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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Eluvan" data-source="post: 1847850" data-attributes="member: 24812">Systar sees no visible Dragonmarks, or any other markings, on any of the others.  Vel looks rather taken aback by the harsh exchange between Massif and Celebren, but it doesn't take much to restore his friendly grin as a more genial atmosphere returns to the party. When a story is mentioned, his eyes light up immediately. 'Why, I think I might just be able to dredge up something for you all...' he says, his smile broadening. He pauses for a second to allow a slightly more peaceful atmosphere to settle before he continues. 'You know, most people think a lifetime last forever. Until the very moment before their existence is snuffed out, they never really believe that they ever won't be around. It's something I think about sometimes and it's true, it really is. But it's not true. A human lifetime goes by in the wink of an eye. Even an elven life's pretty short on the grand scale of things. Thing is, there's some other natural assumptions that go with the belief that we'll always be around. It makes people assume that things are static, too. They don't see things change all that much - the way people live's always been the same as far as they're concerned. They don't think about what came before that.  But you know, it wasn't all that long ago that things were pretty different. Word is, Humans didn't even exist in Khorvaire until about four thousand years ago. And four thousand years? That's just about nothing. There are dragons out in Argonnessen that still remember back that far. No, humans came here from across the sea, from lands out to the East. Sarlona.' Sorren: [spoiler]You think he catches your eye for a brief moment at this point, but it is only an instant and he gives you no sign, leaving you wondering if you imagined it.[/spoiler] 'Well, just why they left ain't something I can tell you. That's something to think about, no doubt about it, but I don't think anybody could tell you for sure these days.  Real mystery, that one. But one tale got handed down from those days, at least. It was as they were coming across the sea that it happened. That voyage - must have taken some courage, huh? No airships in those days. No water elemental-bound ships. No soarwood even. Just a whole bunch of little boats, probably just planks tied up with rope. Journey must have taken 'em days - maybe weeks. Weeks, sitting on a plank of wood in the middle of a sea. And all you've got for encouragement is a couple of high-ups telling you that they've been this way before and they're pretty sure there's something right over that horizon. We're not talking navgigation as we know it here - we're talking standing on the shore, pointing a finger and saying "that way", and everybody just pushes off the boat in the general direction and hopes.''Well, a few of those boats went off course. Not surprising. They couldn't all stay within sight of each other. But just one boat, that's all we're concerned with. Somewhere out in the middle of that sea, nearly at their destination, maybe a few leagues out past the Principalities, they lost the other boats and got swallowed up in a fog. And in the middle, they found an island. Just a little thing, but it didn't look natural. All made out of big blocks of stone, put together to form a kind of cave that seemed to float on top of the water. Well, they went in. They would, wouldn't they? And inside, the tunnel just went on just about forever. They sailed their baot right into the cave mouth, it didn't have a floor, and the tunnel went on and on. Way longer than it could possibly have been judging by the size of the thing from the outside. And right at the end of this bloody long tunnel, you know what they found? Just a message, scrawled into the stone in big letters that they'd never seen before, but somehow understood - 'what are you seeking?'  Well, the tale gets kind of confused after that. Only one lived to tell it, woke up on the shore of Orgalos with that question burned into his mind for the rest of his days. He couldn't remember what his answer was, but apparently it was good enough. No one ever saw any of the others again.' Even Samea had apparently been listening to the story, as her book was lying open on the table, face down, and she was looking intently across at the half elf telling the tale. Vel seemed to have drifted somewhat, focused on the story, but he seems to come back to himself at this point and the ubiquitous grin returns to his face. 'So, what do you think? That the kind of thing you were after? Who's going next?'</blockquote>

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