The Sylvan Realm #27 (#71)

[GM Mad]

Sylvan Realm #27 (#71)

The Heroes of the Mother Tree are spread out not only across the Sylvan Realm, but across the world itself. One group has ventured to Karn's Keep to seek allies for a raid upon the Hive nest located in the Great Swamp in Cynalon.


Return to Karn's Keep:

December 4th, CR 571 or Deepnight 26th, 20,519 AP

The elves returned to Karn's Keep only to find it being attacked by forces controlled by Duke Kelvin, the man behind the Cynalonian Civil War. However, not only is Lord Sharadin on hand, but his companion, Silvarn. After defeating the troops assaulting the keep, the two groups have a quick conversation. Lia speaks to Silvarn as the elf-maiden reminds her of Xavier, the mysterious elf who came over the Rainbow Bridge a few days ago.

“I’ll do my best.” She says simply. “The one in which I speak called himself Xavier. He was extremely light on his feet and quiet. He startled me and not many can do so… It was as though he wasn’t there one moment and there the next. He was a tall handsome elf his hair was similar to yours, platinum blond.”she says gauging the elf maiden’s reaction. “He almost seemed unaware or naive toward what a drow was, and why elves may look down on one such as me. Yet he described himself as a wandering elf and nothing more.” As Lia thinks for a moment a thought comes to her. “It made me feel as though he was not an elf, or if he was a leaf in the wind.”

“Xavier,” Silvarn will say with a sigh. “Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I will handle this matter personally. You don't have to worry about Xavier.”

"It is hard to say. More like a recon force, for they used the devices. There was a queen attached to a mage and they were bonding to both scro, orc not of this land and elves alike. Though they did not make use of the old or two young. And it seemed they did not like the use of women. Sadly now they know of foreign planets as well as the workings of the Elfin race."

“The Hive is a collective of sorts,” Silvarn will say. “They take knowledge and abilities from those they infect. This knowledge is shared among those Hive in the immediate area. If you slew all of the Hive, then whatever they learned was lost to the rest of the collective. That dangerous knowledge would have been lost.”

“We elves have a different style of leadership than you humans or the dwarves,” Lilia explains. “My position is an elected one. I represent the Sylvan Realm only in matters beyond our borders. Since humans and dwarves have kings, this position was given the same title, but for we elves it means something very different.”

“So you just take the title of King or Queen,” one of the twins start to say.

“As it is a term familiar to the humans and dwarves even though it has a different meaning,” the other twin finishes.

"You have me at a disadvantage, then," Kylie says with a snarky grin. "I'll have to bug Jallarzi next time I see her about not mentioning you to her students." The warm, moist feel of Dapple's tongue on her hand causes Kylie to glance down, then back up to Lady Silvarn. "Oh, I'm sorry. This beautiful canine is my friend Dapple."

“Hello there Dapple,” Silvarn will say to the cooshee. Turning back to Kylie she adds, “Jallarzi, Sharadin and Sherwood tell you what you need to know, just not everything that they know.”


Talen fields some questions about his new ability to make use of Elder devices.

“Yes, I can,” Talen answers. “The pillars have a sort of recorded history to them that I can read. Those records told an astonishing tale!”

“And one that I cannot wait to hear,” Lord Sharadin states. “As soon as we deal with a few loose ends.”

“I will listen to your tale as well,” Silvarn will state. “It sounds most interesting.”

“Who else can do what I can do?” Talen wonders. “I mean if they are not humanoids, then what are they?”

“Illithids for one,” Silvarn will say. “And a few others, but none that are remotely what you would call human or elfin.”

“That's right,” Talen answers, trying to field all the questions being hurtled at him. “The Hive altered the pillars to create duplicates. Probably to bring bodies to them to infect!”

“That makes a twisted sort of sense,” Lord Sharadin notes.

“One of the other Argents was infected and was killed,” Talen explains. “Still another one appeared at the pillar artifact underwater. The pillar vaporized the water when she appeared but then she was crushed when the water came back. The last Argent was sent to the Elder ruins in the Great Swamp where the Hive is. We think she is another Hive Queen.”

“How horrible!” one of the twins gasps in shock.

“Poor Argent,” the other twin adds.

[GM Mad]

The group takes the attack to the Lady Iris itself. Everyone follows Silvarn outside. There Silvarn reveals that she is actually a silver dragon! In her dragon form, Silvarn flies up and into the air. She told everyone to stay clear of the ship until her breath dissipates.

The dragon is noted by the crew of the Lady Iris who start to fire spells and ballista bolts towards Silvarn. Most seem to just bounce of the silver dragon. Silvarn flies away from Karn's Keep, gaining velocity as she goes. Finally, Silvarn turns and comes soaring back towards the keep. At her top speed, Silvarn seems just as fast as a griffon.

Silvarn approaches the Lady Iris bow on. As she gets closer, the great silver dragon turns slightly and flies beside the main deck of the enemy ship. As she passes, Silvarn breathes a grayish gas mixed with silver highlights. The gas envelopes the Lady Iris and those crew that can be seen suddenly freeze and are paralyzed!

Several individuals fly up to the deck of the Lady Iris. Lord Sharadin is there, along with Kylie and Lilia. Lia levitates herself up so she can grab one of the dangling ropes and starts to pull herself up. The majority of the crew is paralyzed but there are a few stragglers that have to be dealt with.

A man dressed in some kind of naval uniform is still moving on the main deck. He wears a dark blue overcoat with a few medals pinned to it, white trousers disappearing into shiny black boots. A tricorn hat sits on his head. He is far better dressed than the rest of the crew. He rages for the crew to fight, but they cannot even move! He turns to see Lord Sharadin closing in on him.

“Nihil hic vicisse te hodie !” the uniformed man rages in Alphatian. “Dahlia erit ei domine prize!”

“Not today,” Lord Sharadin responds, stunning the captain of the Lady Iris with a single magical word of power. The man drops to the floor, his body giving out underneath him.

Kylie and Lilia move below decks in an attempt to locate the Spell Engines. They will bond with the engines and in turn take control of the Lady Iris. The lower decks of the Lady Iris are not completely identical to the Sunflower but close enough that the pair find the object of their search. A pair of spell engines near the rear of the 2nd lowest deck. There are guards protecting the Spell Engines, but they too were paralyzed.

Lilia and Kylie touch each their own Spell Engines and after a time feel control of it transfer to them. These Spell Engines are more powerful than those on the Sunflower, each being a Mark 6 model. Both have similar abilities to the Sunflower consisting of flight, life support and defensive shields.

Once control is reached, Kylie and Lilia return to the top deck so that they can see better. Then they slowly lower the Lady Iris, adjusting its position as they go, and set the galleon down close the dock of the small lake.

Once down on the water, Lia lowers the gangplank to the dock. The soldiers of Karn's Keep rush on board to secure even more prisoners. By this time, Silvarn has reverted back to her elfin form. Lord Sharadin approaches.

“Thank you for your assistance in this matter,” Lord Sharadin states. “Everything seems to be in order now and we have a fine prize for our efforts. I suspect that it will prove useful in the battles to come. Now, I believe that we have other matters to discuss?”

[GM Mad]

The Spiders of Einsun:

December 5th, CR 571 or Deepnight 27th, 20,519 AP

Far to the north and west of Karn's Keep, the members of Clan Grunalf are working to free their Clan Hold of spiders! A talking owl has interrupted their work.

Laucian closes his eyes for a fraction of a second. Freeing those trapped within the webbing will not only increase the difficulty of their task but also slow their progress. There is no telling if they would be able to free them unharmed.

“We will do our best to free those trapped within the webbing.” He says simply back to the owl.

“I will be watching,” the owl declares before it takes flight.

“With two of the Children’s webs cleared we have an area to retreat to, to fight them on common ground. It seems we will have to trigger the webbing and draw the spiders to the fringes of their webbing.”

“Agreed,” Tisha will say. “Spiders are aggressive and that aggression can be used against them. Say we have the fastest among us draw their attention and lure them into a web-free kill zone. That could work.”

“I can do that,” Silver Maiden Annelwin will volunteer as she stands beside her unicorn. “Rainbow here will keep me safe from them. We can lead them into our trap.”

“I agree, If we are going to be working so close to the webbing and freeing those captured within. Do any of you have objects that contain the enchantment of free action? If there are some I would recommend having teaming those with with those without. I asked Ehlonna for her blessings, and she has granted me spells that may aid us in this endeavor.”

Of those present, only Tisha have a Ring of Free Action.

“I suppose that I could circle around and move among the webbing breaking any cocoons as I go,” Tisha will say, “while the small ones are lured away to be slain. Once the cocoons are breached and their contents freed, we can put the webbing to the torch.”


Taking Sergeant Silversword's advice, the griffons are used to get a better aerial view of Einsun. A total of six main roads pass through Einsun, all reaching at the central open market. Several streams pass through the town as well with bridges built to span the water.

More ominously, at least nine more spider nests can be seen across the town. Only the northeastern tip of Einsun has been spared from this infestation. The greatest concentration of spider webs is a bit further to the north of your present location. Based on what Urvov said, this should be the area where the mother spider makes her den.


GM Notes:

Here is a map for Einsun:

Einsun with spiders.jpg (164.86 KiB) Viewed 9907 times

The blue lines are the streams passing through town. The brown are roads. Where the roads cross a stream, a bridge was built there. The group arrived by way of the road coming from the south. The two light gray areas near this road were the spider nests already cleared. The darker gray blobs are the active spiders nests. There are 9 of these all together. The darkest gray blob is the area of the mother spider. The green around town is the forest.

I figure the nest that you were moving on with Urvov appeared was the one directly under the word “Living” on the map.

Now what?

[GM Mad]

The Wyvern's of Walltree:

December 5th, CR 571 or Deepnight 27th, 20,519 AP

The fighting in Walltree continues. The elfin forces have breached the wall and have engaged the humans using their Clan Hold as a base. The Forest Riders race to the Open Market at the center of town to slay the wyverns before they can be freed to take to the skies. The wyverns are far more dangerous in the air than on the ground.

Silver Maiden Maylia was bit by a wyvern and thrown from her unicorn mount. Onas Brightsword charges in and lances the wyvern before it can attack Maylia again. The lance bits deep, greatly wounding the monster. Spells from the other two Silver Maidens, Leandra and Umara, put the beast down. With a momentary lull in the action, attention is turned to the wounded Maylia.

Concern overrules blood-lust, leading Onas to approach Maylia and drop from his mount. "Are you in need of healing, Maiden Maylia?" he asks, apprehension over her wounds clear in his tone. "That was a vicious bite you received." If she wishes healing, he will inspect and clean the wound, then call upon the power of Angharradh to provide healing. Otherwise, he remounts Carad Orod and goes after the next wyvern with his Frost Brand.

“The only thing wounded is my pride, Clansman,” Maylia will mutter as she is helped to her feet. Her unicorn, Lance, blinks in close by. “I'll rest and heal with the battle is done!”

Mounting up once more, Onas leaves his lance behind as the riders get into formation and head towards the next wyvern. Behind then, the ground troops and the arches follow, keeping the enemy within sight.

The next wyvern is reached. Fayrianna gallops ahead on Aeolus, lowers her lance once more, and blinks right before the wyvern. The lance skewers the wyvern, causing it roar in pain. The beasts head chases after Fayrianna trying to bit her, but she is gone again as Aeolus blinks away to safety.

Onas follows Fayrianna in as she attacks the wyvern. Once Fayrianna and Aeolus are gone, the wyverns neck becomes exposed. Onas swings his Frost Brand and the enchanted blade neatly slices the neck in half! The head falls to the ground with the body following a moment later. That leaves only three wyverns left.

The riders regroup once more and being to advance on the next wyvern. That is when they become aware of armored humans riding towards them on horses!

“Dood ze! Vermoord ze allemaal!” the leader of the armored riders cries out. These riders, four in all, charge forward weapons at the ready!

Now what?

[Onas]

Onas Brightsword:

In an attack on the next wyvern, Silver Maiden Maylia is bitten by the wyvern and knocked off her unicorn. Concerned for her welfare, Onas goes to her aid, ready to call upon his patron's power to heal her as needed.

“The only thing wounded is my pride, Clansman,” Maylia will mutter as she is helped to her feet. Her unicorn, Lance, blinks in close by. “I'll rest and heal when the battle is done!”

"Glad to hear it, Maylia," Onas replies, offering her a hand up. "Let's get back in this battle and free our home from these humans."

Remounting, Onas rejoins his Forest Riders. Once again, Fayrianna leads the charge; her unicorn blinks in close and she drives her lance deep into the beasts side. The wyvern stretches out its neck in an attempt to bite her, but her unicorn Aeolus teleports out of harms way. Having ridden in behind her, Onas finds himself in the perfect spot for a deadly strike. He wheels in under the creature's outstretched neck and swings his Frost Brand with all of the power he can put behind it. The enchanted sword cleaves entirely through the wyvern's neck, ending its threat forever.

There are now only three wyverns left; this battle seems nearly won. As the mounted warriors regroup, Onas hears shouting behind them in a language he doesn't recognize. Turning, he sees a quartet of armored humans riding to attack them. "It seems the humans still have some fight left in them," Onas calls out. "Fayrianna, my team will meet them head on, then your team can blink in from behind. Okay? Let us show these invaders the folly of trying to steal our ancestral lands!"

Raising his Frost Brand on high, Onas yells, "Charge!" Putting his heels to Carad Orod, he drives in hard, his sights set on the human who appears to be their leader.

[Lilia]

Lilia:

“So you just take the title of King or Queen,” one of the twins start to say.

“As it is a term familiar to the humans and dwarves even though it has a different meaning,” the other twin finishes.

“Precisely,” Lilia answers simply.

After the quick chat, we fly after Silvarn to deal with the crew on the Lady Iris. Silvarn reveals that she is actually a silver dragon! Lilia watches, still stunned, as Silvarn takes flight and flies off. Then she come streaking back in and broadsides the Lady Iris unleashing a grayish gas.

“I guess they don't breath fire,” Lilia quietly mutters.

Lilia flies up to the Lady Iris with Kylie and Lord Sharadin. The majority of the crew has been immobilized from Silvarn's attack, making the capture of the Sunflower all but assured. One oddly dressed man still moves about on deck yelling in Alphatian until Lord Sharadin puts him down with but a word.

“He said,” Lilia translates for the benefit of those who cannot understand Alphatian, “'You've won nothing here today! Lady Dahlia will have her prize!'”

From there Kylie and I make our way below decks. The layout of the decks is not totally identical, but close enough that we locate the Spell Engines. They were guarded, but those guards are also paralyzed. In short order, we take control of two of the Lady Iris' Spell Engines and land the ship on the lake below and move it to the dock.

“Thank you for your assistance in this matter,” Lord Sharadin states. “Everything seems to be in order now and we have a fine prize for our efforts. I suspect that it will prove useful in the battles to come. Now, I believe that we have other matters to discuss?”

“Indeed we do, Lord Sharadin,” Lilia agrees with a nod. “On matters beneficial to both of our lands. The disposition of the Hive and ensure diplomatic relationships between our nations.”

After a pause, Lilia will add, “Who is this Lady Dahlia that man spoke of? What prize does she seek?”

[Laucian]

Laucian

“Agreed,” Tisha will say. “Spiders are aggressive and that aggression can be used against them. Say we have the fastest among us draw their attention and lure them into a web-free kill zone. That could work.”

“I can do that,” Silver Maiden Annelwin will volunteer as she stands beside her unicorn. “Rainbow here will keep me safe from them. We can lead them into our trap.”

“Thank you for volunteering.” Laucian says evenly. As he sheaths his sword, realizing he will not be near the webs and using his best weapon against this foe.

“I suppose that I could circle around and move among the webbing breaking any cocoons as I go,” Tisha will say, “while the small ones are lured away to be slain. Once the cocoons are breached and their contents freed, we can put the webbing to the torch.”

“I would recommend seeing what is in the cocoon before you totally free it. If you freed an orc you might be put yourself between two foes.” He says back to Tisha.

Taking Sergeant Silversword's advice, the griffons are used to get a better aerial view of Einsun. A total of six main roads pass through Einsun, all reaching at the central open market. Several streams pass through the town as well with bridges built to span the water.

More ominously, at least nine more spider nests can be seen across the town. Only the northeastern tip of Einsun has been spared from this infestation. The greatest concentration of spider webs is a bit further to the north of your present location. Based on what Urvov said, this should be the area where the mother spider makes her den.

As Laucian finds out about the scouting of their ancestral home, several thoughts come to him. The forth most one springs forth. Drawing what the scouts saw he does so in the ground. “Let us see to this nest then move to those to the Eastern nests, Once cleared we will have minimal danger behind us. At this point we can use the open market as our killing ground.”
“I imagine that these spiders avoid the rivers. Annelwin, Is your mount able to blink over a span of water? If so we can station our troops on the other side of the river. When you bring them to us we can hit them from afar, having the natural barrier between us would little the chances of them getting to us or the cooshees.

[Lia]

Lia
Lia watches as the Silver dragon banks and opens her maw letting out a great greyish gas. “So dragons each breath differently?” she says to no one in particular recalling tales of red dragons that Nightmist has spoken of.

Using her levitate spell, Lia slowly makes her way up to the rope as the gas dissipates. The familiar feeling of rope between her fingers, she begins pulling herself up and comes over the railing. For a moment she looks about as she draws her sword. But is isn’t needed as Silvarn’s breath has done it’s job.

There are a few individuals left moving, Lia will move to engage them, if they surrender she will allow it, if not she will dispatch them.
Once down on the water, Lia lowers the gangplank to the dock. The soldiers of Karn's Keep rush on board to secure even more prisoners. By this time, Silvarn has reverted back to her elfin form. Lord Sharadin approaches.
Moving the gangplank into position she calls forward the soldier’s of Karn’s Keep. “Many are disabled but do not let your guard down.” She calls as the soldiers move past her and begin securing the ship.

“Thank you for your assistance in this matter,” Lord Sharadin states. “Everything seems to be in order now and we have a fine prize for our efforts. I suspect that it will prove useful in the battles to come. Now, I believe that we have other matters to discuss?”
“Indeed we do, Lord Sharadin,” Lilia agrees with a nod. “On matters beneficial to both of our lands. The disposition of the Hive and ensure diplomatic relationships between our nations.”

After a pause, Lilia will add, “Who is this Lady Dahlia that man spoke of? What prize does she seek?”

Lia is content to listen to both Lord Sharadin and Lilia speak of business.

[Kylie]

Kylie Lanthorn the Half-Elven:

Lia talks about having met a silver-haired elf named Xavier on the arrival day in the Sylvan Realm. Apparently, this Xavier is known to Silvarn, and she promises to 'handle the matter' herself. Kylie's not sure what that means, exactly, but perhaps that is best.

“Hello there Dapple,” Silvarn will say to the cooshee. Turning back to Kylie she adds, “Jallarzi, Sharadin and Sherwood tell you what you need to know, just not everything that they know.”

Kylie smirks in response to Silvarn's all-too-serious response; just the sort of thing she would expect her own mother to say. "Of course, but it's so much fun to tease her."

Lord Sharadin and Lady Silvarn are surprised to hear Talen talk about his ability to control the Elder artifacts. Kylie smiles softly at her friend's obvious joy in talking about the new ability that had caused him so much distress over the last few days.

Seeing an important point not mentioned yet, Kylie pipes up with a bit more information. "Talen's control of the pillars includes the ability to reach through the network and switch them between a active and an inactive state, effectively locking them down. He has done that to the pillar in the Hive base, which will hopefully keep them trapped, at least until they figure out how to unlock the pillar." She turns to Talen. "I think you said you did that to many of the ones in obviously-dangerous location too, right? That should prevent other people from ending up underwater or in lava or whatever."

Talen then goes on to describe what happened to Argent. Kylie stays quiet, as it is a bit of an uncomfortable subject for her. She hates to think about how the three Argents that are living here in the castle are going to take this news.

It is decided that they should go capture the flying ship that the attackers arrived on before it has a chance to fly away. Everyone other than Lord Sharadin is surprised when Lady Silvarn transforms into a silver dragon! With the rest of the group hanging back, Silvarn builds up speed, then streaks past the ship while breathing out a grayish mist. Sure enough, the mist appears to paralyze everyone on board -- except the captain, who emerges yelling in Alphatian. Kylie recognises some of the words from Lilia's tutoring, but not all. Fortunately, once Sharadin puts the man down and they have taken control of the ship's Engines, Lilia provides a translation.

Kylie finds it strange how natural it seems now to bond to and control these incredible Spell Engines, where a month ago she had no idea that such a thing even existed. She can even sense that these are a more powerful model than the ones on the Sunflower, more like the one that they pilfered from the crashed ship and attached to Sharadin's barge on their way north. Quite a prize indeed!

After a pause, Lilia will add, “Who is this Lady Dahlia that man spoke of? What prize does she seek?”

"Just what I was going to ask," Kylie says softly to herself as she waits for someone to provide an explanation.

[Talen]

Talen:

“Illithids for one,” Silvarn will say. “And a few others, but none that are remotely what you would call human or elfin.”

Illithids?” Talen repeats in confusion. “What are those?”

Seeing an important point not mentioned yet, Kylie pipes up with a bit more information. "Talen's control of the pillars includes the ability to reach through the network and switch them between a active and an inactive state, effectively locking them down. He has done that to the pillar in the Hive base, which will hopefully keep them trapped, at least until they figure out how to unlock the pillar." She turns to Talen. "I think you said you did that to many of the ones in obviously-dangerous location too, right? That should prevent other people from ending up underwater or in lava or whatever."

“Yes, that's right,” Talen agrees flashing a smile to Kylie. “Many of of these pillar artifacts are now in dangerous locations such as being underwater, in lava and so on. I've turned off the ones that lead to deadly destinations.”


The fight against the crew of the Lady Iris is short, but not a surprise to Talen considering that there was an archmage and a silver dragon taking part!

“Thank you for your assistance in this matter,” Lord Sharadin states. “Everything seems to be in order now and we have a fine prize for our efforts. I suspect that it will prove useful in the battles to come. Now, I believe that we have other matters to discuss?”

“That we do uncle,” Talen agrees. “Perhaps we should return to the keep and retire to some place private?”

[GM Mad]

Post Continued:

Return to Karn's Keep:

December 4th, CR 571 or Deepnight 26th, 20,519 AP

“Illithids?” Talen repeats in confusion. “What are those?”

“They are also called mind flayers,” Silvarn states. “They are an evil, ancient race with strange mental abilities. Some scholars have wondered if they are the current day ancestors of those you call the Elders since some Illithids can also control Elder Artifacts.”


It is decided to take the fight to the Lady Iris and end this invasion. The enemy forces were not expecting to be battling a silver dragon and were quickly over powered. In the aftermath of the failed attack on Karn's Keep Lord Sharadin says that they can finally sit down and talk about important matters.

“Indeed we do, Lord Sharadin,” Lilia agrees with a nod. “On matters beneficial to both of our lands. The disposition of the Hive and ensure diplomatic relationships between our nations.”

After a pause, Lilia will add, “Who is this Lady Dahlia that man spoke of? What prize does she seek?”

“That we do uncle,” Talen agrees. “Perhaps we should return to the keep and retire to some place private?”

“I will share what I know in private,” Lord Sharadin answers. Turning to his daughters, he adds, “Escort our guests to the meeting room. I want to make sure everything is in order before settling down to talk.”

The twins nod their understanding. “Follow us,” one will say with the other adding, “please.”

Lord Sharadin remains behind to oversee the Keep's guards dealing with their new prisoners and making sure that none of the enemy remains on the Lady Iris.

The Twins lead the group to an area Kylie is familiar with as it is the the same room they talked in a few days ago when the Argent found in the Elder ruins was returned. A huge 60' square room is entered. This is a combination of a map room and a meeting room. The middle of the chamber is dominated by a gigantic table and on it is map of this continent. Sherwood used this map weeks ago to plot his course to the Sylvan Realm using the barge. Other maps line the walls. In addition there are many comfortable chairs and couches to relax in. As the group settles in, jugs of water and wine are brought in along with some light snacks, such as nuts and berries.

“Since my secret is now known to you, I can tell you a bit more,” Silvarn will say to those present as she sips wine and samples some of the nuts. “My family has watched over this world for many generations. Our mission is mainly to keep our more aggressive cousins in check, but try and keep you younger races out of trouble and prevent outsiders are interfering with your development or exploiting your world. Lord Sharadin has my trust and I hope that revealing my secret to any of you was not misplaced.”

“My race have also found ruins of the race you call the Elders a long time ago on many different worlds and there are scholars who have studied them for thousands of years. But I've never heard of anyone who can do the sort of things with those old artifacts like you say Talen can do. I can think of a few dragons who would like to have a long talk with you, Talen.”

“Don't worry about Xavier,” Silvarn continues. “He is something of a nephew of mine. He is a young silver dragon, a mere teenager in your terms. He is just taking his first steps into what will eventually be the role similar to mine. We silver dragons can take humanoid forms at will and remain in them indefinitely since we prefer to consume the same food and drink as you do. And since on this world elves are long lived, using their form is ideal as my kind live even longer than elves do.”

“Getting back to Xavier, he is new to all of this. That's why he didn't realize that you were a drow, Lia. His mission was to simply take elfin form and mingle with those in the Elfholds, nothing more. To get a feel for what it was like to be an elf. I have no idea how he ended up in the Sylvan Realm, but I will find out and give him a good talking to.”


Not long after that, Lord Sharadin will arrive. He too settles in and has some drink and food before speaking. “As I recall you were wondering just who Lady Dahlia Mingor was. She is an Alphatian High Priestess of Mystra whom I believe is intertwined with Duke Kelvin in this messy civil war.”

'”From what I can tell, something called the Tower of Magic is going to be appearing in Cynalon. The Tower is grand temple to Mystra and a mage and priest school combined. The person who controls the Tower of Magic is essentially Mystra's hand in this world. We believe that Kharyna will become the Mistress of the Tower. Just when this will happen, I don't know.”

“Mystra is the main goddess of the Alphatian people,” Lord Sharadin continues. “They hold her highest among all other gods. The original Tower of Magic was destroyed when the Alphatian home world was annihilated some two thousand years ago and much of their empire shattered. What remained settled here on Arret and even in their greatly weakened state, they are still the most dominate nation in the world.”

“Given their devotion to Mystra, there are those Alphatians who cannot accept the greatest temple to their goddess not being within their borders. This Lady Dahlia Mingor is one such person. I can only speculate, but she must believe that by aiding Duke Kelvin in winning the civil war will somehow lead her to assuming control of the Tower of Magic. That is the prize of which the captain of the Lady Iris spoke.”

“Fortunately, Lady Dahlia does not speak for Alphatia in this matter. The armies of Empress Eriadina will not be assisting Duke Kelvin. But they will not be helping us either. The Alphatians seem content to remain neutral and open diplomatic relations with whomever wins the Civil War. However, a small Alphatian fleet is working to keep Lady Dahlia's forces somewhat in check. Clearly Karn's Keep is not protected given the attack we just endured.”

“So that is what I know about what is going on here,” Lord Sharadin concludes. “It seems that you have much to tell us about the Sylvan Realm, the Hive, and the Elders.”

[GM Mad]

The Spiders of Einsun:

December 5th, CR 571 or Deepnight 27th, 20,519 AP

Clan Grunalf continues to work on freeing their Clan Hold from the spiders. They now know, thanks to a talkative owl, that the cocoons hold victims of the spiders. Based on what the owl said, some of these victims are the same tribe as the owl, whatever race that is. Because of this, a new attack strategy is needed. Annelwin volunteers to be the bait to lure the spiders away from their webbing and into a kill zone.

“Thank you for volunteering.” Laucian says evenly. As he sheaths his sword, realizing he will not be near the webs and using his best weapon against this foe.

“I make the most sense, given that Rainbow can blink away to safety,” Annelwin notes.

“I would recommend seeing what is in the cocoon before you totally free it. If you freed an orc you might be put yourself between two foes.” He says back to Tisha.

“That thought had occurred to me,” Tisha says. “Let us remove the spiders from the area first and then I'll check the cocoons. That way the rest of you can cover me with your bows in case something nasty comes out.”

“Let us see to this nest then move to those to the Eastern nests, Once cleared we will have minimal danger behind us. At this point we can use the open market as our killing ground.”

“That could work,” Sergeant Silversword nods in agreement.

“I imagine that these spiders avoid the rivers. Annelwin, Is your mount able to blink over a span of water? If so we can station our troops on the other side of the river. When you bring them to us we can hit them from afar, having the natural barrier between us would little the chances of them getting to us or the cooshees.”

“Rainbow can cover miles when she blinks,” Annelwin explains. “A stream will be no issue.”

“The spiders can just go over the water through the trees,” Tisha will say. “But if the little ones do chase after Annelwin on the ground, then the water could be a barrier to them, at least long enough for us to deal with them.”

“Let's get started,” Annelwin says as she mounts Rainbow.

Laucian and the others move off to the south and west. They cross over the bridge spanning the nearby stream and then move a little bit north until finding a place where the stream narrows a bit to make an ideal kill zone.

Once everyone is in place, Annelwin gallops off on Rainbow towards the spider nest and is soon out of sight. A few minutes later, Rainbow can be seen galloping at full speed towards the stream! Behind the unicorn are many of the smaller spiders. Right before Rainbow would charge into the river, she blinks and reappears on the opposite shore!

The spiders come to a stop before entering the waters of the stream. This pause proves fatal as arrow after arrow punctures the spiders rapidly putting them down. The cooshee's are not afraid of the stream and swim across the waters to take out the few spiders that survive the onslaught. In short order, they are all gone.

The pattern repeats itself as with the death of the smaller spiders, the larger spider emerges. Once more this larger spider is too slow on the ground to be real threat as the elves fill it with arrows from a safe distance. The spiders have been removed from this nest.

The elves move back to the area around the nest. Several cocoons are noted among the webs. Tisha, using her Ring of Free Action, moves into the webbing and towards the closest cocoon. This particular cocoon is about the size of a human, but does not move. Tisha slices into with her knife and the body of an orc tumbles out. The orc is long dead, it's body drained of its fluids and nearly mummified!

“That's unpleasant,” Tisha notes to herself.

There is another cocoon not far away, but this one has some movement to it. This second cocoon is about as large as the one holding the orc, but it wider. Tisha carefully starts to cut into the cocoon with her knife slicing strands of the webbing as she works.

Suddenly, the occupant of the cocoon starts to strain, attempting to break free on its own. Tisha takes a few steps back as the struggles grow more frantic until finally whats inside the cocoon breaks free!

Standing before the elves is a creature covered in reddish-brown fur that is humanoid in shape, but the proportions are off. The chest is huge and nearly barrel shaped. It's legs are smaller than what would be considered normal, but the arms are longer. The creatures head is wide and flat with small horns emerging from the top.

As the elves struggle to process just what this creatures is, the owl flies in and hovers between the creature and you.

“No hurt tribe,” the owl warns.


GM notes:

I updated the earlier map and numbered the spider nests so that it would be easier to tell them apart. The nest that was being attacked was #8 on the revised map.

Now what?

[GM Mad]

The Wyvern's of Walltree:

December 5th, CR 571 or Deepnight 27th, 20,519 AP

To the south and west, Clan Red Arrow battles the humans and wyverns inhabiting Walltree, their Clan Hold. Thus far the humans have not proven to be strong in battle and focus has been on removing the wyverns. The flying beasts are secured with chains in the towns open market area. They are much more dangerous once up in the air. Many of the wyverns have fallen and only three of the monsters remain.

The Silver Maiden Maylia is tended to after being bit by a wyvern.

"Glad to hear it, Maylia," Onas replies, offering her a hand up. "Let's get back in this battle and free our home from these humans."

“Happily” Maylia remarks as she mounts up on her unicorn Lance.

The Forest Riders and Silver Maidens ride forth towards the next wyvern. Fayrianna blink-lances the monster and Onas slays it by chopping its head off. Before the group can advance on the next wyvern, human riders are noted coming forth.

"It seems the humans still have some fight left in them," Onas calls out. "Fayrianna, my team will meet them head on, then your team can blink in from behind. Okay? Let us show these invaders the folly of trying to steal our ancestral lands!"

“Perhaps they are the leaders, judging by their heavy armor,” Fayrianna yells back. “Good! That means this battle is nearly over with!”

Fayrianna wheels on Aeolus and gallops back to the other Silver Maidens and quickly relates the plan to them. In response, the four Silver Maidens ride off in seemingly random directions and then blink out of sight.

Raising his Frost Brand on high, Onas yells, "Charge!" Putting his heels to Carad Orod, he drives in hard, his sights set on the human who appears to be their leader.

Following Onas, the Forest Riders charge forward towards the rapidly approaching enemy. Two of the humans wear plate mail, while the other two have chain mail. Figuring the the plate wearer in the lead is the leader of the humans, Onas targets him.

The two riders bear down on each other and once within range strike with their swords! Onas strikes the lead rider with his Frost Brand doing major damage. Somehow the human remains upright on his horse and retaliates with his broadsword. The human's attack is true and deals Onas a major blow, knocking him from his mount. Onas hits the ground hard and rolls twice before coming to a stop. The strength behind that attack was tremendous!

The other Forest Riders attack as they pass the human riders. Each attacks the other and many are thrown from their saddles. Once on the ground, the two groups rush to attack the other. As Onas gathers his wits, he can see the human leader bearing down on him!


GM Notes:

Onas: 40 of 66

The hit Onas took was a critical hit, but he saved and avoided the bloody effects of such an attack. But it did do double damage to him. That's how he took so much damage from that one hit.

Now what?

[Onas]

Onas Brightsword:

Seeing that the Silver Maiden known as Maylia is up and ready to return to the fray, Onas quickly remounts and draws his Frost Brand. Due to fortunate circumstances, Onas is able to behead the next wyvern less than a minute later.

Before they can turn their attentions to the remaining three beasts, armored riders appear and charge toward them.

“Perhaps they are the leaders, judging by their heavy armor,” Fayrianna yells back. “Good! That means this battle is nearly over with!”

"Then I say we end it," Onas replies with a note of battle-lust in his voice.

As planned, the Silver Maidens blink away to prepare their attack while Onas and the Forest Riders turn to meet the humans' charge. Moments later, the two sides crash together with a sound like rolling thunder, each seeking to vanquish the other.

Onas and the most heavily-armored of the humans square off. Wielding the Frost Brand with all of his considerable skill, Onas drives the blade deep into his opponent's hip. Despite the nasty wound, the human aims a vicious cut in retaliation, which Onas is not able to bring his shield across in time to block. His foe's sword grazes down the side of the shield and tears a bloody stripe across his chest and abdomen. Only a quick shift of his body to the side allows him to avoid being disemboweled; however, combined with the force of the blow, Onas is knocked to the ground. Impacting the ground roughly together with the ragged wound force a cry of pain and anger from the elven crusader.

Rising unsteadily to his feet as quickly as he can manage, Onas notes that his opponent has turned his mount and is bearing down for the killing stroke. Gritting his teeth, Onas rises onto the balls of his feet directly in the path of the charger. Timing his move as best he can, he leaps to the side at the last moment, raising his shield in an attempt to block the rider's attack. At the same time, he strikes hard at the upper portion of his foe's sword arm in hopes of severing it. If they can take the leader alive, they may yet learn something useful...

_____________________________________________________________________
Ouch! I bet that'll leave a mark... <g>

[Kylie]

Kylie Lanthorn the Half-Elven:

Talen asks who else might be able to control the Elder artifacts like he has recently learned to do. Lady Silvarn, of whom Kylie is still trying to grasp the reality of being a silver dragon, answers that a race known as 'illithids' or 'mind flayers' can also utilize them. They sound like nasty beings, and she's glad she hasn't encountered any.

Kylie mentions that Talen turned off many of the pillars that are in dangerous locations, to which he agrees and gives more detail. His smile implies that he appreciates her comment, and she cannot help smiling back. It is so much easier now that they have admitted their feelings to one another.

After the brief assault on the flying ship, they return to the Keep for further discussion. They convene in a room that Kylie has been in a few times before, most recently when they brought the third Argent here. It is a comfortable, well-appointed room, with lots of maps and cozy-but-beautiful furniture. A huge table dominates the room. Kylie finds a place to sit on one of the couches and invites Talen to join her. Though tempted by the wine, Kylie decides to stick with water for now to wash down the handful of snacks that she helps herself to.

Lady Silvarn tells them all a bit about her 'family' and their role in the world. Apparently this 'Xavier' is a very young nephew, and a bit rambunctious. She also gives some background on the current civil war. She describes a temple dedicated to Mystra known as the Tower of Magic. It is believed that Kharyna, another student of Jallarzi that Kylie overlapped briefly with, will eventually be the chief priestess of the Tower. Kylie finds herself both impressed by and a little jealous of her fellow student's destiny. It would seem that this Lady Dalia is an Alphatian who wants the Tower for herself, and is driving Duke Kelvin's rebellion in an attempt to get it. Fortunately, she is operating on her own and does not have the Alphatian military behind her; Kylie suspects that she wouldn't need Duke Kelvin if she did.

"it is good to hear that Alphatia is staying mostly neutral," Kylie says. "I doubt we would be able to stop her otherwise."

“So that is what I know about what is going on here,” Lord Sharadin concludes. “It seems that you have much to tell us about the Sylvan Realm, the Hive, and the Elders.”

Kylie figure that this is her cue. "Feel free to jump in if I leave anything important out," she says to Lilia before turning back to Lord Sharadin. "Last time we were here, I described our experiences at the Elder city on the shore northeast of the Sylvan Realm. That was where we found the Argent that had become a prisoner, along with the Hive-Queen Argent.

"What I didn't really describe was Talen's experience there. One night as we slept near the city, Talen felt a need to go to a particular place in the city and snuck off during the night. When we found him, he was standing next to a different type of stone obelisk, which had a stone... 'arm', I guess you'd call it... wrapped around his head. Once it released him, he was unconscious for quite a while, and there were small burn marks on the sides of his head. We think it mistook him for an Elder in some way and was trying to 'teach' him what a young Elder is supposed to know."

Kylie turns to her friend. "Talen, perhaps you should relate that experience from your perspective as well. It may help with our understanding of what happened."

[Talen]

Talen:

“They are also called mind flayers,” Silvarn states. “They are an evil, ancient race with strange mental abilities. Some scholars have wondered if they are the current day ancestors of those you call the Elders since some Illithids can also control Elder Artifacts.”

“Sounds nasty!” Talen notes.

After the brief assault on the flying ship, they return to the Keep for further discussion. They convene in a room that Kylie has been in a few times before, most recently when they brought the third Argent here. It is a comfortable, well-appointed room, with lots of maps and cozy-but-beautiful furniture. A huge table dominates the room. Kylie finds a place to sit on one of the couches and invites Talen to join her. Though tempted by the wine, Kylie decides to stick with water for now to wash down the handful of snacks that she helps herself to.

The attack on the Lady Iris is wrapped up and we are escorted to a meeting area so we can finally talk in private. Kylie picks a place to sit and invites Talen to join her and he does. As we wait food and drink are provided. There is water to be had and Talen will have some. But he groans upon seeing the food.

“Fruit and nuts?” Talen moans. “Really?”

Lady Silvarn speaks about her role on our world and about the mysterious Xavier.

“Looks like your boyfriend is a silver dragon, Lia!” Talen teases.

“My race have also found ruins of the race you call the Elders a long time ago on many different worlds and there are scholars who have studied them for thousands of years. But I've never heard of anyone who can do the sort of things with those old artifacts like you say Talen can do. I can think of a few dragons who would like to have a long talk with you, Talen.”

“I never imagined having a lot of people, let alone dragons, wanting to talk to me!” Talen says. “I've only scratched the surface so far. There is so much more to be discovered!”

“So that is what I know about what is going on here,” Lord Sharadin concludes. “It seems that you have much to tell us about the Sylvan Realm, the Hive, and the Elders.”

Kylie figure that this is her cue. "Feel free to jump in if I leave anything important out," she says to Lilia before turning back to Lord Sharadin. "Last time we were here, I described our experiences at the Elder city on the shore northeast of the Sylvan Realm. That was where we found the Argent that had become a prisoner, along with the Hive-Queen Argent.

"What I didn't really describe was Talen's experience there. One night as we slept near the city, Talen felt a need to go to a particular place in the city and snuck off during the night. When we found him, he was standing next to a different type of stone obelisk, which had a stone... 'arm', I guess you'd call it... wrapped around his head. Once it released him, he was unconscious for quite a while, and there were small burn marks on the sides of his head. We think it mistook him for an Elder in some way and was trying to 'teach' him what a young Elder is supposed to know."

Kylie turns to her friend. "Talen, perhaps you should relate that experience from your perspective as well. It may help with our understanding of what happened."

“Yeah, like Kylie said I felt something calling me far off in the ruins of the Elder City,” Talen says. “I tried to ignore it, but after a time I couldn't so I took off to find out what it was. Argent said that it was a teacher, or so I heard later on. The artifact knocked me out and when I did come around we were back in the Sylvan Realm. I didn't feel any different so I didn't think about it until the Mother Tree summoned me to the Heart of the Tree.”

“You have been touched by the builders of the ruins to the north,” the Mother Tree says. “You know how to work their devices. There are similar devices on Myev's world, thus you will be able to travel there and rescue the slumbering elves. My sister tells me that you need this code I now give you.”

A series of symbols appear in Talen's understandably confused mind. “What--?” he utters in confusion.

“Go to this other place,” the Mother Tree says her voice becoming slower and more labored. “Save your cousins, my sister's children. The help you need will come tomorrow, for the Rainbow Bridge will open when the sun is at its peak.”

“I didn't know what to make of that,” Talen says. “Like I said, I didn't feel any different. Then when we were exploring the Elfin Palace, I could sense the presence of an Elder Artifact close by. Once I was close enough I was able to communicate with it, in a fashion I really can't explain. It answered my questions in my head. That's when I started to learn things.”

“For instance, the Pillars were not made to be triggered by magic. All the Elders had to do was concentrate and they could travel from one artifact to another anyway in the world. By using magic you were just flinging yourself off in the direction the pillar faced until another artifact picked you up. By using magic to power these devices there were becoming unstable.”

“Then I learned that someone in Shelvestra had altered the pillars around Cynalon to duplicate those who use them. That's what happened to Argent and others. Many ended up in Shelvestra and were changed into Hive.”

“These Pillar Artifacts were used by the Elders to travel about the world with just a thought. By now many do not work or have been destroyed. Even stranger around 20,000 years ago half the pillar network vanished.”

“There seems to be three separate Pillar Artifact networks,” Talen continues. “The small ones like here in Karn's Keep. There are hundreds of these around, but many are in undesirable places, like underwater, in lava, places like that. Only a few dozen are actually still usable.”

“Then there are larger versions that connect the Elder Cities to each other. That was the one the Hive used to reach Shillesta. I think there are six Elder Cities in the world, but I can only locate three of them. The other three cities, much like half the Pillar Artifacts are missing.”

“Lastly there is a gigantic pillar that can be used to travel between worlds. These ones require a code to use. That was the Mother Tree told me. The code to reach Myev's world.”

“Each Pillar Artifact has a history to it,” Talen continues. “I tried to go back as far as I could and found something incredible. The oldest records go back sixty-five million years! Something happened back then were all the Pillar Artifacts were used at the same time and then they were dormant for many millions of years. I think that's when the Elders either left or died out.”

“With what we learned, and where the Hive was based, we came here to seek your helping in dealing with them. Someone in the Hive can control the Elder Artifacts like I can. That makes them a danger to everyone!”

[Lilia]

Lilia:

“They are also called mind flayers,” Silvarn states. “They are an evil, ancient race with strange mental abilities. Some scholars have wondered if they are the current day ancestors of those you call the Elders since some Illithids can also control Elder Artifacts.”

“I've heard stories about such creatures,” Lilia admits. “It is said that they live in the dark places in the world, such as far underground like the drow.”

After dealing with the invaders, we retire to a meeting area to finally speak to Lord Sharadin about important matters. Lilia takes a seat and Lady lays down beside her. Lilia samples the wine and the nuts. Lady Silvarn tells us more about herself.

“My race have also found ruins of the race you call the Elders a long time ago on many different worlds and there are scholars who have studied them for thousands of years. But I've never heard of anyone who can do the sort of things with those old artifacts like you say Talen can do. I can think of a few dragons who would like to have a long talk with you, Talen.”

'Indeed, that is my hope for the Sylvan Realm,” Lilia speaks up. “That this discovery and Talen's ability to make use of elder devices, will make the Sylvan Realm a destination for scholars. The Realm is small right now, but more elves will be coming to help it come alive once more. We have some powerful enemies to contend with, so gathering allies is important.”

“Don't worry about Xavier,” Silvarn continues. “He is something of a nephew of mine. He is a young silver dragon, a mere teenager in your terms. He is just taking his first steps into what will eventually be the role similar to mine. We silver dragons can take humanoid forms at will and remain in them indefinitely since we prefer to consume the same food and drink as you do. And since on this world elves are long lived, using their form is ideal as my kind live even longer than elves do.”

“How long does your kind live?” Lilia wonders. “It makes sense to take the form of a long lived race. I can see why you would do so.”

“Getting back to Xavier, he is new to all of this. That's why he didn't realize that you were a drow, Lia. His mission was to simply take elfin form and mingle with those in the Elfholds, nothing more. To get a feel for what it was like to be an elf. I have no idea how he ended up in the Sylvan Realm, but I will find out and give him a good talking to.”

“He crossed over the Rainbow Bridge,” Lilia realizes. “The Rainbow Bridge connects the Elfholds and the Sylvan Realm for one day once per month. That is how he reached the Sylvan Realm, perhaps unknowingly.”

Lord Sharadin arrives and tells us about Lady Dahlia Mingor, a High Priestess of Mystra from Alphatia and her role in the Cynalonian Civil War. Talk turns to the Tower of Magic and of Kharyna.

“Interesting,” Lilia notes. “At one point I was going to travel with Kharyna before the All-Father spoke to me in the swamp. As I understand Kharyna was already a Priestess of Mystra before receiving her mage training from Lady Sallavarian. My life that was not to be.”

“So that is what I know about what is going on here,” Lord Sharadin concludes. “It seems that you have much to tell us about the Sylvan Realm, the Hive, and the Elders.”

Kylie and then Talen speak about what was discovered about the Elders and the Hive. Lilia has nothing further to add on that front.

“Once we learned where the Hive was based, we realized that we had the opportunity to eliminate this menace,” Lilia states. “Thus we came here to gain allies for this fight. I realize that you will need time to gather allies. We do as well. What I propose is that we reconvene here at Karn's Keep the day after tomorrow. Talen will use the Pillar Artifact to take us directly into the Elder City and the nest of the Hive.”

“We will return on the Sunflower, the flying ship we captured from the Scro. Our window of opportunity is small for this mission as a few days after that we are due in the Elfholds. The masters of the Sunflower, an organization called the Talagran Trading Company are coming to retake their ship. They are also slavers and we elves are a prize to them. Many adventuring elves will travel on the Sunflower back to the Sylvan Realm for this battle. After that, we must travel to the world indicated by the Mother Tree to save our cousin elves before they perish.”

“It was my hope to begin diplomatic relations with Cynalon,” Lilia continues. “A task much easier now that Talen can control the Pillar Artifacts. Any of them can be used to reach the Sylvan Realm to shuttle people and goods. Cynalon has always had good relations with the elves. I see no reason for that not to continue.”

[Lia]

Lia
With Silvarn-

“Xavier,” Silvarn will say with a sigh. “Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I will handle this matter personally. You don't have to worry about Xavier.”

Lia is about to open her mouth and ask why but if her Uncle Sharadin trusts this elf, then she will as well, at least for now. She thinks to herself.

“The Hive is a collective of sorts,” Silvarn will say. “They take knowledge and abilities from those they infect. This knowledge is shared among those Hive in the immediate area. If you slew all of the Hive, then whatever they learned was lost to the rest of the collective. That dangerous knowledge would have been lost.”

“Interesting.”Lia says thinking of something but then she begins to ask Silvarn, “So several elves were turned to the Hive. With the collapse of the ceiling, it is unclear if the ceiling killed all that dwelled there. Then knowledge of our people may not be known any longer?”
Lia follows the twins to the meeting room.

The middle of the chamber is dominated by a gigantic table and on it is map of this continent. Sherwood used this map weeks ago to plot his course to the Sylvan Realm using the barge. Other maps line the walls. In addition there are many comfortable chairs and couches to relax in. As the group settles in, jugs of water and wine are brought in along with some light snacks, such as nuts and berries.

Walking over to the table, she runs her fingers over it and looks at the map. “This table seems less impressive than the one in the Slyvian realm.” She says absently not meaning to cause any offense, “The carvings are so much more intricate.” She explains further.

“Since my secret is now known to you, I can tell you a bit more,” Silvarn will say to those present as she sips wine and samples some of the nuts. “My family has watched over this world for many generations. Our mission is mainly to keep our more aggressive cousins in check, but try and keep you younger races out of trouble and prevent outsiders are interfering with your development or exploiting your world. Lord Sharadin has my trust and I hope that revealing my secret to any of you was not misplaced.”

“What secret?” Lia adds simply looking at the Silver dragon in disguise. A hint of a smile begins to ghost her face as she says. “I will guard your secret as if it were my own.” She says to the lady dragon.

“Getting back to Xavier, he is new to all of this. That's why he didn't realize that you were a drow, Lia. His mission was to simply take elfin form and mingle with those in the Elfholds, nothing more. To get a feel for what it was like to be an elf. I have no idea how he ended up in the Sylvan Realm, but I will find out and give him a good talking to.”

“It was partially what made me ill at ease with him, that and how stealthy he was. He said he had heard a lot of conversations regarding the Slyvian realms in the Elves excitement. I cannot fault him for being curious after seeing so many Elves excited, I would not be to hard on him, just more cautious.”
Uncle Sharadin begins to speak of the Tower of Gaz and Lady Dahlia explaining that she is not the full power of the Alphatians.

“Fortunately, Lady Dahlia does not speak for Alphatia in this matter. The armies of Empress Eriadina will not be assisting Duke Kelvin. But they will not be helping us either. The Alphatians seem content to remain neutral and open diplomatic relations with whomever wins the Civil War. However, a small Alphatian fleet is working to keep Lady Dahlia's forces somewhat in check. Clearly Karn's Keep is not protected given the attack we just endured.”

“And what if this Lady Dahlia, comes to power over Empress Eriadina? Surely she seems like an ambitious individual.” She says looking to her Uncle.
At the meeting:

“Fruit and nuts?” Talen moans. “Really?”

“Are you truly surprised? You are in the company of elves.” She says shaking her head and taking out some jerky she had in her pack. “Here, I have slowly lost the taste for it.”
Lady Silvarn speaks about her role on our world and about the mysterious Xavier.

“Looks like your boyfriend is a silver dragon, Lia!” Talen teases.

“He was kinda cute.” She says back. “If he hurts me are you gonna go after him?”she says playfully teasing back.

“I never imagined having a lot of people, let alone dragons, wanting to talk to me!” Talen says. “I've only scratched the surface so far. There is so much more to be discovered!”

“And you need to see if they are friend or foe.. You may want to start carrying detect evil spells or items with you.”she says simply to her brother.
Silvarn wrote:“

They are also called mind flayers,” Silvarn states. “They are an evil, ancient race with strange mental abilities. Some scholars have wondered if they are the current day ancestors of those you call the Elders since some Illithids can also control Elder Artifacts.”
“I've heard stories about such creatures,” Lilia admits. “It is said that they live in the dark places in the world, such as far underground like the drow.”

“Mind Flayer? They sound ominous. How does one fight ones with mental abilities?”the drow asks curiously.

“It was my hope to begin diplomatic relations with Cynalon,” Lilia continues. “A task much easier now that Talen can control the Pillar Artifacts. Any of them can be used to reach the Sylvan Realm to shuttle people and goods. Cynalon has always had good relations with the elves. I see no reason for that not to continue.”

“How may we be of assistance to you Uncle?” she asks curiously.

[Laucian]

Laucian

“Rainbow can cover miles when she blinks,” Annelwin explains. “A stream will be no issue.”

“Good to know.” Laucian says back, “It is good to know all of our strengths and weaknes that we can accomplish out tasks with the minimum of risk.”

Once everyone is in place, Annelwin gallops off on Rainbow towards the spider nest and is soon out of sight. A few minutes later, Rainbow can be seen galloping at full speed towards the stream! Behind the unicorn are many of the smaller spiders. Right before Rainbow would charge into the river, she blinks and reappears on the opposite shore!

Laucian knocks an arrow and awaits sign of the Silver maiden. His wait is short as Annelwin tears through the brush and disappears from sight, Only to reappear on their side of the bank! For a moment his brow is furled as he takes the sight in clearly surprised as the rustling of branches and trees bring forth from his surprised nature.
Taking up his bow he begins choosing his targets and releasing his arrows where they will do the most damage.

This particular cocoon is about the size of a human, but does not move. Tisha slices into with her knife and the body of an orc tumbles out. The orc is long dead, it's body drained of its fluids and nearly mummified!

“That's unpleasant,” Tisha notes to herself.

Laucian takes aim and waits as Tisha moves forward freeing a cocoon. A Long dead orc falls to the ground a shell of it’s former self, drained of fluids and mummified. “That is no way to die… even for an orc.” He says simply easing the tension on his bow.

There is another cocoon not far away, but this one has some movement to it. This second cocoon is about as large as the one holding the orc, but it wider. Tisha carefully starts to cut into the cocoon with her knife slicing strands of the webbing as she works.

Suddenly, the occupant of the cocoon starts to strain, attempting to break free on its own. Tisha takes a few steps back as the struggles grow more frantic until finally whats inside the cocoon breaks free!
Standing before the elves is a creature covered in reddish-brown fur that is humanoid in shape, but the proportions are off. The chest is huge and nearly barrel shaped. It's legs are smaller than what would be considered normal, but the arms are longer. The creatures head is wide and flat with small horns emerging from the top.

Taking an arrow from his quiver, Laucian knock it and begins pulling back the bowstring. His eyes focus as he brings the bow to bare as the creature bursts from the cocoon. Leaning in he adjusts his bow and steadies his breathing. As he is about to release his bow the owl flies forward. His wings and body shielding the creature.

“No hurt tribe,” the owl warns.

Relaxing his pull he brings the bow down as his eyes narrow taking in the new creature. “This is your tribe?”he calls out to the owl, “To say that I am surprised is an understatement!” he says looking over the hulking figure. Laucian will try to get the creatures attention, lowering his bow and moving unthreateningly. “Hello there.” He will say to the creature in the same language the owl has been using( assuming Elvish. “Your tribe mate told us of your troubles. It is good to see you are unharmed from what I can tell. Are you in the need of healing?” he asks the newcomer, hoping he understands.

[Kylie]

Kylie Lanthorn the Half-Elven:

“Interesting.”Lia says thinking of something but then she begins to ask Silvarn, “So several elves were turned to the Hive. With the collapse of the ceiling, it is unclear if the ceiling killed all that dwelled there. Then knowledge of our people may not be known any longer?”

Kylie nods in response to Lia's comment. "That's a good point, Lia. If we did indeed succeed in killing all of them, then that may well be true. If the gate was open, then they might be able to communicate through it, but I don't know. I do recall it opening when the reinforcements arrived, so it is hard to say what that might mean."

At Kylie's invitation, Talen sits down next to her as they gather to share knowledge and make plans.

“Fruit and nuts?” Talen moans. “Really?”

Kylie chuckles in response to his complaint. "Perhaps your relatives are all turning into elves, Talen," she says as Lia hands him her remaining jerky. "I guess that would leave you and I as the only remaining meat-eaters around here..."

Silvarn's mention of the 'mind flayers' draws reactions from Talen and Lilia that are similar to her own. Lia wonders how to fight such powers, and Kylie has no answer for the question; perhaps Silvarn or Sharadin will. Kylie poses her own question. "Are there many of these Illithid creatures around? I've never heard of them before."

Talen seems a bit overwhelmed when Silvarn says that many of the dragons may want to talk to him. Though she hadn't considered it, it does make sense; he may well be the foremost living authority on Elder artifacts who isn't abjectly evil. Lia suggests that he keep a supply of spells or items to detect evil so the he will know whom it is safe to share his knowledge with.

Lilia mentions her own past history with Kharyna. Kylie finds this interesting as she had not known that they had a connection. "I didn't know you knew Kharyna, Lilia. She finished her training with Jallarzi shortly after I started."

Kylie suggests to Talen that he recounts his experiences from the time he was 'called' by the Elder teaching stone, and he does so. Talen describes at some length what he experienced, though he glosses over the period where he seemed plagued by anxiety due to his incomprehension of what the obelisk had put into his head and the apparent expectations of those around him. Instead, he focused on their visit to the Elven Palace and what he learned and did there.

“Lastly there is a gigantic pillar that can be used to travel between worlds. These ones require a code to use. That was the Mother Tree told me. The code to reach Myev's world.”

"So that's what that was," Kylie murmurs to herself so as not to derail his tale. She had suspected that it might be something of the sort, but is glad that it has been confirmed.

Lilia proposes that both groups recruit allies and then meet back here for the final assault on the Hive. She also mentions some of what they hope to accomplish afterward - assuming they survive. "I am particularly looking forward to visiting this other world, and meeting the other Mother Tree and elves on that world. I hope we are able to bring them back safely."

[GM Mad]

Post Continued:

Return to Karn's Keep:

December 4th, CR 571 or Deepnight 26th, 20,519 AP

With the excitement at Karn's Keep having passed, everyone has gathered in the large meeting room to talk things over.

“I've heard stories about such creatures,” Lilia admits. “It is said that they live in the dark places in the world, such as far underground like the drow.”

“Like we dragons, such creatures are not native to your world,” Silvarn will causally explain. “They despise daylight, so tend to stay in the shadows, as you noted Lilia. They mentally enslave those around them to become their servants. Their preferred source of food is the brain of living creatures.”

“Mind Flayer? They sound ominous. How does one fight ones with mental abilities?” the drow asks curiously.

“In battle, treat them as if they were mage,” Silvarn answers. “Over power them or deal with them at range. They are mentally strong, but physically weak. Their slaves will do the fighting for them.”

Silvarn's mention of the 'mind flayers' draws reactions from Talen and Lilia that are similar to her own. Lia wonders how to fight such powers, and Kylie has no answer for the question; perhaps Silvarn or Sharadin will. Kylie poses her own question. "Are there many of these Illithid creatures around? I've never heard of them before."

“Around Arret, not very many,” Silvarn will report. “Maybe a few dozen well hidden in out of the way places. Not enough to really worry about.”

“But out there,” at this point Silvarn gestures overhead, “far too many. There are several empires ruled by these creatures out among the stars. They are a great power out there. The Alphatians warred with them when their own growth moved into areas controlled by the Illithids. They fought for decades back when my family first took an interest in the worlds of this solar system.”

“Interesting.”Lia says thinking of something but then she begins to ask Silvarn, “So several elves were turned to the Hive. With the collapse of the ceiling, it is unclear if the ceiling killed all that dwelled there. Then knowledge of our people may not be known any longer?”

Kylie nods in response to Lia's comment. "That's a good point, Lia. If we did indeed succeed in killing all of them, then that may well be true. If the gate was open, then they might be able to communicate through it, but I don't know. I do recall it opening when the reinforcements arrived, so it is hard to say what that might mean."

“In theory, yes. What knowledge those HIVE gained was lost when they died,” Silvarn states.

“Indeed, that is my hope for the Sylvan Realm,” Lilia speaks up. “That this discovery and Talen's ability to make use of elder devices, will make the Sylvan Realm a destination for scholars. The Realm is small right now, but more elves will be coming to help it come alive once more. We have some powerful enemies to contend with, so gathering allies is important.”

“I will relay to my people what you have told me about the Elders,” Silvarn will say. “They may wish to send scholars to the Sylvan Realm in pursuit of knowledge. We, however, will not fight your battles for you unless it is dragon related in some manner.”

“How long does your kind live?” Lilia wonders. “It makes sense to take the form of a long lived race. I can see why you would do so.”

“A very long time,” Silvarn admits. “Even by your elfin standards. As I understand it humans can have three or four generations of family alive at the same time. Elves, as many as seven or eight. My family currently has a span of twenty-three generations. I'm roughly in the middle of the group.”

“He crossed over the Rainbow Bridge,” Lilia realizes. “The Rainbow Bridge connects the Elfholds and the Sylvan Realm for one day once per month. That is how he reached the Sylvan Realm, perhaps unknowingly.”

“It was partially what made me ill at ease with him, that and how stealthy he was. He said he had heard a lot of conversations regarding the Sylvan realms in the Elves excitement. I cannot fault him for being curious after seeing so many Elves excited, I would not be to hard on him, just more cautious.”

“I see,” Silvarn realizes. “It seems that I leaped to an unfounded conclusion. Still, I should retrieve him before he causes any more trouble.”

[GM Mad]

Talen relates what he has learned about the Elders.

“Yeah, like Kylie said I felt something calling me far off in the ruins of the Elder City,” Talen says. “I tried to ignore it, but after a time I couldn't so I took off to find out what it was. Argent said that it was a teacher, or so I heard later on. The artifact knocked me out and when I did come around we were back in the Sylvan Realm. I didn't feel any different so I didn't think about it until the Mother Tree summoned me to the Heart of the Tree.”

“Wait,” Silvarn interrupts. “Are you saying that your Mother Tree is sending you on a mission to another world?”

“I didn't know what to make of that,” Talen says. “Like I said, I didn't feel any different. Then when we were exploring the Elfin Palace, I could sense the presence of an Elder Artifact close by. Once I was close enough I was able to communicate with it, in a fashion I really can't explain. It answered my questions in my head. That's when I started to learn things.”

“For instance, the Pillars were not made to be triggered by magic. All the Elders had to do was concentrate and they could travel from one artifact to another anywhere in the world. By using magic you were just flinging yourself off in the direction the pillar faced until another artifact picked you up. By using magic to power these devices there were becoming unstable.”

“I had suspected something was causing the artifacts to behave erratically,” Lord Sharadin notes. “People arriving at the wrong locations and what happened to Argent. That was when I decided to quit using them. I had no idea that it was us using magic to power them that was the cause of this.”

“Then I learned that someone in Shelvestra had altered the pillars around Cynalon to duplicate those who use them. That's what happened to Argent and others. Many ended up in Shelvestra and were changed into Hive.”

“These Pillar Artifacts were used by the Elders to travel about the world with just a thought. By now many do not work or have been destroyed. Even stranger around 20,000 years ago half the pillar network vanished.”

“There are legends and myths of some great disaster around that time frame,” Lord Sharadin mentions. “They say that many beings died or vanished at that time. Enough different cultures record this that it cannot be a coincidence.”

“There seems to be three separate Pillar Artifact networks,” Talen continues. “The small ones like here in Karn's Keep. There are hundreds of these around, but many are in undesirable places, like underwater, in lava, places like that. Only a few dozen are actually still usable.”

“Then there are larger versions that connect the Elder Cities to each other. That was the one the Hive used to reach Shillesta. I think there are six Elder Cities in the world, but I can only locate three of them. The other three cities, much like the Pillar Artifacts, are missing.”

“Lastly there is a gigantic pillar that can be used to travel between worlds. These ones require a code to use. That was the Mother Tree told me. The code to reach Myev's world.”

“Each Pillar Artifact has a history to it,” Talen continues. “I tried to go back as far as I could and found something incredible. The oldest records go back sixty-five million years! Something happened back then were all the Pillar Artifacts were used at the same time and then they were dormant for many millions of years. I think that's when the Elders either left or died out.”

“Fascinating!” Lord Sharadin exclaims. “Over the years I had formed some theories about the Elders, but it seems that I was mostly wrong. Sixty-five million years ago? It's mind boggling how long ago that is. Talon you've told me more about the Elders that I knew from years of study. When I am able, I would like to know more.”

“With what we learned, and where the Hive was based, we came here to seek your helping in dealing with them. Someone in the Hive can control the Elder Artifacts like I can. That makes them a danger to everyone!”

“And not to just everyone on this world, but on others as well,” Silvarn will realize. “This mission is too important to leave to chance. I will bring allies of my own into this fight. With you permission, of course.”

“Fine with me,” Lord Sharadin adds.

"It is good to hear that Alphatia is staying mostly neutral," Kylie says. "I doubt we would be able to stop her otherwise."

“We would have no chance standing against the full weight of Alphatia,” Lord Sharadin states grimly.

“Once we learned where the Hive was based, we realized that we had the opportunity to eliminate this menace,” Lilia states. “Thus we came here to gain allies for this fight. I realize that you will need time to gather allies. We do as well. What I propose is that we reconvene here at Karn's Keep the day after tomorrow. Talen will use the Pillar Artifact to take us directly into the Elder City and the nest of the Hive.”

“That's not a lot of time, but I will do what I can,” Lord Sharadin vows. “I have a few individuals in mind for this mission. We will regroup two days from now.”

“We will return on the Sunflower, the flying ship we captured from the Scro. Our window of opportunity is small for this mission as a few days after that we are due back in the Elfholds. The masters of the Sunflower, an organization called the Talagran Trading Company are coming to retake their ship. They are also slavers and we elves are a prize to them. Many adventuring elves will travel on the Sunflower back to the Sylvan Realm for this battle. After that, we must travel to the world indicated by the Mother Tree to save our cousin elves before they perish.”

“No offense intended,” Silvarn will say, surprise clearly on her face, “but you are very much over your heads. You've encountered scro, the Talagran Trading Company and are going to visit another world? I had thought you were taking your first steps into a much larger world, but you are just jumping right in! I will need to report this to my superiors, but I think you will need our assistance and protection. Again with your permission, of course.”

“It was my hope to begin diplomatic relations with Cynalon,” Lilia continues. “A task much easier now that Talen can control the Pillar Artifacts. Any of them can be used to reach the Sylvan Realm to shuttle people and goods. Cynalon has always had good relations with the elves. I see no reason for that not to continue.”

“Agreed,” Lord Sharadin will states. “I look forward to visiting the Sylvan Realm and this Elder City when able. Once the situation in Cynalon has been stabilized and I have time to indulge myself in academic pursuits. But for now, that seems to cover the important points of your visit. My thanks for making us aware of this danger to Cynalon and assisting us in dealing with it.”

“And what if this Lady Dahlia, comes to power over Empress Eriadina? Surely she seems like an ambitious individual.” She says looking to her Uncle.

“I don't see that happening,” Lord Sharadin will say. “You have no idea just how larger Alphatia is. Cynalon is a kingdom, Alphatia is an Empire made up of kingdoms. Something like twelve different kingdoms. Given their size and magical might, no nation on Arret could stand against them if they decided to attack. While this Lady Mingor is a big deal here in Cynalon, I doubt she is as powerful back in Alphatia judging by just how few ships she has at her disposal.”

“How may we be of assistance to you Uncle?” she asks curiously.

“That's a good question, Lia,” Lord Sharadin answers. “As for the HIVE, we'll be working together to deal with them. Afterwards, relations with Cynalon and the Sylvan Realm will be worked out by diplomats and trade by the merchants.”

[GM Mad]

The Spiders of Einsun:

December 5th, CR 571 or Deepnight 27th, 20,519 AP

Back up in the Sylvan Realm, Clan Grunalf works to free Einsun from the spiders infesting it. The next nest was dealt with by having the Silver Maiden Annelwin draw the attention of the small spiders and leading them into a kill zone. After that, the larger spider came forth and was put down at range.

With the nest cleared of spiders, the elves work to free any captives in the cocoons. Tisha moves among the webs easily thanks to her Ring of Free Action. The first cocoon she opens holds a dead orc inside of it. The orc was drained of its fluids and looks mummified!

The next cocoon holds something still alive. Tisha starts to free it, but then the creature in the cocoon breaks free on its own revealing something startling to the elves! At that moment, the talking owl flies back and and warns the elves to not harm this creature.

Relaxing his pull he brings the bow down as his eyes narrow taking in the new creature. “This is your tribe?”he calls out to the owl, “To say that I am surprised is an understatement!” he says looking over the hulking figure. Laucian will try to get the creatures attention, lowering his bow and moving nonthreatening.

“We are Alaghi,” the hovering owl will announce.

“I've heard that name before,” Tisha will say as the memory comes back to her. “According to rumors and myths I have heard, the Alaghi are peaceful forest creatures, in spite of their fearsome appearance. Yeti of the forests.”

The owl will glance towards Tisha and nod its approval. Laucian moves closer to the freed Alaghi. The giant furry creature looks around frantically, as if very afraid, but does not seem ready to attack.

“Hello there.” He will say to the creature in the same language the owl has been using (assuming Elvish). “Your tribe mate told us of your troubles. It is good to see you are unharmed from what I can tell. Are you in the need of healing?” he asks the newcomer, hoping he understands.

If the Alaghi understands Laucian, he does not show it. Instead the owl will utter in a guttural tongue towards the Alaghi. The Alaghi grunts back and then turns and runs off, away from the elves and the spiders. The large creature is soon gone from sight.

“Very few of my people can speak your tongue,” the owl says to Laucian. “Inus was afraid. I told him to run home.”

“He was afraid of us?” the Silver Maiden Visara utters in disbelief. “These Alaghi are very much the opposite of what they appear to be.”

“Continue your work,” the owl urges.

[GM Mad]

The Wyvern's of Walltree:

December 5th, CR 571 or Deepnight 27th, 20,519 AP

Further to the south and west, night has fallen as Clan Red Arrow engages the humans and wyverns inside Walltree, their Clan Hold in the Sylvan Realm. Many of the wyverns have fallen to the elves. As the Forest Riders and Silver Maidens close in on the last of the winged beasts, armored riders on horseback charged into the battle!

"Then I say we end it," Onas replies with a note of battle-lust in his voice.

“Spoken like a true Red Arrow,” Fayrianna says with a laugh as she gallops off.

The Forest Riders meet the armored humans head on. Onas is knocked from his stead, while the human leader remains in his saddle. As Onas gathers his wits, the human leader circles back and charges toward him.

Rising to his feet, Onas prepares to greet the enemies charge as the other Forest Riders and humans battle around him. The enemy bears down on Onas and seemingly at the last moment, he leaps aside! The enemy attack is thwarted by his shield and Onas lands a solid blow knocking the human from his horse. The human leader hits the ground hard and rolls a few times before coming to a stop. His warhorse continues onward and runs out of sight.

The human rises to his feet, weapons at the ready. “Die schurk!” the human yells as he charges towards Onas.

Now what?

[Onas]

Onas Brightsword:

“Spoken like a true Red Arrow,” Fayrianna says with a laugh as she gallops off.

"Thank you!" Onas calls out in reply to her compliment, then turns to meet the attacking humans. Their armor and mounts mark them as the elite of this band of ne'er-do-wells. He is eager to find out just how skilled they are.

The first clash results in the human leader getting the better of Onas, who ends up with a nasty gash and a hard impact onto the ground. The pain is substantial, but he focuses his mind away from the pain as he has been taught and rises back to his feet just in time to see the human wheeling his mount for another charge.

This time, the advantage is his, despite his wound and opponent's mount. Onas deflects the human's blow away with his shield and manages to unseat his opponent. Still, he can feel his energy being depleted by the blood loss, and realizes that he needs to end this soon. Command would be the best option, but his lack of familiarity with the human's language takes that option off the table. Still, he has another option among the blessings granted him by his patron Angharradh.

Laying his shield hand over the holy symbol hanging about his neck, Onas casts Hold Person on the advancing human warrior. If he succumbs, great; otherwise, Onas will meet him with sword and shield yet again.

[Laucian]

Laucian
A great Barrel shaped creature appears and the owl speaks of it’s tribe.

“We are Alaghi,” the hovering owl will announce.

“I've heard that name before,” Tisha will say as the memory comes back to her. “According to rumors and myths I have heard, the Alaghi are peaceful forest creatures, in spite of their fearsome appearance. Yeti of the forests.”

Laucian has not heard of such a creature, nor the stories of them. “Alaghi,Yeti of the Forest. I will have to learn more of them when the time arrives.” He says in reply.
Moving forward, Laucian tries to communicate with the Alaghi but it is visibly frightened and rightfully so. To be entombed in the cocoon not knowing when your end is coming could break anyone.

“Very few of my people can speak your tongue,” the owl says to Laucian. “Inus was afraid. I told him to run home.”

“I hope he does not run into another nest.” He says simply.

“He was afraid of us?” the Silver Maiden Visara utters in disbelief. “These Alaghi are very much the opposite of what they appear to be.”

“Things tend to fear those that they do not understand. They have not seen elves for many generations. We could be used in bedtime stories to frighten or entertain.” He guesses to Visara.

“Let us move on.”Laucian states, “Let us torch the webs and move to the next nest area further to the east.”

[Kylie]

Kylie Lanthorn the Half-Elven:

Silvarn informs them that the illithids are not native to this world, as the dragons also are not. This news is surprising to Kylie, and she listens carefully to what else is said. The dragoness' admission that these 'mind flayers' eat brains causes a cold shiver to trickle down her back. "That's... disgusting," she utters, emotion dripping from her tone.

In response to Lilia's question, Silvarn recommends treating the illithids as mages in a fight. Aggressive physical attacks are the best way to take them down quickly before they can bring their strange powers to bare. Kylie commits this information to memory; though she hopes never to encounter these creatures, she's better off being prepared if that happens.

Hearing that there are very few of these beings on her world calms Kylie's concerns a bit. "Thank the gods," is all she says.

“But out there,” at this point Silvarn gestures overhead, “far too many. There are several empires ruled by these creatures out among the stars. They are a great power out there. The Alphatians warred with them when their own growth moved into areas controlled by the Illithids. They fought for decades back when my family first took an interest in the worlds of this solar system.”

It is strange to Kylie to think of empires out among the stars. It was hard enough to imagine elves and a Mother Tree on another world. But this... wow! There is so much more life out in the universe than she had ever really conceived of.

Kylie looks at Silvarn. "So it sounds like the Eldar, the Alphatians, the Illithids, and you dragons are the ancient races of the universe. Are there any other known ancient races that we should be aware of?"

Lilia talks a bit more about her hope to develop the Sylvan Realm into a nexus of scholars and travelers. In response, Silvarn notes we should not count on help from the dragons in any conflicts that we get involved in. "It is my concern that the greater our knowledge and influence, the more likely others will want to take what we have. We will need to be careful and see to our defense before we reach too far."

“Wait,” Silvarn interrupts. “Are you saying that your Mother Tree is sending you on a mission to another world?”

Lady Silvarn's question catches Kylie a bit off-guard. "Uhm... yes? As I understand it anyway. Why do you ask?"

Kylie has little to contribute to the discussion of the Eldar, so she listens quietly. Thinking about what may have happened millions of years ago, is just as boggling to her mind as hearing about star-spanning empires.

“No offense intended,” Silvarn will say, surprise clearly on her face, “but you are very much over your heads. You've encountered scro, the Talagran Trading Company and are going to visit another world? I had thought you were taking your first steps into a much larger world, but you are just jumping right in! I will need to report this to my superiors, but I think you will need our assistance and protection. Again with your permission, of course.”

"Honestly, it feels more like we've been thrown in. I'm not sure any of us were wanting or intending to get so deeply involved in so many strange happenings," Kylie says, feeling a bit overwhelmed. She turns and glances at Talen for a moment to center herself. "I cannot speak for Lilia or anyone else, but I would be happy to have you or others of your people along with us. Your knowledge and experience greatly exceeds ours and that can only be a benefit."

[Lilia]

Lilia:

Lilia mentions her own past history with Kharyna. Kylie finds this interesting as she had not known that they had a connection. "I didn't know you knew Kharyna, Lilia. She finished her training with Jallarzi shortly after I started."

“She and her companions traveled with us from Elcadan to the battle in the swamp,” Lilia notes. “I had made arrangements to go off with Kharyna on her quest in the Towers of Gaz, but when the All-Father spoke to me I changed my outlook and my mind. Instead I traveled with you and Sherwood in your search for Nightmist. That simple choice led me down the path to where we are now. My whole life changed because of it.”

“Like we dragons, such creatures are not native to your world,” Silvarn will causally explain. “They despise daylight, so tend to stay in the shadows, as you noted Lilia. They mentally enslave those around them to become their servants. Their preferred source of food is the brain of living creatures.”

“How horrific!” Lilia says in regards to what mind flayers consider to be food.

“I will relay to my people what you have told me about the Elders,” Silvarn will say. “They may wish to send scholars to the Sylvan Realm in pursuit of knowledge. We, however, will not fight your battles for you unless it is dragon related in some manner.”

“Provided that Talen is agreeable to such an arrangement, than I have no issues with it either,” Lilia states. “After all, he would be the focus of the scholars for what he knows of the Elders. He has the right choose this or not.”

Lilia talks a bit more about her hope to develop the Sylvan Realm into a nexus of scholars and travelers. In response, Silvarn notes we should not count on help from the dragons in any conflicts that we get involved in. "It is my concern that the greater our knowledge and influence, the more likely others will want to take what we have. We will need to be careful and see to our defense before we reach too far."

“That is a danger,” Lilia agrees.

“A very long time,” Silvarn admits. “Even by your elfin standards. As I understand it humans can have three or four generations of family alive at the same time. Elves, as many as seven or eight. My family currently has a span of twenty-three generations. I'm roughly in the middle of the group.”

“That—'” Lilia starts to say, “that is mind boggling. I can't even imagine just how large your family is.”

“I see,” Silvarn realizes. “It seems that I leaped to an unfounded conclusion. Still, I should retrieve him before he causes any more trouble.”

“Perhaps it is for the best for now,” Lilia will agree. “You may return with us to the Sylvan Realm if you wish. It would save you a great deal of travel.”

“Wait,” Silvarn interrupts. “Are you saying that your Mother Tree is sending you on a mission to another world?”

“Yes,” Lilia states. “To save what remains of our cousins on that world. Are you familiar with Dreatar?”

“There are legends and myths of some great disaster around that time frame,” Lord Sharadin mentions. “They say that many beings died or vanished at that time. Enough different cultures record this that it cannot be a coincidence.”

“Another great mystery to be solved,” Lilia agrees. “As you said, all of this cannot be a coincidence. I wonder where it will all lead.”

“And not to just everyone on this world, but on others as well,” Silvarn will realize. “This mission is too important to leave to chance. I will bring allies of my own into this fight. With you permission, of course.”

“Fine with me,” Lord Sharadin adds.

“I would welcome your participation,” Lilia says in mild surprise. It seems that the silver dragons are helpful, but only in certain circumstances. Interesting.

“That's not a lot of time, but I will do what I can,” Lord Sharadin vows. “I have a few individuals in mind for this mission. We will regroup two days from now.”

“Very good,” Lilia says. “We will arrive in the morning two days from now. From there we will begin our assualt.”

“No offense intended,” Silvarn will say, surprise clearly on her face, “but you are very much over your heads. You've encountered scro, the Talagran Trading Company and are going to visit another world? I had thought you were taking your first steps into a much larger world, but you are just jumping right in! I will need to report this to my superiors, but I think you will need our assistance and protection. Again with your permission, of course.”

“No offense taken,” Lilia offers with a slight smile. Getting the assistance of the silver dragons was easier than she expected, once she learned how they operated.

"Honestly, it feels more like we've been thrown in. I'm not sure any of us were wanting or intending to get so deeply involved in so many strange happenings," Kylie says, feeling a bit overwhelmed. She turns and glances at Talen for a moment to center herself. "I cannot speak for Lilia or anyone else, but I would be happy to have you or others of your people along with us. Your knowledge and experience greatly exceeds ours and that can only be a benefit."

“I concur,” Lilia adds. “And as Kylie said, it feels like we're riding a runaway horse and are trying to just hang on. Any aid you can offer would be most welcomed.”

“Agreed,” Lord Sharadin will states. “I look forward to visiting the Sylvan Realm and this Elder City when able. Once the situation in Cynalon has been stabilized and I have time to indulge myself in academic pursuits. But for now, that seems to cover the important points of your visit. My thanks for making us aware of this danger to Cynalon and assisting us in dealing with it.”

“In the days to come when times are not so trying,” Lilia agrees. “Hopefully there will be a day when I too can 'indulge in academic pursuits' as well. But until that time, we do the best we can.”

“It seems to me that our business has concluded for the time being,” Lilia continues. “We should return to the Sunflower and begin our journey back to the Sylvan Realm. We will only have a day to gather our forces for the trip back to Karn's Keep. We will need to find Laucian and Valena. Touch base with the Red Arrows and others who wish to take the fight to the HIVE. Thank you for your hospitality, Lord Sharadin. We shall return shortly.”

[Talen]

Talen:

We settle in to the comfortable couches in the meeting area of Karn's Castle. The type of snacks offered are decidedly elfin.

“Are you truly surprised? You are in the company of elves.” She says shaking her head and taking out some jerky she had in her pack. “Here, I have slowly lost the taste for it.”

“Thanks,” Talen say accepting the jerky. “Are you saying that the food you used to eat no longer appeals to you? What do drow eat anyway?”

Kylie chuckles in response to his complaint. "Perhaps your relatives are all turning into elves, Talen," she says as Lia hands him her remaining jerky. "I guess that would leave you and I as the only remaining meat-eaters around here..."

“I doubt that,” Talen says glancing back to Kylie. “Lord Sharadin is a fine host and when he has elves as guests, he serves them elfin food. It's only proper, but we're not full elves either.”

“He was kinda cute.” She says back. “If he hurts me are you gonna go after him?” she says playfully teasing back.

“If I have to,” Talen vows seriously, although down inside he really, really, really hopes it never comes to that!

“And you need to see if they are friend or foe.. You may want to start carrying detect evil spells or items with you.” she says simply to her brother.

“I can innately cast Know Alignment now, so that shouldn't be a big deal,” Talen answers. "Its part of our drow innate abilities."

“Wait,” Silvarn interrupts. “Are you saying that your Mother Tree is sending you on a mission to another world?”

“Uhm, yeah. Is that a problem?” Talen sends an amused glance towards Kylie as they said almost the same thing.

“Provided that Talen is agreeable to such an arrangement, than I have no issues with it either,” Lilia states. “After all, he would be the focus of the scholars for what he knows of the Elders. He has the right choose this or not.”

“I'm fine with it,” Talen answers. “In fact, almost relieved by it.”

Talen pauses and looks at everyone here before continuing. “I believe that those of us who were chosen to save the Mother Tree were picked for a reason. Not to just save the Mother Tree, but also for what came after that. Lilia here has become Queen of the Sylvan Realm. Lia became a drow. Kylie is working to help us half-elves have a place for ourselves in the world. Nariya... Well, I have no idea what Nariya role in this is. But I couldn't figure out where I fit into all of this. Now I do. Bringing to light facts about the Elders and using what they created for the betterment of all. That is my role and one that I accept.”

“I had suspected something was causing the artifacts to behave erratically,” Lord Sharadin notes. “People arriving at the wrong locations and what happened to Argent. That was when I decided to quit using them. I had no idea that it was us using magic to power them that was the cause of this.”

“You had no way of knowing, uncle,” Talen says. “None of us did until I came along.”

“Fascinating!” Lord Sharadin exclaims. “Over the years I had formed some theories about the Elders, but it seems that I was mostly wrong. Sixty-five million years ago? It's mind boggling how long ago that is. Talon you've told me more about the Elders that I knew from years of study. When I am able, I would like to know more.”

“And more we will learn,” Talen says excitedly. “There is so much more to learn from the Elders. And perhaps other creations of theirs beyond the Pillar Artifacts.”

“And not to just everyone on this world, but on others as well,” Silvarn will realize. “This mission is too important to leave to chance. I will bring allies of my own into this fight. With you permission, of course.”

“Fine with me,” Lord Sharadin adds.

“Good,” Talen adds. “I feel that it is my responsibility to make sure that no one misuses what the Elders left behind. Especially from bad things like the HIVE!”

“It seems to me that our business has concluded for the time being,” Lilia continues. “We should return to the Sunflower and begin our journey back to the Sylvan Realm. We will only have a day to gather our forces for the trip back to Karn's Keep. We will need to find Laucian and Valena. Touch base with the Red Arrows and others who wish to take the fight to the HIVE. Thank you for your hospitality, Lord Sharadin. We shall return shortly.”

The talks come to a close and we are getting ready to return to the Sylvan Realm. He will shake his uncle's hand when they say goodbye and give his cousins hugs. As he walks along with Kylie, Talen says excitedly, “There are a few things I want to try before we return to the Sylvan Realm. Like make furniture in the Tall Tower and get a closer look a that big pillar. This is going to be fun!”

[Lia]

Lia

As the conversation continues of these Mind flayers it is learned to treat them as mages. “In battle, treat them as if they were mage,” Silvarn answers. “Over power them or deal with them at range. They are mentally strong, but physically weak. Their slaves will do the fighting for them.”

“Would they affect creatures from other planes? Or summomed from statues?” she asks curiously as she takes out her black onyx statue of lions. Range would be an issue for Lia, knowing full well her skill with ranged weaponry.

“But out there,” at this point Silvarn gestures overhead, “far too many. There are several empires ruled by these creatures out among the stars. They are a great power out there. The Alphatians warred with them when their own growth moved into areas controlled by the Illithids. They fought for decades back when my family first took an interest in the worlds of this solar system.”

“That does not bode well.” Lia says softly as she recalls the mission to another world to save their cousins. Could they be facing these foes? She asks herself.

“In theory, yes. What knowledge those HIVE gained was lost when they died,” Silvarn states.

“Let us hope that is the case.” And our home is still unknown.

“I will relay to my people what you have told me about the Elders,” Silvarn will say. “They may wish to send scholars to the Sylvan Realm in pursuit of knowledge. We, however, will not fight your battles for you unless it is dragon related in some manner.”

“Forgive me, but given how Xavier came to us, perhaps it would be prudent to have your scholars announce themselves to the queen, so those trusted with your secret are aware of your presence if something happened, not saying that it would, but in these times you can never be to careful.”

“No offense intended,” Silvarn will say, surprise clearly on her face, “but you are very much over your heads. You've encountered scro, the Talagran Trading Company and are going to visit another world? I had thought you were taking your first steps into a much larger world, but you are just jumping right in! I will need to report this to my superiors, but I think you will need our assistance and protection. Again with your permission, of course.”

“Did you ever have any relations with this Talagran Trading company before? Is there anything you maybe able to tell us about them?”

“I don't see that happening,” Lord Sharadin will say. “You have no idea just how larger Alphatia is. Cynalon is a kingdom, Alphatia is an Empire made up of kingdoms. Something like twelve different kingdoms. Given their size and magical might, no nation on Arret could stand against them if they decided to attack. While this Lady Mingor is a big deal here in Cynalon, I doubt she is as powerful back in Alphatia judging by just how few ships she has at her disposal.”

“It seems I have lot of things to learn from the scope of this land. We are no longer of the Lost Valley and I am rapidly seeing that there is so much more to this world.”the priestess says back to her Uncle.
With Talen—

“Thanks,” Talen say accepting the jerky. “Are you saying that the food you used to eat no longer appeals to you? What do drow eat anyway?”

“In part, some meat has lost it’s flavour. In truth, I am not sure.”she adds with a smile.

“If I have to,” Talen vows seriously, although down inside he really, really, really hopes it never comes to that!

“My valiant brother.” She says with a smile etched across her ebony features. “I would not put you in such a position.” She adds seriously.

[GM Mad]

Post Continued:

Return to Karn's Keep:

December 4th, CR 571 or Deepnight 26th, 20,519 AP

The elves have returned to Karn's Keep to report their discovery of the HIVE Nest based in the remains of an Elder City somewhere within the Great Swamp. The conversations with Silvarn and Lord Sharadin are winding down.

Silvarn:

Silvarn informs them that the Illithids are not native to this world, as the dragons also are not. This news is surprising to Kylie, and she listens carefully to what else is said. The dragoness' admission that these 'mind flayers' eat brains causes a cold shiver to trickle down her back. "That's... disgusting," she utters, emotion dripping from her tone.

“How horrific!” Lilia says in regards to what mind flayers consider to be food.

“It's even worse than it sounds,” Silvarn casually continues. “An Illithid is basically humanoid in appearance. The main exception is that their head is shaped like a squid. They have a large mouth surrounded by tentacles. They use these tentacles to grasp onto their prey and drag its head to its mouth, where it bites into the head to remove the brain. They prefer to do this to live and awake victims.”

“Would they affect creatures from other planes? Or summoned from statues?” she asks curiously as she takes out her black onyx statue of lions.

“They can only feed on living creatures,” Silvarn states. “You're lions would not be on their menu.”

Kylie looks at Silvarn. "So it sounds like the Elder, the Alphatians, the Illithids, and you dragons are the ancient races of the universe. Are there any other known ancient races that we should be aware of?"

“There are many other races out there,” Silvarn explains. “We dragons, the Illithids, the Arcane and Beholder-kind and others are collectively considered to be the First Ones, the first races to arrive on First Generation worlds, those worlds and solar systems closest to the Pit of Despair.”

“However, that term is misleading. The Elders, and several other now extinct races predate us by millions of years. The commonly accepted theory is that when the universe was new gods arose and created and seeded life in their image across the cosmos. But eventually all these races became extinct, much like the Elders, and eventually those original gods ceased to be. This all occurred over a span of many millions of years”

“Then came the next generations of gods and they seeded the universe with life and this led to the First Ones,” Silvarn continues. “More stars and planets were formed further out from the First Generation Worlds. In time, even more gods appeared and created life in their image. We call these the Second Generation. Humans, elves, dwarves, orcs, and many others are part of this growth spurt. Even now, further out there, the Third Generation worlds are coming into existence. Who knows what those races will look like.”

Lilia talks a bit more about her hope to develop the Sylvan Realm into a nexus of scholars and travelers. In response, Silvarn notes we should not count on help from the dragons in any conflicts that we get involved in. "It is my concern that the greater our knowledge and influence, the more likely others will want to take what we have. We will need to be careful and see to our defense before we reach too far."

“That is a danger,” Lilia agrees.

“That it is,” Silvarn concurs. “That is why I will seek our protection for you, so that forces from beyond your world would not try to take and make use of the devices the Elders left behind.”

“Provided that Talen is agreeable to such an arrangement, than I have no issues with it either,” Lilia states. “After all, he would be the focus of the scholars for what he knows of the Elders. He has the right choose this or not.”

“I'm fine with it,” Talen answers. “In fact, almost relieved by it.”

Talen pauses and looks at everyone here before continuing. “I believe that those of us who were chosen to save the Mother Tree were picked for a reason. Not to just save the Mother Tree, but also for what came after that. Lilia here has become Queen of the Sylvan Realm. Lia became a drow. Kylie is working to help us half-elves have a place for ourselves in the world. Nariya... Well, I have no idea what Nariya role in this is. But I couldn't figure out where I fit into all of this. Now I do. Bringing to light facts about the Elders and using what they created for the betterment of all. That is my role and one that I accept.”

“That is very noble of you, Talen,” Lord Sharadin will say, greatly impressed with his nephew.

“Very much so,” Silvarn will add in agreement.

“Forgive me, but given how Xavier came to us, perhaps it would be prudent to have your scholars announce themselves to the queen, so those trusted with your secret are aware of your presence if something happened, not saying that it would, but in these times you can never be to careful.”

“These scholars, if indeed any do arrive, will be made known to those who need to know,” Silvarn will vow.

Lady Silvarn's question catches Kylie a bit off-guard. "Uhm... yes? As I understand it anyway. Why do you ask?"

“Yes,” Lilia states. “To save what remains of our cousins on that world. Are you familiar with Dreatar?”

“Uhm, yeah. Is that a problem?” Talen sends an amused glance towards Kylie as they said almost the same thing.

“It could be a problem,” Silvarn will stress. “My kind frown on others interfering with events on worlds beyond their own. I am unfamiliar with this Dreatar, so I do not know about that world. But if you are running a rescue mission, that could change things. I will have to learn what I can about Dreatar when I report back in.”

"Honestly, it feels more like we've been thrown in. I'm not sure any of us were wanting or intending to get so deeply involved in so many strange happenings," Kylie says, feeling a bit overwhelmed. She turns and glances at Talen for a moment to center herself. "I cannot speak for Lilia or anyone else, but I would be happy to have you or others of your people along with us. Your knowledge and experience greatly exceeds ours and that can only be a benefit."

“I concur,” Lilia adds. “And as Kylie said, it feels like we're riding a runaway horse and are trying to just hang on. Any aid you can offer would be most welcomed.”

“I can imagine that you can feel overwhelmed by all of this,” Silvarn will say sympathetically. “That's why my kind help out in situations like this. You elves are a young race and one that needs room to flourish.”

“Did you ever have any relations with this Talagran Trading company before? Is there anything you maybe able to tell us about them?”

“Relations? No,” Silvarn reports. “They are from a world called Belonde. Thousands of years ago they were an Alphatian colony and they went their own way after the destruction of the Alphatian Homeworld. Given their reputation as slavers, most enlightened races have little to do with them. They are like cockroaches who scurry around in the shadows. I know many who would like to see them weakened enough to no longer be a threat.”

“That—'” Lilia starts to say, “that is mind boggling. I can't even imagine just how large your family is.”

“It is hard to keep track of,” Silvarn agrees. “We do simplify things as much as possible. For instance, Carnelia is my oldest living relative. She is my grandmother with around twelve great's in front of that. I simply call her grandmother and drop all the rest.”

“Perhaps it is for the best for now,” Lilia will agree. “You may return with us to the Sylvan Realm if you wish. It would save you a great deal of travel.”

“Thank you for your kind invitation,” Silvarn replies. “I'm sure that I could reach the Sylvan Realm fast enough, but this would be quicker.”

[GM Mad]

Lord Sharadin:

“I would welcome your participation,” Lilia says in mild surprise. It seems that the silver dragons are helpful, but only in certain circumstances. Interesting.

“If Silvarn is volunteering to come along and acquiring allies, than this situation must be very grave,” Lord Sharadin notes.

“This is a danger for your entire world and other worlds as well,” Silvarn answers. “This is the sort of situation that we good dragons will help without hesitation.”

“Very good,” Lilia says. “We will arrive in the morning two days from now. From there we will begin our assault.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Lord Sharadin nods in agreement.

“In the days to come when times are not so trying,” Lilia agrees. “Hopefully there will be a day when I too can 'indulge in academic pursuits' as well. But until that time, we do the best we can.”

“That's the story of my life,” Lord Sharadin chuckles in agreement.

“It seems to me that our business has concluded for the time being,” Lilia continues. “We should return to the Sunflower and begin our journey back to the Sylvan Realm. We will only have a day to gather our forces for the trip back to Karn's Keep. We will need to find Laucian and Valena. Touch base with the Red Arrows and others who wish to take the fight to the HIVE. Thank you for your hospitality, Lord Sharadin. We shall return shortly.”

“We will be ready,” Lord Sharadin responds as he says his goodbyes.

The elves, along with Silvarn, make their way back to the lowest level of Karn's Keep. There, Talen activates the Pillar Artifact and a portal appears. Everyone passes through the portal and are returned to the Elder City of Shillesta to the north of the Sylvan Realm. The sky is starting to dim as night is approaching.

Silvarn pauses to take in the surroundings. She inhales deeply, as if taking in her surroundings. “Amazing,” she says in an impressed tone. “Clearly, I have not passed this way before as I certainly would have noticed this! You are right, Lilia. Scholars will want to know about this and they will come, my people included.”

The groups return is noted by those who stayed behind. The Sunflower hovers next to the Tall Tower. Those elves on guard duty start to advance as Silvarn is unknown to them, but a glance from Andlin makes them stop. Gweyr approaches.

“Nothing to report, Your Majesty,” the petite fire mage says to Lilia. “It's been pretty boring here, to tell the truth. Shall we return to the Sylvan Realm?”

[GM Mad]

The Spiders of Einsun:

December 5th, CR 571 or Deepnight 27th, 20,519 AP

Things in Einsun have taken an unexpected turn. The talking owl has been revealed to actually be an Alaghi. Tisha recalls myths about such creatures. They were said to be shy and gentle beasts and called the 'Yeti of the forests'. One was rescued, but when Laucian approached it, the Alaghi fled after exchanging words with the owl.

Laucian has not heard of such a creature, nor the stories of them. “Alaghi,Yeti of the Forest. I will have to learn more of them when the time arrives.” He says in reply.

“You and me both,” Tisha will agree. “I thought that they were just wild stories, but it seems there was a measure of truth to them.”

“Things tend to fear those that they do not understand. They have not seen elves for many generations. We could be used in bedtime stories to frighten or entertain.” He guesses to Visara.

“But I'm too cute and cuddly to be frightening!” Visara moans, clearly agitated to be something the Alaghi fear.

“Let us move on.”Laucian states, “Let us torch the webs and move to the next nest area further to the east.”

With that, this spider nest is put to the torch. That removes nest number 8 on the map further up in this post.

The group moves on and removes the spiders from nests 9, 6 and 4 in succession. Four more Alaghi were rescued from spider cocoons along the way. Each reacted very much like the first one. It ran off once the owl spoke to it.

It is mid afternoon by now and the sun is high in the sky overhead where the light filters down through the trees. The group takes break from their mission to have some food and drink. The nests to the south and east of the open market area have been cleared out. That just leaves four regular spider nests and the Mother's Nest to the west.

Looking back, a group of elves is seen jogging closer and approaching the open market. It is the Grunalf Clan Master Triestar Silvarost accompanied by forty archers! This force left Telsun this morning when the griffon riders did, but made the trip to Einsun on foot.

“Judging by all the dead spiders we've seen along the way, it seems that you all have been busy,” the Clan Master calls out. “What did we miss?”

[GM Mad]

The Wyvern's of Walltree:

December 5th, CR 571 or Deepnight 27th, 20,519 AP

To the south, Clan Red Arrows battles the squatters infesting Walltree. Many of the humans wyverns have fallen, spurring a unit of armored riders on horse back to attack. Onas was knocked from is elfin warhorse and then returned the favor. The human scrambles to his feet eager to continue the conflict!

Realizing that his enemy needs to cover ground to reach him, Onas chooses to cast a Hold Person spell first. The spell is cast and the approaching human suddenly stops advancing!

Around the battle between the mounted humans and the Forest Riders, the Silver Maidens blink back into the battle! Several surprise the now on foot humans and aid the Forest Riders in battling them.

Just as the human charging Onas stiffens up, the Silver Maiden Fayrianna appears and drives her lance into him! The lance erupts out the other side of the human and he is tossed to the ground and is not moving. His blood flows freely onto the ground.

“You set'm up and I'll lance that boil!” Fayrianna calls out as she rides back on Aeolus. “We make a pretty good team!”

Then Fay notices the blood from Onas' wound. “Hey! You're bleeding!”

The nearby Forest Riders, aided by the Silver Maidens wrap up their fights against the human riders. Looking around two more wyverns remain active and humans and elves are battling here and there. It seems that elfin victory is near!


GM Notes:

Hit Points:

Onas: 40 of 66

Now what?

[Onas]

Onas Brightsword:

With the human running to attack, Onas calls on the power of his patron and casts Hold Person. While clearly a mighty warrior, the human is no match for the will of a goddess and suddenly stiffens like a statue. Just at that moment, Fayrianna returns, teleporting in on her unicorn, and drives her lance through the man's chest in a spray of blood and gore. Seeing his opponent die in such spectacular fashion, Onas quickly abandons his thought of capturing him for later questioning.

“You set'm up and I'll lance that boil!” Fayrianna calls out as she rides back on Aeolus. “We make a pretty good team!”

Onas chuckles at the Silver Maiden's play on words. "Indeed we do, Fayrianna. Thank you for the assist."

Then Fay notices the blood from Onas' wound. “Hey! You're bleeding!”

Somehow, the words seem to bring the pain back with a vengeance. "Yeah, that tends to happen in a battle," he quips. Onas calls on Angharradh once again, converting Silence, 15' Radius to Cure Medium Wounds and casting it on himself. "Hopefully, a bit of the Triune Lady's power will help with that."

The spell provides some relief, and Onas turns his attention back to the battle. The remaining human warriors don't appear to be much of a threat, but there are still two wyverns. "Hey, Fay, let's eliminate those last two wyverns. Then we can celebrate our victory. Deal?"

Calling Carad Orod to him, Onas mounts up and heads back into the fray.

[Lilia]

Lilia:

“It's even worse than it sounds,” Silvarn casually continues. “An Illithid is basically humanoid in appearance. The main exception is that their head is shaped like a squid. They have a large mouth surrounded by tentacles. They use these tentacles to grasp onto their prey and drag its head to its mouth, where it bites into the head to remove the brain. They prefer to do this to live and awake victims.”

“That is evil and disgusting,” Lilia manages to say with a grossed out look on her face.

“There are many other races out there,” Silvarn explains. “We dragons, the Illithids, the Arcane and Beholder-kind and others are collectively considered to be the First Ones, the first races to arrive on First Generation worlds, those worlds and solar systems closest to the Pit of Despair.”

“However, that term is misleading. The Elders, and several other now extinct races predate us by millions of years. The commonly accepted theory is that when the universe was new gods arose and created and seeded life in their image across the cosmos. But eventually all these races became extinct, much like the Elders, and eventually those original gods ceased to be. This all occurred over a span of many millions of years”

“Then came the next generations of gods and they seeded the universe with life and this led to the First Ones,” Silvarn continues. “More stars and planets were formed further out from the First Generation Worlds. In time, even more gods appeared and created life in their image. We call these the Second Generation. Humans, elves, dwarves, orcs, and many others are part of this growth spurt. Even now, further out there, the Third Generation worlds are coming into existence. Who knows what those races will look like.”

Lilia tries to take in what Silvarn is saying, but some of it goes over her head. Clearly, there is far more going on beyond Arret than the elf-maiden ever imagined!

“That it is,” Silvarn concurs. “That is why I will seek our protection for you, so that forces from beyond your world would not try to take and make use of the devices the Elders left behind.”

“That would be most welcomed,” Lilia will say.

“I'm fine with it,” Talen answers. “In fact, almost relieved by it.”

Talen pauses and looks at everyone here before continuing. “I believe that those of us who were chosen to save the Mother Tree were picked for a reason. Not to just save the Mother Tree, but also for what came after that. Lilia here has become Queen of the Sylvan Realm. Lia became a drow. Kylie is working to help us half-elves have a place for ourselves in the world. Nariya... Well, I have no idea what Nariya role in this is. But I couldn't figure out where I fit into all of this. Now I do. Bringing to light facts about the Elders and using what they created for the betterment of all. That is my role and one that I accept.”

“That is very noble of you, Talen,” Lord Sharadin will say, greatly impressed with his nephew.

“Very much so,” Silvarn will add in agreement.

“That's an interesting point of view, Talen,” Lilia adds. “And something I had not really considered. As you noted, we've all be changed from our mission to save the Mother Tree. Some more extreme than others, but changed nonetheless.”

“It could be a problem,” Silvarn will stress. “My kind frown on others interfering with events on worlds beyond their own. I am unfamiliar with this Dreatar, so I do not know about that world. But if you are running a rescue mission, that could change things. I will have to learn what I can about Dreatar when I report back in.”

“I can see your point of view,” Lilia will say after a pause. “The elves on that world were on the verge of extinction. Many were merged with trees as a form of suspended animation. However, they can only sleep in the tree for so long. That point is being reached. Our mission is to go there, rescue those elves who still survive and than return to Arret.”

“I can imagine that you can feel overwhelmed by all of this,” Silvarn will say sympathetically. “That's why my kind help out in situations like this. You elves are a young race and one that needs room to flourish.”

Lilia raises an eyebrow in mild shock upon hearing that. The elves a 'young race'? Well, maybe from the point of view of something much older that may be true...

“Relations? No,” Silvarn reports. “They are from a world called Belonde. Thousands of years ago they were an Alphatian colony and they went their own way after the destruction of the Alphatian Homeworld. Given their reputation as slavers, most enlightened races have little to do with them. They are like cockroaches who scurry around in the shadows. I know many who would like to see them weakened enough to no longer be a threat.”

“It is good to know that they are not a major power,” Lilia states. “And that they have enemies of their own.”

“It is hard to keep track of,” Silvarn agrees. “We do simplify things as much as possible. For instance, Carnelia is my oldest living relative. She is my grandmother with around twelve great's in front of that. I simply call her grandmother and drop all the rest.”

“A logical solution,” Lilia agrees.

“Thank you for your kind invitation,” Silvarn replies. “I'm sure that I could reach the Sylvan Realm fast enough, but this would be quicker.”

“You are most welcome,” Lilia graciously states.

“If Silvarn is volunteering to come along and acquiring allies, than this situation must be very grave,” Lord Sharadin notes.

“This is a danger for your entire world and other worlds as well,” Silvarn answers. “This is the sort of situation that we good dragons will help without hesitation.”

“It will be good to have you and your allies along,” Lilia adds. She does wonder what kind of allies does a silver dragon have?

The meetings come to an end. Talen uses the Pillar Artifact to take us back to the Elder City north of the Sylvan Realm. The sunflower is waiting for us, along with the elves manning her.

Silvarn pauses to take in the surroundings. She inhales deeply, as if taking in her surroundings. “Amazing,” she says in an impressed tone. “Clearly, I have not passed this way before as I certainly would have noticed this! You are right, Lilia. Scholars will want to know about this and they will come, my people included.”

“I feel that there is much to be learned here,” Lilia adds in agreement. “Even without the gift that Talen now possesses. More now that he does have it.”

The groups return is noted by those who stayed behind. The Sunflower hovers next to the Tall Tower. Those elves on guard duty start to advance as Silvarn is unknown to them, but a glance from Andlin makes them stop. Gweyr approaches.

“This is Silvarn,” Lilia will call out to the elves on the Sunflower. “She is our honored guest and will be treated with respect.”

“Nothing to report, Your Majesty,” the petite fire mage says to Lilia. “It's been pretty boring here, to tell the truth. Shall we return to the Sylvan Realm?”

“Shortly,” Lilia answers. “I believe that Talen has a few things he wants to try before we head back. Talen?”

[Lia]

Lia

“There are many other races out there,” Silvarn explains. “We dragons, the Illithids, the Arcane and Beholder-kind and others are collectively considered to be the First Ones, the first races to arrive on First Generation worlds, those worlds and solar systems closest to the Pit of Despair.”

A look of non-comprehension comes to the drow’s face as she look at the dragon maiden. “What are these Arcane and Beholder- kind like? Pit of Despair… sounds ominous.” She says evenly.
“It could be a problem,” Silvarn will stress. “My kind frown on others interfering with events on worlds beyond their own. I am unfamiliar with this Dreatar, so I do not know about that world. But if you are running a rescue mission, that could change things. I will have to learn what I can about Dreatar when I report back in.”
It quickly becomes apparent at the strength of knowledge that Silvarn and her kin bring to the table as allies. Their knowledge and experience must be very vast, and there is part of her that wonders what information that such an ally may keep to themselves, as not to worry or threaten their friends and allies.

“Relations? No,” Silvarn reports. “They are from a world called Belonde. Thousands of years ago they were an Alphatian colony and they went their own way after the destruction of the Alphatian Homeworld. Given their reputation as slavers, most enlightened races have little to do with them. They are like cockroaches who scurry around in the shadows. I know many who would like to see them weakened enough to no longer be a threat.”

“Perhaps we could arrange a meeting with these races. There may be a mutual bond that we share that could form into an alliance against them.”looking to Lilia she realizes her mistake, “Forgive me, I spoke out of turn.” She says inclining her head to the Queen.

“It seems to me that our business has concluded for the time being,” Lilia continues. “We should return to the Sunflower and begin our journey back to the Sylvan Realm. We will only have a day to gather our forces for the trip back to Karn's Keep. We will need to find Laucian and Valena. Touch base with the Red Arrows and others who wish to take the fight to the HIVE. Thank you for your hospitality, Lord Sharadin. We shall return shortly.”
“We will be ready,” Lord Sharadin responds as he says his goodbyes.

“It was good to see you Uncle.” Lia says turning to the twins, “I wish it could have been longer and under better circumstances.”

The groups return is noted by those who stayed behind. The Sunflower hovers next to the Tall Tower. Those elves on guard duty start to advance as Silvarn is unknown to them, but a glance from Andlin makes them stop. Gweyr approaches.

Lia steps through the portal and looks about seeing several of the elves about. Some start to make their way forward towards them and Lia unconsciously steps between Silvarn and the guards, nodding to Andlin in greeting.

“Nothing to report, Your Majesty,” the petite fire mage says to Lilia. “It's been pretty boring here, to tell the truth. Shall we return to the Sylvan Realm?”
“Shortly,” Lilia answers. “I believe that Talen has a few things he wants to try before we head back. Talen?”

Lia will relax for the time being keeping her eyes on Talen as well as the surrounding area.

[Laucian]

Laucian

“But I'm too cute and cuddly to be frightening!” Visara moans, clearly agitated to be something the Alaghi fear.

Laucian raises an eyebrow at the comment but says little in reply as a smirk begins to show upon his face.
It is mid afternoon by now and the sun is high in the sky overhead where the light filters down through the trees. The group takes break from their mission to have some food and drink. The nests to the south and east of the open market area have been cleared out. That just leaves four regular spider nests and the Mother's Nest to the west.

Taking a break from the spiders, Laucian takes out his waterskin and drinks from it and then begins to munch on some nuts and fruit till he has his fill. He walks amongst his comrades seeing how they are fairing and if any has been injured. As he does so he sees a group of Elves jogging to toward them.

Looking back, a group of elves is seen jogging closer and approaching the open market. It is the Grunalf Clan Master Triestar Silvarost accompanied by forty archers! This force left Telsun this morning when the griffon riders did, but made the trip to Einsun on foot.
Tisha, It seems our reinforcements has arrived!” he calls out as he sees the forty archers come forward with their clan master at the lead.

“Judging by all the dead spiders we've seen along the way, it seems that you all have been busy,” the Clan Master calls out. “What did we miss?”

“Good afternoon, Clan Master Silvarost.”he says making the appropriate greeting. “Aye, we have done well this day, but we still have several nests to clear, including the Elder spider’s lair.”
Drawing in the dirt, Laucian begins to draw a loose representation of what is left to be done. “When we arrived we found several spiders nests within our ancestral home. At first we burnt the webbing and the spiders young charged and died by volley of arrows, as did the mothers. We did this for a time until fate intervened.”

"An owl that I noticed in our travels perched and began to talk with us! Asking if we can free his tribe from the cocoons, which we agreed. After the spiders were dealt with, Tisha would move amongst the webbing freeing those trapped within the webbing. There was several dead, amongst them orcs as well as this owl’s tribe. Much to our surprise it was not birds of prey but Alaghi! As we freed them from the cocoons they ran away, sadly most do not speak our language nor us theirs.”

"As our griffons riders knew of the layouts of these spider dens, I felt it best to destroy the spiders and free the Alaghi from the webs to the south, east and southwest. From what we can tell there are 4 nests remaining.”

“Our tactics seem to be working well with the help of the Silver maidens. Lady Annelwin has been our bait, once she has reached a certain point she blink away to safety, The spiders do not know what hit them as our arrows have taken the little ones with ease. The mother’s are a bit more challenging as more arrows are need to bring them down.”

“We have not seen what this Elder Spider looks like nor where she may lurk. But she is out there and as our friend Urvov has stated will answer if her children need her help. And vise versa. So far we have been very fortunate no one has been injured or poisoned. What I purpose to do it use our marketplace as a killing ground, drawing the spiders from their nest(3) then light the webbing, In turn do the same to nest 1 and 2 leaving the Elder spider’s nest for last. Given the proximity to the mother’s nests I cannot help but guess that these spiders will be larger and perhaps greater in numbers then what we have previously encountered.”

“In truth there is a part of me that would ask our mages to fly our griffons above the mother’s nest, when the time comes and fireball the area, but we have given our word to save the Alaghi as well as the damage it would do to our home would be far to great.

[Kylie]

Kylie Lanthorn the Half-Elven:

“She and her companions traveled with us from Elcadan to the battle in the swamp,” Lilia notes. “I had made arrangements to go off with Kharyna on her quest in the Towers of Gaz, but when the All-Father spoke to me I changed my outlook and my mind. Instead I traveled with you and Sherwood in your search for Nightmist. That simple choice led me down the path to where we are now. My whole life changed because of it.”

"Ah, that's right," Kylie replies, unhappy with herself for forgetting. "So much has happened that I didn't recall us all traveling and fighting together for those few days."

“I doubt that,” Talen says glancing back to Kylie. “Lord Sharadin is a fine host and when he has elves as guests, he serves them elfin food. It's only proper, but we're not full elves either.”

Talen seems to miss her joke and responds in a very serious manner. "Yes, Talen. All very appropriate."

Everyone seems equally repulsed by the sound of these 'mind flayers'. With everyone feeling a bit squeemish about it, Silvarn provides an even more detailed description. Kylie feels her stomach do a flip-flop, but manages to keep down the food she just ate. At least they know now exactly what to expect if they every encouter these beings.

Lia asks about the illithids' ability to affect artificial creatures like her Onyx Lions, and Silvarn responds that they would not. This reminds Kylie of the Ebony Fly, which she had given to Talen some time back. Not sure if he's paying attention, she turns to him, "So that would apply to the Ebony Fly as well."

Kylie's question about the other races serves to shift the discussion somewhat away from the illithids. Silvarn talks a bit about the formation of the worlds and their relationship to the gods and peoples. A picture starts to form in Kylie's head, and she does her best to clarify her understanding. "So it's kind of like the layers of an onion? The core would be the Elders and their contemporaneous races from the original worlds created by the original gods, and they are all extinct. The second layer is these First Generation worlds, gods, and peoples -- including you and the Illithids. Do all of those races still exist, or have some of them died out already? The Second Generation, which includes most of the races we are familiar with, is the third layer. And we are or will be followed by this Third Generation as the fourth layer. Is that the general idea?"

Kylie mentions her concern regarding the safety of the Sylvan Realm due to knowledge that Talen will be bringing to light there. Lilia and Silvarn both concur, and Silvarn says that she will seek permission for her people to provide some protection from those who might steal and misuse the information. "Thank you, Lady Silvarn. That is very reassuring."

Lilia leaves it to Talen to decide how he feels about having scholars of other lands and races coming to the Sylvan Realm to talk with him. Talen responds that he would be honored, and that he sees this as his new role in life. Sharadin and Silvarn both comment on his maturity and development. Kylie feels the same way, and smiles warmly at him. She is proud of him and impressed by his growth and acceptance of this new role. He actually seems quite excited about it, which is a wonderful change from how down he had been recently.

“It could be a problem,” Silvarn will stress. “My kind frown on others interfering with events on worlds beyond their own. I am unfamiliar with this Dreatar, so I do not know about that world. But if you are running a rescue mission, that could change things. I will have to learn what I can about Dreatar when I report back in.”

The idea that they intend to travel to another world seems to be of significant concern to Silvarn. However, she thinks that the fact that it is intended to be a rescue mission apparently makes a difference. It is weird to think that a being like Silvarn has higher authorities that she must report into and get approvals from. "So you think that the leaders among your people may be willing to support this mission, Lady Silvarn?"

“Relations? No,” Silvarn reports. “They are from a world called Belonde. Thousands of years ago they were an Alphatian colony and they went their own way after the destruction of the Alphatian Homeworld. Given their reputation as slavers, most enlightened races have little to do with them. They are like cockroaches who scurry around in the shadows. I know many who would like to see them weakened enough to no longer be a threat.”

Lia asks about the Talagran Trading company and Silvarn provides some background on them. It seems -- despite the name -- they are not so much a business enterprise as an Alphatian offshoot. "With this civil war also going on, it seems that several Alphatian groups are causing trouble right now."

The talks come to a close and we are getting ready to return to the Sylvan Realm. He will shake his uncle's hand when they say goodbye and give his cousins hugs. As he walks along with Kylie, Talen says excitedly, “There are a few things I want to try before we return to the Sylvan Realm. Like make furniture in the Tall Tower and get a closer look a that big pillar. This is going to be fun!”

After saying her goodbyes to Sharadin and the twins, Kylie joins Talen as they head back down to the pillar. Walking with Talen at her side is starting to feel very natural, and Kylie mentally notes this simple pleasure. "I hope you get that chance, Talen; I know we have a fairly tight schedule. It occurs to me that since Lady Silvarn is coming with us, we may want to show her the giant pillar as well. It may be of interest to her."

With the discussions done for now, they use the pillar artifact to return to Shillesta. It is still startling to be able to travel so far so quickly. Looking about, Kylie can see that the Sunflower is still waiting for them. There is a moment of tension when Gweyr and the crew spot Silvarn, but Andlin heads off the trouble and Gweyr reports in to Queen Lilia.

“Shortly,” Lilia answers. “I believe that Talen has a few things he wants to try before we head back. Talen?”

Looking at her friend, Kylie says with a smile, "Now's your chance, Talen. Want to conjure up a sofa or a table?"

While Talen is testing out his new talents, Kylie peers off to the north, then turns to Silvarn. "Lady Silvarn? If you look far to the north," Kylie says, pointing, "you may be able to see the giant pillar artifact that we mentioned earlier. We think it will allow us to travel to Dreatar for our rescue mission. Mother Tree placed some kind of code in Talen's head that should open the proper gateway."

_____________________________________________________________________________________
Probably be a good idea to move the Ebony Fly to Talen's character sheet. Kylie gave it to him back in Sylvan Realm #6.

[Talen]

Talen:

“That is very noble of you, Talen,” Lord Sharadin will say, greatly impressed with his nephew.

“Thank you, uncle,” Talen says appreciatively. “I'd like to think that mom would be proud too.”

We say our goodbyes not long after that and started to held to the Pillar Artifact in the basement.

After saying her goodbyes to Sharadin and the twins, Kylie joins Talen as they head back down to the pillar. Walking with Talen at her side is starting to feel very natural, and Kylie mentally notes this simple pleasure. "I hope you get that chance, Talen; I know we have a fairly tight schedule. It occurs to me that since Lady Silvarn is coming with us, we may want to show her the giant pillar as well. It may be of interest to her."

“This shouldn't take long,” Talen suspects. “It seemed pretty simply from what I gathered before we left. I think most of us want to see what we can learn from this giant pillar.”

In a flash we are back to the Ruins of Shillesta. The Sunflower is hovering where it was before. Lilia alerts the elves there that Silvarn is a guest.

“Shortly,” Lilia answers. “I believe that Talen has a few things he wants to try before we head back. Talen?”

“Yes!” Talen calls out. “Just a quick experiment and then we can shove off!”

Talen jogs to the closest stair and starts to make his way down, deeper into the Tall Tower. Eventually he reaches the uppermost suites of rooms that we came across before. Leaving the stairs and entering the circular hallway around the central shaft, Talen goes into the nearest doorway.

Looking at her friend, Kylie says with a smile, "Now's your chance, Talen. Want to conjure up a sofa or a table?"

“Let's see what we can do here,” Talen says as he eyes the empty chamber. He concentrates and will try to create several chairs and sofas along with a table large enough for ten with chairs. “Hopefully something wonderful or I am going to look foolish!”

After his little experiment, Talen will join everyone else on the Sunflower as it flies to the giant pillar in the harbor. Once close enough, he will try to access its records and see what he can find out.

[GM Mad]

Post Closed