The Song of the Thaynes
Quite a beautiful name for something so ugly. That seems to be a reoccurring theme among elves. The Song of the Thaynes is a clandestine order of inquisitors sanctioned by none other than the benevolent nobles of the High Bard Council. Active for over a millennium, these “knights†(highway men, murderers, bullies and torturers) are the remnants of that first order of elven crusaders who eradicated the traces of the Nether-Five and who knows how many other pagan faiths. Now, with nothing better to do I assume, they hunt down would-be threats to the sanctity of the Thayne Pantheon. All a bunch of pageantry to burn young women at the stake.
Let that be a lesson about being careful who you tell your story to. I guess to be fair, its a bit suspect, me knowing things that no modern living soul should know first hand, but I've seen a lot of things in my dreams. Things that fanatic religious types would rather people not see, like locations of long imprisoned evil entities with a hard-on for the apocalypse. Perhaps my bias is showing. I really dislike the Song of the Thaynes. If they weren't a veritable army of mythril wielding killers, I'd score them a very special dirge.
For now I avoid the Song whenever possible, and hope that they'll content themselves with the greater troubles plaguing their faith. It seems, one by one, someone (or a group of someones?) is settling their grievances with the Thaynes in a more direct fashion. I dare to hope that the weakening of the pantheon will make breaking the seals of the Nether-Five easier, and if nothing else, the Song will have their hands full fending off their deicidal vigilantes.
A certain
Inquisitor Elric Bastion is of particular concern, as he has a nose like a bloodhound for sniffing out witches, and I am proud to say I have a permanent spot on his torture chamber's V.I.P. list. He's told me so himself in almost as many words. I'm almost tempted to give myself up for a chance to see what amateurish chastisements the elves could cook up. I bet its not half as interesting as what I'll have planned for Elric or any other Song of the Thayne henchmen if the tables ever find themselves turned.
*In the bottom left corner of this page is a sketch of an elf with a long, moon-like face and exaggeratedly pronounced bum-chin. His eyes are narrow and slanted with beady pupils and scraggly, unkempt hair. The elf's head is adorned with a circlet bearing elven runes and a transcription beside the image reads in quotations “Sing proudly the song of the Thaynes. Rejoice as one, that your voices might reach the heavens.†More hasty script beneath the drawing reads: Elric Bastion.
The drawing itself, though sketchy, appears to be the work of a recreationally accomplished artist, and despite the mocking caricature, one would likely be able to identify the elf in question by comparing them to the picture.*
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