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<blockquote data-quote="Lylandra" data-source="post: 7538845" data-attributes="member: 6816692"><p><strong>Breaking down</strong></p><p></p><p>We offer the eladrin to accompany the team tasked with delivering the prisoners to Sawyer as we fear there might be more attacks coming from the agents of the Mad King. Also, this would provide us with an opportunity to take a closer look at the forsaken Covenant Enclave where we might find more evidence on what happened there. </p><p></p><p>When we finally arrive at the Covenant, we are both pretty much shocked by the aftermath of what must have been an invasion. We find signs of combat everywhere, strains of blood and trampled gardens. And then there is this eerie silence on top of it all with the only noises coming from the jungle birds and the wind in the trees. Auryn wanders aimlessly through the remains of the enclave: human housings, enhanced by druidic and arcane magic, empty working benches and stables. She's pretty much shaken thinking about all those who must have been killed or captured during the attack.</p><p></p><p>“How could they've been so... naïve?” she whispers quietly when Carlyle returns back to her after getting his own impression of the enclave. </p><p></p><p>“They had so little protection here, in the wide open forest. How could they... how could they let all these girls, these women, live like this? When I wasn't allowed stepping outside my enclave without at least a small squad? I, a properly trained hitiko? I understand the good intentions behind the Convenant, but this enclave should have been a small fortress instead of... an open village.” </p><p></p><p>As her voice trembles as she speaks and she still seems unable to regain her focus, Carlyle decides to intervene before Auryn gets even more miserable. He calmly states he's worried that seeing all of this might be too much for her. He fears she might lose her clarity as she lets whatever happened here get too much under her skin and takes personal responsibility where she wasn't involved at all. </p><p></p><p>He explains that all these citizens chose to live this life willingly, trying to create something new, trying to live free from being sheltered all the time. He adds that maybe not every eladrin woman wants to be accompanied by a “small squad” every time she wishes to see the outside world as this pays a heavy toll on her personal freedom. Then he mentions that maybe the high status traditional eladrin society places upon their women may just contribute to everyone else seeing them as treasures to be won. </p><p></p><p>“Just think about it that way: Maybe not every woman wishes to be a princess placed on a pedestal”</p><p></p><p>While Auryn can follow Carlyle's logic to some degree, that very last point completely ticks her off.</p><p></p><p>“So that's what I am? A princess on a pedestal?! I'm just doing what's necessary to ensure my people's survival. I'd sacrifice everything to let Elfaivar be reborn. Do you honestly think we eladrin chose to let half our population be slaughtered by the Malice? Do you think these last five hundred years have been roses and sunshine? Protecting the few surviving women at all cost has become a cornerstone of our survival, and that means training each and every one of them until they become nigh invincible. We hid away, so that no one knew we were still out there, so how would they even know of our 'high status'? Besides, it isn't our fault that my sisters and I are born with attributes some rich idiots find beautiful and desirable. Idiots, who lack the proper education to know they cannot simply take what they see.” </p><p><span style="color: #008000"></span></p><p><span style="color: #008000">(Ouch, that backfired completely. At least she turned from shaken to raging. But she's never lashed out against Carlyle like that. Nor has she ever felt as personally insulted by him. Hurt, maybe. But not insulted. And yes, this whole affair is very personal for her. </span></p><p><span style="color: #008000"></span></p><p><span style="color: #008000">She grew up believing that she was just doing her part to revive the eladrin race and that most other eladrin lived like her, even if the different enclaves surely had different rules and traditions. Auryn believed in working towards a communal goal with steadily growing numbers and a fair progress. And despite the fact that she ran away because she felt she wasn't enough and wanted to see more of the world, she'd still sacrifice everything to help her people. All while believing that everyone else in Elfaivar was doing the same. </span></p><p><span style="color: #008000"></span></p><p><span style="color: #008000">Seeing the harsh reality made her feel utterly alone and foolish and it was as if all of her life, all of her hard work had been for nothing. And this is why Carlyle's comment hurt her even more. </span></p><p><span style="color: #008000"></span></p><p><span style="color: #008000">Also ain't it funny to see how each of them is a stern traditionalist when it comes to their own culture? Carlyle wasn't much amused when he feared Lord Vantrys might be solely interested in men and not eventually produce an heir and Auryn thinks letting women weaker than herself live outside a secluded enclave to be dangerous carelessness. Okay, she also has first-hand experiences on what may happen, but still.)</span> </p><p></p><p>As soon as Carlyle realizes that he just put oil to the flames, he tries to paddle back and says that he didn't mean to insult Auryn or diminish her experiences. He just wanted to make a point that not every woman will and should necessarily be a piece in that grand “Elfaivar reborn” plan as that should be her own decision. Carlyle still insists that Auryn needs to cool her head a bit before he continues traveling to Sawyer with her as the last thing both of them want or need is causing an eclat with an overly spirited statement towards the governor.</p><p></p><p>“Don't worry”, she replies roughly, almost growling, “I may be angry and upset, but I'm not stupid. My mood will be level-headed enough for <em>basic diplomacy</em>” </p><p></p><p>So we continue our journey to Sawyer and the dark clouds hanging between Carlyle and Auryn seem to dissipate, albeit very slowly. After a while, we reach a fortified frontier town and muse that this will most likely be Sawyer. So we do ask one of the many busy people to lead us to the governor's office as we have important prisoners to deliver to her. </p><p></p><p><span style="color: #008000">(We didn't find any Tom or Huck Finn though. Kate wasn't there either.)</span></p><p></p><p>As soon as we tell the local clerks about our relationship with Matriarch Kaealys and the attack on Eshaya's enclave, we are soon brought to a rather small office where two women are just about to talk about strategies on how to gather more information about the henchmen of this self-proclaimed King. </p><p></p><p>Kaealys instantly recognizes her small granddaughter who has grown so much since the last time she saw her. We introduce ourselves and then tell the two women all about the most recent attack. We also mention our prisoners who just gave us a bit of information about the attack on the Covenant Enclave and guess that this Mad King might just have a full battalion of loyal deva, most certainly of eladrin heritage. </p><p></p><p>Regarding Vardanis himself, we call him a madman who sees himself as ruler of all of Elfaivar, just like the Mad Kings of the old horror stories did. On top of that, this one just formed an alliance with a mighty fiend, most certainly a powerful individual from the days of the demonocracy. From our own inquiries, we guess that his "Enlightened" battalion might just be 100 individuals strong, so Sawyer will most certainly need reinforcements of some kind should they wish to free the captured citizens. Oh and we'd also help on this mission. </p><p></p><p>Governor Roderick is glad for all of the information we had to share with her. She confesses that she already sent a message to Risur to ask for help, and she had hoped that we were sent by King Aodhan to support her and Sawyer. With these words, she shakes our hands again and says that she always wanted to shake hands with true heroes of Risur – and of course she has read all about our heroism during the Colossus attack. </p><p></p><p>We reply that we're sorry to disappoint her, but we're actually on a vacation and only came to Sawyer because we need to talk to Kaealys. Still we'll surely help her as soon as she has a feasible rescue plan.</p><p></p><p>“Then Macdam might be our only hope.” Roderick sighs. “Crazy technologists, but they're still our closest neighbors”</p><p></p><p>As neither Auryn nor Carlyle have heard much about this “Macdam” before, both just look at each other in mild confusion. Roderick soon realizes our lack of knowledge and explains that this island-”state” is actually a risuri settlement that was established during the 2nd Yerasol War when Risur banned all technology. So risuri technologists exiled themselves to Macdam and created a safe harbor for all like-minded individuals. Right now, Pemberton Industries is one of the industrial power-houses of Macdam, a company that focuses much on automatons. </p><p></p><p>So we decide to wait for Macdam's reply to Roderick's plea for help and use the spare time to do what we originally came for: To talk to Matriarch Kaealys. We explain that we really need her wisdom regarding Kasvarina and other, more private affairs and the Matriarch leads us to her temporary office in Sawyer. There, she expresses her surprise that we actually took the long way from Pallita to Sawyer just to meet her. She's also astonished that “tiny Auryn” has grown so much that she offers her help in solving the problem of the Covenant. </p><p><span style="color: #008000"></span></p><p><span style="color: #008000">(apparently grandmoms are all the same, regardless of race.)</span></p><p><span style="color: #008000"></span></p><p>Kaealys then explains that the collaboration with Risur in creating the Covenant is an important, dear project for her. A project she invested lots of time and effort into and which she cannot allow to fail just because some crazy king believes it to be heresy. So she's quite sorry that she cannot be of much help right now as her mind is continuously occupied with saving the Covenant. Auryn replies that she totally understands Kaealys' troubles and she promises to so everything she can to find out what happened to the Covenant's citizens. </p><p><span style="color: #008000"></span></p><p><span style="color: #008000">(Look who just found something worth fighting for again.)</span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lylandra, post: 7538845, member: 6816692"] [b]Breaking down[/b] We offer the eladrin to accompany the team tasked with delivering the prisoners to Sawyer as we fear there might be more attacks coming from the agents of the Mad King. Also, this would provide us with an opportunity to take a closer look at the forsaken Covenant Enclave where we might find more evidence on what happened there. When we finally arrive at the Covenant, we are both pretty much shocked by the aftermath of what must have been an invasion. We find signs of combat everywhere, strains of blood and trampled gardens. And then there is this eerie silence on top of it all with the only noises coming from the jungle birds and the wind in the trees. Auryn wanders aimlessly through the remains of the enclave: human housings, enhanced by druidic and arcane magic, empty working benches and stables. She's pretty much shaken thinking about all those who must have been killed or captured during the attack. “How could they've been so... naïve?” she whispers quietly when Carlyle returns back to her after getting his own impression of the enclave. “They had so little protection here, in the wide open forest. How could they... how could they let all these girls, these women, live like this? When I wasn't allowed stepping outside my enclave without at least a small squad? I, a properly trained hitiko? I understand the good intentions behind the Convenant, but this enclave should have been a small fortress instead of... an open village.” As her voice trembles as she speaks and she still seems unable to regain her focus, Carlyle decides to intervene before Auryn gets even more miserable. He calmly states he's worried that seeing all of this might be too much for her. He fears she might lose her clarity as she lets whatever happened here get too much under her skin and takes personal responsibility where she wasn't involved at all. He explains that all these citizens chose to live this life willingly, trying to create something new, trying to live free from being sheltered all the time. He adds that maybe not every eladrin woman wants to be accompanied by a “small squad” every time she wishes to see the outside world as this pays a heavy toll on her personal freedom. Then he mentions that maybe the high status traditional eladrin society places upon their women may just contribute to everyone else seeing them as treasures to be won. “Just think about it that way: Maybe not every woman wishes to be a princess placed on a pedestal” While Auryn can follow Carlyle's logic to some degree, that very last point completely ticks her off. “So that's what I am? A princess on a pedestal?! I'm just doing what's necessary to ensure my people's survival. I'd sacrifice everything to let Elfaivar be reborn. Do you honestly think we eladrin chose to let half our population be slaughtered by the Malice? Do you think these last five hundred years have been roses and sunshine? Protecting the few surviving women at all cost has become a cornerstone of our survival, and that means training each and every one of them until they become nigh invincible. We hid away, so that no one knew we were still out there, so how would they even know of our 'high status'? Besides, it isn't our fault that my sisters and I are born with attributes some rich idiots find beautiful and desirable. Idiots, who lack the proper education to know they cannot simply take what they see.” [COLOR="#008000"] (Ouch, that backfired completely. At least she turned from shaken to raging. But she's never lashed out against Carlyle like that. Nor has she ever felt as personally insulted by him. Hurt, maybe. But not insulted. And yes, this whole affair is very personal for her. She grew up believing that she was just doing her part to revive the eladrin race and that most other eladrin lived like her, even if the different enclaves surely had different rules and traditions. Auryn believed in working towards a communal goal with steadily growing numbers and a fair progress. And despite the fact that she ran away because she felt she wasn't enough and wanted to see more of the world, she'd still sacrifice everything to help her people. All while believing that everyone else in Elfaivar was doing the same. Seeing the harsh reality made her feel utterly alone and foolish and it was as if all of her life, all of her hard work had been for nothing. And this is why Carlyle's comment hurt her even more. Also ain't it funny to see how each of them is a stern traditionalist when it comes to their own culture? Carlyle wasn't much amused when he feared Lord Vantrys might be solely interested in men and not eventually produce an heir and Auryn thinks letting women weaker than herself live outside a secluded enclave to be dangerous carelessness. Okay, she also has first-hand experiences on what may happen, but still.)[/COLOR] As soon as Carlyle realizes that he just put oil to the flames, he tries to paddle back and says that he didn't mean to insult Auryn or diminish her experiences. He just wanted to make a point that not every woman will and should necessarily be a piece in that grand “Elfaivar reborn” plan as that should be her own decision. Carlyle still insists that Auryn needs to cool her head a bit before he continues traveling to Sawyer with her as the last thing both of them want or need is causing an eclat with an overly spirited statement towards the governor. “Don't worry”, she replies roughly, almost growling, “I may be angry and upset, but I'm not stupid. My mood will be level-headed enough for [I]basic diplomacy[/I]” So we continue our journey to Sawyer and the dark clouds hanging between Carlyle and Auryn seem to dissipate, albeit very slowly. After a while, we reach a fortified frontier town and muse that this will most likely be Sawyer. So we do ask one of the many busy people to lead us to the governor's office as we have important prisoners to deliver to her. [COLOR="#008000"](We didn't find any Tom or Huck Finn though. Kate wasn't there either.)[/COLOR] As soon as we tell the local clerks about our relationship with Matriarch Kaealys and the attack on Eshaya's enclave, we are soon brought to a rather small office where two women are just about to talk about strategies on how to gather more information about the henchmen of this self-proclaimed King. Kaealys instantly recognizes her small granddaughter who has grown so much since the last time she saw her. We introduce ourselves and then tell the two women all about the most recent attack. We also mention our prisoners who just gave us a bit of information about the attack on the Covenant Enclave and guess that this Mad King might just have a full battalion of loyal deva, most certainly of eladrin heritage. Regarding Vardanis himself, we call him a madman who sees himself as ruler of all of Elfaivar, just like the Mad Kings of the old horror stories did. On top of that, this one just formed an alliance with a mighty fiend, most certainly a powerful individual from the days of the demonocracy. From our own inquiries, we guess that his "Enlightened" battalion might just be 100 individuals strong, so Sawyer will most certainly need reinforcements of some kind should they wish to free the captured citizens. Oh and we'd also help on this mission. Governor Roderick is glad for all of the information we had to share with her. She confesses that she already sent a message to Risur to ask for help, and she had hoped that we were sent by King Aodhan to support her and Sawyer. With these words, she shakes our hands again and says that she always wanted to shake hands with true heroes of Risur – and of course she has read all about our heroism during the Colossus attack. We reply that we're sorry to disappoint her, but we're actually on a vacation and only came to Sawyer because we need to talk to Kaealys. Still we'll surely help her as soon as she has a feasible rescue plan. “Then Macdam might be our only hope.” Roderick sighs. “Crazy technologists, but they're still our closest neighbors” As neither Auryn nor Carlyle have heard much about this “Macdam” before, both just look at each other in mild confusion. Roderick soon realizes our lack of knowledge and explains that this island-”state” is actually a risuri settlement that was established during the 2nd Yerasol War when Risur banned all technology. So risuri technologists exiled themselves to Macdam and created a safe harbor for all like-minded individuals. Right now, Pemberton Industries is one of the industrial power-houses of Macdam, a company that focuses much on automatons. So we decide to wait for Macdam's reply to Roderick's plea for help and use the spare time to do what we originally came for: To talk to Matriarch Kaealys. We explain that we really need her wisdom regarding Kasvarina and other, more private affairs and the Matriarch leads us to her temporary office in Sawyer. There, she expresses her surprise that we actually took the long way from Pallita to Sawyer just to meet her. She's also astonished that “tiny Auryn” has grown so much that she offers her help in solving the problem of the Covenant. [COLOR="#008000"] (apparently grandmoms are all the same, regardless of race.) [/COLOR] Kaealys then explains that the collaboration with Risur in creating the Covenant is an important, dear project for her. A project she invested lots of time and effort into and which she cannot allow to fail just because some crazy king believes it to be heresy. So she's quite sorry that she cannot be of much help right now as her mind is continuously occupied with saving the Covenant. Auryn replies that she totally understands Kaealys' troubles and she promises to so everything she can to find out what happened to the Covenant's citizens. [COLOR="#008000"] (Look who just found something worth fighting for again.)[/COLOR] [/QUOTE]
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