Village of Gusi - copied to archive

Glorion stood silently watching as the convoy departed the village of Gusi. He would have gone with them, but he knew it would be several weeks before they returned and with the wards weakening, he simply was not comfortable leaving the containment to whatever spells had been cast by the followers of other deities. He knew that whatever evils lay at the heart of the temple, the final confrontation would have to be fought by a Champion of Itus. Lacking any other obvious candidates, Glorion was glad to have Corellan's blessing to step into that role. He drew the Sword of Itus and admired it. Even though it was wrought by Human hands, the craftsmanship was wondrous to behold. He gave it a few experimental swings before sliding effortlessly into one of his childhood martial patterns.

The Sword of Itus flowed like water through the air, gliding from one stroke to the next in Glorion's practiced hand. At first it was odd, using a weapon that had been crafted for human hands, but he had spent decades practicing the art of swordsmanship. As parried an invisible assailant here and cleaved through another there, he felt the sword become lighter and move more swiftly. He lost himself in the art, taking little notice of the hours as they passed. Stab. Parry. Riposte. Dodge. Slash. The moves melded together into a battle trance, until he felt the Sword gradually became an extension of his being.

Glorion paused and leaned up against one of the pillars, breathing heavily. As his breath came back to him he noticed that many hours had passed and the light was growing more faint as the sun set...

Glorion looks up from his work, smiling broadly, "It is as you say Lapattë, we will all die some day. However, I do not think we will die today, in this place. There is too much unfinished work to be left behind." He begins arranging arranging candles along the ground in front of the temple steps, in the rough shape of a shield facing the entrance. He then pulls out a knife and some fine silken rope and begins cutting several pieces of the rope off.

"N'uma er Lotesse Nurta sen anta tuulo' i' Seldarine. Lle naa il-lle gwaith. You feel as though you are not of i'morinuin or i'me'a, and so will never fit in. I hope you will one day see this is a blessing and not a curse. You might gaze upon me and see power you feel you will never have. Power of Seldarine, ar-agar, mela en'gwaith, these are all things you feel you can never attain but I tell you that you possess a power beyond all that. Every one of my strengths is also my weakness. Corellon is mighty indeed but he has many enemies. Royal blood comes with its own troublesome set of rules and restrictions. The love of the people, well that is the most fickle of all blessings, to be nurtured carefully lest you incur their ire. This is something I am learning all to well of late. You however are Dae no'i'Kela, and are free to chart your own path according to your heart unburdened by such obligations. Freedom is true power."

The Paladin begins placing the ropes in an eight-pointed star pattern, three shorter ends to the sides and one long piece extending the length of the candle formation. He stands up after finishing his work and frowns, walking slowly around the candle formation. He adjusts a strand of rope here, a candle there. Once everything appears to be to his satisfaction he reaches into his backpack and pulls out the ruined Silevegil and places it across the ropes at an angle, laying the gleaming Sword of Itus across it pointing the other direction. He then takes out eight platinum coins and places them at each of the points of the star within the shield and stands back to admire his work.

N'uma er Lotesse Nurta sen anta tuulo' i' Seldarine - "No one may hide their face from the gods"
Lle naa il- lle gwaith - "You are not your people"
i'morinuin - The Underdark
i'me'a - The Light
ar-agar - Royal blood
mela en'gwaith - "love of the people"
Dae no'i'Kela - "Shadow on the Leaves"

Want to perform your own Elvish translations? Check out the Tel'Quessir Online Translator!

Gabriel grins at the other elf and points excitedly to the formation of candles and weapons which form a combination of Itus and Corellon's holy symbols. "Why my dear Lapattë, that is precisely what I have been doing. Painting a big, overwhelmingly divine target on my royal butt as you say. Corellon, ed' lle alkar, ona lle hini val." He kneels down and touches the first candle and a brilliant white and blue flame springs into being, the smoke smelling faintly of incense and a summer breeze. "Varuva vara lye coia, lye gwaith, lye leitha." Glorion moves to the next candle and touches it. This time a green flame bursts from the wick accompanied by smells of fresh grass and  new buds. As he moves around the shield, he continues to chant softly in elvish, touching each candle in turn and causing each to flare up in a different color. 

 "I'goth cronha, seekien ndenginlye,

 Ilya tanya lye kwara lisse'ar'neva a'lye nowe.

 Lle naa ten'oio yassen lye:

     E'i'whisperien en'i'sul imya i'taure

     E'i'murmurien en'i'nelle no'telmello en'i'ondo

     E'i'roarien en'i'falmar deno'i'rast

     E'i'quinga en'i'kawa

 Mela yassen lye sii', i' estanesse, lle hini

 Vee'lye osta lye ndor tuulo'Ksherea.

 Manka orme naa lye tella resort,

 Lye will ildemada i'val lle one lye.

 Mela yassen lye sii..."

Glorion stops before the last candle and motions for Rabbit to come over. He firmly but gently grasps her hand and touches her fingertips to the last candle. A dazzling flash of light illuminates the now-darkness and a soft *whumpf* of energy seems to emanate out from the formation accompanied by the comforting warmth of a summer breeze which seems to remove all fear and fortify their spirits {as per Heroism}. As their eyes adjust all of the material components seem to have vanished, leaving only the two swords and a glowing outline of a shield, an eight pointed star, and crossed swords on the ground. Glorion's goofy smile gets even bigger as he turns to Rabbit. "You see, Lapattë? N'uma er Lotesse Nurta sen anta tuulo' i' Seldarine." He nods in satisfaction and retrieves the two swords, stowing Silevegil in his rucksack. "Now, we shall see what the darkness has to say about our challenge."



The Litany of Arrows (sung in Elvish by Glorion)
Corellon, by Your grace, grant Your Children strength

To protect our lives, our ways, our freedom.

The enemy approaches, seeking to destroy us,

All that we hold dearest and nearest to our hearts.

You are always with us:

in the whispering of the wind through the trees

in the murmuring of the stream over the rocks

in the roaring of the waves upon the shore

in the twang of the bow

in the song of our hearts

in the longing of our souls;

be with us now, the Firstborn, Your Children

as we defend our homes from evil.

Though violence is our last resort,

We shall never forget the skills You taught us.

Be with us now;

Help us to remember and honor the Gifts You lovingly gave us.

Let every arrow from drawn bow fly forth

and pierce the heart of those who would wrong us.

Let every sword drawn in Your name

cut down those who would defile Your Children and Your Woods.

Let every spell drawn in the air

strike down the soul of evil and strengthen the heart of good.

Protect us, Corellon, Your Children call to you;

In this time of danger and darkness, be our guiding light.

All voices are raised in Your name,

All hearts quicken in knowing Your love,

All souls, no matter the course of this battle,

shall one day return and rest with You.

Corellon, by Your grace, grant Your Children victory.


     Glorion lets out a bellowing laugh and plants the Sword of Itus in the ground in front of him, pulling out his longbow and scanning the darkness. "It would seem we have killed two birds with one stone as we planted our flag Lapattë. I do hope you came prepared for a fight. It seems we may have more than one form of entertainment." The Paladin smiles at Rabbit as he takes out a small clear vial of water and pulls an arrow from his quiver. He dips the arrow in the vial, whispering under his breath as he works: "Corellon, ed'lle val, ona lle hini lakilea" Glorion takes in a deep breath and closes his eyes. He fully opens his senses to Corellon's guiding hand as he nocks the now-soaked arrow and draws. He keeps his eyes closed as he pulls the bow up and aims seemingly at nothing. The tip of the arrow drifts unsteadily through the dark for several nerve-wrackingly silent seconds. Drip... Drip... Finally, the arrow stops moving, remains steady, and Glorion slowly releases his breath.

And releases the arrow into the night...

Gabriel looks curiously at the arrow. "Most interesting. It appears that our presence has disrupted whatever localized time disturbance is happening here but only for a few meters in any direction. I would hesitate to stray too far from the sigil before us tonight since these matters would be best analyzed by a spellcaster of some sort. It would, however, appear that our challenge will remain unanswered for the time being. We will see what happens. As to what happened during the ritual, I have placed you, a drow, officially under the protection of Corellon Larethian whilst casting the sigil. It would appear that certain... other parties have taken issue with that. How exciting!"

He beams at Rabbit gives the floating arrow one last look before pulling the Sword of Itus out of the ground. "I will keep vigil if you wish to meditate for a few hours. It would appear that night is fully upon us now and it will be quite some time before the others rejoin us." He walks over to the temple steps and stares up at the door for for several moments in contemplation before laying his longbow near his armor and rucksack. He then turns his back to the door and faces out to the night, making the symbol of the eight-pointed star in front of him before dropping to one knee and placing the Sword in front of him.

Rabbit leans over the meditating Glorion, the morning dew coating her leathers from her scouting around the area. She stops and looks at the meditating elf and a small smile crops up on her face. " Wake up Plak'la'la d'aron d'darthien, I think I found another way in, down the other side of the valley a small cave. The entrance seems to go deeper then we have been, and I didn't dare go further without the priest, but I thought I would tell you."

She turns towards the abandoned town and forest surrounding. "The area is alive with animals, and other things that pass through. There are insects, birds and a wind. I see no sign there of the timelessness of this place. I have thought about this town when I meditated. I wonder if the timelessness of this place is what keeps things crawling out of that door. Maybe it is a defense mechanism to stop whatever is trying to come through."

Rabbit looks towards where she came from."I don't believe we should approach the other entrance before the others get back, and it is a tight fitting entrance, tight enough I doubt anything large has gotten out of the temple that way... at least for now. I will send Sobhan a pigeon with a short message of where we are and what happened, hopefully he will prod the others to return soon."

Plak'la'la d'aron d'darthien - Golden Knight of the Elves