Arael Son of Araenna

Arael Son of Araenna (a.k.a. Red)

He once truly believed that most people were good at heart, and that some people were just not good at showing it. For even the most pompous of the elves, he would shrug away their cruel words, thinking that they must know things he does not and so must have their reasons for acting in such a way. He has come to learn over time that some people are just heartless; whether it be through birth or training. His trust in others is currently at breaking point. Arael has also learned that information is incredibly dangerous and without a well trained mind and access to magic, you are helpless in the face of some of the world's darkest and smokiest of secrets.

Physical Description

Identifying Characteristics

6 great scars that rip across his chest (given to him by a terrible shadow monster)
1 great scar on his back (due to accidentally getting hit in the back by a stone thrown by Vaso)
Burns on his left arm (snatching a page from inside a gelatinous cube)

Special abilities

Creating warlocks and portals...kidding...those were just accidents.

Apparel & Accessories

Wears elven clothes. Carries ~~a Volante~~, an Ice sword, a sling and a giant ancient spear that once made a portal (borrowed from the tomb of Lunara)

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Red has had to follow Elven rules and listen to their condescending tones since childhood and yet, at the same time, he can't afford to offend them. His mother Araenna of house Araenna, a low noble, has always made it clear that she finds Red lacking; lacking musical talent, noble presence and a well tuned mind. Offending an elf, any elf, would just bring more shame to the Araenna family.
Unfortunately, current events and being trapped in the Dreadlands have made Arael care a lot less about reputation, and is on the verge of being broken mentally; his outbursts seem to be getting bolder.
That and the dreams...he is no longer sure what is real or unreal.

Employment

Once joined the Harmony Guard against his Mother's will.
Worked with Lanthem and Geoff.
Had to make a deal with his mother and had to leave the Harmony Guard...
Now is working for Lady Sillia, also back to a certain Imily...

Accomplishments & Achievements

Joined the Harmony Guard
Protected Lady Sillia, an elven noble
Stopped an axe bandit and retured the stolen goods to the owner
Helped discover an underground group/cult who summon dark misty creatures in New Cresendo
Is currently surviving in a cruel dark version of the world (Dreadlands)
Kept eye contact with Sillia for 2 whole seconds
Survived a hug from Ezra

Failures & Embarrassments

Can't play an instrument to save his life.
Not great at magic.
Not the smartest.
Chose the elves rather than Garruk, Lanthem, Gabriel, Imrie and Nura...and hates himself for it.
Did not duck when he was told to, and now has a scar on his back

Mental Trauma

Has a deep fear of abandonment, fearing exclusion from elven society, exclusion from his home (this is slowly changing in the face of death).
He is realising that knowledge is dangerous and speaking to the wrong people can cause casualties.
Has learnt that there are things normal weapons can't harm and this deeply disturbs him.
~~Has not seen his childhood friend Nallin for 3 years, and really misses him.~~ Has learnt that Nallin is dead.
Has learnt that Garruk, Lanthem, Gabriel, Imrie and Nura are NOT dead and that Imily lied to him. Is cracking under the pressure of the threat of certain death. Has decided he will get them out of the dreadlands alive, even if that means going against Sillia's wishes.
Ezra lit his volante on fire and he hated her for a moment, until she helped him out in a dangerous situation. Now, he is very confused about her. They may be friends.

Intellectual Characteristics

ahahahahha

Morality & Philosophy

"Information is dangerous" - Imily
"Imily is the person you should trust the least in this world" - The old woman

Personality Characteristics

Motivation

~~He has given up on his dream of living amongst the humans after the (fake) deaths of his newfound friends.~~
He has decided to give his life over to the elves and more particularly to an elf called Imily. Imily has made it clear that there are terrors in this world that could kill hundred and even thousands of people, and that Arael can help him prevent it.
From now on he knows he can no longer trust Imily but he also fears Imily, for he sees him as having even more power than Lady Alta. Arael is worried about who to trust.
He knows his friends are alive and has been told where to find them...in Oathkeep... wherever that is!
For now, his main aim is to get out of the Dreadlands alive. Oh, and he has Gabriel's soul in his spear, so needs at one point to go find his old friends.

Savvies & Ineptitudes

Good at : hitting things (close up or far away), dodging, jumping and anything movement based. Is good with spears.
Bad at : music, magic, remembering details, problem solving, waiting and keeping secrets/lying.

Likes & Dislikes

Likes being around people.
Hates being alone...and ducks
No longer hates Ezra...but is confused by her.

Vices & Personality flaws

He is beginning to confront noble/powerful High Elves but is bad at measuring his words/tone

Hygiene

He keeps pretty clean and often wonders why humans insist on coating their clothes with mud. There are however some blood stains on his clothes that he can't seem to remove...

Social

Contacts & Relations

Friends :
Nallin (has been told Nallin is dead by Nallin's killer)
Garruk
Lanthem
Nura
Imrie
Gabriel
...Ezra??? Maybe...He has no fucking clue. She hugged him and he is still alive so I guess that's a win. Works for :
Lady Alta/ Lady Sillia (in appearance)
Imily (but Arael no longer trusts him)

Family Ties

Part of the Araenna family.
Elf Mother : Araenna of house Araenna
Elf Uncle : Farael of house Araenna
Human Father : Redman

Religious Views

Knows the gods exist (cus he met some of them!!!!) but is not sure praying to them will do much. He also knows gods can die, so they can't be that much different to us.

A young, down to earth half elf that is trying to find his place. He is currently trapped with a bunch of elves (and a dwarf) in the dreadlands; he's not sure which is worse, the elves or the dreadlands.

View Character Profile

Age

Children

Gender

Male

Eyes

Green

Hair

White

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Pale

Height

5'8"

Weight

154 lbs

"Red...a bitter memory, Our time together was short, but he may have been my first, and only friend. As with anyone, he was scared of me at first, if not cautious. However, the harrowing events that we were put through made us fast friends. It feels wrong to not have him on this adventure...I blamed him at first for picking the elves over us, but I now know that I was wrong. Put in his shoes I would have done the same thing. I only hope that he is safe, and happy." --Garruk Gabriel

Wake me up, please

I just want to wake up. At this point, I'm just doing as the dream wants me to do. Except even that doesn't seem to work. I stepped through Lady Lunara's portal and...just ended up back in her forest again. She seemed as surprised as me. And Gabriel seemed stronger: I have memories of being on a ship and making him take an oath of some kind. Then she told me I might be dead, but that she was not sure, I think it was that moment I decided all this was a bad dream. I mean, how could I be dead. I'm here, talking and walking. This is ridiculous. She then made 3 portals; one red, one blue and one green. She told me to choose. I HATE CHOICES! Silla was in the red portal ... and she said was not alive. AHHHH I HATE THIS DREAM! Then, to make things worse Ezra appeared in the blue portal, And Lunara said had to choose to try and save one of them! I am not letting either of them die!!!! So while Lunara left (and said she was off to...die), I tried to get Sillia and Ezra to touch the spear. I thought that if I did that, I could save them both! They both refused, so I decided to be more stubborn than both of them and refused to choose, knowing that we would all die in this stupid dream if they continued to be stubborn. As both of them realised that I was being serious, they raised their hands BUT STILL REFUSED TO GRAB THE SPEAR. So I just made sure it touched both their hands...and we were sent to a new place. Imily was in this...new place. Sillia was explaining to Imily that she had "lost her body" and was just a soul. Then Imily said he didn't know who I was! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!!! Lady Sillia said she needed to go to a place called "haven" to get her soul back in her body. Haven and Oathkeep seem to be connected. Imily even said that she was DEAD! But she is talking and I can touch her. Does that mean I'm dead also ? While they were talking nonsense, I got a better look at the crystal. It looked like the one in the dream with the Archfae, that big flying creature with horns. Apparently Sillia did not want me to say that in front of Imily. He seemed interested that the Archfae would talk to a half elf. So apparently Lady Sillia needs a vessel. They are not using the spear again; Gabriel is using it! Imily suggested cloning Sillia... and he needs flesh. I'm barely following what is going on, but I don't like it. Please say this is just a big horrible nightmare and that I'm going to wake up. I can't take much more. I think Ezra saw that I was panicking and tried calming me by giving me a hug; I think that stopped me panicking because I just started fearing for my life. SINCE WHEN DOES EZRA GIVE HUGS! Imily came back with Lady Alta and, they found another solution; Lady Alta is going to give some of her flesh to create a vessel for Sillia. It was the most horrific sight. She just let him carve a bit of flesh from her stomach. And it seemed to not be the first time he had done this. There were 3 other pock marks. Someone, wake me up, please.

Dreams, truth and madness

I’m sure I’m going crazy. I don’t know what is real or not any more. Am I going insane? How can I differentiate truth from madness? One minute we were in a boat in the Dreadlands, then I found myself being an orc leader. Not just pretending, but as if I was actually the leader! And Garruk and the others were there. I also had to fight a woman, who turned out to be Ezra. I think that snapped me out of my illusion of being an orc. The world changed again and we were in a tent. A baby orc was in Ezra’s arms. There was commotion outside and we had to fight dwarves…and there were 2 Gabriels…except I didn’t call him Gabriel, but Mickael. I still don’t know why. Then before I knew what was happening, the dwarves turned into my old friends and I knew it was actually them. I tried telling them about the smoke monsters, but then the world changed. I found myself fighting orcs within a burning city this time. We were outnumbered. Sillia died. I think I died, and Ezra…Ezra was left alone against all the orcs. Everything went dark. I woke up standing in a forest. Still injured but alive. I thought for a moment that I was alone but there was this very, very tall woman, holding my spear. Except I too was holding my spear. We talked about Gabriel and the spear. She said to not trust dwarves. They were liars. She turned out to be Lunara. The god Lunara! And she said that the elves and the dwarves had killed her. Dreams never really make sense because she was standing right before me, so how could she be dead? Yet I had seen her bones lying in a tomb. She did not recognise the names Songlands, Orchestria or New Crescendo, but she did know of Oathkeep; far to the west in the central world. I'm not sure what she meant by central world. She asked me where I wanted to go, so I asked to go back to Ezra’s side. Against so many orcs, she would have no chance…not that we would have much chance together either. She twirled her spear and a portal appeared. Before I left, she told me that as I grew in strength, so would the spear, and that Gabriel would help me. She added that I needed to strengthen my mind. As I stepped through the portal, I floated for a while in a place that was no place, and then arrived on a boat. There was a huge shadow monster but Gabriel told me not to fear it. My friends were there but he told me to ignore them too; he said to ignore all but himself...the physical version. He whispered in my ears some strange questions. I had to raise my voice so the physical version of Gabriel would hear me over the crashing of the waves.The physical Gabriel answered and then… the world changed again.

Soul in a spear and a veil of blue

I have Gabriel's soul...only problem is that we have to keep him in my spear. Apparently my spear is one of the most powerful weapons in the world, or something like that, and only it can keep Gabriel's soul safe until we can find his body. He's sleeping right now, and I will keep him safe till I find Garruk. The old woman, Achorus, said some curious things. The one thing I retained was that she has been reliving the same 3000 years over and over again. She must be a little crazy. In fact, I think this place is turning all of us crazy. Even me..I'm not sure about anything any more. Ezra seems affected too; I woke up to her wanting to put poison on my spear; on Gabriel! At least Vaso is around and I have decided to sleep near him from now on, within his rope spell of protection. We went back to the haunted hill to try and find our companions, but there was no trace of them. Nira and Ezra decided to do a spell of some kind...here of all places; a place of shadows, lighting, storm and chilling winds. To top it off the sky turned black during their spell and apparently Ezra was able to bring Raja's spirit back into this world...into the wooden chicken Vaso had given her. I'm a little wary of it. Wooden Raja seems to have teeth...maybe it was a trick of the light. Anyway, Ezra is happy. Maybe she will now stop trying to burn my belongings or poison my friends' souls. We then followed Achorus' instructions to a boat and then went out to sea. We spotted something blue on the horizon, and on further inspection found a blue veil! I was beautiful. Speckles of light filled the air, and it seemed to drive away the darkness of this place. Vaso and Bari wanted to test something so we approached the boat. I'm getting used to their "tests" and brought out my shield, placing myself between the veil and the rest of the group.

Those that cast shadows, die by our song

We managed to make it to the meeting place moments before an army of dead people arrived. No, I did not misspeak, they were very dead, but walking...and we assumed they could also fight. We decided to avoid them, sneak through the trees and jump a wall. Nira and I were the first ones over as Vaso helped the others up. Bari and Ezra were doing... something...to create a distraction. One of the orc guards began wandering over to where we were hiding. I waited behind a couple of trees. As soon as he saw Nira I stepped out, summoned the Ice Blade into his throat and dragged his body back into the trees. My training with Ezra has paid off. Once most of us were over the wall, we ran for the door. All of us got through and we closed the door behind us as the orcs and the dead rushed the door. Inside, we found a maze of corridors and some dead roaming around. They were quite easy to kill. I wondered how it is possible for the dead to walk...and I decided to ask Lady Sillia later. We found some stairs and descended into a room divided in two by a pool of green water. A couple of bridges connected the two sides. The air smelled strange and the place looked like it was falling to pieces. The water below hissed like a snake. Without saying anything, we all made a mental note to NOT fall into the hissing green water. We were greeted by some orcs and a...man? I use the word man, for he talked and wore robes, but he looked nothing like a man; his face had tentacles, his skin was purple and he could float in the air. Lady Sillia and Master Bari tried to talk to him. I have gotten used to them wanting to talk to everything, so I just chose a spot to guard in case the orcs decided to cross one of the bridges. At least I would be able to contain them. Out of the corner of my eye I saw another creature scuttling behind them, something pink with legs. I was only half listening when the floating man claimed that I had met one of his kind... the shadow monster in the temple of Yenna! They are the shadow monsters! A chill immediately ran down my back; this man was dangerous! To get to him, I would need to kill the orcs...and that pink thing on legs. Negotiations failed. The orcs advanced onto my bridge. Throughout the combat, I felt that the floating man was trying to get inside my mind, but some of Imily's techniques worked and I was able to push back. I was vaguely aware of the others firing magic around, but I have gotten used to it...and Ezra, well, I trusted her to make her way to the floating man while I dealt with the orcs. As I was fighting, I could hear terrible cracking around the room and spotted bits of the floor collapsing; this place was really crumbling to bits. The pink thing on legs was like a dog with neither fur, nor a head...and it attacked like the floating man; it tried to attack my mind first, but I was not about to let a headless puppy hurt me. I killed it, and went on to attack its master. Ezra had done most of the work; he was injured and bleeding. I made the final blow... and as I did the spear began to glow and heat up. I had to let go! Once the floating man was dead, the two remaining orcs begged for mercy, and we let them go. The room was still falling apart, so we ran to the altar and found a door. Vaso dragged along the body of the floating man with us, and once safe, we all stood there, breathing heavily. As the others excitedly stripped the dead floating man of everything, I caught Ezra's eyes. She was smiling; the red crystal was in her hand.

Down the river

Even though I was tired, I trained with the thornless volante. I was drawn to it. As I cut the air, the volante left behind a trail of snow. The movement of this weapon has such elegance and fluidity, more so than a volante. I'll avoid mentioning that to Bari; I'm sure he would not appreciate that thought ! I am confident I'll be able switch quickly between the spear and the thornless volante during a fight. What a beautiful weapon. A sudden thought occurred to me. This thornless volante was fragile, but...could be remade. The blade looked very similar to the frozen water Vaso had make a few days ago in the lake. I went over to the pool of water...and something in my mind told be to break the thornless volante...and I did. Placing the hilt into the water, I watched the blue crystal in the hilt gleam and the blade regrew itself. I now feel as close to this weapon as I do to the spear...as if I could call to it at any time, and like a friend, it would be there. Suddenly Niramia heard the fluttering of wings, but we could see nothing. After a while, I was about to get some sleep when Ezra woke, and began saying she could hear a bird. She ran off and I followed to make sure nothing happened to her. Niramia kept watch over the others as they slept. As Ezra and I found ourselves back near the dead dwarf's remains we saw a bird within the walls...withing the black crystals in the walls! As we looked up and past the stone, we saw water where previously there had just been an empty trench. Water! and a boat! It is like no boat I had ever seen...the wood did not seem grown, but cut. The strangest thing though, is that we could see Raja in the water's reflection!! Raja was sitting on the boat..but only in the reflection. I quickly went to get the others, worried Ezra would do something stupid in my absence. I ran...told Nira to wake the others...and ran back. and Ezra was gone! I was about to shout out when I heard splashing and found her swimming in the water. I swear, she will kill me with worry one day. The others joined us and Sillia ordered us to sleep and at that point I had no objections. I was so tired. Next morning the group decided to take the boat. We (and by we, I mean I) rowed for hours, until we spotted a hut on the river. We had seen no construction up until then. Of course they wanted to go see what was inside. The old woman! The one that had given answers in exchange for things! She wanted our help. She asked us to recover a red crystal that had been stolen...stolen apparently by my old friends Garruk; Lanthem, Imrie, Nura and Gabriel...and then by someone working for Venumbra. She also added that SHE HAD GABRIEL'S SOUL! The idiot traded his soul for something and it was now in the green sphere! She promised to give it to me if we were to take the red crystal back! I was about to just take the green crystal, but she pointed out that I would not know how to get it back into his body. Fair point. So now I have to get that crystal. Thankfully the others wish to go too. At least I did not have to argue with Sillia about that! Though I might have some other problems with Sillia later...I finally told them about Imily, about the dungeon, about how Orchestria could be in danger. I am still worried I have messed up by telling them, but I have to trust them...they have saved me many times now. Right now, we have to work together, to get the crystal, so that I can get Gabriel's soul back.

The light, almost went out

I slept uneasily, feeling the shadows around us creep ever closer, but something kept them at bay; the others, they must have done something...for without them, I think the shadows would have attacked. I silently thank those who kept watch. In this group, I know I am a weight to them, since I need to sleep. Once all rested, we delved deeper into the tunnels and came upon a room full of stone blocks...they turned out to be coffins. We of course opened one and ... well this triggered something. I hate opening things found in tombs. Shadow monsters appeared all around us. Before I knew it, I felt one behind me. I'm not sure what it was doing, but I tried the protection spell Imily had tried to teach me...and this time it worked! I refuse to be possessed by one of these things! During the fight Sillia began shouting at me, saying her flames did not work on them! They were different! They were not the same type of shadow monster! My heart sank with this news...I knew nothing about these ones! At one point I lost consciousness...later I learnt that all of us, but Niramia and Bari, went down ! They saved us; Bari with the power of song and light, and Niramia with her type of magic. I have underestimated both. My companions are...amazing. I must do better and maybe we will get out of here alive. We ended up finding another tomb...and Bari wanted to open it. Thankfully nothing attacked us and the specter of Blackwater stood before us; he seemed glad; we must have freed him from something. He even said we could take his armor...it is beautiful and I now wear it proudly. We found a lot of other items that will be very useful to us...2 pearls, a staff, black rope, a cloak, a bow and some arrows, a few rolled up leaves that Vaso seemed excited about and a couple of bags. And Ezra...she...gave me the ice sword to replace my volante. They do care...I can trust them...I think. Which means I must make a decision...do I tell them about Imily...about my friends... My main concern is Sillia; Alta is her mother. Will she believe me? Do I tell her that Alta ordered my friends to death? Do I tell her that she seems to have skilled fighters under her control? Do I tell her that Imily, Alta's advisor, is more than he seems?

Maze of shadows and death

I was burning with hatred; how could she have done that, how could she have set my Volante on fire, something so precious... I had worked so hard to get it...burnt...well still burning in front of me. And Sillia backed her up...do I have absolutely not value in their eyes? Am I truly nothing to them? At that point I didn't care anymore, they wanted to be reckless, fine, I could too... I walked into the ruins and yelled out for the smuggler to come out. He didn't...but a shadow did. AND SILLIA AND BARI TRIED TO TALK TO IT! I think that snapped me out of my initial recklessness...Someone in the group needed to be sensible. They were not taking my words seriously. I really needed to make them understand that these things are dangerous. They can go through walls and can maybe even possess you...and normal weapons can't hit them. For some reason my spear can hit them. I guess it is special. I mean, I knew it was strange, because it made that portal, but...I guess it is also good against smoke monsters. I should not lose this. And since the situation wasn't dangerous enough, Ezra jumped down into one of the holes in the floor! Alone! In absolute darkness! A place where the smoke monsters have the most power. We can't go against these smoke monsters alone! We roped down and tried to follow her. There was a whole underground part to the ruins. We did not know which way she went and took a guess. Somehow me and Vaso got separated. The smoke monster seemed to be able to make us see things...They made me ses Gabriel and Garruk... and, I'm not sure, but at one point, Vaso seemed to just stop...as if time had stopped...Imrie once talked about time stopping, but it seemed so impossible, but now, not so much. Was Imrie's time stop caused but a shadow creature or something else ? When Vaso began moving again, we when on (for the way had come was now blocked). He was mumbling something about people being in the walls. Aaaand then there was a gigantic deadly monster with horns. At least it was slow. We ran, happened to find the others, who were battling a cube thing...a translucent, form-changing thing...it didn't even have eyes. We got past it, Bari ordered me to get a pale square leaf from inside the cube...I didn't think it would burn so much but I grabbed the leaf! The pain almost made me loose consciousness ... a consciousness I lost when I fell from the ledge. When I came round, the cube thing was gone and so was the horned monster. I quickly realised that Ezra had tried to break my fall. Ezra. She had tried to help me? The one that had taken and burnt my volante, was now helping... ...and crying. She opened up her bag and gently pulled out the still body of her little owl. Raja was dead. My hatred for Ezra vanished. What was a volante compared to a living, breathing creature. Vaso in that moment shouted something at us, "you are strings" I think it was... and handed me a bunch of knotted threads and rope. I think it was his way to say that we were to stop being angry at each other... and I agree. Ezra seemed so lost, I kept an eye on her as the rest of the party climbed out of the crevasse we were in. She kept staring out into one of the corridors. Standing there soaked and shivering. I don't know how she got to be soaked as she was; did she fall into some water? We soon found a place to rest, a place where the body of a long dead dwarf lay. We burnt Raja's little body and Erza tried to dry off. Vaso kindly gave her a little wooden bird. I morn Raja even now. I don't even being to know how Ezra must feel. For now we rest. The others seemed to have found other square leaves and they apparently have magical properties (no wonder Bari asked me to risk getting one). Niramia stared at the pale square leaves and suddenly she began speaking, but it was not her speaking... I mean, it was her voice, but not her words. The leaves were maybe casting message to her mind...is that even possible...when I glanced at them, I only saw drawings. Anyway, Niramia spoke much and there were some very interesting details: The black river seemed to have given this smuggler elf magic...I wonder..we also passed what they call the river of blood..I fell in...I wonder if that is why i suddenly feel I can grasp magic...until this place, I had always had trouble with magic...I wonder... The smuggler elf, Orinok Blackriver, he seemed to have a way to get to Venumbra. His blind spot seems to be accessible only by boat. "Venumbra’s gaze doesn’t tend toward the Void, despite Old Necropolis being on the edge of the Coward Cove". There also seem to be dangers in the water...great more to worry about. The leaves also mentioned that the dead can't swim. That is good to know. "An old structure from the once-great city still pokes out of the water there, and that’s the way in." More words I need to remember, that and the fact that Blackriver's boat crashed on the edge of the dreadwoods...the dreadwood where the spiders were...and apparently, Venumbra's tower is in full view from there. Close by also seem to be hills. In one of the leaves, Orinok seemed to speak of our lands...and if he was able to go to our lands... then we can too. But there seems to be something worse than Venumbra...I dread to think what. For now I need to speak to lady Sillia. I keep forgetting important details...she is so going to be angry at me, again.

Rip

She lit my volante on fire.

What tangled webs we weave

The webs all around us began shaking and we did not stick around to find out why. We left the area, running as best as we could since most of us were injured. We kept moving until we were out of the woods. From there, we headed to the mountains for the dark elf told us that the spiders never ventured up there. It took us hours to reach the ridges, each of us more tired than the next. At one point, Vaso spotted a rope going up one of the cliffs and from there, we found a cave. It seemed perfect; out of the way, easy to guard for it only had one entrance and most importantly... spider-less. We all took turns sleeping, resting, recovering...and then came my watch. Whilst talking with Vaso by the cave's entrance, a green light caught our eyes...a green light coming from... within the cave. Vaso quickly went to wake the others as I stealthily approached, spear in hand. As I peered around into one of the many nooks of the cave I saw a... table. An old woman was sitting at it, contemplating a glowing green orb and she beckoned me forward. The others, now awake, joined us. With every one of our questions, "who are you? ", "how did you get into the cave?", she would answer by "that is one question, what will you give me for an answer?". I do not remember well who was the first to give her an object, but she seemed indeed able to answer the most difficult of questions. She spoke of where the humans were getting their magic from, she spoke of how to get out of this place...and then she turned to me. I had no questions and frankly I thought she was just a mad old woman...yes, she did seem to have magic, but still, just a mad old woman. That was until she spoke their names. Garruk, Lanthem, Nura, Imrie and Gabriel. I had to know why. I gave her my leather bracelet, and anything else I could find in my bag. They are alive. Imily lied to me. What else did he lie about? So I now know a few things; the 5 of them are alive, they are on their way to Oathkeep (wherever that is, some dwarven place I think, for Nura mentioned it) and I know that Imly is "the person I should least trust in this world". Those were her words. Have all of his words up until now been lies? Does he really want to protect Orchestria? Is lady Alta also as untrustworthy as he?...is Lady Sillia? I don't know who to trust anymore. Can I trust Vaso? In his wisdom surly; a little less in his aim. And Master Bari? He is skilled in the art of manipulating words and probably people, yet he gave up his rings to help me get one more answer out of the old woman. And Ezra? Can I trust Ezra? She who jumped in front of a terrible cat creature to save me and yet the same person who seems ready to kill innocent or helpless individuals for...reasons i do not quite understand yet. What about Lady Niramia? She always seemed so kind and compassionate, until she started ripping off the heads of birds to drink their congealed blood. My main concern is Lady Sillia. Does she know about what her mother did to me and my friends? Does she know that they survived and kept the secret? Right now Ezra's words ring true; we can't fight amongst ourselves or we will die here, and I REFUSE to die here. Lady Sillia and Master Bari seem sometimes unconscious of the dangers around them. I am going to have to stop them from getting us killed. As for Ezra, I will have to make peace with her. I will need her on my side if I am to...go against Lady Sillia's wishes. And as soon as I get back, I will... I will... I don't know what I will do. If Imily is truly as untrustworthy as the old woman says, then I can't trust anything he will say to me. Who can I trust up in Orchestria? My mother? No. She will think my words are that of a child's and might even mention things to Lady Alta. Who can I trust to want Orchestria safe.....Nallin.....maybe his father Vanyal.... ahhh....will have to sort that out later. First, I have to survive and leave this dark place.

A bluff and a losing hand

Never have I felt so helpless. I had just gotten myself tangled in the webs when looking up, a Spider with the torso of a dark elf towered above me; he foot placed upon my chest. Maladie was her name and she seemed pretty hungry...for elf. Sillia and Bari tried talking to her but I felt that the spider lady was just toying with them. I don't know what Vaso was doing exactly at the time but I do believe he had gone a little mad. As they talked, we learnt that we were in (or more like above) the city of Solenta, in the gloomwoods, ruled by a certain Regant Feyral; a city of driders and elves. And here the orcs seem to have magic...and they seem to call our lands the "songlands" and they don't know what Orchestrai is...we really are lost. The spider lady told her hord of spiders to attack. We fought them off as best as we could; there were spiders everywhere. Ezra was covered in them and each of us were surrounded. We hacked and slashed, crushed and killed every spider in sight...meanwhile Lady Sillia and Master Bari continued talked to the drider! Talking! This fight did not go well. During the fight, I promised myself that I would teach the guards a trick or two for they keep breaking their volantes; their skill is left wanting. To make matters worse, Bari was downed in the fight and Brio borrowed his magnificent volante...only to break some of the thorns. I would not like to be Brio when Bari wakes up! And we lost Lumi. There was nothing I could do. She was dead before she hit the floor. And Ezra...Ezra tried to kill the guy I was trying to save!! What is her problem! This is the second time she has attacked someone helpless. I had no time to react, but I will have words with her! Now to speak of the magic. The thing I currently fear the most is the magic of my own companions. There were two huge explosions, one almost hitting Niramia, the other almost hitting Sillia. Vaso seems to have little control over his aim and it is only time before someone gets hit (again). Then there was a small instance...where I thought we ere back in out world...but it was a waking dream. Next thing I know, a third explosion hits...Vaso. He lost a hand. Afterwards, he told me of a vision he had, of a tall man pouring shadow magic into a huge red crystal. At least the explosions weakened the spider lady and we were able to kill her, and the dark elf, Sinta, lived. He was able to give us a lot of information...he even mentioned Vunumbra. They others had never heard his name...I stayed silent. He told us that West we would find orcs, and south Vunumbra. I suggested we go west. Sillia wanted to go south and so we are going south...south to our deaths.

What is known is now unknown

This place will kill us...barely did I have time to close my eyes, that Ezra woke me, shouting that if I did not wake up we would all die. At least My short sleep did give me back a little strength, even though my wounds still hurt. Awake, I had no time to understand what was around me; skeletons on one side and gruesome creatures on the other, about to attack Lady Sillia. My body moved before my mind did and I placed myself between the creatures and her. They were like men, but not, like beasts but not, their tongues flickered about and their stench filled the air. We killed them all, the skeletons and the creatures, and then we fled. We fled to where we thought Sonopra was meant to be, but instead things were...different. The places seemed familiar, but darker. Spider webs coated the trees and the trees towered above hiding the sky. We found a man covered in cobwebs. Ezra and I scrambled up into the webs to cut him free. Very quickly we realised he was...a dark elf. A dark elf! Here? At first I thought it was Imily, but as we freed him, his face was different. And his words sent chills down my spine. He called us "Albino elves" and called the forest we were in Solastra, the forgotten city of the Elves. He even seemed impressed by our shabby, weathered clothes. We had no time to question him. I got caught up in the sticky webbing and had to cut myself free, only to look up and see spiders everywhere. Small ones, medium ones...huge ones...and one....one with the body of a dark elf. I do not remember its first words, only that it's voice chilled my blood. We have to get out of here. This is not Sonopra.

Forest of fears and misfortune

After a while, we finally found a spot to rest, but during the night we were attacked by these strange, shadow beasts. Again, more shadow beasts. Again, something i could barely hit with my weapon. It seemed feline, but had 6 legs and some strange, whip-like members that lashed out and ripped up my chest. The pain was intense...and then a greater pain hit my back. The dwarf, in the confusion, woke up and accidentally sent his attack towards the creature, but did not take into account my presence. At least I hope it was an accident. After killing 2 of these beasts and spotting a third, we fled, though I doubt our trail was difficult to spot for I could not stop the bleeding. Such pain, I had to use the spear to help me walk. We were stopped by a dark river. I say dark, but I should say black, for the water was not water but a thick black sludge. I should have been more careful, but I fell in, lost the spear and was covered in the black filth. Then, I think the black water did something to my mind, for I remember...I remember all the most terrible moments in my life, then getting up, seeing a shadow monster, summoning the spear back into my hand....yes summoning it to me as if it's place had always been in my hands....and then I went elsewhere. It was strange, I saw the thief I killed on the beach all those weeks ago, but we were in a swamp, and not alone; he had two strange companions, a tall beast of a man and a pale rotting corpse. The thief spoke in riddles; said we were linked, said that I should let go of my burdens. But I should take no heed; it was just a dream. An instant later a black wave crashed over us and I found myself back in front of my companions, by the black river. They insisted that I had not moved from my spot all that time, and they had not seen the smoke monster. In fact, I checked, there were no signs of the monster's presence; only the impact of my spear on the ground. After my panic died down, I realised i should not have told them about the shadow monster; Imily had warned me to not speak of it. At least everyone blamed it on the black sludge making me see things. We finally found a place we recognised; the place where the kid's father turned into a wolf...but I don't see the body... but right now I don't care. I just want to rest. My back is bleeding. I need to rest.

Magic beyond imagination

Not even the bards sing such fantastic tales... and yet what we lived through today, truly happened. In but one day I saw a man turn into a wolf, skeletons pick up weapons to fight us, a gigantic undead beast with wings rise up from the ground to face us and I myself accidentally created a portal using a spear! Oh, and there was a talking bird that died moments after we stepped through the portal ! What is going on ! And... where are we now? There are dead trees everywhere and the air is quite cold. The Elves seem to be having trouble with their magic. My master is never going to believe me; good thing I took a few objects that might help me convince him. Oh, and I mustn't forget the writing on the stone... why would the 3 high elves and the dwarf want to erase those pictures? I must have missed something important...ahh for choas' sake... why did I not stay by Sillia's side! I was too distracted with the kid. The kid that... we left behind... and that is probably dead by now. I'm an idiot... I didn't learn from my last mistake with humans and once again I let them too close and I lost focus and they died. Learn Arael, learn!

Walking out into the wild world

Leaving Orchestria and going out into the wildlands was actually fun. Ezra and I raced amongst the trees. She's really fast! I bet even Nallin wouldn't be able to beat her! While on the trip to Sonopra, Lady Sillia was generous enough to teach me a little more on the theory of magic. I think I got it right and I could feel the energy but....still nothing. Well, we have almost reached our destination. I wonder what we should do about the two humans with us. They seem to have lived something strange. My master would probably want me to find out a bit more about it.

Into the shadows

I feel I am stepping into the shadows of this world. The light went out with the death of...people I considered friends...friends I betrayed. I should never have brought them up into Orchestria, into the hands of the elves. They would have been safer having never known me. All I can do now is observe, report back what I see to Imely and...stay quiet. I will try and let no one else be hurt by this... darkness.

Wanting to belong

I'd only known them for a few days, and yet, I wanted to get to know them, to fight alongside them, to call them friends... but when the moment came to choose... I abandoned them. Orchestria is my home. The elves, my... family. Why does the choice I made hurt so much. Leave me in this cell. I am an idiot, and a coward.
??? | The Chords of Chaos | Episopde ??? |

Elven Hospitality

Well, I convinced my mother to bring everyone up to Orchestria...but at a price; I have to leave the Harmony Guard and join the Symphony Guard. I had no option. I agreed. Now we just have to convince Lady Alta of the seriousness of our Shadow-creature problem. At least I know the wine will be good...
??? | The Chords of Chaos | Episopde ??? |

Within death's shadow

My Volante had no effect...it passed through the creature as if it were made of smoke. Even when I attacked it with a lit torch, it only flinched for the flame was too small. This beast of mist and darkness was far from being just a shapeless fog, for it was able to dig its claws into my flesh; the marks still burn upon my skin, and I shall carry these marks for the rest of my life. It killed all of those who had summoned it and we almost lost Lanthem to its attacks. Imrie was the only one who seemed to be able to harm it...she blasted it with fire and light...nothing else worked. Uncle, is there anything you can teach me. I know I have not been a good student, but I am ready now, ready to listen. I thought I could fight like the humans...I thought I could overcome my weaknesses in magic with the strength of my swing...but it is not enough...I could do nothing....I understand now...I cannot fight, nor prove my worth, without the Elven magic to strengthen the song of my thorns.
Chasing Shadows | The Chords of Chaos | Episopde 9 |

Dreams and Mysteries

Had such a strange dream last night; I was up in Orchestria and there was Lanthem, Lady Sillia, Mother and... the thief I killed but a day ago. All four spoke to me. But I can't remember much... something about having a choice... and then my mother pushed me off into the void. Anyway, today we discovered hidden rooms under an old temple. People were hiding out there. Lanthem thinks they have something to do with the murder case. Honestly, I have no idea what is going on. All I know is that if our witness runs, the half orc or I will break his legs. That way they guy stays alive but we won't lose him.
Chasing Shadows | The Chords of Chaos - Episode 8 |

The Lady and the Bandit

Well the gods seemed to think that my first day was not interesting enough. So for my second day, I had to follow around Lady Sillia. What a pompous elf!!! Don't worry Uncle, I stayed civil. On top of that we had to find and stop an axe thief. Geoff made it clear that he wanted him alive...after I had killed him. Oh well, I'll remember for next time. And one last thing Uncle, it might just be a coincidnce but today again I felt it...I didn't see it but my fellow Harmony Guard, he did something, something that sent the air virbrating with the familiar song of magic.
Cops & Robbers | The Chords of Chaos - Episode 3 |

First day on the job

At first, I thought seeing the dead lady was going to be the toughest part of the day...I was wrong, for a couple of verses later we were attacked by some humans disguised as death hands! I even had to kill one for he was attacking Lanthem! There was so much blood! I didn't know humans could bleed so much... spent the evening picking out bits of flesh from the thorns of my Volante. Oh and Uncle, one of the humans I met today could use magic! can you believe it!
Murder Mystery | The Chords of Chaos | Episode 2 |

Arael Son of Araenna