Tluthdar's journey begins

[a magical taco]

Seona
The king of Seona told his son Tluthdar that he would be attending the festival in Esterbrook to pay homage to the Council of Peace, even if they did not deserve such honors. However, the armies of Arendale had recently replaced their smaller defensive armies with a new larger one that threatened the city/state of Seona and going to the festival might shed some light as to why.

On the day before Tluthdar was set to leave for Esterbrook the Seer of Seona presented herself at the palace, an extremely rare occasion. She asked to speak to the prince alone, a child who could order the king to leave his own throne room. "What is more dangerous," she asked, "Pride or ambition?".

"Pride" the prince said less than confidently.

"Yes, pride is a dangerous thing, but could ambition not bring ruin to a person?"

"I suppose it could" the price responded.

"The ancient children of Reuth Kah will return" the Seer said bluntly.

The prince had not been ready of this, "NO! This can not be true"

"I am afraid it is. The most ruthless army of the ancient gods will return to this realm."

"Where will they come from?"

"They will come from beyond"

"Beyond what?" Tluthdar asked

"I believe you already know the answer to that question"

"You must find the children of Reuth Kah's enemy if you have any hope of stopping the extinction of the elves."

"The children of Damon?" The prince asked, "but they are no more."

"Then the world of elves will fall, but I do not believe this to be the case."

"What am I supposed to do about this?"

"You must help to heal the realms"

"How?"

"You must give up pride and defeat ambition if you are to succeed."

"Pride and ambition? How am I to do that? The other races do not trust Drow and we do not trust them."

"If you are not able to do this the world is surly lost."

She walked over to a game that the prince often played with his father. A game with many levels and many pieces, but the pieces could change depending on the level the piece was placed. She picked up the top piece, one that held great importance but few abilities. she picked it up and handed it to Tluthdar. "This piece has been locked away, hidden, surrounded by simple servents".

"Who does the piece represent"

"That I cannot tell you" another 8 pieces she picked up and set at Tluthdar's feet lifting one and handing it to him. "This is you, a powerful piece. You must bring together the rest to save us all" The Seer turned to leave.

"Wait! What else can you tell me?"

"Do not eat the fish tomorrow, for it will make you very ill" and she was gone.

Tluthdar stood in the throne room by himself for only a few moments before he went to find his father.

He told his father what the Seer had said. He though for sever minutes before he spoke.

"But the children of Damon are no more." Tluthdar's father said.

"Maybe not. The Seer would not send someone to find something that cannot be found"

"True"

"What of the game pieces?" Tluthdar asked.

"Do you know what this piece is, Tluthdar?"

"Yes, it's a scholar piece."

"True, but this scholar is unique. This is the scholar of unity. If the Seer say that this piece represents you then you have a great duty ahead of you. I do not envy the position you will be put in"

His father explained the other pieces as well. A general, a thief, a spy, and three additional scholars. "She said I needed to find the people these pieces represent if I am to save the realm." Tluthdar said.

"And we do not know who the most important piece is?"

"She would not say."

"That is unfortunate." His father said.

"What should I do father?"

His father looked saddened, "My father, your grandfather was once given a scared mission by the Seer. She told him that elven armies were not to pass beyond the great mountains. For three months he was meant to protect the mountains for passage but he returned after only a few weeks. He said he could not stand the horrors he had seen"

"What did he see?" Tluthdar asked.

"That is not important now. What is important is that he gave up on the his mission and the world paid the price. The children of Damon were slaughtered and the realm split itself in two. My father brought shame on us but perhaps you can restore that honor, my son."

"I will try, father"

"You must carry on the Esterbrook. Find the captured Book of Destiny. It was written by Damon's wife long ago. She was a powerfull necromancer, her blood flows through the veins of our Seers. You will find the prophecy of 10,000 there and perhaps other answers to the questions you have."

"Anything else you can tell me that might be of use?" Tluthdar asked.

"The cooks have prepared your favorite fish for the journey." the king said.

Esterbrook

Esterbrook was massive and beautiful but all that Tluthdar could see was waste. The people of the realm needed help. Food was scares, so were supplies, and bandits plagued much of the lands. But Esterbrook threw around magic and food like there was no end to the supply. Upon arrival, Tluthdar and his party was taken to the palace and introduced to the king. Tluthdar introduced himself and exchanged pleasantries with the leader of Arendale, but other nobles were arriving and the prince did not wish to linger, he had other things on his mind.

Soon after arriving a grey elf approached the prince and introduced herself as Princess Celine. The prince asked about her travels and she revealed to him that had had seen wyverns during her trip. Tluthdar's chest became heavy and his face must have shown fear.

"What is wrong" the princess asked.

"surly you have have been mistaken about the wyverns, they have not been seen in 30,000 years."

"I swear, we saw them as clear as I see you now"

"I must speak to you alone, please it is important". She dismissed her servent, who told her that she would drawn her a bath for when she returned. Tluthdar thought it strange that she only have one servent when he himself had so many but he pushed the though from his mind. Tluthdar missed missed his own servents, tell only a few bodyguards to stay where they could see but not hear. Once they were alone Tluthdar told celine about the Seer and what she had said. When he had finsished she looked ready to run. "You think me crazy" he said with a sigh.

"NO, I sware I do not" but her eyes betrayed her, but she remained just the same.

"do you know where the book is, the museum?" he asked. She led the way there and as they entered Tluthdar gave a hand signal to the guards to remain outside. Inside they quickly discovered the book. Celine had an idea on how to get it but told Tluthdar that he would need to distract the curator.

Tluthdar introduced himself to the curator and asked to see the Arquebus. The curator was reluctant but finally agreed. The two entered into a separate room where the weapon was housed. The curator told him the history of the weapon and a little about its current use during festivals where it was fired as a demonstration for those who wished to see, but the materials used to use the gun were running low and the weapons was rarely fired anymore. Tluthdar left soon after but not before he noticed the banner of the army unit that carried this weapon, a black wolf. The prince found the image familiar but could not place it and then he left the museum. The princess waited in her room with the book. Very little did Tluthdar actually understand. He read what he could, reference to the wolf, to the clouding, the queen of Arendale, the son of revenge, but it all just led to more questions. Tluthdar decided to ask the queen, he might be the only once capable of reading the tome.

After asking a palace servant about where to find the queen it became clear the only was tot he queen was with the kings permission. Again Celine had an idea on how to convince him and asked Tluthdar to remain where he was. The king returned soon after and escorted him to the queens chambers and left him them with her. The two spoke for a short while, he told her of the Seer's warnings and his father's advice. He read to him a few passages but ultimately the queen said she would need a little time to translate the book accurately and that she would call on him when he had the information he was looking for. She did tell him one thing, that he was to unite the people but not to lead them, for if he did the world of elves would fall and then she showed him the spine of the book which not read the book of Tluthdar.

Tluthdar left, returned to his room and found his wolf there. Together they went out into the city and wondered around as the princes tried to process all the new information, dreading the days to come.