Merry Christmas, Friend

[matthewkuch]

closed to black_shadow

Gavner bent lower as a gust of howling wind blasted him through his black traveling cloak. He continued trekking through the snowy landscape from the middle of the forest to Dead Man's Drink. Before the Christmas party, Gavner had asked Mavrik- one of his old acquaintances from the vampire clan- if he could store a package for Gavner. Mavrik had willingly agreed to take care of the present until Gavner had picked it up. After a night-long trek from the tavern to Mavrik's cottage in the middle of the forest, Gavner visited awhile and gratefully rested in one of the vampire's guest beds. The vampire general woke at sunset and thanked his host before making the night-long trek back through the blizzard.

Now, Gavner stood outside of Dead Man's Drink with a package under his arm; his friend's Christmas present. Grabbing the ring that was the door handle, Gavner felt a sharp shocking feeling as the blistering cold iron stuck to his pale skin. As a reflex, Gavner instantly jerked his hand back, tearing skin off of the fingers on his left hand. Squeezing his eyes shut and cringing, the vampire placed his injured hand on the door as he bowed in pain. He didn't open his eyes until he smelled a sharp, bitter odor that seemed to burn his nostrils. Looking up, Gavner observed that the area of the door that his hand was on was stained an ebony black color as his own blood seeped from his hand onto the snow that lined the door.

Wrapping his hand in his cloak, Gavner pulled the door open and quickly entered the tavern. Dead Man's Drink was just as he had left it, trashed from the party. How could he have expected Matthew and Tyler to clean up while he was gone? The teenagers were by far the laziest set of friends that the vampire had ever seen. Paper snowflakes and white chains hung from the ceiling, trash littered the floor and chairs lay on the ground as their table counterparts were overturned as well.

"Matthew," Gavner called into the deserted tavern, "where is Black Shadow?"

[black shadow]

The Christmas party was over and Black Shadow had left early, hoping to get home to Espoir, his four year old daughter, before she woke up. His speed made the journey relatively short and he opened the door to his warm cabin. Two years before, Black Shadow, with the help of his friend Gavner, had built this cabin so he and Espoir no longer had to live in Ixian Castle.

The black clad man walked to his daughter's bedside, knelt down, and waited for her to wake up. She was absolutely beautiful, her bright blue eyes and long golden hair made her soft face appear more stunning than she already was. She slept silently, not making a sound. Black Shadow felt like he did not even deserve to be called her father, he did kill her mother after all... And some day he would have to tell her that. The pain and suffering brought to his heart when he thought about that day pierced his soul and brought a tear to his eye. He wanted nothing but to keep her safe and a fear of the worst filled his soul.

Espoir opened her eyes slowly as if she sensed her father's presence. "Hi daddy," she whispered softly, reaching her hand out and taking Black Shadow's. "Why are you still wearing your mask?" She asked confused. He smiled and removed the Sifan Silk mask from his face, revealing his features to his beautiful daughter. She smiled which brought a slight smile to his face. "Daddy, why do you where the mask?"

He stopped and thought for a second. If he told her, then she might not trust him, or she could become afraid. But if he kept it from her the same could also happen. The decision was a tough one to make, but keeping the truth from her for now was a better option than to tell her. Instead he stood from his kneeling position against the bad and rubbed her head. "Daddy, stop!" Espoir screeched. She hated that, which was mainly the reason that he did it.

*knock knock knock*

Black Shadow's head spun quickly to the door, and his hands moved quickly. His mask was back on his face within seconds and his bow was in his hands. Shadow readied an arrow and aimed it at the door, waiting until the knocking stopped. After a few seconds he slowly used his right hand to begin the open the door, then quickly stepping back again. A few deep breaths followed, and then the kicking out of his door was next. The visitor stumbled back and tripped off his porch. Shadow took a few steps forward and then aimed his bow at the man.

[matthewkuch]

After a few minutes of searching, Gavner found the two teenagers curled up in a corner of the radiant tavern. Dead Man's Drink was a tavern virtually in the middle of nowhere. Seeing as it was located in the middle of a forest, the tavern could not have been made with much other material than wood- even stone was scarce in the area. A roughly carved common room of the tavern was made entirely out of wood. Some of the walls and furniture still had parts of branches sticking out of them and most of the chairs were only half-stripped of bark- they got smashed in bar fights so often that the owner just stopped trying to make them look nice. Lanterns and oil lamps were hung throughout the inside as the flames brightly illuminated the tavern. The place had no windows and only two doors, one in the front and one in the back.

Gavner approached the teenagers to find that they were sleeping in a pile of trash, most likely from all of the things that they had eaten and drunk.

"Matthew... Matthew!"

"Huh wha??"

The teenager instantly sat bolt upright sending flatware, cups, paper packaging, and food scraps everywhere; although, there was still a good sized heap of the garbage all around him. Gavner sneered in disgust and rolled his eyes. About six months ago, Matthew had come into the world of Althanas out of nowhere and had begun to tell Gavner that the whole world that the vampire lived in, everything he knew and loved, was some fancy thing called a website. The whole place was a fantasy land created by people's imagination, and Gavner was a creation of Matthew. The vampire still didn't believe it entirely, but he couldn't deny it. Any time that Matthew felt an extremely potent emotion, Gavner felt it as well.

"I would hate to interrupt your..." Gavner hesitated motioning to Tyler who was covered in the pile of trash- only his head was visible. Tyler was matthew's friend who had come into the world of althanas in the same mysterious way that Matthew had. He was Black Shadow's creator.

"Yes," Gavner continued, "But where did black shadow go?"

"Black shadow..." Matthew said sleepily while yawning and rubbing his eyes. "Beats me."

Gavner rolled his eyes irritably, "well would you mind asking him?

Matthew stared dumbly at Gavner. "Wake him... wake him... wake him... Um, Gavner who exactly am I waking- oh! Okay. Tyler?"

Mattehw's friend merely curled up tighter and burrowed down into the trash pile, covering himself more.

"TYLER!!"

"Badlgjeheljehsoue!!!!" The teenager cried as he was startled from his slumber. "Coming mom!!"

Matthew held out his arm to keep Tyler in place. "Hey, you're in Althanas, remember?"

"Oh yeah, the teenager replied. What's up?"

Gavner glared at Tyler and Matthew. "It would be nice," the vampire said sharply, "if somebody could tell me WHERE BLACK SHADOW IS!!!"

"I don't kn-" Tyler said. Gavner took a step towards the teenager, raising a pale fist. "Okay okay, I will see what I can do!" Tyler said throwing up his arms to protect himself. When Gavner backed down, the teenager closed his eyes and looked as if he was concentrating.

"Gavner Darren Nahs, you need to stop!" Matthew said.

The vampire's face grew a deep shade of red. "I need to stop?"

"Oh brother," Matthew muttered.

"I need to stop??"

"He is in his cabin," Tyler said.

"Finally!" Gavner burst out, hurrying for the door, "I will deal with you when I get back, I believe that you forgot about when I said 'you are in my world now.'' The angry vampire said pointing his finger at Matthew.

"Gavner," Tyler said. The vampire froze in the doorway but did not look back. "He is with Espoir. Be careful, you know how protective of her he can get."

Gavner nodded and then slammed the door.

[matthewkuch]

Gavner didn't feel like flitting, so he merely ran the full distance to his friend's cabin. Sprinting full boar, the vampire made it to Black Shadow's home within 2 hours. He doubled over to catch his breath and left his package at the base of his friend's porch. When Gavner had caught his breath he walked up to the door and knocked gently to not disturb or alarm the house's inhabitants. It didn't work. Gavner gave a sigh of relief as Black Shadow didn't flip out on him, but the door actually opened a crack! Just before it exploded in Gavner's face...

So it is a fight you want, Gavner thought with a smile as he crashed to the ground, smashing through the railing of his best friend's porch. He always enjoyed friendly fights. The vampire looked down at his left arm to find that a decent sized piece of wood had gouged out a large chunk of his flesh. Pitch black vampire blood was staining the ivory white snow and the familiar sharp odor pierced the air. Ouch...

Reacting instantly Gavner sprang up and Black Shadow let the arrow fly. The vampire landed behind the archer and hissed as he yanked an arrowshaft from his left hand. With the speed of a demon, the creature of the night wrapped his arm around Black Shadow's neck and knelt back on his left knee, forcing his friend to lay back on the vampire. Gavner shoved Black Shadow's face in the snow, lightly bashing his head up against the ground five times.

"THAT- WAS- NOT- VERY- NICE!"

Feeling satisfied, Gavner let go of his friend and stood up. "Okay, are we even now-"

Black Shadow leapt up with speed and grace, not making a single error in step or motion and punched Gavner in the face. Gavner stumbled back. "Okay I guess I deserved tha-" The vampire's friend continued the advance and landed a side kick directly in Gavner's gut. He doubled over and sidestepped another of Black Shadow's kicks.

"Shadow-" Gavner wheezed, "It is- me-" The vampire blocked another punch, "Gavner!"

Black Shadow did not flinch at the name, but continued attacking; he was in battle mode now, nothing could snap him out of this trance until he killed his enemy or died. Gavner refused to hit his friend any more- this had gone beyond a friendly spar- and instead resorted to taking and blocking blows. Gavner could no longer block with his wounded arm, and Black Shadow instantly caught on, attacking only that side. Punch to the face- roundhouse kick to the shoulder- knee to the kidney. The vampire kept shouting at his friend in attempt to make him realize his presence. Gavner kept retreating back, taking his beating, and began to feel faint- he was loosing too much blood.

The creature of the night finally stumbled back into the light that seeped out from the door and his hood fell down, but it was too late. Black Shadow had drawn his bow and was knocking an arrow. Gavner threw his arms in the air, his orange hair flecked with white snow and the glow in his red irises dying.

"Black Shadow, wait!"

[black shadow]

Black Shadow lost all control, his anger and instincts took over and sent him into a rage. He had no clue what or who he was fighting; all he knew was that he was going to end him. A quick move forced his foe on his back, and another move brought his arrow to his bowstring.

"Daddy stop!" Espoir shouted from behind him. In an instant Black Shadow snapped out of his rage and he realized what he had done. He lowered his bow and placed his arrow back into his quiver, helping Gavner up.

"Next time don't startle me!" Black Shadow said in sign language to Gavner.

"Well sorry for politely knocking on your door!" Gavner replied.

Black Shadow paused for a second staring at Gavner.

"Touché" He said giving his friend a hug. "Come sit down, relax."

[matthewkuch]

Gavner walked into Black Shadow's house, hearing the slow "clump... clump... clump..." of his rubber boots against the hardwood floor. Majestic oak with an amazing finish made up the floor, the dark lines in between the grains boasting their eloquence. Gavner had helped Black Shadow build this with the help of Matthew and Tyler. For some reason the two seemed to know exactly what Black Shadow wanted it to look like. It was a small place, about three rooms. Half of the living room was also the kitchen, and Espoir had her own full room. Black Shadow's room was divided in half with a wall and the other side was a bathroom. Black Shadow only had room for his bed and a hook on his wall for his bow. He folded his clothes and stored them underneath his bed.

Lanterns hung from the sides of the walls and there were wooden chairs in the living room. One chair, the only one of its kind, had big fluffy pillows and a soft blanket folded up on it. Gavner remembered helping with the building of it, there was a lever on the right side that would extend a platform that one could rest her feet on. It was half the size of a normal chair, just the right size of Espoir.

"Uncle Gavner, uncle Ganver!" The girl squealed in delight as she ran through the house and hugged his legs. Crouching down, Gavner laughed as Espoir let go and he picked her up and spun her around once. She threw her arms out and her grin was from ear to ear.

"How have you been, big girl?" He said, setting her down on her chair and crouching down to see eye level with her.

"Daddy caught a bandit the other day!" She burst out.

"Oh did he??" Gavner said, looking at Black Shadow. He shrugged and motioned to Espoir again.

"Yeah, we were walking through the woods and- ZOOM!! A big black horsey sprinted in front of us and was like NAAAYYY!!!! I was so scared but daddy got this look on his face and he ran into the woods. He set me behind a tree and told me not to move, then he jumped at the bad man on the horsey and kicked him off without even hitting the ground! Then a tree fell on the bad guy like- NRRRRMMMM CRASH!! And then-"

Smiling, Black Shadow cut Espoir off early with a short motion.

"Why don't you get to bed? It is getting to be past your bed time."

"Awwww!" Espoir cried. "But daddddyyy uncle Gavner is here!" She gave Gavner's friend huge puppy dog eyes and the vampire could see Black Shadow's reluctance to tell her no.

"You should get some sleep," Gavner said, helping out his friend- he knew that it was difficult for Black Shadow to refuse. "All heroes have to sleep some time."

"Me!?" She squealed, "A hero??"

"Of course!" Gavner said with a smile, "You have hero's blood in your veins."

"Okay!" She shouted as she leapt out of her chair and started to run to her room. "Oh wait!" She shouted, running back. She ran up to Black Shadow and tugged on his pants, making him crouch down.

"Goodnight Daddy," she said kissing him on the cheek. She ran over to Gavner and followed suit. The vampire smiled and turned to his friend.

[black shadow]

Black Shadow and Gavner sat across from each other in the living room. The seats were soft and very comfortable, almost as much as a rich man would have in his mansion. Gavner and Black Shadow were very pleased with their work, as neither of them had ever built anything as large as a house.

"So what brings you here?" Black Shadow asked.

"You know who Matthew is, right?" Gavner replied. Black Shadow nodded. "He introduced a concept called Christmas. It is unique to his religion and celebrating it involves giving a gift to a friend." Gavner stood up and walked out the door. When he returned he was carrying a package wrapped in brown paper.

Black Shadow showed a confused look on his face as Gavner handed him the package. "And this is for me?"

"No, it is for Echo! Of course it is for you!" Gavner said sarcastically.

"Hey man, I just wanted to make sure." Black Shadow replied.

"Well open it." Gavner said leaning forward, knowing that Black Shadow would love it.

[matthewkuch]

The excitement that Gavner now felt was unbearable. He had given gifts to friends before but it was never like this. Before, Gavner had always felt obligated to have given the gift, but this was different. He had gone through all the trouble to give his friend this gift because he wanted to.

"Just open the blasted package already!!" The vampire wanted to shout at his friend, but a voice inside Gavner's head was telling him to be patient. He leaned forward as Black Shadow looked down and gently pinched the end of the string holding the paper bag onto the box. Black Shadow untied the string and took off the paper wrapping.

"You got me a box..." Black Shadow said, "Thanks..."

Gavner almost rolled his eyes. "Um, Black Shadow?" The vampire said, "Maybe look inside the box?"

Black Shadow looked up as if he was just understanding it. "Hey, don't judge me its late for Espoir and I."

"Shadow, we have stayed up for three days straight before, with a crying baby after just being attacked by a giant black Pegasus, do not tell me it is late for you."

"Okay," Black Shadow signed. He gripped the top of the package and Gavner held his breath. The archer lifted off the lid to reveal the contents of the present.

A beautiful ebony black bow rested in the box, atop cotton that was as white as snow and conformed to the bow's shape. Four tightly woven strings, one of majestic silver, another of slow white, the third a rich gold in color, and the last one deep red. The center of the bow curved in where Black Shadow would hold the bow, and every inch of the bow seemed to be teeming with power, giving a radiance of superiority to every other ranged weapon including firearms. It was almost as if the bow had a personality, noble and grand- such a satisfying pleasure to be with and a grand, beautiful sight to behold.

A bladesinger bow at its finest.

Gavner knew that Black Shadow would know a bladesinger bow when he saw one, and that he would know the special properties of this bow. Not only did it exceed the power of all other bows in the world of Althanas, and even many firearms, but it had virtually no draw due to its craft and material structure, Liviol Nihon Redwood. Also, crafted with the finest masterwork, the bow can channel music into the arrows that it fires. If the user masters this technique, he can even channel temporary enchantments into the projectiles [OOC: must have an ROG approved ability that allows channeling an enchantment into the arrows fired]

[black shadow]

Black Shadow's eyes widened as he opened the box. The bow inside looked absolutely amazing, and upon picking it up it felt perfect in his hands. Everything about it just screamed powerful, what to expect from a BladeSinger bow.

"How?... Why?..." Black Shadow asked stunned.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," he answered.

"Some other time then," Black Shadow said, still in shock of the gift.

He pulled back one of the strings of the bow and felt a surge of power flow through the bow into the string. This bow must have been nearly impossible to acquire. "I want to shoot it," Shadow said, practically running out the door. Gavner just followed him, smiling.

Outside, Black Shadow set up his normal targets, thirty-five yards away from where he stood. As he knocked an arrow, a surge of excitement surged through him, it had always been his to fire a BladeSinger bow, and now he had the chance. He took aim, feeling the power of the bow flow into the arrow itself. This surprised Black Shadow, he thought the bow was supposed to feel normal, but when he held the arrow in aim he could feel a surge of energy flow into it. Shadow took a deep breath in, slowly exhaled, and then released the arrow. A soft low humming sound rang from the bow, a beautiful sound the Black Shadow always heard stories of. It was exciting, and he was very happy.

He turned to his friend and gave him a hug. "Thank you my friend." He said.

[matthewkuch]

Gavner loved seeing his friend lit up like this. The excitement and sheer joy of giving a gift that he worked so hard to acquire, that he gave so much to get, was overwhelming but exhilarating. It was almost as if the journey that Gavner had gone on to get the bow was now living inside. Gavner remembered the feeling that he had when he looked up into the sky of the desolate, abandoned reef continent of Istraloth and directly into the face of an angry dragon, or when the serpent stuck his head out of the water and began attacking the ship. The tavern in the city that Koli had been ambushed in popped into the vampires mind, and he remembered how they escaped the town into the Red Forest. He remembered the feeling of shock and horror as he watched his friend die, the utter despair and grief as he lamented the loss of somebody he held so dear to himself- then the feelings of relief, and jubilation, as well as contentment after he had been united with Koli and Drake once again. "T...he is after our lives," Gavner heard in his head, "...once we go in there may be no going back." An image Gavner, Koli, and Drake putting their hands in the center of their circle popped into the vampire's head. A crystal clear image of Koli, pointing to his heart after pointing to each Gavner and Drake manifested in Gavner's head.

Ingrained in the very fibers of the bow were all of these emotions and memories, and it felt as if it was part of the creature of the night that he was giving to his friend. A gift that could not be bought, nor acquired through any conventional method. A gift that, if somebody looked for it could not find it, and a non-transferable gift- if it was given to somebody they could not give it away. It was something far more valuable to Gavner than a mere bow. Love.

Gavner smiled as his friend so jubilantly fired arrows into targets, the projectiles traveling faster than Gavner could detect with his eyes. Beautiful, rich bass notes filled the air like cream being poured into a glass when the archer released from the red string. When the white string fired, a majestic, triumphant higher note in a C major scale filled the air- a tender harp-sounding baritone note when the gold string used, and the silver string let out a sound that seemed as if it came from a synthesizer.

"Oh," Gavner said to his friend as Black Shadow came back uprange from retrieving his arrows, "I almost forgot!" The vampire returned to the house, telling Shadow that he would return soon. The creature of the night went to the box that had held his friends gift, and lifted up the cotton to reveal a quiver of arrows which he grabbed and returned outside with. There were eleven arrows in the quiver, all black with cerulean fletchings that had deep, midnight blue stripes on all of them. One of the arrows, however, was a deep brown with deceitful snow white fletchings that had sinister, evil red stripes on them. This arrow radiated with power, but a different kind of power than the bow had. This arrow was angry and hateful, itching to kill. Anybody could tell by merely being in the presence of this arrow that it longed to taste blood, and pierce somebody, wishing to savor every moment that it drained the life from its foe. It was loyal to its master, and always longed to be with him- and this arrow knew now that its master was near.

Gavner pinched the end of the arrow with his index finger and thumb and pulled it out, and he felt a flashback before his very eyes. Suddenly he was in an entirely crimson red room, suffocated by pure, dry heat. The heat waves were visible and lava ran in a stream around the perimeter of the room, save for the area that the door was. In front of Gavner, the demon lord sat atop a throne of red with gold trim. Gavner suddenly found himself back with Black shadow.

"I got these for you too," Gavner said showing his friend the quiver of arrows. The creature of the night pulled out one of the black arrows with a dark silver-grey tip that had hundreds of black crystalline specs on it. "Ten black diamond arrows and," he looked down at the demon lord arrow. The brown wooden shaft had "Black Shadow" engraved on it, and a silver tip that was smooth with brown streaks, one on each side. "...a demon lord arrow. Xerxes said that this is a special type of steel used by the demons, but it has the strength of adamantine. Xerxes said that it will return to you on its own no matter what, but you will have to try that out and see."

[black shadow]

Black Shadow heard the rumors of the arrow but never imagined it to be real. Even the looks of such arrow said that it was deadly, and when Black Shadow took it in his hand he could feel the power as he could with the bow.

Black Shadow readied the arrow to test it, knowing that it would be one of the best experiences he will have in a long time. He took a hold of the red string, letting the arrow fly. The beautiful sound of the music coming from the bow was accompanied by the intense scream from the Demon Lord Arrow. It was a mere second before the arrow struck the target. Instead of sticking out from the target as the other arrow had, the arrow seemed to disappear; obviously it went through the target.

Black Shadow looked down at his new bow and the back up at the target. He was having a lot of fun with it.

"Now think about it coming back to you" Gavner said.

Black Shadow nodded the thought the word "return." Instantly the arrow began to return to Black Shadow. It stopped, floating just two feet in front of him. He took it and placed it into his quiver.

"Daddy?" Black Shadow heard the familiar voice of Espoir call out. She sounded afraid.

"Oh, yea I forgot to tell you that it is loud. We probably woke her." Gavner said, laughing.

[matthewkuch]

Black Shadow handed his bow and quiver to Gavner as the surrogate father rushed to Espoir, kneeling down to pick her up and cradle her in his arms.

"What are you doing?" Black Shadow said worriedly in sign language, standing up, "You are out in the snow without shoes! You could get frostbite."

"I was scared," Espoir whimpered, holding onto Black Shadow, "What was that noise? It was so loud!"

"It is okay, Espoir." Gavner said calmingly in a loving voice as he walked closer to her and Black Shadow, "It is gone now. Daddy and uncle Gavner are here with you now."

"I couldn't sleep before," She said looking at Gavner with a tear in her eye, "Will you read me a bed time story?"

Gavner reached into his cloak and took out a black hankerchief, "Of course we will," Gavner said sympathetically with a smile, drying her face. "In fact, we will go do that right now."

As they went inside, Black Shadow tossed Gavner a surprised look over Espoir, that expressed how unexpectedly loud the arrow had been. Gavner merely shrugged his shoulders and they continued to Espoir's room.

"I suppose that rules out a stealthy approach when using that arrow," Gavner said to Black Shadow in sign language.

When they reached her room, Gavner pulled back Espoir's blanket as Black Shadow placed his daughter in her bed before the vampire pulled the covers over the little Goldilocks and tucked her in. She curled her fingers around the edge of the covers that were pulled up to her chin, peeking out from under her blanket. The light from the lanterns softly came in from the living room, casting golden illumination on the wooden walls. Espoir’s was the largest room in the house, Black Shadow doted on her all the time.

“Once upon a time…” Espoir started for Gavner.

“…there was a wolf.” Gavner continued.

“Why do all your stories start with wolves uncle Gavner?” She asked.

Black Shadow had moved just out of Espoir’s vision and began telling Gavner what to say in sign language.

“Once upon a time,” Gavner restarted, “there was a baby hawk named Rosie. Rosie was the littlest of the family, but she certainly had a big heart. Whenever her friends were feeling sad, or upset, she would help them feel better.” Espoir’s face began to look forlorn. “She always longed to be older, so she could fly like the rest of her family. She had a brother, a mother, a father, and three other sisters. One day her sisters told her that she would never be able to fly, and so she…”

Gavner looked down to notice that Espoir was fast asleep. “Goodnight, little one.” He said bending down and kissing her on the forehead. Gavner walked into the kitchen, but Black Shadow lingered in the doorway looking at Espoir for a few moments. He then shut the door and continued to the kitchen with Gavner. Something was bothering him, Gavner could tell.

“What is on your mind, my friend?” Gavner asked.

“I dread the day that we must tell her what actually happened to her parents,” Black Shadow said in sign language.

“As do I,” Gavner said, pulling a bottle of rick, Catawba Wine from Black Shadow's secret hatch in the floor, “but for now we must enjoy her as she is young and innocent.” Black Shadow nodded. “Now,” Gavner continued, pouring the wine into two glasses that he had found in the cupboards “A lot has happened in the time that we have last seen each other." The vampire handed his friend the glass of crimson liquid, before gently raising his own.

"We have a lot that we must catch up on.”

[OOC: Official story thread transferring 1 bladesinger bow, 1 demon lord arrow, and 1 quiver of diamond tipped arrows from Gavner's inventory to Black Shadow's inventory. As described by Philomel (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?28467-And-So-This-Is-Christmas&p=241137&viewfull=1#post241137) after I obtained the items as spoils, the bow is:

"...as requested by the admins, this bow should be defined as being "better than 'The highest tier of wood.'" It is a longbow, made with high quality, using the top teir of wood - Liviol Nihon Redwood."

This is not the average bow, as it cannot be bought by conventional methods and has to be quested for. The crafting of a bladesinger bow is difficult and somewhat a lost art. Due to Black Shadow's exceptional precision and skill with bow and arrow, any encounter with him would most likely be deadly with this weapon, as Black Shadow rarely misses. Due to the power of the bow it is near impossible to dodge the arrow, unless power gaming occurs on the opponent's part, or the opponent basically has the sufficient speed to dodge a bullet.

The Demon Lord Arrow is described as:

"...arrow tip strength equivalency of Adamantine; returns to Black Shadow after being shot and is away from him for over 5 minutes. Flies through the air and stops 2 feet away from him, suspended in midair. Cannot hurt anybody when returning to Black Shadow. Cannot hurt anybody when suspended in midair. Must be placed in quiver for 2 minutes before it can be shot again."

Anyways, thanks for reading if you have gotten this far, hope you enjoyed it!]

[Philomel]

Name of Judgement: Merry Christmas, Friend (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?28525-Merry-Christmas-Friend)
Judgement Type: Workshop Submission

Rewards:

matthewkuch receives: (http://www.althanas.com/world/member.php?17109-matthewkuch)
1035 EXP
95 GP

black shadow receives: (http://www.althanas.com/world/member.php?16247-black-shadow)
610 EXP
65 GP

[Hysteria]

xp and gp added!