Author's Note: alright…here we are, part three. I actually really enjoyed writing some part to this chapter because it shows a nicer side to Elara's character, as well as beginning to explain why she ended up the way that she did. As always…please leave a review if you like it. It also shows a lot of her personality/character.
Most people knew that slavery was bad, and that those involved suffers greatly, but one could not fully understand the full dept of their pain, fear and humiliation unless they experienced these emotions them self.
Many of the slaves had been abused so much that they truly began to regard freedom as something that only existed in their dreams. Many of them refused to leave, saying that there was no point as they would soon be shackled again.
It was all the more heartbreaking to reason with children that would not move, sobbing out that they would be punished even more if they dared to escape.
"I don't want to be whipped again." The little girl said between her tears. "I don't want to be punished again! They took my brother away because he wanted to escape and he still hasn't come back."
They had found her huddling in the corner of the room, crying even as the trolls began to hit the door. Judging from the dents on the door she would have ended up being the next meal of these trolls if they had not come.
"What these children are subjected too is truly horrifying." Keldorn commented sadly.
"And why did the knights in shiny armour not come?" Elara sneered out, as she stride past the others and stepped over the corpses of the trolls carelessly in order to kneel down beside the little girl. Then she did what they regarded as a very unusual thing.
She picked the child up and hugged her tightly. The little girl must have been comforted by her as her sobbing actually became less loud.
"The bad men will all die." Elara promised, speaking in a very gentle and soft voice despite the harshness of her words. "You will be safe, we will take you to a place where these bad men will never find you."
"Really?" the little girl finally stopped sobbing and she looked at Elara as if the woman was a goddess with the ability of deciding her future for her. "Will my brother be there too?"
"Your brother…Tell me, what is your name?"
"Amiltha."
"Amiltha…sometimes the people we love will be forced to leave us by dying." Elara began very slowly, and her own hands were shaking. "We can not always follow them immediately, but it doesn't mean that they are gone forever. As long as we remember them then they will still be with us."
"My brother is…dead then?" at the nod she raised her hand and touched Elara's wet cheeks. "Did you have a brother too? Is this why you are sad?"
"Yes, I did. He is dead. But the slavers…these bad men had taken me away from him. I was…I was taken to this place as well."
"Are you still like me?"
"We…we are both free now, at least free from the slavers of Athkatla." The last bit seemed to be addressed to her self instead. "Amiltha, I must leave you now, but one of my…" with more then a little reluctance she forced the word out of her mouth, "friends will look after you while I am gone…while I go and kill the bad men for you."
Amiltha only shook her head and clung onto Elara even tighter. "Please don't leave me. Everyone else is so scary."
Standing up Elara gently guided Amiltha to look at Aerie before she began to speak again. "Aerie is a very nice lady, Amiltha, she will never harm you." If it wasn't for the sake that all of them had heard her snap and even yell at Aerie numerous times, then they would never doubt her at all, as she sounded so sincere. "A goddess will also protect you. She is called…Mielikki. Mielikki looks after all those who are alone in the world, people like you and I."
She unclasped the pendant that Woraen has seen her wear ever since their first meeting and placed it on Amiltha. The jewellery it self was probably very cheap, but it must be very important to Elara since she always wore it.
"This is a promise that I will not abandon you, because I will come back for my treasure." Elara whispered, and the child was finally willing, although still reluctant, in being handed over to Aerie- who had already created a shield to protect the slaves that were already freed.
"Come on Woraen, let us get this finished as soon as we can." Elara said, patting Amiltha on the head a final time before she allowed herself to turn away.
"Of course." Woraen nodded, still recovering from his shock and surprise at both the revelation of her past, as well as her kindness to the little slave girl when she had been the very opposite towards Aerie.
"Whining is different," Elara said coldly. "And the way the little elf complains sicken me, as if she is the only one to have suffered from slavery when she clearly is not."
"Why Mielikki?" Kivan asked softly, whispering the name of the goddess he was meant to serve.
"What deity am I meant to pray to? Shevarash?" she immediately retorted back. "Mask? Cyric? Woraen's dead father? Am I not meant to believe in Mielikki because I am not a ranger? That is foolish as I know that Mielikki is like her servants, wanting to protect everyone who happens to be alone.
"Besides," she whispered this more as a reminder to herself then an answer for Kivan. "Long, long ago, he prayed to Mielikki for me."
He had thought that she fell asleep immediately, although she didn't know how he could believe that. It was true that she desired to die, but it didn't mean that she was indifferent to their soon to be meeting with a lich of five centuries old.
"Mielikki…goddess…I rarely pray to you but I will do so now, I will do so for her sake." Valygar had whispered very softly, the words only audible as their surrounding was unnaturally quiet. "She is but a child! Too young to be wishing for her own death. Please, let her have peace somehow, and let her be able to be happy in this world."
I did have peace and I was happy with you, Elara thought, raising her hand to grab the now absent pendent.
A merchant had set up his stall right next to their house, and since he somehow knew that they were just married, he had assumed them to be a couple who were much in love. Valygar was forced to buy that trinket from him in order to silence his teasing about what they could not perform on their wedding night.
The pendant was made from a cheap metal that was disguised as gold by a cheap coat of paint. The paint has degenerated over the years while the slender chain broke when she tore at it after reading that note. But it was very precious to her as it contained small portraits of both her and her husband- a reminder of what they had been like on the day of their wedding.
Looking at the image of what she had been four years ago was a strange experience as she has altered too much. At sixteen years old she was tormented by only that one crime, and she was able to still smile by being comforted with the believe that she would never repeat these sins again. Her face also revealed her shyness at the marriage, even if it was chaste she would still share a very close proximity with him.
She had been slightly sceptical about his insistence on celibacy, as she distrusted most men due to what happened to her at twelve. From the few days she had spent with him, she knew that he was an honourable and even kind man, although he disguised this second characteristic by being so withdrawn and aloof from the world.
But ultimately men were men, so she still went to sleep with that dagger underneath her pillow during the first few nights. He offered his bed to her but she refused, insisting on being the one who slept downstairs or in the next room on the floor. She was very grateful at how he had saved and even freed her from the guild, but her gratitude would not involve offering her body to him.
She soon regretted doubting him, as he was truly insistent on his vow. His self control was actually quite amazing as he still managed to hesitate on that night even when she was almost naked. It was truly ironic that a woman like her could have him as a husband.
What would he say if he learns that she was on this path of self destruction once more? Or that she had destroyed her body by lending it to numerous other men, ruining the only innocence she still possessed.
He left her, but she was the one that prevented any reunion from being possible.
"Elara!" Woraen called out, interrupting her chaotic thoughts.
"I am coming." She answered, pulling out that dagger- it seemed very suitable to use it now.
From the edge of her vision she saw Kivan frowning at this dagger of her's. It was of a clear elfish design, and his people were certainly not generous to outsiders by handing out their precious and superior weapons.
They managed to return to the Copper Coronet in triumph, causing Henkak and all the other slaves to welcome them as heroes. Much to their surprise, little Amiltha attached herself to Elara as soon as she saw her, refusing to let go. It was clear to all that the little girl was half in love with Elara.
Elara was not sure whether she really liked children or not, although she did desire one greatly. But there were few children in Umar Hill and even less in the guild. Neither Valygar and her were very friendly, as they were too withdrawn and occupied with their own problems, especially their marriage, so the children in Umar Hill would always find Merella if they needed someone.
But she even prayed to the gods for a child when her husband was gone, because she loved him so much. Perhaps most women would desire a child from an absent husband, but her need had been desperate and even selfish. She needed a child to prevent herself from walking down that path her pride would lead her to with his betrayal.
He was the one who got what he wanted, not her. His line would not continue even though he broke his vow on that one night by making love to her.
Amiltha was five years old now, the same age she had been when her mother dragged her to be sold to her father. So she was fifteen years older then the child, then it was not impossible for her to be the child's mother if her husband had been a normal men, as she had only been sixteen for a week when she was married.
"I think she has adopted you as her new mother." Hendak commented.
Amiltha was sleeping, but she still managed to cling onto Elara. One hand was looped around her neck while the other grabbed onto the pendant, which was wore by Elara once again.
"That is not a wise thing to do, in fact, it is foolish." Elara said sadly, although she did not cease stroking the girl's hair, a similar dark brown as her's. "It is better for her to stay here, but I would like to help her, as I do not want Amiltha to have a life similar to mine."
Saying so she took out the few gold pieces she has and placed them on the counter. Like all of Woraen's other companions she agreed that almost all the gold they obtained would be retained in order to pay for the Shadow Thieves' aid.
His loyalty for his sister truly touched her, as it was what she failed to do herself. She fervently wished that for his sake, he would not make the wrong choice in his alliance. She would be a bit sad if she has to harm him, but she would not disobey her orders.
"You have a special interest for this child." The new owner of the inn continued.
"Our slavery both started when we were only five years old, and we both had a brother that we loved. She reminds me of the child I had been so long ago. Luckily that is all our resemblance. I suffered here, but I know that she will not."
"Were you a slave here?" now that he thought about it, he did remember the way she had smiled when Lehtinan finally died. Her smile was rather malicious, but there was a sense of relief in it as well.
"I was a slave here until eight years ago. I was here," she began, leaning forward slightly, "when you first came, it is truly remarkable that you survived for such a long time. You actually helped me slightly, although it was probably only your way of apologising."
She had been given the task of feeding the new gladiators that day and she was doing so when she was suddenly groped by the throat. But she continued to clutch onto the water jar due to the greater fear for her master.
"Give me some water now!" her assaulter demanded, his voice was very hoarse and dry, and it was also lined with a strange accent.
"I will be punished!" she screamed out, clinging onto the water jar even more, despite the tightening of his hand on her throat.
"If you don't do this then I swear," he invoked some god that she had never heard of, "that I will kill you."
The loud crack of the whip interrupted the silence and tension, the pain of the whip forced Elara to drop the precious jar. With a fierce oath Hendak threw her away in order to bend down and suck the small puddle of water.
"You little bitch." Lehtinan said as he began to slap her. "Are you really so stupid that you don't understand what 'feed them' means?"
"But I…" another slap silenced her immediately as blood began to fall from her lips.
"Don't even speak unless I orders you to, you little bitch. Thank goodness that this is the last time you will be doing these tasks." The innkeeper muttered to himself, "I only hope that you will do a better job in your new job, although I am sure even you can't screw that up."
By this time Hendak had managed to drain the last drop of water and he was beginning to feel rather guilty for what he did. He began to curse his new master, which was enough to make Lehtinan shift his attention to him instead.
"So that was you." Hendak finally said. "I did hope that I would be able to see you again in order to…"
"Apologise? There is no need." She said rather carelessly. "I would probably have done the same thing. Don't even consider thanking me either, because I intended to hold onto that water jar with my life even thought you were strangling me."
"You can stay here if you wish." He suddenly said. "Like many of the others, like little Amiltha here. This is not mere pity either- I know that you would be skilled at doing these works."
"Yes, Lehtinan's way of training make us learn very fast." She agreed. "But yes, I can actually stay here."
I might even be happy as I would not be torturing myself by committing more crimes, she contemplated, when my current assignment finishes I can come here instead. I can stay here and help these children, especially this child.
"But not yet." She said rather regretfully. "I have things that I must do first."
"I can understand that, but know that you will always be welcome here." Hendak promised. "I do hope that you will return, especially for her sake. And maybe…maybe for your self as well."
She gave a brief nod before she stood up slowly in order to make sure that she would not wake Amiltha up.
"There is a room that I would like to go to, to understand myself better." She began slowly. "One of the rooms along that corridor with the red carpet. They should all be empty right now anyway."
"The rooms where…"
"Yes, these rooms." She interrupted him with a mirthless chuckle. "Although to defend my pride I must tell you that my 'client' did not get what he wanted."
The inn was only half full because of what recently happened and the quietness was rather pleasant. It was fairly easy for her to find her companions as their table was piled with foods, and many would be approaching it every now and then.
"You should not let that child cling onto you so, Elara, if you are not going to look after her." Keldorn said rather disapprovingly.
"Are you really in a position to lecture me? A man who rarely sees his own children?" she scoffed out, although her tone was only challenging, not mocking.
Much to her surprise she was actually quite fond of the old paladin in the same way she felt toward Woraen. Initially she thought of him as a hypocrite, but then she realized that this was not so- he was truly filled with the desire of helping others, and unlike Nalia he did not really see those he helped as needing help because of their inferior status, but because they just happened to need help.
"Amiltha does this because she knows that I will not be staying. Believe me, Lord Keldorn, I out of all people understands how much it hurts to be disillusioned." She quickly said, preventing him from thinking about her harsh comment, knowing that this was enough to make him attempt to 'convert' her once more.
"You life has obviously not been easy." He said, swallowing her bait.
"If it was easy then I wouldn't be here." She said simply, although she wonder what he would be doing if he knows her whole past, instead of just this small fragment.
"I can understand why you would act this way, Elara. You were a slave and your master or masters have clearly abused you. But that is all in the past, so surely there is no need for you to be so bitter."
"I can not simply forget about all of my past." She interrupted him. "I don't think anyone can do that."
"But you cling onto them. You do not open your self to others as you do not trust in others due to what happened before. This will only lead to sorrow."
"I do have difficulty in trusting others, but how can I not? My own parents cared little of me, if not none at all, and both sold me to slavery. The brother I loved ended up being half mad, desiring to be a god and would not hesitate in killing hundreds and even thousands in order to achieve his goal. My husband…my husband told me that he loved me but left me the very next day. How do I trust anyone when those whom I am meant to trust have all betrayed me?
"As for law and justice…there is no such thing in this city. And I am not sure if I believe in any deities either. I did believe in Mielikki once but…" shaking her head she stood up once more. "I have some private business to attend now, but if Woraen urgently needs to talk to me then please tell him that Hendak will know where I will be."
Eight years ago she was locked in this room after the other women forced her into the attired of a whore and painted her face.
"Please don't hate us, Elara." They whispered when they were prepared to hand her to their master, some of them were even crying.
"Why shouldn't I?" she asked coldly, her hands were crossed in an attempt to cover part of her scantily clad body. Her outfit only emphasised her youth even more, her breast were barely visible despite the large exposure of the top, while the little skirt the dress had was very loose as her hip was not developed yet.
"We don't want to do this either!" one of them protested.
"You are still doing it though!" she wanted to curse them and take refuge in that emotion, but she realized that it as not their fault at all. They were afraid of their master so much…just like her, as she refused to give any water to that gladiator, even though he was in so much pain.
"I don't really hate any of you." She admitted. "But I am so frightened!"
"Just close you eyes and let him do what ever he wants. It should not last long." One of them advised her. Men who wanted children desired them for their body alone, not for the pleasure they were required to perform, some even enjoyed the children's inexperience.
"No matter what happens we will not hate you either." Another promised her.
The door was shut and she crawled to the furthest corner due to desperation. She thought of her brother and began to cry out his name inside her head, hoping for a miracle, that he would free her from this in the same way that he had saved her from their 'parents'' beatings before.
The door was opened, but it was not her beloved brother or even her master. It was a stranger…a beautiful stranger with very fair hair and a pair of equally lovely eyes. His ears, she suddenly noticed, were pointy.
"Are you an elf?" she whispered out in wonder. "You are so beautiful." As a child she had heard of many stories where elves and paladins were heroes, and she was so young that she didn't understand that this man was clearly not the hero of any story by being here in the first place.
In her naivety she also believed that a person's appearance could not be much different from their heart.
"Will you save me??"" she implored.
The elf didn't say anything but she was sure that his gaze was kind… She was disillusioned rather quickly as he began to touch her…caressing her.
"Pleases don't." she whispered, backing away only to find that there was not much place behind her.
A hand was raised elegantly, but it was to slap instead of pat her.
"I paid quite some gold for you." How was it possible to hear such words being said in his melodious voice?
"My master forced me to do this!" I…" she began, believing that he would quickly understand once he heard her story.
Grabbing her he tore off the already loose skirt before he rested his hand over her breasts. "Be silent child." He commanded. "I will not have my money wasted.
Understanding came to her at that moment along with disillusionment, she realized that she would never allow any man to possess her body without her consent, no matter what the consequences would be. She would not let men play with her body as if it was their property either. As for the men who dared to insult her by trying to do these things…
She would kill them.
Her eyes lit up when she saw the dagger on the elf's belt, and easily worked out what she had to do.
"Good girl." The elf grinned when she ceased her struggles and even stood still. "I really prefer for this to be pleasant for both you and I…"
As soon as he was within range of her arm's reach she grabbed his dagger from him and stabbed him in the heart. She knew where to stab as Sarevok had lessons on killing that he had shared with her. Not that it mattered much because she immediately pulled the dagger out to stab the off-guarded elf's windpipe.
When he fell backward she knelt down as well. She resumed stabbing him even though she realized that he was dead as he soon stopped moving.
Later on, the body was deposed rather easily, as it was completely mutated beyond recognition. Not only was he stabbed at every part of his body, his facial features were in disarray as she had repeatedly slap and punch his face.
"And I still would do anything to prevent myself from being in such a situation again." Elara realized grimly. She placed Amiltha down to take out the dagger that had caused some questioning looks, the weapon she had stole and used to kill her first kill- the weapon's original master.
"I have regrets but at the same time this is what I want. I would rather hurt and even kill others in order to maintain my own dignity, my own pride."
When Woraen entered she was seated on the ground with Amiltha in her lap once again. He noticed that she seemed a bit grim, even more so then usual, but he naturally did not know the real symbolism of this room.
Beside, she gave him a smile when he entered.
"We will probably leave for Nalia's keep tomorrow as there seems to be some sort of trouble." He began.
"Is it not yours as well?"
"Yes and no." he shrugged slightly. "Despite all these rules I still think of it as being Nalia's keep."
"Why are you here?" Elara asked when a silence appeared. "Surely there is no need for you to come and find me now if that is all you want to tell me."
"No, that is true." Woraen agreed before he began to speak, clearly quite agitated. "Elara, you are like a stranger to me, yet you are my second oldest acquaintance now. The truth is that I don't know anything about you other then what was forced out of you: your family, your slavery, and most of all- your husband."
"I am not Aerie or Nalia, so you must pardon me for not attempting to gain your attention by whining endlessly about my past." Realizing that she was being too harsh she quickly plastered a smile onto her face. "Beside, you do not tell your past to the others do you? You even prefer to avoid any mentioning of the war if you could."
"That is true." The young man admitted the second time.
"Of course, I am not a Bhaalspawn so things are different. But my past…my past is not easy. There are flowers and grasses in a field, right?" she ignored the rather confused look from him due to this sudden change of subject and resumed speaking when he gave a nod. "The flowers are cherished and looked after although they do suffer when they are picked. But the grasses are trampled on all of their lives and they are like most people in this world, the flowers are the privileged ones.
"No matter how hard my past is I am still like most people, and the sad truth is that my story is not that an uncommon one. But you and the rest of our companions are different from me, you all had some happiness before you begin to suffer.
"I will tell you one thing though." She decided. "I do find trusting people very difficult due to my past. As I said before, my parents sold me to slavery while my husband walked out on me, then I betrayed my own brother. A woman like me who trusts no one can not be trusted in return."
"Is this an advice or a warning?" Woraen asked slowly.
"You should be able to work out the answer by yourself now." Elara told him with a gentle smile.
She did not know why his naivety touched her so much as to make her risk jeopardizing her own mission and even make the possibility of failure higher.
It would not be pleasant, but then this was the path she chooses, and this room reminded her why.
Elara might have revealed more of her past to Woraen in a gentler way if Kivan did not enter the room. The elf was forced by Nalia to find Woraen, as the human girl claimed that she urgently need to discuss the problems of the keep with its weapon master, but Kivan was beginning to believe that it was due to jealousy. Likewise, Aerie had looked very downcast when Woraen went to find Elara.
Woraen's romantic affairs were really not something that he should be involved in, but he couldn't help but to feel a strong desire of advising his much younger companion. He wasn't sure what most human marriages were like, but he certainly did not approve of Woraen being so interested in a woman who was already married, even if she was separated from her husband.
He chuckled slightly as he realized what he was actually thinking. It was as if he turning into one of those unwanted relatives who were completely occupied in the romantic affairs of their kin.
He had an aunt like that himself, she never failed to lecture and nag him about marriage whenever he visited her.
That was all before he met Deheriana though…
The mere thought of her still gave him such deep pain, and he had long learnt and accepted that this pain would only cease when he was finally united with her in Arvanaith. Were all humans so strange and even rather ungrateful about their marriage? The only reason an elven couples would part would be due to death, for elves bound themselves to the other for the rest of their life when they married. Yet Elara's husband had abandoned her, while she herself had been the mistress of another man.
He eventually found the two of them sitting side by side in the now empty room, and he was slightly curious about why Hendak gave him the direction in such a tense voice- as if it was something that was best not mentioned.
Elara looked more gentle then usual, but that wasn't saying much as she generally glared at him as if she was contemplating on the best way of killing him, sometimes he believed that she really was thinking about that.
He still didn't like or trust her, although he could not deny that Woraen was right when he said that her skills would be useful. He might have been a bit sympathetic due to her past, as he could understand the pain of being left by one's spouse, but the way she treated Aerie made him dislike her greatly. He could, however, work with her without any arguments.
But he said the wrong thing this time, although it was not really his fault as she was already strongly prejudiced against him, and this room was where her prejudice was born.
"I am glad that we managed to do this deed." Woraen commented out.
"I agree." Kivan said, unfortunately he added the next bit. "I never thought that I would see such a sickening thing when I left Shilmista…"
"You think that slavery is a non-elven practice?" Elara sneered out.
Her voice suddenly became very chilling. It was very soft, almost a hiss, but the raw negative emotions were very strong.
"Elves do not practice in slavery." Kivan answered back evenly. "And I…"
"You elves and your hypocrisy!" she hissed out.
There was such hatred in her eyes and voice that it made Woraen stood up and places his hands on her shoulders in order to force her to remain seated, as the possibility of her attacking Kivan was actually quite probable.
"Yes, humans practice slavery but at least we do not tell everyone that we are the embodiment of goodness who can do no wrong. You elves are very capable of doing wrong too, yet you hide this. Why do you think that Irenicus cannot be an elf?" She continued angrily, referring to the conversation they had a few days ago. "But is it not interesting that the drow are elves? Surely this means something…"
"The drow are…" Kivan's indignant protest was quickly drowned out by Elara's louder accusations.
"…that you people gave birth to what is regarded as the most evil race in Toril, who enslaves every other race. How can the mother and kin of such a people be innocent? They can only be tainted and…"
Woraen was grateful that Elara was holding onto a child, as it prevented her from struggling too much. He managed, still with great difficulty, to silence her temporarily by claming his hand over her mouth.
"Elara, please calm down." He whispered harshly. "I swear that I will gag and even tie you up if you don't."
Her eyes darkened but her gaze turned a bit calmer. She gave him a brisk nod and he realized that she would do what he asked. If he was lucky then she wouldn't do anything to him later on. Relieved that one problem was solved, he quickly turned to the next one.
"Kivan, whatever it is that you want to do, please don't do it." He pleaded.
"I am not going to attack her, if that is what you are so worried about." The elf promised. "But…
"But you want to, don't you?" Elara sneered out again, although her voice was carefully kept very soft.
"I am an elf, I do not deny what is the truth." He said, somehow managing to control his temper. "Buy I do not hate humans because they are a different race."
"You think I just woke up one day and decided to hate you people because of this petty reason? I wish it is that easy and simple." the bitterness in her voice was so great that Woraen was filled with the desire of comforting her, and even Kivan felt pity at whatever that had happened to cause this.
"I apologise to you, Woraen." Elara said softly. "But I too, will not apologise for what is the truth. An elf has wronged me here in this very room, so do not expect me to believe that elves can do no wrong.
"I admit that the first elf I met might have been an oddity." She said rather reluctantly to Kivan. "But it is enough that he existed, and that he has wronged me in the greatest way possible. So do not tell me that you folks are always…are always good."
Author's Note: This chapter was quite hard to write at bits, especially the flashback. I think out of all the characters I have ever written about, Elara is the one with the worst deal- she probably have the worst past. So…a very significant proportion of her past is revealed, and once more, so had her relationship with Valygar. In regard to the elf who almost raped her…well, I guess he probably is an oddity, but the main point really is to show that not all elves are good, because I really can't stand it when I read about an elf telling a human that they are perfect and all good. But note, Elara is actually very biased here, as her own personal prejudice caused her to interpret Kivan's words in a more…harsh way. I think he really just wanted to say how much slavery disgusted him, but due to what happened to her, Elara immediately thought that he was condemning humans as the only evil ones who practices slavery.
I think Domi mentioned that elves rarely 'divorce' or even 'separate' when she was talking about the Kivan mod so that is what is happening in this story. And I guess from his point of view what happened to Elara and Valygar would be seen as a very shocking and ungrateful thing.
What else…I quite like the character of Keldorn so that is why I have him in this story, instead of having Anomen. I was going to have Anomen but Elara would just end up as another 'Anomen bashing' character if I do, so I decided against it. Keldorn did seem to want to help others, as the original game shows, so I think putting him in the group would be quite interesting, although right now he doesn't know about Elara's real identity yet. As for Nalia I actually quite liked her when I first played the game, only to discover that I don't when I learnt more about her charater. But I always thought that she should be one of the romanceble NPC, especially since the whole thing with her keep can really contribute to the story line. But still…it is unfair that Anomen is the only choice, that they never finished the Valygar romance- which was meant to happen (sorry…but this thing really annoys me).
In regard to Elara's past, I remember when I first talked about the idea of her as a mod/NPC to my sister and my sister had criticized it for being too extreme. But the sad thing is that her story is probably not that unusual, I mean, even in our world there are so many people who are forced into the sex trade. In fact, her story is actually unusual and extreme in the fact that she escaped from this fate. I think what happened was that she had two choice: to hate men in general, or to hate elves in general, and she choose the second one because she was more disillusioned in regard to that.
Once more I shamelessly beg for a review, I think I will still put more of this story up but still…a review will really motivate me and it really makes me happy. Well, as I said before, if you don't like it then well don't force your self, although you are perfectly allowed to criticize it, but you like it- then please leave me a review at least once.