Laying a hand on Solvi's arm, she peers into the elorg eyes, "You've been alone too long, my fiend, alone with you pain. Whenever you wish, you can talk to us. We can help both of you carry your burdens.", she adds to Ilona.Felina meows loudly to attract the attention of the healer. Gilian hears in her mind, "Puurrrr...the mistress has not been alone....purrr...I have walked with her every step of the way....puurrr..." There is a faint sense of reproach in the feline's tone.
Gilan kneels towards the small feline: "Forgive me, Felina. I knew of your presence, and can guess what you did for Solvi. I am just offering mine as well."
Laying a hand on Solvi's arm, she peers into the elorg eyes, "You've been alone too long, my fiend, alone with you pain. Whenever you wish, you can talk to us. We can help both of you carry your burdens.", she adds to Ilona.
Solvistania gives Felina a look, which silences the feline. As she takes solace in the comfort of the warmth radiating from the diminutive healer, she nods softly "Yes, I...I believe that ould be wise...but we can continue this later. We have company..."
Sky approaches the group slowly, and stops some distance away. He smiles at Solvi, pleased and surprised that she has recognized him. When he gets a few paces away, he turns to the group. "Most of you know of me, though I inhabit another shell". "I was once a bearer of the bone, and fell beneath the keep". "I am Sky'tor, and know not why I'm here, but by the fallen gods it's good to see familiar faces again". "I have a feeling that that,Sky gestures towards the spike,might have something to do with it". . He then goes on to explain in detail about his final moments, and mentions memories that only those present would be privy to. He then turns and faces the tower. "So you feel it too". "It seems fate is not through using us as his plaything".
Ilona and Solvi:
Sense Motive DC15
Sky seems to have difficulty meeting your eyes directly, though his welcome and smile seem genuine.
Solvistania nods in response to Sky'tor's words, catching the import of the message in his eyes. "Yes, I fear our sentence has indeed just begun. Still, I am...glad...you have returned."
"Heya short stuff" Muni replied to Gilian flapping into a tree when Ilona and Duncan embraced.
Hearing Sky'Tor the bird chuckled. "Still looks the same t' me." he said wryly. "I'd know that sour spirit anywhere. Got himself a new body to ride around in though. Nice ain't it? I love it when I get a new set of feathers."
"Hey look, a Dorn." The bird says, seeming to notice the newcomer for the first time. "Damn, I totally forgot the usual schpiel. Let's see... Northman, in the name of the ancient pact I call you to service. Your ancestor's debts fall to you to pay. I am Vigdir. I speak for the Weavers. Will you answer?. I think that's right. How'd it sound to you?"
"Ware, we are not alone here."
Gilian quickly picks up Alan and puts him back into her sling.
"Shh, no a noise now."
Duncan fails to spot or hear anybody he hadn't seen before, but as Gilian cautions them, he shows no changes in posture, only his muscles are more tense, prepared for him to jump in front of Gilian and the boy and protect them.
With a voice loud enough to be heard by every one, including the snow-elves:
"Sky, Solvi, I can sense about thirty of your kin around here, just watching us. Maybe you can introduce us."
Solvistania nods in response, her eyes showing no surprise at the revelation here. ”Very well, do not make any hostile moves here as if they wanted us dead, our spirits would already be on the other side of the Veil.”
She summons her courage, or what is left of it. She had not seen any of her ‘kin’ since the time she had left Erethor. Gathering her resolve, she steps out in front of the group, her hands held out in a gesture of peace. Her voice echoes amongst the canyon walls.
”I am Solvistania Elgreah, ward of Queen Ardahil and Bonebearer. These are my fellow companions all Bonebearers, save for the Dornish warrior. I wish an audience with your leader.”
Ilona
Requiem
perception
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Silent as death, three dozens of Erunsil drop from the branches. Cloaked in white feathers, they seem indistinguishable from huge white crows, even on the snow-covered ground. Most of them have six-foot long white bows in their hands, but the rest have wicked long knives drawn and glinting in the sunlight.
"You have been expected, Lady Ward", says one of the elves. A woman whose hair is rare fiery-golden in color, although dusted in some white powder. Her eyes are deep violet, which is also rare among the elves. "Come, if you wish to follow. We will take you to our leader."
Then she turns towards Darren. "You are expected as well, Roland's kin. Come."
Gilian bows slightly at the elven leader. "We will follow", she replies in high elven with a very heavy accent.
Solvistania glances at her newfound companions. She feels an all too familiar ache in her heart whenever she sees the absence of Durathoin, and feels the hole in her heart growing. Maybe they have some answers for us…for me.
Her voice echoes in High Elven, ”As you wish, we will meet with your leader.”
Quicker than a wink, Sky had his bow up, and an arrow nocked. Seeing the odds, and hearing the pleas for seeing a leader, he relaxes, and lets his arrow drop so that it's pointing downward. He eyes his brothers warily, trying to sense if they mean the newly reunited party harm.
Upon being recognized by the Erunsil woman, Darren silently nods in ascent and follows the figures.
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Erunsil quickly surround the party and the strange elvish woman takes the lead. Cold and icy-hearted howling winds continue to blow undaunted and uncaring for the layers of cloth and leather.
The party descends in the wooded wale, and the trees provided slight shelter from the worst of the elements, but even the mighty Dorn in your ranks feels the numbing bite of the cold.
Strangely, the child in Gilian's arms seems to sleep soundly. Little boy is quiet and dreams peacefully, as if he is near warm hearth, and not in the midst of the Coldest Woods.
After about two hours of fighting through the deep snow banks, you reach a circle of large standing stones, secluded deep in the forest.
The stones are not ordinary monoliths, but dolmens. On the largest of dolmens a giant white eagle is nested. The bird silently watches you while you approach and suddenly cries in challenge, spreading its wings to their full thirty feet span.
"Peace, Anihwir", says the golden-haired elf. "We have brought the Bonebearers and Roland's emissary. Where is Aealia?"
"Here I am, Aleria. Bide a moment", a ringing voice is heard from the circle of standing stones.
After several long moments, a tall Erunsil female exits through the dolmen beneath the eagle. Her snow-white hair is long, almost to her ankles, plated in a thick braid. She is dressed in leather pants and jacket, lined with rabbit fur. In one hand she holds a staff made of bone, carved with images of fantastic beasts and a bare-branched tree at the top. Her eyes are silver like the moonlight falling on the fresh snow.
"Greeting, Bonebearers. Greetings, Roland's kin. I am Aealia, Snow of Silverthorn."
and governs in matters of hearth, home, and trade. The Blood is the most experienced warrior and determines the disposition of the village’s defenses and troops.
Solvistania bows deeply to Aealia, replying to her in the High Elven tongue. ”It is an honor to meet you. We are all honored by your invitation to join you, and as you have surmised we do have many questions. “ She glances over at her companions and sees the mark of fatigue on their faces. She also feels the fatigue weighing on her own body and in her own soul. ”I believe the questions can wait for now.”
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Aealia silently watches you, and you can not help but to notice that her silver eyes have the same look as the eagle's golden ones.
Silence stretches while the Erunsil who escorted you disappear in the surrounding woods.
Solvistania watches the departure of the Erunsil guards without reaction, instead focusing her attention on Aealia. When the Snow leader turns her attention to the companions and is silent, she feels a sense of unease. Unsure what to say here, she waits for one of her companions to break the silence.
In this foreign surroundings, Gilian does not feel as sure of herself as she would in the Eren Plains. But she sense the unease of some of her companions and takes a step forwards.
"Greetings as well, I am Gilian, healer from the plains. The name you've called us, "Bone-bearers", was only used by the one who summoned us the first time, years ago. Yet you know of it and, I guess, have summoned us again. For this, I thank you, as we have been kept apart for years."
She pauses for a moment, trying to organize her thoughts.
"While we were together the first time, we discovered long lost races and cities and we will need your knowledge and wisdom to understand everything. However, you said you were waiting for us. So, as one of the fast living races, I must ask why you have called us here and what do you need us for?"
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Aealia smiles. "Fast living. Yes. That is very appropriate word. I suppose that is one of the reasons I've summoned you here." As if unconsciously, she gently touches her staff with her free hand. "Come in the circle. It is warmer there."
As you enter the circle of dolmens, the eagle cries once again and snaps at Darren‚ as if trying to intimidate him.
Instantly, you are surprised beyond your imagining. In the circle there is warmth - not the warmth of camp fire or heart stone, but the warmth of summer breeze and gentle sun. In the circle of stones the summer rules even if the winter is mistress outside of it.
In the middle a large pear tree spreads its green-leaved branches and several succulent pears sway on the gentle breeze that is savage wind in the rest of the forest.
Aealia stops in front of the tree and you can hear a gentle smile in her voice, even if she has her back turned to you.
"This tree and this little slice of summer is your brother's doing, Lady Solvistania. Your eldest brother's doing. But he is gone now. Gone."
There is a sadness in her voice now.
"You were not the first Bonebearers. It was Erunthalion who found the Weirbone Staff - this staff that I now hold - and used it to unlock the Sleeper's mind. But Erunthalion is gone. He has disappeared somewhere and not even his closest friend know where. Young Erend is looking for him in the south and Grim-Grim is searching behind the Burning Line, but my heart is telling me that he is somewhere in the Highhorns. And when his staff appeared one night in my bed..."
There are now unshed tears in her voice.
Solvistania stares at Aealia in stunned amazement as her words penetrated the walls she erected around her heart. For her, all thought of her surroundings has fled to be replaced by long buried memories.
Erunthalion... Her mind flashes back to an old memory, long repressed, of him teaching her the initial meditation techniques which all channelers learned in order to master the art of channeling magic. She had not known him much, but whenever she had thought of him, the old mixture of terror mixed with love warred for her heart.
Solvistania's voice is barely above a whisper, "Gone....Aealia...I...I did not know you knew him. Can you tell of the last time you saw him?"
As Darren is challenged by the eagle, he turns to face the creature as he would any other and replies
After listening to the conversation Darren addresses the group before him his tone as cold as that at the winter they had left outside the grove. "As intriguing as these tales of the discovery of lost cities and strange races might sound to young children, I don't see how they could help us here and I see nothing here I have not laid eyes on before. I know nothing of the bone bearers beyond the fact that you are addressed as such."
His tone softens a bit as he looks at Solvistania and Aealia. "The war against the shadow has taken much from all of us. To be consumed by the past is to lose sight of what is in front of us now."
His tone once again hardens. "Now, why have we been called here?"
"Trust me on this, ignore the past and it will jump up and bite you in the ass. When we have the time Muni and I will talk to you about the past of your people and what of it I carry with me."
"Oh, yeah, that'll be great. " Muni says dryly.
Sky's thoughts are elsewhere as he follows the group to the magically protected glade. The older memories...those of his family, and the leaders of his village...the times before the killing, were the first he had to deal with. Then memories both more recent, and harder to recall. The faces of those gathered about him now, contorted in either rage or pain...or sometimes both.
He slowly looks upon the faces of those gathered, absorbing what the Snow was saying, but at the same time, his thoughts were thousands of miles, and countless days away. Yes there was pain there. Loss, resignation, but most of all hope and determination. This was the look he was searching for...this was the look he remembered...this was the look on his new, and still unfamiliar face. His questions answered, he returns his thoughts to the present.
"Trust me on this, ignore the past and it will jump up and bite you in the ass. When we have the time Muni and I will talk to you about the past of your people and what of it I carry with me."
Darren stares at Ilona for a moment."Perhaps my words were not clear, to not be consumed by the past is not the same as ignoring it. Although I do wonder what a Sarcosan woman could tell me of Dornish ancestry."
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Aealia turns around. "I have not called you, exactly. The staff did. It is connected in some way with the weirbones that you carry. Some of you, anyway. Although, I think that the bones have lost their power now. Lost it to you. Perhaps, when you die - your own bones will become new weirbones, gifted with various powers. The first ones were created by a tragedy unmatched since. But who knows, right?"
She sighs.
"But, I think that the Weribone Staff answered to my hidden desires. Erunthalion is one of our most powerful spellcasters and potentially Ardherin's equal - but to me, he is something more than that. I would like him back. And I would like your help in getting him back."
"On the other hand, Roland's kin", she turns to Darren, "you were sent here by your kinsman in an answer to a direct plea. When I realized that the Staff has called to you, I've asked Roland to send me a warrior that will reinforce the Bearers of Bones. Unfortunately, I have not realized that not all of them would come. I expected nine."
Gilian holds her hand up as more names get flung by:
"If I may, before answering your questions, let me just check I understand things correctly. The one that called us first 7 years ago was that Erunthalion. And was the Sleeper the one we were at first supposed to find?"
After a little silence, and before letting Aelia answer, she sighs and look at her friends, images of those that did not make it flashing.
"There were indeed nine of us. Only four of us are here today. Out of the five missing, two died under our eyes, one betrayed us for the nameless one and two are missing. Maybe Ilona and Solvi know more about them."
"Well, one of the missing two is still here. Sort of. He's around most of the time but he's kinda busy being dead. I'm standing in for him until he gets back."
Solvistania cannot help but flinch as Aealia mentions her Father by name. Still, she does nod in agreement with the Snow leader. "And he is someone you love as well, that is clear to me. I do know what it is to love..."
She lapses into silence for a few seconds, lost in old memories, before Gilian's words bring her back to the presence.
"Gilian, I believe this to be the case. Aealia speaks truly of Erunthalion. His channeling skills were unmatched and he could best me easily in any contest. As for Durathoin's fate, I know not. All I was able to determine is his fate is somehow entwined with Ragnar's. As Muni implies here, he very well could be trapped on the other side of the Veil, but proof remains elusive."
"I have answered your call for aid, and I will do what I can for these bone bearers. As for you raven." He turns to look at Muni."I have held my thoughts regarding what you have claimed to be. Animals who can speak are not so uncommon here, I fail to see how you could stand in for one of my fallen brethren. I know little of the Vigdir and have heard nothing of the Weavers or the pact you speak of. Our paths converge and I will aid because I was instructed to do so by Roland, I do not answer your call."
Duncan was silently listening all the while, but hearing one more time something he don't likes in young Dorns voice, he frowns a bit, and speaks up.
"I know that your people are proud, Dorn, and that there was always animosity between them and Sarcosans, but there is no need for such arrogance and dismissal of your future companions, for you know nothing of them, as you yourself said. I'm guessing that you were thrust into fighting for your life while you were still a bit more than a boy. So was I, my friend, and I also rode and fought with Roland for a while. You are still young and the Northern blood runs hot in you, but do not think that any of us is in any way below you, and do not speak about helping us as if it were a dull chore you are instructed to do, while other people are elsewhere fighting. If you just listen, you will realise that this might task and the people involved might be more important than any battle you have fought yet."
Turning his face to Aealia, reproachful undertone disappears from his voice.
"Lady Aealia, could you please explain some things. This Sleeper whose mind Erunthalion unlocked, is he the one who summoned the original group of bonebearers and bade them find his brother? If so, what do you know of both him and his brother? And what about me, I never bore any bones, just a Lann's Stone that gave me power of sorts? I do not even know it's origin, for so much knowledge was lost in these dark times...
Could you please tell us what happened to the first bonebarers and who they were?"
"Our paths converge and I will aid because I was instructed to do so by Roland, I do not answer your call."
"Heh. If I had a juicy eyeball for every time I heard that I'd never be hungry again."
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The one that called us first 7 years ago was that Erunthalion. And was the Sleeper the one we were at first supposed to find?"[/b]
"Lady Aealia, could you please explain some things. This Sleeper whose mind Erunthalion unlocked, is he the one who summoned the original group of bonebearers and bade them find his brother? If so, what do you know of both him and his brother? And what about me, I never bore any bones, just a Lann's Stone that gave me power of sorts? I do not even know it's origin, for so much knowledge was lost in these dark times...
Could you please tell us what happened to the first bonebarers and who they were?"
Aelia sighs and then sits on an outcrop of rock, motioning to you to sit as well. "This is a long story, and the time is short. Eight years ago, Erunthalion went into Foul Bog of Eris Aman and nine days later he emerged with this staff, the Weirbone Staff. Nobody, except Aradil perhaps, knows how he gained it, or where exactly. It is certain that he did not created it, since feat like that was beyond his power than - and possibly even now." She stops for a moment, recollecting her memories. "The Staff led him to the Sleeper. At least, that's what Erunthalion called him. I've seen his drawings. The sleeper is taller than any Dorn, more muscular than any dwarf, but he looks like one of Erunsil. Erunthalion thought... thinks! He thinks that the Sleeper is a missing link between Elder Fay and Elves. He awoke him somehow and soon after that, the Sleeper started to regain his memories. It seems that the weirbone was created when Izrador fell. And it is possible - more than possible - that he was not alone. Perhaps the weirbone was created by the energies released by the Fall, or by some divine being. It is unknown. But, the Sleeper felt connection to the items that were over ages created from weirbone - and he started to pull on those connection. Somehow, those items were almost always in the hands of those who fought the Shadow. Some of those died, some were corrupted, but the Sleeper was able to call up a number of exceptional people - and those were the first Bonebearers. Of the first five only three are still living. Erunthalion the Eldest, Erend the Bleak Prince, who was but a ten-year old child back then, and Haergrim Grimnor, called Grim-Grim. And now, Erunthalion is missing... You were the second party of Bonebearers. There were many, but it seems that you are all that remain. The Weirbone Staff called you, not I. Something like that is beyond my power."
She is silent for a long time.
"As for you, Duncan, you have tied yourself to a Bonebearer. Although, I suspect that now the power has left the items themselves and moved into people who used those items for so long. I have no knowledge of you or your stone, except what little Erunthalion told me. I suspect that your child will be exceptional, though. A bearer of two mighty magics in his blood."
"So, now that all that can have arrived, what can you tell us? And how much do you know of our initial quest for the sleeper in the roots of the mountains?
If you called for Roland to send you some help, you must have something in mind. There is many things to be accomplished, as far as I can see. We should find out what happened when we split up, and what happened to Chops, Ragnar, Sorok and Lyj. We could try to go back to where we lost them and try to finish the task this time. Or are we to go and search for Erunthalion first? So many paths, and I feel that we should walk all of them. If the time is short as you said, tell us quickly all we need to know and do."