You were always curious, the Moongate there and the option to visit the mortal realm was always heeded by a warning: you always have to return. But out you ventured, and the mortal realm held your love just as much as Avalon did. Some understood you, but many did not. The risk of being cut from the ancestors scared many, but the beauty of Taravell called you. But as the wars continued, as the Blight crept at the edges of Lysara, you knew that no one was safe, within Avalon or not. So you took to the mortal realm with a promise that you would help those within Taravell back to Avalon.
Bellanaris Melithar, heir to the Melithar house, had an arranged marriage with another noble elve. Unfortunately, while Bellanaris fell deeply in love with her wife, her wife did not return this love. She left to be a Silver elve and Bellanaris had their two identical twin daughters alone.
The first born twin was Val'shira's sister, who was such a vibrant joy that you'd think she was the one with light manipulation. No, it was the Val'shira that had the ability and was also a menace to society. Her mother always favored her sister from the moment they were born. Her sister was also older and therefore the heir.
Val'shira was a playful and troublesome child who acted up and pranked people to get attention (because no one gave her attention). She grew up and started to realize she needed to shape up to get her mom's attention. Except that did not work either. No matter what Val'shira did to make her mother proud, nothing worked and so she isolated herself to the woods, books, and art.
Absolutely adores the mortal realm but had tried to stay away from anywhere but the feywild's at her mom's request. Eventually, her request wasn't enough and Val'shira explored the world she loved.
The sisters reconnected in adulthood after being aloof from one another their entire lives. Sister confided that she fell in love with someone and Val'shira told her to go for it. Unbeknownst to Val, that someone was in the mortal realm and her sister disappeared.
Bellanaris was heartbroken but also old and the Blight had started to addle her mind. Val'shira tried to help to no avail. Bellanaris' younger brother (Val'shira's uncle) took to advising Titania instead and Val'shira is now left with the Melithar house... but she has other plans.
For the time being, she is leaving Avalon to find her late sister's apparent child and also find a way to get them and all other elves and elvhen united within Avalon. If they all might die of the Blight, they might as well do it together under the light of the Laurelin and not where war is waging.
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“I have more numbers,” she tells Val as she steps closer to her and the desk her liege had commandeered to make the evacuation planning easier. There was no progress near the Eluvian that had awakened, so she had chosen to help with organizing the evacuation until she was needed back in the center of Avalon. Fyren and others remained there, everwatching, so she could step back and help Val’shire ensure all of their people made it to safety beyond the Moongate.
“And some of the other things you asked me for. Did you need anything else, Val?”
Val'shira's eyes remained glazed and unfocused, even as she glanced up to acknowledge Nuvi's entrance. "Thank you, Nuvi," she murmured, distracted, inhaling deeply as a hand came up to cradle her forehead. Her eyes glared at the paper in front of her, a paper full of words, numbers and calculations. "We have silver elves saying there's too many refugees coming in all at once. We might have to prioritize those whose final destinations are past the Silverlands. But this... Gods, the transportation alone seems to mean hundreds of pegasi, horses and wagons that we don't have."
She shook her head, bringing Nuvi's folder closer to her. Though Val'shira's face seemed to brighten at the sight of the many letters. Overwhelming as they were, active correspondence was a step in the right direction of getting things done. "I really appreciate this." She finally offered a smile up at the other elve. "And I suppose, if you're not too weary already, you're welcomed to look through some of these yourself. The choices are communications or calculations."
Even if the darkness had not crept out, tenebrous and tangible tendrils that sapped the life from even Mythal's statue, their world was bleeding, staunchly, lethally. Solon had only just found it again, freed from Aetheron's grasp, from the countless years of torture to become this fear-instilling machine for such cruel mages. They had turned the pink dragon of dreamers into the very antithesis of what he once was; jovial, boisterous, mischievous but with a caring heart. He'd only gotten a mere taste of this world before it imploded once again, a wound that flooded each elvhen and dragon that had remained within Avalon as blighted chaos trickled towards them until it burst into this catastrophic river.
"I lived in a time where the tree was still considered youthful," he teased this with a bittersweet, nearly grim tone, "The blight had not yet become, we had no worries of this taint." Such grim regard turned to borderline fury, restrained with clipped words that held such grief, "My dream had always been to go home, Val'shira, but I believe my oath now holds me to ensuring you all have a home to go to. This Avalon, I have come to respect it, love it even, but if the wheel is to will it, then it will see to it that the fade has me, for that is all I have left of something that seems lost to this darkness for good." He had not let despair win, but he seemed to make peace with it; if he could fix this fractured world, even if he could not see the result, he would be okay.
Val'shira was silent for a few, casting away her gaze and holding back an unwelcomed frustration. It was not her place to make decisions for the dragon, nor scold them for it. It was his decision based on so untold experiences, entwined with their accompanying emotions, a coiled aggregation likened to a noose of rope around his neck now. She could only hope she understood even a fraction of the pain she saw, something she might portray in a painting as the shadowed state of his eyes, but never in the controlled rage of his voice. That was her's to experience in the here and now, and to listen to.
The numbing wash of resignation came over her, loosening a breath from her lungs. She crossed her arms as though to shield herself from the empathetic sadness, but it formed like a weight on her chest regardless. "I don't agree with you," she said gently. "I don't believe that you shouldn't be outside the Gate right now, ready to fight by our sides. Our home is with the people, not a place..." She turned to look at him again, her eyes calm and demeanor non-confrontational so as not to push him away. "Avalon is a mother, life-giving, warm, welcoming, and yet accepting of her children leaving to find seperate paths. And, in the end, a mother is not forever. And I don't believe a good mother would want her children to die for her. Even you, old as you are, are her legacy."
"At least that is the way I see it. I'm not here to tell you off, or try to change your mind and more than I have now, but I cannot leave without you realizing that there's someone you don't even know who wants you with us... And if there's me, then there are other's who feel the same way."
The Silverlands were a mess, quickly filling with Elvhen who hemorrhaged from the Moongate. Juneau didn’t necessarily love the idea of being a dedicated little helper, somewhat suspicious that upper crust High Elvhen might be as exclusionary as she had once known Iskarans to be. But she had a marketable skillset for times like this, and she knew Zeliha would have been disappointed in her if she hadn’t lent a hand. Alder would have been, too. Internally, she cursed this unexpected development of accountability.
“Not unless you have an especially majestic looking pony set aside for me,” Juneau responded, but her hand still extended outward for the shiny token. She had half a mind to snatch it from Val’shira but refrained. “Va’shira. See?, I can remember names, too.”
Val'shira set Juneau a grim smile. She could appreciate a joker during these tough times, especially since every time she tried to ease the tension with her own kin, the noble elve was met with incredulous stares of fear and worry from those who didn't know the definition of dark humor. She wasn't very good at comforting people, but she hoped to improve that. Volunteering in this effort was a start, apart from her already heavy duties of leadership.
"Val," Val'shira corrected gently, passing on the bag of tokens to another elve near her table. She put up a hand, silently requesting 5 minutes of a break as she rounded the station to meet her favorite wolf-kin. (And the only one she knew.) "It's nice you remember but, outside the Moongate or trauma magic, it's Val. Has anyone ever taught you that true names have a lot of power?" She beckoned Juneau. "Now are you here to assist my people or to steal from them? They are refugees, so I'm inclined to believe the former... You put up a hard front, but the two of us know you have a soft heart."
Yeah, breakfast at Tiffany's and bottles of bubbles
Girls with tattoos who like getting in trouble
Lashes and diamonds, ATM machines
Buy myself all of my favourite things, yeah
Been through some bad shit, I should be a sad bitch
Who would have thought it'd turn me to a savage? (x)
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May it be an evening star
Shines down upon you
May it be when darkness falls
Your heart will be true
You walk a lonely road
Oh, how far you are from home
Mornië utúlië
Believe and you will find your way (x)
Date: Latest plot drop, troupe 4
Location: Silverlands, by the Moongate
Characters: @vuldak-juneau & @valshirathelight
Notes: it's been a hot minute and some things are better but everything is worse
Plenty of High Elves who had crossed through the Moongate now lingered by it's entrance, awaiting either prepared rides from existing family and friends, or assistance in going where they needed to go. Many still had nowhere in mind. Val'shira had been in Avalon for most of the exodus until now, ushering elves out through Elune's Veil. But with enough of her people out on the mortal side, she had crossed over to have a hand in helping them navigate. "There will be more pegasi and volunteers coming," she told a cluster of flustered looking High elves. "Present this and they'll take you anywhere you need to go." She repeated herself over and over, handing out the golden tokens until a familiar face caught her attention. The lack of pointed ears was not the odd part about Juneau, but rather the serendipity of seeing her under such circumstances after months of not.
"You... don't need a ride to the Queenslands, do you?" Val'shira pulled away the token she had almost handed Juneau. The reassuring and warm smile she'd given the elves melted away, only to be replaced by a mixture of emotions: confusion and pleasant surprise. "Juneau."
The dragon of night will not be silenced.
The dragon of night marches once again.
No matter the construction of such message, it started low with this cruel array of wisping shadows that lured out from what was once known as his home. Such message rose to a deafening chant as it spread like wildfire through Avalon and blight crumbled statues and plagued soil in it's wake; no stone would be left unturned as tenebrous blight, hungry and unwavering, stole life in it's swift rampage. Elvhen were most susceptible to this rampage but still Solon could not relate to those who chose to flee; the balance of life and death would not end here, it would trickle out unto the world until everything was coated in such cruel miasma and took all with it.
He heard a crunch of footsteps on blighted soil and though his heart was bleeding with such pain at what was to come, Solon's tone was clipped, "I take it that since you are still here, you know the cost." Just as he had promised the Steel dragon, the cost of his own life was worth a tomorrow where all else could live without such gaping maw of darkness over them.
Though she was the Lady of the branch with the Moongate, Val'shira was sure that she had never been so busy in such affairs. Her uncle was stuck to Titania's side, as were many of the other old advisors their Queen kept. Val took the mantle of leadership in stride, managing to wrangle up as many workers and volunteers as she could to make the mass exodus as efficient and calm as possible. But it was hard. The fear was palpable: seen in every eye, heard in every voice and felt in every touch. The High elves came to Elune's Veil in droves and left the Moongate, left Avalon, left their home with the knowledge they might never see it again. Unless there was a chance that time could be bought and something could be salvaged in a fight, Val'shira would be among the refugees. Pointless life lost was against her family's creed.
"A part of me has wanted to leave Avalon most of my life," she admitted quietly, siding up to the dragon. "I always took for granted it would be here for me if I wanted it." Her head shook. "We've got mostly everyone out, but we're looking for stragglers still." She tried to meet the dragon's gaze. "How do you know that the cost of your life is worth whatever time you might buy this place? Fyren, you are needed for more of what is yet to come."
Elris was trying to be polite as he chewed what was in his mouth, trying to keep it in so he could swallow it. He had thought it would be a fun idea to try some regional dishes because taste in food changed over time with its culture but maybe this time he had bitten off more then he could chew. “What was In that one Val’shira? I don’t like this idea anymore.” His mouth was on fire, felt like he had just dipped it into the lava at blackrock.
There were very few elves that shared in Val'shira's fascination of the world outside the Moongate. Luckily, Val had recently discovered that her new friend and old librarian never actually pretended to care about them. He was actually quite adventurous about mortal culture, and it was a rare delight to relate to an elve who was not Silver, and who was even among their own nobility.
She had been watching him with relentless focus, eyes narrowed, up until Elris tried to cover his mouth and winced. A grin ghosted across her face, turning roguish and wild as he turned red. "Chili peppers... oh, ho, come on, that's just sad." Val couldn't contain it anymore and let out a laugh, singular and barking. "Awww, these are supposed to be nothing." She popped one of the salsa covered crisps into her mouth, withholding a chuckle as she chewed with ease. "From what I hear about their cuisine, you wouldn't survive a second in Sinaria."
Her concern is rapidly replaced by surprise at the depths of the rancor coating Val’s words. She is not one to disagree, not when she had seen the first hand results of violence while she was escaping Iskaldrik, but as much as she and Val had grown closer than they used to be, she had never seen the noble curse. It’s a shock, but one she tries to take in stride.
“The only true result of conflict is bloodshed and death, yes,” she says, sighing as she glances around. It’s really a shame that Haven it’s the target of the Kossith. She had wanted to visit once more, after they welcomed her so openly when she had been a refugee, but returning under these circumstances isn’t exactly pleasant. “I can do that, then. Make sure we have provisions for before, during and after the fight.”
She nods at Val’s reassurance, a wan smile flitting through her face.
“I will let you know if it comes to that, but I am praying to Mythal that it won’t go that far.”
Val'shira was silent for a few heartbeats, staring, determining if Nuvi meant her words. Her fellow elvhen could not lie, sure, but she could dislike the truth of her words. It didn't seem so, at least not to Val's discernment. That comforted her. Though she was the heir apparent to the small branch that the two women called their home, Val'shira wasn't sure if it was right to worry as much as she did. She didn't just worry about losing even just (1) of their own to death, she worried now about losing them to abandonment too. She would not admit that she feared the possibility of having lost Shenuvun to distrust, having all of them failed to find and save her once already. It was in that moment that Val wished she had the same loyal faith that the other woman did.
She hoped she could bring this admiration with her into their budding friendship, and eventually admit it. "... Alright. I think, if any time welcomes prayer, it's now." She considered reminding herself to do the same before jumping into the fray. "Dareth shiral, Nuvi. We will see this through." Safe journey.
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It wasn’t all Vals fault as to why they hadn’t becoming acquainted earlier. Elris much preferred written words then spoken and through his childhood he had a nasty pride that made him look down on those who were less intelligent but that had been curbed by his incident. When it and to Abelas Elris was somewhat secretive and if he knew about the rumours he would have made the excuse that he had been Abelas teacher for years. What he and Abelas shared was for them and no one else.
“I wouldn’t do that to the books… even the inaccurate ones.” He caught her tone and meaning right away and meet her with the same humour. “I will make sure I am behind the bows” the last thing he wanted was an arrow to his bad knee. He wasn’t going to lecture her about safety after all with his Injury he wasn’t the bastion of keeping his body safe. “Well i hope to see you on the other side of this.”
Val'shira grinned, glad to share in the amusement. She had no choice but to trust his integrity after sharing all that she had with Elris, for the sake of their people's history. But, well, it had become rather clear to Val that she no longer minded that. No matter which way she scrutinized other's, including him, Val could find nothing there that brought her distrust or even distaste. He'd remain on her happy side, a hopeful acquaintance of goodwill, and maybe one of humor too. A rare treat to realize she appreciated someone's company, rather than just tolerated it for the sake of diplomacy.
The thought of either of their possible deaths made her grin fade. She rolled her eyes. "This is history in the making, you wouldn't dare die, Lord Dalathor... And I have a young owlbear to get home to, so it is a fate I'll politely refuse for myself as well. Chances are, I'll see you in a fortnight." She nodded firmly. "Dareth shiral." Safe journey.
“I can provide shielding and support for the fighters,” she offers gently, hands clasping behind her back as she examines her lady. She seems fairly frazzled, and she can’t deny she is the tiniest bit worried about Val. Still, even if they had gotten a lot closer since Nuvi returned from the mines, she still doesn’t know her that well. That… And well, she doesn’t think it is the best time to focus on those issues, when there are other, bigger things to worry about.
“I am not an adept warrior, but I have been training a bit so I believe I will be somewhat helpful,” she says thoughtfully, as she considers the scenario around them with a hum. “Of course, I can also help with supplies by growing fruits and vegetables if needed. Though that will take some time.”
With an artist's keen eye, she could tell that there was slight concern crossing over Nuvi's face. She did not address it outright, but neither did she ignore it. Subconsciously, it made her feel free to express a disgust and distaste that had Val'shira immediately shuddering. She let go of hiding her discomfort as she gazed at the marching soldiers and preparing troops.
"I hate bloodshed. I hate all of this," she muttered. "There's nothing exciting about it, or beautiful, and all you hear in books about battle is glory and bravery and romanticism. Even I had bought into it. Such bullshit." She sighed, crossing her arms over her chest and looking back at Nuvi. "Supplies will probably be helpful, especially since we have none from the human crown." She looked briefly and offhandedly annoyed at this. "And I have no idea how long Queen Aurea's provisions will last. Just... let me know if you're going into the battlefield. You've faced down enough violence without us. Every time it's in our power, never forget that your people have your back." That's the way it should be anyway, and the way Val hoped to keep it.
After the last time he had seen her, he was a little shocked that she was so confident, but who was he to judge? He was but a stranger who knew a little too much about her thought process. But since seeing her last, he had been through so much and was able to stand tall. "Well, if I have learnt anything from my times with the mortals, all the history I have been able to absorb is that it's not always the number of souls fighting but the strength of them. I believe there's a phrase about a dog and its size not being comparable to the fight within it."
"Well, I'm here if battle tactics are required. But don't count me as defenceless just because i can't run." He was sure he could trap more than a few kossith in their own mind if it came to it. "I will have to make sure I'm in the right spot to accurately take account of the events that will unfold."
A singular brow lifted at his metaphor. Though her smile was soft enough to be considered kind, and not at all sarcastic. His endearing optimism reminded her vaguely of old friends and a lost sister - she wondered why she hadn't bothered to at least become acquainted with the man whose establishment she frequented so often. The answer to her own wonder was easily accessible - she didn't make friends easily - but Elris seemed an inordinately kind and understanding man. If the dog metaphor meant anything, rumours were true that even their Abelas (who preferred creatures over most anything) had attached himself lovingly to the scholar. Either little fazed Elris or he was exceptionally good at managing his emotions. Both were admirable qualities.
"You could always pelt them with books," she suggested, looking quite serious. The vaguest hint of a smile that quirked her lip a moment later was all that there was to mark her words as playful. "I know quite well the hold of your psionic abilities, I'm sure you'll be fine. Just try to keep to the side of the bows." She jerked a chin behind him. "Not mine. I got a little better at stealth since-" Only Elris knew about her former lover now, but Val still side-stepped. "Well, since history. So I'm going to see how far into their ranks I can get with a bit of illusion and some audacity." There was a slight shudder in her shoulders. A general distaste was evident on her face. "And I'm not excited about it."
There is a near manic energy around Nuvi as she flits from one side of Haven to the other, offering her help in any way she can despite not being fully sure she is being helpful at all. Her concern for Haven is real, but her mind is half out of place as she wonders the fate of the Prince, and the girls she grew so close to during her time captured. Their fate’s are a question she doesn’t have an answer for, and she hates it. It’s this how her parents felt, when she was trapped in the mines? This heavy concern sitting in the pit of her chest? It makes her time in captivity all the worse, and she hates that others are going through it as she is. Nervous as she is, she doesn’t realize that Val is in Haven until she all but runs into her in the middle of the street, almost reminiscent of their first meeting after Iskaldrik.
“Oh! Val! You are here,” she says with a blink, surprised that she hadn’t noticed her around. “Why are you here?”
"There were some in the Veil who wanted to come, I came with them- why-" She shook her head, dismissing the question that had been on her tongue. There was no need to ask; it was quite obvious why Nuvi would have come. Most elvhen either worried for their prince, for these innocent people, or for both. And, in the end, the Kossith were a threat to everyone - not just the wolves.
"Fighting, healing or supplies? If you're fighting or healing, you're coming with us." It was not an order, not in the tone that Val proclaimed it, but neither was it a gentle suggestion. It was... half an impassioned plea, and half a statement of expectation. The elves would stick together, particularly Veil elves if Val had any say of it. They needed to look out for each other on any battlefield.
Elris had learned a lot about how Valshira saw the world when he looked through months of her memories, what she and that circle had done. But he wasn't going to rely on a second-hand account this time. This is not to say that Valshira's accounts couldn't be trusted; he just preferred his own eyes. He was also worried that they would lose more elves to these kossith, they already had Prince Ikaros, Dior though he could live without him, but it was the principle of a noble being taken. "How is your magic? is it in fighting shape?"
"Better than ever," she proclaimed confidently. There was no hesitation, doubt, fear, or embarrassment in her eyes this day. Even if she felt any of that, there was no room to show it. But Val was too determined to feel anything but concentration; there were enemies to fight, and those under her care from Elune's Veil to keep safe. Thus, she pushed away any thoughts of their last encounter except the fact Elris had proven himself a kind heart and gentle soul. "I heard that at least the young Mordecai was convinced to fight. Still... I don't see how it'll be much easier. We have few numbers. We need much more." And none of them were very acquainted with the Kossith, even the old elves among them.
"How about you? Helping? There are other ways to help that aren't outright fighting." Val didn't know Elris to be a warrior, but she also knew never to discount the training of their nobility. She wasn't meant to be a warrior either.
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Val’s presence in her life had never been too odd, considering how she was the daughter of Nuvi’s liege lord, but the increase of that presence had been noticed. Before Nuvi’s time in the mines, they had seen each other a lot less frequently, and there had been fewer conversations of any length. Now? Now it was different, and it continued to be different. Shenuvun had never been too good at divining people’s reasons, or understanding others, for most of her intelligence went into understanding complex topics of research, so she could not tell why Val had changed, only that she had. She had come to accept it, at the end, knowing that it was futile to fight it, when she did enjoy her company. That is why she greets the other in Bacchus with a bemused smile and a glass of wine on hand.
“Now, now. You know I love to hear stories, even if I don’t give the best advice,” she reminds Val kindly as she moves to sit next to her by the fire. “But if it is not something you want to talk about, I am more than happy to fill the silence with a detailed report of all the changes on production since the last time you visited,” she offers with a teasing smile. “You know how I love to talk.”
OPEN STARTER
Location: Avalon
Notes: Open to people in Avalon
The ring went dormant on the road but even if it hadn't there wasn't anything that would've stopped him from coming to stand before Queen Titania. Elris joined him, inseparable as of late.
"My son has been taken while an Old God breathes down the spine of our people and I can send no one." The Queen was still, statuesque as the bastard and the mother commiserate over their shared grief - their love.
"You can send me." They'd taken noble sons of Avalon: Dior... one of the dragons who'd joined them through the eluvian, Eivor. It wasn't just an offense, it was a direct attack to how the elves could defend themselves in the future.
A beat accompanied by a silence that stretched long alongside the shadow of their potential loss. Titania spoke first, "Take three of our blades and whoever else will join you, and bring me the Arishok."
"Ikaros is coming home," again. "I promise."
He'd never been a very good elvhen. The word Harmony and the name Abelas weren't exactly synonymous with one another. But he kept his word, he had a respect and love for nature that the Kossith lacked - and he was a good friend when he needed to be.
"He's our prince... my brother...."
"A friend..." My best friend lingered at the back of Abelas' thoughts. He looked down as Icarus pressed his forehead into the palm of the elvhen's hands. From the shadows at the corner of his eye, Abelas watched as Saleba's tail flicked back and forth, her eyes watching him through the dark. Twin figures circled overhead: Gwaeryn, Vallas, and Caimriss - getting bigger everyday - had ceased their playing and turned their attention downward.
"I don't know if we can catch up to them now... But after we capture the Arishok, we'll make them give Ikaros, Dior, and the others back." Some might go for Haven, others for people that Abelas had never met, their reasons didn't matter but Abelas' objective was clear. The Kossith would suffer a blow without their Arishok.
A few elvhen from Elune's Veil were eager to assist in the efforts against the Kossith, or at least to help those harmed by the threat. Many of them, if not all, were further emboldened with determination after the Prince was taken by these enemies. These were all warm and welcoming individuals, brighter in personality than the light manipulator who had turned up in Avalon to pick them up. She hadn't expected to find Abelas returned home, or to see the Queen had opened up the efforts to find Ikaros.
Atish'len currently occupied the attention of the elves who were set to travel with Val, all lingering a couple feet away as she spoke with Abelas. Or, rather, studied him silently and intently for what must have been half a minute before she finally replied. "You haven't been yourself." She doesn't beat around the bush; this wasn't formal politics - she knew Abelas well enough, and he knew her well enough. To work to save Ikaros was leagues better to Val'shira than to simply watch other's do it, but it would be for little if they lost his brother in the process. "How confidant are you that you can handle this right now?"
