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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Knightfall" data-source="post: 2225755" data-attributes="member: 2012">PRELUDE: THE ALLIANCE (PART II)From the Journal of Bactra Redwind, son of MinonusThe City of Onaway:It has been four days since we came out of the tangles and into the city of Onaway, proper. However, classifying Onaway as a “true” city would be a mistake. The inner wall that protects against the dangers of the tangles is little more than a row of thick wooden stakes and the “city” currently takes up only a third of the area surrounded by the ruined, outer walls.Yet, these Onans continue to exist here fairly comfortably, due to the protection of the tangles, its cultivators, and men like Bren. They refuse to give into the disaster that always seems to loom above their heads. To mark a point, it isn’t the size of the useable land that makes Onaway great, it is its people. Still they are quite isolated behind their tangled maze and many of their people will resist allying with outsiders.Bren didn’t have much trouble leading us to and pass the garrisons and inner wall. The guards, cultivators, and militia see him as one of the leaders of the Tangle Rangers. Yet, as we moved out of the rugged streets near the edge of the tangle, his word held little to no weight. Soon he was forced to report back to duty by his “superiors” and we were brought before the Senate by a group of elite guardsmen. We had to surrender what was left of our armor and weapons, as well as agree to have our wrists “peace-bonded”.Basically, the guardsmen tied are wrists and hands together and strung a silk rope between us as they marched us through the, much cleaner and safer, interior streets of Onaway up the marble steps of the main Senate building. They sprayed us down with cold water and made us change our clothes into what could be called little more than a large bolt of cloth draped and tied onto the body.I thought Dabuk was going to hit something by the look on his face.We faced the Senate as companions and did not let them divide us or humble our spirits. Garth spoke for the group and as diplomat for the Eastern Shores. He words were gracious but firm, which the Onans seemed to respond to. The Senate agreed to hear the petition for alliance and the headman of the Senate, a human named Than LaMarche, officially welcomed us to Onaway.All went well, even after Hougwarth was brought into the city “peace-bonded” in chains, a day later. He had several local Onans with him that he had fought alongside during what has become know as the Night of Fire. They spoke for him, telling of his great strength and honor in fighting the ogre hordes alongside them.I was glad to see that he was all right and I have even more respect for him than before. Dabuk still teases him about the time we first met, and how he dropped his sword in the dirt after a longwinded introduction. News of the vonakyndra spread like wildfire throughout the small, half-ruined city and Hugh has found himself swamped with questions everywhere he goes, which he answers with his usual zeal.Garth has spent almost all of his time speaking with the Senate and privately with Lord LaMarche. Things are progressing even slower than Bren had foreseen. The Senate was divided down the middle. The old hard-liners insisted on Onaway not becoming involved with us easterners, while the younger, more liberal senators saw great potential in having allies beyond the confines of the Wild Plains Region.Garth has yet to become discouraged.Thessa feels out of place in the human city, and she has noticed that she draws almost as much attention as Hugh, regardless of her small stature. The Onans have never seen a forest gnome before and many of them haven’t even heard of the gnomish race. Thessa, as a result of all the attention, rarely strays from Mesik’s side or my own, when the hairfoot is off making maps of the city.One of the favors that Garth agreed to was offering Mesik’s services in helping the Onans map out the “inner city”, as we have come to call it, although that appellation doesn’t really describe Onaway’s layout. Regardless, Mesik has jumped at the chance to map out the twisting mess of streets that is Onaway. There wasn’t a Cartographers’ Guild in the city before our arrival, but if Mesik has his way there will be before he leaves.Dabuk and I have also received our fair share of stares and comments by the Onans. It seems these people don’t meet elves with favor. The Onans blame “all” the elves of the Great Forest for a great deal of the destruction that happened throughout the Wild Plains Region during the First and Second Ogre War. Supposedly the silver elves, and my people, were suppose to come to the west’s aid. What a silly, and very human, notion!As a result, Dabuk has taken to spending as much time with Bren as he can, which means he’s spent most of his time learning the way of the tangled maze and sharing his own ideas with the Tangle Rangers. I, however, have found solace in the Hall of Records and Library of Onaway. The history and writings of the Onans aren’t substantial but their record keeping is quite organized for a people who were originally nomadic, living off the land of the Wild Plains…</blockquote>

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