Tales from Lorianthil

Lothira took him to the Tribunal building just as the dawn broke the night, casting a silver glow upon the stone. Damien gave a nod as she departed then turned toward the stone doors. The doors loomed several feet above his head, carved with an ancient runed circle. He pushed on the doors, but they did not move. Using his full strength, he tried again but received no purchase. He cursed out loud, wiping the dirt off his hands. And then it struck him: The runed circle was no doubt holding...

Falling droplets of water stirred him awake. When Damien opened his eyes he saw the hanging branches of a willow tree above him, and the sound of gentle rushing water struck familiarity. This place...he had been here before, but never had he seen it in the Spring. The warm air made him feel like closing his eyes and falling asleep all over again, but Lothira's voice echoed in the space, causing him to sit up. "Slowly," she cautioned, placing a hand on his shoulder. Damien came to realize...

Ashlyn sat on her knees, facing the Tribunal. Her hands were still bound. Enclosing her was a runed circle that had been etched into the stone floor centuries before. The circle was the elves’ most ingenious invention to keep a Sorceress in check, and now it held Ashlyn with its grip. Of the three Tribunal lords, Kallus stood closest to her, his face hardened with contempt. Ashlyn kept her head down as Kallus paced around her, just skirting the edges of the circle. “I asked you to stay...

Ashlyn and Damien turned, meeting the elf's angry glare. It was startling the way Kallus had appeared from within the line of trees. He blended all too well amongst the forest, only his aquamarine eyes stood out, filled with bitterness. "You followed us?" Damien winced. "I followed you," Kallus pointed. "Come away from the girl or I shall make you." "And what do you plan to do, Kallus? You've already won. I was just...saying goodbye." Kallus stepped forward. "I tire of your lies, your...

“ASH!” Damien shouted at the top of his lungs. He hoped she would hear him from far away as he sprinted toward her house. He pushed himself harder than he ever had before in an attempt to arrive before Calda would. Damn everything if he was too late. When he arrived at the house, he found it empty. No one had answered the door and there were no lights lit inside. Perhaps Ashlyn had the same idea to go searching for him, or perhaps she had already left Gumber altogether. “Ash?” He tapped on...

3 May It was a cloudy day. Outside, a soft rain was sprinkling down upon the Gumberwood. Though the trees provided cover from the rain, a misty fog had set itself low to the ground, making residents prefer to stay inside their doors. Due to the unideal weather, Damien and Naelen spent their afternoon doing studies in the library. Lanara was with them, monitoring their lists of mathematic equations. Well into their tenth set, Tenila came into the library with a stack of mail in her hands...

The day was finally shifting into evening, the sun disappearing in the west. The forest was now dark with a navy blue and growing pitch black. Damien and Ashlyn made their way back to her house and found Calda sitting on her sofa, lost in a book. "And where have you two been?" Calda asked skeptically. "At the river," Ashlyn said, trying to tame her smile. "We took the time to dry off." Placing her book down, Calda rose to face them. "Perhaps it's best you two say good night now. It's...

28 April Damien finished a day's work in the forge before going over to Ashlyn's house in the early evening. He refused to admit that he felt shaken and nervous. Still, he wanted to honor his agreement to meet with her. He knocked on the door and was a bit surprised that Ashlyn had answered it so quickly. She was dressed for an outing, and her face flushed as she stepped onto the deck. "I'm ready to go," she said, moving down the steps and onto the grass. "Ash..." Damien paused, feeling...

Once back at her house, Ashlyn had Damien lay down on her mother's sofa. His head rested back as Ashlyn knelt down beside him. "Perhaps you should open your shirt," she said, resisting the redness creeping into her cheeks. Giving a pensive stare, Damien undid the buttons on his shirt and let the two halves dangle at his sides. Ashlyn's fingers traced the deep-colored veins along his ribs, weaving their way inward. Damien gripped her hand, causing her to stop. "What are you doing?" "I'm...

When Ashlyn opened her eyes, she found herself trapped in a giant bird cage. Her prison was built with slender steel bars and a rounded dome at the top. “Girithane!” She got to her feet, tugging at the bars. “This doesn’t solve anything!” It was quiet where she stood captive. After scanning the layout of the place, Ashlyn realized she was completely alone. Damien and Girithane were nowhere to be found. Her hands glowed with power, and the metal bars soaked it up like dew. But the cage did...

Girithane led Damien and Ashlyn back the way they had come. Once they arrived at the mossy circle of stones, Girithane stepped inside it and disappeared. Like the flapping of wings, his figure vanished and left nothing in its trace. “Whoa.” Damien was startled at the sight of it. “Where did he go?” “He went inside,” Ashlyn said, placing him in the circle with her. Lifting her arms, the circle began to spin. The forest around them blurred together before fading. When the world pieced...

As Ashlyn made her way from the deep part of the wood, she stopped at the sight of a beautiful flower standing by its lonesome. It struck her as odd that there were no other blossoms of its kind, though it did appear noble in the way it rose above the grass. "Hmm." Her face lit with delight as she bent down to brush its petals. "You are a lovely one, aren't you?" Unable to sever its connection to the earth, she left the flower where it was and pressed on. But the sound of lurking feet...

Ashlyn reveled in the sound of the rushing stream, the pure light glinting off the water. She had missed this: standing in the cool riverbed as the current gently pushed against her ankles. The pebbles and stones beneath her feet were smooth, softened by moss. Bending down, she picked up a stone that was to her liking, raw as a precious gem now that the water had chipped away its roughest layers. Not far downstream, her mother, Calda, was doing the same, picking up worthy stones and placing...

27 April Ashlyn woke up later than she deemed normal. It was a calm, glistening morning. She heard the chirping of robins as they flew back to their nests to feed their hatchlings. After getting dressed, she came out to greet Calda at the dining table. "Good morning, Mother." "You slept in, too, I see." Calda smiled, sipping a full glass of orange juice. She waited as Ashlyn gathered her own glass of juice and sat down. "What do you have planned for the day?" "Nothing in particular,"...

Ashlyn rushed out of her bedroom, eager to put some distance between her and Damien. Her chest felt tight and heavy as she breathed, as she contemplated the hundreds of innocent lives lost. A few paces away from her now, Damien stood leaning against one of the chairs. He was quiet, as if waiting for her to speak. "Y--you," she stammered, "you killed all those people in Githal. You completely decimated the place didn't you?" "Ash, I don't--" "Didn't you?" "Probably," he shrugged. "It's...