Autumn 1372

The heat of the warrior's face was fluctuating in bright shades of orange and yellows, betraying his excitement over the discovery as much as his voice was. Ashara just smiled up at him as she listened. She knew little of the intricacies of weaponry, her knowledge stemming mostly from the kinds of wounds different arms may cause and how best to treat them, but thanks to Elric's explanation, she could understand the importance of this one.

It wasn't a gleaming magical dagger. With the rust spots and dulled blade, she doubted that it would hold up to a single heated battle. What made the amalgamated weapon so special was what it symbolized. The idea that many races and cultures could work together to create a place of harmonious civilization where craft, creativity, knowledge and wisdom could reach heights previously unknown. A place where a person's value was based on deed and not race... It was a symbol of what Myth Drannor once was, and the hope of what it might be again one day.

"I hope you intend on taking this back home with us," she said softly, while carefully running her thumb along the length of the blade. "It would make an excellent subject of discussion... An important lesson for future generations." Ashara could feel her own face warming up a bit at the thought.

"Or maybe Vailis would like it... I know he would understand the true value of such an item, and he could easily be the most racially open minded elf I've ever met," she grinned. When the aged priest of Corellon had first met Ashara, he'd welcomed her in a way she could never have expected...with love and open arms... On top of that, she could never repay the elf for the unexpected kindness he'd shown a young half elf, who was all alone in the world.

Ashara hoped to bring the elf back some sort of souvenir. A token of appreciation for all of the effort and research he put into getting them to this point. Maybe somehow they'd find their way to the Hawksong estate, and maybe somehow they might find something that rightfully belongs to him as an heir. That was a lot of maybes, but the look on Vailis' face when that same half elf orphan that he helped to raise returned a piece of his lost heritage... That would be something to see!

"Oh yes... This is definitely coming home with us...." He said with a laugh. "We'll have to find another one for Vailiis." With a spring in his step he started sifting through the wreckage.

There was very little of even sentimental value. A few more half completed things, a lot of wooden handles.. That kept striking Elric as odd. He was fine with the metal rusting away to uselessness.. but since when does metal, dwarven metal for that matter, fall to pieces before the wooden handle holding it?

He walked over to where Ashara was searching, ready to move on to the next room. If there were more daggers around, it didn't appear they were in here.

The back room was even more spartan than the workshop. A ramshackle bed, a foot chest, and that's about it... A sliver of silver caught his eye as they ransacked what was left.

"Ohhh... this may be something..." he said with a touch of hope. Carefully he pulled out a gleaming sword. It's blade and handle appeared a polished silver, and around the hilt stood 6 green faceted gems. Dull things, but undoubtedly valuable.

As Ashara came over with the wierwood rod. Elric got a sudden flash of danger. The image of the sword he was holding cutting at his wife!!

"Back!" he yelled as the thing awkwardly bent at the handle and slashed in her direction. His warning came just in time as the blade passed harmlessly in front of her.

Awkwardly he hurled the cursed weapon across the room and heard it land with a clatter. Then another sound filled his ears. Steel scraping against stone and an unfamiliar plopping sound. Elric searched the area ahead of him with Infravision but saw nothing. Still he heard the sound of a blade cutting through air toward Ashara.

The visions were hard to see. Whatever it was, it had no heat, so he quickly opened the remains of his shirt and let the light shine out. What he saw stunned him for a moment.

The sword itself was alive! From the handle itself was some strange tentacle thing moving it around... and it was blinking with the dull green gem-eyes. The creature looked back and forth between the two intruders in it's lair and finally leaped almost giddily at Ashara, hopping and slashing in a most bizarre blade dance.

The xaver was happy, it had been a very long time since anyone had entered here. Especially anyone looking as appetizing as the female.

It hopped up high and as it landed in front of her it swooped down low cutting across her leg as if the mithral plate wasn't even there!

Ashara cried out in as much surprise as pain as the sword-shaped creature slashed down at her greaves, and through the mithril plate into her lower leg! No...not through... It somehow bypassed the mithril all together! She could see there was no damage to the plate, but she could definitely feel the damage to her leg!

When the monster came at her again, leaping high with its weird tentacle-like appendages, she swung hard with Dawnspeaker, connecting solidly with its 'blade' and sending it flying across the room to crash against the far wall and down into a pile of rubble.

"What the... What was that!?" Ashara looked to Elric with wide eyes as she reached down to her leg. "It went right through my armor!!"

Something didn't feel right with her greaves on that left leg now. Like it was loose or maybe there was something underneath it that shouldn't be... There wasn't time to check it out right at that moment though, since the first one, now with a good sized dent, began crawling out of the rubble with two of his friends!

She never realized that a sword could look....hungry...

Even as she swung her mace Elric already had their original dagger in flight and was drawing his sword. He blinked as what should have been a dead center shot simply passed through the long blade-like body. To his shock, the dagger spun into the wall and shattered into a dozen small pieces. Slowly he resheathed the sword.

"I've never heard of these things...." he answered as two more started shuffling out of the remains of the bed and started jumping and spinning at his wife. The first one hopped excitedly as it raced of toward the wall where the dagger broke.

"They sure seem to like you though!" he added as he moved to intercept the new targets. He caught one and threw it across the room as it bent and took a swipe at his face. He wasn't really sure what to do here... how do you kill a sword?

The other one leapt up and spun past Elric diving for Ashara's shoulder and scoring a glancing blow. Again the body of the little beast passed right through her armor into flesh. There was a popping noise as the pauldron covering her shoulder swung loose.

This was not...good...

Seeing that dagger shatter against the wall after passing through one of the insidious little creatures, caused her heart to sink. When the pauldron on her weapon shoulder popped loose, she didn't know if she wanted to scream or cry. Maybe scream first and cry later...

Her armor the only thing that kept her from being ripped limb from limb by those frog demons! That and a protective half elf... Mithril plate wasn't exactly easy to replace! Ashara was fairly sure she wasn't going to find another set of personally fitted, golden mithril plate mail with the Champions symbol etched onto the breastplate, just lying around here in the ruins! The armor had sentimental value to match the monetary value and she wasn't about to let these greedy little metallic cockroaches devour it!

Furious, she smashed Dawnspeaker into the thing that was bouncing and slashing in front of her, knocking it down to the floor. The priestess took the holy mace in both hands and brought it down violently onto the creature, where it cracked into two pieces.

"I think I killed one... Broke it at least," she announced before turning her attention to the other two 'sentient swords'.

Ashara's magical shield was resting against her pack just inside the door of the smithy's bedroom. As she looked up, she saw the creature that had been chucked across the room, start bouncing toward her shield!! Apparently her armor was a buffet they just couldn't resist!

One creature was greedily slurping up the shards of rust from the broken dagger, The other headed toward the shield. No real question who was the bigger threat. Elric hopped over the rubble and tried to kick it but he was just a little slow. As the blade stabbed into the enchanted shield Elric's foot connected sending it spinning to the ground with a angry squeal. There was a crunching sound and the blade fell silent.

In it's wake there was a large hole forming where the xaver had struck. rust flaked off and the hole spread outward. The last remaining xaver looked up from it's dagger meal and quivering with excitement started hopping toward the shield. Then it saw Ashara again. It seemed confused. Looking back and forth between the meal that was ready... or the big shiny meal in front of it.

Stunned, she could only look on as the magical shield that had been like a stalwart companion since they'd traveled to Donna Ravensight's isle, just...crumbled...

"No..." Ashara managed to squeak out plaintively. Looking down at her greaves again, she was so very relieved to see that it remained in tact though something still didn't feel right. At least the mithril wasn't being devoured as well!

Concerned as she was about her armor, Ashara nearly didn't see the last of the three creatures choose to leap at her instead of the scraps, apparently still ravenous after it's meal of dagger! She leaped too, but backwards as it jumped at her breastplate. Narrowly dodging the slash, she had just enough space to bring Dawnspeaker around and bat it back to the other side of the room. Away from herself, and away from the remains of a good shield...

The xaver squealed as it flew across the room. Crumpling to the ground it fell silent. Elric scanned the room for movement... Seeing and hearing none, he sighed in relief and turned to Ashara.

She was fiddling with the loose paldron. One of the penalties of plate mail. So many loose pieces had to be fitted just right. He grimaced as he saw the loose shoulder piece. For having never worn armor like that, he was getting better at helping her put it on. Of course... sometimes he got distracted. This morning for example, was very distracting. If he hadn't tightened the strap right, he was going to be very upset with himself!

"Come here... Let me take a look." He had been concerned when he saw the blade body sinking into her, but the armor seemed untouched. That was encouraging at least... Quickly taking his position he started to maneuver the mithral piece when he stopped suddenly.

"What the heck?!?" he whispered in amazement. Despite the morning distractions he had done his job correctly... just as he'd thought. The problem was, the metal latches and the steel rivets attaching the leather strap to the solid mithral was simply gone! Rusted away and broken.

THAT didn't seem right! This armor held vast sentimental value to Ashara and he knew she'd never let that happen. He looked over to the fallen sword monster.Strange creature.

As he tried to adjust it somehow he saw something that made him gasp. The chainmail that she wore under her plate. He'd seen it slast at her shoulder, but pass right through the mithral.. the mithral chain underneath didn't fare as well.

"Hold on, Let me see something here..." The half-elf removed the remaining connectors to the paldron and showed her the damage. Given time and tools, they could probably make it work... but they didn't have much of either right now.

Underneath there was a gash cut cleanly through the chain. Links red with rust gave way under his examining fingertips. Under that was a cut in the flesh of her shoulder. Not deep thankfully, but nearly as harmless as it had seemed from his point of view.

"I don't like the rust that close to the wound... " He began and then stopped with a grin, as he realized who he was talking to. She'd been teaching him some of her healing arts... and heaven knows she'd worked them on him enough times, but once again he was a student trying to tell his tura the obvious.

"You're right! I should probably take care of this now..." Ashara smiled and squeezed his scarred hand before tucking the mithril pauldron into the Haversack. It would provide no protection as it was, and having it hanging there loose just made it more difficult for her to swing the mace.

She carefully sat on the edge of the dilapidated bed, testing it first to ensure that it would hold her weight before unstrapping the greaves on her left leg to see what the damage might be there. It fared slightly better than the pauldron did. Most of the rivets and strap buckles managed to avoid damage, so it was still functional, though looking down at the chain, she realized what had felt 'off' about the fit. As on her shoulder, a good number of mithril chain links simply fell apart at her touch. The gash cutting across her shin was worse than that at her shoulder, but still nothing to get overly excited about.

The damage to her skin worried her a lot less than the damage to her armor. With the fight with the demons still fresh in her mind, Ashara was concerned that no shield and broken armor would just make the next battles that much more difficult. She worried for Elric. She worried that he would end up getting hurt while trying to protect her, and the less she was able to handle herself in combat, the greater the chance that he might be seriously injured as well!

Looking up at her dear husband, she sighed softly and whispered a prayer of protection for them both. She wasn't about to back out of Myth Drannor just yet... Might be they could find a spare pauldron lying about, or a serviceable shield. Ashara had no intention of calling it quits on the first day!

Following shortly after the first prayer, came a second one, this time for a minor spell of healing to close up the wounds before infection might set in. Though the magics successfully knitted up the injuries, the Mythal tugged gently at her control over the magic, almost as a reminder that it was still watching...

"Do you have any cuts that need attention?" She asked of Elric, gesturing to the line of blood drawn across his cheek. "I'm not overly concerned about casting the little spells, so maybe it would be best for me to heal us up a little as a time when needed, instead of waiting to cast the big ones."

He put his hand to his cheek and felt a sting. His skin shown a little brighter from that wall of fire too, but all in all he didn't feel any real pain.

"I'm good... Everything here, is what the Regeneration didn't consider enough to trouble with." He examined the shoulder again and to his relief saw the wound gone. The chain still puzzled him. He had always believed that it was Mithral the same as the plate... and it did the same glowing thing, so why would one be destroyed and not the other?

Unfortunately, the half-elf knew very little in the study of metallurgy. Even if he did he wouldn't have known the secrets of the Dwarves of Dagadar. Mithral is pure. Pulled from the ground and used as is, it's one of the hardest metals in the world. Exactly what one needs for plate mail. Chain however is different story. Mithral Chain gets mixed with steel to form an alloy that is light and flexible enough to be formed into links. Today that was their undoing. While mithral doesn't rust and isn't nearly ferrous enough to feed the xavers... Steel was at the top of their menu.

Unfortunately, what that usually meant, was the only thing left over in a xaver's den was scraps of undigested plating from coins. Regardless after tossing and turning the place, they found no other useful treasure. Whatever the xavers hadn't eaten, other adventurers must have made off with in the ensuing years.

After finding nothing else of interest in the smithy, the priestess knelt down beside the remains of her shield. The center had been entirely eaten away. A pile of rust flakes and leather straps were all that remained as proof that it wasn't simply some enormous chakram... Still, it might make decent bait if they ran into any more of the strange creatures, but it would never serve its original purpose again.

Sadly it was just too large to stuff into the Haversack, and there was too much steel left around the edges to break. Unless they had Kaber here, which they didn't... Ashara was about to simply leave it where it lie, when her eyes passed over the body of one of the offending creatures. Then an idea sparked in her mind...

Grinning, Ashara bounced over to Elric and without warning tore a long strip of fabric from his already tattered shirt. "Mind if I borrow this, Love," she asked rhetorically, since she didn't really wait to see if he'd object... Carefully she used the cloth to wrap up the weird tentacles of the largest of the creatures, so she could grip the 'pommel' without feeling like she was holding onto a face, and then touched the point of the blade to the edge of her ruined shield.

Almost immediately the remaining steel rusted and fell apart before her eyes. "This could prove useful!" She clapped a couple times and carefully handed the sword-like corpse to her husband with a bright smile splayed across her face. "Think we could take it with us? Might be we could find a use for it if we encounter some heavily armored opponents! Hmm...I bet Therogeon would be very interested in seeing one of these things... Maybe I'll wrap up one of the others to take home to him!"

Gifts for mages were always easy. Strange corpses that might be able to be used as spell components were at the top of every mage's birthday list!

Elric raised an eyebrow and stifled a grin as she tore more of his clothes. The grin went away she handed him the dead monster. He didn't have 'much' metal on him... but there was always some. Not even counting the mundane belts and buckles, there were his magical bracers, his broach, Ashara's ring! The metal-eating monster made him very nervous even in death.

He gingerly took it and looked it over. It was fairly limp at the... neck? The way it wobbled a bit, he questioned it's value as a weapon. Seeing the giddy excitement in her eyes though, he burst out laughing.

"Yeah... if we come across, anything TOO armored it could come in handy... Doors, locks, I can think of a few uses... And I'm SURE Therogeon can find a use for it... But lets just keep them stored in their own pouch... We don't want them ruining any other treasure we may come across!"

"Ohhhh definitely not! I'll wrap them up tightly and give them their own space in the pack. No sense in taking more unnecessary risks than necessary," she winked at Elric and giggled with glee before pulling out one of her scarlet robes from the Haversack.

After carefully rolling up the creatures in her robe, Ashara slid them into the empty left pocket. "I can't wait to see the look on our brother's face when he sees these things!! I wonder if he'd be able to make use of it, as he did with the rust monster... I still think the anti-magic shell and the rust monster acid would have destroyed the Shade's axe if SHE hadn't intervened!" She flinched at the memory of that malevolent axe. The fact that they weren't able to destroy the thing irritated her like a sharp pebble in her boot, and while she personally attributed its disappearance to the Lady of Loss, they really never knew for sure what happened...

Any discussion of Shar was sure to spoil their good moods, so Ashara decided to change the subject. "Maybe we can keep an eye out for a usable shield," she sighed, glancing forlornly over at the unrecognizable pile of rust. "I have a spell prepared that could create one for me if it comes down to it, but I'd rather keep the spell for other uses if needed or a heal if things get...difficult."

The priestess peeked out the door to see Himbar and Kalpa fidgeting outside. "Well, I think we've seen all that we can in the smithy here," she smiled. "Are you ready to press on to the south? There's a lot of daylight left to us yet!"

Elric swung low into a bow arm stretched toward the waiting light. "After you mi'lady..." he said with a grin.

Together they started south along what could barely still be considered a trail. Mostly a few loose stones and dirt, surrounded on either side by patches of the same blue moss that they'd slept on that night. On a whim, Elric collected a sample and stored it away in the bags. He wasn't a mage, a druid, or even an alchemist, but he he did have 'some' knowledge about herbs and natural growing things. He was very curious what that stuff was. It seemed harmless, and he even caught the horses eating some on occasion to no ill effect. Whatever it was, it seemed to thrive in the mythal.

This part of town was most likely the last part of the city to be settled, the buildings were spaced farther apart, there were more clearings. As they headed south he recognized the Moontapestry Hall to his right across a clearing. From the back it was in much worse shape then the front, with walls shredded and stones scorched by fire. Still, it stood. That was more than most of these places could claim.

Up ahead the road banked sharply right at the base of another ancient tree.

Nestled inside its boughs was another Noble's villa. Five stories high in the trees, a smaller building around the side of the trunk at ground level. Elric smiled and looked to Ashara to see if this was their next stop when a deafening roar screeched out of the autumn colored branches. The wood creaked and leaves were violently shaken to the ground. There was a battle going on up there, by something big...

Eyes wide, the half-elf just stared up there for a moment. "Ummm... maybe hit this one on the way back?"

"Huh... Yeah, I wouldn't want to interrupt an argument between whatever is up there" she agreed enthusiastically as she watched the leaves fall around them. "That would be rude! We can just let them settle matters first..."

Ashara's lips were pressed together tightly in frustration as they quickly followed the path west, where it met up with a more clearly defined road that continued in a southerly direction. She wondered if all the places of interest in Myth Drannor doubled as a home or nest or den of some sort of wicked creature. Probably so... The ruined city wouldn't have developed the kind of reputation it had after seven hundred years if one could just skip through the rubble picking up artifacts!

Much of the danger here may come to find them, but there would likely be some opportunities for them to pick their own battles. They'd have to choose wisely! Midday into the first day in the city, it didn't seem necessary to take such risks just yet, though curiosity gnawed at the priestess' mind as they left the titanic struggle behind them. She was very interested in seeing one of those enormous homes that sat so high in the trees, to explore of course, but also to see if they couldn't get a good look around the area from a higher vantage. One of these times that curiosity was going to get the better of her...

As they traveled, her attention was drawn, as her husband's had been, to the clumps of blue moss lining the paths here. If they ended up having to camp outside this evening, she hoped there would be a patch large enough for sleeping. The soft and spongy moss was incredibly comfortable, and would be highly preferred over the rubble-strewn ground! It would also be interesting to see if all of the stuff glowed as it had in the glade, or if someone had just decided to light up that particular patch. Considering the lights they'd seen dotting the city last night, she could guess that this moss would glow too. Must be beautiful in this area at night! Deadly of course, but beautiful all the same! Again, she prayed that she'd be able to control her casting of the Sanctum tonight, otherwise real rest might prove...elusive...

The wind had picked up some and while it wasn't as cold as many other places in the realms, His troll torn clothes reminded him it was indeed autumn. He donned a heavy cloak to stave off the chill, hoping he'd have chance to remove it again before they were inevitably attacked again.

The road south was surrounded on either side by tall trees leaving very little debate on the route. Elric got a little concerned when he looked straight up. Dark clouds were rolling in, with much more... enthusiasm then the cold breeze he was feeling indicated. Outside the mythal there would be a storm tonight... Inside? Who knew...

The next building they came to with more than two walls, was pretty impressive looking. Four stories tall carved (or raised) from stone. Raised up high, there were stairs al around the structure, leading to the entrances.

As with everything else some stairs were in better shape then others, One Wall had a large cylindrical hole chewed or blasted through it. Still it seemed stable.

"This looks a little more promising..." he said with a wink.

Carefully they led the horses up the stairs closer to the building the doors each seemed to have a winged stone guardians above the arches. Elric stared at them for a very long time, as if daring them to move. When nothing happened they moved a little closer. In Elvish scrawled across the archway were the words, 'Uvaeren's Legacy.'

A quick look inside showed the ground floor to be an open air room with statures here and there. Like the dance hall this room also had the appearance of long abandoned campsite. Old smoke stained the tall ceiling. Seeing plenty of room and not hearing a warning from Ashara he slowly led his horse inside. Better wandering around in here, than sitting outside like an appetizer...

The clopping of the horses' hooves echoed as they entered the large chamber. The additional noise put Ashara a bit on edge, afraid that they might alert any inhabitants that dinner was served, but then again she wasn't exactly the sneaky type either! This room appeared to be monster free... If the upper three floors weren't filled with dens or lairs, the building might prove to be an excellent shelter just in case the Mythal decided not to block the storm that was blowing in.

There were a few windows, but even with the large hole blasted into the side of the building, there wasn't quite enough light to see by in the normal spectrum and the statues Ashara was interested in fortunately weren't giving off heat... Pulling her glowing medallion from beneath her cloak, she warily approached the nearest statue. It was an elf, though she noticed that not all the statues that lined the walls were elvish, but seemed to represent many races. All of them appeared to be dressed as mages or perhaps scholars.

"Maybe this was a school...or library of some sort," she whispered excitedly to Elric as she more closely inspected the facial features. Even in stone, this elf's countenance demonstrated a prideful arrogance that reminded her vividly of a few particular gold elves in Evereska. "This one looks pretty magey to me!"

As the half elf came over to take a look at some of the statues, Ashara's eyebrows drew together in concern. "I should be able to fix that shirt for you this evening...or now if you like, I'd just have to retrieve that strip of fabric from the sword-creature corpse. There are some spares on Kalpa too..." The priestess smiled and tugged on a bit of the rag he wore beneath the warm cloak. "I'd just hate for you to catch a cold in this weather! THAT I can't fix for some reason," she smiled apologetically.

"Ehhh, I'll be fine." he said dismissively. "The sword creatures need that wrap more then I do. As for the spares.... My goal is to only go through one shirt a day." He looked back to the saddlebags that held his torn coat. It was a little bulkier than he liked, but traveling through the spine it had been pretty handy. However once that got cut, it started to get in the way. Besides if there was one thing the City of Songs could do... it was keep the heart pumping. Still... it was getting colder. "Maybe later, we can try to put the coat back in one piece. Though... I'd hate for a some kind of miscast over a coat..."

A school she said?.... or a library? He looked around again. Could be... These looked like instructors or scholars... Something was off though.

"If this is a library shouldn't there be more books?" Truth of the matter the place was empty, and didn't even resemble the ransacked look of the other buildings they'd seen. Whatever was meant to be on this floor... looked like it was still here!

"If this was a library, I don't think it was the typical kind... Let's take a look around." He looped the reigns of Himbar around the outstretched hands of what appeared to be an exceptionally stern elf giving a lecture. Grinning he walked toward the staircase leading up.

Various other 'teachers' were set up in nooks and crannies. Mostly elves... but to his surprise there were also the occasional dwarf and halfling dressed in the fancy robes and they weren't the only N'tel'quesir there either.

"Look at this one!" he called over to Ashara. The statue showed an obviously half-elven woman. Cracks had formed in the stone but it was obvious she was well respected. Mage, Teacher, something... He shook his head in amazement.

"I knew there were half-elves here... Given the nature of the city, probably more here than anywhere else... but it didn't occur to me that they'd be so... I don't know... respected?"

"I'll be honest, I'm slightly more surprised by the dwarf statues!" Ashara smiled and pushed a braid over her shoulder before reaching out to carefully touch the half elven statue's face. "Maybe...," she mused aloud staring into the stony eyes as if somehow the mystery would be revealed within, "Maybe all of these different people of different races were experts in particular areas, and they came together to pool their knowledge for the betterment of the community."

She wished that all elves could see the value of what took place here in this ancient city. Such beauty and harmony that must have existed for so long before the fall! That dwarves and gnomes and halflings and yes even half elf statues could be standing side by side, would be...frowned upon in Evereska...

"Are you getting any lyric ideas yet, Elric?" The young woman shot him a wink before turning back to glance around the room at all the statues. "I know that there are many songs of Myth Drannor, and I think I'm starting to understand why! The danger and adventure isn't the most compelling thing about this place... It's the loss of such beauty, knowledge and racial cooperation!

"And you're right about the books... If this was a library, or even some kind of scholarly meeting place, I'd expect scrolls or something... Perhaps they kept all that stuff on the upper floors?"

"Well then... Let's find out!" he agreed with a quick smile. They quickly hopped up the circular staircase. The next story was similar to the last. A fairly large room, with more of the statues. Some different , but he thought a few might be people he'd seen below. Grand murals decorated the walls heading north and south.

Windows were empty of any glass as in some of the other places they'd seen. The magic sustaining the theurglass was long damage or dispelled. Light filtered in through the dark clouds and illuminated the dust and dirt of the years.

"Nice..." Elric mumbled sarcastically as he tried to stifle a sneeze. This floor had more tables and study nooks, but he wasn't seeing books of scrolls. "I don't know... maybe this was one of the places that they were able to evacuate."

He approached a painting of young woman. She was quite beautiful and the artist was obviously smitten with the subject. He brushed some of the cobwebs from her face. Suddenly the half-elf gasped in horror. Images flooded his widened eyes as he felt his heart speed up. It was like all a dam had been built up, holding back emotions he didn't realize he had. Now that dam had burst. Desire, love, loneliness, rejection, disappointment, unrealized dreams.

All this and more he felt as he looked into the crystal blue eyes and that sweet smile. He didn't know how long he'd stood there,. It felt like an eternity. Finally unable to stand any more, he spun against the wall and slowly slid to the floor. Tears marked trails across his cheeks.

Ashara was hunched over on the other side of the room, trying to read the ancient plaque at the base of a statue of a gnome with a particularly large, knobby nose, when she heard the sound of soft sobbing behind her. Much to her shock and confusion, she saw her husband slumped against the dusty wall with his head in his hands. Rushing over, she knelt down at his side.

"Elric?" She asked, voice laden with concern and a tinge of panic. "Elric, what's wrong!?" Resting a gentle hand on on his shaking shoulder, Ashara looked around at what could have been the source of his sorrow. Behind him hung a picture of a beautiful woman. Human by the look of her. Ashara could see the finger streaks across the painting where the thick dust had just been wiped away from her eyes.

Confused, she looked back to the warrior. "Do...do you know who she was, Melamin?" It seemed impossible that he would, seven centuries ago...a human... But she could not for the life of her figure out what could elicit such a response, unless there was some sort of magic involved...

Elric fought past the strange emotional turmult and focused on Ashara's voice. Soon his heartbeat was returning to normal. The emotions were still there, but e forced them to the back of his mind. Wiping the tears from his cheek he stared in confusion.

"I... I don't... No, I don't have a clue who she is...." he answered in wonder. "Something happened... when I touched it." He shook his head trying to make sense of it all.

"It was... almost similiar to our memory read... It was... I didn't get the artists memories... but, I know how he was feeling... The emotion attached to this work of art.. It was umm.. intense,. Overwhelming even..."

She sat beside Elric for a few moments while he recovered from the shock of the emotional assault, before fishing the weirwood rod from the Haversack. Reaching out to touch it to the painting, the couple watched as blue fire sparked along the image, casting an eerie light over their faces. The magic-indicating glow seemed to follow along the paths of the brush strokes, like the magic was in the pigment itself and absorbed the feelings of the artist as he reverently painted this portrait of the woman he loved...and apparently lost.

Ashara grinned at her husband and moved back to the gnomish statue she'd been looking at moment's before. It glowed too... In fact, all the paintings and all the statues in here glowed!

"Do you think these objects could be the 'books' we're looking for?" She whispered in amazement.

One of the murals that drew her attention, depicted a portion of a large battle between elves and drow. In the background rose a dark and twisting tower. Armies swarmed the painting, a thousand singular battles seemed to be playing out within the frame, but the one in the foreground was given the most attention to detail. A silver-haired and beautifully armored moon elf, mortally wounded and surrounded by half a dozen drow warriors and a dozen dead ones, was losing his grasp on a blade that shone like polished silver. Perfectly reflective in spite of its gory surroundings, blue and silver flames appeared to dance along whole of the weapon. It looked like the elf was falling, but the blade, half removed from its wielder's grasp, almost looked as if it was striking its foe of its own accord. As if the weapon itself was continuing the battle with the drow...

Already drawn into the story by the artist's skill, Ashara stretched out her hand to touch the painting. Pride, and the sorrow of great loss assaulted her mind. If she hadn't been forewarned due to Elric's earlier discovery the emotions would have been overwhelming. She got the sense that the battle had been won, but the loss was great. The sorrow she felt revolved around this elf and this blade, she had no doubt, seeing how he'd been depicted... Perhaps a relative of the artist. Her knowledge of elvish history being what it was though, the human priestess hadn't a clue what battle this could be. It could've easily taken place a millenia ago!

Ashara pulled her hand away and laughed as she brushed tears from her eyes from the experience. "Elric, this is amazing! I'm not sure, but I think the elves have....stored knowledge in these things! Unfortunately it seems like we'd need a frame of reference to better appreciate the subjects. If we knew who that woman was, for example, or if I knew of this battle here... Could you imagine reading the history books about a person or conflict and then experiencing some of the emotions surrounding it with one of these paintings?!"

She could only shake her head and sigh in disbelief. "Okay, I officially wish Vailis was here now," she grinned. Stopping after a moment's contemplation, Ashara turned to meet her husband's gaze, and blushed. With a chuckle and a shake of her head, she silently indicated...maybe not...

"These statues are magical too, what do you think they do?" She asked after the momentary distraction. "I touched the gnome one already, but nothing happened."

"A magical library..." he whispered in awe. "I think your right. Apparently the elves have more.... unconventional means of storing knowledge!"

He looked back at the woman in the painting. The emotions had ebbed but he still saw her in a new light. New appreciation for the work and detail of the artist. Looking at the painting, he saw soooo much MORE than just the painting.

"Though... Instead of needing a greater understanding to appreciate the emotions... I think the emotions are meant to give us a better appreciation of the artwork! It's like... How are we supposed to appreciate these battles and these people, if we don't have the proper context in which they were made..." He shook his head in amazement. "I don't think I'll be able to look at any art gallery the same again."

He walked over to a glowing statue and just circled it. "I don't know what these do... They probably talk or move or something..." He did a bow of respect to the potential teacher. He touched it's hands.

"Amin merna istim, tura." <I want to learn, master> He spoke respectfully. Nothing happened. His shoulders slumped in disappointment.

"They must need some kind of command word or something... Maybe some kind of puzzle. Sometimes the elves want you to 'work' for the knowledge you get... you appreciate and remember it more. Sometimes they're just jerks!" He grinned. "Either way, I don't know where to even start!"

To no avail, the Everdawns tried activating the statues with a number of different words in elvish and common. Elric even said a few things in pixish, though Ashara those weren't intended to be command words... There didn't seem to be any moving parts or runes or really anything to indicate that the statues were magical other than the blue glow caused by the weirwood rod, and though they were convinced that they were missing something, neither of them had any further ideas for how to proceed.

"Well, should we check out the other two floors?" Ashara asked of the half elf, with a smile ensuing a soft sigh. "We can always come back here if we think of anything else. Personally, I wouldn't mind spending a bit of time checking out these other paintings, but I'd feel better ensuring that nothing up there," she said, pointing a finger toward the staircase, "is going to come down here looking for lunch while we're admiring the artistry!"