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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 2677292" data-attributes="member: 143">Site was down during my usual post time. Here you go:* * * * *Chapter 477   The face of every elf in the Arbor Hall in the moon elf community of Aldair Kelalei was creased with worry and exhaustion.  Many outsiders commented that elves often did not display their emotions outwardly, but that could not be said of those gathered here, clearly concerned about the dire threat to their people. Dannel sat quietly in a low chair fashioned out of a single curving slab of wood, and listened to the discussion going back and forth between the elders of the community.  Eldren had been a prominent speaker, and Jannae had added some words as well, but few had even acknowledged him.  He recognized many of the leaders of the community, who appeared unchanged to his eyes; he’d been gone almost sixty years, a great deal of time in the world outside, but to elves decades were just small increments in the long span of flowing time. “The mythal in Bryth’an Torgul has begun to surge unexpectedly,” a gray-haired elf who looked ancient even by his race’s standards was saying.  He was Phelan Tarin, and while his body looked frail, all but absorbed by his copious blue robe, he was one of the most powerful archmages ever to walk the forest paths of the Wealdath.  Oddly, Dannel found himself reminded of Cal when he saw him, although outwardly there was little in the way of similarities between them. “What of the guardian?” a lean elf clad in mithral chainmail queried. An elf clad in green robes decorated with an intricate leaf pattern came forward.  “The Green has been disrupted throughout the western Wealdath,” said Harin Alindrela, High Priest of Rillifane Rallathil.  “I have attempted to contact the ancient one, as has master Tarin, but the disruptions caused by the wakening of the mythal block all magic in the region of Bryth’an Torgul.”“So the baelnorn is fallen, or is himself corrupted by this surge,” Eldren said.  “Do we have any idea of what caused this calamity?”Alindrela and Tarin shared a look, but neither had an answer for him.  “It could have been many things,” Alindrela said.  “The mythals are of an elder age, and not fully understood even by the wisest of us today.  Their power is… unpredictable.”“Think of Myth Drannor,” Tarin said abruptly.  That place was well known to elves across Faerûn, and from the looks that passed around the gathering the reminder was not a pleasant one.    “There has been no word from our scouts?” another elf asked. “They just… vanished, into the wood,” Eldren said.  “We have heard nothing at all from the region beyond Korul Ulgor, since the assault.”“Have there been other sightings in this part of the wood?”A silver-haired elven woman named Thalia Oliades, clad in the simple brown tunic of a senior druid, shook her head.  “The druids have set up a line of watchers—plants, animals, and elves—along the frontier of Kelalei to the west.  Dark things move in the wood beyond that line, but nothing yet has penetrated deeper, as far as we can tell.  But beyond, the Green has become silent to us.”A general disquiet had developed, as the limits of their knowledge became more stark.  Finally, there was a long silence, and it was Dannel who finally broke it, coming to his feet and drawing all attention to him. “Well then, we’ll have to send a force to Bryth’an Torgul, to deal with the threat at its source.”“You have chosen to be an outsider, Dannel,” Eldren began, frowning, “It is not your role to…”“Oh, do shut up,” Jannae said, cutting him off.  “I love you, dearest, but you’re wrong; Dannel is one of us, and you saw him at Korul Ulgor.  And you saw what we’re up against; we need all the aid we can get.”Eldren clearly bristled at the admonition, but he held his tongue. “We have come to the same conclusion as you, Dannel Ardan,” Alindrela said.  “But the danger will be great.  The power of the mythal is beyond mortal comprehension, and its disruptive power is such that our arts may be of little avail to the elves we send.”“Steel is still steel,” Eldren said, simply.  “And an arrow will still fly straight regardless of whether it bears enchantments.”“A small, fast, stealthy force might be best,” Dannel said.  “But you should still have a contingency, in case we fail.”“Word has already been sent to the other communities via magic and by messenger.  If necessary, we will fall back to the eastern wood, and prepare our stand there, at a place and time of our choosing.  Farther from the mythal, the power of our foes will be weaker.”“Evacuate Aldair Kelalei?” Eldren said.  “I did not know of this.”“With the grace of the Seldarine, it will not be necessary,” Alindrela said.  “But we must be prepared.”“Then we should begin at once,” Eldren said.  “I already know who I want on my squad; most of them should be here in Aldair Kelalei.”“Time is short, but we need rest, and time to make preparations,” Dannel said.  “And our enemies may be stronger in the darkness.”“It’ll be dawn in about five hours,” Jannae said.  “We should be well on our way by then.”“We will grant you what magical aid we can, both divine and arcane,” Alindrela said. “And we can see that you are transported swiftly to the edges of the mythal’s power,” Oliades, the druidess, added.  “But from there, you will be on your own.”</blockquote>

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