Of Children & Crows (Part 1)

As Arapey begins to dip behind the Towers of Old making way for her twin, Ashan – the Lady of The Night Sky, a company of elves make their way from within the stone chambers of the city into the Rose Gardens.

In the failing light a lone figure sits upon a chair. To one side is another chair and to the other side two more, all three of which are empty.

The figure looks at each chair in turn but gives no voice to thoughts. With a wave of arm attendants, robed and hooded, come to stand beside her.

At the head of the company of approaching elves is a cloaked and cowled figure walking hand in hand with a young child. She walks with purpose and a gracefulness not often seen. It marks her apart from those around her for she is Avarin, First Daughter of the House Aditu and Queen-in-Waiting to her people.

The figure sat in the chair stands to greet her daughter and moves forward to embrace her and her grandchild in one motion. Amerasu is smaller in height than Avarin. Since the loss of her two children, Lerel and Navarre, Amerasu has struggled with ill health and caused all her House great concern. She is loved by all with a respect and genuine fondness that defies words of explanation. All fear that she may give in to her grief fully and join her beloved children in the Halls of Jhokl. Yet every time she is with Avarin and the child she visibly lifts and remembrances turn to joyous moments rather than those of pain and loss.

Turning to Avarin she asks pleadingly: “Is this really the only way for us to banish the shadows that plague us so?”

“Mother” says Avarin, “I know it seems wrong but…” Avarin turns to a figure at her side, who then steps forward and from the deep blue of her cloak hood speaks:

“It is the only way Etriel, for the Crows are lost and with them the spirits of those we love are also lost upon the Crow Road unable to reach Jhokl – long have we desired they find the peace denied their bodies. Ydar’s warband have done their part; now we know we must do ours. Give us your blessing for what we must do this night under the gaze of Ashan and the Crows. If we do not then Rauxlor may well perish under his burden and Aquila will be cast into everlasting shadow. Our grieving is killing the dream.”

Upon hearing this Amerasu kneels in front of the child and places her hands upon each cheek. She smiles and kisses each cheek in turn and then the forehead.

Speaking softly she says: “I feel the night is on your side. You have nothing to fear. You are blessed by Ashan and your bloodline my dear child. Look to your mother now.”

She then rises up and returns to her chair. Avarin makes to move towards her but a single look from Amerasu stops her in her tracks. In the strengthening moonlight tears glisten upon the cheeks of both women.

The figure to Avarin’s side moves forward and gestures to the left. “All will be well First Grandmother.”

“You have my blessing Tirandel – deliver us from shadows.”

With that Avarin, the child and Tirandel leave the rose garden and the company of the elves gathered there.

Renkin's Tale

Please allow me to introduce myself. I am the mighty alchemist Renkin of House Aditu, and this is the tale of really happened at Limmer Hill.

Our story starts sometime before Y'dar's warband ever got close to Limmer Hill. I was in the Northlands, searching for the herb known as Bugle, when I came across a fort. It was nearing nightfall, and my pack animals, two sudhod'ya I called 'left' and 'right', were growing tired. Whipping them the final distance I demanded entry and accommodation within. Cowed by my elven magnificence the guards gave me entrance, and I was shown to some meagre rooms: unfortunately the best they had.

I met the lord of Limmer Hill fort at the meal that night, a sudhod'ya named Rutal, and his wife and daughter, who were both rather lovely. As I had been my usual charming self, I was of course expecting a nocturnal visit to my bedchamber from one (or both) of the two ladies. When the knock came, soon after the rise of Ashan's moon, imagine my surprise when the supplicant at my door turned out to be Rutal! This put me in somewhat of a delicate situation. He was my host, and as a guest I was obliged to be obliging. However, I found him to be crude and uncultured, and knew from my travels that he was cruel and capricious. In order to be polite, I gently prevaricated. Growing desperate and pitiful, he offered me his most valuable possessions. Wishing to be rid of him I said that I would think on his offer, and he left. Shortly after, his wife came secretly unto me.

The next day Rutal laid siege to me again, again promising me all his riches. To dissuade him I told him that such a love was forbidden in my culture. Despondent he left. That afternoon as I bathed, his maiden daughter came unto me. When she left she was maiden no longer. At dinner that evening word came that an elven warband approached and would probably attack on the morrow. After viewing their encampment from the ramparts I privately resolved to provide my kinsfolk with what help I could. I went to Rutal, and to distract him from any pre-emptive attack he might make on the warband, I said that I had relented, and invited him to my bedchamber that night.

That night he did indeed come, and I betrayed his trust and lust with a bitter kiss. Leaving him, I went to the courtyard well with certain of my herbs, so that when Y'dar and his Gaesatae attacked they faced a foe without a leader, and with barely any men well enough to fight.

The bard who composed the Ballad of Limmer Hill ignored my part, but I forgive him. His head was turned by the blud and thunder of the warband, and he knew not what he did. I only tell this story now to set the record straight, and so that you might bask in the turbulence of my magnificence.

How do you know my tale is true? Well, there are two young sobaks in the Northlands who have my eyes, but slightly more accessible is this trophy I took from Rutal's body:

2011

Now then, booking my 2011 stuff now. Not-wigan and renewal for me, even though they're both at the wrong end of the country. Not booking the thursday for the first one but will be doing for renewal.
What vet picks are people taking?

Of Crows

Crows, as a bird, are the Guardians of the Dead and so their chosen elves are somewhat different to the norm. An elf selected by a crow is named CrowSinger and they mimick the duties of the crows in life - they become the guardians of dead souls, guiding the departed to the peace of the Halls of Jhkol - the Lord of the Dead in the elven religion.

Due to the power of the crows they only select three elves from each House to act for them. Should a House lose a CrowSinger (due to violent death or jingizu / sorrow) then that House becomes blighted. An example of this being the House Velent'm and what befell them in the end - loss of their Lord and a seperation from the mainstay of the elven peoples, despite their continued close ties with the House Aditu.

CrowSingers have been called 'shamans' in other cultures.

They do not rival the Priestesses in religious rank but are often regarded with respect and perhaps a little trepidation due to the nature of their spirit guides.

The crows live together in a large colony making their nests high in the tree canopy.

In Aquila they have taken the branches of the dead trees that surround the barrows of the dead within eyesight of the Rose Gardens.

No one knows who is laid to rest within the barrows since the Fall of Aquila for few would dare enter such places. However, it is fitting for the crows to want to be close to such a place.

The head of the crows is a bird named Rauxlor. He is the head of the crow nation and has previously taken CrowSingers from multiple Houses at the same time - they are then seen to be the 'primary singers' within their House.

He is ancient even in the terms of the long lived. Some would say he knew the Mad King in his days as a youth but that may be exaggeration. More likely Rauxlor came to being at the end of the Wars of the Mad King, for he would have found much work in seeing dead souls to their resting place that would tire even a supernatural being and the suspicion is he fled the Garden on one of the ships and then came into his own at the founding of the nine cities.

Rauxlor now reigns over a large murder of crows and has chosen to now reside with his kin who watch over Aditu in Aquila.

Although only three crows name a CrowSinger there are a great many crows within the murder, for they are a collective. A community of birds just as in nature.

Rauxlor took Navarre,

Seeker has taken Avarin after the death of Amiel-Has at the end of the War of the Returning and Shadow has taken Tirandel (the longest serving singer to the crows currently).

Rauxlor is now grooming his replacement Singer, suspected to be the son of Avarin and Navarre to ensure a continuing strong tie to the House Aditu.

Seeker is young in comparison to her own lord Rauxlor and known to be among the more vicious of the crow colony. The balance of Rauxlor and Shadow keep her in check.

Rauxlor is a wise elder being that considers before acting but will not stray from a harsh course if it is required.

Little is known of Shadow for Tirandel is a more solitary figure (outside of her fellow CrowSingers) and this is reflected in her spirit guide also.

It has been known for the three named crows to appear to others who are not CrowSingers. This is extremely rare.

When this happens they take on a larger form than their normal size in the eyes of those who behold them. They are also very vocal speaking directly to their audience, lacking patience and animated, to the point of seeming agitated.

A CrowSinger would see them in normal size when conversing and much calmer - something they do frequently with their chosen ones - for they are more attuned to the birds than non CrowSingers.

Since the Returning the crows watching over House Aditu have taken up residence in Aquila as described.

Since the fall of the five lords in 1107 they have constantly cast a shadow over the city by taking to the skies on a daily basis circling above the Rose Gardens and the three ancient towers.

Any that visit the crow's nests find a disturbing sense fall upon them that makes them uncomfortable and their visit to the barrows short.

At the time of the year 1110 the crow shadow has started to diminish slightly with the birds favouring their nests to the day's skies and adopting a more usual pattern of their existence.

The 'Crow Road' is the term used for the passing of an elf's spirit immediately following their death to the Halls of the Dead.

It is a spiritual journey but also a physical one for the crows who actually are believed to escort the souls of the dead.

Their CrowSingers aid this transition from the mortal plane of being by conducting rites and rituals. If it is deemed that a soul has not completed the Crow Road journey then they are considered to have been lost to darkness and will never find peace.

Ydar at court

Folks, just been reading the Ydar in Aquila stuff, i'm not going to post it as a blog entry because it's too damn long for that so I've sent it to Alan for hosting and then i'll stick it in the background section.
Having read it, the following questions are raised:
What is the crow shadow?
Who is Lassal?
Who is Rauxlor?
Who is Seeker?
What is a Skywatcher?
Who is Tirendel?
Where are Jakob’s royalties?
“key was long since lost to our peoples but only when the Voice came to her door” So when was the key taken? Before the fall? During the time of Jao? Or previous to that? What is the timeline here?
And finally, have you cunts never heard of speech marks? That’s before I get started on the use of “myself" instead of "I"...

Elf song when ranging far from home

I love the stars so fondly;

I will never be fearful of the night.

The nature of the Sithi - part 2

Following a prompt on the first discussion i have managed to find the file. So what follows is a write up of a discussion, this probably needs some picking to pieces before we formalise any of it.

Elven race:
All long lived people lived in the Garden. The races were separated and distinguished by their study of and relationship to the shadows they had been created by the Gods to study. Over the tens of thousands of years the different groups took on different characteristics (both physical and behavioural) based upon this. Light elves studied the shadows in the blazing light of day and cold light of night, deep elves went to the dark places (and then began making their own dark places) to study shadows in their own environment and controlling the light that was present. Drow meanwhile sought (and gained) a closer relationship with the shadows, mimicking them and living with/alongside them. However these peoples did not think of themselves as races as such as their first allegiance, overwhelming all others, was to their holds. Now some holds were predominately of one branch of long-lived whilst others were a more balanced mix. All however had a mix. We know that during the wars of unbeing several large distinct groups left and founded the various cities. All of these groups were made up of “Sithi-lebn-schel-n’kenamal” (or some such long winded untranslatable gibberish) which in the tongue of the Garden mean “Those people who lived in the time of complete dying” – ie those who were living during the 40,000 year long war of unbeing. By the time of Aquila’s hey-day they were just called Sithi “The people”. We do not know what happened to the other cities (apart from K’s story of one of them and my reference to a smaller very northern one overrun at the start of the usurper war) and the racial make up of them. Those groups who left the Garden before the war of unbeing (for a variety of reasons) were called different things and we believe these are the other long lived peoples out there in the world. Since they left so very very very long ago – their memories/histories have become irrevocably distorted from our own (though maybe almost still true through the prism of their own experiences).

Once the final refugees reached the known world the holds of old were intentionally pulled apart. The idea of the holds was now a repulsive idea. That one group of people would utterly annihilate another was blamed upon the allegiances to holds above all else (after all, 2 million members of Hold Thennict were killed in one magical assault so there was evidence to back up this hatred – on a related note, Drew, do you remember me saying there was a 2-card reading in the deck called “Elegy of the Thennict”? This, obviously, is where it comes from). The Lords of the Holds had possessed too much power, able to command armies of millions and wield horrific powers. Most had died during the war – especially since we are talking about the loosing side here – and those that survived quickly surrendered their powers at the demand of the mob. This transition though was a peaceful one – everyone wanted an end to slaughter. This is turn led to the concept and realisation of the issue of Jingizu. Finally able to stop fighting for the first time in millennia, the Sithi were able to let loose their grief and mourn. Such was the power of this release that it became a thing in it’s own right and all Sithi were pulled to the depths of suicidal despair. Realising the risk of the race effectively willing itself to die, the gods strengthened their chosen and sent them out to preach their message. They explained how these Sithi had chosen to forsake the evils of the Garden and would thus be allowed to live without the Jingizu (and presumably gloat about the fact that the ones who followed the King were still suffering) and would only suffer it if another Sithi died at their hands. Then they would not suffer the guilt of killing one but the same grief that those who had killed thousands felt.
All people define themselves by some form of grouping, without the regime of holds to define them the Sithi began to split along their racial lines instead. They were all still Sithi but each branch now called themselves after their racial line too. The Children of the Dawn, Deep, Shadows etc. However all seemed well in the city but tensions were beginning to build as the prize was that much smaller (eg control of a single city rather than the world) and therefore could only provide power/wealth/luxury to a limited number. As Ineluki was definitely a light elf it was very much the Zideya who were perceived to rule the city. This was not resented very much by the deep elves for they remained underground but the drow began to feel they were slighted and trapped between the two other Sithi races with no-where to call their own. They began to call themselves the Drow to distinguish themselves from the rest of the Sithi and offers of senior positions in the city hierarchy were rejected to perpetuate the sense of victim-hood. The true level of their disconnect and separation from the Sithi was only realised by a terrible act that should have been more terrible still. Fin Gorrel was a Sithi judge who presided over a court that found a drow guity of arson and sentenced him to be banished. The drow refused and challenged Fin Gorrel to trial by arms to prove his innocence. The law, unchanged for thousands of years, allowed for this but only until first blood; the drow however, clearly had more deadly intent. Fin Gorrel accepted the challenge, though his reasons for doing so remain obscure, and in the ensuing fight, forced to defend himself to his full abilities in the face of the Drow’s murderous assault, his sword found the Drows heart and Fin Gorrel fell to his knees as the guilt came crashing in. This was not the jingizu of the gods warning though – merely guilt for a life wasted. The Drow had removed themselves from the Sithi to such an extent that the gods and the power of the jingizu no longer regarded them as kin. Did the Drow know this before the challenge? Was the now dead Drow there to prove this point or merely die by blade or grief to prove the Drow claim of being victims? We do not know but the Lay of Fin Gorrel has become a powerful ritual. A stylised fight before actual combat between Sithi that follows the movements and killing strike of Fin Gorrel. By the power of the ritual, or by the power suggested by the ritual, Sithi are able to enter a state where the killing of another Sithi is seen as justified and thus the victor suffers no grief.

This ultimately meant that by the time of the fall the two races, Sithi and Drow, could kill each other with impunity. Though they may have lamented the fact that long-lived fought long-lived whilst mortals ripped down their city, they did not hesitate to turn their blades upon each other.

Background Marerial

Folks, shedloads more background material published in the righthand frame. If we've got questions (and i know i do) then start a post for each document, that way we can keep the discussion on track.

Q&A - Undead & WTF are the norns?

What is our postion on undead? Prevsiiuly were have played such stances as viewing them all as total abominations and yet at other times we (as in sithi characters past and present) have interacted with them, and even last Renewal, interceded on their behalf.

Basically what is the Aditu or wider Sithi stance on undead and why?

This leads me to the Norns? What are they? Who are they? Are they undead...see above....?

Q&A part 5 - Timeline

I'll ask Alan to post this as link somewhere as well for better reference but for now, here is the revised timeline agreed:

Year Event
1110 Present
Dec 1107 Battle of Limmer Hill - End of the War in the North
Aug 1107 Lords fall
Oct 1105 Start of the War in the North
Apr 1103 Returning
~1096 - ~1103 War of Returning
5400BC - 1100 Time of Jao
5401BC Founding of Second Houses
5857BC Founding of Houses
5902BC Fall of Aquila/Flight to Great Wood
5903BC Eastern War-Hoste withdrawn from provinces to re-inforce Aquila
5904BC Loss of Southern War-Hoste
5905BC Deep Elves secretly begin escape tunnels from Aquila
5905BC Loss of Northern War-Hoste
5907BC - 5902BC The Long Rout
5907BC Seige and capture of northern city of A'Matieles
5912BC Start of 4th Usurper War
5944BC - 5932BC 3rd Usurper War
5950BC Central War-Hoste (Legion of Aquila) march from city and disappear
5971BC - 5956BC 2nd Usurper War
5990BC "Last Ride" leaves Aquila to hunt down the Beast at the Gate. Disappeared
6028BC - 6010BC 1st Usurper War
6034BC First direct contact with Usurper
6160BC - 6034BC War of Northern Tribes/War of the Hands (wars with Sudhodya Tribes orchestrated by unknown power - Usurper)
13600BC - 6160BC Time of Aquila - Independence from the Garden
14500BC Last fleet from the Garden arrives at Aquila
20000BC Founding of Aquila (later to become Ninth & Greatest city of the "Garden in Exile" Kingdom of Prince Maldon)