Fantasy Setting Summer Dawn - Firelight tales

[Zazz]

Location: Drow city
Time: After navigating the tunnels from Dwerstand
Interaction: Desrick, Lohr and elders

Lohrithe's heart swelled at the sight before him. He had been so preoccupied with navigating the tunnels that he hadn't even noticed Desrick making the traditional ring. Marriage wasn't exactly a thing the dark elves took part in; the thought hadn't even crossed the young drow's mind. His beaming smile was suddenly turned to a frown. "I... I don't have a ring for you..." He glanced up where his parents stood. His father was grinning ear to ear, white fangs bright in the dim cavern light. His mother, to his surprise, stood close to Caldorithe and nodded, almost imperceptibly, giving Lohrithe the little push he needed.

Lohrithe looked upon his love, slowly breaking into a shy smile once again. He took Desrick's big green hand in both of his. "By the Moon, I will."

 

[Zazz]

Location: Lohr's house, Historian
Time: After Desrick does murder
Interactions: Alistair, Lohrithe, Leandra

"Ahh, I am sorry... I only thought you would like to come along." He glanced over his shoulder before whispering conspiratorially, "I believe Alistair might need his friend to drag him to see if we might find out about his family." To a drow, family was, indeed, important. Even the children whose mothers died at birth were given a home, a family.

Naberius Lioness075

 

[Lioness075]

Location: Lohr's house, Historian
Time: After Desrick does murder
Interactions: Alistair, Lohrithe, Leandra

Leandra was mid-yawn when Lohr said Alistair would need his friend’s help. Her eyes immediately brightened and her ears shot up as she exclaimed in a whisper, “He thinks of me as a friend already? Oh my gosh, I’m totally going, yes, let’s do this!”
With that, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and got up, pausing briefly to stretch and yawn once more.

Leandra squealed in delight and hopped on the balls of her feet in front of Lohr before bouncing past him and meeting Alistair in the other room.

Grinning, Leandra put her hands behind her back and swayed back and forth with her tail swishing this way and that.
“So, Lohr says we’re going to see a historian to learn more about your family. Are you excited?”

Zazz Naberius

 

[Naberius]

Location: Lohr's house, Historian
Time: After Desrick does murder
Interactions: Alistair, Lohrithe, Leandra

Alistair was still standing there looking confused when Lea came bounding out of her room and into the living room where he was. He looked to her and... Wow she was excited. Ecstatic even. He himself wore a strange half-grin with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm still not entirely sure why this is necessary. I've never known anything about my past or family, and I don't know why I need to now. But... I'd be lying if I said I wasn't at least partially curious.

She seemed to be far more excited about the idea than he was, though he tried to at least appear interested.

Zazz Lioness075

 

[Zazz]

Location: Lohr's house, Historian
Time: After Desrick does murder
Interactions: Alistair, Lohrithe, Leandra

Lohrithe followed after the terribly excited beastwoman, grinning. Alistair didn't stand a chance.

"We may not even find the answers, but I think it's worth a try."

The drow led the along the webbed paths to somewhere in the center of the city. The cave dwellers learned early on to keep their balance on narrower paths; those who didn't, well... Someone had to keep Mrylochar fed. Lohrithe gently pushed open a creaky wooden door and was met with the dusty air of old paper. Books lined rows and rows of shelves, and a short, spindly elf pulled his sweater around himself as he approached the newcomers. "Lohrithe? Is it true? Are the lightlanders invading?"

The taller drow shut the door behind them. It seemed the old man was packing up what books he could. Lohrithe sighed, and nodded. "Tebzir, I know you haven't much time, but my friend, here... He doesn't know his family."

Tebzir looked curiously at Lohrithe's two companions. "I did hear rumours of outsiders... Curious... Tell me, boy. What do you know of yourself?"

 

[Lioness075]

Location: Lohr's house, Historian
Time: After Desrick does murder
Interactions: Alistair, Lohrithe, Leandra

Leandra's grin seemed permanent, especially after she noticed Alistair's attempted grin. Knowing one's own family history was not a huge deal back home for Leandra, as everyone was treated like family regardless. But she knew that not knowing where one belonged was hard on anyone, no matter if they tried to brush it off. Things had been difficult for her after the incident back home and she knew that losing that close connection with her home had been devastating for her. She could only imagine that losing the old satyr had been just as hard for Alistair. It made sense that he thought of that mentor as a father figure. She still did not know whatever came of this satyr, but the way he spoke in past tense about the satyr suggested he was no longer around.

Before she got a chance to respond to Alistair, Lohr had reappeared to join them. She opted to eagerly nod in agreement instead.

Walking along the paths in the city, Leandra found her gaze constantly wandering, as she tried yet again to take everything in. She had never traveled outside of her home village except for hunting trips before she had joined this group and she was elated at all the new experiences just waiting for her.
Seeing the other dark-skinned elves in the city staring right back at her reminded Leandra that she did not exactly fit in here and she returned her gaze to the buildings and path they were following instead.

When they entered the historian's domicile, Leandra went rigid at the strong scent of old books. She suddenly recalled the same scent back home whenever she entered her mentor's workplace. He had so many old books on stars and constellations, some of which he had even drawn depictions in. After the fire though, Leandra only had one of those books remaining. Her shoulders drooped at this memory, her excited demeanor waning briefly.

Leandra was pulled out of memory lane when the old historian spoke, talking about some 'lightlanders'. As blissfully naive as she was, Leandra had no idea what he was talking about, but she did know they had an invasion headed their way. She supposed that was the dark-skinned elves' way of describing the light-skinned elves. She furrowed her brows in thought, wondering if that was supposed to be a derogatory description.

As Tebzir asked Alistair about himself, Leandra put her hands behind her back again and flicked her tail back and forth, curiously waiting for Alistair's response.

Zazz Naberius

 

[Naberius]

Location: Lohr's house, Historian
Time: After Desrick does murder
Interactions: Alistair, Lohrithe, Leandra

It was interesting to see just how much excitement could fit into one cat person. Honestly, she was energetic enough that it even made him smile. The grumpy, jaded, self loathing shadow wizard and apparently all it took was one hyperactive and overly friendly young woman to actually make him feel more normal. A friend. He'd never had a real one before. And now, he supposed, he'd had 2 foisted upon him. The thought nearly made him laugh as they walked along the treacherous pathways towards their destination.

He had to admit, the place was impressive. He'd broken into studies and libraries before but this was a bit more reading material than he'd seen in one location. He took in their surroundings as they entered, eyebrows raised. When they approached the man they came to see, Tebzir was his name apparently, he stood with his arms folded across his chest.

"If I'm being honest, I don't know much. Mother was an elf, though according to Lohr here, drow is a bit more specifically the type. From what I was told when I was young, she was a slave in the human city. My father, one in a line of wealthy silk merchants and a human himself, fell for her. The human side of my family had a habit of buying slaves to free them. This time, he fell in love with the one they freed and they had a bastard. Me. That was 73 years ago."

Zazz Lioness075

 

[Zazz]

Location: Lohr's house, Historian
Time: After Desrick does murder
Interactions: Alistair, Lohrithe, Leandra

Tebzir nodded, his bushy white eyebrows furrowed in thought. "Ahh, the slave traders of Brynson, perhaps. If your father was human, that is the most likely place of birth... or conception, at the very least." He winked at the half-drow. The old man mumbled something unintelligible in drowish to himself as he hobbled over to a shelf. Lohrithe rushed over to help him pull a book from above his head, and brought it over to a desk. "Old age is hard on the knees," Tebzir grumbled, and opened the dusty book. Inside was a scrawl of notes and names, with the occasional sketch of a face or a place.

"Hmm... There were some who made the journey, but others were less fortunate. Unfortunately, freedom does not always imply safety. Some were lost in the mists." He paused for some time, deciphering handwriting rubbed off by decades of neglect. "Could have been one of these... Thomas Everett seems to be the most prominent, for that time... What does this say... 'Believed to have sired... betrayed by his human partner.... Or it could be Geraldt Hamper, also of Brynson. It says here he was caught many a time with mistfolk... ah, the beastpeople. Nevermind. It must be the first man."

 

[Lioness075]

Location: Lohr's house, Historian
Time: After Desrick does murder
Interactions: Alistair, Lohrithe, Leandra

Leandra finally heard the proper name for the dark-skinned elves and her ears perked up at this, taking in the new information. Drow. The first thought that came to her mind was how such a word sounded...drab. Not that it was a bad word, but it just seemed, well, dark. Which in turn meant it was probably rather befitting. Leandra liked this new word.

Still, Leandra winced when Alistair referred to himself as a bastard. She only knew this word in terms of it being derogatory and disliked that he kept using it. Her ears folded against her head, only to lift up again when Tebzir spoke again.

Leandra knew very little about the world around her, so Brynson meant nothing to her, but her eyes followed the historian's movements and her ears twitched every time he spoke again. She blinked when her own kind was mentioned and then the associated person was dismissed. She felt a bit giddy at the mention of beastpeople, but bit her lip to try and stay quiet while Alistair and the historian worked out these details.

Zazz Naberius

 

[Naberius]

Location: Lohr's house, Historian
Time: After Desrick does murder
Interactions: Alistair, Lohrithe, Leandra

"That sounds about right, yeah. Thomas Everett... He was married to a human woman, but from what I was told it was loveless, just a power move to unite two different families. When she found out about a bastard being sired by her supposed husband she... Had my human family executed, as they fled towards Cyndara to take refuge. My mother was cut down too, I was the only survivor. An old family friend, a satyr, took me in. He died when I was 12."

He tried to let it go, tried to make it sound like the past had no affect on him. But it was hard. Especially when the past was so dark, and he was being forced to face it here and now, when he had been given some small sliver of hope that he might actually have living relatives. He'd never dared to hope or even dream of something like that before now.

Zazz Lioness075

 

[Zazz]

Location: Lohr's house, Historian
Time: After Desrick does murder
Interactions: Alistair, Lohrithe, Leandra

The two drow men listened intently to Alistair's story, Lohrithe's green eyes on the halfling, Tebzir's purple gaze on his dusty book. "Hmm," said the elder of the two, frowning at the pages. He blew a sheet of dust into the air. "Some of the slaves that made the journey brought their own stories back with them... an oral collection of their part in history, if you will. We do our best to write them down, here, but... age has an effect on us all."

Tebzir pointed to a scribble and looked up at Alistair. "If Zaknyrr is your name, I know who your living family is."

Lohrithe's eyes lit up, and he looked to both of his friends. "Zaknyrr. 'Shadow Wielder'."

 

[Naberius]

Location: Lohr's house, Historian
Time: After Desrick does murder
Interactions: Alistair, Lohrithe, Leandra

"To my knowledge I have no other name. I am Alistair, always have been. It was the name given to me by the satyr that raised me, and I was never told of a birth name. He is also he one that taught me the fundamentals of shadow magic, that I've expanded on personally since then."

He seemed resolute in his answer, because to him that was truly who he was. He was Alistair, and no one else. He was, however, still very curious to hear what the man had to say. He wouldn't admit it, but even he was starting to get a little excited. No where near as much as his furry friend, but he'd come to assume that was just her default state. Alistair sighed, meeting the older man's gaze firmly.

"Master Tebzir, I do not mean to sound ungrateful. You are the foremost Historian for your people, a most admirable title and station and I appreciate what you're doing for me. But... It's just hard to accept having an entirely different half to my existence that I never even considered..."

Zazz Lioness075

 

[Lioness075]

Location: Historian's House
Time: After Desrick does murder
Interactions: Alistair, Lohrithe, Leandra

The more Alistair spoke of his past, the more Leandra felt an urge to give him another hug. Yet, she had an inkling that this was really not the time for that. Sadly.
The mention of the satyr officially dying saddened Leandra even further and she felt her shoulders slump once more. She tried to distract herself by looking at the books near her and tried to read some of the titles, but was disheartened to realize she did not even recognize this language.
Sighing, Leandra returned her attention to the conversation at hand in time to hear Alistair's real name. She blinked at the sound of it and then she perked up at Lohr's translation of the name. It absolutely made sense and was a beautiful name in of itself. She loved the sound of it, 'Zaknyrr'. She could call him Zak as a nickname.
But then Alistair responded rather coldly about his name and Leandra held back the compliment she was going to offer about it. She had a feeling that the name given to him by the satyr would forever be more meaningful to him than any birth name from parents he did not even know. She could understand that, even if his birth name was rather befitting.

When Alistair did not inquire further about his history and silence began to envelope the group, Leandra stepped forward and looked at the historian, hoping her obviously different appearance did not off-put the older man.
"So, he has living family, though. Where are they? Can we meet them? Does he have any siblings?"
It was hard to know if he had any siblings or if maybe it was only his mother's parents that were still alive. Either way, Leandra could feel herself getting giddy all over again. She put her hands behind her back to try and hide how much she was fidgeting in this moment.

Naberius Zazz

 

[Zazz]

Location: Historian's House
Time: After Desrick does murder
Interactions: Alistair, Lohrithe, Leandra

The elder drow looked at the young Tabaxi and nearly smiled at her curiosity. "Assuming I am correct in deciphering this rather hideous handwriting, he has no siblings. His mother, Nathrimm, had only the one child." Tebzir peered at the halfling's face, then back down at his book. "Perhaps... Yes... Yes, this would make sense... I do believe Zarjranath was your great grandmother. I met her as a boy. You have her eyes."

Lohrithe rubbed his chin, thinking. "Was she the one with the great shadow lion?"

"Lioness," Tebzir corrected. "Her magic was strong, yes." He looked to Alistair. You have a cousin, and her family. Dronadeirra Izildor." The old man closed the dusty old book loudly, sending a cloud to assault their nostrils as he went to pack the book in his bag. "Cyndabrynde, I need more room! Was there anything else you needed?"

 

[Naberius]

Location: Historian's House
Time: After Desrick does murder
Interactions: Alistair, Lohrithe, Leandra

He honestly got excited at hearing he had some kind of family left alive, and even he had a bit of trouble hiding it entirely.

"Wher-!?"

He coughed nervously, looking away for a moment to compose himself.

"I mean, do you happen to know where I might be able to find them, or who they are? I'm afraid I don't particularly know much about this city or its inhabitants, unfortunately."

Zazz Lioness075

 

[Lioness075]

Location: Historian's House
Time: After Desrick does murder
Interactions: Alistair, Lohrithe, Leandra

Leandra’s excited abated only slightly when she heard Alistair had no siblings. She had always missed out on sibling interactions growing up as an only child.
The Drow names were far too difficult for Leandra to pronounce, so she did not even try to say them.

Leandra was certainly confused at the mention of a shadow lioness, but decided now was probably not the time to focus on that news.

When Alistair initially responded, Leandra was surprised to hear so much emotion in his voice. He took a moment to compose himself, but Leandra was already grinning at the slip-up. Her tail flicked about behind her while she too anxiously awaited Tebzir’s next response.

Leandra could only hope they would have enough time to seek Alistair’s long-lost relatives before the evacuation concluded or this upcoming invasion began.

Zazz Naberius

 

[Zazz]

Location: Historian's House
Time: After Desrick does murder
Interactions: Alistair, Lohrithe, Leandra

Lohrithe cleared his throat. "I can take you. I know where to find them." That is, if they hadn't already begun evacuating.

But Tebzir took interest in the beastwoman flicking her tail about in his library. "Would you like to take a book?" He knew they would likely be lost in the invasion. "Perhaps there's something specific that interests you."

 

[Naberius]

Location: Historian's House
Time: After Desrick does murder
Interactions: Alistair, Lohrithe, Leandra

"I... As much as I would be fascinated to meet them, perhaps it is better that I don't. What good would the knowledge of my existence do, when in the next day, we may very well be dead. Both they and I have gone this long without ever knowing of the existence of the other. It may be better that that remain the case, due to the very high probability that I won't exactly be around to get to know them. If not a war, then my normal activities will catch up to me eventually. This is the same reason I have also chosen to remain alone for the entirety of my life."

He'd fallen back into the long winded speeches, almost like it was a defense mechanism he used when he was starting to feel genuine emotion. His face changed to the usual grim, mildly disinterested expression he wore when they met, though they'd never gotten a proper look at it at the time.

Zazz Lioness075

 

[Lioness075]

Location: Historian's House
Time: After Desrick does murder
Interactions: Alistair, Lohrithe, Leandra

Leandra glanced at Alistair when the historian mentioned seeing them, her curiosity piqued, but not wanting to push him to do anything he did not actually wish to pursue.
Sure enough, Alistair began one of his long-winded speeches and Leandra politely kept quiet while she waited for him to finish. She could tell by now that this was his way of wanting to back off from the situation. And he did have a fairly good point, why rush to see a family one did not even know? He had made it clear he had little interest in his own family history.

Though, his last statement made Leandra feel sad for him and she opened her mouth to say something, but froze when she heard what the historian had asked her. Leandra briefly forgot about why they were here to begin with and her eyes widened with glee.
"Wait, really? I-I can take one?"
Pausing a moment to try and orient herself, Leandra furrowed her brows and then she asked, "Um, sorry, I don't really know what most of these words are. But do you have any books about astronomy?"

It was then that she remembered Alistair being with them and winced before glancing towards him with a sheepish expression.
Her tail flickered behind her, as Leandra asked worriedly, "I-is it okay if I browse a bit real quick? I'm sorry, I know we're here for you, not me."

Naberius Zazz