Rooftops

The smell of water drifted to him on the summer breeze, and Thrand slowed his pace even more. While most drow are totally out of their element on the surface, this one had spent enough time here to be worthy of extra caution. Not that Thrand was afraid. He wasn't. But a direct confrontation would gain him little. Pointless posturing and egotistical chest thumping...that's about all that ever happens in face to face meetings with the drow. Much better to observe them unnoticed, he thought.

As he slid through the trees towards the little tower he began to make out voices, slightly muffled by the rustle of leaves in the breeze and the damp summer air. Was that...a female? Yes, it was. An interesting turn of events. Could Dolenamo be acting under the guidance of a Jabress? Thrand's thoughts raced at this possibility. That could turn out to be a worse situation than he had expected. Dolenamo was enough trouble acting alone, but if he were the agent of a House, Tel'Ruid could be in serious danger.

Catching sight of the tower, Thrand picked a nearby hickory tree, with better cover on the lower branches than the stately oaks, who had fewer limbs near the ground. He silently climbed into the upper branches of the tree, timing his movements to hide any misstep in the rustling caused by the breeze. From this point, he could see straight across to the roof of the tower, where the voices were coming from.

There were two elves there. Both dark skinned and white-haired. One was obviously Dolenamo. The other was a female that Thrand had never seen before. She wasn't dressed like a Yathrin or a Jabress. She was, in fact, dressed rather plainly for a drow female. Odd, that. By a trick of the air, he could hear Dolenamo clearly, but couldn't make out a single word the female said.

Though the conversation was one-sided from his vantage point, he could still slowly piece together what was happening. The woman was called Ayemai. Dolenamo was discussing a shipwreck in which she had lost something important. He mentioned Talanithus...apparently this woman had just met him. Then Thrand heard some good news for a change, when Dolenamo expressed his pleasure that he had met her that day. Good. That meant it likely that Dolenamo was working without the resources of a House.

Then Dolenamo uttered the phrase Thrand had been half expecting and half hoping to avoid. He had been speaking with Ayemai about tel'Mithrim, when he had said with some conviction, "I will be their ruin if I can be."

So, that was it then. His intentions were undoubtedly malicious. Thrand strained his ears, hoping to catch some hint of a plan, thinking these two might begin scheming any moment. And to his surprise, Dolenamo began...flirting with her. Thrand just blinked a few times in amazement. A careful touch of the hand, a slightly clumsy kiss. Dolenamo was acting like a stricken adolescent. Well isn't that just a wonder, Thrand thought.

Nothing more to be gained this day, Thrand slipped out of the tree and headed back to the coast and his cabin, where he could think about this development some. Dolenamo had just shown a weakness...a surprising one.

"...This I knew... I would never stand directly against the breed as it would destroy everything I have worked towards.." He paused briefly then continued. "A bit of history.. bear with me... I was a lad when I met him.. He was resting by his campfire in the woods. My intent was to murder and rob this elf I didn't know.. I was hungry and desperate...."

A slightly familiar female voice chimed in just then. "...Xas...go on..."

"He heard my approach and got the drop on me, I was also a bit clumsy in my youth. I stared at the point of his arrow as I entered the clearing.. Well.. to make a long story short, he took me in and put me to work.... I worked for him for over a decade, mixing potions.. Then I got good.. he refused to release me from service.. " There was another pause here.. and the butterfly dared to flex her wings a bit, waiting..
"....Indentured servitude, that's how some would put it. Later... as I just tonight remember, I fell in love with a faerie... named Libra. We lived together... I had left Glorfindle, and he did what he could to disrupt my new life. Eventually Libra left Britannia... he and the rest drove her from me.."

If a butterfly could frown, that's what it did, the faceted eyes catching the light with a deep sapphire gleam. The voice continued..

"Then the rest.. and I shall be brief.. Glorfindle's brother came to visit him.. I kidnapped his brother.. And in a pact with a daemon... I was... am... in service to... I sent his brother to the depths of Hythloth, there he was slain and his soul is still tortured in those halls.. The taste of revenge was sweet.. Soon after is when I met my own end at the hands of a crazed druid, that is another tale for another day.. I was reborn as I am now.. by this very same daemon that still has some sway over me.

The female spoke again. "And Glorfindle, he simply left of his own grievances?"

"Oh no.. he lives still and is active in Tel'Ruid... He buried my body. All the elves, they left me to die! He came along and put my body to rest. I still don't understand why.. after what I did.. Now I have returned. And when I saw this tower.. well.. I knew its owner, and hatred still filled me. Glorfindle had no use for the place, so he gave it to his servant, Ebircs Llacer. I came here the day Ebircs moved in. I made him.. under the threat of death.. sign the deed to my name. And then.. I called upon my dark friend, and sent Ebircs away to the bowels of Hythloth... All in the name of vengeance.."

The butterfly could hardly believe what was being said, and began to grow agitated. Dolenamo resumed his speech.

"What has become of me? I took the greatest pleasure in all of this.. You see.... I proved my worth to the elves once, and I betrayed them. I fear my love that my course is chosen.. and now... I am no longer elf.. no longer drow.. I am something beyond that.. I am a monster as Shalia has said.. and I have made you such as well.. we are damned......."

The butterfly could stand to listen no more. Uncaring whether it was seen or not, its black satiny wings sped away south through the trees, slowing only to land, finally, on a log in front of Thiernanoge, the Tower of the Fae. The air around the butterfly wavered and it disappeared, leaving in it's place, Shalia Sheenosse, the diminutive raven-haired faerie of Tuatha de Danann. He face was one of grave concern, and she sat thinking, wringing her hands in her lap, muttering to herself. "Oh my... ding dang, gosh all mighty! What shall I do?? I.. I must tell someone of this! But.. who?? That Thrand elf person maybe?.. Certainly not Glor! He would for sure do something foolish and rash in anger.." Her voice trailed off as she sat on the fallen old timber, deep in thought.....