Disclaimer: I own some of these characters but not all of them and I don't own the Forgotten Realms. Suing me would be akin to teaching a goat to sing, so don't.
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The day dawned grey and foggy, much like Teilla's state of mind. Mornings were not her favorite time of the day. Ricardt and Mirandaline, irritatingly enough, did not share the bard's dawn grogginess. The paladin had managed to procure three small horses for the trip and the supplies in the saddlebags were the ranger's doing. They waited at the South Gate of Waterdeep for Maresa Rost and her companions to go wherever it was the genasi was headed. Teilla leaned against the solid bay mare that Ricardt had gotten for her and tried to stay warm.
The bard looked over at the black haired paladin and found him scanning the early morning merchants for the woman who had hired them. He kept his heavy blue cloak wrapped tightly to keep the misty chill off as he checked his chestnut gelding's tack and absently patted the horse's neck. His chainmail lay over his pale arming coat and under his surcoat bearing the hammer and scales of Tyr.
Teilla looked a little past the paladin and could barely see Mirandaline or her grey dappled mare against the fog. The small horse had taken to the ranger right away. More correctly, the grey mare took to the apple the woods-elf had hidden in a pocket. The ranger was snug in her long coat of mixed grey, green and brown fading into each other, the result of a careful job dyeing the fabric rather than magic. The mixed race elf's mist colored hair was safely hidden under a scarf and her pale lashes and eyebrows were darkened with a careful application of Teilla's cosmetics.
The bard watched Mirandaline carefully cut a pear into pieces with her hunting knife and give a quarter to her horse and a quarter to Ricardt's mount before tossing a slice to Teilla. The red haired half elf caught the bit of fruit and let her horse munch on the tidbit as The ranger turned back and made sure her bow and quiver were secured to the saddle.
Teilla hoped the disguise held. Judging by the nervous way Mirandaline kept glancing around, the bard guessed that the ranger hoped so too. Ricardt's voice interrupted Teilla's musing, "There they are. Good morning!" The paladin waved in the direction of someone dressed entirely in bright red.
The stranger got closer and Teilla could distinguish the woman's bluish skin tone and swirling hair. A tall blond sun elf and a powerfully built priest leading two horses apiece followed the genasi. She came up and gave Ricardt a firm handclasp before surveying Teilla and Mirandaline. "Well, you'll do," Maresa said in a brisk tone, "Even if the ranger is a bit shorter than I thought."
The dark woods-elf did not seem to hear her. Teilla saw the ranger frowning intently at Araevin. The sun elf mage seemed to ignore the attention and said in a smooth voice, "Well, we're all here. Shall we be off?"
Teilla shrugged and mounted up with everyone else. Mirandaline started towards the gate at a quick pace. Maresa followed and caught up with the ranger as the smaller elf passed through the gate. Teilla smiled apologetically at everyone else and said, "That would mean 'yes' and probably 'get me out of this warren' too."
"So you have not convinced her of the virtues of cities yet?" Ricardt asked with amusement as they followed the archer and the genasi.
"She said that she'd sooner wiggle through a tight tunnel than stand in the middle of the marketplace," the bard grinned.
Ricardt chuckled, "That sounds about right."
"Has she ever been to an elven city before?" Araevin asked. "Or Silverymoon? Elven and elf inspired layouts tend to be more pleasing to those accustomed to the woods."
As the paladin abruptly choked off his amusement, Teilla said in a neutral tone, "No, I don't think so." Nor is she ever likely to, the bard silently added then asked aloud, "So, where are we going?"
"We're not even out of sight of Waterdeep yet. Why do you need to know?" Donner Kerth rumbled suspiciously.
"Because if we end up in the belly of a troll, I for one would like to be assured it was in a noble cause," Ricardt answered and held his horse back to draw even with the large Lathanderite.
"We'll be better able to help and less of hindrance if we know what's going on," Teilla added in a reasonable tone. "Besides, Mir might have already gotten your big secret out of Maresa by now."
The sound of the genasi laughing merrily ahead of them cut off whatever Donner had been about to say. Teilla glanced ahead and saw Maresa and Mirandaline riding together. The ranger and genasi were both speaking in some unfamiliar language. Reading their expressions and body language, the bard guessed that the two were swapping tales. The red haired half elf smiled. At least someone in this outfit was enjoying their conversation. Teilla turned back to the strange sun elf mage and live skinned priest and looked at them both expectantly.
Araevin huffed an irritated sigh, his strange eyes whirling pale colors to their own rhythm, "There's a cavern in the High Moor that leads to a catacomb that supposedly hold lost elven magic. We are going to open it."
"Why?" Teilla asked and took a better look at the elven wizard. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ricardt do the same thing and she continued, "Most of the time, there's a good reason elven lore gets buried and forgotten." She watched Araevin wince slightly and added, "But I'm sure you didn't need me to tell you that."
The sun elf mage pointedly turned to watch the surrounding countryside. Teilla turned back to Ricardt, who shrugged and rode up next to bard. For a few paces the pair rode ahead of Donner and Araevin before the paladin said in a low voice, "He still isn't lying."
Teilla glared at Ricardt, "I know that. I do think somewhere along the way he found something he thought he wanted, but the cost of it was too high."
"I'd gathered that too," the black haired paladin noted. "I'd like to apologize in advance if our employers get us all killed."
"Aren't you the optimist today," the bard dryly observed.
"Actually, I am," Ricardt said with a straight face, "Mir hasn't been shot at by anyone yet and nobody's griped at me for having both honor and sense."
"What about me?" Teilla mock pouted.
"You have yet to play something out of tune," the paladin maintained his serious demeanor but his humor leaked out around the edges of his tone. The bard chuckled in response.
Up ahead, Teilla saw Mirandaline break away from Maresa and start riding ahead of the party. The dark brown skinned elf waved a quick hand signal back to the bard and paladin before taking off. Ricardt asked, "What's Mir up to?"
Teilla, who had been learning drow hand cant from the archer, answered, "'Dusk explanation' she says. Either that or 'moldy fungus.'"
"I'd take the first one then," the paladin said and glanced back at the dour Donner and the closemouthed Araevin. Neither of them gave any indication to have noticed the woods-elf's hand signal.
Up ahead, Maresa reined her horse in and waited for Ricardt and Teilla to catch up to her. "Mirandaline's scouting ahead," the genasi grinned at the pair, "I see you've managed to annoy both Araevin and Donner."
"It was somewhere between a walk in through the trees and ridiculously easy," the bard noted, then shrugged, "I know what a lot of sun elves think about anyone who isn't also a sun elf and many religious types, with the exception of Ricardt here, can be rather over serious."
"And I've got my humorless moments now and then," the paladin admitted. "So where are we going anyway. Mage Teshurr's been rather close mouthed about it and I'm really starting to wonder."
"Somewhere in the High Moor," Maresa told them then shook her head. "A buried vault. Araevin has access to some previously lost spells he thinks will get us inside."
"The High Moor?" Teilla thought a moment. "There are some songs about a kingdom destroyed there. Some of them are really old too."
"Yeah, well, I'm more of a magpie," Maresa chuckled. "If it's shiny, I'll pick it up. Now, if you two will excuse me..." The genasi rode back to Araevin and started talking quietly with the brooding mage.
Teilla turned back to Ricardt and whispered, "Why do I get the feeling that the mage is the real leader of this expedition?"
"Maresa hires us to go to a place that only Araevin really knows about. Donner tags along for the ride," Ricardt nodded his agreement. "Sounds to me that Mage Teshurr is trying to do something incognito with Morninglord Kerth and Lady Rost helping him."
"And now us, by extension," the red haired half elf frowned. "I'll see if I can remember those old songs and ballads. We can compare notes at dusk with Mir, since she seems to think that she found something out."
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Dusk found the party at a small clear spring with a stand of willows sheltering it. Teilla carefully picked a spot to lay her bedroll, Unsaddled her little brown mare and gave the horse enough lead to browse. Looking around, the bard could see everyone else doing the same except for Mirandaline. The dark woods-elf had scouted out the place an hour before everyone else had gotten there. The archer's bedroll was safely hanging on a willow's sturdier branches and the slight elf busily brushed her grey mare.
Ricardt got a fire going and soon had a pot of something called "pilaf" cooking after declaring that they could get tired of stew later. Araevin and Donner magically warded their little camp while Maresa cut straws for determining who stood watch first.
Mirandaline piped up, "If no one minds, I'd like to take the first watch."
"I'll stay up with you," Teilla volunteered. Shrugging, Maresa eliminated two straws from her handful and proffered them to the menfolk of the party. Ricardt and Araevin drew the short straws. The dark haired paladin wolf down his pilaf and promptly turned in to sleep. Araevin ate quickly and then settled into Reverie sitting against a tree trunk. Maresa, Teilla, Mirandaline and Donner ate with more leisure.
When the genasi and the priest settled in for the night, Teilla scooted close to Mirandaline and asked softly, "So what did you find out?"
The bard watched the ranger glance at their resting compatriots before answering, "They were all part of that elven army chasing demons around Cormanthor."
"Doesn't sound like you have all the details yet," the half elf observed.
"I wouldn't hold my breath for the rest of them. The impression I got was that Maresa was worried about divulging information that might screw things over there. She's a bit suspicious of an elf that did not go running to Miritar's banner," the archer grimaced and shifted her seat. "There's more. The mage isn't... well..."
"Forthcoming?" Teilla offered.
"Entirely elf," Mirandaline finished, then explained, "It's like part of him isn't there anymore."
The bard frowned, "Could you be more specific?"
"You know how elves can sort of sense when other elves are around?" Mirandaline asked slowly. At Teilla's nod, the ranger continued, "It's stronger or weaker depending on how strong or weak a group's sense of community is. A band of wood elves can sense each other much better than a group of drow of any stripe."
"How can you sense the connection then?" the bard asked, curious. "You're part dark elf..."
"And sylvan elf on my mother's side," Mirandaline reminded her, "With mind magic to boot. I have a tough time not sensing it sometimes. And I did have other elves around when I was little, thank you very much. It's entirely possible I have relatives in the army at Cormanthor now."
"Oh," Teilla felt a little uncomfortable and fidgeted with a stray thread on her sleeve. Changing the subject, the bard asked, "I can't say that I've ever felt a connection with elves. Does it work for half bloods?"
"Sometimes," the archer shrugged. "I think it has to do with which culture is more dominant to the individual. Weren't you raised human?"
"My mother's human and still on good terms with my dad, but she's the one who I grew up the most with," Teilla said matter of factly. "Actually for a sun elf, he's downright boisterous and as talkative as a blue jay. Not at all like the example we have at hand."
Mirandaline nodded, then continued, "Anyway, think of a normal, full blood elf as a large campfire. Half bloods, when I pick them up, are more like a single torch afire."
"And Araevin?" the red haired bard prompted.
"On this scale he rates a candle flame," the ranger finished. "It's like part of him isn't there."
"His manner screams 'Evermeet' to me," Teilla noted. "You know we're going to a buried vault in the High Moor, right?"
The ranger nodded and glanced at the rest of the party. Teilla did the same and saw that they were all resting soundly in their various ways. Mirandaline turned back to the bard and said softly, "If I remember my history lessons correctly, the High Moor used to be part of the elven realm of Miyeritar, right?"
"Destroyed during the Crown Wars," Teilla nodded. "I bet our employers are after something specific."
"I'm not going to worry overmuch about that until I have to," the archer shrugged and poked at the campfire. "I have more immediate concerns to health and well being at hand than ancient lore."
Mirandaline turned back to watching for trouble. Teilla stowed her musing and stared off into the night.
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Author's note: to all who have read to here, thank you. Please leave a review to say if you like it so far or that this was a horrible waste of time or if you have no idea what I'm writing about. If you don't feel like doing it for me, then do it to watch the bits and bytes do their little hula dance through cyberspace.
