Sentinels of Evermere

[mackenson]

Campaign Links:
Campaign Web Site
OOC Thread
Rogue's Gallery
__________________________

The sun settles below the western horizon, and twilight falls over the elven city of Elandria. Lamps and torches flare to life, warding away the deepening shadows. The reflected light glitters upon the calm waters of Lake Elysia like a swathe of stars.

The city is aligned with the curve of the massive lake, nestled against its cold waters. The buildings are simple but elegant structures which meld with the natural beauty of the forest. Huge spruce trees rise out of the midst of the city, and the elvish homes are nestled amid the trunks and branches of these ancient forms. A few platforms and docks extend past the lakeshore, providing shelter to a flotilla of boats. Fishermen are furling the sails of their vessels and unloading the day’s catch. They seem of good cheer, laughing and sharing stories after a satisfying day of mild weather. The evening is crisp with the chill of autumn, and in a matter of days the seasonal winds will sweep out of the north, making sailing much more hazardous. But for now, only a soft breeze whispers through the trees, rich with the scent of the ancient forest.

Five strangers are ushered onto a terrace overlooking the city, outside the office of Golas Nyrian, commander of the Sentinels. They arrive one-by-one with little fanfare, escorted by young elven pages. They are fresh from recruitment and training. Tonight they will meet the other members of their squad and formally join the esteemed ranks of the Evermere Sentinels.

The terrace is surrounded by braches which form a canopy overhead. An ornate railing carved with deer and eagles and other woodland beasts marks the edge of the platform, beyond which is an expansive view of the city below. A bench holds various refreshments—bowls of fruits and nuts, pitchers of water, and empty cups—but there are no chairs. The terrace is lit by the soft, azure light emanating from a roughly-hewn crystal that hangs from a branch.

Music rises out of the city. There is a multitude of tunes sung and played by different elves in different homes, but the disparate melodies seem to form a single, enchanting voice.

[Welcome to the game! Please go ahead and post with your PC's entrance. We will assume that your characters are ushered onto the terrance in the order that you post. I'll give time for any conversations or such to devlop, if appropriate. You have been instructed by the pages to wait here until the commander arrives. This is the first time the characters have seen each other.]

[Note: I think the format I have used in this post works well .... standard text for my narrative and your in-character posts, and silver text (surrounded by brackets) for anything OOC. I'd prefer that we don't use colors for dialogue and such, as I think it tends to make things harder to read (at least for my old eyes). Just use standard prose form for dialogue (i.e. he says, "I'm enclosing my dialogue in quotes"). If you want to include thoughts in your post (though I'd prefer that we don't overdo the out-loud thinking), you can just have it be implied or use italics]

 

[Thanee]

Eshe’ri arrives early, escorted by a young elf, who instructs her to wait here for the commander and the other members of her squad. Her eyes sparkling with curiosity she tries to embrace the beauty of this place. It has been a long time, since she visited this lake; a long time for her, that is. The elves she met since her arrival left the impression, that she has been away for mere days, although it has been over two years since. This was something she would never be able to fully comprehend, the longevity of the elves and their view of the passage of time. But this was not important now. She was here, because the elves had called her. She came to defend what she calls her home, the Forest of Evermere. She would be a Sentinel. With a pride-bearing stance she strides upon the terrace followed closely by a large grey wolf. The animal, although sensing the sentimental feelings of his mistress, seems more interested in the arrangement of fruits and nuts on the bench, however. The young woman smiles, as she notices this, and bends down to stroke the wolf’s fur, that bears a large scar on the right side. In almost perfect elvish, lacking only the fine nuances that require decades of practice to master, she orders him to stay down. She then gets a small bowl of fresh water and a handfull of the refreshments to place them on the edge of the terrace. While the wolf feeds she leans on her large oaken staff and glances over the elven city of Elandria, her mind wandering away daydreaming.

 

[garyh]

Dha'thuran Kyrndeth entered the terrace, only to find a human awaiting him. The wild elf muttered a quick greeting in Elven, and then in Common, in case this human could not speak properly.

Ucomfortable with the presence of a human in his unit, even one that seemed relatively nature-friendly for her kind, Dha'thuran slid over to the edge of the terrace and awaited the arrival of the elves that must also be in the group.

Don't worry, Thanee, my PC will warm up to yours in due course. But for now... hey, he's a wild elf!

 

[Thanee]

Eshe’ri answers the wild elf in elven, her native tongue, as he enters the terrace. Her voice is friendly and calm and the words come as fluent as if an elf would speak them. “Well met, friend, my name is Eshe’ri...” As she notices his reserved attitude, Eshe’ri stops. It’s nothing new to her, but it still unsettles her slightly.

The wolf growls, stands up and moves to her side. “Shhh...” The human girl reaches down to pet the animal, then turns to the elf again, smiling. “He’s a friend.” It’s not clear whom she addresses with those words, tho.

 

[Tokiwong]

A slim male high elf, with tanned, swarthy skin, and long silken almost golden hair sauntered out onto the balcony taking in the guests already present, he gives a cultured bow, before sizing up his fellows. His clothes are of modest quality, well at least to him, but it is apparent he spends much time with his looks, and smells of jasmine, with just a hint of cologne.

He flashed a smile, and brushed his hair back from his fair face, it was aquiline and perfect, with nary a blemish to mark his skin. His eyes were as dazzling, as they were intense, and his demeanor was that of nobility, or at least a well to do house.

The elf introduced himself with a flourish of motion, speaking in perfectly articulate elven, “Evening, fellow Sentinels, I am Dais Argyn Fel’talen second son of the great house Fel’talen, and a minstrel of some repute.”

He eyed the human female with a gentle smile, “Milady,” he continued in elven having heard her speak just before he came in, “they say that elves produce the fairest maidens, but I must say whoever speaks such has lied to me. For surely your beauty makes the Moon itself jealous.”

Dais adjusted his mandolin, and tightened the strings, tuning them. He took a seat on the balcony overlooking the city, and played a soft melody to add to the mood of the evening. Allowing his agile gingers to dance over the strings of the mandolin with practiced grace and skill.

He looked up to his fellows, as he played a soft haunting melody, engaging his captive audience and adjusting his rhythms as needed, playing various traditional songs of peace. But never did allow his eyes linger too far from the delicious creature that was Eshe’ri…

 

[semmarin]

Telas enters the terrace hesitating at first, not sure what his new companions will think of him. As he moves out onto the balcony he glances up and offers a smile to his companions that have already gathered, and greets each of them in elven. “I am Telas, former acrobat and escape artist of the troupe of awe and enchantment.”

After introducing himself, he moves over to lean against the railing opposite the human and her wolf.

 

[Thanee]

Eshe’ri blushes slightly, as she is being addressed by the handsome elf. She is not used to such overwhelming friendliness and quickly bows down in a more or less elegant fashion to hide her embarrassment. Her soft voice sounds a bit unsure at first, but she quickly picks up her courage again. “I am Eshe’ri... Eshe’ri Wolfchylde... it’s an honor to be with you.”

She then looks down to her wolf companion and back towards the assembled elves, smiling.

“And this fellow here is named Scar.”

 

[Tokiwong]

“I am pleased to meet you Telas,” he says not even missing a beat as he continues to play on his well-crafted mandolin. He switches to a faster rhythm, as he looks to the wolf, “Greetings to you Scar, and to you as well Lady Wolfchylde,” he adds with his charming smile.

 

[Douane]

Quite aware of his own lateness, but still unmoved by the implications Essan'ner follows the page to their destination. With a rare smile stealing onto his face he remembers the shock the messenger displayed when he had told him that, despite the honourable nature of the summons, he would not stop his training session early.
On his approach to Nyrian's office the fighter within can't help but notice the inherent flaws and weaknesses that marred the city's defence. Essan'ner almost sighs in dismay at the thought of it's fate in future days, caught in the claws of a war which would certainly come here sooner or later.

Finally entering the terrace the impassive mask he perpetually wears on his face cracks and his eyes widen in surprise as he regards those already present. Essan'ner can't help but shudder as he wonders whether Commander Thanas has managed to reach beyond that grave of his and got him assigned to squad of misfits. He sneers inwardly at the presence of a wild one and, even more disgustingly, a human, only to be stopped by a thought which gives him comfort. The thought that natural attrition would soon take care of the all too obvious mistake made by whoever assigned this squad.

"Greetings," he growls at no one in particluar.

 

[Tokiwong]

He sneers inwardly at the presence of a wild one and, even more disgustingly, a human, only to be stopped by a thought which gives him comfort. The thought that natural attrition would soon take care of the all too obvious mistake made by whoever assigned this squad.

"Greetings," he growls at no one in particluar.

"Greetings to you," Dais replies respectfully, taking in the group of companions. Dais smirks slightly, at the elf's obvious irritation but says nothing content to see just how his companions react, and better understand the distinct personas in the group.