He sensed his elven children before the sounds of singing and water splashing brought him to full consciousness. Their presence was big, with hundreds if not thousands of elves all around him and, from the sound of it, moving in the same direction. Quite the gathering, he thought. Still, he was content to let the elves be and continue his rest in the soft cool dirt.
"Hey, we can use the roots of this stump to make the dye we need. Help me pull it."
Corellon managed to escape the collapsing walls of his den just in time. He slid to a stop at the water's edge and shook the dirt from his fur.
"Well, I'm up," he growled to himself and shook his fur again.
With groggy eyes he looked back to where his den had been and watched as two young elves ran away with the stump and joined a parade of lights moving through the trees on the other side of the pool. Corellon simply walked over the water to the opposite shore and slowly poked his head out of the shadows. He chuffed in surprise when he saw the line of finely dressed dark skinned elves carrying lanterns and torches down the smooth path.
"Dark elves?" he thought as he flattened himself to the ground to be less exposed.
Although they came from him, as did all elves, prayers from Dark elves happened rarely if ever. In fact he was pretty sure they didn't pray to anyone in his Seldarine court, leaving them to be mostly forgotten about and almost all knowledge about their culture left a mystery. He had heard rumors though, and those rumors painted a very…disquieting picture of them compared to other elves.
Still they were just rumors, and Corellon knew better than to judge an entire people based on hearsay alone-a lesson he had learned many times in his past.
He slipped back into the trees and started to walk beside the group unseen. Along the way he caught snippets of conversation and prayer, all talking about winning favor and blessings from their goddess Araushnee.
"Araushnee?" The name made Corellon pause and think back to when he had heard it before. After a moment of thought he remembered. It was a conversation he was having with Fenmarel Mestarine. The dour god of outcasts was a rare sight in Arvandor. He much preferred to roam the borders and backwoods of the mortal realms and any other out-of-the-way place he could find. He didn't interact with anyone unless it was absolutely necessary and he went out of his way to make sure it was never necessary. All that had held true until one day he became more sociable and in higher spirits. As much as it threw everyone off, it was a welcome change. When Corellon mentioned it and asked jokingly who or what managed to drag him out of hiding, Fenmarel shrugged and said he finally found a breath of fresh air in the land of stagnation that was Arvandor. When asked for a name he surprisingly gave one. A minor elf goddess called Araushnee the weaver. He even went into great detail of her unique beauty, grace and wit.
Corellon could still remember the small smile Fenmarel tried to hide as he talked about this goddess. He had been happy for him and wished him luck. Unfortunately not long after that conversation, Fenmarel became a rare sight again and when he did make an appearance he was even more abrasive than before. It didn't take much to figure out what happened and most just left the matter alone out of respect.
Now, while Corellon did feel sympathy for the heartbroken god, he was a bit more focused on the detailed description of the beautiful Araushnee. All elves appreciated great beauty and from what Fenmarel said she was truly a sight to behold. Something that had to be seen to be believed.
Then, just like that, this unexpected run into a dark elf holiday got way more interesting for the elf lord.
The shadows of something flying overhead made Corellon look up to see several female dark elves dressed in elegant, colorful robes flying above the crowd on bright blue, glowing disks of magic. If anyone started to lag behind in the procession, one of the females would hover just above the slow-pokes and bark at them to hurry along. This kept the line going at a steady pace.
The road they were on never changed, but Corellon knew they were traveling many miles. He could feel the familiar sensation of teleportation and illusion magic as they walked. It was very similar to the magic that protected Arvandor and he was impressed by how seamless it was.
In fact, it was too seamless. One minute they were walking through the forest, next minute they were in a wide dark cave tunnel. The sudden change in scenery caught Corellon so off guard he yelped his surprise.
"Did you hear that?" asked a nearby goblin guard who then pointed his lantern in Corellon's direction.
Corellon turned himself invisible and stood still.
"See anything?" a second goblin asked.
"No, but I'm sure I heard something."
Before either of the two could get any closer, a beautiful but stern-looking female dark elf in cleric robes marched up to the pair and snapped, "What are you two idiots doing? You're supposed to be hanging signs. Hurry up and finish, then get back to the temple. The ceremony will begin soon and we need you to gather the offerings."
Both goblins bowed low to the cleric. The first one said, "Apologies mistress, we thought we heard something. We wanted to make sure it wasn't something like a deep bat or a cave fisher."
The cleric rolled her eyes. "Don't be ridiculous, we are nowhere near deep enough to be seeing those things and we have wards in place for extra protection. On the other hand we are deep enough to be killed by a cave-in caused by too many loud voices, so hurry up and get those no talking signs placed. NOW!"
The sharp command sent the two goblins scrambling away and the cleric shook her head in disgust. As she turned to leave she raised her own lantern of fairy fire and shined it on the very spot Corellon stood. Corellon remained still. It wasn't unheard of for some elves to have senses so sharp they could still see past the cloak of invisibility. Luckily this elf was not one of those few. She muttered something about stupid goblins, and turned to leave with a loud sigh. Corellon trotted off the second she turned away.
Since his forest cover was gone, hiding in plain sight made the most sense to him. He slipped behind some rocks and reapered as a handsome male dark elf. He caught back up to the group and smoothly blended in. The singing had mostly stopped and was replaced with low-voiced conversations. A young male with hair tied back with several golden bands rushed past Corellon to join another young elf just in front of him. The god listened in on their conversation.
"Sennel, what did your sister and the other clerics say? Is the goddess in good spirits? Will we get a blessing this year?
Sennel shrugged. "Word is the goddess hasn't been saying much, not even to the head priestess, so no one's sure. Let's just hope the ceremony goes well and everyone brought good offerings this year." Sennel eyed his friend. "What did you bring this year, Gareomyr?"
Gareomyr gave his friend a smug smile and pulled out a cloak of black feathers and fur with gold trimming.
Sennel gasped and reached out his hand to touch the cloak and pulled it back in shock. "Is that what I think it is? Did you really get a griffin's hide?"
"Yup, just like I said I would. Killed the thing myself—or, well mostly by myself. Have to give my bait some credit, they played their part well. With this the goddess is sure to bless my work for years to come. I might not have to make another pilgrimage for quite awhile." When he didn't get praise or any kind of response from his companion, Gareomyr looked over and noted the worried look on Sennel's face. "What did you bring?"
Sennel gulped. "Dyes made from crushed unicorn horns. It's what I was going to present last year, but I didn't get a chance."
Gareomyr laughed. "You're actually going to present last year's offering? Do you think the goddess will not know?
Sennel glared at him. "It's my family's specialty, the highest quality dye. No reason she won't accept it, even if it is a year old."
"Are you sure? Our lady is known to be very capricious at even the best of times. Think this is the year to risk it? That confident in your work? Well, I wish you luck my friend." Gareomyr cackled
Sennel didn't respond and just looked at his bag.
"On top of that," the other continued, "You dare to present her something as boring as a unicorn horn dye. I thought you would be more creative and gifted than that. Hahaha, my error. Forgive me." He laughed again.
The look Sennel gave Gareomyr was full of anger and something else Corellon didn't want to name. As if sensing eyes on him, Sennel turned to locked eyes with Corellon for just a second and then looked away. The god hurried to move past the pair and further up the line.
When the tunnel ended, the group emptied out into a spacious misty cavern, with a barely-visible ceiling. The first thing one saw when entering was a gleaming temple carved into the northern wall and decorated with statues, tapestries, jewels and glistening spider webs. The air was filled with the smell of incense drifting from the giant braziers that also helped to give the deep cavern a bit more light and chase away the misty gloom. Hundreds of dark elves were already there, but more still poured in from several different entrances throughout the cavern.
Corellon made his way through the huge crowd with one goal in mind, to find any imagery or statue of Araushnee and finally see her beauty for himself. He didn't think the task would give him any difficulty, seeing as they were in the heart of her temple. Unfortunately fate was unkind to Corellon at this moment. Every single idol or image he could find was completely destroyed. Even the statues on the temple itself had been torn apart only leaving the lower body somewhat intact.
"What happened?" he asked a group of elves standing around the remains of a water feature.
The one who answered him was the young dark elf from earlier named Sennel.
"Orcs," he said grimly. "They got into the temple not even a week ago, almost completely sacked the place."
Corellon held back a gasp. How could Orcs of all things find an elven temple? Even the most novice of magic users could create barriers and illusions to keep out the violent, but ultimately simple creature.
"How did they get in?"
Sennel shrugged. "No one knows. Rival god maybe? Most of the clergy were out getting ready for today's ceremony. Those who were left behind said the Orcs just came flooding in through the west gate. There were so many of them and it happened so fast. Luckily help came back just in time, but a lot of damage had already been done." Sennel sighed and kicked a loose stone.
"Did any of the idols survive?"
The youth gave Corellon a side eye glance. "Well obviously. If the mother statue wasn't still intact we couldn't have the ceremony." Sennel pointed over his shoulder to a huge stone door covered with runes. "The dumb animals couldn't figure out how to open it, and got cursed by the spells. The door was drenched in Orc blood by the time help arrived. Wish I could have seen it for myself." He chuckled.
Corellon ignored the macabre sense of humor and stared at the door. He could definitely sense a divine power coming from behind the door, but it seemed weaker than it should have been. Destruction of a holy site could be really costly for some gods especially if their following wasn't big. He hoped that Lady Araushnee hadn't been too bothered by the attack.
A deep horn was blown and all the fires snuffed out, except for those that covered a balcony high on the temple. A high priestess dressed in black and purple stepped into view on the balcony and looked out into the crowd.
With a voice amplified by magic she said, "Great artists, children of Araushnee, on behalf of our great goddess and those who keep her most holy temple, I welcome you all. We also thank you for making the long journey here, to celebrate with us and give thanks to The Great Inspiration."
She paused to let the words flow down to everyone then continued, "As you all surely know by now, the last few weeks have been tumultuous for us to say the least. Due to an epic battle between dragons, the stability of the caverns have been compromised, especially that in the inner sanctum. Then to add to our sorrow, the sanctity of our temple was defiled by disgusting Orcs who somehow found their way in. An investigation is underway to find the cause of this invasion and soon justice will prevail. Reprisals will be forthcoming."
The scorn in her voice sent chills down everyone's spine. There was not a single soul in the room who doubted the priestess's resolve on the matter. She would find the guilty party if it was the last thing she did.
The priestess took a breath to calm herself and even her voice. "Now, all that being said, the ceremony will continue as planned. As usual the clerics will collect all offerings and gauge which are worthy. Those who are deemed worthy shall be allowed to continue with the ceremony. Those who aren't will be asked to leave. Once we are in the inner sanctum, do not stray from the chosen path. Wards of protection and sound dampening have been put in place, but they have their limits. Stay together, follow these rules and let us all bask in the glory of our goddess. Praise be to Araushnee."
"Praise be to Araushnee." The crowd echoed back
After that the horn blew again and all the fires came back to life. Groups of clerics with rothe-driven carts were already in the crowd commanding people to get in line and present their offerings in a timely manner.
All around him Corellon watched elves pull out magnificent items from their magic bags. Most of the items seemed to be precious works of art that only elven hands could create. Other things included magical spinning wheels, looms, dyes, threads, yarns, jewels, spider silk, and hides from great beasts of the world. Everything was of amazing quality, and nothing he would ever deem unworthy.
He turned around in time to see Sennel shift through his bag and pull out two items. The bottle of dye Corellon saw him with earlier and a cloak of black feathers and fur. The very cloak his companion Gareomyr had made.
The elf lord did a double take. "That cloak."
Sennel smirked and held it up proudly. "Jealous? You should be. Genuine black griffin hide. Took me the whole year to make. Some of my best work ever. A true work of art."
"But didn't that belong to your friend?"
"What?"
"Your friend," Corellon repeated, "I saw you earlier with your companion. He had made it and was very proud of it. You made the unicorn dye."
Sennel's eyes narrowed at Corellon and the god could feel the ill intent flowing his way.
"Where is he?"
Sennel glared at him. "I haven't a clue who you are talking about."
"You–"
"Sennel, I thought you were already in the sanctum. What in the nine hells are you still doing out here?" a female voice snapped, bringing the pair back to the world around them. "The best spots will be taken if you don't hurry."
The female (another cleric) stepped in between the two with her back to Corellon. Her focus was completely on Sennel and she held out her hand to him expectantly.
"You got it, right?"
"Of course I did."
"Then give it to me and begone. Stand with our parents if you can."
Sennel nodded and handed the bag containing the cloak and dye to his sister. He gave Corellon a wicked smile and a wink before running off towards the giant doors.
Corellon started after him, but was stopped by the cleric who grabbed him by the shoulder.
"Not so fast. Where's your offering?"
"Uh…offering?"
"Yes, to the goddess. Where is your gift?"
Corellon thought for a second and then reached into his pocket. A god giving offerings to another god was not something he had ever heard of, but at the moment he didn't see any harm in it. He called to his hand a flower made up of flawless gems and gold and handed it to the cleric with a bright smile.
"Here, I think the goddess will be most pleased with this."
The cleric gasped and dropped everything she was holding to take the glowing flower from him with shaky hands. The elf lord didn't wait for a judgment, and was making his way after Sennel before the cleric could say one word.
He found Sennel standing and chatting just outside the door with another group who he assumed was his family. Corellon decided for now he would just sit back and wait for a better opportunity to confront the youth. His innate sense of justice urged him to question the dark elf about his stolen item, but at the same time he didn't want to risk interrupting another god's holy ceremony. It was painfully bad form to do so and especially to one who'd been through so much as of late. No, he could wait and maybe bring this up with lady Araushnee later.
The horn blew for the third time and the sanctum door opened. A parade of the clergy led by the head priestess made their way from the temple and through the sanctum doors leading the way inside. Walking beside them like loyal pets were bejeweled golden treasure chests that were filled with all this year's gifts to the goddess. Lastly came a line of eight giant black and gray spiders who each carried one young and scantily clad female on their back.
After the parade the rest of the gathering started to follow. The sanctum was covered in wall-to-wall spider webs that formed a canopy over a serpentine path that led downward to an underground lake. The cave would have been completely dark if not for a few lit torches of colorful fairy fire on the walls.
Corellon's excitement spiked as he remembered his real objective. He slipped behind a stone and made himself invisible again. He ran ahead of the procession, down the path, and stopped on the lakes edge next to a fleet of barges.
He scanned the dim cave and noticed a small rocky island in the water that was at least a mile away.
Corellon stared, blinked, shook his head, then stared again. He just could not believe what his keen elven eyes were telling him. It just could not be.
In one mighty leap he flew over the water, and landed softly on the ground. The island was barren save for eight raised daises, an altar, and a twelve-foot-tall statue of a dark elf woman holding a spindle and sitting on a throne of mushrooms. This was the goddess Araushnee.
It was like Corellon's mind split and cracked into a hundred different pieces and each piece was telling him to do a different thing. It took his all to make his legs move forward and not buckle and fold under him. He moved like a newborn calf on a shaky ship, but managed to make it to the foot of the statue before falling to his knees.
For a long moment Corellon sat there, still as the very statue he couldn't take his eyes off of. He stared and admired every muscle and every curve of her body. He imagined her hands weaving amazing pieces of art while still being soft and warm. Her slender legs made him picture her dancing and stepping with more grace than any creature who had ever lived, and him holding her close to him as they moved together in a slow waltz. He let out a lovesick sigh.
The lord of elves was in a world of warm bliss and completely unaware of the events happening around him. He forgot about the dark elves and their ceremony, and took no notice as the barges landed on the island and the elves began setting up around him. Luckily he was still invisible, and went unnoticed. He finally realized he wasn't alone anymore when he floated upward to softly caress the statue's cheek and realized there was more light around him than before.
The god was snapped back to reality and had a rare instance of pure panic. He teleported to a ledge that overlooked the cavern, and took a calming breath.
He looked back down to the island and saw the head priestess was already speaking to the crowd on the shore, but he couldn't hear anything thanks to the silencing wards in place. He took a few steps forward, past a group of stalagmites, until her voice rang clear.
"Now my brothers and sister, let us all join our voices together and call out to our great lady. Let the ceremony begin."
On her signal, a band started to play a slow and enchanting melody and the crowd started singing in perfect harmony. The eight females each took a place on one of the daises and took off their clothes. Then, as one, they danced.
Corellon could feel the slow buildup of the magical call growing and it sent pleasant tingles up and down his body. He had to admit to himself how strange it was to see this from the other side. Usually he would just hear the call, listen to the prayers, and decide which to answer. To actually see it happening and all that went into it was humbling.
For three hours the ceremony continued with no rest for anyone. It was hard to tell if the music was one long song or one short song played over and over. The dancers kept going as a single beautiful unit, but anyone with a keen eye could tell a few were starting to tire.
Suddenly a strong, sparkling gust of autumn wind came out of nowhere and filled the cave with the smell of spices and autumn leaves. Everyone could feel the divine presence in the room.
"She's here," the head priestess yelled over the wind, beaming. "Faster! Louder!"
As she commanded, the tempo and volume of everything increased. The wind also grew stronger in power and before long it was practically a tornado.
Corellon grabbed onto a stalagmite to keep from being blown over the edge. He felt several small things smack into his hand and start crawling up his arm. He looked down and locked eyes with spiders. Lots of little red-eyed, furry spiders. The wind was full of them, tossing and spinning them until they landed on something solid and could quickly scurry away towards the island. He gently swept the tiny things off his body and onto the floor. He watched them crawl away and join the rest as they crossed the ground, then the lake, to climb all over the statue and cover it in sticky shiny webbing until nothing of it could be seen.
Another gust of wind came through and knocked the dancers off their feet and the instruments out of the band's hands. No one was left standing when the lights were snuffed out and the wind died, leaving a very loud silence.
"You've done very well, my children. I am most pleased."
Sounds of amazement filled the air as light returned to the sanctum even brighter than before. All eyes watched as the web-covered statue stood up from her chair and stepped onto the bare ground. When her foot touched the stone, plants sprung up everywhere and changed the island from gray to green. When her second foot touched the ground, the spider webs evaporated away, only leaving a few strands behind to act as clothing. With her avatar finally fully visible, all of her followers bowed their heads to the ground and hailed their goddess.
In the many millennia of his life to come, Corellon would never know what kept him from following his core desire to jump out from his hiding place, take the goddess in his arms and kiss her all over. Fenmarel's words did not do her justice. Her skin was like a winter's night with hair that matched fresh fallen snow. Her red eyes and lips would shame even the most flawless of rubies. She moved with a sensual grace that lit fires of pure desire and lust that threatened to consume him whole. Then her voice, oh her voice. Her voice was as sensual as her body, but also soft and so inviting. As he listened to her speech he decided that if he were to ever parish he wanted her voice to be the last thing he ever heard. For the second time that night without knowing it, the goddess Ararushnee brought the lord and protector of all elves to his knees.
The elf god was so deep into his swoon that he didn't notice the six black spiders crawling up his body and placing themselves on his neck, legs and stomach. They didn't make themselves known until Corellon felt calm enough to try and get to his feet. Then all at once they each gave him a painful bite.
It wasn't as much the pain (though it was indeed painful) that caused Corellon to scream, but the unexpectedness of it. He yelled as he was bitten again and trip over a rock that made him crash into a stalagmite. The stalagmite crashed with a loud sound and a bright flash, but Corellon didn't notice. He yelled again, this time in frustration and was finally able to swat off the spiders with enough force to send them flying into the wall.
He combed his hair back with his fingers and glared at the disgusting things as they disappeared under the stones. He was seriously considering going over and stepping on them when he heard voices from below.
"What was that?"
"Did you hear that?"
"Is someone up there?"
"Something crashed."
"Is a monster up there, mother?"
"Someone should send the guards."
Corellon crept back to his spot and looked over. The goddess had stopped speaking and everyone in the cave was looking in his general direction. Guards were making their way up the wall and towards him, but he was confident in his invisibility and not too worried about them.
The one he was worried about was Lady Araushnee. She could see him clear as day and her ruby red eyes were locked on him.
She spoke to him in his mind "You? I know you. What in the nine bloody hells is the king of the Seldarine doing here? How dare you interrupt my holy ceremony? How dare you?"
This was all going so wrong so fast and Corellon wasn't really sure what to say. He tried to keep the nervousness out of his mind's voice as he answered.
"My lady, please forgive me. I didn't mean to intrude or interrupt and if you could just give me a minute I can explain–"
He was interrupted by a chorus of screams as everyone's attention was now on a giant figure emerging out of the shadows to stand on a cliff in another part of the cavern. There stood a giant of an Orc, covered in old blood and with flesh so rotted you could see his bones. His eyes seemed unfocused and his movements were clumsy and slow. Corellon couldn't tell if the creature was an undead or simply cursed.
" St…u…pid elf. St…u..pid" it said from a bloody, foaming mouth. "Hu..r..ts. It hurts. Mu..st hurt stupid elves."
Everyone, including both gods, was too surprised to react at first. They watched as the Orc limped forward the edge of the cliff until he was close enough to fall. Then he raised a stone battle ax, which was as big as he was, high above his head
"D…ie," he croaked, and threw the ax.
The next events happened very, very fast.
The ax collided with a massive stalactite that was hanging above the island and caused it to split, crack and then fall. Giant fragments rained down on the island, crushing almost everyone including the head priestess and the goddess.
"No!" Corellon shouted in terror, and coughed instead as rocky dust filled his lungs. When he looked back up, the island was destroyed and the rest of the ceiling was falling down in a massive cave-in. The screams of the elves hurt his heart.
The god formed a plan quickly and sent out a silent call that went all the way back to Arvandor. In his current form there wasn't much he could do. He hadn't given this avatar much power because he didn't foresee it being necessary. Luckily he had certain special powers that were available to him at all times.
Seconds after his call, two spheres of pure white light appeared next to him and both took the form of identical elven creatures with white wings. His twin solar servants, Felarathael and Lashrael.
The twins kneeled and spoke as one, "What is your command my lord?"
He pointed at the ceiling, then to scrambling elves. "Stop the cave-in and save as many as you can. Don't let anyone die. Go now!"
At his command the two solars flew off to follow orders. Lashrael evacuated the elves while Felarathael stopped the collapse with a mighty time freezing spell.
Only Corellon was able to see the two celestials in their true form. To all others they appeared as two white and blue glowing globes that joined together and grew to an immense size, then covered everyone and everything in light. The next thing the elves knew they were outside in the forest safe and sound.
Back in the cave, Corellon smiled as the twin Solars landed next to him and kneeled.
"You two did well, as always. My thanks."
"Our pleasure," Lashrael said with his own smile. "What would you have us do now my lord?"
As Corellon started to answer someone grabbed his shoulder, spun him around and slapped him hard across the face. The twins were at his side in seconds and ready to attack, but Corellon held out his arms to stop them.
"You!" a familiar voice shrieked at him, "Look what you've done! "
In a small amount of time, the goddess Araushnee had found or made an avatar and rushed back into the cave to find Corellon and give him the worst tongue-lashing of his life. She called him everything, absolutely everything nasty or cruel that had ever been said about him or any elf. Most things he took no offense too, but some words did sting and made him feel a bit small.
"Please my lady, I feel terrible. I take full responsibility for all that happened. If you would allow me I can–"
"Never!" She yelled at the top of her lungs. "Nothing you can do will ever make this right! I hate you!"
She slapped him again on the other cheek and then vanished.
Corellon gently rubbed his swollen cheeks and slowly looked at his two servants standing quietly by his side.
"Um…best you two never mention this to anyone. Ever."
The twins nodded in understanding. "Yes, my lord."