Finding the Past (solo)

[Laurea Aeglos]

(Beginning of story begins in profile's history.)
HERE (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?p=72053#post72053)


Little by little over weeks, months and years of watching the men and women working in the lab I managed to pick up a few words of Drow. My particular favorite at this time was 'Vith'. I lost track of how long I had been watching the Drow. I realized one day that the prison that held me didn’t hold me quite so well anymore. I was able to shift on my feet ever so slightly. My fingers had just enough space to wiggle. Small fissures appeared in the walls around me. Gradually, I realized that I was imprisoned in crystal; the crystal my mother had given me.

Bored beyond all reason, I was tired of trying to figure out how I could have gotten inside the crystal as well as how I could get out. I played with one of the Drow women that worked nearly alone some nights. Just as her gaze passed over my hand, I moved my fingers. I saw the woman blink and lean in closer to study my hand. I let several moments pass, waiting until the woman’s nose was almost touching the crystal before I moved my fingers again. The woman turned and fled, calling for her co-workers.

Shortly, she returned towing two others behind her. I held still as they studied me. After the longest time, her co-workers turned on her and berated her before they went back to their work. Puzzled, the woman looked back up at me. Unable to help myself, I moved my hand one last time. She stared at me, at my wiggling fingers, and shook her head before she left the lab.

Days later, a new woman walked into the lab, causing a stir among those working. She walked straight towards me, stopping only inches from me. She stared at me, studying me as if I were some butterfly pinned to a child's specimen board. I stared back at her, wondering why she didn’t notice me studying her as she studied me. From the respect the others gave her and her clothing, I guessed she was a priestess of some sort.

A sudden pressure on my mind startled me out of the study of the woman’s features and clothing. I could feel the frustration that her mind radiated as she failed to gain entrance to my mind. For a long time she glared up at me, scrabbling to break past the natural shields of my mind before she gave up. Turning sharply, she swept out of the room, her annoyance palpable.

I sighed in relief then started in surprise as I took in another breath. I was breathing! I could feel my heart beating its familiar rhythm once more. Better yet, the crystal had release me just enough that I had an inch of space all around my body. Overjoyed, I moved everything that I could when the Drow were not looking. It felt good to be in control of my body once more.

That night, impatient, I pushed at the crystal walls holding me. Feeling them give slightly, I pounded on them with my fists.

“Let me out!” I yelled, bruising my fists on the smooth inner surface of the crystal. Startled, I squawked as the crystal shattered with a chime like sound. My wings flapped ineffectively to keep me from hitting the ground as I pitched forward. Grumbling, I sat up, rubbing a the tender spot on my hip and looked around. I hoped no one heard the sound of the crystal breaking.

The lack of pieces of crystal on the floor momentarily confused me until my gaze settled on my staff. Scrambling up to my feet, I scoped it up and examined it. In my hands the staff felt strange, as if this were a copy of my staff. It took me a second or three to realize that the rune spells that had covered every inch of the staff were now gone. Only six shallow runes circled the top. In denial and shock I reached within myself searching to the deep wellspring of my magic. Encountering a block, a wall of sorts, I pounded against it, struggling to destroy the block that had broken me back to a novice mage.

Angry, I pulled myself out of the trance it took to dig for my magic. Slowly, I walked to the door. Looking out, I picked a direction to go and prayed that it was the right way.

[Laurea Aeglos]

The hall was unlit, the shadows pooling on the floor and walls, unmoving as a predator laying in wait. I stared uneasily down the hall for a time, feeling like the prey the predator was waiting for. Unease crept through me, tickling my subconscious fears until my skin fairly crawled. What if the Drow found me? I wondered to myself. I had been safer in the crystal; out of it I was vulnerable.

I glanced around, taking the first tentative steps down the darkened hall. The shadows swallowed me, embracing me like an over zealous lover. I remembered, finally, that I still had my basic light spell. There was no need to wander down these halls like a lost and blind child. A moment of concentration and pure, brilliant light spilled from my right hand. My spirit rose just at the sight of the shadows pulling away from the circle of light.

Waving my hand overhead, the light still was unable to penetrate the deep shadows that lay in the high ceiling. I shuddered as my mind raced to show me all manner of imagined things that might lurk up there. With a quiet sigh, I pushed the images and anxiety aside, locking them away in the back of my mind. I could let my mind scare and terrify me later, once I was out and away from this worst of all possible places. Long ago I had been taught of the Drow’s instinctive hatred towards the elven kind. I had also heard rumors of the things they had done to any angel unlucky enough to find itself in a Drow’s clutches. A child of both, I was grateful to be free and walking. I would count myself even more grateful when I got out of this complex.

Spreading and stretching my long ignored and often unused wings, I leapt into the air. The still, cool air made it harder for my novice flight, as did trying to carry my staff. Unwieldy, I glided down the hall, the winds spilling noiselessly from my wings as they beat the air. Only minutes later I was forced to ground. My shoulders and back screamed for release, the muscles long unused to bearing my weight even for short spans of time. I cursed my body and its heavy weight even when I knew that the problem lay not in my too slender body, but in my lack of discipline. Long ago, I should have never given up my love of flying. I should have never placed all of my time and energy solely in my studies and experiments.

With a thump I’m sure that any elf or Drow would have heard, had they been anywhere near me, I landed. Holding my breath, I strained to hear anything that indicated that my absence had been noticed. The thick, heavy silence of the hall continued unbroken. Giving my burning shoulders a rest, I walked for a time. Once in a while, I heard a voice echoing up from another passage that intersected with the one I traveled. Sounds, the rustle of my clothing and wings to the soft scuffs of my boots on the cold stone traveled a long distance down the empty, silent hall.

Beneath my feet, the dark stone floor was always smooth, as if generation upon countless generation had worn it down. To my curious, questing fingers the cold, stone walls bore the faintest trace of tool marks. The slight irregularities occasionally caught a fingertip as I walked, my fingers skimming the wall. The halls, the complex I was in seemed as if it had been hewn from the mountain. I wondered at how the earth could allow such a foul people to dwell within her living body.

Surprises were thankfully few and far between. Once, I came upon a statue of a woman. Between her slender hands a web was held. I studied the statue for only a moment before I turned away with a shudder. The cruel, vindictive expression the artist had placed upon the woman’s face unsettled me. Undoubtedly, this statue was one of the gods the Drow worshiped. A dark goddess. Another time I stumbled on a small fountain, its well spring dried. Very little water remained at the base of it. I drank my fill of the water, thirst making the stale, algae filled water the best drink I could remember in a long time.

Gradually I began to curse the Drow for their winding halls that seemed to go on forever. Desperate to get out, I wandered the halls, unwilling to stay in one place for long. The dry air sucked the moisture from me, leaving my mouth and throat parched and aching. Several times I took to the air, flying until the ache of weak muscles became too much to bear. Briefly, I rested in the smaller side passages I discovered once in a while.

In one such tunnel, I sat against the cool rock, my legs stretched before me, thinking of the odds of escape before my absence in the lab was discovered. Before? I thought derisively to myself, shifting against the stone to get more comfortable. They are probably looking for me already. I’ve lost track of how long I have wandered these endless halls. Surely no more than a day at the most.

A voice disrupted my thoughts. Hastily cutting off my light I pulled back further into the small tunnel, retreating until I could just barely make out the opening of the tunnel in the growing light of whoever was coming closer. I held my staff tightly, ready to use it against whoever came. Two men, Drow, passed by. The taller of the two carried a torch and listened as the shorter male barked something at him. The shorter male was obviously a warrior, a leader. His features were hard and merciless, a quality his companion lacked. The glimpse I caught of his eyes made me glad I had pulled far enough back so the light wouldn’t catch in my hair or wings. His eyes were cold and dead, the eyes of someone who wouldn’t think a second time of murdering and raping his own mother or daughter.

I slumped in relief as they passed, the light disappearing with them. The tension I hadn’t even registered disappeared, leaving me limp for a time.

[Laurea Aeglos]

After a time my racing heart calmed and my breath came easier. Gradually, I became aware of a gentle breeze intermittently blowing across my skin. I turned to face the direction the breezes came from. Hope beat in my breast, a caged thing steadily growing larger. Following the cold, clean scent of the wind, I headed farther into the little side passage. I used my magic to create light when my other senses became too confused. More than once I walked into a wall as the passage curved, my staff only gave me a moments warning. I just knew I would be sporting several lovely bruises beneath my robes.

At long last I finally spotted a growing of light ahead of me. Hunger, thirst and weariness fell away from me. I pushed my body into a trot, mentally ticking off the things I wanted to do when I got home. Drinking in the natural sunlight that indirectly entered the passage, I looked out to the landscape outside. Beyond the stone walls I could see rocky slopes. In the far distance lay the indistinct green blur of a forest. As fast as I could I clambered out, folding my wings as tightly as I could to my body to prevent any injury.

I stood outside for a moment, blinking owlishly at the bright sunlight. The sun had yet to reach its zenith. A fierce cold wind buffeted me. My shivers snapped me out of the joyful daze I was in. The reality of my situation set in. I was in an unknown place, most likely far away from my Raiaerian homeland. I had no supplies. The weather was not frigid but it was very cool. Undoubtedly, the temperatures would drop rapidly come nightfall.

Also, I could not afford to forget that I had to move away from this place as fast as possible. I needed to be as far as I could possibly get. Time was not in my favor. I had no wish to be recaptured. I doubted that a second stay with the Drow would be a pleasant thing. I launched myself up into the skies, striving to climb as high as possible before muscle fatigue set in once more. I found I could tuck my staff under my arm, up against my side and wrap the long ends of my robe around my body to hold it in place. Once I discovered that little trick, flying with my staff was easy.

Mimicking the occasional bird that shared the sky with me, I glided towards the ground at a gentle angle. The last hundred or so feet I changed my angle, plummeting towards the earth in a controlled free fall. At the last possible moment I pulled up, letting my momentum and a few tired wing beats carry me high up again. I found myself laughing, caught up in the adrenaline singing in my blood. The winds seemed to pull me along, as if I had joined them in some grand game. Below me, the ground moved swiftly, an unending sea of brown and green. Clusters of rock stood up, looking like nothing more than a bunch of wizened old men gathered together to talk.

When exhaustion dragged at my wings, pulling me back towards the earth's hard embrace, I descended for a final time. My landing was a little bumpy and left a lot to be desired. Still, it was better than before. Long forgotten lessons, learned the hard way, were swiftly returning. I looked back to see the distance I had traveled. With some surprise, I guessed that I had covered perhaps some fifteen to twenty miles in the past three hours. Now, only if I could keep that sort of flying up for much longer. I would get home within a fortnight. Many of my questions would have their answers, too.

[Laurea Aeglos]

Tired, I stood and shivered on that plain for almost a hour, leaning against my staff for support. Above me, the sun slowly shifted its position in the cloud speckled sky. It finally occurred to me that I needed to rest and find food and water. My stomach rumbled at me in agreement to my thoughts. Absently, I rubbed it to relieve the hollow feeling as I looked closely at the plants that grew around me. I recognized very few plants, none of them edible.

While much closer than it had previously been, the forest still lay a good distance away. I hoped that once I got to it finding food and water would be much easier. The plains I stood in were suited to life that was much more hardy than myself. I set about making a temporary camp for myself. I pulled up as much of the long grass as I could find, dropping it in one large pile. It was by some stroke of luck that I found several dead and dry shrubs. Light weight but bulky, I hauled them back to the impromptu camp.

Grimacing in distaste, I dug a wide, shallow hollow in the earth for a fire pit. The loose, crumbling soil lodged itself under my nails, eventually forcing several to break down to the quick. Under my breath, I muttered curses. Specifically, my favorite Drow word. The needle like leaves of the shrubs went into the bottom of the fire pit. I hoped that the relatively dense vegetation would catch easily. On top of that, several branches of the shrubs went in. I settled down beside the pit and laid both hands on the tender. A vague thought that I should be grateful that I still retained the ability to set something ablaze drifted through my mind.

Pushing aside my worries and the random thoughts that popped up, I focused on my magic. It took several minutes to do what I used to be able to do at a touch. I had to fight against frustration as minute after minute ticked away while the air between my hands gradually warmed. The sound of the dried shrubs igniting was one of the most beautiful sounds I had heard in a long time. I smiled, proud of the accomplishment. Before the small fire could burn out I fed it most of the shrubbery to build a bed of coals.

Once a bed of ash, charcoal and embers lay in the bottom of the pit, I used a stick to put the embers to the center. The ash I carefully scrapped over it to keep the embers hotter. Making sure that the fire would burn until I returned, I set out to find more of the dried shrubs. Unwilling to go very far from my camp, I was forced to take back the few dead shrubs I found as well as many branches from living ones I encountered. By the time I gathered enough material to burn through the night, the sun’s angle told me that it was late afternoon.

Pushing and kicking, I moved the large pile of grasses closer to the fire pit. Huddling in the dry, itchy grass, I prayed that no sparks would jump from my fire. With my arms wrapped around my knees for warmth, my staff laid within easy reach, I watched the sun slowly set, turning the sky into a painter’s dreamscape. As the first stars began to appear, I found myself holding my breath as I anxiously waited for more stars to arrive.

I waited and waited, putting off my summons. Fear of what I needed to know, of what had occurred, held me back. The moon was finally beginning to crest the horizon by the time I conquered my fears, or at least shoved them aside for the time being. I looked up at the diamond studded velvet that was the night sky and took a deep breath. I called for my mother, calling her by her name. For a long moment, I watched the sky, worried that she would not or could not appear for me. A single star in the sky began to grow brighter, larger. The star descended, dimming as its brilliant form changed into a woman.

The moment that her feet touched the ground, her light dimming until it was hardly noticeable, I rushed into her arms. Unbidden, tears coursed down my face as I pressed my face into my mother’s chest, feeling once more like a small child. "Quiet," she held me, gently rocking me until I had tired myself out, my tears stopping. As if knowing that for now my tears dried themselves, she drew back a little. She stared at me, an almost melancholy expression drifting through her eyes. The moment passed and she smiled at me.

“Sleep, Laurea. I’ll watch over you until dawn.” Nodding, I did as she bid. Laying my tired body in the pile of grass, I looked at my mother. Not for the first time, I wondered why she didn’t have wings yet I did. My eyes began to close, until I remembered the reason for calling her.

“Mother, I need to k…” She cut off my sleepy question with a wave.

“Just sleep for now. I’ll answer your questions, later.” Disappointed, I closed my eyes and stopped fighting the need to rest. Oblivion swept me away.

[Laurea Aeglos]

Shaken, I was pulled from the sweet drifting of my dreamless sleep. Grumbling, I rolled over and burrowed my face into the itchy, crackling pillow. Wait, crackling? Since when did I sleep on anything but soft cotton? My sleepy mind cleared. Rolling over, I opened my eyes, meeting the amused stare from my mother. I opened my mouth then shut it when I had nothing to say.

“Still not the morning person.” I flushed at the teasing note in my mother’s voice and looked up at her. I studied her as I did every time I was with her. We never knew if she would be barred from returning. As always, she was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Chuckling, she waved a hand in front of my face, breaking my stare.

“I don’t have long, Laurea. The sun will be up shortly and I must return.” Nodding, I sat up, pulling pieces of grass from my long hair.

“I still have many questions I need answered, mother.”

“Call me tonight and I’ll answer as many as I can. For now, here.” She handed me a water skin and small cake I recognized as the type often used for travel. She moved behind me, gently finger combing my long hair. “This and watching over you as you sleep, these are the only things I can do to aide you on your journey home. I can tell you that you must travel east and a little south.” Grateful, I quickly ate the cake. The water, I sipped sparingly. I wanted to conserve it until I reached a source of water.

The fact that I would receive no more help came as no surprise to me. Either I would make it home or I would die. It was little comfort that I could at least call my mother down at night. To the East the stars bean to disappear, the sky starting to lose the inky velvet quality. Knowing she had to go, I scrambled to my feet and embraced her.

“Hold still for a moment, Laurea.” She gathered my hair in one hand. I felt a series of light tug then my hair swung forward, the ends tickling my chin. Shocked, I grasped at what was left of my secret vanity. I looked at the hair that lay in my mother’s hand. Nearly four feet of silver-white silk hung limply from her hands.

“Mother… why?”

“Trust me. I’ll see you tonight. Don't forget your staff. You'll need it.” I watch my mother drift upwards until she was indiscernible from any other star. Bemused, I ran my hair through my shorn hair and wondered why she had cut it and why she had taken it with her.

I waited until the sun crested the horizon, the beauty of the changing skies, as always, holding me in place until the glory of it faded away. At long last, I leapt up to greet it. The cold early morning breeze helped me lift off the ground. Despite the protest of muscles that would rather take a full day of rest, I poked and prodded them to carry me over the rocky earth. The cake and water my mother gave me went a long way towards restoring my strength. I felt only the dull ache in my back and shoulders for a time. That too faded away once the stiffness was worked out of them.

Noon found me within walking distance of the forest. Instead, I chose to stop and rest, waiting until the sun would lead me directly to the east. Most of the afternoon passed slowly. By some stroke of luck, I found a tuber that I could eat. With a lot of grimacing and holding my breath, I managed to get it down. Afterwards, I drank what was left of my water to rid my mouth of the astringent taste and the oddly mushy-crunchy texture. A space of pebble-free ground made as good as any a place to sit and rest.

[Laurea Aeglos]

Two hours to sunset and I was recharged and ready to go. Flying away from the sun this time was a blessing, not to mention a huge relief on the eyes. My only problem was gaining the altitude I needed to be glide easily. The air near the ground was still, making me work for every foot I gained. A sudden up draft over the forest carried me up higher than I normally flew. Giddy, I laughed. Looking down at the forest I could easily imagine it as nothing more than a huge piece of velvet, the green tone of it ever shifting in the wind and light.

Once in a while, I had to look back at the sun to make sure I did not stray off course. I was planning on crossing the mountains and then heading south until I found my home. As I flew, my thoughts turned to the life I hoped to soon take up once more. The modest sized house I owned and its rooms full of my experiments no longer held the siren call they once did. I knew my last experiment would be to find Lomion. I had an obligation to fulfill.

I wished the miles would pass in the blink of an eye. I wanted to call my mother down, the two of us comfortable in the cozy surroundings of my house as we chatted away the night. Shaking my head, I had to look back at the setting sun. I didn’t want to wander off while my mind wandered. A gleaming ribbon of silver below me caught my eye. I decided it was as good a time as any to stop and refill the water skin. The fading day light would help me keep a look out on my surroundings.

Spiraling lazily, it took me only a few minutes to reach the ground. I landed on a small sandbar in the middle of the river. The forest pressed in close to the water, hiding anything that may lurk in the swiftly darkening underbrush. Hurrying, I dipped the skin into the fast flowing water. I half heartedly wished I still had the levitation spell when I spotted a pair of shinning green eyes watching me from the shore to my left. With the skin securely tied to my belt, I knelt down and scooped up water in my hands. As I drank my fill, I never took my eyes off of the eyes watching me.

A howl came from behind me, on the other shore. Startled, I froze for a precious moment before I flung myself up into the air. Muscles protested the harsh abuse as I beat the air in a almost frenzy to get away. I was never more grateful when I caught the air current that whipped over the trees. I rode it once more high up into the air. My heart still heart like a trapped thing in my chest as I looked down at the forest spread out before me. I watched it as if the thing with the glowing eyes would burst from the tops of the canopy and grab me.

It wasn’t until the first stars lit the slowly darkening skies that I truly relaxed, letting go of my fear and panic. I called to my mother. I was unable to fly and watch her descend, changing from a higher being into a unearthly creature capable of surviving on this plane. I wondered if my mother ever felt loss at the necessary change when she came to me. While divine still, she was less than what she truly was. I waited to greet her until some extra sense told me she traveled through the air beside me.

“Mother, good evening.”

“Good evening. Laurea, can we find somewhere to land? I have a lot to tell you, a lot you should know.” Involuntarily, I shivered in memory of the eyes and the howl that had forced me into a panicked flight. I shook my head.

“I need to put more distance between me and the river. We can talk as we fly.” The undertone of my mother’s words worried me. I had never heard her sound so saddened. In silence, we flew. Once in a while, my course was corrected when mother flew too close to me intentionally.

“How is father? Have you spoken to him lately?” I asked, unable to bear the silence between us. A sound near to a stifled sob caught my attention. I found mother’s brilliant gold eyes dimmed and clouded with tears. A sense of horror dawned on me, though it seemed strangely distant, as if I felt it through another person. I found myself searching for a place to land.

A tiny clearing created a pit of darkness against the moving shades of black. Recklessly, I spilled the air from my wings, dropping like a stone from the sky. I heard my mother shout at me. Mere feet before I would have hit the ground, my wings opened with a soft snap, catching the air. Branches from the surrounding trees brushed my outstretched wings. My staff dug at my arms and ribs. I shifted my stance to accommodate it. Distantly, I realized that this clearing may not have been the wisest of choices to land in. I was lucky I had not gotten caught up in a tree, lucky to not be hurt.

I turned on my mother as soon as she touched the earth.

[Laurea Aeglos]

“Tell me what happened.”

“Laurea.” She bowed her head for a moment. “First, make some light. Chase away the shadows of this place.” I was a little embarrassed to be told what I knew I should have done in the first place. It took me a second of thought, and an orb of light bounced in the air over my left shoulder. I sat on the ground, resting against a sturdy sapling, and watched my mother. She seemed all too human at the moment as she struggled to put her thoughts in order and answer my question.

“I guess the easiest way to answer your question is to start at the beginning. You have been asleep for a very, very long time, my darling. I had begun to think that you would never return to your body, even though it was safe and protected.”

“By the crystal.” I gazed at my staff, noticing for the first time the flaw in the center of the once flawless crystal. Looking closer, I realized that the flaw held three strands of my hair.

“Protected by the crystal.” I murmured to myself then looked up at mother. “Protected by you. You gave me the crystal long ago, but you never told me its purpose.” I met my mother’s enigmatic, pained golden gaze and wondered for the first time what else she wouldn’t or couldn’t tell me.

“How long have I ‘slept’?” I asked though I was unsure if I wanted an answer.

“Almost ninety four thousand years.” Blinking in surprise, I took a moment to process the sheer number of years that had passed.

“I’m old.” I tried for a pathetic attempt at humor, anything to break the feel of the air. I was rewarded with a small smile.

“Laurea, you need to know everything is gone. Your father died in the attack that led to your crystal encased body being taken by the Drow. You never had any friends except for Lomion. He disappeared the night you were encased. The village is lost to time.” She came forward, to touch and hug me. For the first time ever, I rebuffed her gentle touches. I wanted to be alone with the thought that all was lost. If she touched me in kindness, I would be lost.

The sheer enormity of everything that had happened to me was overwhelming. Lomion, lost to the void. Father, slain. Any from the academy I had known would have been claimed by time. Arcanen, lost before I even got to truly know him. The light from my orb dimmed and died as the emotions I wrestled with drained all thoughts of anything else.

“There is one last thing Laurea, one…” I cut my mother off.

“Please, enough for tonight. Tell me another night, mother.” She nodded, watching me. I looked away, unable to see the pain she bore for those gone and for me.

“Sleep, Laurea. The night is barely a quarter done. I will watch over you until dawn.” Silently, I slid down the sapling and curled into a ball on the ground, cuddling my staff close to me. I fought with despair until, at long last, sleep claimed me, blanketing my mind with a welcome blackness.

~~~~~

I awoke on my own shortly before dawn. I laid there and thought over what I should do for now. I no longer had a home to go to. I had no one to turn to. Only my mother that came with the appearance of the stars and left with the rising of the sun. I took me a lot of thought before I decided my course of action. I would still go ‘home’. I needed to see it for myself.

“I’m already awake,” I said when mother began to move towards me. She nodded and knelt beside me. For a long moment she studied me.

“You have decided something?” I nodded, sitting up.

“You should know that Arcanen is still alive. The head mage placed him in a stasis spell right after the accident. He was spelled to awake when you did, though something went wrong. He has been awake and alone for the past twenty six years.” A light clicked on in my brain at my mother’s words.

“I’ve been awake for probably that period of time. It was only recently that I fully inhabited my own body and freed myself. It’s good he’s still alive. It gives me something to go back to. Do you know where he is?”

“Arcanen lives in the forests around the area your house was.” I smiled. It seemed as if Fate has everything lined up. Who was I to fight it?

“That’s good. I planned on returning to the village to see for myself what time has wrought. I can find Arcanen easily if he is nearby. The link I created with him while he was in the egg should still work.”

Mother and I said our farewells. I climbed into the air with her and faced the paling sky, preparing to fly until exhaustion pulled me to the earth.

[Laurea Aeglos]

The days passed in an unending blur of resting, walking and flying. Before I knew it, weeks had passed. It had been two weeks since my escape from the Drow if I was correct. I fought to cross what mother told me was called the Mountains of Dawn. It was a struggle to cross the tall jagged mountains. The air that had been merely cool on the plains and over the forest now was bitingly cold. It blew harshly over the peaks, more often than not buffeting me. I swore to myself often that something was trying to kill me. More often than not, my staff, once a symbol of power for me, became a crutch for me to lean on as I scrambled across steep slopes.

Little grew on the stony peaks. What water I did find was often snow or stagnate water trapped in hollows. Often, I starved for a day or two until I found one of the unpleasant tasting, astringent tubers. I also found a grayish looking moss that while it tasted horrible, it was not poisonous and it was filling.

By some blind stroke of luck, I managed to catch a rabbit. Now, what I mean by “catch”, I mean the rabbit happened to have the bad luck of hiding under the rock I landed on. The shifting rock threw me off balance and crushed the rabbit’s hind leg. The high wailing scream of the rabbit and the crack of when I broke its neck still echoes in my memory, sickening me. As thankful as I was for the meat, skinning and cleaning it was almost more than I could endure. I cried the whole time I ate, thanking the rabbit for giving up its life to further mine.

Too often, I found myself without the strength to invoke the most basic of my spells. The nights were spent shivering on the hard rocky ground. The thin illumination of the moon and stars, the only light to see by, left most things in darkness too deep for me to see. My mother retained the faintest of glows while she talked to and watched over me at night. It was by that faint light that I could see her as she walked about or simply sat and stared up at the night sky.

Bit by bit, as I sat shivering on the ground waiting for sleep to claim me, I learned of the things I had missed. It amazed me the things my mother had watched and remembered all through these long years. News of old school acquaintances marrying and bearing children made me smile. Among the glad tidings there were the inevitable deaths of those I had once visited and talked to. I learned, first and foremost, the life my father had led after the accident. Little by little, I gradually learned the past that I had missed.

Horrible nightmares plagued my sleeping mind. Twisted and torn landscapes were stained red with blood, the bodies of my friends and father lay upon them. Their blank eyes stared at me as if asking me why I had not been there to help, to save them. Or I would dream of my mind still trapped in the ether. My body lay trapped in its crystal prison for all time. From those I awoke, tears stinging my eyes and cheeks in the cold air. I would greet the dawn, tired, yet unwilling to brave the things I saw once more. I fought with my mind, telling myself over and over that that was not how they had died. That the dreams were nothing more than products of a grieving mind.

Once a dream came to me, beautiful, yet sad. I was alone in a forest and so very tired of being alone. Years and years had passed, yet the one I waited for never came. I was afraid I would be alone forever, that I had been abandoned. No home, no family, no one to care for and no one to care for me. The difference in dreams puzzled me a little. For a time, I considered the thought that the dream had not been mine, but Arcanen’s. I dismissed that notion quickly. I had never had the time or the chance to develop the link between Arcanen and myself to the degree of exchanging dreams.

[Laurea Aeglos]

More often than not, the dawn came cold and clear. The bright light of the rising sun burned my eyes even as the early morning winds rose to chill my already cold skin. This day came different than any other. The sky was overcast, dull gray clouds that matched the gray of the stone beneath my feet hung heavily in the sky. For a moment, I was disoriented. I couldn’t make out what was the sky and what was the mountain. The lapse left me a little shaken.

Quickly downing what was left of the horrid moss and water, I leapt up to meet those heavy clouds. Higher up, I fought to stay aloft one moment, and then next I fought not to be tossed about like some giant’s play thing as the winds buffeted me. The urge to seek shelter on the lower sides of the mountains was very tempting. I might have tried to land if it were not for the next up draft that carried me almost into the clouds themselves.

Not very far away, I caught sight of a forest. My heart rose up in my throat, chocking me for a moment. The sight of the familiar lay of land was a welcome one.

I was too caught up in drinking in the sight of my homeland to react quickly to the wave of air that slammed into me. Crying out in surprise as the wind rolled me, I struggled to keep my eyes open as the ground spun in a dizzying manner, coming closer at a rapid rate. The muscles in my back and shoulders screamed as I pulled against the wind.

The updraft that caught me and tossed me up high again was more than welcomed. I stopped fighting the winds and rode them. They pushed me down, I went down. They rolled me and I rolled with it. Terrified and just a little exhilarated, I noticed the storm had carried me with it over the forest.

I came upon the oddest of things in the air, a still point. One moment the wind pushed, pulled and tugged at me. The next, smooth air. I spilled the air from my wings and circled. Trying to stay within this small area of calm. All around me, the storm raged on. My eyes searched for a space, an opening in which I could drop down to the ground. A couple of yards away, I spotted an opening big enough for me to fit in.

“I just know that the winds are sweeping over that area,” I muttered to myself as I angled towards the opening. I had flown no farther than four feet and the wind caught me once more. It slammed me down into the trees at the edge of the opening I had been angling for. Oh hell, I thought just before I clipped the upper branches of a tree. The wrenching pain made me draw my wings in close to my body. I fell out of the air like a stone, shrieking in fear yet too afraid to open my wings to catch myself. I hit the ground with a bone jarring thud.

Just before the darkness took me, I thought I saw something white and gold. Something with scales.

[Laurea Aeglos]

The pain that accompanied being shaken awoke me. Gasping breathlessly and pulling away from the hands that held me, I looked at whoever was there. The light under the trees was extremely poor. I realized with a start that it was night. I had passed most of the day unconscious.

Trying to sit up left me dizzy, sick to my stomach. My body ached while my left wing felt as if it had been sprained badly. Moaning quietly, I lay back on the ground and covered my eyes to stop the spinning of the trees around me. A soft chuckle broke the gentle silence of the air. Cracking my eyes open, I glanced around to see who was there.

“That was a very foolish move, my dear. You could have been severely injured or even killed.” My mother’s soft voice drifted to me, soothing aches away with just the sound of her voice. In the quiet, still air under the trees, a night owl called off in the distance. I heard the scream of a creature, undoubtedly now dinner for something else. A light cool breeze ruffled the thickly covered branches, created dancing pinpoints of light on the forest floor.

“You’re here. How? I thought I have to call you.” I sat up, careful to not make sudden movements. Mother watched me. She smiled at me. The same sweet, innocent smile I remembered from my childhood.

“Just think of it as a unusual occurrence, Laurea.” I blinked at her, confused. She was avoiding my question. She never did that. I looked up at her as her gentle hands ran over my body, checking me for cuts, brakes and bruises. I hissed in pain when she lightly pressed on the side of my head. My vision faded into gray before it return.

“Well, you have a good knock on your head, and most likely a good concussion. How does your wing feel? Broken?” I shook my head slightly, even that small movement made things in my head toss and twirl. I found myself whimpering, curled up on my side, gripping my head with both hands. Mother hovered over me, a worried expression darkening her beautiful eyes.

“Oh my poor little girl, my little angel.”

“You haven’t called me those names in a long time.” I smiled.

“You grew up and were such a grown up I couldn’t call you by the endearments I have always thought of you as.” I cuddled up to my mother as she embraced me. For a long time, I was content to lie against her breast. The fact that she had no heart beat or that she never took a breath no longer bothered me. I had asked my questions long, long ago when I was a precocious, inquisitive child.

“My dear, I’m going to help you out a little,” she said after a long time of silence. I was enjoying the quiet songs that night animals sang. The lovely trills and hoots of night birds, the percussion of stalking animals.

“I thought you said you could provide no more help.”

“True, but those on high can not possibly expect me to stand aside as you suffer. Most likely I will not be allowed to return to you for some time. Such would be the punishment, only to watch and not to touch or talk to you. You’ve reached Raiaera at long last. You’ve only got a bit further to go. Remember to head south.”

“Then don’t stay with me for the rest of the night. I will be better by then and you will be able to return tomorrow night.” I pulled back from her and looked up into her face. She smiled at me. I knew she wasn’t going to listen to me.

"Before I forget, my dear, I have a present for you. You may find it useful later. " She handed me a large golden circlet. On closer inspection, I realized it was woven from the hair my mother had cut from me weeks ago. I studied the circlet and saw how it was meant to be a collar of sorts.

My mother kissed my forehead. Tears pricked at my eyes as I felt the long familiar warmth of her energy washing over me. I heard her voice as if it came from a distance, reminding me to always keep a hold of my staff. When it stopped abruptly, I opened my eyes to find her gone. For a moment, I wanted to cry. The nights shared with her had been what kept me going for the last week. The encouragement she always offered me with quiet and sure confidence had kept me moving when I might have otherwise stopped.

Stifling the tears that threatened to spill, I slowly climbed to my feet. My body was still a bit sore, my head still slightly clouded. I felt as if I had had a week to rest and heal from the injuries of my crash.

“The sooner you move, the sooner you find home and Arcanen,” I whispered to myself, giving myself encouragement. For some reason my own words sounded hollow to me.

[Laurea Aeglos]

Despite the healing my mother had done on me, I walked. While I felt a lot better, my wing was still tender. Also, there was not enough space to get the lift I needed to rise above the tree tops. The air below the trees was nearly still, yet it carried so many little noises. Never before had I noticed how much life there was in the forest. Birds called in their trilling and occasionally raucous tones. The sound of rustling and crackling of earth bound animals intermittently came to me.

I caught the faint sound of water and decided to follow it. It took me nearly half an hour to find the shallow but rapidly flowing stream. The clear water reflected the light of the rising sun and, for a moment, I was blinded. Kneeling at the edge of the water, I drank until my stomach felt unpleasantly full, then filled my water skin. Standing made me feel slightly nauseated as the contents of my stomach sloshed around.

I chided myself as I glanced around. There was no one around for miles. Quickly, I stripped off my clothing and waded into the stream. The cool water had me shivering in minutes. As quickly as possible, I dunked and scrubbed as much of my body as possible in the knee deep stream. Covered in goose flesh, shivering and turning blue, I rushed to leave the water. Fruitlessly, I wiped at the water covering my skin and ran a hand through my shorn hair. It occurred to me that having my hair cut might have been a good idea; the long silky mass of it would have been hopelessly tangled by now. As it was, I encountered a few tangles in my hair that left me uttering a few choice words under my breath.

I had the bright idea of trying a variation of my fire spell. It was hard to concentrate when my teeth chattered, sending constant vibrations into my brain. It seemed to take forever for me to figure out how to use my fire spell only partially. Once I figured out how to vary the level of energy put into it, it was the simplest thing to have a comfortable level of heat spill from my hand. It only took me a few minutes to dry and warm my skin and hair.

Turning to gauge where the sun was, I headed south. At first following the stream, then veering away, I made my own path. I came upon several bushes still covered in late berries of a type I recognized. Looking down at the purple stained fingers holding my staff, I couldn’t help but giggle. A few long faded memories of my childhood before school emerged. A strange mix of feelings overcame me.

As I walked, I puzzled through the tangled web of emotions. Happiness, contentment, those must have come from the memory that surfaced. Uncertainty, reluctance, far and hope, I thought those must have come from my travels. I was almost to my destination. Knowing I would cover the miles faster if I flew, I started scanning the dense canopy for any openings large enough for me to potentially fly out of. Looking up into the branches, I tripped over a tree root. Finding myself sprawled over the ground and my staff surprised me a little.

Squirming to relieve the pressure against my ribs, I pushed against the ground and tree to climb back to my feet. My ribs twinged in protest of the rough treatment and I couldn’t have agreed with them more. I decided it was the perfect time to stop and rest. Undoubtedly, it would mean I would be making camp here, but I didn’t mind too much. There was plenty of dead wood littering the ground.

[Laurea Aeglos]

Night fell swiftly in the still air of the forest, but this time I was prepared for it. A few feet to my left a small fire burned, crackling merrily. Small sparks drifted up from the fire, burning out before they touched the green, orange and brown leaves above. I had once been told that the sparks were the souls of the trees trapped in there dead and dry form. As they burned they escaped, drifting up towards the heavens, glowing and brilliant for a precious few moments.

Watching them, I remembered a tale my father once told me, ages ago it seemed. I snorted when I realized that it had been ages ago. Pushing the thought aside as I felt a twinge of sadness, I focused on feeding the fire, giving more spirits a chance to ascend.

I rested against the wide smooth trunk of a tree, my wings curled around me for comfort and protection. I let the soothing sight, sound and smell of the camp fire fill my mind. Absently, my fingers ran through the soft downy feathers of my wings, preening them much like any bird would. I found the gesture vaguely soothing.

A faint tickling in the back of my head pulled me out of the empty contemplation of the fire. Puzzled, I looked around, wondering what it was I had sensed. The sensation had seemed familiar in some long forgotten way. I felt the tickling once more. I added enough wood to the fire to last for a few hours and stood. Stepping into the dark underbrush, it took only a moment’s hesitation and thought, a ball of light hovered just over my head, lighting my path. I was drawn forward, the direction I was traveling.

My curiosity mounted as I picked my way through the forest. My feet took me on a winding path to avoid obstacles. I wondered what it was that drew me to come to it. It wasn’t until the light of my small fire had disappeared into the distance that I thought it might be some form of a predator. I paused, indecision racking me. I glanced up, hoping for an opening in the canopy large enough for me to fly through. I had the advantage of being able to fly; on the ground I was helpless. My hand brushed the hilt of one of my small silver daggers. The other gripped my staff in a firmer grip. Well, not totally helpless, but close enough.

Sighing heavily, I decided to move forward. Hopefully, I would die a quick death if I followed the path a predator laid out for me. My heart beat hard within my chest; I could feel my pulse through my whole body. This has to be the most foolish thing I have ever done, more so that my experiment long ago.

The forest suddenly opened before me into a large clearing. I stopped. The tickling in the back of my mind no longer gave me a direction to follow. Across, on the far side of the clearing, there was what looked like the ruins of a building. From my hiding position in the trees, I could see two of the walls completely gone, one wall was reduced to foot high rubble. The last wall stood perhaps chest height on me, a lone, weathered survivor of the ravages of time. Wary, I slowly left my relatively safe spot. In the openness of the clearing, I felt as if I had a target painted on me, as if hundreds of eyes looked at me. I realized that only one pair of eyes was watching me. Just over the edge of the remaining wall a pair of golden eyes flashed violet in the soft light of the waxing moon.

I stared back; too afraid to move less whatever it was be startled into action. A chilling wind whipped through the clearing, rippling through my robe and tossing my short hair about. I fanned my wings, preparing to fly, and hoping the creature would think I was now too big for it to take on. I heard a rumbling growl in response to my action.

“Leave.” I blinked in surprise at the growling voice that spoke to me. Jumping, I caught the next big gust and let it pull me up from the ground. A dozen feet from the ground, I circled gaining a few more feet of leeway before I circled around to see what it was ordering me to leave.

From the air, I could see a couple of other clearings very close by. In the nearest one, eroded stone blocks littered the ground. The idea that I had found my former home occurred to me. I shoved it aside and focused on the creature that lurked below me. Transferring my light orb to my hand, I held it out as I drifted over the creature's hiding spot.

Gleaming gold and ivory scales reflected the light back to me. The creature, a dragon, hissed at me, coiling up upon itself much like a cat would. I squawked, startled, as it puffed smoke at me. I lost several feet, dropping closer to the ground. Flapping, I lost my hold on the light spell. Night blind, I blinked, trying to clear my vision of the dancing light spots.

Something heavy slammed into me, knocking me out of the air. The air exploded from my lungs as I landed face down on the ground. A playful swat from a hard and heavy foot rolled me over. I gasped, trying to regain my breath. I wheezed, sucking in as much air as possible before the dragon sat on my stomach, it bulk forcing most of the air out of my lungs once more. A mouth full of worryingly sharp teeth entered my vision.

“I wonder if you’ll taste like chicken. It’s been ages since I had one.” The fact that the voice from the dragon sounded young, cultured now that he wasn’t growling at me, sank in even as black spots expanded across my vision.

“Arcanen,” I gasped right before the black spots sucked me into them.

[Laurea Aeglos]

I awoke. The first thing I felt was surprise to be still alive and not in pain. Sitting up proved me wrong. My body ached. Several place throbbed in time with my heart beat. Groaning to myself, I looked around. I was still in the clearing. It was still night, but the dragon was nowhere to be seen. I crawled over to my staff that lay on the ground a dozen feet away. Clinging to it, I used it to climb to my feet.

I stumbled off toward the trees, heading back toward my camp. I wondered where the dragon had gone and why it had let me live. I wondered if that dragon was my Arcanen. Mother had told me he had woken too early and hatched, but that dragon was so big. My thoughts spun off, visiting my memories of the past. I had no clue as to what type of dragon Arcanen was or how big he would get, what abilities he would and could learn.

The tickling in the back of my mind returned when I finally spotted the first glimmers of my camp fire. I looked around, worried that I may have become a toy of sorts for a creature higher up on the food chain than me. My steps became hurried. More than once I narrowly avoided tripping over something unseen. The bright circle of light from my camp fire beckoned, looking like a safe harbor from the ghosts of the night and my memories.

At the edge of the light, I halted, staring at the scene before me. Huge emerald eyes stared at me from the far side of the fire. His fore feet had a human-ish look to them as he struggled to shove a stick through the gutted and skinned body of a rabbit. Ignoring me, the dragon turned back to impaling the rabbit to his satisfaction. Once done, he shoved the end of the stick in the dirt. The rabbity end just barely missed entering the fire.

“Well? Are you going to come sit down or are you going to leave me again?” I jumped at the sarcastic bite of the voice.

“Arcanen?” I asked. Watching a dragon roll his eyes was interesting.

“Nope, I’m just a normal dragon that’s being nice to a human before they become my snack.” I stepped forward, feeling my eyes narrow at his tone.

“What’s with you? I thought you would be happy I’m here.” I sat on the far side of the fire, my staff laid across my knees. I ignored the twinges of pain from my plopping on the ground.

“Happy? Yes, I’m happy you are back. Now you can tell me why you left me alone, abandoned me.” I sat for a moment. The hurt in Arcanen’s voice echoed through me, touching the sore spots in my mind. I shook my head.

“Let me guess, you have no real reason to give. You took me from my nest and certain death when the others died, named me, then left me. Why?” Looking across the flames to Arcanen, I stared at him, the expressiveness of his eyes surprising me.

“I’m sorry, Arcanen. It’s all my fault. If I hadn’t tried for that experiment you would have hatched thousands of years ago. I wouldn’t have spent thousands of years trapped in crystal. Lomion wouldn’t be lost to the void.” I shifted my gaze, looking down into the crimson depths of the fire to avoid seeing the blame in Arcanen’s eyes.

“Thousands of years?” I heard Arcanen mutter. I nodded.

“Have you had a visitor here before? A lady that comes down from the night skies and leaves when the sun rises?” I waited until Arcanen nodded his head. “That is my mother. Arcanen, we have been sleeping for a very, very long time and it is all my fault. I tried a spell that was very foolhardy; I was ambitious, too ambitious. It went wrong and my friend was pulled into the void. I saw a flash of blue then nothing else. The next time I was aware, I was seeing a type of vision, or at least I thought it was a vision.

“Over time the visions came more often and lasted longer until I finally realized that they were not visions but actually sight. When my experiment went wrong the crystal my mother had given me protected me. My body lay trapped in it waiting for my mind to return from the void I drifted in. It took many years for me to fully reconnect with my body. I found myself imprisoned in the crystal. The Drow held the crystal.

“One night after shattering the crystal and being released, I escaped. I’ve been traveling towards home ever since then. Mother filled me in on what has happened in the years I lay dormant. My home is gone. My village is gone. My father is dead and, thanks to my mother’s actions, she is barred from visiting me for an unknown period of time. Arcanen, you are all I have left.” I watched him look away. My eyes stung with tears as I heard him mutter.

“Nice to be wanted. So, how is it I hatched only a few decades ago?” Hope flared tentatively in me at the curious tone in his words. Perhaps I haven’t lost everything.

“The head mage put a spell over you, sending you into stasis until I awoke. You woke up when my mind began to reconnect to my body. The link I created when you were a dracling allowed the stasis to be nullified even though I was hundreds of miles away.” Arcanen fiddled with the rabbit on a stick, turning it and poking it, checking to see if it was done. He grasped it in one clawed hand and hobbled over towards me. I took the offered rabbit and looked at it.

“You eat it, not look at it.” He huffed at me, blowing a small cloud of smoke at me when I looked from the rabbit to him. “Eat the damned rabbit, you’re too bony.” I chuckled at his indignant expression and pealed a piece of rabbit off. Slightly mollified, he sat beside me, watching me eat.

“You’re not going to leave me again, are you?” Arcanen suddenly asked. My throat clenched at the vulnerable words and tone. I shook my head and scooted closer to him. My hip brushed up against his flank.

“I promise I won’t leave you, Arcanen. I never meant to go anywhere in the first place.” I laid my head on his shoulder as he leaned into me. The scales covering him were warm and smooth.

“I’ll sacrifice everything before I let you go again. All we have left is each other.”

“I’ll hold you to that promise.” I smiled and playfully pushed him a little.

“Good, just don’t go leaving me over the first pair of pretty scales that walk by.” I chuckled at the horrified squawk and the protesting words that came afterwards.

Spoils requested: Collar made from Laurea's hair and NPC dragon Arcanen. NPC's stats are in character profile. Link to profile already given in first post.

[Witchblade]

I know that you didn’t wish for a full length judgement as specified in your judging request, however I’m not the kind of judge who just hands out numbers. Whether or not you read and take in any of this is your choice, this is definitely not as detailed as I normally do it, but hopefully you’ll take something from it.


Story

Continuity: - 6 This was lacking. As the writer it’s your job to set up the story for the reader so they know what’s going on and what’s happening. Pasting a link in your first post and letting them know all relevant information is in your profile isn’t doing your job. You shouldn’t expect the reader to go there and read it, nor should they have to. I noticed that you left much of the back storyline to come out in the ending post, which may or may not have been on purpose. Leaving the reader guessing like that can be a good thing, however you need to drop hints then, you need to have the character reflect on the last few things they remember, it’s only natural waking up in a crystal in some strange place surrounded by Drow after all. Other than those issues, which can be worked on, the story was fine and enjoyable to read.

Setting: - 3 First person is not something that we see often on Althanas, however I myself do occasionally enjoy first person stories when they’re written well enough. The one thing yours tended to lack was setting. Yes, you put it in there and somewhat described the surroundings but you never went in depth with it. Writing in first person means you have to tell the reader everything that’s going on around your character as she sees it. You can’t leave her head after all and characters are people and people notice strange things about the world around them, like a dark spot in paint that makes them wonder how it got dark. Remember that.

Pacing: - 4 The pacing needed some help. It seemed like the rush of the escape was somehow lost in your characters long meanderings spent looking for the way out of the Drow hideout, or building or whatever it was. Something that was never truly described. Moments that should have been tense and heart pounding to the reader fell flat with the way they were worded. Short sentences can help add tension to these moments as well as the proper wording. There was also too much time spent trying to get to this forest and Arcanen and not enough time spent with Arcanen. It was like she found him, he forgave her and that seems like as good a place as any to wrap it up.

Character

Dialogue: - 4 There was a lot of internal dialogue from Laurea, which makes a lot of sense considering she’s pretty much along for more than half of this thread. I had very little to no issues with the internal dialogue but one of my main things was when Laurea’s mother told her about what had happened. It was like ‘everyone’s dead and everything you know it gone, want a hug?’ umm, how about no? It fell flat and seemed to have very little to no emotion in it, despite the fact that her mother’s crying or clearly supposed to be upset.

Persona: - 7 You did a good job getting into the head of the character. In first person that’s all you have to work with is your character and you need to have a good grasp of them and need to understand them in order to make a good story. I can tell that this is most likely your first quest with Laurea as she still needs some developing, but her personality comes across well. She does seem a bit timid and scared of everything around her and very much like a teenager though, but perhaps that’s how you want her.

Action: - 5 The actions of the character seemed true to her personality. Arcanen’s actions seemed a little strange to me, including when he wanted to try and eat Laurea, but he has been living alone in a forest for a long time. Her mother was a strange being in the quest that just seemed to appear for moral support and healing when necessary, almost like a convenient person to have around. Not much was ever explained about Laurea’s mother which was a little on the annoying side for the reader as her actions more often than not were confusing. She apparently could do very little action wise to help her daughter but the reasoning behind this was never explained. Then all of a sudden she could take the action to heal her daughter and face the consequences yet she couldn’t take action to help free her daughter? Most mothers wouldn’t care about the consequences to themselves; they’d save their children at any cost.

Writing Style

Mechanics: - 6 There were of course the obligatory spelling and grammatical mistakes. I would be shocked if I ever read a quest with absolutely no mistakes in it because I’ve read published novels with mistakes in them. Just read over your posts and you’ll find most of them. There were also sentences had their words mixed up or the wrong words used. Those are usually easy to spot if you re-read as well.

Technique: - 5 I didn’t notice the use of any major techniques throughout the thread.

Clarity: - 6 Sentences were clear and easy to understand, aside from those few mistakes mentioned in Mechanics.

Wild Card: - 5 It was an overall good start for your character. I didn’t notice any spectacular about the thread or the storyline. It was interesting and it kept me reading, but there needs to be some work on the technique of the writing to help improve and make it even more enjoyable for the reader. Keep up the good work.

Total: 51

Rewards:

Laurea receives 400 experience and 200 GP!

The NPC Arcanen was previously approved of in the character’s profile and thus does not need to be approved of again. The collar made from Laurea’s hair is approved, be sure to add it to your profile when you level up.

[Letho]

EXP/GP added.