Scrolls from Soen - Part IV

My Dear Brother William, As I'm sure you recall, we talked many times about whether I should one day take a journey to visit the Elven city of Alalia. You always felt it might do me some good to spend some time there and learn of their culture. I can finally report that I have been there, and I liked whay I saw not in the slightest. I know you tried to teach me to be tolerant of the other races we share this world with, particularly given my own history, but I have to say the world would most likely be a better place without those arrogant bastards. But I get ahead of myself.... After our escape from Gruwald, we decided to travel north to the woods of Aelfwode, avoiding the roads in hopes of also avoiding any fruther Inqusitors. I was badly shaken by the revolt and our part in in, but it helped me greatly to be outside the settled lands. Aelfwode was as beautiful as you had described to me, and I enjoyed our travel through the southern part of the forest. It was all too soon that we reached the black heart that festers at its center, the Elven city itself. We came upon an enormous hedge, clearly cultivated, extending ruler straight east and west of us. We were sure this marked the boundaries of the city, but there was some dissention as to how to proceed. Our rogue, Darkie the halfling, located a secret entrance through the hedge; and I couldn't help but admire the clever mix of horticulture and engineering that made it possible. It led into what we soon figured out was an enormous maze. A maze! I despise mazes above nearly all else. I thoiught our time might be better served by going back outside and walking the perimeter to see if we couldn't find the more accepted entrance to the city. Surely the elves themselves didn't traverse this damnable collection of twisty little passages, all alike, whenever they came and went from the city. But the group concensus drove us on deeper inside, and soon we found ourselves battling the maze's various guardians. Our horses were spooked by one such encounter, and Alestor took that gnome girl back through the passages to try and recapture him (may Obad-Hai ever smile upon him for sparing us her presence for a time). Unfortunately, he also took with him the map we had been making of our progress, so we had little choice but to press on. After far too much of this, with tempers growing increasingly short, we finally had our long-anticipated encounter with the elves. They trapped us in a large pit and knocked the lot of us unconscious. We awoke in suspended cages high above the elven town. Another prisoner was trapped with us, but he had apparently given up all hope of escape. He said little and did nothing while we tried to formulate a plan. We managed to break a large enough opening in the wall of our cage to allow Darkie to escape. Sadly, he was caught and put under by a sleeping dart almost immediately. In the morning we were taken to meet our captors. Despite our attempts to explain to this Amlethe Silvergrass, the towns high priestess of Zed, the moon god, we were neither believed, nor trusted. I know of more than one way a priest can determine the truth of what people are saying, and this elfwoman was clearly far more powerful than I am, but she attempted none of these. Elves, apparently, do not believe in doing things the easy way. They also do not believe in doing their own work if suitable slaves present themselves. Reminding us that two members of our party were still prisoners of their maze, they ordered us to travel outside the forest to the human town of Pimsleigh to gather information about the Inquisitors. If we did so, they would reunite us with Alestor and Lilly. Or so they said. Was it you who told me that a man incapable of trust is rarely trustworthy in his own right? So while the Inquisitors undoubtedly marched on Goyem Valley, we were forced into gathering intelligence for the elves. Have I mentioned how odd it seemed that the best spies they could find were a wandering band of ragged children they captured on their borders? I'll always wonder why, if they couldn't trust our story and the evidence we carried, the could trust anything we came back and told them. But ours was not to question why. We merely had to do as our new masters bade us. The futher demanded that we return the other prisoner, a man named Drassen, to Pimsleigh. This turned out to be the only smart thing they did, as we never would have made it there without him. It wasn't long after taking leave of the elves that we came upon a troll who had captured his own net full of herb gatherers from Pimsleigh. Perhaps it too needed someone to gather intelligence on the Inquisition, though I suspect it was merely hungry. This was a foe beyond any of us, save Drassen, who turned out to be a fairly powerful mage. Thanks to him, we were victorious and the rest of the trip to the town was uneventful. In Pimsleigh we found out what we could about the Inquisitor presence, and opted to stay the night in a local inn and tavern. There we encountered an insane elf who, while far friendlier than those in Alalia, wanted nothing less than to get everyone he met to renounce the evil dangers of magic. Someone let slip that we were returning to Alalia in the morning, and he wished to accompany us so he might convince the elves of his folly. As entertaining as that would be to watch, we decided we needed to be rid of him, so Darkie's sister Enora, armed with a magical belt buckle that prevents intoxication, proceeded to challenge him to a series of drinking games. We left him passed out at the table. The next morning we set out to return to our masters. Drassen, who we had reunited with his lover Biarian the previous afternoon, asked to accompany us. Since our orders were to take him to the town, not prevent his returning, and since his return was bound annoy the elves, we readily agreed. Sadly, we had incurred the ill favor of some diety along the way, for the mad elf we had hoped would be too hung over to join us managed to rouse himself and follow. Our return trip went quickly. Having proven our trustworthiness to some extent, the elves agreed to help the children we had left behind at Cowick Abbey. For a price. First, we have to mine for them sufficient amber for a group teleportation spell. Apparently there are no laborers at all among the elves, nor anyplace were we might trace for sufficient quantities of the stone. Having little choice, we agreed. And with that, I must leave you, for I need to sleep some before we are sent off to the mines in the morning. Literally. Yours in Nature, Randall