The assembly is called back to order in due course.  One of the more senior families speaks first stating that for their part, whilst it is proper and acceptable for enquiries to be made, they are not at all happy with the idea of Rienmari being detained and removed from the forest.  They also note that whilst the banning of arcane and druidic magic in Belanior is the right of the King, the jurisdiction for doing so in Rienmarien rests with this council.  There is general agreement to this sentiment.

"The command of the grand alliance falls to the King," De-Veer states, "as does the duty of examining the conduct of those under His command.  Furthermore, since this matter directly affects both the alliance and the safety of the Kingdom, His Majesty asserts the right of sovereignty under the Military Code in these matters under the terms of our military alliance, since they fall within the scope of Acts carried out while at War and for the urgent security of all territories."

"The conduct of religious worship does not fall under the Military Code!" Your father speaks up. "Our Alliance and the chain of command agreed therein, applies to the conduct of the war and of those militarily employed.  It does not cede sovereignty to the extent that members of the general populace may be detained, removed or questioned by foreign agents. The questioning of military conduct is a well-established right, the detention and removal of senior commanders is absolutely outside of the scope of the Alliance agreement and will not be permitted or tolerated if I have any say in the matter!"

"Perhaps you have some reason to fear the questions you may face, General?" De-Veer almost sneers. "Perhaps your own misconduct, incompetence and cowardice leads you to reject the King's rightful authority?"  This provokes a general response of outrage from the assembly and not a few swords are drawn - including your father's.  Suddenly there is movement on one side of the clearing and a dozen fully armoured soldiers emerge, clad in plate and wearing similar red cloaks to De-Veer. Half have swords and shields, the rest have bows drawn and arrows notched.

"What madness is this?  Who permitted you to bring armed men to this meeting?" Gerelainen's voice now rings with anger.  Members of your family move to form a protective ring around your father. Encouragingly, several other families begin to move also - placing themselves between the red cloaks and your father while also securing Gerelainen's safety.

"It appears that your father has flushed the enemy out of their cover," you mother says softly. "Gods speed you to safety, son, while their attention is fixed elsewhere."

I give her a silent nod, pulling her into a tight hug for a few heartbeats. “Goodbye Mother…I hope to see you all again soon…” With that, I quickly turned, making my way out of the amphitheater while making sure I am not seen. My plans are to take whatever ways I can that avoid eyes to make it back to Feamal’s camp and to gather supplies before I would make my way into the woods. Tears stream down my eyes as I think of this, praying to whoever or whatever would listen. “Please keep them safe…”

As hoped, there are no further soldiers to see you as you make your way to Feamal's camp.  There is a small bag containing a further 7 days trail rations, a hooded lantern and a flask of lantern oil, mess kit, small pot, tinderbox, a length of rope, bedroll and blanket. (Items added to backpack - bedroll & blanket are tied across).  The night is still and the sound of angry raised voices carries to your ears as you hastily stow these generous gifts.  With a quick glance around, fixing the details of this place in your mind - it may be some time until you see it again, you head out into the forest.

This place is your home, it is intimately familiar to you and has always felt safe.  Tonight, the sense of pursuit and danger seems to permeate the air and resonate within the roots of the great trees.  It feels dark, threatening, dangerous.  With practiced feet you make swift progress for a good hour, making no sound and leaving almost no trace of your passing.  Such skill is second nature to you. 

With another hour's distance, the sense of danger and urgency begins to fade.  Your feet move easier, your heart stills and the forest noises cease to make you turn and stare, fearing ambush and capture.  The events of this evening seem now distant and a little surreal.  Were it not for your current situation, you could almost think they were part of dream.  You took the precaution, almost without thinking, of heading first southwards, leaving a faint trail, before striking eastwards.  Now, as you pass through the still and darkened forest, your thoughts turn to the Quelimari and what manner of reception you might receive from them.  You have had very little dealing with them yourself.  They are considered to be a little backward compared to Rienmari and certainly the Teomari, but they are also formidable warriors from a warrior society.  Their woodcraft is said to be of the highest among the elves.  Perhaps most importantly for the moment they are said to be hospitable, with strong cultural rules around making guests welcome.  You hope this is the case.

Your thoughts are interrupted by an unexpected sound.  Singing - very soft and distant - reaches your ears.  The words sound Elvish yet you cannot pick them out.  They flow like water over a shallow stream bed; a constant melodious stream of music.  The voice is female and of the purest tone you have ever heard.

As soon as I hear the sound, I feel myself turn defensive, preparing for anything to come. As that immediate panic settles, the sound feels almost like a lure to my ears and heart, gently pulling at me to follow it. Eventually, my curiosity gets the better of me as I start to follow it, remaining as quiet as possible as I approach the sound of it.

The sound is easy to follow; it almost draws you towards it, guiding you between trees and along shallow gullies.  For some time though, it grows neither nearer nor distant.  You even consider stopping and turning aside on a couple of occasions but there is something about the voice that calls to you. Shaking your head, you ask yourself if this is enchantment at work, yet it does not seem so.  Your skills are not so unrefined that you would not recognise an arcane enchantment at work (even if you found yourself powerless to resist it). No, this is something else. Something deeper.

You walk on, time is hard to keep track of and since your focus remains fixed on the journey ahead, your awareness of exactly where you are or how far you have travelled is vague at best.  Suddenly, a clearing opens up before you, a deep smooth-sided even dell into which clear silver moonlight falls.  For a moment you pause - did the sun set?  Can you recall night falling? Such troubling thoughts are but fleeting shadows for your attention is drawn to the source of the singing who stands right at the centre of the dell.  A tall, beautiful woman clad in deep green whose flowing black hair tumbles from beneath a jewelled crown of silver set with emeralds.  She smiles as she turns towards you, and the singing stops - though the echo of it rings in your ears and resonates in the air around you.

"Come, friend, come and speak to me." Her voice is rich and soft.  Her hands are empty and she bears no weapons of any kind. Her bearing is graceful and regal. Every move is smooth and precise, very much like her speech which is equally distinct and clear. You hear it, of that you are sure, yet you also seem to feel her words within you at the same time.

Hearing the woman’s words and appearance, my eyes widen a bit as my jaw nearly drops. Being caught off guard, I follow through her request without hesitation, tripping a bit and stumbling forward as my more graceful appearance slips somewhat. I catch myself before I fall, though my bag I had been carrying slips from my back. I turn to face the bag for a moment, contemplating picking it up and putting it back on, but the memory of her voice assures me everything will be alright, and I look back to her.

“Your singing is beyond words, my lady. And I am honored that you have allowed me to hear it. As to your request of speaking, what is it you desire to speak on?”

Her laughter at your words is beguiling and musical.  There is no hint of mocking or belittling, just amusement and happiness. It tugs at your heart in a most unexpected way, almost taking your breath away.  Everything about the lady is bewitching; again some small part of your consciousness questions what manner of influence she is exerting over you.  A far louder part doesn't care.

"Dreams and hopes, young sir, what else is there worth talking about?  Dreams and hopes are the lifeblood of us all.  They call to us, drive us, frustrate us. Ultimately, they reward us when we act to bring them to fruition. I would speak to you of dreams and hopes - mine and perhaps yours.  This is indeed a blessed night.  That our paths should cross in such a manner.  Perhaps it is so that we may each aid the other in friendship?  Achieve as twain what cannot be achieved alone?"  She smiles a smile that would melt the world - or a heart.  "Come, let us sit together."

Without another word or thought, I obliged to her request, moving directly next to her and sitting before her. It felt almost like an out of body experience to do it, as I felt my limbs move on their own while my mind and heart were simply lost in her beauty and voice. It was as if I would do anything she asked of me, just as long as I got the opportunity to hear her speak to me once more. To be able to look upon her face. To stay by her side and never feel a sense of loneliness again.

"As you wish, my lady. What things do you dream and hope for? Is there things that I may be able to help you achieve?"

"Ah, my young champion!  What a generous offer.  My wish is simply to dwell in peace in your world, within some quiet place surrounded by trees.  To have a home where I can live, laugh, sing, love..." She sighs.  "Alas!  That such a simple desire should be beyond my reach.  My time is so fleeting here, my movement restricted to but a few yards.  It is hard, is it not, to feel that one has no place to feel truly at home?  To know that one does not truly belong?"  She gazes at you for a moment.

"Would you truly wish to help me?  Would you take the time, devote your energies and pledge yourself to my quest?  To uncover the secrets that keep me from my heart's desire of a simple home within your great forest?  To unlock the door which is closed against me?"  She reaches out and clasps your hand, her touch is like an electrical charge upon your skin.

"Such an honour would surely deserve some reward.  For such service, I can restore something you have lost.  I can grant you a little of my power, which is not of this world nor governed by it and your Gods, that you may cast once again.  Accept this gift, and we shall be bound together - united in purpose.  Will you be my champion and faithful devotee?  One to whom I may entrust my desires and dreams?" She holds your gaze with her own, awaiting your answer.

As she spoke, my spine felt sparks of electricity run through it. Of a similar path that we appeared to be on. I knew exactly how she felt, and desired deeply to try and aid her in whatever way I could. However, I felt a mixture of sadness as I felt unable to truly aid her, my head dropping until she clasped my hand. My head shot up at that, my gaze meeting hers as I nod in agreement the entire time she spoke. "I would be willing to do anything for you, milady. I have felt so uncomfortable with talking with anyone for so long now...yet you make it all feel so...easy. And I know exactly how you feel, and I would not wish for such a sensation on anyone. Whatever I must do for you and whatever I need to do for you, please ask and I shall do it."

"You do me great honour, and such generosity will be richly rewarded, be assured.  I feel my time here slipping away, so I shall be swift!  You must discover how my presence here can be more than but a fleeting hour or two.  I believe such knowledge must exist.  Begin your search here - for I know not why or how I was able to spend this brief time with you in this place.  I am grateful that fate has brought us together, however." She smiles, meets your eye and kisses your hand.  This time the electricity of her touch suffuses your whole being.

"There!  My gift is bestowed.  Take time to discover it and use it well - and wisely."

The next thing you feel is the soft, warm sensation of sun upon your face as you awaken in the dell.  The sun is high in the sky - it must be midday or even later.  The woman's voice and words seem to linger in the air and within the leaves of the trees like a whisper. Yet within you they sound loud and clear.  Every detail of the encounter is etched in memory sharp and clear.  Above all, you feel once again the stirring within you of magical power.  Different from your arcane studies, this is wild and raw.  It calls to you as strongly as the woman's song did the night before.

I breathe deeply in as I awake, feeling more relaxed than I can recall. I let out a yawn as I stretch, slowly sitting myself up as I look around the dell I was in. "Was it all a dream...?" I ask myself as I stretch. I reach down to where the fey had kissed my hand, rubbing it gently as if making sure it was real. I then get to my feet, looking around for a moment. "If not...then I need to find what would stop a fae from getting here," I told myself, continuing to wander into the forest to see if something here was stopping her.

The nearby forest seems unremarkable.  Indeed, everything seems a little less vibrant and alive, so full is your mind of the woman's voice and the sensation of her touch.  Instinct pulls you back to the clearing - the place where she called you and to where she herself was able to appear.  Something about this place does feel different.  Not just because it holds memory.  There is a stillness; a heaviness, almost, in the air that stills the wind-sound to create a space of perfect calm and peace.  Something here is still of her.  You sense it; a whisper of power like the echo of the song that first drew you.

Without thinking, you move to the spot where she was standing when you first saw her. Trying to recreate last night, to remember everything with crystal clarity.  Reaching out with your mind and imagination for an answer to the problem. (You can make a perception roll along with any other skill checks you feel might help while you work on the puzzle).

Perception: 7

Remembering the dream almost like a dance and feeling a sense of music to our meeting, I try to recall it as if it were a dance, humming to myself as I attempted to time each step in beat with the music that existed within my mind.

Performance: 18

Recreating the moment allows you to "tune in" to the location and you can visualise the echo of the woman's song whose power you can still faintly feel.  It appears as many golden threads woven about the clearing.  It wraps around the trunks of the trees and dives below ground towards their roots.  It traces the outlines of branches and arcs between trees, binding them into a whole.  The threads intertwine with each other, moving, twisting. As mesmerising as her voice - which it is after a fashion; a visualisation of her voice.  Many of the threads converge on you, spinning their wave around you and arcing into the tips of your fingers where you feel the first stirrings of your newly-gifted power.

So entrancing is this pattern that for a long time you fail to notice the most obvious thing about it.  All the threads emerge from a single location in the ground, right in the middle of the shallow dell.  The single source would appear to be at that point but hidden beneath the soil.

I lose track of time for how long I get caught up in the pattern. Seeing that the soil appeared to be the source, I use my hands to try and start digging to try and find what this source is.

The soil appears quite compact and undisturbed, yet it moves easily beneath your hands.  About 5cm under the surface you find a smooth, oval, flattened black stone which has a glassy appearance.  It is quite small and fits easily into the palm of your hand, yet it weighs nearly as much as the ball of an iron mace.  It appears inert, yet you feel the faintest vibration from within it of the power the Lady manifested and bestowed upon you.  It is quite unlike anything you have ever seen before and you have no recollection of any mention of such an object during your arcane studies - though to be sure Carthriel devoted more time to artifact studies than you did!

Your own knowledge is sufficient to divine that, just as the Lady's power was neither Arcane nor Clerical in nature, so too is the power contained within the stone.  It is something new and entirely unique.  The sort of thing to fascinate an enquiring mind!  You search around a bit more, just to be sure that nothing has been missed, but this appears to be the only relevant item within the small clearing.

A small voice within your head whispers that if this stone is the "key" the Lady mentioned then perhaps, if you keep it with you and learn its secrets, you may see her again!

I hold the stone gingerly, as if it was a cherished family heirloom. I brush it off a bit to try and ensure it was as polished as possible, the weight being something I associated with how valuable it was. “I will see you again, my lady…” I whispered to the stone, pocketing it for the moment as I gather my things together. “Where to now?” I say aloud to myself, starting to continue to head in whatever direction the stone and that voice whisper to me.

"Talking to yourself already?"  A familiar voice speaks from just behind you, full of humour and without malice.  Spinning around, you see Breylyn standing a short way off in the clearing.  She is clad in her well-worn leather armour, a sword on each hip and holding her bow.  She has a mighty pack strapped to her back which does not seem to trouble her in the least.  Her eyes are full of mirth and mischief.  "Don't look so surprised, you aren't hard to track!  Well, mostly. I must admit it's taken me a while to find this place.  You hid yourself away very well.  I'm impressed! Perhaps you don't need an escort after all."

I jump for a moment as the voice speaks up, nearly dropping the stone in the process. I just barely catch myself, turning to look back to Braylon. A mix of both surprise and shock is across my face, clearly not expecting to see her. “Braylyn?! What are you doing here? I thought you would be back with the rest of the proceedings…” I pause, suddenly making sense of her words. “Wait. You are to be an escort for me? How did this get set up?”