Iria and Erris sat out under the stars, sharing stories and informing
each other of what had happened in their lives since she had last come to
visit the village. As always, little had changed. Though her village was
less isolated than most Wood elves' villages tended to be, it was still far
enough from civilization and well-hidden enough that very few humans ever
found their way to the village without explicit invitation. In the ten
years that had passed since she had last been to the village only a handful
of adventurers had found their way to the village and all of their meetings
had been peaceful, as always.
It was this peacefulness that often gave the village an appearance of timelessness. The village was a haven, Iria knew. In a world that was often turbulent and fraught with troubles, she knew that she could always return to it and expect to find the same thing, year after year. Of course, it was also this sameness that routinely drove her away from the village in order to sate her wanderlust.
Erris had advised her to either forget her dream or to take it to mean that indeed, her goddess would soon have a mission for her, though he doubted very much that it would have anything to do with a drow.
"The drow are evil creatures by nature. That is what we have been taught in our histories and what the drow have proven time and time again when they raid our people's villages. You yourself have fought against them more than once, have you ever seen a sign of compassion, of loyalty of anything other than hatred and anger from them? Their race is incapable of such things."
Iria had to agree, as little as she wanted to. Still, the face of the drow from her dreams remained with her. He'd looked so alone ...
The sun rose and the drow found a place to rest for the day, this time in the well-shaded branches of a tree. Despite his worries about being followed, he could think of no other way to spend his hours while the sun was high. The light still stung his eyes and if he remained in it for too long it started affecting his balance and he felt sick as well, as if the sunlight was changing his body in some strange way he had yet to decipher. Yet, despite this something about the feel of light on his skin was comforting.
He slept through the day again and continued on his travels, still not sure of where exactly he was going to. Before he'd met the elf and his companions he had been going in a fairly straight path, but in getting escaping them he had lost track of where he was. For the past two days he had been following the sun but now he was not certain that was the safest path.
Perhaps it was because of some unknown god's favor, but this time he managed to spot the elf and not be found in return. At first he feared that this was the same elf that he had come across the day before, but this one had a copper tint to his skin as opposed to the pale white that he remembered and his hair was black rather than red. Before the drow had a chance to heave a sigh of relief the elf disappeared, taking a route through the trees. The drow remained motionless for a few long minutes, then nearly jumped when the slight crackle of brush announced that another was nearing. Another elf passed without a second glance at the drow, apparently taking the same path as the one before her. After a moment of hesitation, the drow decided to follow the two and see where they were going.
The second elf caught up with the first soon enough and the two began talking in what the drow could only assume was their native tongue. What they were saying he couldn't be sure but by their postures and tones they seemed to be quite at home.
The two hadn't been talking long before another set of two elves appeared and exchanged greetings. The first set of two then started off in the direction opposite to where he was watching, and the second two parted ways, one going to the right and one going to the left.
He waited until he was sure the elves were gone, then turned back moving as rapidly as he dared. It was only after he was certain that he was well out of the range of the elves sight and arrows that he stopped to consider his course. The elves had to be patrolling the area in an attempt to ward against outsiders attacking their home. Unlike drow, elves tended to be much more organized about their community and guarded it as a whole regularly, rather than merely when it proved to be more convenient to do so. Somehow he also knew that the surface elves were very cautious about guardian the area they called home and that they often set patrols around their homes in order to keep intruders out.
/Of course, if one wishes to attack the settlement it is easiest to move as a group, creating a distraction to draw the sentries attention away long enough to allow for their disposal by one's own scouts. Of course, to avoid the sentries altogether, it was best if one attacked during one of their holy days. It was then that they would be most unaware, and most defenseless –/
He froze, as startled as he would have been had the sentries fired an arrow into his heart at that moment. Where had that knowledge come from? How would he know such things? Did he ...?
The drow moaned and sank to his knees in the forest.
"What have these hands done?" He said aloud, "Why is it that I cannot remember my name or where I am from but I can remember how to destroy an elven village?"
Dogged by confusion and guilt, he walked on until dawn, though he stayed awake, watching the sun for a long time after that, tormented by questions of what he had done and afraid of what his dreams would reveal to him.
Iria came out of reverie the next morning to the sound of footsteps moving about. She opened her eyes to see her brother pacing back and forth anxiously. She opened her mouth to say something and he turned to meet her gaze. Without any attempt to communicate Iria knew that something terribly important had happened. Erris nodded, then cleared his throat.
"An adventurer came to our village late last night with news of a possible enemy. Both he and the village elder wish to speak with you."
Iria left her brother's home and hurried to the village center. There she saw both the village elder and an elf with plaited red hair and amber eyes in full armor. His skin was extremely pale, as was befitting of a Moon elf and he carried a sword at his hip and a quiver and bow were strung across his back. He was talking intently with the village elder, and Iria waited until she caught the village elder's eye before moving forward.
"Iria Stormblossom." The elder said, his face showing relief. The other elf turned to look at her as well, though his expression showed more surprise than relief. Realizing that she was clad in little more than a tunic and leggings, Iria understood why immediately.
"I came as soon as I heard that there was trouble. What happened?" She asked, politely ignoring the Moon elf's expression.
"I was traveling not four days from your village when my party came across a drow."
"Drow?" Iria repeated, feeling faint.
"I fired an arrow at him and I believe I hit, but the creature took off at a speed that my group could not match. We attempted to track him but he must have taken to the trees, because we could find no sign of his footprints. Your elder has told me that you have much experience with drow and would be of help on this matter."
"Are you certain that there was only one? I have never heard of a drow traveling alone upon the surface before."
"I am as certain as I can be, Lady Stormblossom." The moon elf assured her. "We found no traces of other footprints and I cannot believe that if there was more than one of them that they would have allowed my group to pursue. Especially with one of our kind leading."
Iria nodded, knowing truth when she heard it. The drow hated surface elves and would gleefully kill them whenever it was possible. To miss the chance to kill this one meant that either there was only one drow, or that there were too many of them and that their goal was too massive to be disrupted by the appearance of a single elf. For a moment, the memory of her dream came to her, then Iria banished it ruthlessly. Drow were evil, the dream had to be a lie.
"Which way did the drow come from? Show me and I will find him."
The moon elf pointed to the southwest.
"As soon as I gather my supplies and become travel-ready I will begin my search for this drow and we will have our answers, one way or another."
The village elder gave his blessing and Iria half ran, half flew back to her brother's home. In as few words as she could manage, she informed him of what she'd been told and of her plans as she donned her traveling gear and packed up the few things she had brought with her.
"Iria, please be careful." Erris pleaded after they'd said their goodbyes.
"As always, I will be." She reassured him, though Erris did not look reassured. Impulsively, she embraced her younger brother, willing him to understand that she would do everything she could to ensure that she came back, unless her death would keep the village safe.
"I will return as soon as I can." She promised as Erris reluctantly let her go.
With those words, Iria set off on her quest to hunt down the drow.
It was this peacefulness that often gave the village an appearance of timelessness. The village was a haven, Iria knew. In a world that was often turbulent and fraught with troubles, she knew that she could always return to it and expect to find the same thing, year after year. Of course, it was also this sameness that routinely drove her away from the village in order to sate her wanderlust.
Erris had advised her to either forget her dream or to take it to mean that indeed, her goddess would soon have a mission for her, though he doubted very much that it would have anything to do with a drow.
"The drow are evil creatures by nature. That is what we have been taught in our histories and what the drow have proven time and time again when they raid our people's villages. You yourself have fought against them more than once, have you ever seen a sign of compassion, of loyalty of anything other than hatred and anger from them? Their race is incapable of such things."
Iria had to agree, as little as she wanted to. Still, the face of the drow from her dreams remained with her. He'd looked so alone ...
The sun rose and the drow found a place to rest for the day, this time in the well-shaded branches of a tree. Despite his worries about being followed, he could think of no other way to spend his hours while the sun was high. The light still stung his eyes and if he remained in it for too long it started affecting his balance and he felt sick as well, as if the sunlight was changing his body in some strange way he had yet to decipher. Yet, despite this something about the feel of light on his skin was comforting.
He slept through the day again and continued on his travels, still not sure of where exactly he was going to. Before he'd met the elf and his companions he had been going in a fairly straight path, but in getting escaping them he had lost track of where he was. For the past two days he had been following the sun but now he was not certain that was the safest path.
Perhaps it was because of some unknown god's favor, but this time he managed to spot the elf and not be found in return. At first he feared that this was the same elf that he had come across the day before, but this one had a copper tint to his skin as opposed to the pale white that he remembered and his hair was black rather than red. Before the drow had a chance to heave a sigh of relief the elf disappeared, taking a route through the trees. The drow remained motionless for a few long minutes, then nearly jumped when the slight crackle of brush announced that another was nearing. Another elf passed without a second glance at the drow, apparently taking the same path as the one before her. After a moment of hesitation, the drow decided to follow the two and see where they were going.
The second elf caught up with the first soon enough and the two began talking in what the drow could only assume was their native tongue. What they were saying he couldn't be sure but by their postures and tones they seemed to be quite at home.
The two hadn't been talking long before another set of two elves appeared and exchanged greetings. The first set of two then started off in the direction opposite to where he was watching, and the second two parted ways, one going to the right and one going to the left.
He waited until he was sure the elves were gone, then turned back moving as rapidly as he dared. It was only after he was certain that he was well out of the range of the elves sight and arrows that he stopped to consider his course. The elves had to be patrolling the area in an attempt to ward against outsiders attacking their home. Unlike drow, elves tended to be much more organized about their community and guarded it as a whole regularly, rather than merely when it proved to be more convenient to do so. Somehow he also knew that the surface elves were very cautious about guardian the area they called home and that they often set patrols around their homes in order to keep intruders out.
/Of course, if one wishes to attack the settlement it is easiest to move as a group, creating a distraction to draw the sentries attention away long enough to allow for their disposal by one's own scouts. Of course, to avoid the sentries altogether, it was best if one attacked during one of their holy days. It was then that they would be most unaware, and most defenseless –/
He froze, as startled as he would have been had the sentries fired an arrow into his heart at that moment. Where had that knowledge come from? How would he know such things? Did he ...?
The drow moaned and sank to his knees in the forest.
"What have these hands done?" He said aloud, "Why is it that I cannot remember my name or where I am from but I can remember how to destroy an elven village?"
Dogged by confusion and guilt, he walked on until dawn, though he stayed awake, watching the sun for a long time after that, tormented by questions of what he had done and afraid of what his dreams would reveal to him.
Iria came out of reverie the next morning to the sound of footsteps moving about. She opened her eyes to see her brother pacing back and forth anxiously. She opened her mouth to say something and he turned to meet her gaze. Without any attempt to communicate Iria knew that something terribly important had happened. Erris nodded, then cleared his throat.
"An adventurer came to our village late last night with news of a possible enemy. Both he and the village elder wish to speak with you."
Iria left her brother's home and hurried to the village center. There she saw both the village elder and an elf with plaited red hair and amber eyes in full armor. His skin was extremely pale, as was befitting of a Moon elf and he carried a sword at his hip and a quiver and bow were strung across his back. He was talking intently with the village elder, and Iria waited until she caught the village elder's eye before moving forward.
"Iria Stormblossom." The elder said, his face showing relief. The other elf turned to look at her as well, though his expression showed more surprise than relief. Realizing that she was clad in little more than a tunic and leggings, Iria understood why immediately.
"I came as soon as I heard that there was trouble. What happened?" She asked, politely ignoring the Moon elf's expression.
"I was traveling not four days from your village when my party came across a drow."
"Drow?" Iria repeated, feeling faint.
"I fired an arrow at him and I believe I hit, but the creature took off at a speed that my group could not match. We attempted to track him but he must have taken to the trees, because we could find no sign of his footprints. Your elder has told me that you have much experience with drow and would be of help on this matter."
"Are you certain that there was only one? I have never heard of a drow traveling alone upon the surface before."
"I am as certain as I can be, Lady Stormblossom." The moon elf assured her. "We found no traces of other footprints and I cannot believe that if there was more than one of them that they would have allowed my group to pursue. Especially with one of our kind leading."
Iria nodded, knowing truth when she heard it. The drow hated surface elves and would gleefully kill them whenever it was possible. To miss the chance to kill this one meant that either there was only one drow, or that there were too many of them and that their goal was too massive to be disrupted by the appearance of a single elf. For a moment, the memory of her dream came to her, then Iria banished it ruthlessly. Drow were evil, the dream had to be a lie.
"Which way did the drow come from? Show me and I will find him."
The moon elf pointed to the southwest.
"As soon as I gather my supplies and become travel-ready I will begin my search for this drow and we will have our answers, one way or another."
The village elder gave his blessing and Iria half ran, half flew back to her brother's home. In as few words as she could manage, she informed him of what she'd been told and of her plans as she donned her traveling gear and packed up the few things she had brought with her.
"Iria, please be careful." Erris pleaded after they'd said their goodbyes.
"As always, I will be." She reassured him, though Erris did not look reassured. Impulsively, she embraced her younger brother, willing him to understand that she would do everything she could to ensure that she came back, unless her death would keep the village safe.
"I will return as soon as I can." She promised as Erris reluctantly let her go.
With those words, Iria set off on her quest to hunt down the drow.