Greetings. I am Arislan Rin'Ta. I have been searching for quites sometime the Elves that moved on from the realms so many years ago. I hope in you all , to find a new home, where I myself can move on from my past in the realms.
Where do I come from exactly , you ask?
And why have I come here? To help shed light on the answers to those very reasonable questions , I shall bring to light my past. I will explain particulary , the events that have brought me here to your Tel'Ruid .ARISLAN'S STORY
After the fall of Neverwinter, the balance of power in Faer^un was never the same.At least that is what my father always said. How acurate could his opinion be?, I wondered. After all , he wAs wrong about the shining sea. But we shall get to that in due time.
As the story goes, my mother,father,and young sister and I lived in a small agricultural town called Longsaddle in Faer^un , which is made up of the northwest quarter of the greatest continent in Toril.Forgive me if my account of my family is brief and uninformative , but the scars lay as open wounds still today, and thier memories are difficult to speak of. We had taken to living in human dwellings since the destruction of Neverwinter only five years earlier. Since we had not lived in a large community of elves to begin with, my father had no difficulty deeming it safer that we move out of our forest home and into longsaddle to escape the encroaching danger of the elves of Menzoberranzan.
There seemed to be less to keep those evil elves in check now with Neverwinter gone, and with most of the forces of Faer^un massing in the North to meet the onslaught of those united under the Chimera Banner, ( A horde of Orcs ,Goblins ,and Bugbears intent on the destruction of Faer^un) ,there was even less to hinder the Drow's raids on the towns and shires that bordered the deep forests of the Underdark. Although Longsaddle was home to a powerfull and noble family of wizards, my father, believing even Longsaddle to be within the reaches of the hordes and decided to move us away from danger , and "out of harms reach" . In truth I believe he saw the strength in my eyes and my desire to defy the hordes, and moved ME away from the allied forces zones of recruitment.
The Idea was to travel to a little port town on the edge of the Shining Sea. There a boat that he had recently purchased, ,just for this expedition,was awaiting our arrival. We anticipated the trip to be quite long and arduous. It was to be made in a wagon drawn by only two horses. My father said that we could not afford more horses because all of the family assets had gone into our new,"safe home", in a place called Nimbrall. I felt guilty hearing that our fortune was now gone as I wore ,always, a valuable family heirloom given to me by my grandfather before his passing. I felt that I should have parted with it to help afford the boat. But, alas, this slow paced tromp to the port village where the ship was docked would carry the most heafty price our small family had paid yet... A life.
In our haste to arrive in Portsmouth, little was done to accomodate sleep,as the voyage across the Shining Sea would deliver much time for that. One night, on a road bordered by treeline, when the moon seemed at it's dimmest, we failed to notice a shade not fully drawn in the cabin of the coach.
This tiny opening beamed the light of a candle within the coach throught the forest . And to the keenly developed nightvision of a Drow, this was an invitation for mayhem.
They lept from the treeline , like shadows across a black velvet curtain, and reached the coach unoticed . It was not until the the door latch of the coach which had a propensity for sticking and squeaking revealed them, that we knew we were in danger. That night, I saw a side of my father that I never could have imagined existed. Before I knew what was going on the horses were in full gallop, the reigns were in my hand, and my father had climbed onto the top of the coach! The moonlight glistened off of the sword I never knew he possesed as I watched it swish through the air on either side of the coach at our attackers. Their attempt at stealth failed, they now mounted horses which had emerged from the brush to carry them alongside of the buggy. With a few clanks of steel , a moan of pain or two, and within just a few moments the melee was over.
"Stop the coach !!" my father screamed over the the pounding of the horses hooves. As I did what was asked me of me , I could to make out the sobbing of my mother who along with my sister, had been riding in the cab. Horses at full stop , I climbed down off the jockseat of the buggy with reigns still in hand. What I saw I still cannot recall without tears... My father's blade, dripping with drow blood now lay on the side of the road. He stood leaning into the coach consoling my mother. I dared not go nearer for fear of what I may see next. As my father emerged from the cab, he did so holding the still body of my precious sister.. My sister who had never harmed a creature in Toril!. She was bloodied and drew no breath. The body of her dark elven killer lay at my fathers feet, having been dragged out of the cab prior to my dismounting. There was nothing any of us could do but sob. We were so far away from any kind of help and it would be too late upon arrival in Portsmouth. My fathers eyes flashed with the fire of a thousand buring suns as he dug that miniature grave in the glade.
Everything was harder after that night and we did not discuss it. I now rode in the coach to accompany my mourning mother, partly to be out of my fathers sight as I cried, and partly because I had no choice. My father would not weep openly and needed to grieve. Even the rations on the remainder of the coach ride tasted bitter as the memory of my sister Feya's death was still fresh in my mind. We arrived in Portsmouth 7 days later.
The Arr'il My'ah seemed to be a sturdy boat, more than capable of taking us to Nimbral across the calm seas of the Shining. With it's magnificently tall sails I imagined it would be a swift voyage too , that is, if the winds were with us. For three days of the estimated six day voyage the sea showed us compasion for our loss and sped us swiftly along ,thus reducing the estimated time of our trek. But on the fourth night , while I slept ,we were smitten by the spirits of the sea.
I awoke washed up on a beach with only the memory of the hull of the ship opening and spilling me and the contents into the sea.I saw not a sign of anyone else and my voice went hoarse screaming the names of my loved ones. I slept on the beach for the three nights, combing the shores daily for thier presence or worse, remains. I found nothing of the sort. There I was alone ,with only the clothing on my back and the heirloom around my neck. Finaly the lack of drinking water wore on me and I began searching inland on what I belived to be a medium sized island in the middle of the once again peacefull Shining Sea.
I wondered ,what sins had my father commited in his hidden past that brought such ill fate to us all . Or was this what I deserved for not rebelling against his authority and meeting the hordes and dark forces that threatened our homeland on the battlefield? But certainly it must not be that, since no gods would punish the innocent right along with the guilty simply for what the guilty had NOT done. It must have been something that had BEEN DONE that brouth the wrath of the gods upon us.
I wandered for what was the longest day of my yet short life before I finally happened upon a small fishinghole and two very short and stubby fellows with fishing poles in hand. They had long beards and hairy arms, and were drinking,laughing ,and enjoying themselves. They turned to look at me and, appearing as they had looked death full in the face, turned to each other and exclaimed in unison.."A Silver Elf? An' 'ere ?" "Looking like the hounds drug'em 'ere!" added the larger and more muscular of the two as he hopped to his feet and began a fire in thier cooking pit. The other of the two peculiar fellows introduced himself "I'm Donat..., Donat Thunderpuncher". He helped me to a seat by the fire.He introduced me to his oarsman, Quipper Fishquisher. As the sun went down and I was fed and my minor wounds tended too.
Now , It seemed that Donat was the brother of a famous captain named Bumpo Thunderpuncher of the river runner boat "The Bottom Feeder" and that he and Quipper, being the best of friends, were here on vacation for the next few months. I lived with them in their makeshift camp near the fishing hole for a few months. I searched the island everyday. When I would venture with my two friends to nearby islands i continued my search there as well. Those few months felt like an eternity. I was forced to resign myself to the facts. If my parents were not in Nimbral, I was the last of my bloodline.
I had by this point, formed a bond with the two friendly dwarves and gotten to know a bit about thier customs. They told me many stories of thier amazing adventures. Of particular interest to me were two stories. One of a western land which they had briefly visited named Britania and another of a young Drow who had forsaken his peoples evil ways and become a hero. His name was Drizzt'. They had met Drizzt' and carried him down a river on my home continnent in the "Bottom Feeder" on a perilous journey fraught with excitement and danger.
All of this helped to take my mind off of my sorrow a bit , and I soon stopped dwelling on the loss of my family. When the time neared that Donat and Quipper should be returning to duty aboard "The Bottom Feeder" I asked them to teach me what they would of sailing so that I may go to Britania and seek adventures of my own. Perhaps I would find a new home free of all the undesirable reminders of the family I had lost. They obliged me , and within one month I had become able to sail and navigate on my own.
The dwarves had grown to like me and admired my ambition , but were hesitant as they dropped me off at a port on Nimbrall. But they did so anyway and wished me the best of luck. They gave me stout dwarven hugs and then set sail for a place called Icewind Dale, where they would join up with the rest of the crew of the "Bottom Feeder".
I searched the Island of Nimbrall three times over speaking to and questioning every soul I laid eyes upon. This was to no avail. I did not find my family there. I did however meet an old burnt out fishermen named Glim, who in return for my only posession, (the Family Heirloom, which as it turns out was very valuable indeed), traded me a quite seaworthy , tho rather small boat. I would use this boat to sail west across the Trackless Sea to Britania. I obtained the necassary supplies for the voyage, and then started out boldy. I sailed for a month or more (The exact number of days is lost to my recollection now) and finally landed in a port on a small island in a city called Moonglow .
Moonglow is packed full of arcane libraries and practitioners of the magical arts. They are somewhat suspicious of outsiders but welcomed me nonetheless (probably due to my elven blood). Tho welcomed into port and not turned away, I was quickly directed to a place called Haven, where I could find shelter and begin a trade to support myself here in Britania. It was here in Haven that I learned of a place near the druidic city of Yew, where others of my species were rumored to live . A place I dreamt of for weeks after. A place refered to as Tel'Ruid ...........
So you see, I have little left of the life that bound me to my home continent. I have no wishes to be there any longer, and now seek a life here among you.
I hope that you will consider my request.
{! Arislan Rin'Ta !}
