Ritual's End
The year slowly passed. The matrons of Erelhei-Cinlui discussed what should be done if the ritual succeeded; constantly scrying the city to see if anything had happened. The eladrin rangers under Erevan's command waited and watched Cendriane, not knowing what exactly was happening. Every day without fail, the light flashed at midnight and the sound echoed throughout the country at noon.
At long last, the final day of the ritual dawned. The year of waiting was over. The matrons held their breath, sending up desperate prayers to Lolth, begging her to cause the ritual to fail. The eladrin rangers waited with baited breath to see what would occur in the city on that day. It seemed as if the entire city was holding its breath in anticipation.
Then, as the sun set on that day and day gave way to night, an eerie spectacle appeared to the rangers. Every stone in the city, whether intact or in rubble, started to glow. The light was pure and soft, coming from no discernible source. Erevan said, "Our watch is over. We must return to Astrazalian to report what we have seen." His rangers silently gathered their belongings and started back to their home.
When they returned to Astrazalian, Erevan went directly to report to Lady Shandria. He found her in her throne room discussing affairs of state with her council. "The ranger Erevan, my Lady," announced the guard at the door.
Lady Shandria looked up and sighed, "I take it that something has occurred."
"Yes, my Lady," replied Erevan. He went on to detail all that he had seen at Cendriane.
"Thank you Erevan," said Lady Shandria. She turned to her council and said, "I have an announcement to make. Henceforth, there are to be no scavenging parties to be sent to Cendriane. The report that the ranger Erevan delivered has extreme import. The city of Cendriane has been woken and an eladrin of unknown power has become the city's heart."
As day turned to night in the Feywild, the council chambers of the matrons of Erelhei-Cinlui fell silent. So far, nothing had occurred in Cendriane. Suddenly, the hope that was felt in each of the matrons died. As they sat gazing at the scrying mirror, they saw the end of the ritual. The city of Cendriane started to glow with a pure, soft light that came from every stone in the city. Matron Ana'Shrinarrean sighed and slumped down in her seat. "The ritual is finished. An eladrin now rules Cendriane as its heart. There is nothing that we can do."
Matron Ilmirinza lurched to her feet, "Have you lost faith in Lolth's power? How can you say that there is nothing we can do? I will tell you what we should do. We should send assassins and warriors to slay this upstart and then the city will die again." She sat down and glared at the rest of the council.
Matron Ana'Shrinarrean stood up. "You say that we should kill this eladrin?" she asked incredulously. "Have you taken leave of your senses Matron Ilmirinza? This eladrin wields more power now than any one of us, and I suspect that he wields more power than all of us put together." She sat down and sighed, "No. There is nothing we can do. Our course should be one of watchfulness."