Rhiannon PNP Supplement

[Tilmamir]

Who is Randall?

In his own words...
scaring the Kobolds[sblock]
"Let me telll you about the time I scared a field full of kobolds. It went like this:

We were exploring this keep we had just found. It was a day or two into figuring out what all was in there. I had taken a bedroom for myself, as the past owner had not use for it. There was a chest there I could not open. I knew it was trapped, my friend found that out well enough when the fireball went off.

Anyway, That chest was nice. Solid oak, bound in iron straps, with good hinges on the inside.
So I thought to myself that perhaps there was something nice in it. And it must be valuable, to be trapped as well. It pricked my nature to let it stay there unopened. Well, 'trees break stone,' I was going to get in it that day, as the rest of my friends were poking around the keep.

I hauled the chest up and out over to the balcony wall. I looked to kake sure there was no one on the landing below, and I tipped it off. It fell and opened. Of course the fireball went off one last time as well.
Get this, my friends, the landing was shaped like a cave mouth. You know, balcony over the door, walls of the keep reaching out on either side. That fireball landed right at the perfect spot. KABOOM! The noise and the echo must have tripled as it pointed out over the fields in front of the keep.

AND, In those fields were the kobolds working the soil. At least they were before the boom. It took two days to convince them to come out again and pull weeds!

[/sblock]

TBD[sblock]
[/sblock]

 

[Gwaihir]

Gaithys Galanodel
Gaithys is an old -542- but friendly elf. He doesn't go out of his way to talk to anyone around him, but is always friendly when spoken to. He is well spoken and polite, sporting an large vocabulary, You get the impression that his demeanor may be superficial in the way of diplomats, and his eyes betray a primal intelligence that seems at odds with the quiet grandfather persona he carries. He is dressed very finely and wears jewelry even on this outing. The horse he rides is a magnificent charger, clad in dark green bunting and brown tack. Gaithys carries no weapon.

Galinden is absolutely devoted to him, even to the point of doting on him.

 

[Gwaihir]

Elmer

"Of Eire I know as much as any, though early church history is my area. Unfortunately there is not much we know of Eire before the fall. It remains cloaked in legend, perhaps by divine will. There has been nothing, so far as I know, that was recovered after the fall and precious little that survives from the eight ships. So far as the public knows of course, there were only seven ships, and that is the way it should remain, at least for a while longer. It is as you say, possible that other ships survived, but to my knowledge, no evidence of others has been uncovered. And the eight led by St. Rhian traveled together...

Dragons live a very long time, the exact lifespan is obviously unknown and would certainly very by species. But there are notations of dragons living longer than 1000 years. They are the longest lived creature that I have encountered.

The Dragon defeated by St. Angus was a collassal red dragon, according to those with more dragon lore than I. I am certain that Angus used the blade, Kestekken - Wrym Slayer, rather than Salixes blade, which would have been missing at that time.

If the sunderred elves are accompanied by Dragons, then we have a very large task ahead of us indeed." he concludes thoughtfully.

Callenthien

"I would be delighted to make the acquaintence of a centaur. Assuming Monsignor Epaphros can spare me. Do you think he knows much herb lore?"

Mielerian

So far as you know, He is chillingly accurate in descriptions of size, tactics, and look of black dragons. As well as the bite of thier acid breath. After the incident with the bear, he is ice cold toward you as well.

Galinden
Galinden is grim as any dwarf, still he seems willing to answer your questions.

"The elves of the dimwood are proud, but poor. The dimwood does not support our way of life as the northern woods once did -I'm told. Still we get by and brook no interference from the lesser races. The queens court is beautiful and Majestic, set high in a tree, but our people have only small hovels. I'm told that once elven youth led merry lives, now we are trained in the grim art of war. Still, with the return of the tree to Bastion, there is a new hope that we can soon return to the northern woods and begin to prosper again. That is why the Queen has agreed to this mission, I suppose, she hopes to secure the Church's aid in that return. Speak with Lord Gaithys, he will know how you can best aid us."

Salisha

When you and only you can hear her she tells you.
"It is the symbol of St. Quentin, an older one. You are not at all versed in the nuances of the Church?"

"I know you and your companions, Randall of Alderweg. Your faces and your deeds. Then church stands in your debt. I do trust you, so far as I trust any elf on this mission. But I feel this all will be in vain. Elven arrogance has doomed us to 400 years of war and I believe we will get more response to our questions from stones than from Elven nobility."

"It is good that you recognize me," she says, a smile appearing on her beautiful face. "You have more discernment than I would have guessed." She giggles. "We have a mutual aquaintance, a mage of great power."

Epaphros

"My dear Randall. When we get to the elven woods tommorrow, you will be lauded as a hero before the elves. This is right and proper. They expect to meet you, and have been briefed as to your many accomplishments. My charge to you is this: keep your ears open, perhaps you may be told something that we may not officially be told. I expect to be able to get the Queen to give the information I need, namely the location and identity of the sundered elves. But it never hurts to have a second option. Elis Blessings to you. We shall not fail."

 

[Tilmamir]

[OOC I thought Mielerian was the jovial one - Regitan the cold soldier... am I wrong?]

Mielerian
quietly, when not in public..."Mielerian, come now. It was only a joke... no harm done. I meant no harm, and was only showing off a little. Peace." Randall extends his hand.

appology accepted or not...
"I can certainly verify that you speak truely of the black dragon. I do not doubt your valor,or your encounter. I only hope there are just a few of the black beasts left. We killed two, and eight of their eggs. Perhaps you saw the one we encountered last week, the giant black with a saddle. I hope we can be friends enough to join in killing these evil terrors."



Salisha:
"Let's see, mages I have met: Ioun Kirdeer, long ago. Arcade Delsarrian, not a year ago. Felnoran. Perhaps a month ago. The Lady of Ruin, not two weeks ago.

Well, all of these are dead, a two by my actions. Salisha, were you perhaps with the mage
If it be Delsarrian, which I doubt, then I would fear you. But I do not.
Felnoran? If so, then perhaps you have been at Alderweg may time while I was there but unaware. Perhaps I even talked to you, but you were a bit like a cat, playing with us? "


Callenthien
"Callenthien, If you can come, I believe you will enjoy talking to Marzinious. However, he is not one for herbs or the like. And, he is homesick, I believe. Out of his home, and if he returned, it would be a thousand years after his time as well. But that is his story to tell. He like the stories of people here, to keep his mind active."


Galinden & Gaithys
"Thank you Galinden. I was raised in such a time - happy and free in the groves of the north. Fate, or perhaps Eli, destined that I would see the fall of our homelands. Fate caused me to sleep timelessly for four centuries. And, perhaps Fate will allow me to be there when we restore the forrests of our people are green again. "

"Gaithys, what can I expect tommorow as far as a reception goes? Am I to be shunned, as before, or will I be welcome among our people?

You and I must be of the same generation, even if I missed four centries in timeless sleep. I suppose I must have missed a large part of our people's troubles since moving south. What has happened with our people?

Why have we not stood to fight the blight in the North? I have replanted the Holy Tree, and my human and dwarven friends have made it as powerful as we could. Perhaps this symbol of races working together can bring us pride and hope again!

Have the sundered, [I shudder too at the thought of that evil clan] caused so much grief? Are the elves fighting to contain them and not let the rest of the world know of our tribal shame? The world knows of them already, as they have made themselves konwn. I have seen alternate futures with a time mage. I have lived in a world where the sundered win - the most likely possibility right now. Tell me how we can work together. What are your goals tomorrow?"

 

[Gwaihir]

[OOC I thought Mielerian was the jovial one - Regitan the cold soldier... am I wrong?]

No you got them right, but it seemed that you ascribed a meanness to M that I had not intended. Also, your "joke" seemed a bit over the top, like a prank gone wrong. Had we roleplayed this live, M proabably would have done his best to sink his sword into the bear.

Mielerian

Mielerian half-heartedly accepts your hand. "Peace, then." he mumbles and turns away.

 

[Gwaihir]

Salisha

"Your insight serves you well, Randall, most impressive. Tell me of you companion Callitheus."

Gaithys

"Oh dear Randall. You surely ran into a patrol with instructions to ward off all non-humans. You will surely be welcomed with open arms."

"As for the years you have missed, my friend, like all the other races, we to retreated before the hoards of the lizard men. Then tried to make the best life we could here in the foreign lands of south. It has been difficult with our spirits ever yearning, ever looking, yea, ever questing to the unforgettable homelands we left behind."

"I envy your optimism, young Randall. Hard and bitter experience has driven the optimism of youth from me. It is good that you have found friends of other races who are faithful. Sadly the same cannot be said for their brothers. The humans and dwarves deal always in duplicity. The halflings and gnomes silent. Trust them not Randall, for your friends may be true, but many of the rest are against us."

"If it is indeed the sundered that cause all this, then it will be a great day of mourning indeed. To have wroght so much destruction for what end? But what of the Lizard folk? They waged war against us, and what of the human secular and theocratic government? Where does their culpability lie? When we reach the elven court tommorrow our mission is singular: to get the agreement of the Church to finance the journey home and the rebuilding of our nation in the chosen lands north of the great peaks. Any aid you can give to this I will be humbly greatful."

 

[Tilmamir]

Salisha:
"So, you were the cat I talked with? Perhaps the woman I saw sitting next to Felnoran when I scried his position?"
...
"Let's see. Callithius is a good young man. He tries very hard to learn magic, and seems to be doing well. He suffers, though, without a mentor to teach him.
He is especially interested in magic which few, if any, living mages know. Visiting the archangel of time magic really captured his interest in time magic.

Loremasters and the rarest of books keep him interested. I fear he will struggle in vain in that line of thinking for a while. Hopefully he learns other magic to be useful as our adventuring partner.

If not, he is a good friend and knows enough to be helpful and successful in the mean time. He is a friend none-the-less and has been of great value to me in many a tight spot. "

Gaithys
"Well, Gaithys. I yearn for the return of our homelands and will work to that end, as I can. I will also help further the church's cause as well. Both goals, I believe, are similar.
The church - get rid of the threatening evil. The elves, help rebuilding the lands to the north.

I believe both causes go hand in hand:
- the church needs information to fight an enemy they can not see or find right now.
- the elves want to go to a free home, with no enemy at their heels.

That means the church wants to know the location of the cause of the evil in the world. If it is the sundered clan who is at the root of the evil threatening the world, I hope that information will be shared with the church. If there is evidence of another cause, or a deeper force behind the evil, may it be shared with the church. So the church needs the elves help, information.

The elves want to go home. But we need help to move back, restore the land, provisions for the time the land is recovering enough to grow food, and safety on our borders so we can not be distracted. There are things there that need fighting - like rock giants and at least one large dragon. There are other threats besides the now-extinct undead. So the elves need the church's help, money among other things.

But, the church can give up resources while needing them to fight an enemy that they can not see. The elves need the same enemy gone. And, both need to be friends."

Randall sits quietly for a few minutes.

"I do not believe the church was to blame for the war, or the destruction of our homelands. In fact, the opposite may be true. I have witnessed the church and its forces fighting to keep the blight and undead at bay to the north. And, while not directly responsible, the church has aided my friends and I in replanting the Holy Tree. While some in it may be corrupt, they are not as a whole, bad. Just as one clan of elves may be corrupt, we as a whole are not evil."

"I have spoken to the leader, the shaman, of the Lizard people. I believe that they were spurred on to war based on a prophecy of their destruction, unless they fought preemptively. In fact, the prophet may have intended to start the war. As for the lizard people now, they seem peacefull enough in their quiet valley in the far north. Perhaps as allies, they can help we elves as well."

 

[Gwaihir]

Salisha

Perhaps when we return from this expedition, I shall interview him. I could stand an apprentice."

Gaithys

"You bring many salient points Randall. I am not convinced however, until their actions match their rhetoric. We shall see what color thier standard truly is when we meet with the Queen this evening. Remember our goals Randall."

 

[Gwaihir]

Having traveled through the woods for most of the day, at lunch Galinden goes off ahead of the group to make the final preparations for arrival at the elven court.

When he returns, Gaithys addresses the group.

"In a few hours we will arrive at the elven court. We will be shown to quarters and allowed a brief rest. Then there will be a large banquet hosted by the queen. Tommorrow morning we shall begin discussions on how we can help the elves return to their ancestral lands. Elis grace to everyone."

Later in the afternoon Gaithys specifically speaks to Randall.
"Be prepared to tell your story to the queen. She is very young and new to rule. She may ask questions. You are ideally placed to help our people secure what we need from the Church - do not squander this opportunity."

 

[Gwaihir]

The elven court is a grassy clearing surrounded by large trees. The royal compound, from this angle, a large platform, sits nestled in the leaves of a massive tree high overhead. Many smaller buildings of elegant worked wood stand on the ground on the outskirts of the clearing. Several other small buildings are perched in the trees.

According to Gaithys, this area is not home to any of the Elven Houses. This area is reserved for the Queen and her court. The homes of the other elven peoples are scattered thoughout the woods over a 20ish mile radius roughly centered on this area.

The group, with the exception of Ambassador Gaithys and Galinden, is shown to a largish house on the ground. It is a nice house of rock and wood, nestled close to the base of a large tree. There are eight rooms with soft beds and a large parlor in which fruits and breads of various sorts have been placed on a silver tray. There is also a large room with a tile floor and a large sunken bath of steaming water. A wooden tray with oils and soaps are here as well. You are instructed to rest and refresh for a while until summoned to the the Queens house for dinner.

The Galinodels have presumably gone to their own home for refreshment.

As beautiful as all this appears, the sight pales in comparison to the elegant structures that Randall remembers from his youth. While the buildings are undeniably attractive, they lack the craftsmanship and artistic flair that the buildings of yore evidenced.