Chapter 3: The Aven

Vaernor, Sholan and the two cephalid mages were finally nearing the aven roosts at the northern tip of the Pardic Mountains. The aven were never bothered by the mountain barbarians who kept to themselves deeper in the mountain, pursuing what the aven claimed were 'wicked magics'. The aven very rarely left their own homes, the only other races that they truly ascociated with being the other two races of the bird-folk. The four air-borne travellers began their descent as the aven homes loomed into view. They all landed upon the large, central flat surface of stone that made up the main area of the aven roosts.

"If you want to see the leader of our people," Vaernor said to the merfolk. "Then you'll need to see Master Bretath. Follow me." Vaernor led the sliding cephalids towards a large cave mouth in the side of the taller mountains. The Mer got several suspicious looks from the aven but no one questioned Vaernor's odd visitors. The inside of the cave would have looked like nothing more than an abandoned den if it weren't for the aven guards standing along the walls. At the end of the cave there sat another, more regal looking aven upon a sort of rock throne, his presence noticeable because of the magically stoked torches that lined the cave between the soldiers. Each aven guard carried a long spear except for the ones closest to the apparant leader, they carried short swords and shields. The master aven stood and stepped down from his seat.

"Vaernor, you have returned. Was your journey successful?"

"No, my Lord Bretath. The land was as expected, nothing more than a graveyard for the honored dead." Before Vaernor even finished his sentence he had sunk into a bow, revealing the three cephalids behind him.

Bretath gave an expression that would've looked as though he were raising an eyebrow were he human and had them. "And who are these guests you bring with you?"

Sholan spoke up for him and his two mages before Vaernor's beak could even part. "I am ambassador Sholan of the Mer Republic, and these are my two high mages. We come wishing to extend an alliance between our people and your own."

The aven lord crossed his arms over his chest and his wings fluttered slightly behind him. "This is a difficult thing to give to one of which I know nothing about. What manner of creature are you?"

"We are cephalids, we come from beneath the oceans on the western and southern sides of Otaria. Our republic is followed by not only our own kind, but many other sea-dwellers as well." The ambassador shifted his cepter from one tentacle to another.

Bretath nodded. "Very well, but to what advantage would their be with an alliance with your kind? The aven are perfectly happy how our lives are now."

The ambassador's face seemed to darken, or as much as a cephalid's face could darken. "And this is why we come to you. Both, your kind and mine's ways of life could be in danger. You are obviously aware of the great battle that took place against the Phyrexian Plauge, and of the powerful machines and artifacts that were imployed in the war. Many of these constructs still exist across Otaria, and if they would fall into the wrong hands, then our continent would have excaped the invasion futilely."

Bretath's face became as equally grim as the ambassador's. "I am aware of these machines, perhaps too aware." He pulled back the sleeves of the white robe that he wore. Both of his arms were covered with long, black, crossing scars. "Such constructs are what left me like this, and I agree with your drive to destroy the things. Perhaps an alliance would be best."

Sholan nodded sagely. "With your people coming from the north, and mine from the south, we could easily sweep Otaria clean of all of these monstrocities, once and for all." He extended one of his free tentacles towards the aven who grasped it in his three-fingered hand. Vaernor stood off to the side right where tentacle and hand met. He watched his master form an allegience with a people they had never heard anything about before right before his eyes. He, too, was quite opposed to the existence of the constructs, but could their destruction really be obtained through the aid of these ocean-dwellers? He could only hope that the people below the waves weren't as suddenly violent and malevolent as the waves themselves.