Valis: The Elven Lands

Looking to squash Calios and all his schemes

Now that the War is over and it appears that both Forgan and Gray's quests have come to a relatively happy ending (the good guys did triumph), it's time to choose a new path. Forgan will be spending his time and efforts focused on building up the Haltessan church and being the best paladin he can be. Gray will be helping out his community and possibly going to help out his family-in-law-to-be in Moray. There are so many problems in the world right now, we can only handle them one at a time. The orcs are invading and Vendril is spreading. Geliagh hates all mankind (a new quest for Brahm) and demon lords are trying to actually raise hell west of Vok'Norr. Elonora and Lecavian (there's a blast from the past, eh?) have decided they would like (like?...heh) to go to Valis - the elven lands. Calios is there now that he is a mortal. He has been raising the elves hatred for all other races hoping they will use their great abilities to commit golbe-wide genocide. Also, he is the one who put a curse on Tarren's soul forbidding him from ever being raised from the dead or allowing his soul to pass on to the afterlife or to heaven. He also has the sould of Reschem - Forlumb's son. Lecavian owes a favor to Reschem and Elonora really likes him. She figures that it would be a favor to Forlumb as well for all he's done for her family. Khyros has agreed to join them in their quest as has our new Drak friend Forg...er, uh...Enoch. ^_^ Lecavian also brings with him a new member to the party who calls himself Droim. He doesn't talk much or smile ever, and we never saw him before his image was changed to that of an elf.
So how do we start this mission? First, we review what we know about the elves. Roger, an arch-mage who lives in Gray's settlement is an elf himself. He used to live in Valis, but it was about 200 years ago. Apparently, they are very racist and do not allow any outsiders into their country. They are all innately magical and turn their backs on or try to stop anyone trying to leave Valis. Their protectors are called the Dancers. Each one runs their own elven airship - by themselves. Roger used to be a dancer and he knows that their main magic powers lie in destruction and demolition. Oh goodie. Another bonus to this is that we are not allowed to bring in any weapons. They can sense weapons. Khyros, Elonora and Enoch all learned Elven fluently from a magical book in Kollakra, so the language is not a problem. Slang and culture is a different matter. Religion? Names? Not a clue. We do have a rough map of the country and a seamstress in Gray's village has made 2 sets of clothes for each of us in the traditional elven style.
Now what? None of us are elves - not even close. We do have 2 rings that polymorph the wearer into an elf - one went to Lecavian and one to Droim. Elonora, Khyros and Enoch went to visit Sashraddon - she was able to use Kylos to change us permanently into elves. We would be stuck this way until she turns us back. Now we're all pretty like Legolas! As for the no-weapon rule, most everyone has chosen to have no weapons for real, but Droim, Lecavian and Enoch all know how to use forms of magic. Khyros loaded up with potions and learned how to brawl and throw objects. Elonora is going to depend on her hunting skills and her brawling and throwing abilities. We are given our clothes and ask our questions and by the end of the week, we head out. Hopefully, we'll be back in a month or less. There's so much to screw up and so many opportunities to do so!
We all gather 'round with all our supplies and ...touch the nub or Lecavian's staff...heh heh...I said "nub"....anyway, we're teleported just outside the border of Valis. Lecavian then turns us into mice so that we can enter the country undetected. It seems to work! We get in and change back into our elven selves. There is a path ahead and a few villages and towns marked on our map. Our first journey takes us to a small village in the north called Bethwell. We reached it by nightfall. We weren't sure what to make of it at first - a tent, two cabins and a cabin with a tent attached to the side of it. Hmmm...kindof strange. In the center was a boulder covered with flowers and a spot hollowed out in the side for a fire pit. A man was chopping wood and a woman was heard singing. She spotted us before we could say anything and wecomed us warmly to the little village. We were sat down by the fire and in troduced to the villagers. A crazy old man and his subborn wife (they call it a lifemate), a singer named Fava and the hostess and her lifemate and their son. It seemed rather quaint, but it was a real culture shock. We were curious about what we should ask or mention, so we stayed quiet for a while trying to make small talk. When we were welcomed, our hostess mentioned that we must be tired and weary being away from our souls....away from our SOULS? What does THAT mean?! Oh, we have so much to learn. We are served dinner and a fine brew of berry meade. A dinner prayer is made (unfortunately, some of us have already begun eating) and praise is made to The Twins. Praise be. Much of the dinner conversation is thoughts on travelling, pigrimages and places to travel to. They mention Bethel. It is a holy place that must be soucht after when you are in Cassaba. All singers must go to Bethel in order to become a real singer. After dinner, Fava is so bold as to show us her soul. There had been much mentioning of leaving your soul beind when travelling, so we wanted to get an ideaof what the hell tey were talking about. The older woman in the village seemed very disapproving of Fava for doing this, but she showed us anyway. She took us into the woods and brought us to a small fountain. It was truly beautiful and Lecavian and Enoch both sensed something special about it. Do elves really keep their souls in fountains? Something to investigate. Enoch tried to investigate more about their religion. He asked who the healer was in the village. Didn't you hear us say that Fava was our singer? Oh, yeah - right. So he asked Fava if she could tell him more about the Twins. She looked kinda creeped out at his asking and said that it was forbidden and strange of him to even ask. However, the night would not stop for our ponderings and we needed rest from our long journey. We slept in Bethwell that night and began to pack up the next morning. We had gotten some strange looks this night by our metal cooking pots, our eating before the prayer, the questions we asked and possibly even out mannerisms. We need to be completely aware of ALL we do from here on in!
On our way out, we were asked to help them find some water - their well had run dry and none were premitted to travel witout their cloaks. Hmmm....interesting...We were given a waterskin that was made from bright rags like the crazy old man wore - it held about 30 gallons of water which felt like only 1. We found a stream with the help of Droim who summoned a hawk and were back in Bethwell by dusk. On the journey while we were alone, (aside from being attacked by a wolverine) we tried to figure out the stuff they were saying and asking and build up our elven personalities to be more refined. We have a better idea of their religion and their customs. Some things are easily mimicked and we have enough knowledge to fake a little more than that now. The women seemed to be in charge - perhaps it is a matriarchal society. Uh-oh. That means Calios may be disguised as a female elf. How are we ever going to find him? We just have to keep meeting people and working our way up with knowledge. Once we returned to the village, Lecavian asked for the waterskin of holding. They made a trade, we were given a barrel of that berry meade and some spiced berries for the journey and we were on our way.
It took a few days, but we made it to a cross-road and met up with a fellow traveller. We've been gathering and hunting along the way to help keep away the hunger, but it hasn't been much so far. This traveler was alone. He had a cloak just like ours and was roasting a rabbit over his fire. We mimicked his greeting and introduced ourselves. His name was Lokloman or something like that. He told us that he was on his way back home. He had been travelling for a year, but missed his soul and his lifemate. We kindof goofed up and said we were all from the same village. He thought it was brave and strange that we would all leave our souls behind in the same village. Luckily, Lecavian "convinced" him to drop the subject. We shared a bit of the berry meade with him and he liked it so much he was willing to make a trade for it. His offer was the pelt of a silver fox! The fur was real silver and it was really magical and he really killed it himself! WOO HOO! Nice trade! This guy told us stories of watching the dancers perform at the Capital and hearing the Singers who hept the city afloat with their songs. They actually kept it physically afloat by their singing! The dancers actually danced and there are pyrotechnics involved and it sounds absolutely CRAZY! We eventually all went to bed and woke up to a pack of wild dogs barking at us. Our traveler friend took out a small device, put it to his mouth and the dogs all ran away. Enoch made a trade for it for some of the food we gathered. That night we added to our inventory a magical dog whistle.*cheesy video-game gain-item music*
In the morning, we went our said goodbye to our new friend and kept heading south. We hunted and gathered and caught a sloth and some onions. In two more days, we came across another village - much smaller than the first if that's even possible. Two people lived here. A weathered middle-aged man and an older woman. She sang a more solemn tune and he was skinning animals and curing the hides. We were welcomed a little less enthusiastically, but our host's spirits lifted when he heard that we would be staying the night. We were served dinner (we all waited to eat this time) and thanked our host. He brought out a bucked of a special drink he makes called BlauFow (or however it's spelled). It was wine made with blood from the heart of a beast he killed. ICK! We graciously sipped it and passed the rest to Lecavian when our host wasn't looking so we can use it for barter in another town. After all that, we sat down and talked. He told us the stories of how he got scars on his head and hands - he was in a great battle with the Drow in the underdark! He mentioned that this took place before any of us were born - probably 200 years ago! He said that his lifemate died about 150 years ago and that this took place before he even met his life mate. Now, elves aren't supposed to live over 150 years and if they make it that long, they're usually old and decrepid and feeble. This guy looks middle-aged! How is this possible?! Maybe it has something to do with their souls. He also mentioned something about how he'd like to adventure and travel, but is not allowed. It's pretty obvious now that every village must have at least one singer and one hunter. He is the hunter of that village and half of it's population to boot. What a miserable existence for him. Lecavian and Enoch can both sense their "souls" out in the forest like they could sense Fava's. This is all so strange. The next morning we plan to pack up and head down the path to Cassaba, but cut through the forest and go to Vorton first. There is too much in Cassaba to get side-tracked with and it will be the first town we see in these lands.
When we arrived in the Town, we dispersed to gather more info as we typically do. We learned that the Singer and the town Faja (like a mayor) really hated eachother and the town Hunter was missing for weeks. At one point, a dancer's ship landed in town, so we made ourselves scarce. We heard about a sacrifice planned for a barbarian from the outside world. It was Mane's daughter Katherine - Damaclese was there too! She was trapped and about to be executed! We all snuck around to get close enough to release her and even turned into birds at one point to get a better angle on the situation. After the mission was a success, we split up - Lecavian and Mane went off somewhere (?) and the rest of us went back to that town. The dancer's ship was there again! This time they had a hunter from the first village we came across. Through some snooping, we learned that he was truly a Faja - the only male faja. For that, he was also to be brought to trial and executed.
After a bit more info gathering, the party decided to find a way on board the air ship. Elonora headed to the town herbalist / cook who asked her to deliver a sandwich to Dane - the town hunter. She even told Elonora where to look. Well, after eating one of these sandwhiches herself, she knew they were extra-ordinary. They revealed a magic spell cast in the woods. The party all went to find the hunter and when we got close, his dog led us the rest of the way. The Sandwiches allowed us to see the barrier around him and we got through. Dane was tied to a fallen tree, unconscious and left for dead. Wild dogs were everywhere, starving and mad. An enchantment was all around this area and it was clear, a demonic ritual had taken place. After freeing Dane and regaining his consciousness, Enoch trapped the dogs so they would not attack and we managed to dispel the curse on them and we dispelled the briar fence around the area. Enoch stayed behind while we brought Dane back to the town. Apparently the one who did this to him was the Faja herself! The singer of the town was the first we saw and she used the power of the twins to make sure he wasn't lying about the faja and she learned his words were true. She was then accused and brought on the airship as well. We were invited to come along and encouraged to do so in order to give our story to the court in her trial. We have a ticket to the Capital City MacMaltha! YESSS! We thanked the cook who offered many magical items. She is an epic level druid woman, though not officially allowed to practice her "weaving". With our healing soup, healing biscuits and magical wreaths, we prepare ourselves for the airship ride of DOOM!!

Tune in again for the next update of Jaystorm!!!