The Elven Havens

Cyrn Lothlin, Southern Oret, 21^st December 1601

Moving on along their planned route, the four travellers turned south and headed towards Belegond.

North of Belegond, 30^th December 1601

For the past couple of days, Sack had been feeling increasingly wary of the surrounding countryside. The sense of being watched was increasing steadily, and he was increasing the intensity of his forward scouting. Normally his stealth and observation were enough for him to be quite casual about checking their track; now, he found himself stretching his abilities to their limit, trying to get to grips with whatever was near.

The others took to travelling parallel to him, but on the Ethereal plane, with the result that the whole party left no more tracks than Sack himself... which was not a lot.

He spoke magically with a variety of animals as they passed by, and learned that there were "lots" of "two-leggers" in the "stone heaps" to the south, but that the animals didn't regard them as unnatural or a threat; they simply avoided the old ruins as a poor place to find food.

North of Belegond, 3^rd January 1602

Finally, at twilight three days out from the city, things came to a head. One moment, Sack was moving across an empty clearing towards a pre-arranged meeting point with the others, and the next he was surrounded by five figures, clad in form-fitting white leather suits; three with bows and two with drawn swords. The half-orc blinked in surprise; they had appeared as if from nowhere, and he'd seen only a flicker as they came into his view.

From the Ethereal, Hildraft and Surya couldn't tell very clearly what was happening, but the newcomers were clearly trying to persuade Sack to disarm himself. They watched this for a while, and Surya arranged himself so that he was within easy strike range of the obvious leader. Then he had Hildraft dispel the Etherealness spell. "He can't answer you," he commented mildly as he appeared right at the leader's side, sword in hand.

Although surprised, the leader was not overwhelmed, He whirled to face Surya - and vanished. He reappeared again instantly fifty yards away. Surya grimaced, then looked at them more carefully. They were elves.

As the companions had deduced, these were indeed Shadowguard. Their leader challenged Sack and Surya again, demanding that they accompany the patrol to see the Shadow Leader, or be "dealt with".

Sack was having none of this and Teleported away, to later join Hildraft on the Ethereal and follow the Last Tellaran. Surya agreed to be escorted to Belegond by the Shadowguard, though he flatly refused to disarm himself.

Over the three days of travel that followed, Surya conversed with the two Shadowguard that were accompanying him. He probed for information about them, discovering - among other things - that the Master of the Shadows, their ultimate commander, was named Voth. On matters touching their current mission they were rather less forthcoming, deflecting his questions adroitly.

Belegond, 6^th January 1602

Placed between two valleys, a long sweep of strong wall – pierced in many places – surrounded a sizable city of empty shells. These were arranged in a roughly circular pattern around two sites, one dotted with the petrified, hewn stumps of trees, and the other occupied by the tumbled remains of a considerable fortress. These were, respectively, the Grove of the High Sylvan Druid and the Last Fortress – the final seat of the High King of the Elves in the lost realm of Sildor. In this forsaken tower, Doronond, faced with the ruin of his entire people, began his plunge into the darkness which mastered him from the fall of Belegond and the beginning of the Exile until the arrival of Mergil on Viridor.

Dominating the city, though, was the harbour. Great quays and docks flanked the mighty, poisoned river, and the crumbling remains of mighty warehouses and the homes of the great mariners of the Elven people stood nearby. As with the city itself , all was shrouded under a blanket of snow.

Drawing the eye immediately, however, was a particular dock. Cleared of snow, it had three ships – instantly recognizable as Elven-ships to those who’d traveled in one – docked at it, and several of the nearby ruins had been renovated enough to be habitable. Significant numbers of  elves were moving purposefully around the area, and a military encampment, large enough for several thousand soldiers, was laid out nearby.

Upon arriving, Surya was taken to see the commander of the Elven operation here, called the Spearhead with rather more drama than appropriateness. He introduced himself as Eäráldur Volven, and asked, reasonably politely, who Surya was and what was doing here, neatly sidestepping his questions about the Spearhead in return.

"We're the reason you're here," said Surya with a grin. "Strange," answered Volven, "you don't look like Skufruss or Varkar Barduric to me."

"No, I killed him," said Surya.

"Skufruss is dead?"

"No, the Dragon."

"You don't look like a dwarf either. Are you claiming to be Surya of Tellare?"

Volven then proceeded to ply Surya with questions about Tellare, and to the warrior's startlement, these were questions such as he might ask, questions only someone who'd known Tellare at its' height could answer. It emerged that Volven had fought at the Battle of Thallan, along with Eladriel Elverambor and Surya's own grandfather.

Satisfied as to the identity of the Lord Protector of New Tellare, Volven turned with renewed interest to his reasons for being here; as a representative of a foreign power, he was even more of a possible threat.

After joking that he was on holiday, Surya explained to Volven about the Army of the Dead in southern Stryre, his building of an army with a paladin core to attack it, and his original plans to secure the port of Belegond as a staging point in a route along the coast - a better alternative than through the Desolation.

Clearly this was no longer a possibility, but - in a flash of inspiration - Surya suggested the idea of rebuilding Belegond as a Free Port, administered jointly by Belamir and New Tellare, and usable by all allied or neutral nations for trade and transport. Volven was intrigued, but confessed that such an agreement was way beyond his authority to make. Surya asked if he had any mages with him capable of magical communication with the capital, and the pair went to find them and arrange a conference.

Meanwhile, Hildraft, Hansen and Sack had come out of the Ethereal and presented themselves at the front gates. They found themselves escorted into the presence of the Shadow Leader, Elvond Gorion. Identifying themselves soon relaxed the atmosphere - Hildraft was, after all, a Wyrmslayer, and as such a welcome guest among any elves - and he provided some warming drinks.

They spoke to him at some length, and it emerged that he had a problem. Guardsmen patrolling the perimeter were disappearing at an increased rate. Worse, three of  his one hundred and fifty Shadowguard had also disappeared without trace - apparently a remarkable and disturbing thing. He appeared to look on the appearance of these legendary heroes as a chance to sort this problem out.

With the aid of an elven wizard, Surya and Volven made contact, first with Elverandil the Mastersmith and then with High King Doronond. The Last Tellaran put his suggestion of a Freeport to the High King of the Elves, and the latter, perhaps glad at this more approachable attitude from his fellow Wyrmslayer, agreed with enthusiasm.