“Did he what this was about?” she asked, as
she tied her long brown hair out of her face and ripped open the letter.
“No, miss, just asked me to deliver this to
you.”
Written on the notice, in large, but tidy,
handwriting, were the words “Three Springs sends word. Go to Talvar as soon as
you can.”
Fearing more bad news, Gwenllian folded the
letter and made her way back inside to pack a small rucksack of
essentials. It was not a long journey
from Sanctum to Three Springs, but unless her luck has changed greatly in the
last few months, she would be there for a while. Once her pack was filled with clothes and a
few parcels of food she tied it securely and went to the desk.
“Gone home, send word to Liferoot house if
I am needed. Urgent requests only.”
Gwenllian fished through her kitchen drawer
until she found the key to Liferoot house she had discarded when she arrived in
Sanctum. The home she once shared with
her parents now sits empty in Three Springs, so at least she will have a warm,
dry, and somewhat comfortable place to stay.
She pinned the note to her front door and
locked it securely. Any dwarf would know
what this message meant for her, anyone else could find a dwarf to help them
understand. Gwenllian giggled to
herself. It was not that she disliked
Elves or Humans, after all, she had been taught by some of the best, but rather
she felt a simple pleasure in reminding others that she was of her people and
that they were a race apart.
Gwenllian started the days walk to Three
Springs, and arrived outside Talvar’s home just as a gentle rain began to fall.
“This is great news!” Talvar exclaimed when he saw Gwenllian at the
door, making her relieved, but also slightly confused. “Borrin has sent no less than an Ascended to
aid our cause.”
He led her inside to a table where several
other dwarves stat in conversation. As
Gwenllian sat down, she turned to Talvar.
“I’m confused, Borrin said I was to come to
Three Springs, that there was some need of me.”
“And that there is Lass.” He said with a
smile.
“Then why have you invited everyone here at
the same time. Surely we can speak
somewhere more privately.”
It was now Talvar who looked puzzled and he
took her hand in a fatherly fashion.
“You don’t want to deal with this all on your own dear girl. Even the Ascended need help.”
She removed her hand from his grasp and put
her hands on her hips. “Family matters
should be kept private, Talvar. I don’t
see why that’s so hard to understand.”
Talvar gave a great sigh and looked at her
with pity and condescension.
“Don’t look at me like that Talvar. I may look like a little girl, but I’m a
thirty-five year old woman, and an ascended at that. Now tell me what is going on. If you won’t give me the respect to do it in
private, then at least let’s get this over with. It is about mum and daddy, or the shop? Have they found Annie’s body at last? Has something happened to Rossie?”
“A sensitive one, this lass.” said one of
the dwarves at the table. She knew him
as Hartigan, and frowned at the memory of him.
“Are we sure she’s up for the task? We can’t afford any loose cannons on
this team.”
Gwenllian glared at him and then turned
back to Talvar.
“This has nothing to do with your family,
Linny. Circumstances have changed here
in Moonshade and there is much to be done to restore the glory of our
people. We asked Borrin to send us one
of his best, and he has sent us you. The
fact that you hail from our Three Springs is a happy coincidence. If you are through throwing your tantrum we
can get to work.”
Gwenllian relaxed back in her chair. “Rossie is ok?” she said quietly with an
unintentional sigh of relief. Then she
nodded to Talvar to continue, the fire out of her for the moment.
“Moonshade is the home of our people;
Hammerknell was the gem of the highlands and the testament to the great smiths
of Bahralt himself.” He said with a dreamy look in his eye but his tone became
angry as he continued “Then the rifts came, brought by foolish, power hungry
hands. They destroyed everything we had
worked for. The doors to the city were
closed and few have approached the gates since and lived to tell the tale.”
“No doubt our ancestors built some sort of
security system up there. We are no
fools, after all.” Said Hartigan with a laugh.
“Something is not right with this town.”
Talvar continued. “I can no longer
ignore the recent disappearances of our citizens, nor the evil noises heard
from the north at night. Gwenllian, are
you prepared to restore the honor of the dwarves and eradicate the blight
plaguing this land?”
Gwenllian nodded and sat up straighter in
her chair, honored to be included in such a task.
“A council has recently been formed to find
out what happened to Hammerknell Fortress when Regulos ravaged this region
decades ago. Among them is Brother
Jebiah; I have no doubt that he is out for blood.” Hartigan said.
“Why don’t you go make your hellos and
speak with the people on the council?” suggested Talvar as he handed her a
list. “I know you haven’t been home in a while.
It will give you a chance to get reaquanted.”
Gwenllian nodded and left Talvar’s home and
headed towards the council house, making a wide circle around Three Springs to
avoid the apothecary shop where she knew her sister to be working. There she found Brother Jebiah.
“These lands used to be ours – the
dwarves. One day we’ll reclaim it, but
first, we have to discover what evil hides within Three Springs and purge
it. There’s a dark presence in this
town, one I suspect infects the expanse of our ancient realm. I hope you will help me to purge it, Linny.”
Councilman Nolar approached the pair to
continue. “It is true. The council wants to investigate the events
at Hammerknell eventually, but we’ve got more pressing issues right now. What about all the people in Three Springs
disappearing at night? What about the
death touched creatures leaving corpses on our doorsteps?”
Gwenllian nodded and made her way around to
Councilmen Benson’s house. There was no
answer, but a note was pinned to his door.
“I must leave at once – I can no longer
stand it. The Vigil speaks to me, but
they are not the Vigil – no virtuous gods could have faces as dark as
these. They tell me to do horrible things...
Why am I compelled to go to the Pools? I
must go and find the answers. Please
leave me alone.”
If you haven't met her ((in game or on the forums)) you will come to learn her back story in good time. It may be important to know, however, that the events take place before ascended returned with the Vigil's message. Place this in time almost 20 years after the shade, but before the return of the ascended. You will notice, however, that Gwenllian IS Ascended. Just not the "shatter the body of Aedraxis and go into stasis for 20 years" type.
Ooo, that is a really cool spin on the Ascended tale! I love that you were creative and thought of a different backstory other than being gone in la la land for 20 years. That's so cool to be one of the Ascended that stayed on Telara through the 20 years. Woot I can't wait to read more, good job!
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