Worlde Arcane: South Way--Road Between Daelows City and ElHazir

Worlde Arcane: Aniada: Daelows Kingdom: South Way--Road Between Daelows City and ElHazir

Each section of the Lorimar Road spans a approximately a full days' ride, or roughly two days' march afoot.
A heavily traveled, well-maintained highway between the Capitol City and the Port of ElHazir. Smaller roads lead to villages, such as Tallridge, along the way. This road is jointly patrolled by the

Daelows People's Guards and the

Crusaders of Tyr from ElHazir.

Travelling South from Greater Daelows takes one to ElHazir.

Travelling North from ElHazir takes one to Greater Daelows.

Art by JoAnn Arduini

Archive through May 26, 2007 May 26, 2007 - 10:44 am

Archive through August 21, 2009 September 2, 2009 - 8:31 pm

By Skylar, Former Elven Slave (Sky)

Sunday, August 23, 2009 - 6:29 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

Sky was thankful when they were finally stood watching as the corpse was burnt to ashes. It would take a while Skylar knew and as she stood there watching, feeling cold in spite of the heat from the blaze, she wondered if she ought to say some sort of prayer. In the end she decided not; she had no idea what Gods he worshipped, or even if he worshipped any at all, and to say a prayer to the wrong one would possibly be worse than saying none at all.

“Now we go and look at that jar. The fire will probably need more wood in a little while.” She took Pandora’s arm, guiding her back over to the bedrolls and sitting them both down on top of her own. “We can’t leave here until morning; I think one of us will have to keep watch and the other sleep. We can take it in turns.” Thankfully they had at least made the funeral pyre some distance away from their campsite, and although the blaze was bright it was far enough away that they could not feel any heat from it. “Do yew want to sleep or watch first?”

By Androgynous Fire Elemni (Pandora)

Monday, August 31, 2009 - 7:37 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

"The jar?" Pandora wrung its hands together nervously and then followed Skylar back to the bedrolls. It took a prompt seat when directed, nodding at Skylar's instructions; she was obviously much better at these things than the Elemni was. "I'll keep watch first," it decided with a shrug since it didn't need that much sleep anyway. Besides, it could entertain itself endlessly with fire, and despite its naivety about...everything, Pandora wasn't stupid.

"So you should go sleep now," Pan directed, pushing Sky over so that it could tuck her in.

By Skylar, Former Elven Slave (Sky)

Monday, August 31, 2009 - 9:59 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

Skylar looked a little dubious as Pandora decided she would take the first watch. The woman had not seemed at all comfortable about being around the body earlier and Sky wasn’t particularly sure it was a good idea for her to sit up with the thing alone.

Pandora was already pushing her down in to her bedroll though and Sky let her, smiling slightly as Pan fussed over her as if she was a child, trying to tuck in the blankets. How long was it since anyone had done that for her? Not since her mother was alive she realised with a pang that made her bury her head in her pillow. It wasn’t often thoughts of her family stirred such pain, their loss had long since faded to a dull ache within her heart, but sometimes their loss was brought back to her all the more keenly, like right now. “We’ll look at the jar in the morning,” she mumbled from her position buried in the pillow. Turning onto her side away from Pan she squeezed her eyes shut against the tears that were threatening to form and tried to drift off to sleep.

By Androgynous Fire Elemni (Pandora)

Monday, August 31, 2009 - 10:56 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

"Okay." Pandora nodded approvingly as Skylar finally went to sleep, though the Elemni remained sitting up. It waited for a little while, entertaining itself with lighting a small flame in its palms before clasping its hands together and making it disappear, then it would repeat and pull the flame out from somewhere else like some minor magician with a coin. After a while that grew boring though and Pan looked back to Skylar. Was it time for her to wake up yet? Probably not, though Pandora realized now that it wasn't sure when it was supposed to wake Sky up. It also realized that, now that Sky was asleep...

Pan glanced surreptitiously around before scooting closer, kneeling next to Sky. It studied the elf's sleeping figure for a moment before experimentally reaching out and patting her on the head; quickly it pulled its hand back though as if expecting Sky to hop up and start yelling, but when no such thing happened Pan hesitated again and repeated the gesture. Still nothing. Another glance around, and Pan began to pet Sky's hair, first with one hand, and then with both. Soon the Elemni was humming happily to itself as it entertained itself with this new activity.

Only a few hours later when the flutter of some passing bird startled it did Pandora cease; its eyes went wide and it glanced around slowly as if any sudden movements might provoke a monster to emerge from the forest. After a moment it resumed stroking at Sky's hair though it was still looking around suspiciously, obviously on edge.

By Skylar, Former Elven Slave (Sky)

Monday, August 31, 2009 - 11:21 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

Oblivious to how Pandora was entertaining herself Skylar slept on. It hadn’t taken her long in the end to drift off, and exhaustion meant she fell into a deep unbroken, and thankfully dreamless, sleep.

It was many hours later before she awoke, and the first thing she became aware of was that someone was petting her hair. For a moment the last thing she had thought of before she went to sleep fogged her mind, and she thought perhaps it was her mother, stroking her hair to get her off to sleep as she often had when she was younger. It took only seconds for that illusion to be shattered however, and Sky realised that her mother was no longer alive, and certainly not here and that the only person it could be was Pandora. “What are you doing to my hair?” she asked sleepily, wriggling around a little before sitting up and dislodging the hand in her hair. She cast her eye over the campsite realising that the fire around the body was burning low and desperately needed more wood. Wasn’t that the whole point of Pandora staying awake?

“The fire needs more wood.” Her voice was rather flat and weary, as if she’d suddenly realised that she should not have left Pandora the responsibility of doing such an important job. “You go to sleep, I’ll keep watch now.”

By Androgynous Fire Elemni (Pandora)

Monday, August 31, 2009 - 11:27 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

When Skylar suddenly woke up Pan guiltily hid its hands behind its back. "Nothing," it mumbled. Well Sky would certainly think it was nothing, especially as the first thing she noticed was that the fire was dying; pouting slightly, Pan huffed. What was it with adventurers and keeping fires going? They always made such a fuss over it, as if it were a difficult task. "No it doesn't," Pan retorted just as flatly before vacating its spot and taking its bedroll with it, plopping down next to the fire and reaching in with its bare hands as always to rearrange the firewood. With an upwards sweep of its arm as if conducting an orchestra, the fire sprung back to life.

Obviously Skylar wouldn't trust her with important jobs, but then who would? Pan was just a stupid little Elemni who didn't know anything anyway, or at least that's what everyone else seemed to think. Rather grouchy for what really was no reason at all, Pan stripped down, uncaring if they were in the middle of the wilderness before burrowing into its bedroll and going straight to sleep.

By Skylar, Former Elven Slave (Sky)

Tuesday, September 1, 2009 - 10:54 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

Skylar watched blinked the sleep away from her eyes as Pandora rebuilt their campfire. Why didn’t she burn? The realisation that Pandora wasn’t uman hit her for what seemed like the hundredth time and she reminded herself that she really ought to find out exactly what the woman was before much longer. All the same she seemed to realise she had perhaps upset her a bit for she didn’t say anything until it was clear Pandora was asleep.

“I meant the other fire,” she sighed, getting up and retrieving what firewood she could find, thankful that at least her elven eyes meant she could easily locate enough in the dark. She threw it onto the fire that was consuming the mysterious body they had found themselves lumbered with, and watched as the flames blazed up again.

Satisfied she made her way back to where Pandora was sleeping, dragging her bedroll over so that it was next to Pandora’s and sitting down with her back to the burning body so she would not have to look at it. She sat and stared into their small campfire for a while, occasionally prodding at it with a long stick she had found, until she grew bored of that and turned to look at Pandora. It was lucky, she thought, that despite the fact that Sky constantly thought of her as a woman, Pandora actually had none of the bodily features of one, for Skylar had not misses the fact that she had stripped completely naked before she got into bed. What exactly was she planning on doing when it got light and she needed to get redressed? Hopefully there would be no one passing by.

After a while Skylar reached out and patted Pandora on the head affectionately as if she were a small sleeping child, feeling sorry now that she had been so harsh on her before. Pandora had obviously taken it to heart and upsetting Pandora was like kicking a small puppy, and Skylar was certainly not In the habit of doing that. She’d just have to make it up to her when she woke up; for now though she went back to gazing at the fire, whiling away the hours by thinking of how long their journey back to Terajin would take and imagining the scenes that might meet them once they got there.

By Androgynous Fire Elemni (Pandora)

Wednesday, September 2, 2009 - 3:54 am GMT | Edit | Link |

Awakening early the next morning (as Pandora didn't exactly need much sleep), the Elemni mrrfed and was just about to crawl out of the sleeping bag when it realized that it didn't want to do that just yet. First there was the issue of that burning body. Was it still burning? Pan didn't really want to go see. Then there was the fact they'd have to do something about the trinkets. It didn't really want to do anything with those either. It had thought that the whole point of adventuring was to go have fun, not to do stuff. Someone would obviously have to correct it where this was concerned. And on that note, that someone would probably be Skylar.

Remembering now that Skylar had been rather cross with it last night, Pandora mrrfed and slowly withdrew back into its sleeping roll, pulling its blanket just as slowly over its head. Maybe it could pretend it wasn't awake yet. Did Sky notice it had moved? Maybe more disguise was needed. Pan wriggled a bit more then before settling down and trying to stay as still as possible, which of course was even more suspicious than if it hadn't since Pans tended not to stay very still for very long.

By Skylar, Former Elven Slave (Sky)

Wednesday, September 2, 2009 - 5:29 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

Not long after dawn broke a small ‘mrrf’ alerted Skylar to the fact that Pandora had awoken. At least she thought Pandora had awoken, but when she looked around the other woman seemed to be acting rather oddly.

Sky watched as she slowly withdrew back into her sleeping roll, pulled her blanket over her head, wriggled around and then finally laid completely still, knowing perfectly well that Pandora was awake, but letting the performance continue out of sheer curiosity. Eventually she realised that it was over and she poked experimentally at the bundle of blankets wondering why Pandora was pretending to be sleeping. Pan wasn’t exactly the sort of person who liked to keep still for very long, and she didn’t seem the sort of person to be sleepy in the mornings. For a moment Sky wondered if she was ill again but after a few moments her face fell in disappointment as she realised that actually Pandora was still upset with her from the night before. Pan was the first friend Sky had made in a long time, and she didn’t like the idea of falling out with her at all. If only she hadn’t got cross with her over the fire; it wasn’t really her fault after all.

In the end she thought that perhaps the smell of tasty food would get her to come out; Pan was very fond of nice food, seeming to have never eaten half the things Skylar had bought for her in her life, and it seemed the best way to get back on her good side. Quickly she pulled out a frying pan and located some sausages and bacon in one of the packs, beginning to fry them over the fire straight away.

As the delicious smell started to waft across the campsite she put the pan aside for a moment, crawling over to the Pandora shaped lump and tugging ineffectually at the blanket over her head. “Come on, get up. I cooked you nice food.” Eventually her tugging revealed a bit of hair and Skylar patted it triumphantly, if a little awkwardly, before returning to her cooking, digging out some mushrooms and beginning to fry them as well.

By Androgynous Fire Elemni (Pandora)

Wednesday, September 2, 2009 - 7:12 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

Pandora seemed determined to hide out for a while longer, or at least until it could figure out if Skylar was still mad at her or not. Eventually though the smell of cooking food was proving too tempting and Pan didn't know what to do; surely this meant Sky wasn't mad at it anymore? If she was mad she wouldn't be offering Pan food. Okay then, maybe it was safe to come out.

Cautiously, Pan edged out of its sleeping roll, smiling timidly at Sky's words. Its eyes fell to the pan with the cooking mushrooms, and Pan wrapped a blanket around itself before scooting over to see what else Skylar had made.

"Thank you," it murmured quietly as it took a plate. "I'm sorry I didn't keep the fire up properly." Silently it began to eat, still looking a bit anxious.

By Skylar, Former Elven Slave (Sky)

Wednesday, September 2, 2009 - 8:31 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

It seemed Pan was still feeling upset and Skylar was at a loss to know what to do. What did people do in these situations? She had never had a friend to upset since she had been very young, and back then she would cry and her friends would cry and parents would frown and make them say sorry and then somehow everything would be all right again, but now there were no parents and crying was out of the question and Skylar didn’t have any experience of saying sorry. Sorry was something yew said as a slave when yew spilt the wine or hadn’t cleaned something properly or did something else to earn the Master or Mistress’s displeasure. She had no idea how friends said sorry.

It seemed Pandora did though, because unexpectedly she was apologising about the fire, but that didn’t really help. Somehow Skylar still wasn’t sure exactly what she was supposed to say. “It’s all right.” Awkwardly she patted Pan’s arm, trying to give her a reassuring smile. “I didn’t mean to be cross.” Seeming at a loss for anything else to say she cast about and suddenly pulled over the loaf of bread left over from the night before. “Let’s make toast!” She cut a few thick slices before spearing one on the end of a toasting fork she’d brought and handing another one to Pandora, before skilfully holding it over the right parts of the fire to brown it nicely. “See you can toast it on the fire like this.”

By Androgynous Fire Elemni (Pandora)

Monday, September 7, 2009 - 8:18 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

Pandora wrung its hands together before following Skylar to the fire to imitate her. "Yes, I know how to make toast," it asserted, wrinkling its nose. What, did Sky think it was stupid? Toasting involved fire, meaning Pan naturally knew how to make toast. Hmph.

At least Sky had forgiven it now though, and Pan nodded quietly in acknowledgment of her acceptance before resuming toasting the bread. When it was finished, Pan pulled it from the fire and quickly devoured its slices, enjoying the warm feeling it stirred up inside her as the food was immediately incinerated. Hooray! At least it tasted nice.

After the bread, Pandora quietly began to collect some flame, one handful at a time, so it could eat those too for the sake of actual nourishment since the food food was just for taste. "Are we still going to see your home city?" Pan inquired hopefully, tugging at a lock of its hair.

By Skylar, Former Elven Slave (Sky)

Monday, September 7, 2009 - 8:41 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

“Yes, we are. We’ll set off as soon as we can. I need to wash up first.” She sighed and glance at the rock some distance away where the body was still burning. They needed to make sure the job was finished before they left, but she wondered exactly how long it took for a body to completely burn to ash. Apparently quite a long time.

There was one thing they could do though, and Skylar looked hesitantly at Pandora as she ate fire once again, wondering if it would be fair to ask her. In the end she decided that, fair or not, it had to be done. “I’ll go and wash up, but I need you to go to the fire over there and make it burn hotter… you know. More intense or whatever, until the uh… until everything is reduced to ash. Can you do that? I mean… you can do stuff with fire, is that something you can do? We can't go until it all burns away.” She shrugged helplessly and began to gather up the dishes and utensils to take to the nearby stream for cleaning. Hopefully Pandora would be able to do as she asked, since they could hardly go and leave a half burnt body lying around by the side of the road; Skylar could only imagine the reaction of the next person to come along and spot it, and it would not be at all good.

By Androgynous Fire Elemni (Pandora)

Tuesday, September 8, 2009 - 3:50 am GMT | Edit | Link |

Glad that it had been given a way out of chores, Pan nodded in agreement. "I can do that," it confirmed. It only paused to pull its clothes for the day on, mostly while beneath its blanket thankfully, though obviously given its antics so far it wasn't concerned about its own modesty; once changed into its standard tunic and trousers, Pan wriggled a bit, still not used to the new attire. It was so light an nonrestrictive. Strange.

Without further ado Pan turned and marched back over to the burning body. How long did it take to burn bodies? A very long time apparently, and impatiently, Pandora clapped its hands together and then abruptly raised them into the air; the flames surrounding the body immediately engulfed the thing that had anyone been standing nearby, the heat might have burned them indirectly; nonetheless Pandora nodded in approval and stepped back, holding its hands out as if somehow physically channeling the fire.

When all was left was a pile of ash, Pan lowered its hands, nodded again, and then went scuttling back over to Skylar. "I've finished," it proclaimed simply, folding its hands behind its back and looking as if it were waiting for instruction before realizing there was packing up to do. Deciding to busy itself with that for now, Pan began to hum to itself as it tidied up.

By Skylar, Former Elven Slave (Sky)

Tuesday, September 8, 2009 - 6:45 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

By the time Skylar returned from doing the dishes Pandora had done her job well and all that was left was a pile of smouldering ash and apparently Pan was going to simply stand there until she received another instruction. Unable to help a chuckle at her strange behaviour Sky wondered whether it would be best to actually tell her to do something, or whether she should just wait to see if Pandora came up with something on her own; Sky wanted a friend, not a servant, and anyway she was wary of giving orders to anyone, because after all she’d been the one following them most of her life.

In the end though the whole thing was resolved when Pandora decided to actually start tidying things away of her own accord and with the two of them working together it only took a few minutes until everything was packed away. At last only the jar remained and Sky held it up thoughtfully, examining the strange ruby that stoppered the neck, even giving it an experimental tug, although not too hard, since actually she wasn’t sure she wanted the thing to come out. Who knew what was in the jar? “What do you think it is?” she asked, giving the jar an experimental shake before putting it to her ear as if expecting to hear something.

By Androgynous Fire Elemni (Pandora)

Tuesday, September 8, 2009 - 7:10 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

Pandora strapped its bag back onto its back, just like real adventurers did. It was so nice to have a bag! Before, the elemni had had to stow stuff down its bodice, and it hadn't realized how ineffective that was anyway since it lacked the proper...uhm...parts to fill out said bodices anyway. Oh well. Bags were much more convenient.

When Skylar began to examine that jar though, Pandora came back over to her and poked her nose against it, staring cross eyed at the thing as if this might somehow help identify what it was. "It just looks like a jar with a ruby," Pan pointed out, noting the obvious of course as if that would help. Nonetheless it suddenly grasped onto the jar still held in Sky's hands and tried to nibble at the stopper, though for what reason was not clear. Eventually though, Pan wrinkled its nose. "Tastes like ruby. It looked like rock candy for a second though," it explained, looking rather disappointed.

By Skylar, Former Elven Slave (Sky)

Wednesday, September 9, 2009 - 6:46 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

“Yes, but there must be something inside it,” Skylar insisted, trying to peer through the blue crystal, until Pandora decided to snatch it away and… eat it? This woman got stranger by the second. “Of course it isn’t rock candy! It must be important if the man died bringing it back here. And he lived for so long; maybe he had to stay alive so long to protect it.”

She fished the pendant out of the pouch she had put it in and held it next to the ruby stopper. The man had said that the necklace kept the jar safe; did that mean it would open it as well? Skylar wasn’t particularly sure she wanted to find out and after regarding both items for a few moments she shrugged and put the pendant away before tucking the jar safely into her saddlebag. “Come on, let’s get moving or we’ll never reach Daelows before nightfall.”

Swinging herself back onto her horse Skylar waited until Pan had mounted as well before setting off up the road.

By Androgynous Fire Elemni (Pandora)

Saturday, September 12, 2009 - 1:56 am GMT | Edit | Link |

With a huff, Pan grimaced and produced another flame in its hand, which it promptly consumed, probably to get the taste of rubies out of its mouth. "I don't know, maybe it was special rock candy," it retorted meekly, obviously not really believing itself. Oh well. A man had died to bring this stuff to them for whatever reason, so it must have been more important than rock candy. A pity. "I don't really want to know what's inside it to be honest," Pandora added, eyeing the bottle with apprehension. It looked much more relieved when Skylar stowed it away again though, and it nodded in agreement when she mentioned they ought to set off now. Having no quarrel with that, Pandora clambered onto its own horse after securing its belongings, and then started off after Sky.

Pandora remained silent for a while, pondering over...whatever random things Pandoras pondered about. After a while though it scratched its head and inquired somewhat hesitantly, "So...are we visiting your family in Terajin for real? Are they all elves too like you?" It seemed Sky didn't talk about her family much (what with having been a slave and all, though of course Pan didn't know this) but Pandora was genuinely curious. Besides, didn't friends tend to know about one another's backgrounds?

By Skylar, Former Elven Slave (Sky)

Saturday, September 12, 2009 - 5:14 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

Happy to ride in silence for a while so she could think about the strange jar and what it might be, Skylar was somewhat startled by Pandora’s sudden question. “Family? My family?” Why was Pan suddenly asking about her family, and where had she got the impression from that they might be visiting them? Since when did home equal family? “My family are dead,” she said woodenly, keeping her eyes fixed on the road ahead and making it clear that she didn’t want to talk about them.

After a few moments though she seemed to rethink this; after all, Pandora didn’t mean any harm; how could she have known? And for most people home surely meant family so it wasn’t as if she had made any great assumption. “Yes, of course they were elves too.” Her voice was gentler now, although she still did not expand on any more details, instead glancing quickly across at Pandora with a curious expression. “Do yew have any family?” It had suddenly occurred to her that she did not know this about Pandora either, and that if she could get the woman talking about her background she might find out some more about what race she actually was.

By Androgynous Fire Elemni (Pandora)

Sunday, September 13, 2009 - 12:23 am GMT | Edit | Link |

“Oh.” Great way to stick its foot in its mouth. Pandora fell silent immediately after Skylar’s reply, awkwardly wringing its hands together, obviously having run out of things to say in face of this mistake. “Okay,” it murmured hesitantly after Sky spoke a little more though; was she still mad? It was hard to tell. Pandora wouldn’t be surprised though; it seemed the Elemni was incapable of doing lots of things. Personally it wouldn’t have wanted to have to deal with someone who couldn’t do lots of things either, especially when that someone was always getting in the way. Oh dear. Was Pan always in the way? Maybe that’s why Skylar was cross lately. Or maybe she just didn’t like talking about family. People tended not to like to talk about dead people, though as to why this was Pan wasn’t clear.

It did look confused at Sky’s returned question though. “Family? I thought only other people had family.” Not for the first time, Pandora pondered whether or not it was supposed to have family too. “I guess I had a dad. He was an alchemist. He was very nice to me and he liked to play with fire so he made me play with fire all the time too. Sometimes I spent a long time in the laboratory playing with fire and other shiny things. Then I think he got bored of fire so he left.” And that was that. The Elemni hesitated; it didn’t seem sure as to whether or not it was supposed to feel sad about this, so it just shrugged and continued to plod along after Skylar.

By Skylar, Former Elven Slave (Sky)

Sunday, September 13, 2009 - 6:36 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

Skylar puzzled over what Pandora had just disclosed. “Everyone has family,” she said, surprised that Pandora should not be aware of this basic piece of information. What sort of life had she led if she had never realised everyone had a family? The question was soon answered as Pandora went on to describe her life with a man she supposed was her father. How could she not be sure? Skylar was actually beginning to doubt that he was her father, especially when Pandora described how he had got bored and left; what sort of man did that to their own child? Even the very worst Masters she had worked for had at least cared for their children in their own ways; none of them would ever have considered leaving them to fend for themselves because they were bored, so what sort of man had this been?

“He got bored? How old were you when he left? Did he make you play with fire when yew were a child?” That was another thing, this whole playing with fire sounded very odd. What sort of father let his child play with fire? Fire was dangerous; something to be feared and respected, not played with. But then perhaps Pan’s ‘father’ had been like her; able to create and consume fire without suffering any injury to himself. It was all very odd. “Where did you live?”

By Androgynous Fire Elemni (Pandora)

Sunday, September 13, 2009 - 7:54 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

Skylar was silly. Of course everyone didn’t have family. Only some people lucky people did. Sky was one of those lucky people…or then again maybe she wasn’t, since her family was dead. Oh dear, this all took far too much thought to figure out, so Pandora said nothing, just nodding to itself again. “Yes he got bored. I don’t remember how old I was, but I was little. I’ve always played with fire because there was no fire anywhere else.” Pan giggled, seeming to find Sky’s questions rather silly. “I lived on an island in the middle of the lake. It was for my own good so I wouldn’t get lost, because lots of children get lost if they wander too far.” The Elemni fiddled with the reins, biting its lip. “Because there was a lake I didn’t want to go anywhere but home. Inside the house there was a lot of glass things. The laboratory was my home with lots of glass and fire and funny colored liquids. And shiny things and pointy things.”

Pandora trailed off, tilting its head to the side. It didn’t know that Skylar might have been asking about ‘where it lived’ as in where in the worlde. All it remembered was the house and the lake and the lab and… “And there was a big mirror. Father said it was so I can see how I changed when I grew up.” Pan nodded, seeming to remember now. “When I was little I think I kind of looked like you.” It giggled shyly. “I had pointy ears—“ it held up its hands to its ears to indicate, “—and these funny pillows on my chest like you have,” it added with another giggle, pointing to its chest. “And other things…” Even Pan seemed to figure out that elaborating further would just be inappropriate though. “But then when I grew up I didn’t anymore. Father said it happens to all people who live in laboratories.”

The Elemni pouted suddenly. “I wish I didn’t live in a laboratory though. Some days, living there hurt. But when father left, it was quiet. I didn’t like quiet either.” Pandora’s attention seemed to be waning though, and it also realized it was probably going on too long. “Sorry my story’s too long. Are we almost there yet?”

By Skylar, Former Elven Slave (Sky)

Monday, September 14, 2009 - 6:00 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

“Funny pillows? Pointy ears…? What…?” Skylar could hardly believe what she was hearing. It was sounding more and more like Pandora had been an elf, a female elf, who had been… what? Experimented on? Changed? Transformed by magick? “Pan I don’t think he was your father…” She regretted it the moment she had said it; it seemed he was the only ‘family’ Pandora had ever known, and Sky knew people could be quite blinded when it came to their family’s faults. “I mean… well, was he an elf like me with pointed ears? A male elf of course, without the uh… funny pillows.” At least Skylar reflected, the mystery of Pandora’s gender was solved; she had definitely been a female to start with before… before…

Oh dear. Skylar didn’t even want to think about it, but the thought was there all the same. This man, that Pandora was calling her father had changed her somehow from an elf into what she was now. At least, Skylar assumed she had, and immediately her imagination conjured up all sorts of frightful scenarios. There had been pain, Pandora said, and fire, and pointy things. Had he been cruel to her? How could anyone be cruel to poor, innocent Pandora? Not that Skylar was any stranger to the extremes of cruelty umanoids were capable of, but it had seemed so different when it was happening to her; to hear that perhaps Pandora had been tortured and changed against her will seemed somehow a hundred times worse than anything she had experienced.

“I don’t think you should have lived in the laboratory,” she said quietly after a while, “Do you remember living anywhere else before that? Was it him who called yew Pandora?” Maybe there was something Pandora would be able to remember that might give her a clue to where she had really come from. Skylar suddenly felt that it was very important to find out. “Your story isn’t too long. I’m interested. Tell me.”

By Androgynous Fire Elemni (Pandora)

Monday, September 14, 2009 - 6:31 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

Pandora pouted at what Skylar said. “Of course he was my father, everyone has to have a father silly.” Obviously Sky didn’t know this; good thing she had Pandora to remind her. “I don’t really remember what he looks like. He always wore a white coat though and had these funny glass things on his eyes.” Pan made little ‘o’ shapes with its thumbs and forefingers and help them up to its eyes. “I guess he had pointy ears, but no pillows. One of his hands wasn’t even a hand, it was shiny and pointy. Kind of like the shiny and pointy things in the lab. The ones that I…uhm…” It trailed off again looking confused, and it raised a hand to its mouth, biting at its fingertips.

“No he didn’t call me Pandora. A random person I met one day in a big Uman city called me Pandora. She said it was because my eyes-“ Pan pointed to the heavy liners and funny color of its eyes, “-reminded her of her cat named Pandora.” It giggled. “What if I was a cat before? That would be silly.” Pan seemed absolutely oblivious to the fact Skylar was trying to make sense of her story; indeed, it didn’t seem like there was much to make sense of, at least not how Pandora told it. The Elemni’s childish manner of storytelling was difficult at best to interpret, and even Pan seemed to realize it was having trouble replying to Skylar’s questions.

“Uhm…I don’t remember if I lived anywhere else. Lots of times I dreamed I did. I lived in a forest with big trees and tall houses and more people with pointy ears.” Pan held its arms out now as if to indicate just how big the trees and how tall the houses were. “They were very real dreams. I still remember them. But father told me they were silly dreams and I should forget them.” It tilted its head to the side, blinking as if concentrating hard. “So I did…I don’t remember them really.” It looked disappointed now, as if thinking Sky was expecting something more interesting or elaborate than that. “Sorry…there’s not much else to say.” That even Pan couldn’t piece together the fragments of its own story didn’t seem to bother it; it didn’t seem to find anything strange at all about this. “The rest of it is just stuff that happened at the laboratory, but I don’t remember much. Just that it hurt. And I spent a lot of time sleeping in a big fire. At least that was comfy.”

Its gaze fell and it stared at the horse’s reins for a bit before holding its hands together and beginning to conjure up little flames just for the sake of watching them.

By Skylar, Former Elven Slave (Sky)

Tuesday, September 15, 2009 - 7:01 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

“I know everyone has to have a father, but perhaps your father was someone else? An elf perhaps?” Sighing she gave up the point. Apparently Pandora wasn’t at all curious about her past, nor did she seem entirely bothered that she could remember little about it. Skylar was getting the impression that some sort of magick to make her forget her previous life had been at work, but the fact that Pandora neither realised, nor worried about this made Skylar drop the point… for now. What was the point of upsetting her by explaining just how odd it all was?

“Maybe one day we’ll go and find where you lived,” Skylar suggested at last, “I’m pretty sure you were never a cat though.” Smiling at the other woman, she lapsed back into silence, spending the next few hours musing over the whole thing, until the walls of Daelows City appeared on the horizon. “Look, we’re almost there.” Grinning she spurred her horse into a trot, eager to reach the city before lunchtime.

(TO:	The Capital, Greater Daelows: Gates of the City: South Gate)

By Androgynous Fire Elemni (Pandora)

Wednesday, September 16, 2009 - 5:41 pm GMT | Edit | Link |

Grinning at Skylar, Pandora chuckled quietly. "Maybe. But wouldn't it have been nice to be a cat?" That thought entertained Pan for a little while before Sky spoke again; they were almost at the gates! No, they were at the gates. Well, back to Daelows it was. This was much more fun now that there was only the two of them to worry about; Pan hadn't been so fond of their last visit. Come to think of it it couldn't really remember why they had last been here in the first place. Oh well. At least it had discovered rock candy while it was here.

(TO:	Greater Daelows: South Gate)

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