerestal)

Friday, January 5, 2007 - 1:40 am GMT | Edit | Link |

Xerestal woke to twilight - but he could not tell if it was day-twilight or night-twilight. He leaned forward, an ache in his neck he had not anticipated. He barely noticed the blade at first, still half-asleep and dangerously cold. He pulled his cloak tighter over his shoulders.

It was not the presence of Faeloen that caught his attention at first, but rather the lack of Zephyr. The griphonling had been at his feet when he had fallen asleep. Now, Zephyr was gone, and in his stead stood a blade of crystal, its emptiness gleaming in the dim light. Its hilt, ebon and gold, stood proudly waiting, a soldier called to attention. He knew it immediately, and he wrapped his long gloved fingers about its hilt. It fit his left palm perfectly, as if Naeryn had carved it just for him.

Argentalis slid eagerly from her scabbard, and for a moment Xerestal held the blades aloft, one beside the other. The thought came upon him as he stood up from his repose - both of his parents were gone now. And another thought, soon after - Faeloen had not come to him alone.

He turned on his heel, urgency pressing a flaming brand into his heart. He had to go, to find them. To find her.

"Dyess." He said, not daring to turn around. His voice was filled with thunder. "Dyess, Anya. I must away. Follow if yew can or will, or stay and may the One bless yer days - but I must away."

And he pressed forward into the Channyfor, a storm amidst the dim silence.

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