Perry and Argent

people have visited Perry.

She could be beautiful if she tried, perhaps - as it is, she is merely striking. The elven blood in her runs quite strongly, in the slant of her cheekbones and the straight, lordly line of her nose, the curved tips of her ears and her love of beauty. HUman heritage, however, has bulked out her frame, making her more stocky than a true elf would be. Her attitude is discouraging of the pursuit that might follow from her apeparance; in fact, when she so chooses, she is a master of stereotypical elven disdain.

Her eyes are the grey-green of a misty spring morning in the forest, set slightly aslant and giving her a slightly feline air of mysterious contemplation. Her hair is a rich, dark red which glints golden in light and ruddy brown in shadow. Her skin is darker than average, as if she has spent much time in the sun - which is also, such as it goes, true.

She is prone to long silences, to watching the birds, to sudden bursts of song. Her temper, though slow to appear, is a firestorm before the wind, balanced on a tricky sense of honor and a pride subtle but distinctly present. Her solemnity can be absolute enough to instill silence around her; her joy, a much rarer thing, can bring a spot of brightness. She wears greens, browns, and greys, forest-blending colors, and has a green and grey mottled kerchief which she uses to tie back her hair so its curls fall over her shoulders and not her eyes.

her leather armor is scored with battle-gashes and scratches, but carefully and skillfully repaired. Both shoulders of the armor are scored by the talons of falcons, though she bears only one bird, a large silver-grey falcon with blue edgings to his featertips.

She carries a walking staff more often than not, cutting a new one every so often when one has been discarded and she feels the wish for assistance again. Slung over her back are a longsword and a longbow; a shortsword (rather old) is at her hip and the hilts of daggers protrude from her boot-tops. Her pack is small, and a harp case is strapped firmly to it.

Perry's History

Perry was born to a somewhat scattered elven mother, with one of the nomadic family groupings of the New World. Her father, a half-elf also with the tribe, was her mother's earliest liason, and Perry was for some time resented for being a bit in the way (her mother being rather young, more than a little bit foolish, and utterly feckless).

Lacking, as she did, stable points in her childhood, Perry naturally gravitated towards the more solid members of her small community, eventually latching onto the elder Loremaster for her tribe. With simple stubbornness, she began to learn, not only the basic woodsman's skills that all her family had, but the histories, the stories, the lores, and all of the other things that were truly lasting.

While knowing she had not the keenness of mind or the years of the Lorekeepers, perry honed, at least, her memory to near-perfect recall, and mastered all of the rituals and commemorative songs. She learned to ride, she learned the bow, she learned the s word and knife.

After a time, the Loremaster, knowing that Perry hungered for learning and understanding, told her to go and study the art with a certain other elven Bard, giving her directions to the last of his known haunts. Eager to follow the directives of her elder s, Perry went.

En route, the young half-elf managed to earn herself the grace and attention of Argent, who is her companion in all things. The falcon and she are near inseparable, each being edgy when forced to spend time apart from the other, and her care of the bird exceeding her care of even her bow and other weapons, which she keeps in perfect condition. She does not tell the story of how she and the bird came together.

Not finding her named instructor, Perry chose to join the world outside her family. It seemed to her that to return to the tribe as she was, half-trained and unexperienced in the world, would make a waste of the life and training they had given her. The refore, she set out to earn her place, to find what she might be able to bring back to her people.

It was in these self-set tasks that she met Finbar, who enters into the next portion of her story.

The Game According to Perry

Finbar is a golden-haired elf of unknown origin, who gathers folk willing to risk and willing to adventure to accomplish things that need doing. He encountered Perry, and asked her if she were willing to investigate the disappearances of some villagers, adding, apologetically, that it was Town Work. Perry has a low opinion of towns, as they tend to keep her from Argent, but nodded her acquiescence.

She was introduced, then, to one Sir Zev Redwind, another half-elf, and a quiet human named Saro. The party was a quiet group, and, as Finbar went off to find someone else, they trailed through the forest on their own. Perry was, it is fair to note, uni mpressed with Zev's simple assumption that everyone was impressed with him; he was equally unimpressed by her refusal to be impressed.

The little group's first encouter was with, of all thigns, a six-legged cat, which attempted to eat Saro -- who promptly vanished. Perplexed, the beast turned, and Zev exploded something, which sent it running off. Perry, who had been investigating the sounds of the creature's approach, did not see a thing, a fact which Zev took as cowardice. After several attempts at rebuttal, Perry came to the conclusion that Zev was too thickheaded to argue with, and retreated to familiar silence.

At the next twon they encountered Finbar, and a white-haired elf with little language, but a big stick (with a crescent on the end). Zev immediately decided that Gwynedd's lack of language meant that he was a fool, and decided to ignore him; Perry, on th e other hand, considered that if Zev disliked someone, it was a good enough reason to attempt friendship.

After the resolution of the missing people - predation by a man-cat, as Gwynedd termed the thing - a shapeshifter of some sort - Perry managed to make trustworthy enough noises to Gwynedd that he let her in on his secret, through telepathic conversation. That secret being, in significant part, that Gwynedd was not, in fact, an idiot.

In the sequences of encounters that followed, Perry got better at interpreting her friend's incoherences of language, and, for her own part, started to use fewer words - words being a habit she was not used to, being generally a loner.

Zev, in his perpetual desire to act, gathered rumours of other disappearances, and, claiming them as his realm of expertise, walked off to investigate. While Perry was not satisfied that the situation was resolved, and had wished to investigate more, the re was no sense or honor in letting Zev go off alone - whether she liked him or not, he was a comrade in arms. So she prepared to follow, as did Gwynedd (mostly for the same reasons, so far as she could tell).

On their way to the place of the other disappearances, they encountered an ambush of strange creatures - all of which died, but some of which came back. This was upsetting. However, the party patched itself up, more or less, and walked in to the town.

Into another town - this one larger - and therefore more unpleasant. Throughone of the typical confusions of language, Gwynedd misplaced himself; Perry decided then that she would keep a close eye on him, and he seemed to decide to keep an eye on her, in case he wanted to know where he was.

Investigations led them over a hill and through the woods, finding there a cave. This cave was proven to be artificial (Gwynedd poked at a brick) and contained in its depths, doors with dark and frightening runes (translated by Gwynedd through Perry).

The group returned, later, with reinforcements, and found more lizard-men, this time taking a prisoner with them back to the town. Questioning the next day was conducted by - of all people - Gwynedd, whose native tongue was akin to the Slig's. Perry, on ce again, translated, finding this useful; while she wasdoing this, Finbar reappeared, dropped a cleric into their midst, and vanished again.

Perry, talking to the new elf, who went by Biting Rain, asked him to put the fear of god - any god - into Zev, considering that an understanding of mortality might do theother half-elf some good. Rain did not understand; at least not just then.

Then the expedition entered the caves again, with the Slig leading the way to a strange darkness, which theparty breached. The darkness proved inhabited by an ancient vampire, who wishedto reignite a long-forgotten war which was Gwynedd's hobby of explor ation (and which was rapidly becoming Perry's).

Gwynedd shared his telepathy with the group, in order to explain the situation to them, and proved himself to not be an idiot. Perry was, mind, mildly wistful over the loss of this secret, but not much, for it was needed. She did, however, point out to him that he was sounding quite insufferably smug.

The group fought the vampire, and lost, letting it loose on the universe. Saro was sent to warn the town, while the remainderof the group carried the wounded and the dead to the surface (the wounded including Zev,who Perry quietly thought might be the be tter off for a brush with something that proved him not invincible).

Another secret, this one Perry's, was loosed,a bit regretfully, but,again, needful - a sequence of musical notes that called Argent in to guard. (Saro played them, as the more physical members of the party were needed to carry bodies.)

After playing her dirges to the dead, her memorials, and her musical warning to the world from the rooftop of the healer's house, and speaking with Rain on the meaning and need for rituals of such kinds, Perry wentand bought paper. Words, never her stron g point without the music of understanding, needed to be noted, until she could find the music in them, and therefore comprehend.

Perry is very confused. About a large number of things. However, upon reaching the mage tower, her confusion at least solified into several particular realms of chaos, which she is far the more happy about.

First of all, Gwynedd spoke - far more coherently than ever before - on a variety of subjects, sharing his thoughts and knowledge, as well as his secrets. Perry holds close a few of the other things which she holds private and secure in this, just because the knowledge is precious to her.

Her knowledge of magic of all sorts, of the crafting of spells, and such things, is expanding in leaps and bounds, and she is beginning to grasp the edges of Gwynedd's language. That knowledge she holds to and devours, in all practicality, finding in these words more expression and capability than the words she knows.

Her other confusions, however, she keeps silent, only expressing them in peculiar moments of silence and strange musics. She is currently working over, mentally, a tune of almost epic proportions and elegant simplicity, this occupying much of her early mornings, after her now habitual greeting of the sun.

Perry rests well, and is awake early, in these times at the mages' Tower; she planned one night to use this ability to slip outside and get some time to think. However, she was wakened in the stray hours of the night by metal on metal clashes - the distinctive sounds of a fight. She was down the stairs directly behind Gwynedd, who followed Biting Rain (who hadn't stopped to finish putting on his armor, and was running while trying to finish pulling it on).

Upon rounding the Tower, it seemed that a scraggly band of villagers were attempting to beat their way past the Tower guard, which was in a strong defensive position around the gates. Rain looped around to go at one of them, and Gwynedd charged the way Perry thinks of him charging when he is absolutely certain that his enemy should not remain standing. Trusting that judgment, she likewise charged, Argent looping in after her.

Perry rarely has much to say about battle - it was a fight. After she and Argent downed one opponent, she circled around to see what she could do with a bow, in time to see Gwynedd in a state in which he should not have been able to be vertical - or conscious - near Rain. She told him to sit down, and put an arrow into the back of the maul-weilding vampire that had hit him.

It is possibly valuable to note that an entire paean of invective can be composed against the ancestry, origins, final destination, and general habits of all opponents which discorporate, teleport, vanish, turn invisible, regenerate and crawl off after being rendered effectively dead, and other asociable habits which the average adventurer would find distressing. Perry is seriously considering writing it. In three languages.

While various people engaged in a council of war - of sorts - about what to do, Perry herself retreated to a place where she would not be disturbed (most likely) to think. Zev asked her later where she was - "The guards' dining room." What she was doing - "Finding things out." What she found out - "Nothing new." She was not entirely certain how to explain the vast amount of processing that went through her mind in that particular retreat. However, having made thoose thoughts, she did pull Gwynedd aside the next day to give him a word - Aobheil - which means 'the joyous one.' She also ordered him not to go and get himself killed, because it upset her.

The group proceeded towards the continent-dividing chasm - an inquiry to Gwynedd about it, and an extracted promise to get the story. Then, the group settled in order to discuss what to doa bout the gap. Gwynedd knew there was a bridge. "I find things." "It would help if you remembered where you put them." (He shrugged.)

Gwynedd did his hawk trick, turning into a whopping great bird. And got stuck. This reduced Perry to near hysterical breakdown for a variety of reasons, so much that she nearly couldn't get across the point that even if she was going to help, she wasn't likely to be able to help when he was on the other side of the chasm.

Some insanity later - Argent was sent scouting for a bridge, and returned, proudly, with a stick - the product of a serious problem in translation and a birdbrain. The Gwynedd-bird went scouting the other way and, true to form, got lost.

Zev made noises about wanting to push on. Perry climbed a tree. On the dawn watch, a very confused pack of wolves appeared. Perry told Rain she bowed to his superior wisdom - wolves are his realm, falcons are hers - and stayed in the tree she had been keeping watch from. What could confuse an entire pack of wolves? Gwynedd. She stopped worrying, more or less, and, when told, "Gwynedd sent the wolves. He found the bridge," she acknowledged the finding the bridge was news, and sent Argent to go look after her friend. (Someone always has to.)

Travel was uneventful and wet, until a sound disturbed Saro's watch, and the party was wakened. A pair of... things, hard to see, even by heat-sense, assaulted the party, managing to knock Perry out. The elven hawk made as to chase the one that attempted to make off with her, but Rain's spear managed to knock it out, and she was revived (to the point of mild grogginess).

Gwynedd then told Perry that she shouldn't complain at him about getting himself killed, which she found rather droll. She was also somewhat perplexed by the fact that he healed her - not as much as the cleric, but significantly. This occupied her thoughts through a things-that-go-bang-in-the-night incident (Zev's moment in watch duty) and the eventual progress to a confluence of rivers.

Crossing the river involved a raft. A raft was built. The tower as guarded by grumpy uninformative people who didn't seem all that interested in conversation. Saro was taken off to talk with them, and everyone else was locked in a room. Perry played flute music, and kept Argent hooded.

They left. In the night, there were flashes of light back twoards the tower; Rain ran back to find out what was going on, and the rest of the party followed a bit more slowly. The Tower had been attacked, and no, they weren't interested in help or more information.

Nobody was much surprised by a fight with more vampires. Perry got herself knocked out; Saro got herself almost-killed but not quite. Recuperation proceeded anon. "I worry being away," says Gwynedd, and Perry wants to know, "This is away?"

Zev wanted to get a job and get paid. Perry, feeling somewhat more bound to doing something immediately helpful, wanted to return to the mage tower (a thought gathered after discussion of Gwynedd). It was eventually determined that it would probably be best to proceed down the river to the city and get a boat north from there rather than going and looking for the bridge over the chasm again.

Zev acquired a youngster who seemed eager to follow the group around. Rain thought the youngster might be interested in learning interesting things - after all, he was raised next to the southern mage tower, and Saro's Grey Tower was more than something of a secret.

Eventually they got to Evelyn. Perry took perhaps twenty minutes to decide she dislikes cities more than she dislikes towns, and proceeded to feel vaguely oppressed. After some wanderings, they wound up at the temple of Niana.

The priestess of Niana was a distinguished woman, who apologized greatly for not listening. Gwynedd left in a rage - Perry followed, with a Parthian shot about the fact that her word was the only coin she considered of worth. She spoke with Gwynedd, quietly, outside the temple, fending off overhelpful underpriests who wanted to help and make sympathetic noises, but not actually accomplish anything. Perry, having a low tolerance for hypocrisy, and having lost her temper in a manner worthy of the redhead she is, pointed out that failing to belive was equivalent to murder in a rather loud voice, and drew funny looks. She didn't care, though - if the opponents of the undead could not rouse themselves to deal with a plague of vampires....

After that unnerving sequence of events, Perry insisted on going to the temple of Saran, the Hawklord. With a whistle, she called Argent to her hand, stalked in, occupied the central courtyard, tilted her head back, and sang. The prayer was written for the moment, heartfelt, and joined by Gwynedd once he figured out what tune she was using. Feeling thus somewhat fortified, she ducked back to the lodgehouse of the Order of the Leaf, and, after some invective in several languages, wrote a message to be taken to the Grove of Dei, which she did not have time to visit.

Finally, the city could be left, in a smallish boat which skimmed along towards the north. Perry mostly kept out of the way, occasionally climbing when it was deemed permissable or helpful to do so. Storms struck - the Sea Witch was deemed responsible - and aside from a brief argument with a handful of zombies - the trip to Grosken was more or less uneventful.

As it so happened, the officials of Grosken weren't worried about vampires. Only the one town had fallen. Therefore, it was not aproblem for any other towns, let alone the government as a whole. This logic being completely beyond Perry, she gave up on making sense of it. After some discussion with the entire party about what to do about Derien, she also gave up on that, and went to talk with him on her own, gathering information and generally poking at the situation until she found an ethical solution - which also showed signs of being productive towards getting the civil authorities to start thinking about the blasted vampires.

The party was thus divided - Derien staying behind to assist the titled Zev in knocking sense into the powers that be, while the others returned to the Grey Tower for a winter of training. The trip there was unplagued by the undead - a more mundane opponent, the old friend the six-legged cat, being the only serious problem (though it was rather serious, in its own way).

The winter passed in study, training, and other equally predictable exercises. Perry, finally getting at least a small grip on the heart-magic, is pleased with that portion of her studies - among other, quieter things.

The various parties reunited come spring, and, oddly enough, encountered ye olde friende Finbar at the Order of the Leaf, asking him to come along for a bit on the latest jaunt off to Accomplish Something. He was just leaving; he said sure.

On the journey out of town to accomplish said something, however, the party was, once again, waylaid by darkness-loving unionists. Failing as it did to follow the party line, most everyone got beaten bloody, Finbar irrevocably so. His blade fell to Perry.

Encamping up against a river and pondering matters, Perry leaned up against Gwynedd (perplexing him a bit) and inspected the blade. Knowing it was a magic blade was a good start, and, despite her grogginess from being only slightly mobile, she managed to pull up a rather impressive story about it - one which was old enough for Gwynedd to also know.

The first disturbance that evening was an owl. The second was an elf, enquiring about the location of Aobheil. Perry put her bow down, hauled herself to her feet, and bowed. "Grandmother," she said, introducing to the party her great-grandmother, Toimhseachan ben Foghnan-Creag, leader of her tribe. Grandmother shared a few vampire rumours, and helped in the battle to drive off the interloper when he appeared.

Evidently, the vampires found an artifact - a harp - currently in the keeping of Sruthan bar Foghnan-Creag, loremaster of the tribe. Grandmother, unhappy about being evicted from the planned wintering grounds, took it as payment for the irritation.

Once again, though, the party divides. Zev (in the company of a young priest and Derien) shall go to Dragon Island to pump Dwarves for information. Gwynedd and Saro shall return to the Grey Tower in order for a teleportation to be arranged to Farhain; Perry's sole comment on that was, "Come back to me." The remaining - Perry herself and Rain - will be returning with Grandmother to the lands of Clan Foghnan-Creag to discuss the harp and Polaris, the sword, with Uncail Sruthan. This has, to Perry's mind, the added benefit of giving her a chance to discuss a few things with her family on a point of private honor.

On the way to the northwest, Perry and Rain had many long and involved talks; Grandmother taught Perry magic in the odd moment of free time. Rain managed to get a blush out of Perry once; on the whole, though, conversation and travel continued without incident.

Time with the family was spent productivcely - having resolved a matter of honor by speaking to the clan elders, Perry also got Rain somewhat adopted (leading many of her female cousins to chase him mercilessly). Training with Grandmother occupied most of her time - working with sword and magic both, until she gained some proficiency. Enough proficiency, in fact, to call out to the wilds and summon a familiar - a hawk answered the call, shadowy grey in colour; Perry named her Faileas.

Finally, Rain and Perry returned to Grosken to reacquaint themselves with the rest of the party, who had been productively engaged, each in their own way. That done, plans were made to find and excavate the ruins of one of the long-abandoned mage towers.

Saro decided to go to Wizard Mountain - for the big D himself had appeared and, through a show of magical technique, been elected as their head. Gwynedd bopped her upside the head with his staff as comment; Perry's sole comment was, when she was asked for the borrow of her shortsword, "Can you use it at all?"

The rest of the party proceeded to the Grey Tower. Perry presented Artificer Melody with the blade and the harp, which had been entrusted to her by her uncle. She also gave a forty-minute lecture on what she knew about them - history, theory, magical schools, powers.

The next day, Ze'ev was all up and raring to go back to Grosken to fetch Saro. Perry steadfastly refused to leave - not without her sword, for practical reasons - and not without the harp, for reasons of honor. (To do so would violate her family's entrustment of the item with her.) Ze'ev said, "We decided that..." and was interrupted with, "No, you decided that." The argument went to a standstill, but Perry and Gwynedd stayed at the tower to learn about the items, while a delegation of warriors and priests (oh my!) went off to Grosken to fetch Saro (who was already there, and wondering where the hell everyone was).

Saro had a pleasant chat with Draklothari, who invited to teach her - for, he said, she had the potential to learn both the mind magic of Gwynedd's people and the heart magic she already knew. Saro turned him down for her own reasons - but not before he told her that he felt that magic should only be taught to those who had the potential for both paths.

Anathema to Perry; anathema to Gwynedd; source of a good shouting match.

Meanwhile, the artificer told Perry about her magical items - that the sword was especially enchanted to destroy unnaturally constructed monsters, also was deadly to dragons (which don't exist), and a great number of things that Perry had told her at the outset. With regard to the harp, she was told that the instrument was a blend of three forms of magic (which she had told the artificer) and that to play it keyed the magic (suspected but not known) and absolutely nothing else. "But I told you all that." "Well... I didn't believe you." "My uncle would be disappointed."

In the meanwhile, Perry read her first spell scroll, working a form of magic on Faileas to open the bird more to the influences of the familiar spirit.

Perry and Gwynedd had something of an argument - as she felt that he worried overmuch on subjects which he could not do anything about, to the neglect of other things that might very well need doing. The discussion went back and forth fairly nonproductively for a while, until she gave up in frustration and politely delcared that it was time for her to go fly the hawks.

Some discussion happened - discussing events with the Archmage of the Grey Tower. Gwynedd commented that he worried that his entire people might have been destroyed, and pointed out in an aside to Perry that that was why he worried. Perry winced, and took his hand, and said nothing - keeping her thoughts very close at the time, for many and varied reasons, even if she does have things she wishes to say.

At the end of this, the party - including 'the kids' - Derien and Shane - proceeded into the basement of the Tower (Derien and Shane having taken oaths to allow their presence) to look for the Tower's raena-staff. After some exploration (and killing of monsters that appeared long enough to die and sort of vanish again, but did very real damage), Gwynedd found a hole in the wall - which opened into a chamber containing an invisible dagger and an invisible broadsword (which were later given to the Artificer to 'look at'.)

Feeling battered and broken, the party returned the way they came, through an incidental fight (/never/ argue with a high-level paladin with a two-handed sword, as the salamanders learned, but nowhere near quickly enough), and started poking that room for secret chambers as well. Gwynedd (of course) found it, climbed in (doing a metamorphic trick to do so) and flung out a five-pointed staff, like a trident - the Tower's raena.

Gwynedd was, once again, insufferably smug for a very long time. Perry asked him - and Rain - that evening for assistance with an experiment during the day of down time between explorations into the basement of the tower - for she wishes to understand the harp.

Experimenting with the harp failed somehow to be helpful. However, nothing exploded, so Perry was satisfied enough with that - and, knowing that it is is a particular song as well as intent and need combined that activate its magic, has now started keeping it in tune and playing it quietly, mostly scales and exercises, to keep it and herself in good condition - for an instrument unplayed tends to lose its tone.

The next expedition into the basement of the Grey Tower was punctuated by a wall - which fell into the room the party occupied, dividing them in the middle of battle. Perry was in the midst of swearing at the new wall and poking at it with magic when a collection of mechanical scorpions appeared - devices which she referred to later as "Psychotic dwarven boot-polishers" - they were metal things, therefore dwarven, after all.

Finally, it was decided by consensus that the basement was annoying and nonproductive. So an expedition was mounted to go to the site of one of the staves - the one to the east, which was guessed to be on Dragon isle. Gwynedd was particularly interested in finding it, for it seemed to be calling to him (and occasionally he to it, though that tended to knock him out and upset Perry).

After passing through Grosken, things were uneventful until the party was attacked by three rocks with legs (rocks got legs?). Two were driven off - one fled with the broken form of Derien. Tracking the monster found only a piece of chainmail. Perry still followed, until the trail became indecipherable - at which opints she climbed a tree and played her dirges, softly, to the winds.

A patrol was noted - Gwynedd approached it. Two crossbow bolts sank into the ground at his feet. When he didn't stop, Perry swore a little, and grumbled (loudly) until he stopped. After a while, the group returned to camp to rest until dawn and then proceed - quieter, as a whole. (Rain asked Perry if she was interested in revenge. "On a rock?" she replied, in complete confusion.)

Gwynedd made another attempt to get information from the eastern staff - stood, and took a few steps east before stopping himself. It was pulling, not just calling. Rain made worried noises about this to Perry.

However, things got worse - for on the watch a few days later, Gwynedd climbed down from his tree and walked out of camp. Perry threw rocks at Rain until he woke up, and said, a bit shortly, "I'm going to follow Gwynedd. Keep watch." That done, she stalked out of the clearing to the northwest, and picked up the trail.

She found him in a clearing, asleep - without the raena. After a long moment's contemplation, she woke him. And got the unbelievable story that a dragon had called him out of camp and put him to sleep - and stolen the staff. Drawing Polaris, she made a circuit of the clearing - and found no signs of a dragon's presence. As a tracker, the absence of tracks was profoundly offensive to her - but there was no denying the staff was gone, and she does not doubt Gwynedd's word in any matter of import.

They returned to camp - Faileas had returned some time before, to indicate that things were well by the simple recourse of not demanding that they follow her anywhere. People were all awake. There was not much time until dawn, so packing up and moving out mostions were made. Two days later, dwarves were found.

While discussing Dragon Island, Perry suggested silently to Faileas that she go check it out - after talking to Gwynedd briefly, who knew what she was doing. The bird - under a directive to be careful - glided out the window and soon vanished over the sea. She spent the rest of the day idly involved in the conversation, but mostly watching the window. Gwynedd rested his hand on her shoulder; she curled her fingers over it, taking that reassurance in the midst of her worry. However, the hawk returned, perplexed and in need of soothing.

So, after some discussion about dragons and other such vagaries of history, and Perry rooting through her mind for songs about dragons (of which there weren't any) and getting irritable, a boat was procured, and the island was approached. Gwynedd turned into a large hawk (knowing hawks well from association with Perry, of course) and flew up and around the cloaking fog - Faileas followed to keep an eye on him for Perry. He dove into the fog - and was lost from the hawk's sight.

Lacking anything better to do, the party proceeded to row around the island. ("After all," it was argued, "Gwynedd won't know where we are anyway.") Perry, getting short-tempered, started to climb the wall - got forty feet up, slipped, and fell. Rain helped her back into the boat - she wrung out her shirt, and, when feeling dry, tried again - to achieve about the same point before falling. Rain, after inspecting the utter glassiness of the wall, was impressed she got that far. She was about to try again, when a giant hawk plummeted over the edge of the island, powerdiving for the ocean.

So they rowed for the landing spot and fished Gwynedd out. He was tired - Saro asked him if he wanted to sleep - he did. She mixed something very odd, gave it to him. Nothing much happened. Then he fell over. Perry tested the dregs, shrugged, and sat down next to him to take an oar and return to the mainland. It was a while before he woke up, and she curled up against him to sleep when she slept as well.

Then the party made for the island again - Gwynedd flew in again, and pulled a rope up after him. Perry climbed the rope first, slipping once, and then climbed down the wall on the other side. The others also made it up without incident, and the party regathered inside the vast bowl which was Dragon Island. Exploration proceeded - though Orpheus smelled human. (Very odd - it wasn't us.) Exploration proceeded. And then a man appeared in one of the cave mouths. Perry told Rain to cover her, she was going to do something foolish; she walked towards the cave mouth and watched the man. (Faileas skimmed by the cave entry and said 'Big man with a sword. Like the other big man with a sword, only older.')

And indeed, the man seemed a great deal like Ze'ev in appearance. He named himself the Guardian of this place. Gwynedd asked if the man knew anything about his staff - and the man went to look, leaving a miniature dragon to watch the party. People talked to it; Perry got no answers, though the others did.

Then the man returned with the staff. The party climbed out of the island, retrieved the rope, and sailed away - though Ze'ev remained behind, to speak with this man who might perhaps be his father. The dwarves were confused.

Plans were made to send word to Derien's family of his death, and then the party departed for the rift, escorted by dwarves. Then, onwards to Grosken, where wandering around a great deal happened. Finally, gaining a paladin (a cousin of Shane) and a few stray quiet rangers as additional escort, plans were made to move on.

A few days passed, and nothing much happened. Then, many strange things happened all at once. Perry, in truth, does not remember them well - she remembers falling in a fight with a pack of tiny dogs, and feeling life-force drain into her from Faileas. She remembers reaching to the gift, hovering between life and death, before the shock of the passage of life stopped her familiar's heart. She nearly died - again - from that passage. Even now, she is not so certain she deserves to live.

She woke to the sound of music, which had been haunting her coma-dreams for the several days of interlude between the battle, heard, recognized, the sound of the Harp of Air - never mind that she was the only one who could play harp in the party, Gwynedd had figured it out, which was comforting to her.

But she was alone in her head, Faileas was gone. Her first word was the bird's name, and they handed her the blanket-wrapped body, and she stroked the feathers in silence. Gwynedd left her side, climbed a tree; Rain spoke to her a little, about incidentals which she does not remember at all.

The next day, she laid the bird's body on a pyre she struggled to build, waving off any offers of help (though Shane fussed over her like a nervous grandmother). She stood over the pyre, and spoke in carefully structured words - which only Saro and Gwynedd could make sense of:

Then she went and knocked on the tree Gwynedd climbed. He didn't come down. She sore at the tree a bit, hit it once, and staggered back to her pallet to lie and watch the smoke from the pyre. The next day, though, he came down, and let her hold his hand, which did some small smething towards stilling her anger. She played no dirge on the flute, for this, nor the harp - there is, it seems, little music to her now.

Travel beyond that was largely uneventful - another encounter with tree trolls, spent productively invisible - new sorts of six-legged cats arrived, cats with magics like Gwynedd's. Perry has no comment on the matter, other than to internally cknoeldge their existence; Perry has very little comment on much, in the ensuing time.

Perry is somewhat recovered - certainly physically well - two weeks after Faileas's death; she is starting to joke a little, make a few sardonic comments. She helps to fight off a horde of undead (only a little horde of little undead) with almost enthusiasm.

Once camp is made, she takes out the Harp of Air, runs her fingers across it to check its tuning (though it is never out of tune) and plays, once-twice-three times through, the tune of the song that she woke to hearing. Quietly, without expression, and then she puts the harp away again.

Perry's Philosophy | Siesta | Index