The Wicked Demesne of Butterfly Sunrider

Jedi Archives, Coruscant

Dossier


Subject: Alora Vao
Age: 25 (born 3975 BBY)
Species: Twi’lek
Place of Birth: Bashka, Ryloth
Physical Description: Height 1.7m; Weight 57kg; Rutian variant; Blue eyes
Master: Kharr Handa, Cathar Revanchist (Deceased, see Battle of Rodia)
Place of Training: Dantooine Enclave
Specialty: Lightsaber Combat (Styles mastered – Ataru, Niman, Jar’Kai, Juyo)
Lightsaber color: Cyan
Current Hobbies: glitteryl, juma, pazaak, making noodles
Known aliases: Xiaan

Biographical Excerpt:

Alora Vao was taken to the Jedi Enclave on Dantooine at the age of three and trained there as a youngling. Later she was chosen as one of Master Kharr’s two padawans (see subject Known Acquaintances: Solon Min). In 3963 BBY, Alora joined the Revanchist faction (see Mandalorian Wars) where she first served as a Commander under General Kor (see Master Aquil Kor). Served with distinction in the Second Battle of Taris in 3961 BBY and at the Second Battle of Althir in 3960 BBY; promoted to the rank of Captain in the Republic Army by the end of the war.

After the war, she returned to Coruscant for a hearing before Jedi High Council.

Error. Holovid entry encrypted by user: Atris. Password required.

During her first sentence of exile, Alora’s known whereabouts included Kiffu, Ryloth, Katarr, Nar Shaddaa, Corellia and Coruscant.

After Revan declared open war on the Jedi, Alora’s sentence of exile was lifted by the High Council after a 3-2 vote and she again served under General Kor until his retirement. She was decorated for valor and promoted to the rank of General at the Battle of Rodia after her platoon was attacked by a Jedi Assassination Squadron led by Captain Jaq Rand. This attack resulted in the death of Master Kharr and the capture of Captain Solon Min, but no other casualties from her platoon.

Her second sentence of exile was given after it was found that she aided in the escape of a Sith Apprentice during the destruction of the Star Forge in 3956 BBY. Stripped of her commission and her rank, Alora was declared “a Jedi no longer”.




Notes:

Last known whereabouts was Nar Shaddaa. Subject has been working at a noodle shop to support a glitteryl habit. Not sure this one is fit for duty. (user: Mira)

Regardless, please summon subject immediately to Coruscant. I wish to judge the situation for myself. (user: Mical)

Subject locked herself in her quarters for a week and a half to begin the detoxification process. I checked in on her to discover that she was delirious, ranting about having to find “Rand”. Could it be? Out of concern for her health, I dropped her off at a clinic so she could spend another half week in a kolto tank. Unfortunately one of her lightsabers was stolen during this time. She appears to be better, at least physically. (user: Mira)

Subject reinstated to active rank in the Jedi Order after her connection to the Force was re-established and her character tested. Subject assigned a padawan, to be picked up from Dantooine in one galactic week. Watchman Atton Rand has been made aware of the situation. (user: Mical)

Known acquaintances:

Solon Min – Age 25. Half Miraluka, Half Serrocoan Human Hybrid. Solon and Alora were both padawans under Master Kharr. As younglings, they formed a powerful force bond that enabled his human eyes to function for the first time (previously, he was only able to “see” with Force Sight). They were inseparable during their wartime service. During their exile after the Mandalorian Wars, it is known that Solon gave Alora a Heart of Fire pendant and that she gave him a signet ring that once belonged to her mother, Astraal Secura. During the Battle of Rodia, Solon was captured by the Sith and taken to Malachor V, where he was broken into a Dark Jedi. It is believed that he has lost control of his human sight, as the torture he endured at the hands of the Sith severed his bond with Alora. It is also believed that he is the Sith Apprentice that Alora helped to escape from the Star Forge.



Subject has otherwise kept mostly to herself for the last six years. Her ability to use the Force has atrophied considerably, as have her skills with a lightsaber. But I believe that she will improve with time. (user: Mical)

WE GOT MOVIE SIGN!!!

I stood before the full length mirror in my bedroom, and in my mind, I silently tallied my list of...assets:

Squeaky new leathers. Yes. My faithful lupine companion. Present and accounted for. Holy water? Tucked into a pouch on my belt. Just in case.

It was my first day going back to work after the incident at The Glade. I was supposed to bring Rinya, the sort-of-possessed wild elf druid at the center of this mess, with me on my rounds, and somehow influence her to have the strength and desire to ultimately reject transformation into one of Shar’s Nightbringers. I was being given a lot of leeway in this regard. Saving Rinya was deemed by Tathshandra to be of higher priority than the accomplishment of my typical daily tasks, and I was to succeed by any means necessary.

I strapped my many-pouched work belt around my waist, slid my longsword into its scabbard, smoothed my hair into a flattering but practical updo, and slipped my pack onto my back before taking one last gander at myself in the mirror and heading downstairs to make breakfast.

A very sleepy Ralenthra slumped in her chair at the dining room table, balancing today’s morning edition of The Silverymoon Sentinel in one hand, while she slowly scooped the breakfast I’d made into her mouth. It was an egg, bacon, cheddar and broccoli skillet. The oatmeal with fresh-picked raspberries and cream sat untouched and the orange juice glass was half full. I stopped by and kissed her on the cheek as Selune made her way under the table and sniffed for scraps. I shook my head. “Now Rale, your oatmeal is going to get cold.”

Rale mumbled through a mouthful of egg. “Not tha’ hungry.” I saw her hand snake under the table to feed Selune a few morsels.

I shook my head. “Nonsense. You were out all night last night. You need to replenish yourself, no matter what you were doing.”

My drow friend swallowed, and smirked. “I thought you wanted plausible deniability.”

“Hmph. I meant whether you were out burgling Silverymoon or boffing Tordrin,” I tickled her in the ribs and she squealed as I continued, “you’re going to need your strength later. Tonight’s the night. Nervous?”

“Me? Never!” scoffed Ralenthra as she scooped her first spoonful of oatmeal into her mouth. “I’m more worried about you. Have another day like you did yesterday, and I’ll have to pick you up in a carriage and ferry you home.”

“Oh don’t you worry. I’ve got this.” I smiled brightly, and almost believed my words. Despite my outer confidence, inside I was shaking. Rale knew it, and squeezed my hand gently before I mustered the courage to walk out the door with Selune following close behind.



One thing you had to commend Tathshandra and the Glade for; they were stunningly efficient. Not one full day after Shiera’s demise and she had a replacement, albeit a temporary one. The new supervisor, Tania, was a gnome with curly blonde hair, baby blue eyes, cherry lips, and a pleasant, if awkward, demeanor.

The first thing she said to me was “You have to get her out of here, she is making everyone uncomfortable!” Tanya pointed a twitching finger at a kneeling figure just outside and to the left of the door, but still visible from their vantage point. She continued, “She’s like a sentinel of creepiness.”

Selune and I stepped outside and I crouched in front of the similarly posed Rinya, who simply stared forward, past me. She still wore her weathered dark green (almost black) leather tunic but no footwear, kept her matted, coiled locks back from her face with her black, white, red, and grey-beaded headband, and wore her necklace of identically colored beads and feathers with a large, but well-worried carved bone wolverine fetish as a pendant. Her methods of communicating were unorthodox, to say the least.

“Rinya.” I said, tentatively. It was a start.

The wild elf’s eyes flickered from side to side briefly before focusing on me, her pupils dilating. She bared her teeth and snarled at me. Selune’s ears went back and she too bared her teeth as she returned the sentiment.

I didn’t say it was a good start.

Perhaps picking up on my quizzical expression, Rinya narrowed her eyes and spoke in her rather unique blend of elven and sylvan. “Grr...zzhould have tch-tch killed me.”

I paused as I initially struggled to render her rather unique creole, shrugged and replied in Sylvan to her. “It would have been no mercy to you or to anyone else if we’d killed you yesterday. Your soul would have been annihilated and Shar’s taint...” I paused, and looked around surreptitiously, “would have been allowed to spread unabated. The only way to stop its spread then would be to use spellfire, but that would have obliterated Silverymoon.”

Rinya’s dark eyes continued to look through me, past me. She chittered briefly, then said “Sso? Distrutchukshun wai-ye o’ zings. Ebrrerythin endzz. Zis plaisse...” she gestured all around her, “no ezzeption.”

I stood up and put my hands behind my back because I could feel them creeping precariously towards my hips to sit in judgement. “The path of the druid is to serve nature, to serve Life Itself. You didn’t always believe death was the answer or you wouldn’t be a druid yourself.”

Rinya shook her head and then stood. She towered over me by just over two hands. “Not death. Annihilazzion. Oblizzion. Ssometimess preferable t’ pain of losing ebrrerythin. Ssoft ssity druid. Could nezzer undersstand.”

I stood on tiptoe, and angled Rinya’s face down so she would see me and then held her gaze. “Pain is part of what makes us who we are. How we face it helps to define us. And yes, it’s true that life must sometimes be culled if it is to thrive. But there is more to life than pain and death. Every once in a while life will remind you of that.”

Rinya broke eye contact as she scoffed. “zzuppose you zzink you’re zza one to teach me.” She looked at me again, staring hard, as if she was daring me to try to help her.

I crooked my finger at her. “Come follow me.”

She made as if to walk, but I heard the distinctive clinking sound of metal on metal. “My Goddess! Have they been keeping you chained up like a rabid dog all this time?”

Rinya nodded her head, her expression one of acceptance, maybe resignation. “Ai-ye...am...a dai-yenzzhrr.”

I turned on my heel and stormed off towards the office, muttering, “This is not acceptable.”



“So, do you know who’s responsible for Rinya being in shackles?” I smiled and asked Tania after striding back through the door, Selune bringing up the rear.

It must have been a scary looking smile. Tania gulped. “Well, you see...she...uh...she...um.”

I stared at her. Then I raised my eyebrow.

Tania looked from right to left and continued, “She’s dangerous! And big! For an elf.”

I raised my eyebrow at her. “You’re afraid of her? Surely you have adequate field experience to-”

Tania held up her hands. “Look, I don’t want to get in any trouble. I’m just trying to take the proper precautions-”

I slammed my fist down on the desk, Selune snapped, and Tania jumped in her seat a little. “This was your call? You have her chained up like she’s some sort of prisoner-”

It was Tania’s turn to give the chastising look. She crossed her arms and smirked. “Isn’t she?”

I narrowed my eyes. “Not while I’m in charge of her, no.”

Tania paused, pouted, and protested, “But what if she...does something? I don’t want to be held liable-”

I pursed my lips. “I will be held responsible, and will make full restitution should she turn...violent.”

Tania appeared to be contemplating. I decided to sweeten the deal. “I will be going to The Blue Bottle tomorrow night for a wine-tasting party. I could pick up a little something for you while I’m there...something...sweet?”

“A pint bottle of their finest whiskey and cream liqueur, and we have a deal.” I nodded in assent, and the gnomish druid tossed me the key to Rinya’s shackles with a sly, mercenary smile.

I turned on my heel and returned to Rinya with Selune and the key to her freedom, of sorts.



I took her to the open market. I didn’t know why, but I had to start it somewhere. Merchants from every booth pressed samples into our hands; sweet summer peaches, spicy peppers, stinky cheeses, and succulent squab sausages that Aumador Uldon had just cut down from the smokehouse this morning. Even my lupine companion boggled at the bounty spread out before us, and she begged for morsels every chance she got. By the time we reached the end of the promenade, all three of our bellies were full of splendor.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rinya search the crevices of her mouth for hidden morsels with her tongue even as she patted her flat stomach with an expression of elated satisfaction. She caught me looking at her, and cocked her head in a serious matter. “Pleazzurable. But ssurrely zzerre is morre t’ life than food.”

I shook my head with a wistful smile. “Normally, this would be the moment I would take you to a pub and get you dancing on the tables. But today is not the day for such things. Maybe tomorrow. I have an invite to a party at the Blue Bottle tomorrow night...”

A touch of amusement entered Rinya’s voice. “Oh? Have ssomezzing zzat rrequirrezz a tesst o’ zzobrriety?”

“I should be sober. It’s a religious ritual I am helping a friend perform.”

“Ah. Perrhapzz plazze whirr we can still hearrr muuzzic then? Ai-ye underrzztand Ssilverrymoon is famouzz forr herr barrdzz.”



We stepped inside The Dancing Goat, side by side while Selune slept off her full belly in the stable adjacent. Jasper smiled a greasy smile upon our arrival and then turned to grab a bottle of elven wine.

I waved my hand in an act of gracious and reluctant refusal and smiled. “Not today, Jasper. I’m on duty.”

“Well then, are you two ladies feelin’...adventurous mayhaps?”

Rinya and I looked at each other slowly, but Rinya gave the innkeeper a broad smile and pounded her fist on the bar with much enthusiasm and burst out in her best Common, “Yess, good maan. Ai-ye sseek-kuh-kuh...adventya-urre!”

Which is to say, not very good. I fought the impulse to bury my face in my hands and instead concentrated on freezing my expression in something resembling a polite smile.

Jasper stared at her a moment, then shrugged and spoke, as he wiped the bar casually with a not-so-clean rag. “Y’see, my youngest daughter, Canna, she’s been spending a lot of her free time at the Seven Little Fortunes with Mei...Mei Xiang, the Jings’ youngest girl. Calls her “her bosom friend”. Seems she’s become also become sort of a casual apprentice of their oldest son so she’s been trying her hand at tea-making. She’s been going to market, spending her entire allowance on frivolous “delicacies” but she uh, hasn’t had too many takers. You’ll try some, won’t ya, Seledra? It’ll make her tenday.”

Hesitantly, I nodded, which was met with a loud bellow from Jasper. “Canna! Come on out here, girl! Someone wants to try one o’yer mysterious concoctions!”

The young brunette with bouncing curls and big blue eyes came running out, then stopped suddenly, ducked back into the kitchen, and then walked out calmly, smoothing out imaginary wrinkles in her apron. “Lady Nailo! I am honored that you would be willing to sample my humble wares!”

I smiled gently at the nervous girl. “Do you have a menu?”

Canna shook her head vigorously. “Oh, no! I’ve only developed two flavors, however these varieties are of the finest art-artisan’s quality. I stand by my product. I-I hope you don’t mind.”

The girl placed two copper canisters on the bar in front of me, one after the other, using both hands. She opened the one on the right first. “This one is called Lavender Dreams. There are lavender blossoms in there, of course, but also pink rose buds, passion flowers and peaches. Very soothing and pleasant. I created it in honor of the announcement of your courtship with Lord Methrammar, Lady Nailo.” She bowed her head ever so slightly.

I nodded my head politely in return and let her continue.

Canna smiled a little wider, and her eyes danced with delight as she uncovered the second canister. “This one, however, I think is my first masterpiece. Chocolate and Chili powder from Maztica, blended with strawberries and summer apples. Spicy yet refreshing. I call it Maztica Fire.”

Rinya and I looked at each other. She smiled I and spoke up for us. “Fire, please.”

Canna grinned proudly and re-covered her tea canisters. “Excellent. I’ll put the kettle on.”



There was a city ordinance forbidding satyrs from going about without humanoid clothing (due to what it would do to the females in the vicinity) and so he wore clothes, but only barely. Strategically tight wine-colored breeches slung low over his hips, and a wine-stained white shirt open at the navel revealed a small golden harp piercing hanging from his left nipple that denoted him as a member of the Harpers.

The Tiefling was the satyr’s opposite; pale-skinned, with tattoos covering much of his unclad torso. He had a mop of straight, white-blonde hair, but black eyebrows. He wore regular boots, so I assumed he was one of the “lucky ones” who didn’t have cloven feet. His luck (at least when it came to his fiendish ancestry physically revealing itself) ran out when it came to the rest of his features, however: he had pointed canines, a prehensile tail, solid gold orbs for eyes, and curved black horns. Despite his somewhat unsettling appearance, he was still...bafflingly alluring.

Meree called out from the balcony, “All right boys, you may begin. And no funny stuff with the pipes, Youngerstar. There are virgins present!”

I sipped my tea, snorted, and mumbled “Where?” under my breath, but then out of the corner of my eyes, noticed Jasper shooing his daughter off with a “not taking any chances” speech.

The satyr spoke up in a seductive bass voice, “Hello everybody. I’m Mal Youngerstar and he’s Fenris T’chort. We’re The Horny Bastards!”, and then launched into a tune that was first melancholy, then sensual, then rollicking, then slowed down to a sizzle. All this done with two voices (Mal’s bass and the Fenris’ baritone), the panpipes, and the djembe. Even Meree was impressed. She fanned herself with whatever stiff paper she could find when she wasn’t muttering Detect Magic incantations. But the Horny Bastards had heeded Meree’s warning. It wasn’t magic that made them alluring. It was just...them. I shifted uncomfortably throughout the entire performance even as I enjoyed it (and tried not to enjoy it quite so much as I was), and when it was over, I was leaning awkwardly against the bar with my legs crossed tightly and my arms firmly crossed over my chest. Rinya had no such so compunction to resist their charms. Her hips undulated in time to the beat, she closed her eyes rapturously, and compulsively licked her lips the whole time. Watching her freely enjoy herself was pure torture for me, but I also knew that this was for her benefit.

I kept repeating that thought in my mind as they approached us after their performance was over (six agonizingly tantalizing songs later), eventually propositioning both of us, and though every nerve in my body screamed at me to join the three of them upstairs I stayed physically true to Methrammar. I was going to have to visit him again. Soon. If I didn’t, I was unsure of what I would do if I found myself in arms reach of Magnos.

No. I waited three hours patiently with the help of only one glass of elven wine to deaden my nerves and a long, haphazard game of fetch outside with Selune from which I’d returned before the three of them came back downstairs because The Horny Bastards had another performance that afternoon. Rinya’s muscular, statuesque form positively floated as she descended the staircase, her skin glistening and glowing, her alto voice taking on a lyrical quality as she crooned a Horny Bastards tune breathlessly, her mouth split into a blissful grin.

I led the way out the door. “Well, that concludes lesson number one.” I half sighed, half grumbled as Selune loped after us.

Rinya stretched like a cat behind me. “Ai-ye feerr li-yekuh new woman arready.”

I frowned. “Well, there’s more to life than sex.” I can’t believe I said that.

Rinya smiled. “Ai-ye know. Zzerre’s wine-tassting at zza Blue Bottle. Ai-ye told Mal et Fenrriss et zzey arr eagrr t’ attend.”

A wine-tasting party at the Blue Bottle, presided over by the leading Priestess of Sune, with a satyr in attendance. That won’t lead to group sex, I thought. I cleared my throat. “We will continue tomorrow eve. Do you have something nice to wear?”

Rinya cocked an eyebrow at me.

“Tomorrow afternoon then. A visit to the Glittersmokes and the salon before a little party at the Blue Bottle...”

“Seledra. You are Tel'Quessir, and you are my A’Sum. Nothing else matters.” It was winter, 1262. I had begun to notice that I was different from the other elven children. My mother sat at her writing desk poring over menus by wandlight, trying to decide what meal she would try to pass off as her own cooking this night.

“But O’Si, the others call me a mongrel. When we play Sun versus Moon, both sides push me away, say I’m not one of them.”

My mother’s violet eyes flickered cold for a moment before she returned to her menus. “Seledra, you are better than those common chaff moon elves and those snot-nosed sun elves...”

“But O’Si...isn’t O’Su a moon elf?”

Mother’s mouth spread into a chilly smile. I shuddered. “Why yes. He is. And perhaps it is something that your father should remember more often about his people. If a hundred, a thousand of them were to die, it would be of little concern to anyone but themselves. Like vermin they are. Common. And unremarkable.”

My face fell. No matter how much I hoped for the contrary, I knew I was my father’s daughter and not the product of my mother’s forbidden passions with someone who had warm blood in their veins. What must she think of me then? “But O’Si, doesn’t that make me...”

“No! Your father may be common, but you are MINE. MINE, MINE, MINE!!!” With a great flourish of my mother’s arm, the menus flew to the floor. Mother was standing now, breathing heavily, teeth gritted and tugging her hair for a few moments until finally, after seemingly having regained her composure, she began to use Prestidigitation to move the scattered menus back onto her desk. My mother was not, after all, one for manual labor if she could possibly help it.

I thought the danger had passed. “So...if O’Su is common and unremarkable, and I, as your daughter, am not, then what are you?”

“I don’t wish to talk about it, Seledra. It doesn’t matter anyway.” She sounded resigned, perhaps a little sad or wistful. But if I had listened just a little closer...

My curiosity got the better of me. “What are we, O’Si? I want to know!” But I was young. I didn’t know any better. The look on my mother’s face made me run towards the stairs that led to my bedroom. But I was unable to outrun my mother’s rage, or her Ray of Frost spell.



“Aren’t you going to visit your Mother today?” Ralenthra was gazing at the calendar I had hanging up on my kitchen wall. I was sitting at the dining room table examining the various takeaway menus in my possession, stopping every once in a while to scour my Druid handbook for information about curses and how they can be reversed for Aelthas. “It’s her birthday,” she continued. “Isn’t that what you...er...people who know where their mothers are do?”

“I sent her a gift.” I said nonchalantly.

I didn’t have to look up to know that Ralenthra raised an eyebrow at me.

“It’s a nice gift.” I countered to her silence. “I can’t visit her. I’m busy. I’m sure she understands.”

Ralenthra hoisted herself up on to the counter, plucked an apple from the fruit bowl beside her and took a generous bite. “You have the day off.”

I slowly looked up from my papers. “I’m planning our meals for the week, trying to find a way to reverse Mother’s curse on Aelthas, and I have to practice the dance for your upcoming ritual. Also? I just don’t...want to deal with her madness today.”

Ralenthra crunched her apple thoughtfully. “Understood,” she said, after swallowing. But something caught her eye. “Is that...is that Drizzt Do’Urden’s memoirs I see hidden under the Seven Little Fortunes menu?”

I grimaced in embarrassment but confessed, all the same. “It’s the first volume, yes.”

“And?”

“He’s a bit of an odd sort. He talks about events he could not have possibly witnessed and of course, everyone else being evil but him makes any information that came from anyone else instantly unreliable. He’s narcissistic, vain, whiny, self-absorbed-”

“Wait, shouldn’t you like him then?” Ralenthra grinned.

I rolled my eyes and continued.“Shut up. He’s a got a creepy idea that his sisters all want to sleep with him...”

Ralenthra took another bite of her apple. “Typical.”

I made a face. “Really?”

“Really.”

“Ew. Anyway, I want to like him. Because he’s good and all, you know, fighting the good fight. But...he makes it rather difficult. In fact, he’s kind of insufferable.”

“And yet?”

I cover my face in my hands. “And yet I can’t put it down for long.”

Ralenthra finished her apple. She hopped down off the counter, opened the window that was over our sink and tossed it outside that window into the compost bin below. “Let’s see it then.”



I excitedly rolled out the large parchment detailing my grand plans for breaking into the Hall of Records. Aelthas and Duglan, my constant companions, took a gander.

“You’re going to do WHAT to WHO?” Aelthas stared at me, eyes wide.

My beau had obviously gotten to the part where I seduce a priest of Deneir (or as many as I have to) in order to get access to the ‘Forbidden’ Spellbook section at the Vault of the Sages. Why have the books around at all if they’re not going to be read? “Oh, that. Don’t worry about me. I’m still a virgin, after all.”

“You are??!” both the boys exclaimed.

I thought of Thralia, and blushed. “Well, technically, yes.” I answered, and then I clarified, “Anyway, I’m not using anything south of my waist for this job. I don’t have to.”

“You sound pretty confident.” intoned Duglan with a wink and a smile. “Want to give us a demonstration?”

“Shut up, Duglan.” Aelthas said with a scowl. He turned to me, and brushed a stray lock of hair behind my ear. “Seledra, why? Why are you doing this?”

“I need to sow the seeds of chaos. After you cast the spells to bend the wards around the university and open up all those portals, most of the mages will be too busy trying to shut them down to detect what’s going on at Everdusk Hall.” It made perfect sense to me at the time...

Aelthas held me, not ungently, but with some urgency, about my shoulders. “But that’s the thing with chaos. It’s unpredictable. You could get burned. And then all of us will suffer. Is it worth it?”

I sighed. “Aelthas, what are you?”

He raised an eyebrow, as if he wasn’t sure where I was going with this. But he humored me. “I’m a human. But my mother is a half-elf.”

“What kind of elf?”

He shook his head in irritation. “Why does it matter?”

I answered calmly. “Answer the question. Surely you must know.”

Aelthas sighed and rolled his eyes even as he concentrated. “My mother was raised by her human mother. My elven grandfather died young. Some sort of accident. He was...a moon elf. From Evereska.”

“See? You know what you are. And I bet you could tell me where your human ancestors hail from as well.”

“Seledra, I don’t see-”

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT I AM, Aelthas! Don’t you know how unsettling that is? And don’t you think that if I had any other options at my disposal, that I’d use them? Whatever my mother is hiding from me, she’s hiding it very, very well. And father is no help at all.”

Aelthas gulped and stared at me a while. Duglan had already retired to a nearby chaise and draped a book over his face to escape the awkwardness. My beau sighed and kissed me on the forehead. “Very well, sweet heart. It’s your choice. Just...don’t get caught, all right?”

“Don’t worry. If I get caught, I won’t say who helped me. I love you, Aelthas. And I will never betray you.”



Late into the night, I could still hear Ralenthra howling with laughter as she read Drizzt Do’Urden’s memoirs. I peered over my covers at the next two books from the drow’s autobiographical series as they sat, waiting for my perusal, on my nightstand. There was to be even more to follow, I had heard. I scowled.

I turned my back on the tomes to stretch. Ralenthra had really put me through a workout today. After the dance practice, she still had energy to burn, and decided that she also wanted to draft me into becoming her sparring practice partner. I must have broken three wooden swords today because I wasn’t fast enough to hit her. I comforted myself with the fact that when I do hit, I hit hard. And no, I don’t mean her.

Wielding the sword today made me think more on my goals of embarking on an adventuring side-career. My hands would tingle with anticipation every time I went to the mailbox, as I hoped that each day will be the day a summons comes from Captain Tagen, or whoever Tagen is working for, telling us to pack our bags and head out somewhere kind of dangerous.

It didn’t come today, but hopefully something will come soon. I just know that something good is going to happen...



I dreamed...

I saw a short, red-haired human girl fitted into finery worthy of a lady-in-waiting; watching the Glittersmokes buzz about the girl was Thralia, who looked like she was giving detailed instructions, either to the gnomish seamstresses or to the human girl...

I saw Ralenthra, poring over what looked to be this very diary. Looking over her shoulder was Tordrin, who was pointing out something of note to my friend. Ralenthra’s eyes widened...

I saw a drow male reclining on my mother’s bed. He seemed to be arguing with a striking-looking female sun elf who was attempting to use my mother’s scrying mirror. A soft grey cat hopped on the bed beside the drow and swatted him in the face. The sun elf laughed. The drow fell off the bed unsuccessfully trying to swat back at the cat. The sun elf laughed even harder...

I saw Kronk, flanked by Selune and a half-elf Heartwarder as he carried a human girl child on his shoulders. The snow was falling softly. Cardinals and Blue Jays circled about the girl as she laughed. Kronk and the Heartwarder seemed to be looking for something, and they finally stopped at Joon’s Curry Stand in the Market District. Everyone ate heartily.

I saw Silverymoon Palace. A bolt of lightning struck nearby.

I saw Magnos and Jonah, with Scamp wrapped around his master’s shoulders like an old woman’s fur collar, outside the Map House. They were discussing something rather animatedly, with Jonah’s expression going from dubious to more dubious to annoyed to resigned...



I awoke with a start. I couldn’t shake the feeling that the vignettes I bore witness to were connected somehow. And I wondered why I wasn’t there.

I'd been a busy little bee for the past fortnight or so. With many of the druids taking their vacations, there had been a lot of hours to cover at work. The dance Ralenthra was teaching me had kept me occupied for a few evenings as of late. It was time for some harvesting and canning of the fruits and vegetables from my garden. There were, of course, intermittent visits from Methrammar. Finally, I kept myself especially busy thinking of reasons why not to give Magnos that amulet yet:

I'm sure he has a lot of studying to catch up on. And he's probably busy bragging to everyone in earshot about what an amazing job he did during his first assignment. And there are girls, I'm sure, or one, I don't know, that he's wanting to...see. Friends to converse with. New languages to learn. New robes to buy. Halflings to hit on. Suckers to swindle. Besides, maybe I should get this thing polished and appraised, in case he doesn't like it and I have to sell it. And...I don't have anything to wear. Not that I care what I look like when I see him, but when I go out, I want to look presentable, don't I? And my hair is a little flat on this side. Oops, I broke a nail! That just won't do. Is that a dark cloud in the sky? Looks like rain. Besides, he may not even want to see me. And I might not necessarily want to see him, so there! Of course, when I was at the Goat the other night, I looked for him, but that was just so I could avoid him. Yes.


One of the druids that worked the evening shift was sick, so I agreed to cover for her. Not having to report for work till the toll of three, I spent the earlier part of the morning lolling about in bed reading one of my older books, Delilah's Delights #43: The Half-Elven Highwayman. In fact, I had not read that particular tome since I was barely more than a child. Not since I first met Aelthas. I had to give him some credit. It took him two years to break my heart. But then again, maybe he just hadn't the opportunity before then.

Despite the fact that I was 100 years old at the time, there was a certain amount of inequity in the relationship. I looked...mostly mature, but the relationship between Aelthas and I resembled something like a human girl of 13 being courted by a human boy of 18. A handsome, brilliant and charismatic boy of 18. I was starstruck.

Two years. Two years of picnics, stargazing, and dinners and dancing at Helmer's Wall, the Stagstand, and the newly-opened Sorlar's Smiling Satyr...

I pointed up to the sky. "Look, Aelthas! It's Angharradh! Isn't she beautiful?"

Aelthas grinned and poked me on the tip of my nose, "No, you silly little fool! That's Valessea."

Father would have been so upset had he known that I had made such a mistake. Angharradh is especially sacred to moon elves. I frowned. "But I thought..."

Aelthas threw back his head and laughed. "I'm just kidding you, sweetheart. She's both! Come here." Aelthas tangled his hand in my hair and drew my lips to his. After we parted, he produced a pair of shears from his pack. "May I?"

I was genuinely puzzled. "May you what?"

Aelthas' countenance softened. He whispered tenderly, "May I have a lock of your hair, Seledra?"

I blushed furiously. "Aelthas...I've never had my hair cut in my life! I'm not supposed to cut it until..."

"Until your 120th birthday, I know. It's just that..." Aelthas ran his fingers through his hair. "...it's such a long ways off! I'll be an old man by then. Maybe you'll have forgotten me." He pouted. I could never resist that pout.

"You will never be an old man, Aelthas. I know you. You'll be a great wizard someday..."

"I am a great wizard!" he remarked incredulously.

I continued despite his interruption. "...and you'll use the Wish spell to remain as young and handsome as you are now." I lowered my eyes. "Besides, I could never forget you, Aelthas. I love you so!"

Aelthas lifted my chin and looked at me with a twinkle in his eye. "Ha! If you love me, you'll let me have a lock of your hair."

I bit my lip nervously and blinked. "Will it hurt?"

Aelthas caressed my cheek and smiled. "I'll be gentle, sweetheart. I promise." And with a snip, off came a small curl.

I didn't feel a thing, but I had to be sure. "Is there...blood?" I squeaked.

Aelthas laughed. "Oh gods! There's red everywhere!" And then he mussed my hair before kissing me again.



I had truly loved him, hadn't I? And I thought that maybe he loved me too. A scant few days before he betrayed me, he even introduced me to his parents. Perhaps he thought I would have forgiven him. And he certainly didn't see my mother's act of vengeance coming.

It was because of Aelthas' betrayal that I spent nearly the next 20 years studiously avoiding men like him. Brilliant, charming, and talented humans were off the menu. And so was anyone looking for a commitment, which left many of the elven boys in Amalith rather put out. Of course, there was a ranger or two that would be gone for weeks, even months at a time that I found...comfort with when they passed through our village, but for the most part, I followed the advice Tathshandra gave me the day I left Silverymoon to train with my aunt: Don't shit where you eat.

Aelthas was my first male lover, and of course I will never forget him if for that sole reason. To give credit where credit was due, though, he was quite good. The second? A wood elf ranger who could have used a bath. Six was on the Midwinter holiday while everyone else was celebrating on the ground below. Eight...Fodoric the gnomish bard. Oh, the giggling. Nine was up in a tree. Not smart, as we fell out of said tree. I twisted my ankle, he broke his wrist. Ten was a sweet half-elf out of Waterdeep. He liked to be tied up. Twelve through seventeen were some of the boys from the village. I only said I'd followed Tathshandra's advice for the most part. Eighteen was very nearly a heartbreaker. Twenty-one...was a dwarf. Twenty-two I think I wore out. He actually fell asleep. That was on a trip to Everlund. Twenty-three and twenty-four? Twins. At the same time. On my birthday. Twenty-seven was a bad call. I very nearly took a vow of chastity after that one. Twenty-eight, Duglan, an old school friend, changed my mind. Thirty and thirty-one were at the Greengrass Festival this year, before I met Ralenthra. Thirty-two was...lovely, delicious, wonderful. And finally there was Methrammar, making it 33.

Nearly twenty years I spent trying to wash Aelthas off of me with the touches of other men. But no matter what, like a madwoman, I kept feeling him everywhere.

But it occurred to me as I looked back on those days this morning that I no longer felt my heart ache for Aelthas. Perhaps it had been some time since it had. And maybe I was just using the hurt he had caused me as an excuse to not, as Ling put it, "follow my heart."

I checked the gnomish timepiece that sat on top of the bookcase behind my bed. It was about to chime the hour before midday. There was plenty of time to get ready, get to the Conclave, do what I needed to do and get back home in time to leave for work. Splendid!

I needed that hour. I spent half of it in front of my closet stark naked trying to find the right ensemble for the occasion. I didn't think my new cheongsams from Shou Lung would be appropriate under the circumstances. Green? You wear green all the time! The white dress with cherry blossoms embroidered on it? So last season. What is this purple shimmery thing doing in here? Is that Mother's? Goodness, that's low cut! Hmm. I need a bit more coverage than that, I think.

Finally, I chose a strapless, filmy, petal pink frock that clung to my every curve, yet was light and loose enough to flutter in the wind.

I bathed, put my hair up, dressed (with matching slippers, purse, and white parasol of course), slipped the ruby amulet into my purse and headed out the door towards the Conclave.

There was a charge to the air, like the hitch in your throat when you're about to cough. Something was wrong.

Flames and smoke began to emerge from the airspeeder. My insufferable fellow twi'lek (and unfortunately, for lack of a more flattering way to put it, my boss), Captain Kit , found himself yet again a magnet for trouble. He was closest to the vehicle, and as the ensuing explosion hurtled outward, Master Aquil moved to interpose himself between the captain and the impact.

The Crystal Cave of Dantooine, used for centuries by the neighboring Jedi Enclave in the construction of their lightsabers, collapsed, and the very earth gave way beneath us all.

Relieved though I was to execute an injury-saving somersault as I hit the ground, I had little time to glory in it. I was alone. The air was cold. Phosphorescent strips of mineral dimly lit the dank cavern. There was no response from the comlinks, and the Dark Side of the Force so shrouded this place, that telepathy with my Cathar padawan Frridder Hsk or with Master Aquil proved impossible. I could only hope that I was not the only survivor.

I knelt, and tried to remember my days as a youngling, when Solon, Ahdekta and I would clear out kinrath in this place.
( A vision formed in my mind... )