BECMI Chapter 308 – Shadows Torn Apart
The awestruck population of the city and cavern of the Sternvult could do little but gape in wonder at the scene above them. Clouds were unknown in the deeps. The radiant colors of a sunset, the orb itself obvious but off to the side and hidden so as not to blind them, were something the Shaden never could see down here, and their hearts leapt to behold it.
The painted sky slowly faded as the population gazed in wonder, and night spread its dark cloak of glittering marvels across the world while the moon rose.
The longing in the hearts of the Shaden was purely elven. This was a look of the surface world, the world they were denied-!
In the background, I watched as powerful spellcasters attempted to interfere with the Illusion, either to take command of it or to Dispel it… and found they were completely unable to do so.
I called this one Panoramic Sky, and it was basically there for purposes of size… but it had all of my monstrous Caster Level and my Girding. There was no way for them to break my control or Dispel it.
There was a flicker in the Illusion, and my image stepped forth from it.
There were a LOT of gasps at the sight of me.
“Greetings, my cousins. I am Edgina, daughter of Keffe Nangeode of Clan Elgeode of the City of the Sternvult. I have recently returned from some fascinating trips into the ancient past, and into the not-so recent past, which matters took me over one hundred years to return here to my mother.”
As they pondered the implications, my words, and the fact I had an absolutely genuine Shaden accent, I waved my hands at the stars above. “These are the stars that our people once walked under, before the Doom of Darkmoor struck, and Immortals murdered that shining realm for daring to heights their own people could not reach.” I could almost hear all the eyes blinking. “We have labored and we have survived down here in the dark, but now it is time for us to head to the surface and walk under the moon and stars once more.”
I made a gesture, a door of light opened, and a shining figure stepped out. Well, shining by Shaden standards, because the King of the Sidheduiche wore a lot of gold and green, bright colors by Shaden standards, and almost glowed next to me, like he had a light of his own with his bright golden hair and shining sapphire eyes.
If the attempts to Dispel the Illusion were intermittent before, they became quite desperate now!
“I present to you King Lymeril of the Elven Kingdom of Sidheduiche. Yes, the very elven king purported to so unkindly have turned away our representatives in the past, denying them the surface. Your Majesty,” I bowed courteously.
He bowed back to me. “Lady Edge,” he said respectfully, and then turned his gaze down upon the shocked and distrusting Shaden below. “I shall be brief, I think. I am told I am speaking to the population of Shaden who dwell far beneath the surface lands, whose King sent his spies into Sidheduiche over three hundred years ago, and then sent his envoys to treat with us over two hundred years ago, announcing that your people existed and wished to emigrate to the surface.”
I could almost hear the question marks going up, as that was certainly not what they’d been taught.
“We welcomed the envoys of our long-lost cousins with open arms, and when they spoke of your trials in the deep and desire to find a surface home, we immediately offered to sponsor some of your tribe to the surface. We offered two hundred families the immediate chance to come to the surface. We would help them adapt to the sunlight, we would teach them of the ways and dangers of the surface, and if our lands proved not suitable, we would help them emigrate to other lands as they wished.
“If two hundred was easy to handle, we would expand the number in later years, as we expected should not be a problem.
“Our offer was most unexpectedly turned down flatly.” His expression fell sharply. “The envoys demanded that the entire population of your tribes be allowed to emigrate immediately as one body into the forest. Furthermore, they demanded immediate recognition of their royal family as rulers of the Relarin, and the laws and customs of Gaebrel to be instituted as the norm in the forest.”
He was a very good speaker and let that drag on just long enough for everyone to realize how colossally rude and arrogant that statement from their envoys had been.
“When we denied them, they drew steel and wove magic, intending to gain by violence what their words could not. They were driven from the forest and back into the depths, and ever since, they have picked at the edges of Sidheduiche, nursing their bitterness for us not handing our home over to them and letting ourselves be conquered by them.”
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His hard expression softened as he glanced my way, and he sighed. “We have been informed by Lady Edgina that our side of the story has never been told, and that you have been misled as to what happened by your royal family and whisperers of lies.
“In that vein,” loud noises started to go off, rumblings and shrieks and screeches trying to drown him out, but his voice carried right through it all with unnatural clarity, carried as much by sight as sound, “to the people of the Shaden tribes of the deep who wish to regain your birthright as elves and walk beneath the sun and moon, to feel the wind and starlight upon you, to welcome the dawn and sing to the dusk, we once again extend our offer to you!
“We will take two hundred Shaden families and sponsor them to the surface world. We will watch over you while you adapt to the light that your ancestors once walked under. We will teach you of the ways of surface elves, that you can survive here as ably as you have for your centuries underground. And if you find the mighty Relarin forest and its trees and green life is not for you, we will help you to emigrate elsewhere!
“If we can handle more than two hundred families a year, that number will be raised in the future! Hopefully those who come before can prepare the way for those coming after!
“Hel?” he added, stepping smoothly aside, while the Shaden below gaped at the openheartedness of his grand gesture.
Another figure stepped into the image, and if the panic in the Royal Palace had been rising, it culminated then as that bearded elf, who was totally and obviously Shaden, stepped into the illusion beside the elven king.
“Greetings, my people,” he said in an old but very real Shaden accent. “I am Helamong of the Prommlu clan. Almost three hundred years ago, I was sent to the surface with a mission: to gain the trust of the next elven king of Sidheduiche, and a place in his court. I succeeded, disguising myself as a Sidhe of a devastated clan, and as Gelfernador, I served at the side of Lymeril before and after he became the Elf-King of Sidheduiche.
“I also served as the Spymaster of all of Shaden spies at the order of King Ershultaen for all that time. I discharged my duties ably and well, providing great intelligence on the Sidhe, their politics, their champions, and forces, killing those who might threaten our operations, and even providing Truenames of some of their brightest to suborn to our cause without them even knowing it.”
The incongruity of his position was jarring, the confusion that he was appearing there quite genuine.
“I was exposed a short time ago and my heritage revealed. In light of the other deeds I have done to aid the Sidhe while I was cementing my position of trust, I was not executed, and now I have been given a greater duty.
“I am no longer to be a spy. I am to be a teacher and greeter. If you chose to come to the Sidheduiche, I will be your instructor! I have lived among the Sidhe for nearly three centuries. I was there at the meeting where my king’s envoys presented their unreasonable demands to rule Sidheduiche, and were thrown out. I know the Sidhe, their ways, and what it means to live upon the surface world here.
“I regret to inform you that their sincerity and goodwill are indeed real. They will indeed welcome you as long-lost cousins returning to the forest. They are not our enemies, they never have been… we have only been theirs.
“I have done my duty for my king, but I was found out. I am now prepared to do my duty for my people.
“I await you on the surface, in the Relarin forest of the Sidheduiche Kingdom.”
He bowed low to the jaw-dropped population watching him in disbelief that such a thing could be happening.
King Lymeril stepped forward again. “In light of the misunderstandings that have arisen because of the words of certain parties, we have been given special dispensation by Corellin to allow emigration of good and true souls who wish to return to the surface. For those of you who do not know, Corellin is our Patron and protector, as Gaebrel is to you, although he is a Patron of surface elves, and not the realms of the deep.
“A tree has already been planted in your Vault, a sun will shine upon it, and it will grow. Those families of the Shaden who wish to go to the surface may approach the tree, place their hands upon it, and ask to be sent to the Sidheduiche. If your hearts are true and satisfy the Test of the Tree, you will be brought to us, and may begin your emancipation to the surface.
“If you are not of open mind and clear heart… you should seek another place to come to the surface, as you will be refused a home in Sidheduiche.”
My image pointed for the king, heads turned, and in a corner of the Sternvult, a light came down from the stone that had no business shining this many miles into the deeps.
As Shaden elves crowded to rooftops and walls to watch, a tree hove itself up out of stone where no such thing could grow, clearly illuminated by that incongruously bright and solemn light, rustling green and golden under the illumination.
A true Tree, growing deep, deep in the Underdark!
“I suggest not trying to destroy it, my cousins, as it is protected by Corellin,” I spoke up as the king stepped back. “Although it is an apple tree, and the fruit is quite good. My mother has volunteered to be its keeper, in recompense for the elves she killed during her time on the surface in service to King Ershultaen.
“If you have dreamed of going to the surface, and the Truth that has been spoken here is enough for you…”
They reeled! The Word crashed through a thousand lies and destroyed them, and over a hundred thousand elves recoiled in horror as they realized a great, great deal of what they had been told was not true!
The priestesses of Gaebrel, watching all this uneasily, but with a certain amount of schadenfreude that the machinations of the royal family had been exposed, were especially assaulted by this, as suddenly they realized many of the things they told us Shaden were not true… and not only they knew it, but we knew it now, too!