Smuggler's Vale - Returning to Refuge Evening 2

[§~Samwise~§]

Taliesin acknowledged the shoulder pat and gave a small wave as they split apart. With very little effort he changed pace and worked his way to being close to in line with Mirrai.

In Sylvan he attempted to resume conversation with her. "So, you wanted to change topics. Name the topic, ask me whatever you like. I'm a fairly open book, and I've had some travels."

[Ancelas]

Mirrai had found a large rock to perch on from which she could look over the prisoners. She sat, crouched and still, until Taliesin approached. When she turned her head to look at him, the fading light caught her eyes just right and they seemed to gleam like a nocturnal animal's. Her expression was largely unreadable, however, and she turned her gaze back to the duergar.

"...You summoned animals," she noted without preamble. "Called them from thin air, and they did your bidding. How did you do that?"

[§~Samwise~§]

Taliesin noted the reflection in her eyes. With no real emotion to read he settled in a standing position beside her. Having been away from him Mirrai would almost immediately notice the change in smell, sounds, and the feeling of the air as he took his place.

"The quick answer ... I have a connection to The Green and can call on it for assistance." He shrugged his shoulders. "The animals are actually Fey spirits that take a form that I beckon them to take as I call for them."

"How I got to be able to do that is a longer more complex answer."

[Ancelas]

Mirrai nodded slightly, as though his answer were expected. "Wild fey spirits... they're drawn to people with connections to the natural world. The wood element..." She trailed off, staring over at the prisoners.


"The Green... I'm not familiar with this term. What is it?"

[§~Samwise~§]

Taliesin followed her words, but the drop-off after 'wood element' drew his attention. Perhaps that was something she was cautioned against, or perhaps there was more.

He took a moment to consider his answer based off of the little he understood. "So ... to the best of my understanding ... The Green is an underlying power in Mobius outside of the Gods. The gods can help you become in tune with The Green, but it is not something that they control."

He looked around for a way to illustrate it, but settled on speaking a little further. "There are forces at work in the world. Some of the Gods align with those forces and foster them in their followers. The Green is the abundant force that fosters plant growth and vitality in nature."

He scanned the prisoners out of necessity and continued. "Some places like Kel'Alaryn and the Deep Wood are tied to those forces more closely. Whether naturally through an abundance, or by design when the gods beneath the Divine Dragons foster the connection with those lands."

He was fairly certain he had gotten that right. His primer in The Green was not an in depth education and was more things that could be intuited combined with the nature of Silvanus and his home. He could very well be wrong in his assertion in regards to some lands being intrinsically connected, but based on the little primer he had it felt right.

[Ancelas]

Mirrai did not reaction to mentions of Kel Alaryn or the Deepwood, but by the way she nodded, listening intently, it seemed the was able to comprehend his talk of the Green.

"That's similar to what I was taught," she mused quietly. "My father taught me the world was made of eight elements... this 'Green' seems akin to the Earth and Wood..."

[§~Samwise~§]

"It could very well be." He didn't editorialize at all. He would normally counter with a question, but wanted to keep things heavier on his side given how the initial conversation turned.

"Sadly, I've not had the same education. Outside of the basics of the four elements - earth, fire, water, air - I've had no truly deep philosophical teaching in that vein." He sighed, in for a pound as it were.

"I might've had that kind of education before-" He cut himself off and quickly jumped details. "-Before I had to live among another tribe that valued marshal prowess and allegiance over nature and creation." He gave himself a mental nod at really skirting the details.

It was strange that something like talking of the Green drummed up memories that were clear while some base information was very hazy. "What are the eight elements that your father taught you of ... well, the six remaining following Earth and Wood."

[Ancelas]

"Mm... they're not... philosophies, they're what make up the world," Mirrai said. "Well... his world. Those are the four prime elements - earth, fire, wind, and water - but there are the four secondary elements as well, made with the others touch - metal, lightning, mist, and wood."

Her brow furrowed and her eyes gained that far away look again. "He... wanted to take me there, but... but not without my mother. He wanted to take us all, but she... had to stay for... something. And then it was just us, for years... we never could find the way back to his realm."

Mirrai lapsed into silence for a moment but spoke up before Taliesin could comment. "I think... something went wrong. When I crossed over. It seems like the right place, but... you talk about things that happened, that feel... wrong. But I know you're not lying to me. So... something's wrong."

[§~Samwise~§]

Taliesin opened his mouth to interject, but Mirrai had spoken before he could deflect. He looked away and counted the prisoner's, eyes jumping from one to the next as he tried to find the safe path to ... a truth.

"Well ..." He looked up from the prisoners across to Alain. Then through Alain envisioning Erevan and the faint memories of his true parents.

"Without knowing where your father was from ... or your mother." He sighed. "It is impossible for me to say if something is wrong."

He offered his right hand to her. "I know you can't remember where you had just come from among many other things.But can you remember the year?" His empty hand turned some, fingers outstretching further in an offer for comfort.

[Ancelas]

Mirrai turned her head to look at Taliesin's outstretched hand, then looked up at his face, studying him with a serious expression. She then turned her eyes away, but... well, it was hard to read whether she was denying his comfort or allowing it - there was only one way for him to find out.

"I don't. Maybe in time, after I've had a chance to... understand... my situation a little better..."

[§~Samwise~§]

Taliesin let his right hand fall some. His history of taking initiative didn't have the best of records and he was just offering something that only someone who was familiar might reliably get away with.

"I know how it feels to be wrenched from your family and to be lost in a strange land after being told to run."

He fought against the inclination to be too familiar and did not take her hand. "Does Mercia sound familiar? Illyria? Albion?" He was grasping for any confirmation that she was from these lands or recognized them as she appeared to be half elven. Alain had said inter-planar travel and many planes. Maybe there were other Divine Dragons with similar purpose on other planes?

[Ancelas]

"What do you mean?" Mirrai asked, setting his questions to one side as what he said caught her attention. "About being wrenched away and lost in a strange land?"

[§~Samwise~§]

Taliesin winced at the question, wishing that she had not latched onto that. There was silence for several seconds followed by a marked slow exhale.

"Part of what we're handling now is follow-up to things started over 25 years ago. I was 6 at the time. The machinations in motion then caused an army to march on my homeland and attempt to wipe my people out with fire and blade. I ... survived - and I ended up going back to that land with one of the army under a false identity and was raised as one of them."

As he spoke Mirrai would have noticed that the effects surrounding them seemed to sputter at first and then vanish. He was keeping things together in regards to his expression, but the focus required to shape the story to as soft a point as possible took its toll.

"It is ... a leap of faith to trust anyone you don't know. Even moreso when you are lost in a strange place and are exposed to the conditions that you've gone through." He looked beyond the prisoners and to his party as a whole. He thought about talking them up, but to what end?

His right hand had come back down to his side and rested there.

[Ancelas]

"...What happened to your people?" Mirrai asked, after a long, quiet moment.

[§~Samwise~§]

Taliesin took an audible breath. "Massacred and scattered. We were actually able to protect and ensure the future safety of those that had remained in hiding in the Deep Wood not more than 3 weeks ago. So ... silver-linings."