Destiny of the Valenar

[ShaggySpellsword]

Your people are camped on the southeast edge of the Blade Desert, two-days ride from Taer Shantara, headed to a meeting place in Zephyr Keep. This morning, before the warband has begun preparing for the day's ride, the horns of the watch blow four short blasts. The call of the Keepers it has been named amongst the Valaes Tairn. There will be no riding this day.

As you all come forth into the gathering circle outside the cheif keeper's tent you notice the rest of the band watching you, whispering behind your backs.

The Chief Keeper of the Past of your warband, Shyr Cydi, approaches each of you in turn and delivers the same message.

"Today the warriors will construct the tystol os eindri cer and build up the ancestor fire with-in it. Your day to contact your ancestor has come, and you must prepare in the way you see fit. At sunfall, come to the ancestor fire, and the journey that will make you a full member of the warband will be made clear to you."

OOC: [SBLOCK]As Valaes Tairn youth you all know that the way you spend this day will largely determine your success or failure in your adult-hood rite of passage. The Tystol os Eindri Cer is an elven building that doesn't have a good translation into common. The best translation (that does this important structure very little justice) is "Coming of Age Hut."[/SBLOCK]

 

[Mista Collins]

Once hearing that she will be entering the tystol os eindri cer, Eliseri bows and heads off to spend time contemplating what she is about to go through. She knows of the importance of today, and for her to succeed, she must do what is write. Gathering her gear, she wanders off away from the camp. Sitting on a rock in the desert, she calmly sits, her thoughts drifting towards what is to come.

 

[Primus]

Well’Xix left the Keeper’s circle with a feeling of dread clutching his heart. He knew that Gala’, the Horse Lord would not be pleased with him. He seemed to frighten the horses just by going near them, and his skills with the scimitar were laughable.

A single word slipped forth from his lips as he walked, a word that burned with malignance. A symbol, the perfect symbol to express that horrid word, burned onto a rock near his foot. The rock shook as he passed and exploded, the force of the word far too much for it to bear.

The young elf had no idea what to do to prepare for this obviously doomed meeting, and he eventually decided on pacing the scrub near the camp as a way to pass the time and the worry. As he walked that same word kept slipping from his tongue, destroying rocks, bushes, and even a small tree in his consternation.

 

[Shieldhaven]

Kindric is no more eager to face his patron than Well'Xix is. The normally loquacious elf falls grimly silent. First things first, he thinks, and a bowl of koumiss becomes his boon companion. A straw-stuffed dummy is the next guest at the party, followed by all the knives, darts, and javelins that he can beg, borrow, or steal. As he descends into a grim haze of intoxication, he practices his aim. His accuracy grows slowly worse over the next few hours, and his last thought before drifting into slumber is, I hope you enjoy our hangover, old man.

 

[tyrlaan]

Nialan Valera

"Oh, glorious day," thought Nialan. "Finally the greatest of days has arrived! After years of study, meditation, and prayer, I will be honored with the chance to contact the First Keeper! I can feel myself tremble with anticipation, but I must maintain an aura of calm. And I must prepare..."

Nialan returns to his quarters and seats himself in front of his small personal shrine to the Keepers. He carefully lays out various scrolls that cover the great histories across the floor in a deliberate fanning and circular pattern. He then lights several candles and begins his day of meditation and prayer.

 

[ShaggySpellsword]

The sky blazes with pinks, oranges, and reds: The Blade Desert at it's finest. As you arrive at the large hut made of canvasse, scrap wood, and dug earth with smoke billowing out of a hole in the roof, the tystol os eindri cer, you notice the Keepers of the Past of your warband in a circle, waiting for you. Nialan arrives first, closely followed by Eliseri. Well'Xix arrives just before the sun has left the sky completely and finally Kindric stumbles into the circle of Keepers just as the last traces of the glorious sunset leaves the awareness of the surrounding elves. As the dusk settles, Shyr Cydi steps out from the hut, stands in the doorway, and becons you come toward him.

"You are to enter the hut and light the torch of your ancestor from the great fire burning in the center. You are to go to one of the four rooms of the tystol os eindri cer and set alight the Shrine of Glory erected there in your ancestor's honor. Enter reverie, and find the great memories of your ancestor that will guide you to your destiny. When all is done, leave your shrine, and come tell us what you have seen."

Shyr Cydi steps aside, smiling at the four of you, and gives you access to the building.
OOC:[SBLOCK]As you enter the building there is a short hallway that leads to a center room. A great bonfire blazes in this room, the smoke billowing through a hole in the roof. There is an unlit torch hanging on either side of the entrance you just walked through, and two torches hanging on the wall on the other side of the bonfire. The torch hanging to the left of the door has two empty quivers tied to the top. The torch hanging to right of the entrance has a bound scroll tied unto it. The torch hanging on the far wall, to the left has a mask that only would cover the eyes, with glass covering the eyeholes. The final torch has hanging from it a single arrow, covered in black pitch. Next to each torch, there is a door, the entrance hung with thick skins soaked in water.[/SBLOCK]

 

[Mista Collins]

Stepping forward, Eliseri lets a huge sigh of relief go. So, it has begun. She thinks to herself as she takes the torch near the two empty quivers off the wall and lights it from the fire in the center of the room. Entering the door near these quivers, Eliseri sets the Shrine of Glory alight, and kneels. Breathing heavily, anxious and nervous to find the memories of her great ancestor, Eliseri enters reverie.

 

[Shieldhaven]

Now that he's faced with it, Kindric begins to show a hint of propriety. He jerks his chin up, fighting his pounding headache, and enters the tystol os eindri cer with a measured step. After scanning the room and noting all of the ancestral symbols present, he approaches the black arrow. Regarding it for a long moment, he thinks, Today we learn the truth of us both, Rejar. He takes the torch and lights it in the central fire. The soaked skins he pushes aside, and inside Rejar Grimbane's Shrine of Glory he touches flame to tinder.

As he drifts into reverie, he whispers, Rejar Grimbane, father of my line, yours is the path I fear to tread.

 

[tyrlaan]

Nialan Valera

Nialan walks with a calm deliberate pace towards the torch upon which hangs a scroll. Upon reaching it, he carefully unties the scroll and passes through the associated doorway. Curiosity almost gets the better of him, but he manages to stop himself from opening the scroll.

 

[Primus]

Well'Xix hangs back. The others are all certain in their choices, but the warlock is filled with uncertainty. One by one the others leave, taking the torches leaving the last for him. The mask.

Well'Xix slowly, uncomfortably, approached the mask, his face contorted in lines of doubt. He removed the mask with one hand and lifted the torch with the other, staring at both as if he'd never seen such things in his life. With a loud exhalation of breath, he turned and walked through the flaps into the chamber of the flame.

Kneeling before the pile of tinder, Well'Xix bowed his head as he ignited it with his torch. "Oh sacred ancestor, I call to you." he muttered, slipping into the reverie of the Ancients.