A Return to Faerun from Elben Aator

[silke_rahn]

The next morning Nedylene awoke and begain to ready herself. Her companion Ulrike along with her older adopted daughter Delia got the children ready to travel. Then the five members of House Rahn trekked downstairs to the common room. There they met up with the rest of the group of surface dwelling Ilythiiri or Drow to the humans.

"Good morning everyone," said Nedylene. "Hope your sleep or reverie went well. We'll get started after as we break our fast."

[Adian Novar]

Wherever Adian had gone during the night, he had come back bathed and well-outfitted. The hood and scarf remained in place, with the addition of a soft cloth over his eyes to protect them from the glare of the daylight. His clothing underneath had been exchanged for a very finely woven mail, unquestionably a combination of surface elf and Ilythiiri work, with plates at the shins, shoulders, and elbows and a white tabard over it, capped off with a pair of bracer-gauntlets sheathing his forearms. Slung on his back was the traditional weapon of the faith: A four-foot long bastard sword.

Since Adian was only a little above five feet himself, the effect might have looked comical. On him, however, it seemed perfectly natural.

Though he looked a bit tired around the edges, he perked up noticably at the mention of food. Even though his armor the sound of his stomach taking notice was audible.

"I was told to expect to trade coins for food out here," Adian said. "But I confess I have little experience with money. Would this suffice for our morning meal?"

He held out his hand for inspection, displaying a fistful of silver with two or three coins of actual gold among them. From the serious look on his face, it was unlikely that the youth had any experience at all with trade or wealth.

[silke_rahn]

Nedylene looked at the coins the young Drow Paladin showed in the palm of his hand. She nodded then spoke, "I think you have more than enough. Nice thing is House Rahn has the coffers to finance this whole journey so Adian you won't have to dip into your purse as yet. We are an old Noble family of our race. Six of our generations ago we returned to the surface in a reverse exile. Over the last two to three millinea we worked with the local populations where we settled. Of course in those days we were called by our Ilythiiri name Vrinn. I changed the name of our branch to my human step-father's family name to signify a rebirth."

Nedylene took a breath. Then paid the Innkeeper the coin that covered the tab for the party of Ilythiiri and mix of non-Ilythiiri of their group. She then joined with the rest of the party at the long table they used for dining the night before. She noticed the stares the party of Eilistraeean Drow and their allies got, but that was to be expected. Not many would be expected to see even one Drow in their lifetimes, but last night and today a party of a few dozen stayed the evening at the Inn and were very well behaved despite the tales of the race.

"Anyway Adian we decided early on that due to our race's reputation on the surface to break the stereotype. We of House Vrinn worked for the betterment of ourselves and our neighbors. We still sought power, but instead of seizing it we strove to earn it. So during our time on the surface we helped a mixed race village to be founded. That was Morn's Forge named for the blacksmith, weaponsmith, and armory located in the village. Our village's population was a mixture of Ilythiiri, Wood Darthiiri, Moon Darthiiri, Humans and some Halflings. Of course for us the advent of Half-Ilythiiri and Half-Darthiiri in our population was not a surprize. When you have an openly mixed population such blending is preordained."

Nedylene then gave a prayer of thanks to Eilistraee and her allies for the bounty of the morning's meal.

"Don't wait on me now people eat." Then Nedylene smiled.

"Adian as I was saying we lived for six generations on the surface after we left the Underdark. Thus I am surface born so I don't suffer so much when I am out in the daylight. Though to be safe I wear a wide brimmed hat or a hooded cloak when I walk about."

"Yet I digress, I was telling way House Rahn does not worry about our expenses when traveling. Well we invested in many trade caravans over the millinea. With frugal spending habbits we built up the wealth of our House. By working with rather than against our neighbors we established ourselves as a surface Noble House of Ilythiiri too."

"In fact we built our relationship with the Darthiiri, the Rivvin, and other Kivvin near us that when troubles came we sided with our neighbors. In fact when Luskan made war on Neverwinter, My sisters and I went as part of my mother's levy of troops to the Lords' Alliance Army. That and our helping Waterdeep in their recent crisis with the Underdark caused the Underdark branch of our family to find us finally."

Nedylene ate some bites fruit and pastries as she spoke.

"Akordia, our cousin several times removed in an attempt to rize in stature in the society of Menzoberranzan attacked Morn's Forge and Vrinn Manor. Her daughter even killed our mother for whom I was named. Silke and I witnessed her killing mother and rushed to help only to arrive too late."

Then she drank some of the tea from a pot placed on the table.

"After the destruction of our home holding on the road between Yartar and Everlund we moved some of our people to holdings near Waterdeep and another near Llorhk. The rest of us looked for a new place far from the reach of our Underdark branch of our House. That is how we wound up establishing ourselves on the distant island of Elben Aator. From the sea lane maps this island is about half-way between Faerun and Meztica. It lies south of Everseeka and west of Faerun."

"On Elben Aator the Underdark is closer to the surface than it is under even here on the Sword Coast. So the Lolthian Drow are closer and activily cause more trouble for the surface populations of the island. Thus they have laws that wind up sending even Eilistraeean Drow into their branch of the Underdark. I have visited Menzoberranzan once of twice, but the outpost city of Szith is not Menzo. It is a dusty, dank, and dark in all ways town terrorized by four ruling families. On of the things I am going to talk with Qilue' about is the progress I am having establishing a community of Eilistraeean Drow at Lunar Temple. The city of Szith however is our biggest thorn in our side."

Nedy ate some more of the fruit on the table.

"Szith is the Lolthian dominated city of Elban Aator. The houses that rule there are the Mori'Hyanda, the Morcane, the Dev'lin, and the Kor'ali. They dominate and terrorize the Shebali or common Drow of Szith. The worst are the houses of Mori'hyanda and of Kor'ali. Both are very fanatically devoted to Lolth."

She then drank some more tea.

"The reason I bring of the Houses of Szith, is that I would like some advice on how to let the Shebali of Szith know there is another way to be Ilythiiri and to live."

[Adian Novar]

After the initial prayers Adian virtually attacked the food in front of him, eating like someone who hadn't seen food for days. Somehow, though, he managed to inhale his breakfast without looking rude or crude.

He listened intently to Nedylene's story, nodding here and there as she spoke of her travels and her adventures. When she spoke about the death of her mother Adian's eyes bacame abruptly moist. Slain by a relative...he could not comprehend it.

"I am sorry to learn of the death of your mother," he said, his voice tight. "Such a loss must have been...I do not have the words.

"I regret to say that my own past is nowhere nearly as interesting," he said as she finished. "In fact, this is my first time out on the surface. Until now I have never been far from the Promenade. I was raised by the Handmaidens, and the notion of any one of them being taken away..." He shook his head, not wanting to think very hard about it.

"I have no House that I know of outside of the Promenade," he said. "Houses mean little there, as many have rejected their places of origin for the song of the Dark Maiden. Nevertheless it is an honor to be in the company of such a noble family.

"As for Szith...Lady Veladorn could cause the entire city to embrace Eilestraee merely by walking its streets," he said with complete sincerity. "She can help you easily, and she will be most interested in hearing your stories of places so far away."

[Arya Baenre]

Kaeli enters as Nedylene says her story, stumbling down the steps in a hurry. Her hair, tousled and uncombed, hangs near her face in dark golden curls, swinging as she walks towards them without much grace.

She covers her mouth, hiding a yawn, and sits down beside Nedylene as she tells her story, staring at the table rather distantly as the drow mentions the death of her mother. She looks up at Adian as he explains a little of his past, then reaches out for food, slowly taking in the information given, as well as the delicious breakfast, but not saying a word to anyone about her past.

[Adian Novar]

Adian glanced at Kaeli as she sat down, then did a double-take. And stared in amazement.

[i:111lskpg]Golden [/i:111lskpg]hair?

He could feel his face burning, so he shook his head as if to clear it.

[i:111lskpg]What had we been talking about?

Right. Going home.[/i:111lskpg]

"If we set out this morning, we can reach the first of the shrines shortly before midnight," he said.

[Arya Baenre]

{OOC: something wrong with golden hair? }

She winced slightly as she heard the time-frame and ran her hand over her eyes, trying to rub the sleep out of them, readying herself for another sleepless night.

"I suggest we leave soon, then. The merchants should be opening up their stores by now - we should leave before it becomes too crowded."

She glanced at the rest, looking for agreement as she finished her small meal.

[Adian Novar]

(OCC: He's never seen it before, and didn't notice it the previous night because he had other things to think about. And, of course, he's a teenaged boy. )

Adian nodded and increased his eating speed slightly. The meal in front of him quickly disappeared.

"At your command, my Lady," he said to Nedyline.

[silke_rahn]

Nedylene smiles at the two young Drow then she finishes her breakfast. She notices that her children, all half-Drow, were ready to go. Delia the Ranger, Bard, and now Harper Agent she adopted when Delia was twelve. At twenty-two Delia was a beautiful half-Drow woman. Ingrid and her twins were now about twelve themselfs and they showed all the signes of being a beautiful cross between the Ilythiiri and the Sun Elf. Their father had been a Rogue and other less savory vocations, but he had been a very handsome elf. Elfie, the other girl of Nedylene's triplets was a promising warrior, even at twelve. Her son was busy watching one of the mature Ilythiir warriors ready his gear for their trek.

Nedylene then looked at the Darksong Knight Ulrike Himmelstochter, a survivor of an assassination attack on House Rahn some years back. Ulrike though the daughter of a Drow male Bard that followed Eilistraee, followed her human mother's vocations and religion. Ulrike was a Dawnbringer or Paladin and a Dawnsinger or Priestess of Lathander the Morning Lord. The Daughter of Heaven as she was sometimes called was always the professional soldier and had come to breakfast readied for travel and possible combat. Now Lady Ulrike was taking up her dirty dishes and walking them to the kitchen so the wait staff of the Inn's tavren would have an easier time.

Nedylene smiled again as she watched the local Eilistraeean Drow ready themselves for their journey. She noticed that Kaeli and Adian looked as if they noticed each other for the first time ever. [i:1tktea7x]Ah to be so young again.[/i:1tktea7x]

"Ok is everyone ready for our journey this morning?"

[Adian Novar]

Adian nodded and rose to his feet quickly. He quickly crossed the floor to the door, wondering why he was suddenly so nervous. He had lived his entire life surrounded by beautiful drow women so that couldn't possibly be the problem, surely.

Unlike the previous night, Adian was seen and noticed by the morning patrons, many of whom got quickly out of the armed and armored Drow's way with varied looks of astonishment. This was followed by more stares at the company he was with.

The stares only increased as Adian nearly collided with the door frame as he tried to avoid another startled patron.

[i:3hvtnku4]What is wrong with me?[/i:3hvtnku4]

Unwilling to face anyone after such an embarassment, Adian quickly headed for the stables next door.

[Arya Baenre]

She grinned at Nedylene, traces of her sleep disappearing for a moment. She yawned again, lifting her hand up to her mouth and turns to watch Adian as he stumbles his way past, one eyebrow raised. Turning back to Nedylene, she tilted her head quizically, "Did he have less sleep than I did?"

She stretched out and got to her feet, slinging a pack over her shoulder, and looking at the rest of her group, who rose in turn.

'We're ready, Miz Rahn."

[Adian Novar]

Outside, Adian had retrieved a medium-sized horse from the stables and was loading the saddlebags and riding gear on to her. The horse was a dark grey mare, mature and well accustomed to the ways of the road. She stood calmly as the young Drow distributed the weight of the supplies that had sustained him until now, noting with equine approval that he seemed to know what he was doing.

Finally he double-checked the straps and clasps. Everything was in order.

"Well, Dusk, I'm guessing the children will take to you quite well," he said, brushing her coat as they waited. "The three of them should fit alright in the saddle, and spare them a lot of walking."

Dusk turned her head and stared at him in a wary sort of way. Her entire frame seemed to suggest a single question.

[i:2pp9v4js]Children?[/i:2pp9v4js]

"Don't look at me like that," Adian said, continuing to brush. "They strike me as well behaved, so you don't have a thing to worry about."

*Snort.*

"Be that way, then," Adian said. "You'll see."

[silke_rahn]

Nedylene and Ulrike gather up the horses rented by Nedy for House Rahn. Her teenaged half-Drow childern and her twenty-something half-Drow adopted daughter took up their horses and mounted them. Ulrike mounted up. Next Nedylene did. The horses were just normal riding horses not trained war horses so the Rahns all wore standard travel clothing. Yet Nedylene, Ulrike, and Delia wore leather armor over their traveling clothes and were armed with weapons easily used from horse back.

Nedylene looked around the gathered band of Drow bloods and smiled. [i:1jkkfm01]We have finally made a start, a positive start, for our return to the lands of light.[/i:1jkkfm01] Nedylene noticed that even the local Drow showed a mild pride in their accomplishment. The followers of Eilistraee were doing with the tools of cooperation, charity, and kindness what the other Drow that followed the rest of the Drow Pantheon failed to do with intimadation and force.

"Ulrike someday the rivvin and other kivvin will see us that follow the Dark Maiden and her allies as partners in the future of this world. For now though we should be warry not to bring the ire of our neighbors down on our people. We will need to be involved in the affairs of the Surface Kingdoms and Cities if we want to gain our welcome and maintain the gains we have made to date."

"Yes Lady Nedylene, however let us not count what is yet to come as having happened yet. We need to be aware of the dangers that are present while we work to improve our situation in the world. I suggest we work here on the Sword Coast to improve our people's relationships with the Lords' Alliance and the City - States of the regions between the Spine of the World and the Cloud Peaks. Even in the Silver Marches and the High Forest. Menzoberranzon is not going to stand by as we build a new Ilythiiri culture on the surface. You may have stopped the underdark branch of the House from attacking our holdings both on Elben Aator and here on Faerun, but that won't keep the Great Houses like the Baenre from seeking to either stop us or to cause us harm."

"Ulrike, we can't let them dictate how the rest of us live. They only see fear as the way to power, but that kind of power is fleeting as is the satisfaction gained from it. The power we weild is that of people working together for the greater good regardless of the consequences. Our power will last after we are long gone and our hope is that our descendants will use what we bequeath to them wisely."

Nedylene looked at the Half-Drow Ranger that lead the escort sent from the combined colonies of Drow to escort her to the meeting of the High Priestesses of the Dark Maiden. He then waved his hand in a motion for everyone to move out.

[Adian Novar]

Adian kept his head slightly lowered as they headed out. The daylight's glare was painful to him despite the cloth protection over his eyes, so he tried to keep his focus on the road immediately ahead. He would have to rely on the group's guide to warn of danger, at least until nightfall.

Every once in awhile, though, his eyes drifted to Kaeli's golden hair. Never before had he seen the like. Yes there were other peoples in the Promenade besides Drow, but none of them had looked like this.

He forced his focus back to the present. The next shrine was a short step off the road some miles away, and the group was moving more slowly than he had alone. It might take them an extra day to reach it. He said as much to the ranger.

He also kept an eye on the three children. They would need particular protection should some sort of trouble break out...though it was unlikely now that they were an obviously armed and armored group.

To pass the time he began to sing softly, a clear tenor. It was a song often sung in the Cavern of Song, usually at the tail end of a difficult day.

[i:2n49xok6]"I hear the voice on the wind
And I hear you call out my name

Listen my child you say to me
I am the voice of your history
Be not afraid - come follow me
Answer my call and I'll set you free

I am the voice in the wind and the pouring rain
I am the voice of your hunger and pain
I am the voice that always is calling you
I am the voice and I will remain

I am the voice in the fields when the Summer's gone
The dance of the leaves when the Autum winds blow
Never do I sleep throughout all the cold Winter long
I am the force that in Springtime will grow

I am the voice of the past that will always be
Filled with my sorrows and blood in my fields
I am the voice of the future
Bring me your peace, bring me your peace
And my wounds they will heal

I am the voice in the wind and the pouring rain
I am the voice of your hunger and pain
I am the voice that always is calling you
I am the voice and I will remain "[/i:2n49xok6]

[Arya Baenre]

She followed Nedylene out, her own group carrying horses that were paid for. She leapt onto her own, the others following suit, and started off, riding close to the front of the group.

She kept her hood pulled away from her head, being the only full-blood surface elf in the group, and able to stand the glare of the sun. It glanced off the golden hair that framed her pale face, from which two pointed ears protruded, clearly showing her heritage to all around her.

An extra day.

She frowned slightly as she heard this piece of information. Another day with no sleep. This wasn't enjoyable. Sighing softly, she turned around, glancing at the rest of the combined groups.