RE: Fall of the Elven Kingdom (Collector x LizH)
Collector of Rarities said:
(Give me a description of each of the elves, as well as what the journey was like for them)
The drought that had been afflicting the Desert Elf Kingdom of Salima was now in its third month. The Moonbow river that sustained it, that irrigated the crops, and ran through the fountains and gardens of the beautiful houses of the city, had gradually dwindled, from its usual majestic width, hundreds of yards across, to a mere trickle, little better than a muddy ditch. The levels in the wells that dropped deep into the rocks below the city were falling. Soon they would run dry. Coming as it did hard on the heels of the deaths of Queen Adara and her consort, and the accession of her daughter Queen Lorelei, it was clearly a bad omen. The elves had somehow earned the emnity of their deity, the Lord of Light, and no ceremony seemed to placate him. As beloved as Queen Lorelei was, there were mutterings among the people. She must put this right.
There was a time when magics would have been able to draw water from the very stones, even the air, but those devices had not been used for centuries, and when examined proved to have lost their enchantment, and none alive any longer knew how to repair them. But the priestesses and scholars had other ideas, when the young queen had summoned them to the palace to come up with solutions. The Moonbow river flowed from a lake in the mountains to the east, that much was known from ancient maps, and while the elves had had little need to veture much beyond their oasis of paradise, travellers did sometimes come and go from those lands. The curve of the river's snaking course took it many miles south before it turned back northeast to the mountains, and might take weeks to traverse, but the desert between the city and the mountains could be crossed in a few days' travel. There was known to be a human town at the waterfalls where the river burst from the lake. Contact could be made with them.
The first scouts, however, had returned disappointing news. The human town had been sacked by raiders - bestial hyena-men, gnolls from who knew where. Attempts to approach had fallen on deaf ears and been chased off - they would not talk to women, they said. This had caused some consternation in Salima. For nine tenths of the population were female - and older quirk of elf reproduction that had left the rare male children kept in pampered luxury as breeding stock. Nearly all of the nobility, the merchants, the soldiers - were female. Some suggested moving militarily to secure the water, but the army had not seen action in decades, and was a shadow of its former self, and the gnolls were twice the size of any elf and fierce in combat. Still, they appeared to understand trade.
Queen Lorelei was resolute. If this omen was upon her, then it must be she who resolved it. She would lead a small party - not too many, so that there could be no suspicion of foul play or military conquest - across the trackless desert to the town. She chose her childhood friend and one of the priestesses of the Lord of Light, Anais, as her companion and advisor. Talathiel, a ranger and one of the Royal Bodyguard, would protect her person. And from the darker streets of the city came Roshalyn, at the urging of Anais, more worldly-wise and experienced with foreigners and their ways, a spy, thief, dancer and perhaps more.
The four had made the arduous journey - less so for Talathiel, tall, sinewey and with long, flaming red hair, for she was used to the rigours of travel on the fringes of the Kingdom, and her knowledge of the desert had proved invaluable, but the other three, all of the city, and two of them of the nobility, had never had to walk so far. Still, Queen Lorelei, tall, blonde and statuesque, for all of her quiet, bookish nature, was aware of the importance of her journey, and her magical training had given her a strong will that had keot her going with her natural regal grace, and only the occasional show of petulance. Roshalyn, petite, raven-haired and cynical, grumbled a little to herself but knew she was being paid well for her commitment. Anais, her flowing brunette locks piled on her head in a sculptured style, tried to keep spirits up, her gifts from the Lord of Light allowing her to make even the most unpalatable food edible, and daily produce additional water for the journey - invaluable for the desert trek. Her calm optimism insisted that this was what the Lord of Light had ordained, and so they should bear their burdens cheerfully.
Nevertheless, at the first sight of the city, Talathiel had unslung her bow. While the elf maidens took some time to brush the tanlges from their hair and swap their utilitarian desert cloaks for the flowing, clinging silks that were the norm in Salima - Queen Lorelei intended that they should arrive at least looking the part of a diplomatic mission that included royalty - Talathiel scouted the approach, alert for an ambush.
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