http://www.elvenorder.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl? http://www.eblah.com en http://www.elvenorder.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1277345938/ http://www.elvenorder.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1277345938/#num1
The road worn in the sand seemed to curl around the desert for hours before Joy reached any sign the desert had intelligent life. She eventually came upon a camp along the road, and the inhabitants appeared human at first glance. Curiosity won over reason, and Joy urged Nimrimbor closer to one of the wooden wagons. Young men and boys were scattered about polishing armor and cleaning weapons while armed guards stood at each end of the road. An armored man without a helm quickly approached the elf and bowed dramatically.

"Greetings lady elf," the man said, "What brings you to our camp?"

"I am investigating reports I've received about a war in this area," she replied. Joy didn't quite trust this man, but saw no reason to hide her motives. "Do you know anything?"

"Sure do." the man replied with a slight wink, "We call ourselves the Bane Chosen, and we've come here to the desert to eradicate the Ophidians for what they did to the citizens of Britannia a few years ago."

It was then Joy noticed the strange crimson color of the man's eyes. "I was there when the rogue faction of Ophidians invaded the cities," she said, "these have been nothing but peaceful before and since their Zenith Scion was recovered."

"They killed humans," he stated, "They must atone for that. We'll kill all those wretched snakes. You elves can either join us or get out of our way."

"Amin raton miqula orqu," She said with more venom in her tone than she ever remembered possessing. The white fur on her cu sidhe's back rose as she spoke in anger, but she turned him away from the camp and urged him to move further down the road.

Joy passed many more of the strange, armored men along the route. They seemed to take little notice of her, so she ignored them until she came to a tattered orange banner near the Ophidian Lair. Her green eyes widened at the horror before them.

Everywhere she looked there were people slaying Ophidians, and they were not all the Bane Chosen she met earlier. Some of these elves and humans were Britannian citizens, and it both saddened and angered her to witness such utter disregard for the virtues most of them claimed to uphold. Her thoughts were broken when a toppled Bane dragon rider crashed into them, knocking her from the cu sidhe's back.

Though he was off a mount, the Bane rider charged at the Ophidian Avenger that dismounted him, and the ferocious black dragon he rode joined in the attack as well. The reptile attempted to block the dragon with its giant bardiche, but fell to the sand with a screech when the rider impaled it with a spear. The man's dark eyes seemed to glow with satisfaction as he stood on the avenger's tail, and he reached into a pouch on his dragon's saddle to pull out a tiny polished piece of crystalline blackrock and swallow it whole like a medicine.

Joy managed to pick herself up off of the sand and command her cu sidhe to attack the Bane rider. The white canine growled as he pounced the unsuspecting man, but the human was skilled with a spear and fought back along with the dragon. Joy supported her companion by casting life-saving healing spells, and soon, both the black dragon and the black-armored man lay dead at their feet. Her work was not yet done, as the Ophidian still lay in a prostrate position nearby.

She chanted, "In Vas Mani," and focused her will onto the injured creature. As soon as she was done, it rose and stood for a moment as if slightly dazed.

"It savess uss," it said in a thin, hiss-like voice, "Why it ssavess uss?"

"Because your people don't deserve this, and some of us still wish for peace," Joy told it, "You should rest after being healed from that injury."

"Come with me," the Ophidian said. It slithered north to the run-down sandstone building they called a lair and into the archway that was once a door. It then bowed before another of its kin.

"Delphi, thiss human ssaved me," it said.

The one known as Delphi looked Joy up and down with intense golden eyes, "Why do other humanss attack uss and you do not?"

"First, I'm an elf," Joy said as she showed her ear-tips for comparison, "and second, I don't know why these people are attacking you. I wasn't expecting to see this sort of violence when I arrived to be honest."

"Why did you come here?" Delphi asked.

"One of our elven scouts is originally from Papua and learned of the conflict while visiting her relatives," Joy told him, "She reported it to me, and I came to investigate."

"The dark oness iss making uss fight them," Delphi told her, "We do not know why. They ssmell different from ussual humanss and it frightenss uss."

"They did not seem normal when I met them." Joy agreed, "The Bane had strange colored eyes, and I saw one eat what looked like blackrock capsule earlier. It seems they're inciting others to join them as well."

"Yess," Delphi stated, "Ssome ssmell ssame, but otherss do not. Elf have name?"

"I am Queen Joy of the elven city of Eldador in Britannia," she introduced, "Forgive me for not saying so sooner."

"I am Delphi," he said. He pointed to the Avenger she saved earlier, "That Krull and there Ttreshk."

"Nice to meet all of you," Joy bowed respectively. "But don't you have a queen also?"

"Yess," Delphi hissed, "Sshe iss hiding ssomewhere elsse."

"That makes sense," Joy said, "I don't know how much help I can lend you, but Eldador will try to aid you in fending them off somehow."

"You helpss uss defend our home?" Ttreshk asked, "Why?"

"No peaceful group of beings deserves to be wiped out of Sosaria after agreeing to peace when the Zenith was returned," Joy stated, "And when they get done with your people, they may very well moved on to attack mine. I want to prevent both from happening if possible."

The Ophidians were silent for a moment. "We welcomess your help," Delphi stated, "but do not betray our trusst."

"You have my word," Joy promised, "I must go inform my people of what is happening here, but I will return to help you fight the Bane."

"Ssafe travelss," Krull told her, "We will be here if we live."

Joy nodded, then walked out of the building to Nimrimbor, who was patiently waiting near the entrance. She situated herself on the giant wolf's back and cast a spell of recall from one of the many runes she carried. She sighed with relief when the cool sea breeze of Eldador ruffled her white hair, but she could not rest yet. She urged her mount from the outside of her keep to the tavern, and posted a notice of a meeting on its public bulletin board. Perhaps the remaining elves in the city would heed her request for help, but she would return to the desert regardless. ]]> Wed, 23 Jun 2010 21:18:58 Joy http://www.elvenorder.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1273678390/ http://www.elvenorder.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1273678390/#num1


Mesanna grew up as most any other Sosarian child with caring parents and lots of playmates around the city of Britain. During her thirteenth year of life, her parents sold their small farm and moved across the land to Skara Brae. They purchased a much larger farm, and Mesanna helped her parents till the soil for crops.

She was far from content to remain a normal farm girl, and at the age of sixteen began working at the
Shattered Skull tavern despite objections from her well-meaning relatives. She served food and all manner of beverage to tavern patrons until late, and then she walked home.

On one such night, Mesanna encountered a strange creature at the Skara Brae docks. It was a green little man-like thing with bat wings and a long nose.

"You, woman!" it squeaked, "Come over here."

"I'd rather not." Mesanna replied. She backed away carefully.

"I just wanna talk, girl. I need some help, and I think you'd be perfect for the job." It smiled, revealing
pointed teeth that weren't quite straight.

"Why would you need my help?" she asked.

"You see, some people played a mean joke on me, and I want to get them back. If you help me, you'll gain more fame than you could imagine."

"Go on," Mesanna urged. She was still not convinced.

"Here," it said as it handed her a jar of some black liquid, "This is magic paint makes everything it
touches turn dark and shadowed. The brush is also magic, and lets you paint anything with just a touch of the brush."

"What am I supposed to do with this?" she asked.

"There are some elves on this shard near dungeon Ice that rudely cast me out of their Thorn & Bow Tavern. I want you to paint that tavern and all of the buildings around it. Actually, while you're at it, paint as many buildings as you can find. If you do as I ask, you'll be making everyone smile at such a harmless joke."

"I see." She stated.

"I'll need that paint back after a month though," it said, "My boss would get irritated if it was gone too
long. I will wait for you here a month from now. The name's Gak, by the way."

Gak disappeared and left Mesanna standing there holding the jar of paint. She stuffed the jar in her pack and headed home for the night.

The next morning, Mesanna left for the elven city of Eldador at dawn. Along the way, she tested the paint on everything from trees to houses and was beginning to enjoy the sensation when her target became shaded in darkness. It was even pretty. It was getting dark by the time she arrived at the elven tavern, and to keep from being spotted, she came up with a brilliant plan. She dabbed the brush in the paint jar, then touched the tip to her own nose. Her body instantly became the same shadow color as everything else she had painted that day. It was a perfect camoflage in the darkness. The tavern-goers fled in horror as their drinking establishment turned black, and Mesanna giggled to herself as she continued to add paint to additional buildings.

Unfortunately, Mesanna's jollility was short-lived once the sun came up the next morning. She attempted to wash the paint off in a river, but no amount of scrubbing would remove the substance. She was forced to travel home in her shadowed state, and everyone she met along the way ran in terror - including farm animals. She found it exhilerating, and eventually started chasing scared mongbats with the paint for fun. From the mongbats, she moved onto bigger things until every animal or monster in miles was colored with shadow paint.

As one unfortunate young orc ran away mumbling, a high-pitched cackle erupted from behind Mesanna. She turned to find the imp from before.

"You humans amuse me so!" he wailed as he laughed, "Enchanted by something so simple as paint, and so easily manipulated!"

"How does it come off?" she asked.

"Well, for animals and buildings, a simple rainshower will do." he grinned widely.

"And me?" she asked, staring him down.

"It's permanent on humans!" a new fit of laughter burst from the imp's sickly green lips. "I tricked you
stupid human!"

"Is that so?" she inquired. "Do you want this paint back, then?"

"Eager to be rid of it, are we?" he did a mid-air flip, then said, "Of course I still want it back."

Mesanna opened the paint jar again and swirled the brush around once more. She jabbed the imp in the face with the paint-soaked brush. "There, you can have it back."

"Haha! It doesn't work on me!" Gak laughed.

Mesanna's rage grew, and with it came a burst of purple-colored energy directed at the little monster. The heart shaped explosion burned the foul creature to a pile of ash.

The darkness Mesanna painted on Sosaria eventually washed away, but she stayed the same color from then on. Having learned her lesson in dealing with pranks, she turned her new found magical abilities into something useful. She spent the remainder of her teenage years honing her skills, and the cursed black paint was purified into enchanted pigments.]]> Wed, 12 May 2010 10:33:10 Joy http://www.elvenorder.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1272675526/ http://www.elvenorder.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1272675526/#num1
The paladins scrutinized every move the young mage took on her way to Yurelius's research station, and some followed her as she expected. The aging historian glanced up from his work to regard his visitor.

“Can I help you with something, Miss...?” he asked.

“Zeefy-chpa.” She stated calmly. “I want to see the statue.”

Yurelius's left eyebrow shot up, “Why?”

Xylia bit her tongue. She was more subdued than before, but she still had a temper. “That Zeefy-chpa has a similar function to something the elves encountered in the past. It's extremely important that we know if it's another one of those objects.”

“Fine, but you may not touch it.” Yurelius warned. He pulled a white drop cloth off of the counter to reveal the statue beneath.

Xylia approached cautiously and examined the statue in detail. She assumed it was smaller than the actual Zeefy-chpa, but it was a very detailed sculpture. It looked like serpent with odd gears and a single opening at the mouth just like the purifier. Her fears were now realized, but she wasn't sure just what to make of this threat. If it was a living purifier, it could potentially be stopped. And if Omo Trovi's soul could be restored after being taken by this thing, did that mean the former elf queen's soul could be restored also?

Restoring one elf wouldn't heal all of the pain she had caused Eldador, but it couldn't hurt. She recalled back to the elven lands without even a word to Yurelius. She traveled with haste in the lithe form of an ostard until she reached the queen's keep. The queen's guard reluctantly showed Xylia inside where she waited patiently for an audience with Joy. ]]> Fri, 30 Apr 2010 19:58:46 Xylia Lythari http://www.elvenorder.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1272388786/ http://www.elvenorder.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1272388786/#num1
"Do you have any information on a soulkeeper?" She asked it.

"At title assigned to various Daemons to perform the ritual. When a daemon dies, the title is reassigned." It repeated automatically.

"Ritual?" Joy asked.

"Using a daemonic tool disguised as a stone serpent named Zeefy-Chpa, the soul is removed." The machine spat out.

"What do you know about this Zeefy-chpa?"

The overseer was silent for a while, but complied with the information request. "The daemonic tool used to remove souls, hence the sub-title of Voidsnatcher."

"And Puwiw-chpa?" She asked finally.

"Data storage not accessed. Not authorized." it said. All of the blinking lights and beeps stopped as soon as the sentence completed.

Joy sighed and recalled away to Skara Brae in Felucca to speak with Dru Wrath at Sapewin Harvest. The woman had a keen ear for information, and fortunately the Sapewin wines were in great enough demand that she had plenty of customers to talk with.

"Dru?" Joy called as she entered the building. The smells of grapes and herbs filled her delicate nose.

"Yes, dear." the woman answered, "Come in and sit down."

Joy took a seat on a barstool, "Sorry to barge in with questions so suddenly, have you ever heard of a Soulkeeper?"

"I am already on it," Dru said, "Come back later this week. A friend of mine is finding out more about them."

"Oh, thank you," Joy said. She got up from the stool and headed out the door with a wave to Dru as she left.

Joy's next stop was the imposing labyrinth in southern Malas that the minotaurs called home. The slave the queen and Xivara had befriended on their quest some weeks back met the elf at one of the outlying buildings.

She patted the lumbering beast on the fuzzy forehead, "Do you know anything about a soulkeeper?"

"Ancient legend, Steals souls with Zeefy chpa" he said quietly.

"Zeefy chpa is a name I've heard, " she told the minotaur.

"It is a serpent statue. Daemonic tool, thought lost."

She gave the slave a few berries from Eldador in reward for his help, and bade him farewell. She would have to speak with Dru again another day for any more information on how Omo Trovi's soul could be restored.





]]> Tue, 27 Apr 2010 12:19:46 Joy http://www.elvenorder.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1269098561/ http://www.elvenorder.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1269098561/#num1 Omo then told us to find Box the Britian City Warden, who was standing south of  Britain bank. Perhaps this warden would know of the threat to the Humans? Alas, no. He only wanted a bowl of tomato soup, which, oddly enough, Queen Joy had on hand and gave to him. He told the brave Elves 'Deceit'. Off we went! In Deceit, we searched high and low for clues, which lead to the phrase 'The price of freedom is eternal vigilance'. Returning to Britain and telling this to the Warden resulted in the warden sending us to Felucca Jhelom, to the fighter pits, to tell Jethro the Pitmaster 'LBWR' (Lord British Will Return!). Upon telling Jethro this, the Pitmaster informed us he had a more difficult "Test", and sent us off to Covetous, to get the answer. Into the breach our valiant leader...sneaked. In Fel Covetous, she found 1b what rises in the night sky (Luna) and 2b, What is the study of dark magic (Umbra), and Land that contains 1b and 2b. Together these lead to: Malas. Telling Jethro 'Malas' satisfied the pitmaster. The man saw opportunity to milk this for what is was worth and casually mentioned a need to improve his armor. Reluctantly, we parted with a Jar of Powder of Fortifying. Having suckered us once, the pitmaster saw opportunity, and sought another item on his rather odd shopping list, a mask of Orcish kin. So off shopping we...frolicked. I love shopping. Mask in hand, the Elves returned to the pits of Fel Jhelom. Jethro immediately began muttering about an orc cave. When we questioned him, this shady individual denied knowing what we were talking about and shoo'd us off to Bedlam. Once more into the breach our valiant leader...sneaked again. (we love you Joy!). In Bedlam, this brave Elf stumbled across ingot insribed with a story of a man inheriting an island due to some sort inablity to cross the abyss? Odd. But aha! We knew right where we were going (well, some of us. Other of us had our thumbs up our noses).
Bedraggled and exhausted, we drug ourselves off to the Grimswind Ruins of Malas, an island held to the mainland by a single rope bridge. At the ruins, a lonely ghost stood. Though mostly forgotten, he deigned to impart his wisdom upon us. . . tomorrow!!]]> Sat, 20 Mar 2010 10:22:41 Xivara