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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 2661156" data-attributes="member: 143">Chapter 472The air was thick, musty, alive with the odors of life and growing things as Dannel Ardan made his way swiftly on foot deeper into the Wealdath Forest in northwestern Tethyr.  It had rained recently, and the thick blanket of leaves were still slick with damp, but the sure-footed elf had no difficulty making his way.  There were no tracks or trails in this part of the wood, nothing but an endless expanse of thick wooden shafts that seemed to go one forever as far as one could sense in every direction.  It had been six decades since Dannel had last set foot amidst those ancient giants, but the smells and sounds of the wood had catapulted him back.  It was a part of him, he realized, and no matter how long he had spent living in the world outside, working for the causes advanced by the Harpers, he had never really left it behind. The only detractor from his experience was that someone was following him.  He hadn’t been sure at first, his woodslore a bit rusty despite the two days he’d spent traveling through the woods since his arrival by means of the portal that had transported him hundreds of miles across Faerûn from the Forest of Miir.  The druids tending the fey crossroads warding the portal had been welcoming, recognizing something even he hadn’t seen in himself, a sense of belonging to this place. The forest was not without dangers, but Dannel had advanced in skill and power to the point where he had little to fear from common predators.  At one point he’d had to use an alter self spell to grow wings and fly high above a small pack of displacer beasts that had been more than casually interested in his scent.  The monsters had followed him for a time, but a few expertly-aimed shafts from his bow had persuaded them toward the task of choosing a new alpha to replace the one that had gone down with an arrow stuck in its brain. The elf came to a clearing, perhaps twenty paces across, with a cluster of boulders covered in moss gathered at the far end, shaped roughly like a giant who had sat down to rest and then gradually solidified into this permanent formation. Here’s as good a place as any, he thought, drawing his bow out of his magical quiver and stringing it in a single smooth motion.  He did not have to wait long.  There was no sound, no odor to betray the pursuer, but he knew that something was there.  Moving slowly, he drew out a long arrow and fitted it to his string. “You never paid heed to the lessons of woodcraft,” came a voice from the trees. Dannel lowered his bow, but kept one hand around the arrow, holding it in place against the string.  “I remember much,” he said, loud enough to carry to the still-invisible speaker. An elf appeared and stepped into the clearing.  Like many of their kind, his age was indeterminate, but he had a hard look to him, and he wore dark garments of green and brown in a pattern that tended to blend with the surrounding forest.  His tunic was bulky enough to suggest at least a chain shirt underneath, and he carried both a sizeable longbow across his back, and a slender longsword that he carried drawn at his side as he faced Dannel. “A child could have tracked you,” he said. “It is good to see you, too, Eldren,” Dannel replied, deliberately putting his arrow back into the spare quiver at his hip.  The other elf did not reciprocate the gesture.  “I appreciate the escort, but I think I can still find my way to Aldair Kelalei without your assistance.”The other elf frowned.  “You do not sense it, do you?  Truly you have lost much since you left, cousin.”“What do you mean?”“Darkness stirs in the Wealdath.  I suppose you would have found out soon enough, but there is still enough loyalty in the Ardan family to let one of its own stagger blindly into it.  Come with me—I am going to Korul Ulgor, and you’d be well advised to follow.”He strode across the clearing and vanished back into the wood, not waiting to see if Dannel would follow.  The arcane archer did, after a moment, and he had to hurry to maintain the pace set by the other elf.  Eldren did not seem amenable to conversation, and so the two moved swiftly through the woods for a good number of minutes before Dannel got exasperated and asked the obvious question. “What is the nature of the darkness you spoke of?” The elf shot him a look.  “I would have guessed that the first question would have been about our family.”“I know that Alindre has taken service at the elven court in Evereska, and that Olondril has… has passed Beyond,” Dannel said.  Letting more bitterness into his voice than he’d intended, he added, “I have not been so casual about keeping in touch with the doings of the Ardans.”“Grandmother might disagree,” Eldren said, but he did not offer further argument. “And my question?” Dannel asked, impatient. Eldren darted under a fallen log that offered only about three feet of clearance, leaving Dannel to fall behind as he negotiated the obstacle with more difficulty.  When he’d caught up, Eldren said, “Odd creatures have been spotted in the woods, seemingly part undead, part animated plant material.  They are very resistant to attack and difficult to destroy, but fortunately there have not been any apparent pattern or consistency to the encounters.”“Where do these things originate from?”“The arcanists and clerics are not certain, but some have suggested that they originate in Bryth’an Torgul.”“The ruins?”“You remember.  Good.”“I suppose a scouting party has been sent.”“A pity we did not have your incisive strategic acumen here before.  Yes, of course.  They have not returned, and attempts to scry the area from afar fail, of course, because of the mythal.”“Isn’t there supposed to be a guardian there?”“Have you spent so much time among the humans that you remember nothing of the history of your own people?  Yes, there was a guardian—a baelnorn of ancient power from a noble family of the Second Age.  No elf living today has communicated with him, however, so we do not know what role, if any, he may have in broader events.”Dannel digested that, and they pressed on in silence for some time further.  When it was broken again, it was Eldren who spoke. “Why did you decide to come back, Dannel?”“This is still my home,” the arcane archer said quietly, almost to himself.  But Eldren heard what he said, of course. Even running through the woods, there was a certain stillness around them, so Dannel was able to make out the faint telltales that indicated someone drawing near, from up ahead and slightly to the right of their current course.  Eldren had indicated no reaction, so he hissed out a warning, and again drew up his bow, slipping an arrow once more to the string. Eldren looked at Dannel’s sudden alarm and sneered.  “Calm yourself, cousin.  It is no enemy that approaches.”  But Dannel noticed that as the other elf turned away, a brief flash of concern crept into his features. The newcomer drew swiftly nearer, speed clearly overruling stealth in the manner of her approach.  But even so, by the time the stranger was close enough to clearly discern, she was nearly on top of them, her face slightly flushed with the exertion of hard running.  She was an elven woman, clad and equipped much like Eldren, although she wore strands of vegetation woven into her auburn hair, and carried a slender rapier at her hip in lieu of a heavier blade, like the ranger.  She was attractive, Dannel thought, and although her elven cloak obscured the sigil on the oak medallion she wore at her throat, he thought that she had the air of a priestess of the Seldarine, the pantheon of elven gods of Faerûn. “Jannae, this is my cousin, Dannel Arden,” Eldren said.  But the priestess barely spared a nod for the archer, worry obvious on her face as she focused upon Eldren. “The outpost at Korul Ulgor is under heavy attack,” she said.  “You are needed, at once!”</blockquote>

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