36.1 Little Scholar

General Summary

Day 538

With the bandits safely dispatched we continue on towards the Weaver’s Village and arrive late in the day as the sun is slowly approaching the horizon. The golden light reveals that both elvish statues have been fully revealed and there is a new spiritual feeling about the town that makes it easier to think clearly.   The existing village is intact and still well-populated but there is an additional village that has sprung up a short ways away. Notably it is not amidst the elvish ruins that we discovered last time we were here; rather it is a new settlement seemingly filled with humans. Not a single elf can be seen in the new village, though a couple are visible in the old one.   As we approach we are welcomed into the village by an elderly man weaving baskets at the border. I had forgotten that I’m the only person who has been here before and the others are not so keen on abandoning their weapons, though of course they do when I assure them it will be safe.   We have been in the village scarce minutes when Vaneilli comes crashing into me. Apparently Bran and Yneir have not yet arrived.   She explains that the outer village is for people who have not. Yet proven themselves as safe to the Weaver’s Village, and the elves ave all been accepted on the basis of oaths. Now that travel is safe again the village is emptying of refugee humans and many have taken up residence in New Calston.   For now we have a simple welcome meal and catch Vaneilli up on the events of the past several months, including the delegation that has crossed back over the Barrier.  

Day 539

Bran and Yneir arrive at midday and Bran and I exchange a few pieces of news before I send him directly to Vaneilli and expect not to see him for a few days. Theirs is a reunion that is long overdue and I am no stranger to the need to disappear with your partner after a long absence.    In the meantime I collect up Yneir and reassure her that whatever is happening between her and Bran will be something that they will figure out together and that Vaneilli will understand and be wiling to discuss. Travelling with him has been good but difficult for her - seeing the man she loves start to see the the things in her that he loved in another future. I am looking forward to having her travel South with us and seeing what she chooses to become.   Eventually Moira comes to find me with someone she wants me to meet - a tall fellow with fin-shaped ears and solid black eyes. He carries himself gracefully, clad in flowing blue-toned robes with a book and satchel of stationary hanging at his side. He introduces himself as brother Qing Chen, a scholar of many things. I catch sight of an emblem embroidered on his robes that makes my heart clench - the Divine Sword of Order. But this soft-spoken scholar is polite and I catch no sense of animosity or suspicion about him. With Void's warning echoing in my mind I have the two of us retire to Moira's home for more conversation while I send Yneir to bring Trillium to meet with us.   I have no way of knowing if this Qing Chen is a spy, a scout, a person sent to kill her, or just a strange coincidence but I want her close to me until I have figured out what this person wants. When I ask about the emblem he is quite open about telling me that his people are part of a brotherhood of many types, following a faith laid down by the Exalted Ones. While many followers of his faith wish to let the Exalted Ones return, he personally believes that it would be wiser to find a new home and escape the cycle of neverending conflict between his people and the people who drove out the Exalted Ones.   To this point he references the river people in the South and their belief in the flow of fate. He believes that people can either walk in endless repeating cycles or can break out of them. But this belief makes him unpopular amongst his fellows who are more focused on vengeance. His faith, from his perspective, has both a light and a dark side. The light side is comprised of reverence for the Exalted ones and a desire to follow their example while the dark side is hatred for their ancient enemy. Would it be possible to have the light side without the dark?   He has heard of elves and the Collective so in turn I tell him about how the Collective is just a new weapon that our own Ancient Enemy has brought to bear against elves and Osyr. He has heard of the Ingans and considers them a formidable force of nature to be avoided. And of his own accord he shares that their ancient enemy are dragons and their followers, which is the opportunity I have been hoping for to tell him that I consider several dragons to be part of my family. Under Moira's calm and neutral presence we discuss the delicate nature of our respective allegiances and agree to work to understand one another and not to fight. To my great relief I believe that he has no idea who I am and that it is purely accidental that we have wandered into one another.   It is at this moment when Trillium appears in the doorway and I catch a wave of power from her before I overpower her with my own dusk magic and put her to sleep. Whatever is inside her awoke in Qing Chen's presence and I have Yneir whisk her away to her room while I turn back to Qing Chen, who is trembling as much as Trillium was.  

The Earth Shatterer...she bathed one of our valleys in the blood of our people.

  I speak with the same measured tone I have used all afternoon and tell him that she is my family and under my protection. I explain her lack of memory, the work I am doing to rehabilitate her and make peace with her past. I explain the half-curse she is under.   He is willing to hear this, and volunteers that it is very possible he does not know the full story of what happened to make his people go to war against her specifically. Their texts say only that she is the doom of their people but not why. It is the first time I tell someone other than Uncle Red the story that I got from Void: About her dragon husband and their child, both slain by the Divine Order. About the spirit calling magic she practices and what she must have used as pigment to call her son's ancestors to fuel her rampage. He listens quietly, as does Moira.   Eventually he points out that he is in a very difficult situation as all members of his Brotherhood are expected to report if they encounter the Earth Shatterer. But he is aware that he alone is no match for me and that he would like to try to understand more, asking for my trust to return to his lodgings and regain his composure before we can continue talking.   I like him. I am not ready to trust him, and so I say that we will remain here while we regain our respective composures and try to come to an agreement. He retreats into a trancelike state and I feel him manipulating his own energy to calm himself, somewhat similar to how I would manipulate someone else's emotions with my heart magic. Yneir remarks to me that he has a shiny fate that has not set itself on a path yet - he's not evil, at least.   It takes over an hour for him to emerge from his trance but when he does we agree to spend three days getting to know one another and respecting the nonviolence of t he place we are in. I still don't know how much I will be able to trust him but I wave off the offers of swearing oaths or binding our magic. This sort of trust is one that must be committed to wholeheartedly - half-binds would not serve us if we are trying to properly understanding one another.