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It's messy enough that it might be worth it, but that seems worse for the orcs. Grongar and crew will get destruction of property charges at least. And I don't know that they'll do anything about the compound. We haven't seen anything actually illegal going on here. Plus if your mom is lying about lying with an orc and is Mahurra's biological mother she has a lot more leeway.
Keeyan shakes his head. "Get the police involved and the lawyers will get involved. The mother will get total custody and Grongar will be "awarded" child support payments until whenever an elf is considered a legal adult.... Then there's the issue of the bodies outside. They'll lock up the whole orc tribe as terrorists for using siege weapons!"
"You know.... Maybe if we could sneak Grongar in here? If Laria comes back maybe he could convince her that he's her lover and Mahurra's father. He did it once, maybe. ??"
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Klyto shrugs, It's a rock and a hard place. Laria doesn't seem to be willing to discuss the matter. I'm tempted to start asking the other elves about Merilwen.
He sighs. I doubt we're going to get a fair discussion going. These guys don't seem to think much of the orcs to begin with and the trebuchets didn't help matters. But you're right. There's no way the cops come in and settle this peacefully. Grognar and his friend burned that bridge before we got here.
He turns, I don't think they'd award you custody either, Bella. Not unless there's some deep dark illegal secret that gets the whole compound shut down and your mother tossed in jail.
"Maybe that's not such a bad idea.... Talking to the other elves I mean. What do they think about having a half-orc in their community? Not exactly the best option I know, but what have we got left!?!"
Bella sighs thinking neither group is all that really good. But forced to agree that added the police to thos situation could cause it to explode even worse. She thinks of a elf in the community they could go to...
Bella recalls an elf who was something akin to an aunt to her-- Hallenwe. She at the very least had a tendency to see things fairly, even if her willingness to get involved in any disputes was fairly low.
Her hut is only about two minutes' walk from here, unless it's moved in the past two decades, but given how the rest of the village looks, that seems unlikely.
Bella explains the situation as they head over, and a few seconds after they knock, a half-elf with short, ruffled hair and a tired look in her half-blind eyes greets you.
"Oh, hey."
A moment's silence, then:
"Whoa, Belladonna! Long time no talk. Come on in, I'll put on some java. You like yours black still, right?"
"Who are your friends?"
"This is Keeyan, Klyto, and Edie. We are here hoping to get at least info if not aid in resolving the issue of the orcs outside the walls."
"Ah, not just any family reunion, huh?" she asks, gesturing for them to follow as she leads inside, quickly making good on her coffee promise.
"I don't think I know much, but I'll do my best to answer any questions."
Bella will take a seat and starts with, "Well I went to see my mother and met my sister, Mahurra or half sister because she definitely has some orc blood. And well that is why the orcs are outside attacking on behalf of the father to get back his child."
Hallenwe listens intently. Once Bella finished speaking, she looks expectantly, as if she expects there to be more to the story.
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It's a bit of a bind. The leader of the orcs, Grongar, wants to see his daughter and is willing to tear down the village to do so. He says Mahurra's mother is named Merilwen and due to certain intimate activities there is no way that she couldn't have known he was an orc. Laria claims Mahurra is her daughter, but also says she would never and has never lain with an orc. Obviously one part of that is untrue. We tried to talk it out with Laria, but she got angry and eventually left magically with Mahurra. So we're stuck. We want a peaceful, amicable solution and we're hoping you can help. Even if it's just straightening out who Mahurra's mother is.
Hallenwe listens intently, then nods. ”Oh, I see. So Laria gave you the same line she’s been giving them?”
She sighs and shakes her head. ”The orcs aren’t blind and I think Laria forgets that. Either that or she’s hoping that lying insistently enough will muddy the water.”
”Anyway, we’ve never had a Merilwen here, and little Mahurra looks just as much like Belladonna as she does any Orc.”
”......from what any of us can see, anyway.”
Hallenwe gives a sad smile. ”It’s a sweet story... even if it is just a story. He passed away right around the time Laria became pregnant—a parting gift, she says. Of course, Mahurra doesn’t look a thing like him, which would be fine—Belladonna takes after her mother, so it wouldn’t be unusual—but then there are the tusks, and Grongar’s claims...”
”I’m guessing she was hoping for the best. Sometimes when you mix blood like that, things aren’t quite as noticeable and you end up with more of one than the other. And since the orcs aren’t really the type to stick around, nobody would be around to question her parentage if she didn’t look too orcy.”
”This is all guesses, of course, but...”
Hallenwe’s eyebrows rise. ”Not murder, if that’s what you’re thinking. Skin cancer.”
Keeyan listens to the.... mess, not sure what he is feeling. Disgust? Annoyance? "Skin cancer? Isn't that.... Never mind! We need to figure out some way to stop the killing. And that means that Grongar has to have some way to see his kid. Isn't there any way to convince Laria to help, at least to stop the war!"
Edie is Frustrated.
"Hi. I'm Edie. Edie Squire. I know I don't look like I'd be speaking for honesty or goodness or light but this sort of deception that Laria is trying to pull off isn't any good for anyone. Between herself, Mahurra, and Grognar, the amount of damage that she's caused not just to your extended family community as well as Grognar's has led to your people getting attacked with *siege weaponry*. Do you know where she might try to teleport or recall to so we can bring her to face all parties involved in this and fix this, for everyone's sake?" the tiefling rambles.
Hallenwe frowns. ”One moment.”
She stands, heading over to a chest and rummaging through it—from what you can see, it’s filled with scrolls. She eventually produces one and hands it to Belladonna.
”I believe Laria was gifted by the Sun. I don’t know where she might have gone... but if she can teleport, it is likely that she could have gone quite far away. And you say she took Mahurra with her?”
”If they’re gone, then there’s no reason for the orcs to attack us,” she points out. ”And if she ran... I can talk to the others, but I do not think Laria will be cast in a good light.”
Hallenwe shakes her head sadly. ”No, there is much to think about. So long as the orcs cease their attack, we will need to determine new leadership. Laria has forfeited that right, at least, when she abandoned us with orcs at the gate, no matter her reason.”
The scroll contains information on the oracular tradition of the Sun, with the following tweaks:
-Luminous Form is upgraded to Bright light.
-Astral Caravan has been known to work much faster than 6 seconds, but doing so burns the caster significantly.
Bella seems troubled.
Thought balloon So my friends all seem to think a person who would launch fiery projectiles into a village with children in it to express a male toxicity notion of his rights as a father by force deserves any consideration is just shocking to her.
Bella says,"I am sorry but you are wrong. This place abuse children I can testify to that. And the children protection services can intervene without direct evidence in the name of protecting the children from farther harm. And conduct their own investigation.
"As for this Grognar he is displaying the same male toxic behavior unfortunately found in most of the races. I can't in good conscience respect his rights as father when it is plain to me he views Mahurra as his property because he happened to donate some genetic material. If he truly cared for her he would not be firing blindly onto a settlement with her in it. They are outside treating this like a party! Children lives are at stake here!"
Bella is getting angry.
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Is Grongar a moron for using siege weapons, yes. We told him as much when we slipped out earlier. Does he see Mahurra as something to take because he tossed in some genetic material, maybe. Or maybe "Merilwen" led him to believe she would leave the village so the three of them could be a family. We don't know. Doesn't make him less of an idiot for tossing giant logs at his daughter's home, but it may not be as bad as you're thinking. That's why I had hoped we could get everyone to sit down and talk. Do we want to turn this over to CPS? This is getting way too complicated to not bring in specialists, so I'm open to it. But if we do we have to warn them that your mother turned extremely hostile at the suggestion that her daughter be removed and that she possesses teleportation abilities. And now my head hurts trying to think about the legal ramifications of our little scuffle in your mom's house.
Bella seems about to come back with a angry retort. Startwing lands on a shoulder pulling on her hair and she seems to take a moment to compose herself.
"I am too close to this. I need to be alone for a bit."
Bella than steps out to just wander the town to clear her head.
Unsure even how to address the issues being raised Keeyan just stays back and watches. If Merilwen had teleported far this issue was completely out of their hands.... As Bella walks off to get some needed "alone time" he just waits for her to go.
"Klyto. Just a thought, but Merilwen running may be just the thing needed. Maybe we can go back outside now and tell Grongar that Mahurra and the mother are gone! The battle is pointless since the mother is no longer here and they'd just be killing innocent elves."
"Maybe the elves would allow Grongar, and a guard or two, to come in and search the house? You know, just to confirm that we're telling them the truth? If we pitch it right to him they can declare a win and we can have a big party after...."
Bella goes find a nice patch of darkness to sit on remembering past torments and trying to deal with them
Hallenwe tilts her head this way and that, as if considering.
”Well, we’re kind of a bunch of free spirits, aside from the obedience to the Sun. But the Divine Light doesn’t really throw down a lot of edicts, so...”
”Without Laria, I suppose it would just be, like. Democracy? Yeah. I guess I can get everybody together, then.”
Edie is putting together an ugly picture.
During the conversation the tiefling has been sort of sitting aside, not sure how to speak up -- until Hallenwe makes that comment.
"You mean... Laria's been speaking for the Sun for a while now since she's been blessed by divine power?" she inquires.
Her reasoning, and possibly why Bella doesn't want to talk about it:
-- Laria had a kid with someone outside the community. Most communal arrangements tend to frown on that kind of thing unless the outsider is brought into the family -- how else do they grow?
-- Laria has incredibly vast power able to cover long distances like a certain other elf that was recently dug up out of a mine. She also had the power to go bright and shiny and if that was just an inkling of her power, then she'd be downright terrifying to an isolated community if they didn't have anyone else with that kind of power to speak up against her.
-- The orc assault couldn't have helped Laria 'make her case' for walls and defense and even more isolation from the outside world.
As she moves along this chain of thought, a disturbing and chilling thought occurs to her.
"When was the last time your community went to a hospital and/or a local healer outside of your community to get checked out for illness and other medical conditions?"
She looks over at Bella then holds up a finger. "While you're working on that, I need to go do something."
"Hey. Hey Bella? I know you don't want a lot of attention and want to be left alone right now, but you look like you could really use a hug. May I hug you?"
Keeyan really doesn't understand the issues between the mother and daughter, or the elves, half-elf/orc child, and the orcs. He really feels more of a kinship with the orcs right now, even though he's fairly certain that the ale is responsible for that.... Thanks to Cayden!
He decides just to stay in the rear and quiet....
Hallenwe nods, and goes to gather the group after clearing up:
"Oh, no one speaks for the Sun; our leadership is separate."
It doesn't take too long for the elves to assemble; there's about twenty of them, and many of them wear simple clothes. Each of them is fairly tan, with varying stages of blindness. There are a couple of children as well, mostly well-behaved enough to sit down.
"Laria has left us," starts Hallenwe to a resounding gasp once all are assembled, "and taken Mahurra. We're not, like, judgmental... but it looks like she lied to us about Mahurra's heritage. We need to figure out, like, what we're going to do going forward, you know?"
There's some mumbling, and everyone looks at Hallenwe expectantly.
"Oh, no, I meant, like, we need to figure it out."
"Oh."
The elves begin to discuss amongst themselves.
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Klyto ducks into some shade, more comfortable speaking with at least a few shadows around him.
Look, you have a pack of orcs outside. They really wanted to see Mahurra, but that's clearly off the table. Thanks to Keeyan here we're at least on neutral terms with them. Now, I know you have your thing here with the sun and that's not really their thing, but maybe consider an open gate policy? Honestly, it wouldn't hurt to have someone to keep eyes on the earth while you keep eyes on the sun. Maybe talk to Bella? She was one of you, but went out to see the world.
Bella thinks for a moment should she try to use reverse psychology and tell them not to open the gates and parlay with the orcs...or should she lay out the case that not dealing with the orcs may draw outside attention on the.
She ponders this and awaits to hear if somebody else has anything to say.
"Wait! Don't just open the gates. Call out to Grongar. Offer to bring him in, with a small guard. Bring out some large mugs and I'll supply some ale for peace talks.... Let's just stop the senseless killing!"
Bella will stand up and say.
"Actually dont treat it has a party, but you are going have to deal with orcs in a peaceful manner. If you don't what is happening here will draw attention of the government on to you. Than you will have to deal government investigation on what goes on here. They will probably at the least enforce some regulations like Freedom of Religion, Freedom of People moving in that aren't elves, etc."
Note:Add +1 to those who sexually attracted to her due Charming.
Keeyan steps up with Bella, hoping her words, from an elf of this clan, might matter. "She's right. If the government gets called in this won't be your home anymore, and you'll probably have to move. They might even rezone this place for heavy industrialization and the pollution would block out the sun!"
Edie is peturbed
After having gone on a search for Bella, and then the meeting of the Sunelves... the tiefling has been quiet -- it's their internal situation, no need for anyone to chime in, they have a chain of command, right?
...and then they all sort of hem and haw like that one supervisor at work when he's confronted with a decision and he faffs around for half an hour trying to figure out what to do, tries to do all the things at once and badly.
"You want going forwards? Sit. Down. And. Talk. To. Your. Neighbors. Keeyan's offering free beer. Your communities are in desperate need of each other's insight and wisdom -- the orcs ACT, but don't do well with long-term. You're very long-term thinking here, but you don't want to ACT.
The idea of miscegenation went out of vogue fifty years ago -- it's not just skin color, but I have a co-worker that shares heritage with giant folk and elves. It's hard to have freedom and the ability to make choices if the choices are 'Do this one thing' or 'Do nothing'." Edie leaves out the part about them being touchy-feely and not being keen on personal space...
"Sorry. It's been a long day, our van broke down, things have been sort of crazy and I don't believe in zero-sum games that don't have a good solution for all parties involved, okay? Don't live a life you've been told to live, live the life you want to live."
There is some muttering and conversing amongst the elves as the sounds of the swamp buzz and groan around you.
You pick up on a few things:
-The possibility of government interference in their lives does give them some pause and push toward expediency of resolution.
-The idea of inviting the orcs in goes over not-too-poorly. Klyto hears one of them whispering to another that they should be persuaded to turn their eyes to the Sun.
"Let us invite Grongar with a few of his friends. We shall talk."
Hallenwe takes Bella aside.
"I think our only way out of here is to hitch a ride with the orcs."
While the elves are talking to Bella, Keeyan quietly talks with Edie and Klyto, "I think we should go out through the tunnel. Then we talk to Grongar and come to the gate. If they open the gate wide the whole tribe will come in, and that could cause more trouble."
Having settled on an option, the way forward simply involves retrieving Grongar.
Grongar is amenable to the meeting, though his face falls when you inform him that his girl is missing. He enters with a small "honor guard" of three of the burlier-looking orcs.
Discussions happen quickly, then slowly, then quickly again. Grongar is taciturn, reluctant to speak about anything other than Mahurra, but when he is quite satisfied that she is indeed missing and that the remaining elves were not involved in her kidnapping, the course of action is agreed upon fairly quickly.
The orcs will live alongside the elves for now, to keep an eye out for Mahurra and Laria-- or Merilwen, as Grongar continues to call her.
Grongar offers a few of his riders to take you back to Virginia once you've had a chance to sleep, and presses a wand into Keeyan's hand.
Keeyan stares at the wand for a moment, disbelief over-riding his little bit of common sense and diplomacy. "Thank you Grongar! I'll never forget you and your people. I hope to get back here to party more with you some time." He tucks it away for study later.
Bella is quiet and standing alone to one side emotionally drained. Only wanting to get home to her lover's embrace. She will go back to her Mother's house and search it. Maybe finding a clue...or something else.
The village is quiet aside from the occasional hushed voices as elves and orcs get accustomed to their new living situation, but inside Laria’s hut—and Bella’s childhood home—it is silent. It is as if the veil of Laria’s oppressive hush still lingers in her absence, but not quite; Bella can still hear the sound of her own breathing, the occasional sounds of the swamp.
This had been home, once, but one could not cage darkness any more than they could cage Bella.
Looking slowly over the place she had once laid her head, she finds many things; none of it her own, but some things that belonged to her parents are recognizable from decades ago.
Her father’s bow still stands proud on the mantle.
Eventually, turning over this and that, she finds an enclosed pouch she does not recognize, a little over a foot in diameter. Looking inside, she finds a number of her old things—drawings, letters, crafts, toys.
Looking back on it, it’s easy to see how much the cult had affected her worldview when she was younger. Any reference to the outside world was tinged with fear, and it was rare to find a sentence that did not mention the Sun or Light or her parents.
She remembered that some of those sentences were lies, even when she wrote them.
Moreover, some of the contents of the sack are not her own; letters, written to her and discarded before they were sent, alternate between begging her to come back, demanding that she come back, and condemning her to the Sun’s wrath for her disobedience.
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Edie is tired
After the events of the past two days, the tiefling has been at a bit of a loss to offer anything more constructive or even helpful on the discussion of Grongar's daughter or the misguided elves who have gotten a relatively rude wake-up call that they've been led around by a charismatic cult leader for potentially decades if not centuries.
She does ponder for a bit though... could the elf from the mine and the elf that just bamf'd from here be related to each other, or know each other?
With that idle worrisome thought off to the side she attempts fitfull sleep, wishing that a certain smoldragon were here too.