"I had been sent out on yet another mission for the Greycloaks, this mission was to take place far west of here in a small mining town called Nashkell. The town's iron was crucial to the economy of Amn and the Gate Country, and my superiors in the Greycloaks wanted to know why the iron was rotting. Bandits had also picked up in the area and travel for both normal people and especially merchants was very dangerous. I made the trek to the town safely however and made my way to the town's inn on a rainy day…"

The door slammed shut just as a tall, brown haired elf made it through the threshold of the small inn. He stood their dripping from the sudden cloudburst outside for a moment before the harsh glare of a barmaid moved him toward the innkeep behind the bar. "A room please," he asked.

The innkeep reached under the table and grabbed a key, "You have the coin for it?" The elf nodded and handed him a few coins. The innkeep handed him the key in return, "Last room on the left, anything else I can get you?"

Looking at the wooden tankered that the man was so carefully polishing with his own spit, the elf shook his head, "I'll be fine. Do you know where I may be able to find your mayor? I need to speak with him."

"You another one of them idiot adventures out to cure the iron here?"

"No, not exactly at least."

"Well you'll fail; just like the rest of 'em. Probably die in those cursed mines too."

"Of that I have no doubt. I have been evading Lady Death's attention for too long now – she is bound to take offense if I wait much longer. Now where can I find your mayor?"

The innkeeper shook his head, "Most days you can find him just outside the temple, you can't miss it."

"I did find the mayor and he had not much more to say on the matter of the iron, and held up just about as much hope of my finding the cause of the iron crisis as the innkeeper did. The next day I went to the mine, and spoke to the owner. He was none too happy to have yet another adventurer seeking to enter his mine, but eventually he told me I could enter. I had no idea that when I looked to the sky one last time before entering into the mine, it would be that last I saw of the sky for several weeks to come.

"I had no sooner entered the mine then I was attacked by a pair of kobolds. I dealt with them quickly enough and continued my investigation into the mines. Again and again I was attacked by the kobolds and the deeper I went into the pits, the thicker they became. I had discovered while making my way through the mines that the kobolds had been putting some sort of liquid on the iron that was causing it to breakdown. Before I could escape to the surface to tell of my discovery, I was captured by the half-orc, Mulahey, who seemed to be the leader of the kolbolds."

Xan touched his neck, gently tracing with his finger one of the numerous scars Mulahey had left him with. Though the worst of the scars were now almost completely gone, the memory was still as sharp as the knife used to give them.

"I was under Mulahey's power for many weeks, e'sum, and the half-orc was not a kind man. He separated me from the surface for many weeks, I grew ill and he continued to mistreat me. If all that wasn't bad enough, he had separated me from my moonblade. For a normal fighter, being separated from their weapon is but an inconvenience most times, but when a moonfighter is separated from their blade, it's a slow and painful death, as the longer the two are separated the wielder's life-force is slowly pulled from them.

"I was in that pit for weeks, I still can't remember how long exactly. I would slip in and out of consciousness, all the while my mind playing tricks on me, making me hear or see things that weren't really there. If I had any hope in the beginning, it was utterly gone now."

Xan lay on the cold wet stone of the mine. Occasionally his is body would convulse in an effort to warm its self, but it had stopped being a constant shake and the intervals between the shakes were growing few and farther between. He was dying. He wasn't at surprised by this, he had known for more years then he cared to count that he was going to and it was only a matter of time before the Dark Lady would catch him up. Of course now that all he wanted was death – his only way to escape this hellhole - it wouldn't come to him swiftly, no, not now. It was just his luck. But then, when had Tymora ever been his friend?

His lips twisted into a self-mocking grin, how long till the next of his hallucinations - till his own mind - decided to torment him once again? They had been getting more realistic and more frequent as his time in the mine had grown. Not long ago he could have sworn he had just woken up from a terrible dream back home in Evereska and had then gone out for a pleasant walk through his family estate's garden with his dead cousin. Mulahey had quickly ended that one; something was upsetting him and he had needed someone to take his anger out on.

At least the noise had stopped now. Something had stirred up the kobolds and brought them to the edge of panic. Not that that took much; the evil little beasts were never more than a minute away from panic. A light shown into the cave, stinging his eyes and forcing him to close them tightly.

A pink haired human girl was holding the source of the light. "Hey! There's someone in here!" she hollered out the entrance of his cave. Xan winced; he couldn't even have nice hallucinations any more. Not that he expected any better. "I think he's dead!" She walked towards him. "Aw poor guy, looks like he had a rough time of it too. Hey, he looks like he was a mage…" She turned back towards the cave entrance. "I get his stuff!"

Xan could hear the sound of another set of footsteps running into the cave and then felt someone kneel down beside him. He felt a small hand turn him slightly and place two fingers where his pulse would be. "Imm he's not dead! Did you even bother to check? Get that light out of here, it's probably hurting his eyes. Jaheria! I need you!"

As the light and pink-haired girl retreated Xan slowly opened his eyes, and looked straight into the eyes of a silver-haired Sehanine Moonbow.

Elven Words Used
e'sum – Son
Onya – My son

For those of you who noticed, I did switch forms of elvish. I went from the Grey Company's form of elvish to Quenya. And if you're wondering why, I found a translator and it's easier to use than looking things