35.2 Meant To Exist

General Summary

Day 523

We sail onward until mid-afternoon when we must navigate a series of artificial dams. The water seems to be impeded by a series of pools and stoppages created by enormous beaver-like creatures and Kaide and I sit back and let all the youngsters practice handling the situation. Seeking Trillium guided by an ancestral commander is so evocative of Mistress in combat that my heart aches a little.   The pelts of the creatures go into my component storage as good, waterproof hide that I'm sure Kaide and i will find a use for. Unfortunately no one else is as interested in eating the meat and particularly Kaide finds it too heavy. Trilium remarks that it would be better seasoned with lotus, which is unfortunately far to the south.   That night I get a letter from Dal and the entire group can see something is wrong as soon as I finish it. What he describes are elves with no greater magic, no personal magic...no connection to anything greater. There is little I can advise Dal aside from knowing with near certainty that their situation is not one caused by a toxin or hostile magic in the area. If they will not leave their valley then there are precious few ways I can think to help weave them back into the tapestry in which all other long-lived races exist.   They could swear oaths to the Empress (or to me, I realize), seek shelter with the Kindred, even attempt to forge a connection to the Trees of Leaf and Vine (or whatever I might find in the Weaver's Village). But all of these require travel and I don't have the first idea how we would explain such a choice to them.  

When you pluck a thing from the river, what do they become?

  Trillium asks aloud if elves are meant to exist at all. If elves are fae who lost their trees and have been adrift ever since, those that remain unattached weaken dramatically. Are elves like lotus flowers that seek any river to make our own? Are we capable of bonding with anything? Or are we the river connecting others together?   Grand thoughts from my sword-swinging little shadow but not answers I have right now, or perhaps ever. All I can do is send Dal more questions.  

Days 524 - 525

A few days later I start feeling the presence of many elves ahead and we find ourselves amidst many elvish style boats along the river. Being still a few days out from the Weaver's Village I push my shadow magic out and hail one of the other boats to ask where they dock.   The good-natured fisherman leads us back to a substantial elvish village on the shore. The construction is clearly military and I'm amazed to see a complement of two dozen cavalry practising on the banks. Above the walls flies a banner that is clearly military, though not recognizable to me.   Inside we are welcomed by Teyshavel, a fairly young uniformed officer who smartly kneels before me and says that he felt me coming from quite a distance. The others disperse to get to know the area while Liliales and I have tea with Teyshavel and learn what we can about the village. I give him my name and title and introduce Liliales as a prince, though we both do our best to quash the formality that results (the poor young man tries to address Liliales as "Sire").   Teysheval had been heading East after hearing rumours of a Keep that flies the Empress' banner. When winter hit he collected people as best they could and lost very few people to the storm.  Now he has found himself captain and watchkeeper of a settlement that includes many civilians who have nowhere else to go and feels his responsibility is to keep them safe. Under his care are the two cavalry wings (many of whom are former messengers), a fist of military police, and three engineers. Only one in five families here are military and he thinks that to remain in place will require a lot of changes that he's not confident can be made, namely farmland and renewable resources.   He asks earnestly for my orders and I mull through the possibilities of having them remain here, put down roots, and form relationships with the adjacent settlements. Or perhaps sending them to the Outlands where they would be safe and sheltered. Or even to Deldrin where Nishvalen could help them set up an outlying settlement and perhaps have some of the soldiers join the Keep under Zadiyah's command to prepare for an eventual assault on the Dwarven Domain. It is a decision that will take some letters, some thought, and some careful reconnaissance amongst the children here, undertaken by Liliales.   In the coming days we will try to get to know the people here and I will receive oaths from anyone who has not yet had the opportunity.