"Both for the future and the present, that seems wise," the Dragonborn concurred with the town's true power, rising to his feet and heading to join Luminmorn and the bulk of their human companions, save the one with whom Kriv had travelled considerably of late. He spake at his approach,
"It is good to see each of you once more. I trust your sojourns have been interesting and instructive? Luminmorn, I hear excellent tidings of your recent endeavours here on behalf of our group and in the service of Clan Rockspeaker."
He glanced over at those to whom Luminmorn had beckoned, inclining his head in a vaguely human-style acknowledgement to Daran Edermath, aware of his interactions with others of their group but having had little direct contact so far, before settling on the elf. "I hight Kriv Norixius. I trust you are well?"
She nibbles some of the food on her plate as she listens to the Luminmorn, her mouth dropping open as she hears about the manor.
"The manor is ours?"
So she shares ownership of a mine and now a manor house. This adventuring could be very lucrative, assuming one survives of course. She is well aware of the high risks they had undergone. She remembers the manor and the chasm below it. Then she turns as Daren and his companion join them, followed by Kriv, Soldar and she can see Ryssa approaching too.
She greets the half-elves warmly, nods and smiles to Kriv and Sildar and gives a little wave to Ryssa as she draws nearer.
Last edited by Neptune; Tue 24/09/1917:00 UTC. Reason: FIFY: Gypsy meant "Sildar"
She nods politely to each member of the group as Luminmorn introduces then. Upon closer inspection, Jaliera can see that this Zhuirentel is not a half-elf like Daran, but a full elf, and possibly one of the most unique elves she's seen. Her skin is not simply white, but blue-white, giving her an otherworldly, somewhat ethereal appearance.
She is dressed in a black blouse and pants with red leather boots, arm and shoulder guards. A black cloak, tucked into a red leather corset falls almost to the ground behind her. Her hands are clad in elbow length red leather, fingerless gloves. Around her neck is a fine silver necklace bearing a red ruby. Around her waist is a weapon belt bearing a sword on one side and a Wand and dagger on the other. Bern can also see the telltale calluses on her fingertips of an archer.
Turning to the one who addressed her, her lips turn up in the semblance of a smile. "Well met, Master Norixius. Indeed I am well. Master Luminmorn has spoken quite highly of all of you. It is indeed a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
He bowed to Zhuirentel when he was introduced. She was not like any elf he had met before and based on her attire, she was someone of importance. He wondered if she was the reason they were here. Well, he would find out one way or the other at some point.
Seeing Bern bow to Zhuirentel, he will do the same too as he politely replies, "Hello Zhuirentel." Standing back up from his bow, Davroar has a hard time not staring at the elven woman for she is unlike any elf he has seen. Not that he has seen many elves in his young lifetime, but his curiosity gets the better of him as he asks, "Where are you from?" Perhaps where she is from might give a hint as to her racial heritage.
She smiles softly at the bows, waving them away with a casual hand. "No need for that." She says.
At Davroar's question she quirks an eyebrow. "A curious question, and not one easily answered. Of late, the City of Silverymoon, where I am a member of the Spellguard. Prior to that.....," she pauses, as if searching for the proper words. "...the place is called Sildëyuir. It is not of this plane of existence."
He admired her 'candor' in explaining the 'recent events'. But that did not really address the issue at hand. But ... at least for now ... he was willing to allow her to 'get to the point' in her own time.
She does not try to hide the confusion on her face.
"If I might be so bold?"
She pauses for just a moment.
"What is the Spellguard?"
It sounds like something to do with magic so she is interested. But she is not even sure how to phrase the next question.
"Not of this plane of existence..?"
She settles for repeating the phrase, thinking that it might not show her ignorance as much. But her mentor taught her that you only find things out by asking questions.
Turning to Jaliera she smiles slightly. "The Spellguard serves as the city of Silverymoon's protectors, in conjunction with the Knights in Silver. Before the Spellplague", a brief frown crosses her face, "we kept watch over the city's Mythal and protective wards. With the Mythal now destroyed we are more proactive in our role as guardians of knowledge in the North."
To the question that follows she pauses, then asks a question in response. "Have you knowledge of the Feywild?"
She continues, responding to Davroar's line of query.
"Luminmorn has told me quite a bit about you and your exploits. The Warrior", she nods towards kriv. "The Scout", a head tilt back to Jaliera. "The Warrior, Archer, Naturist, and Healer", nods towards the others in turn. "But not much about where you all come from?"
She blushes slightly.. found out.. before responding in a more open and honest matter.
"I know little of this world, nothing of any others. To be honest most of your other explanation meant very little to me. I'm sorry. I am trying to learn."
The scholar and historian (And, yes, warrior was also apt) weighed up the words from the elf, places and worlds, events and spells, digging up what he could of his knowledge of such things before replying.
So far there had not been anything that he felt needed his 'input'. And since he wasn't the most talkative in normal situations, he was quite happy to wait for questions to be directed his way.
He does not know much at all of the Spellplague other than some oral histories told by his tribes elders when he was a child. Davroar figures the Spellplague probably happened around the time of his great great grandparents. A time far removed from now, yet from the sounds of it Zhurientel lived through it. Not entirely unusual though since she is an elf. Much like Jaliera, his knowledge is limited about the events and places during the Spellplague so he does not inquire any further on that.
As to her questions he replies, "The Feywild. It's where the Fey came from right? My mentor told me a little about the Fey, mainly to be cautious around them." While they originated elsewhere, the Fey have been on this world longer than humans and Davroar was taught to be respectful to them. He also quickly adds, "Oh, and I'm from Narfell."
She frowned in thought and twisted a small lock of hair between her thumb and forefinger as she thought upon what she'd learned about the Feywild from Father Athelor.
Feywild Roll 1d20+4 = 16
Ryssa went on to tell the Elf what she remembered about the Feywild.
"Where the Fey come from. Yes. I suppose that is as apt and direct a definition as any. Though the planes overlap now, at least much more than they used to."
She pauses when Davroar mentions his own place of origin. "Narfell?" She looks at him curiously. "I, myself have never ventured so far to the East."
And Ryssa's knowledge of the Feywild isn't as deep as Kriv's of history so the following is sufficient:
"The Feywild, also known as the plane of Faerie, existed as an "echo" of the Prime Material Plane. It was from here that the fey originated, giving the Feywild its name, and it was also a place of unusually potent magic. Much of the elven or eladrin civilizations had their earliest roots here and abandoned remnants of their culture littered the landscape. Unlike the elves, however, who had all but abandoned the Feywild, some eladrin remained behind in the Feywild, most notably the "noble" eladrin. These eladrin still maintained strong kingdoms and citadels, in addition to the newly arrived citadels of Evermeet and Sildëyuir from Toril." ]
Luminmorn responded to Jaliera's comment, "Why yes! The manor was given to us before you all left. Of course it was barely there. The upper level was completely destroyed. But the foundation was solid. Wait till you see it now. I have much more work to do yet but after we get back from our short visit to the mines, you'll see for yourselves."
Kriv was able to explain much of the history that the eladrin woman had mentioned and it seemed that both Luminmorn and the grizzled warrior Daren had a good relationship with her. The others soon learned that she was already staying at the manor, as a guest of Luminmorn's.
The group continued to chat, much of it was small talk but there were some questions left unanswered. Most specifically were questions about what was to come next. This was just a visit to the mines; a ceremonial formality. While it was nice to be honored as they were, it was only that, ceremonial.
After a bit, the towns folk, those not too inebriated to do work, started to clean up the town square. The place becomes a beehive of activity. As the cleanup process began, a small contingent of townsfolk, led by the Rockseeker brothers, gathered around the heroes. Sildar says, "I think, if we're to get to the mines and return before dusk, we better head out now."
They all then set out for the trip which meant about three hours of travel one way, even with transport. Several horse drawn carts were supplied along with several horses. The heroes were offered a choice of riding in on a horse, taking a wagon or walking along.
There were about three dozen people in the group. Sildar led the entourage. Luminmorn also asked Zhu to come along. Sister Garaele insisted on coming along to consecrate the mines as the town's cleric and the Rockseeker brothers were all for the good fortune she promised. Halia would stay behind along with Daren Ederleaf and most notably absent was the townsmaster. At least a dozen other men and women stood out by the equipment they were bringing along. They hefted rock picks, hammers, sacks of pitons, rope and other mining gear. They were ready for work.
With regular townsfolk within earshot of the small group, few had been willing to bring up the question about the giants but the heroes had gathered near each other on the trek to converse with each other and there seemed to be murmurs in both Waterdeep and Neverwinter about the giants. Word had started spreading. The giants were suddenly very hostile and aggressive. By the wary look on the eyes of those miners, this was less of a ceremonial trip than an escort.
He listened to the 'discussions' and decided that anything more 'in depth' should take place 'behind closed doors' ... hopefully at what seemed to be their new 'home' in town.
He sighed inwardly when it seemed like they were going back to the mines ... rather than to their new residence. But to be honest, he would rather have 'taken his leave' and gone back into the forest.
He chose to walk. He was usually more comfortable waling than riding. He was uncomfortable with the 'entourage' ... being more comfortable in a small group ... preferably consisting of friends.
He listened to the ... 'discussions'. But from what he knew of giants, they were reclusive ... unless something caused them to not be. They =could= be allies in what ever was going on. All that he needed was for this group to not be 'confrontational' if the giants were encountered.
He waited for a break in the 'discussions' to suggest his 'plan' that any giants not be 'confronted' if encountered.
She thanks the human female for her blessing and finishes up the polite conversations just as the group of townsfolk arrive with wagons and horses. She accepts the offer of a horse, preferring to ride when she can, adjusting her bow and sword to slightly different positions that are more aligned to being mounted, then waits for the group to head on.
The Dragonborn was rarely more animated than when revealing ancient or little known lore, and he was happy to fill in the blanks for his companions. However, when it came to the ride down to the mine, it didn't take an an anthropologist to read the emotional state of the miners: Human fear was a pervasive stink, and there was enough wariness to disturb even the horses. Knowing what he did, Kriv kept his eye on the horizons and his ear open for the crack of broken branches: He did not expect an uninterrupted ride.
"You're not missing much", he dryly replies to Zhuirentel's comment about his homeland. Other than family and tribal ties that will forever bind him to Narfell, it is an unforgiving land and the subsistence lifestyle pales to what he has seen up to now.
Davroar was expecting the festivities to last right through to the evening, and is surprised to find that they are tasked to head out to the mines just as they arrived here. He does not complain though as the walk will do him some good to burn off the extra candied apples he ate.
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