[ ADMIN: Elvar is still looking for a human or two to accompany him on a trek to the Marayan League, to look for Sel Safthandor's (sp?) books. I seem to have lost touch with Susan Kretschmer as well, which is doubly annoying since I was hoping for an appearance by Tav Safthandor. L-o-n-g delays due to workload (they just don't understand... :-) ] Elvar episode three. Characters: Elvar : Half-elven warrior mage Sel Safthandor : Belongs to Susan Kretschmer ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elvar walked back towards the Dragon's Inn after another profitless day trudging about Generica. It was true that he had obtained a large amount of valuable information on Sel Safthandor and Maray from the old man in the Inn, but this just wasn't sufficient to plan a major expedition. In addition, he had foolishly visited the Wizards' Guild _before_ checking on the price of transportation. Needless to say, he had spent every available coin on enhancing his not inconsiderable knowledge of magical lore and on obtaining further spell components -- a worthy use of the money, true, but not exactly done with foresight. Further coinage had been spent -- on the advice of that old man, again -- in an attempt to seek out some woman on the far side of the city who went by the name of Suzie K. Apparently she knew much of the history of Maray, but this availed Elvar not in the slightest, since she had proved as elusive as the West wind. He reviewed his finances again. Enough to keep him well enough, but not enough to pay for the exhorbitant teleportation fees they charged here -- and he was not about to take the trip on foot and waste all that time. No, he would need to find a source for more money. On this thought, he passed through the oak door into the inn. His sharp eyes quickly spotted something of interest: a small, wizened man, apparently asleep at a table behind some sort of sign. Closer inspection caused him to raise his eybrows somewhat -- apparently this man was paying, and quite highly -- for nothing more than stories. Well, he thought to himself, I certainly have enough of those. Almost as if he had heard, the small man's eyes flicked open, and he looked directly at Elvar. He smiled, and indicated the other chair at the table, plainly in an invitation to join him. Elvar shrugged -- money was needed, after all -- and walked over to the table. In any case, his curiosity had been aroused, and that was one thing that he had never been able to resist the pull from. "What do you do with the stories, when bought?" Elvar enquired as he took his place at the table. He had accepted to offer of a drink from the story buyer, and was presently enjoying the taste of wine for the first time in several months. "Oh, it depends. The whole world is a story, is it not, and so maybe if I have enough then I will understand the world?" came the reply, sufficiently enigmatic to cause a flicker of a smile to cross the normally taciturn features. "Very well. To increase your understanding -- and for the payment! -- I will tell you a story I have kept to myself for more than sixy years." Nearby, unseen in a high-backed chair beside the fire, Watcher listened, and gripped the arms of the chair as if to sink his fingers into the wood. * * * "She was a beautiful woman, was Elaura -- even by Elven standards. Of course, she would be -- all princesses are beautiful, at least the ones worth telling stories about! But even amongst the elves in the small, remote kingdom in the Great Forest, she was counted as having exceptionally pleasing looks. She had skill in the High Arts, too -- magic came easily to her, and she attained a skill unmatched by her peers in all aspects. This naturally did not enhance her popularity, but she was young -- a mere fifty years -- and happy in life. She had friends, suitors, a quick mind and centuries of life ahead of her. Now, this small Elven kingdom had various rituals and do forth, as most do. It happened that one of these was the Celebration of Majority, which all of the community had to undergo at the age of fifty years to celebrate their entry into adulthood. It was a complicated ritual -- several nights of fasting, solitude and various magical trances to indicate oneness with nature and the world. A load of donkey dung, if you ask me, but who can argue with tradition? Anyway, Elaura set out to the contemplation glades, and was guarded there by several friends -- or so they claimed to be. The rite takes several days, as I mentioned. The guards were left at the boundary of the area, since the rite is one of solitude. After she had shed her clothes, she.." "Her clothes?" exclaimed the story buyer, interrupting the flow of the story in his surprise. "I wish I'd been there..." he began, but stopped instantly when he saw the black look being directed at him. "'Oneness with nature', I said, didn't you hear?" snapped Elvar. "Oh, I do apologise. Please, continue. Another drink?" Elvar waved away the apology and continued. "After shedding her clothing, she moved into the contemplation glades. This mostly involved entering into a deep trance, during which the Eart Magic was supposed to cleanse the spirit, or so the legends ran. [ this is where the writer's block starts. Several more pages yet to come in this chapter... ]