Meeting of Guy Mossbrook and Faeathea the Eladrin
In an unfamiliar grove of tall birch trees newly robed in their vernal leaves, and the ground is carpeted with early blooms, beneath the newly risen sun, a fair Eladrin maiden sings a song of renewal and joy, surrounded by sparrows and squirrels and other beasts of the wood. As the elf-maid sings, a black bear enters the clearing and approaches her cautiously and with seeming wonder. And it comes near, the beasts scatter, and the bear transforms into a strikingly handsome man clad in plain raiment. Bowing, he speaks, “I never dreamt to meet here the very Spirit of Spring, seemingly born out of the wind and trees. Yet, here I am, and you are a vision before me.”
With a laugh, the woman replies in druidic, circling him, “And I thought not to meet a human in the midst of our secret glades and groves, yet here you enter as beast and are transformed to a mortal shape. Who are you, o mortal child of nature, that you cross into the lands belonging to Elvenkind in the form of beast and yet dare show yourself to me?”
“I come as a supplicant, to learn the ways of the Elven druids, so that I may better protect my lands in the South from those that would spoil them. You may call me Mossbrook. Am I right in thinking that you, my lady, hail from the fabled lands of the Queen beyond the Sea? For never did I think to meet an Eladrin, as tradition holds that with theFracture they all retreated from these lands to the fastness of the Fair Islein the sea with the all the Fey,” he replies, following her as she walks around him. With a flourish, he showers her with a cascade of flowers, the smell of which fill the meadow.
“It is true that the Eladrin are rare beyond the bounds of Moriga the Fair Isle, but some few have come to the lands of the Elves here in the north, to bind our bloodlines together… and fewer still go forth into the human lands. Yet, I am surprised that you know of us- we are barely fairie stories to most of your kin.” She came to a stop and a glow enveloped her, illuminating her as if from within. “I sense no lies in your words and your intent seems pure… stay with me awhile, young Druid, and sing with me. I had not finished my song when you arrived.”
They sit down together, and she starts to sing again in Sylvan, teaching the song to him as she went. Soon, they are singing in unison and the beasts that had fled at the man’s coming return.
With a laugh, the woman replies in druidic, circling him, “And I thought not to meet a human in the midst of our secret glades and groves, yet here you enter as beast and are transformed to a mortal shape. Who are you, o mortal child of nature, that you cross into the lands belonging to Elvenkind in the form of beast and yet dare show yourself to me?”
“I come as a supplicant, to learn the ways of the Elven druids, so that I may better protect my lands in the South from those that would spoil them. You may call me Mossbrook. Am I right in thinking that you, my lady, hail from the fabled lands of the Queen beyond the Sea? For never did I think to meet an Eladrin, as tradition holds that with theFracture they all retreated from these lands to the fastness of the Fair Islein the sea with the all the Fey,” he replies, following her as she walks around him. With a flourish, he showers her with a cascade of flowers, the smell of which fill the meadow.
“It is true that the Eladrin are rare beyond the bounds of Moriga the Fair Isle, but some few have come to the lands of the Elves here in the north, to bind our bloodlines together… and fewer still go forth into the human lands. Yet, I am surprised that you know of us- we are barely fairie stories to most of your kin.” She came to a stop and a glow enveloped her, illuminating her as if from within. “I sense no lies in your words and your intent seems pure… stay with me awhile, young Druid, and sing with me. I had not finished my song when you arrived.”
They sit down together, and she starts to sing again in Sylvan, teaching the song to him as she went. Soon, they are singing in unison and the beasts that had fled at the man’s coming return.
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