A long ramp, composed of knitted branches and lined on either side with rows of tree trunks, leads upward from behind the gates, and curves off into places unseen. Only through the open gates can you see signs of the rising path, and when you look aside and upward to see where it leads, the trees reveal nothing but foliage, with even that barely visible in the darkness of early night. The large human charges ahead, dragging Celbarin the elf behind him. Five more elves walk quickly through the gates, and up the ramp behind them, with the human named Gavin following close behind, taking long jogging strides. The three remaining elves, one male, two female, remain near the gate waiting for the fellin and lizardman to pass through. Only once everyone else has passed through the gates, the remaining elves follow.

Without warning, a shrill scream pierces the night air. Behind you, one of the female elves collapses to her hands and knees, her whole body shaking. The other two crowd around her. "Eiasa, just hold on," the other woman says to her, followed by the male's voice, "We'll lead you out, just walk with me." They try to help her up, but the gates had closed behind them. "I c-can't... hold it..." the fallen elf's voice falters. Her skin turns pale, and her hair grows shorter, until it disappears completely. Color fades quickly from her clothing, which dissolves, leaving only an earthen cloak covering her body. When she looks up, she is no longer a she. Large waxy white eyes stare up from a slender and featureless face.

Falaanla

After a moment of searching, you find yourself unable to spot even a single candle. Then it dawns upon you, the sun had begun to set even as you entered the Elven city. Yet Destindeterre has yet to grow dark. Even within this large hall, a dim light pervades the entire room, save for a few small shadows cast upon the twined-branch floor. The entire ceiling glows gently.

Reyolen, Taylen

Taylen answers a few of the crowd's questions, which only feeds the building suspense in the crowd. They shout over each other with questions and comments, which soon grow too loud to tell one from another. Several of them try to push their way in towards the elf at the crowd's center. Someone falls backward, landing across several rows of seats with a loud thud. No one appears to notice.

"Why is the city designed the way it is?" she says, glancing at the edge.

"This magic... all around..." He kneels next to the former elf, sadly gazing upon the form before him.

"...how can it do this?"

Slowly she moves over to the lizard man, gently grasping him by his upper arm again. "Come on, the magic won't hurrrrt you."

"Is there anything that can be done to assist? No creature should be left in such a state."

As he gets to the elf, he tries to reach down to her, showing no reaction to her appearance. But his arms dare not follow his orders, they hold back. "How dare they?" he shouts in a booming voice. They will do as he comends, THEY will REACH out to HER! "No one will take HER away from ME again!" he yells in his madness.

[ 02-26-2003: Message edited by: Ukko The Popa Bear ]

When she hears the bohemoth of a man rage, her ears twitch, her head snapping towards his direction. Fry growls low, now quickening her guidence on the lizardman, this time to try and move him away, unsure as to the intent of the charging one.

"It is folly for you to attempt to harm this lady. I will stop your foolish hunt, if necessary."

ooc:
I probably should have given separate info to each of you for my last post, so you could have your own perspectives on the scene. Doing so now will have to suffice.

You charge your way past the elves, past the adorned human, past the fellin and the scaled one. Though you can feel the rope pulling back against you, it hardly slows you down at first, then does not slow you at all. As you strain to free your wrists, however, you find the rope far stronger a restraint than it had seemed. Your arms strain against their bindings, and the ropes stretch, but do not snap. You hear shouting, and the crash of metal. The six elves you charged past now glare angrily at you, with arrows pointed in your direction.

Janus Krug

The creature, which has already collapsed onto its hands and knees, does not appear to even notice your reactions. Its shaking slows, and its body slowly rises and falls as if it were breathing heavily. You can even hear it wheezing slightly. Something charges by you, striking against your shoulder and knocking you off balance. A moment later you wake up on your back, staring up at the branches, with nothing under your head. You can hear shouting in a booming voice, and the tip of an arrow points across your chest at something off to your side.

Drakkenmaw

While your attention is focused on the transformed figure, you hear the sounds of struggle behind you. Glancing quickly behind you, the large human appears in the corner of your sight, charging down the ramp towards you. Behind him, one of the elves tries to restrain the rope, but loses his grip, and the human plows towards you. Acting on instinct, you barely manage to leap out of his path. He roars with anger, struggling to get free. Even as you speak in defense of the fallen creature, it grows apparent how strongly the man's behaviour resembles that of a wild beast. It cries out in a thunderous tone, "No one will take her away from me again!" Your current behavior defies everything you have learned, and somewhere in your mind you cannot help but notice how much your own perspective has changed.

Aanile

Further up the ramp, you suddenly see the large human charging towards you. Though the elf known as Velmoor struggles to hold the rampaging human back, he soon loses his grip on the rope, and stumbles backwards. As the behemoth of a man charges past, Drakkenclaw looses himself from your grasp, and jumps aside. Gavin does not prove so fortunate, and gets knocked down, landing with his head overhanging the path's edge. Celbarin drops the pile of axes, which clank against each other as they crash onto the ramp, and all six of the elves up the ramp from you now draw their bows. However, the male and female elf by the gate crouch on either side of the dull-skinned creature, their arms around her. The large man roars, stomping around wildly between the two groups of elves.

Pvednes

Ralora makes a surprisingly natural pace up the ramp for one who walks with the aid of a cane. Boltat ambles along behind you, occasionally letting out a quiet huff or grunt. At your question, Ralora lets out a small laugh, "I have lived my life outside the Elven city, and shall leave the telling of that tale to those who better know it. But I can tell you this... this city was not made as a city at all. Its founder crafted this place as a fortress."

"Quiet down, people, quiet! He can't answer your questions if you all speak at once. I happen to have been there myself, and I can tell you all about it, provided you can calm down long enough for me to explain, with the help of my comrade here." Silvan smiles smugly, having already thought of a plan to get back onto his feet.

She points up.

ooc:
This just goes to show you that time always passes, whether you help it along or not.

With arrows pointed at you and through you, your struggle against the binding ropes continues. As you continue to stomp about, straining violently against the ropes, pulling and tugging with all your strength, finally something happens. With a brief, sharp snap, your wrists gain a bit of ground. Seconds later, another snap, and your arms flail free, as the ropes fall away. You hear voices speaking to you. A deep, nearly emotionless voice comes from the scaled man. Some of the elves drop to a knee, leaving six arrowheads pointed at you. Yet the arrows have not loosed. No one has yet struck a blow. The two elves by the gate kneel on either side of a pale-skinned creature with waxy white eyes, their arms around it, and their elven faces pointed towards the floor.

Aanile, Drakkenmaw

The large human struggles violently against the rope around his wrists. His body flails, as he turns in place, his steps thudding heavily on the entwined branches of the ramp beneath you. You can just barely feel the vibrations beneath your feet. The leather dressings covering his body creak, and the tail of the rope flops about at random, getting caught under the behemoth man's foot. He bends forward, and a loud pop reaches your ears, followed by a second. The rope collapses into a disheveled coil, its strands broken and untwining, and the man's massive arms reach out from his sides like the branches of a great tree.

Janus Krug

You can hear shouting. The arrow pointed across you draws nearer, yet its direction does not change. Then, as you focus past the pointed weapon tip, your eyes catch on something else. Far above you, among the branches, you spot what looks like another trail reaching across your own. You can see only a small segment of it, as it disappears among the leaves and branches to either side of the trail. But it is definitely there.

Reyolen, Taylen

For an instant, the crowd grows silent, their eyes shifting quickly between you and your companion. Low whispers pass through the crowd. Then a single, deep voice speaks, "Tell your tale, Silvan Koras, from start to end. Leave out nothing from what you can recall, for even the smallest detail may hold great importance." You cannot find the source of the voice through the crowd, but it certainly seems to know you.

Pvednes

"We'll be there in a few moments," Ralora nods. "Don't wander off." You circle the massive trunk several times, each time finding yourself many feet higher than the last. Finally, the trail winds upward into a thick of branches and leaves, and you can see no more of the walkways and homes below.

When you emerge from among the branches, Ralora steps away from the winding ramp. You find yourself in the middle of a large marketplace, filled with small shoppes and kiosks selling all manner of goods. Though it does not compare to the markets in Vista, this place seems to have a fair assortment of anything you might need. Ralora walks through the crowd, almost as if she does not notice it. A gentle nudge in the small of your back reminds you that you're walking with a bear.

"I checked for people I knew, so...how could I have missed him? Hmm, if someone here knows me, and is making demands like that...it will be much more difficult for me to execute my plan..." Silvan contemplates his situation as he searches through the crowd.

[ 03-01-2003: Message edited by: Reyolen ]

Watch this. This one'll be even better...

She then turns to face the door of the room, a grin on her face the entire time. She looks to the door now, as she makes a few small motions with her hands, and whispers the incantation to the ghost sound spell. She hopes once more to be able to create a convincing illusion of sound as she did before, this time attempting to create a sound much like a ghost would make.

[ 03-03-2003: Message edited by: Aanile ]

The crowd has gotten rather tight around you and your companion. Fortunately, Silvan has managed to draw most of the crowd's attention onto himself. Simfor's eyes and ears have also turned from you. This does, however, make it possible for you to edge your way out of the crowd. Pushing past several elves, fellis, and humans, you manage to slip out of the crowd. A pair of soft thuds nearby tell you that someone else has fallen backwards from all the jostling.

Reyolen

You can find no familiar faces, even with half the people in the room gathered attentively around you. The crowd does not show any reaction to the voice, though it sounded quite clear. To make matters worse, Taylen has started pushing his way through the crowd. Something about the situation doesn't sit right, though at the moment you have more pressing concerns... literally. Without the woodsman, the crowd has started closing in rather tightly around you.

Falaanla

Relmido looks at you, then follows your gaze towards the door. After a moment of concentrating on the sounds a ghost makes, it occurs to you that you've never actually heard the sounds a ghost makes. Recalling the results of your earlier casting, perhaps a more specific concept would prove more convincing, particularly with so many people in the room.

ooc:
sorry for my disaparence, life toke over me (dang it), but now im back (Glued to the chair front the computer and all)

Growling like a animal protecting his cubs, as he blindly looks around him, he turns and kneels by the fallen elf. Tears comes to his eyes, "She's dead!" he tells himself. His resperation turn short and uneven. Slowly reaching for her with a trembling hand, it then freezes like water in winter, his face turns pale.
He then falls backward, pulling his knees to his chest, as a large sob is let out of him.
"Trop tart, je suis encore Trop tart, sais pas juste! Pourquoi je peu pas avoir un vie simple? PourQuoi?!"

ooc:
Translation: "Too late, I am too late again, it's not fair! Why can't I have a simple life? WHY?"

She jumps at the nudge of Boltat, and keeps walking.

ooc:
Janus, you alright?

As you shape in your mind the sounds of a shrill wailing, the sound grows, and seems ever more clear. Your head begins to throb from it... then you realize the sound no longer resides solely in your own mind. A trio of fellis near the entryway flatten their hands over their ears, and the two guards run into the room glaring around wildly. Relmido also glances around wildly and points at the entryway, as he says to you in a strained half-whisper, "Hey, nice banshee wail!" You can barely hear him over the racket of your own spell.

Taylen, Reyolen

Over the din of questioning voices, you hear a sudden shrill wailing rise up somewhere in the room. Though you can't tell where exactly the noise comes from, it seems to draw a good deal of attention, as those on the outside of the crowd glance at each other and around the room.

Ukko

Through your tears, you feel a slender, spindly hand lay itself over your own. "Shh," a weak, whispering voice reaches your ears, "we all have our own fears. We will get through them."

Janus Krug

"She's dead!" the large man's voice booms from off to your side. He continues to shout in a language you cannot understand. After a moment, the arrow pointed across your view drops, then is pulled away. You feel a jostling in your shoulder. "That armor weighing you down, son?" an elven voice asks from beside you, chuckling slightly.

Drakkenmaw

For reasons you cannot fathom, the large human drops suddenly to his knees. "She's dead!" he bellows, even though the former elf clearly has enough life in its body to hold itself up on hands and knees. Ranting and bawling in a language you cannot understand, the massive being reduces himself to the likeness of a child, his feet and rear both on the walkway with his knees pulled to his chest.

Then the hideous grey-skinned figure reaches a long, slender hand hesitantly forward. Its head moves slightly, but if it is speaking, you cannot hear it. The elves all glance between each other, and eventually all except one lower their bows.

Aanile

The human's voice booms out in agony, and he reaches a shaking hand out towards her, then hesitates. He falls backward onto his rear, and pulls his knees in towards his chest, balling himself up, as he begins to sob. Choked by his emotions, you cannot be certain if you understand the man's bawling speech. It sounds as if he cries in Elven, "The path, I soil the path again, do not sieze justice! Why do I fear not owning a simple life? Why?!"

A few brief seconds later, the greyish shadow that not long before held the appearance of an elf reaches forward with thin-fingered hand, placing it on the human. Though it moves its head, you can hear no more than faint whispers of words too quiet to comprehend.

Pvednes

Following Ralora up ahead, and with Boltat by your side, you make your way past the shops, and slowly approach a domed building much larger than any you have seen thus far. Two elves stand outside it, and you can see hints of others moving around within. Ralora waits several paces from the building, and turns to you as you approach. "You'll find the elders inside," she says quietly. "All will be revealed soon, the sun has fallen, we have only for the last of the wayguards to return."

As she finishes her short statement, a sudden shrill scream arises from somewhere nearby. Boltat lets out a low groan, and the fellin beside you perks her ears, looking around warily. Both the elves disappear inside the large building. "Wait here," Ralora says quietly in the Elven tongue, which you have not heard her speak before. Slowly, she walks towards the building, still leaning on her cane, while the bear remains by your side.

"It would be nice to know what has happened here - to both you, and him."

She then peers at the building, after a short period of time, beginning to twitch with curiousity.

[ 03-08-2003: Message edited by: Dr. Pvednes, PhD ]

"Something has trraumatized this poorrr man, grrreatly." She says out in a softer then normal voice.

"What a break. This gives me time to decide how to explain the story without making me look bad. I can still salvage my plan, and with nudges in the right direction, I won't even need to hire anyone to do the work for me. I'll just take the traveling party I have now with me, and make sure that I gain the majority of the items of value. I hope I can play this out so that I can get paid...but either way I had better help my hometown."

Silvan concentrates on his deduction, trying to ignore the noise. "I almost think I should run from having to tell this tale at all, but I have a feeling I'm going to tell it. Now, should I go the sympathy method or should I go the invincible hero method? Hmm..."

ooc:
Reyolen? Reeeeyoleeeen...

You don't see anyone screaming, though a few fellis near the entryway have their hands clasped over their ears as they scatter from the spot. The elven guards at the door don't appear to have much better luck. The loud wailing does not subside nor fluctuate.

Falaanla

The crowd appears to take no notice of you or your friend, as they look around frantically for the source of the noise, or for how to get away from it. However, it has not caused the sort of widespread panic that you would need to slip out unnoticed. So far, a few fellis near the doorway have covered their ears and scattered, and the elven guards appear confused, but still alert. Another figure appears in the doorway, supporting itself on a wooden cane.

Pvednes

As Ralora walks towards the large building, the loud wailing continues. It remains unsettlingly steady, and very loud. Boltat groans and huffs, but remains at your side. Ralora pauses at the entrance to the building, her ears flattened to her head against the noise, and looks slowly around.

Drakkenmaw

The dull grey figure turns its hollow white eyes towards you, and stares for a moment, unblinking and unwavering. Then, hardly visible, a small sliver opens where its mouth might be, and you hear a soft, voiceless whisper whisper. "I do not know why I have changed now," it says to you. "This is my true face. I was born with it, and I can live among good people only when I hide it. Now you see it. I cannot hide it now." The two elves beside you stand, glancing between you, the large human, and their companion.

Aanile / Trillee

As you draw nearer to the large man, and the grey-skinned being that was once an elf, you start to make out some of the words it whispers. "...true face... can live... when I hide it. Now you see it. I cannot hide it now." It stares up at Drakkenclaw, still poised on its hand and knees, with its long spindly fingers spread over the back of one of the large human's hands.

Janus Krug

"Not left behind," the elf chuckles, "more like trampled. It seems that even among your kin there are those who can charge like a bear. Now, are you going to get up, or just lie there all night?"

You form in your mind a vague impression of a long-haired figure. Faceless, colorless, and without real form, the slender female shadow dances through your mind. Standing in the entryway, the fellin woman briefly locks eyes with you, before starting to walk slowly towards the center of the room.

Taylen

With more than half the room's occupants gathered around Silvan, getting to the edge of the room looks like it would be fairly simple. Then you take a long step over one of the benches. Something seems to catch it part way forward. With a heavy stomp on the bench, you regain your balance.

Pvednes

Ralora disappears slowly into the building. The screaming continues, drowning out most other sound.

Drakkenmaw, Ukko

The grey figure glances around, returning its hand to the ground. Slowly it settles back onto its haunches, and with a slight hop, gets to its feet, with its back against the gate. You cannot tell if the being has any facial expression at all. It looks at the two elves at its sides, and the male of them walks up the ramp past you, and into the center of the other elves. He begins conversing quietly with Celbarin, Velmoor, and their female companion.

Trillee

"I soil confused!" the large man says, mixing both Elven and Common. The grey figure glances around, then sits back onto its haunches, and with a slight hop, gets to its feet, with its back against the gate. You cannot tell if the being has any facial expression at all. It looks at the two elves at its sides, and the male of them walks up the ramp past you, and into the center of the other elves. He begins conversing quietly with Celbarin, Velmoor, and their female companion.

"You. What do you seek with the lady?"

Curiousity killed the young girl. What in the nine hells is going on in there?

Later I can have a bit more fun. But for now...being noticed while doign this would be a bad thing...