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[Tempest]

I'm afraid the creativity bug bit me again today with a mod npc idea. However, I'm not going to start one until I am finished with my current project. In turn, however, here is the tale of this character's backstory, and expect a second chapter at some point as well.

Table of Contents:
Chapter I (This post)
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V

Warning: Mature content.

Author's Note: This takes place about twenty years before Baldur's Gate, and is located far to the north, in the frontier of Icewind Dale.


Cold Fire

Snow was falling. Tyella looked out from the window of her small cabin, smiling as the first snowfall of the year descended on the tiny elven village. Her skills would soon be in high demand again. She was the village?s seamstress, and quite a good one at that. She also enjoyed a profitable arrangement with a regular merchant caravan that circulated the frontier villages in the Dale. Her tailoring was second to none in the region-her loom and needle were her pride and joy, and she was always busy at work-it was often said that she had clothed half the Dale.

She returned to her loom. It was a complicated design, this one, but it was a labor of love. One of Tyella?s dear friends, a human ranger who wandered throughout the region, was getting married, and lacking any appropriate clothing, had asked Tyella to make her a wedding dress. Tyella gladly set to work, basing the design on a particularly beautiful dress she had once seen in Suldanessellar, long ago. She prayed to Hanali Celanil as she set to work, determined to craft the finest dress she had ever created. Her fingers ran down the loom, selected the threads she needed, and resumed her work.


It was a moment before she recognized the yells of alarm for what they were. Raiders. She frowned-why would raiders attack their village? They had nothing to take. True, there were local bandit companies in the wilderness, but they had reached a tacit arrangement with the villages-so long as the bandits left the villages alone, the villages would leave the bandits alone. It worked well for both parties-the villages had nothing of value. But from the cries of alarm, she realized that particular bit of logic had been blown with the wind.

She briefly considered taking the shortbow she kept in the house, but shook her head. She wasn?t a fighter. Through the window, she saw old Myliras, the village?s nominal leader, try to parley with the bandit?s leader. The filthy human drew a wickedly serrated blade, and cut the elf down where he stood. Tyella muffled a scream, and frantically searched for a place to hide. She found a small cabinet where she kept spare parts for her loom, and crammed herself inside, crying softly. Why was this happening to them? It was just a small, peaceful village.

There was an abrupt crash, and Tyella knew bandits had broken into her home. She laid in the cabinet as quietly as she could. There were two of them, from the footsteps.

?Borke, anytin in ere worth takin??

?Shut yer pie, Slim. Pretty cloth-this oughta sell real good.?

?Looks like some kinda fancy jewels over ere. Musta been a woman in dis house.?

?Any sign o er? I could use me a nice fancy elf bitch about now.?

?If ya find one, I get first ride!?

There was the sound of drunken guffawing. Terror crept into Tyella?s heart.

??Ey! Door here!?

The door protecting Tyella smashed inward, and a rough hand dragged her out as Tyella screamed.

?Come ere, bitch!?

The bandit grinned, and Tyella winced as she saw the man?s blackened teeth.

?Ey, if ya make it real good, mebbe I?ll let ya live, bitch. Never had an elf before, and yer real pretty. The boys oughta enjoy a pretty bitch like ya, once we get done with ya.?

The man pawed at Tyella?s breasts, then tore her dress. As the man took from her everything he wanted, the elf divorced her mind from the moment. She screamed and cried and bled and moaned, but her mind found a quiet place. She walked among the village as her body was forced onto the floor. She gently smiled and talked with her brother as the bandit forced himself into her. She laid out her loom and her thread as splinters drove into her bare flesh. She was at peace as her world ended around her.


Tyella was a changed woman after the raid. Though she had survived, unlike many of the village, she would never forget the horrors she had endured. She grew distant from others, even her old friends. Her craftsmanship was as fine as ever, but there was an unmistakable change in her work. She used dark colors now, and she was cold as she worked. The fire in her spirit had been extinguished forever. But the worst was yet to come.


?Tyella, may I please speak with you??

She looked up. It was Risar, a druid of Aerdrie Faeyna. He was one of the village?s elders-a druid devoted to the bringing of life. The normally cheerful old elf had a grave expression on his face, which only troubled Tyella more.

?Yes, elder. What is it??

?It has been four months since the attack on our village.?

?I know this.?

?But what you may have only suspected, I learned. Tyella, you are pregnant.?

A void formed in her viscera.

?I?m? with child??

?I am so sorry, my dear, but yes. And you carry a half-elf in your womb.?

Tyella?s knees gave way.

?Can? can I stop it somehow??

?I already tried. I knew what this would do to you, so I? I tried to prevent the pregnancy from developing. I failed. This? this is something you will have to live with.?

?It is not possible. I will not let this happen to me!?

?It already has happened. You?ll begin to feel the symptoms, before long.?

?No! This cannot be!?

?It is. I am deeply sorry, but you must prepare yourself.?

Tyella was numb as she weakly nodded. But her heart was cold. She knew the child?s origin. She would not be a mother to such an abomination. Reluctantly, she knew what she would have to do.



Oliamr heard the noise. It was only a weak cry, but it was a cry not native to the mountains. He wondered what was causing the cry-it was the depths of winter. Nothing like what was making the cry should have been alive and exposed. He made his way over, directing his panther friend ahead of him. He found a small clearing in the woods, and in the center, a small, pink creature. It was helpless, and clearly in dire condition. He picked the baby up. It was a girl, and she was still alive. Barely. Exposure would have killed it before long-certainly less than an hour. He looked over the naked baby-she was just a newborn, but he recognized the features of a half-elf. Oliamr gently wrapped the girl in his traveling cloak, and breathed spells to warm her. He would need to inform the Circle.

The other members of the Circle were present, as he had expected. Oliamr quickly withdrew the girl-she was still alive, but very weak. She needed care.

?My friends, I was wandering along the Dragon?s Tail River when I heard the cry of an infant. I found this girl, abandoned and naked in a small clearing-she was almost dead from exposure.?

?Any idea where she came from, initiate??

?She appears to be a half-elf infant, so perhaps from the elven village. However, no one has reported a missing infant recently, and she is a newborn-less than a week old. It is beyond fortuitous that I found her in time.?

?Indeed. We cannot allow an infant to die like this-she was abandoned by her mother, for whatever reason.?

?I agree.? A voice said. Selyn stepped forward. She was the druid for a human village, and the village?s spiritual leader. She had also been trying to have children with her husband, but he had died recently in an accident. Her face was grave.

?I am willing to take the girl in and raise her. She needs to be raised in a healthy environment amongst people for her own good. We will teach her our ways, but perhaps her destiny lies elsewhere. She was abandoned once. It would be cruel of us to abandon her again.?

?Very well, Selyn. What will you call her??

?Xarana.?

Edited by Tempest, 16 September 2007 - 05:57 AM.

[Tempest]

You can't keep a good idea down... hadn't intended to start this until sometime next week, but here is the second half of things.

Chapter II

Selyn carried the infant girl back to her home. Her village, Northspire, lay at the base of the great mountain peak from which the villagers took the name of the village. The druid smiled as she looked down on the infant. She was a beautiful baby girl, and had a surprisingly alert expression for an infant. Perhaps it was the baby?s elven blood. Other villagers waved at Selyn as she entered the village-she was the cornerstone of the village?s spiritual life. Then she smiled as the village elder, her old friend, approached her.

?What do you have there, Selyn??

?A daughter.?

?A daughter? How? I thought Jirisyn?-

?Jiri is dead. One of my fellow druids found this infant girl abandoned in the snow. I volunteered to take the infant in, and raise her as my own.?

?Abandoned? That?s horrible. Do you know anything about her??

?Naught but that she is a half-elven child. She?s a week old at most-her mother must have abandoned her for some reason. I do not know. I have named her Xarana. It means ?gift of winter? where I come from.?

?It is good that the child will know a family and a mother, even if her own parents abandoned her. Well, I must be off. Congratulations, Selyn.?

The druid smiled.


?Mother, I?m home!?

A girl?s voice rang through the house. Selyn smiled as she beckoned her daughter over. Xarana was now seven years of age. She was small for her age, and sometimes displayed an unusually laconic and carefree spirit. Selyn had consulted with her colleagues, and decided that it was a result of her elven heritage. Xarana was also a beautiful little girl, with a thick wave of sandy brown hair, a delicate face, and unusual yellow-green eyes, no doubt inherited from her elven parent. Her little face was creased with tears, though.

?What happened at school today, Xarana??

?The other kids hate me! They never let me play with them! They-they call me a freak!?

?You?re not a freak, Xarana. You?re a beautiful little girl. Perhaps the other children are just jealous of you.? Selyn smiled.

But Xarana was confused. ?But? why am I so different? It?s my eyes and my ears and? I?m not like the other kids. Even the other girls hate me.?

Selyn sighed. The time had come. Xarana would have figured it out sooner or later-she was a bright little girl.

?Xarana? yes, you are different from all the other children in the village. Come with me-we?ll take a walk into the woods where we can talk.?

Xarana smiled slightly. She always enjoyed being out in the forest with her mother. There was something about the forest that she loved. The other children told each other horror stories about monsters that lived in the forest, monsters that loved to devour little children-especially pointy-eared freaks like her. But to Xarana, the forest was home where the village never would be. She skipped along at her mother?s side.

?Xarana? the other children in this village are human, as I am. Humans tend to hate and fear what they don?t understand, and what is different.?

?Are you? are you saying I?m not human??

?Not entirely, no. Xarana, you are a half-elf.?

?Half-elf? You?ve told me stories about the elves.?

?Yes, and you are half human, half elven.?

?Was my daddy an elf??

?I do not know.?

?But? how? How could you not know who my daddy was??

Selyn took a deep breath.

?Xarana, I am your mother, but I am not the woman who gave birth to you. I took you in as an infant and raised you. In truth, I do not know who your parents are.?

?You?re not my mommy??

?I am your mother, Xarana. You are my daughter.?

?But how could you not be my mommy??

?Xarana? it is time you learned just how you came into my care. One of my friends, Oliamr-you?ve seen him before, he?s the man with the big red beard-found you, alone in the ice and snow, a long time ago. You were just an infant, alone in the cold. Oliamr found you and saved you. He brought you back to the Circle-the organization of druids like himself and I, and there, I decided to adopt you as my daughter. My husband had died not long before. In taking you in, I began to heal that wound.?

?Did? did my real mommy ever come looking for me??

?No, Xarana. My friends made inquiries, but no one reported a missing baby girl. Your name means ?gift of winter?, Xarana, and that is what you are. You are a gift from nature?s bosom. Human, elven, you have to learn that it doesn?t matter. You?re a beautiful girl, Xarana, and nature doesn?t care about your odd eyes or your pointed ears. To live in nature is to live in balance, within and without.?

?I am a freak. My mommy abandoned me when she saw what I am. Other kids hate me because of what I am. I hate them all.?

Selyn gently patted her daughter on the head, and silently prayed that nature would have mercy on Xarana.


Six more years had passed. Xarana was now a graceful young woman. Somehow, she had made the transition from girl to woman without notice. She was lithe and graceful, her features sharp and delicate. Her eyes were a bizarre shade of yellow-green, and her brow and ears were slightly pointed. She was a beautiful, if slightly exotic, young woman. But she had a disturbingly cold demeanor, one that kept the attentions of the village boys to a minimum. Few had the courage to speak to her. It was just as well. She spent much of her time deep in the forest by herself, content in the company of wild animals. Selyn worried about her daughter. Xarana had thrown herself into a devotion to nature. She had already begun to manifest powers of a druid, and she had been recently initiated into the Circle.

But Selyn wondered just what exactly went on in her daughter?s mind. She had never been the same after learning of her true heritage. She held the other young people in the village in contempt, and was very much a lone wolf. Xarana had a fondness for wolves, in fact. She seemed to have a natural affinity for the predators, and spent much time in their company. Selyn?s daughter had learned from them tenacity, a strong preference for direct action, and? a certain ruthlessness. What was it she had said?

?Nature knows no mercy. Why should we??

Selyn had hope yet for Xarana, however. It was time to learn her daughter?s origin. She had traveled to the elven village with one of her friends, but while Oliamr traded with the elves, Selyn kept a careful eye on the elves themselves. She was looking for Xarana?s parent. But they had met perhaps everyone in the village?

?Excuse me, but who lives in that house, over near the edge of the wood??

?That?s Tyella?s house, druid. She?s the best tailor in the Dale, but I?d be careful how you approach her. She?s never been the same after the raid, so many years ago. Of course, you can hardly blame her, given what happened.?

?What did happen, if you don?t mind me asking??

?A terrible business. During the raid, she attempted to hide in her house, but two bandits found her. They gang-raped her, brutally.?

?I am so sorry??

?That wasn?t the worst of it, though. In the aftermath of the raid, Tyella found out she was pregnant.?

?From the rape? Or did she have a husband??

?Tyella had an eye for one of the men in the village, a priest of Hanali Celanil. She was always a rather vain woman, but a good person at heart, and a good friend. However, her lover was killed in the raid. She was utterly devastated. And then, she learned she was pregnant with a bastard half-elf child.?

?What happened to her after that??

?She carried the child to term. Evidently, she tried to terminate the pregnancy, but failed. All we know is that a few days after the child was born, she vanished into the wilderness. She returned about a week later, without the child. We didn?t ask what happened. We didn?t really have to. It was her choice, and a terrible one at that, born of terrible circumstances. She?s a different woman now. It is not a good change, though. We miss Tyella as she used to be.?

Despite the pain of what happened to the woman, Selyn?s heart soared. Everything fit.

The woman who awaited Selyn, however, was not what she was expecting. Tyella was approaching middle age, but she should have still appeared youthful. She didn?t. Selyn could see that she had once been a woman of great beauty, but that beauty had faded. Tyella was still elegant, and reasonably attractive, but there was a gauntness to her features, and a darkness in her eyes. She had never forgotten what had happened to her. But Selyn looked more closely.

It was as though Selyn had been struck by lightning. As the woman stood straight, Selyn was astounded at how closely Tyella resembled her daughter. Their eyes were the same shape, and that same unusual shade of yellow-green. They had the same mouth, small but expressive. They shared the same facial structure, high and delicate. Even their hair was the same shade of sandy brown, worn to the shoulder. There wasn?t the slightest trace of doubt that this woman was Xarana?s mother.

?Are you here to buy or request an order, druid??

Selyn smiled, but it wouldn?t be fair to this woman to tell her that the daughter she abandoned long ago still lived. She had endured much pain, and Selyn decided to spare her this additional shock. Silently, Selyn prayed that Hanali Celanil or whatever god this poor woman worshipped would take pity on her.

?No, merely browsing. Your wares are beautiful, but a bit too delicate for me.?

?Very well. Should you need any tailoring work, you may approach me at any time to negotiate a price.?

Selyn turned and left.


She found Xarana out in the village militia field, which was unusual. She had taken a spear from the armory and was practicing with it, alone on the deserted field. It was obvious to Selyn, then, just how strongly Xarana took after her mother. She didn?t seem impeded by the low light of the fading day at all. Her movements were swift and powerful, preserving energy, then expending it in deadly blows. Selyn recognized what Xarana would be driven to do. The Avengers already watched her with a great deal of interest. It was not Selyn?s choice that her foster daughter join that sect of the Circle, but they, too, fulfilled a vital function in the balance.

?Xarana! We need to talk!? Selyn called.

Xarana stopped her practice, and nodded. She followed her foster mother to the edge of the field.

?Xarana? before I say anything, remember that I am your mother, and I love you very much.?

?Should I be worried you?re telling me that? I know you?re not the woman I was born to, but you?re the only one in the world who loves me.?

?Yes, but that faith was shaken. Xarana, I found your birth-mother.?

Strangely, Xarana didn?t react much to that. It was as though she was numbed by bitter cold.

?Her name is Tyella. She is an elf, and a tailor of some repute. But she doesn?t know you still exist. She thinks you died, many years ago, and she refuses to think of that period of her life.?

At last, Xarana spoke.

?Why??

?You were not willingly conceived. You are born from an attack by human raiders on the elven village. Tyella was brutally raped during the attack. That is how she became pregnant with you. She never wanted a child, least of all a half-human child born of rape. She abandoned you because she had to. She couldn?t live with you.?

?But? I was her daughter.?

?Yes. It was a terrible choice she made. I would never have abandoned you, but please do not bear her ill will for what she did.?

?She abandoned me!?

?Yes, Xarana, but she was weak. She was only a woman. She may have given birth to you, but remember that I am your mother. I thought you should know your origin, Xarana, but do not let it take control of you. You have lived a good life-continue to do so. Do not let this revelation change you.?

?She rejected me. I always knew humans rejected me as a freak, save you and the other druids, and now I know what I always suspected-the elves rejected me, too. I am a monster-a hideous half-breed who should have died in the cold!?

?No! You are a beautiful young woman, and a servant of the balance, Xarana! The balance must be maintained! Find the balance within you-the balance between the human and the elven! I love you, Xarana!?

Xarana paused at Selyn?s last sentence, and she knew the truth of her words. The Circle was the only group of people who had ever cared about her. Selyn was the only person who ever loved her. The rest? could freeze in Auril?s embrace. Civilization, she decided, was a blight upon the earth. Human, elven, it didn?t matter. Nature would reign supreme in the end. One society might claim they were superior to another, or that they were good where their rival was evil. But Xarana now knew that she would be a servant of nature?s fury. Nature was not merely peace. It was war. There, too, lay a balance, between the peaceful growth and fertile birth, and the bloodstained fang and unrelenting storm. Many druids served the former. Xarana? would serve the latter. Ice and cold had birthed her, and now ice and cold would she serve.


Tyella?s path took her back across a place she had not been in years. She had been looking for peace, some measure of happiness in the snowy mountains, and her path took her back along the river. Humans called it the Dragon?s Tail River. She thought of the girl she had left here, so many years ago, and for a moment felt regret. The baby had doubtless succumbed to the cold, or some predator. She briefly wondered what might have happened to her, if Tyella had not made her terrible choice. Would she have been a proud daughter, worthy of her mother? Or would she simply have been a mongrel half-breed? It didn?t matter. She did what she had to.

?It?s not often an elf wanders so close to someone without noticing them. You must be thinking deep thoughts. Not unreasonable. Perhaps even dwelling on past decisions, actions long since taken.?

Tyella looked around, searching for the voice. She found a young woman, standing nearly motionless next to a tree. The woman wore white furs, and blended easily into the snowy forest. But there was something strangely familiar about her. Tyella looked closer. The woman had sandy brown hair, and delicate features. But there was something about the eyes? and the mouth? the woman bore a startling resemblance to her. But Tyella saw a cold, intent look on the woman?s face. And it was then that Tyella noticed the woman?s slightly pointed ears. They were not so cleanly defined as to be elven, but almost? and Tyella?s knees suddenly felt weak. It was impossible.

?Who? are you??

?I am surprised you recognize me, Tyella. My mother, Selyn, visited your village a year ago, looking for the woman who would abandon her newborn baby in the wilderness. She found you. She found a woman who looked very much like a girl in her care, a girl that she had taken in several years before. At the time, the girl had just been an infant, but as the girl grew up, she was plainly a half-elf. And my mother was intrigued. Intrigued enough that she told me about you, Tyella.?

?You? you lived??

?Yes, no thanks to you. I was rescued by a druid, and was just barely alive when he brought me to the druid sanctuary here. One of the druids volunteered to take me in, to raise me as her own. But I was different. I was different from all the other children in the village. I was rejected by humans as surely as you rejected me. Oh, I know how I was conceived. I am a bastard daughter of rape, and a half-breed at that. But my mother called me Xarana. She accepted me where you did not. Why did you abandon me, Tyella??

?I? I did what I had to.?

?We all do. I survived what should have been my death here. I survived the hatred of the other children. I became a servant of balance, of the balance of nature. I am an anomaly in the balance, however, an abomination that never should have been born. But I exist nevertheless. I am balanced in my existence-rejected by both halves of my unwilling heritage. And there is an imbalance here. An imbalance I am about to correct.?

The woman?s hands glowed with energy as she chanted a spell. Numbed by the cold and by Xarana?s words, Tyella simply stood still until the spell hit her. She found herself sprawled on the ground, and immobilized by the force of the magic her daughter had called upon.

?Why are you doing this, Xarana?!?

?I am doing what I have to do. You should understand that, given what you did to me. Sometimes, sickly wolf cubs are abandoned by their parents. They are left to fend for themselves in the uncaring wild. Usually, they die. But not always. Sometimes, these abandoned cubs survive against terrible odds. Those that do are always stronger than the rest. They never had the luxury of being accepted or appreciated. And they bring a terrible vengeance with them.?

Xarana stopped speaking for a moment, and looked into Tyella?s eyes. The elf shivered. Her daughter?s eyes were cold and pitiless. She wondered just what vengeance the daughter she never knew lived had in mind.

?What are you doing??

?I am bringing things full circle, Tyella. You see, even amongst the Circle, the only people who ever cared about me, I am a bit of an oddity. I did not come to love nature on my own. I was raised as a druid. Now, fortunately for me, I love the wilderness, and hate those who would despoil it. We all serve nature as best we can in whatever ways nature gifted us with. And in me, a half-breed freak, beats the heart of a wolf. They call me an avenger, Tyella. I am the one who fights for the balance when the only language left to us to speak is violence. But that, too, is part of the balance. There is great peace in nature-the peace and harmony of the mountains and the skies, between the earth and the creatures that live upon it. But there is also great violence in nature. Hawks take prey helpless in their grasp. Wolves bring down the mightiest of foes. Nature?s fury is terrible indeed. As you are about to learn firsthand.?

Xarana bent down and stripped Tyella of her clothing and her traveling gear. Setting them aside, she softly cast another spell, freezing her gear into a small ice-covered mound. It was bitterly cold without her furs-did Xarana not realize what she was doing?

?Please? you have made your point. Give me my clothes-night is falling. You?re a druid-you know I?ll freeze to death like this.?

?Yes, I do know that. And when you die in Auril?s cold arms, an imbalance will exist no longer.?

?Are you insane? I?m your mother! I gave birth to you, gave you life! You are my daughter!?

?Don?t dare call me your daughter! You may have given me life, but then you tried to take it away! I know what you did, ?mother?. I know what you did when I was not a week old. You left me to die in this very place-this same clearing near the shore of the Dragon?s Tail River. I remember the cold. The endless eternity of cold that bit through my tender flesh and into my soul. But Auril spared me. She allowed me to live, in spite of your attempt to murder me. And now, feel the Frostmaiden?s touch on your soul. Will you survive my retribution for what should have been my death, I wonder? You left me alone in the cold. And I have come full circle. You will die the same way you would have had me die-naked and helpless in the teeth of winter. Goodbye, ?mother?. Embrace the fate you intended for me.?

Xarana turned, and walked away. The cold Tyella felt was nothing compared to the cold in the woman?s eyes. But she found breath again.

?Xarana? I am sorry.?

The half-elf paused.

?You should be. You left me to die, Tyella. Consider us even.?

Xarana didn?t look back.

[Tempest]

I'm continuing the Cold Fire story to explore Xarana's background a bit further (she'll be my next project after Darian), and am retroactively numbering the chapters. Here is a short story, detailing the beginnings of something very important to the young druid, who is only around eighteen at the time. A fully adult woman by the standards of the Realms, but still walking that line between being called a maiden and a lady...


Chapter III.

Xarana smiled. The poachers were right on time. She had watched them in the forest, stalking and trapping creatures against the balance. She didn?t object to people hunting for food or clothing to provide, but these people killed for profit. And that, she would not allow. Xarana had befriended one of their hunting dogs the previous night, and the loyal hound kept her apprised of the poachers? movements. Their cart was heavily laden? too heavily laden to cross the bridge safely. Under normal circumstances, the bridge over the Dragon?s Tail River was very sturdy, and quite safe, even for heavy loads. Not today. Not with many of its key supports bent and warped by Xarana?s druidic magic, and stone foundations weakened.

?Nature is yours no longer.? Xarana whispered softly.

The first of the poachers advanced across the bridge. His name was Nerlic, and he was an old hunter, approaching fifty years of age. Nerlic had seen everything the Crystal Forest had to offer, and none of it impressed him anymore. He?d even seen those tree-loving freaks they called druids, out practicing their rituals in the wild. Nerlic himself didn?t care much for religion, druidic or otherwise. He paid his respects at the temple of Chauntea, but didn?t take it very seriously. He waved his friends across the bridge.

The bridge creaked a little as their mule came up, trailing a cart, heavily overladen with furs. That was unusual. Nerlic knew this old bridge well-it had always been very sturdy, built by rock gnomes who had a small town north along the road. It was the major bridge across the Dragon?s Tail, and it was a hard river to ford. Nerlic?s instincts flickered. Something wasn?t right. He looked around, senses on edge.

?Ya all right, Nerlic?? the mule driver asked.

?Something ain?t right. Don? know what, but there be something queer goin on.?

?I think yer just imagnin things, Nerlic.? The younger man laughed.

Nerlic shook his head. He had been making his living hunting in this forest for nearly thirty years. He was no ranger, but there was something just plain wrong. He looked around cautiously. The river was swift as always, ice being swept away before it could encrust the river. The trees were still-try as he might, he couldn?t see anything. The bridge groaned again.

?The bridge? something isn?t right.?

?Haw haw! Nerlic, yer getting spooky!?

That was the last thing the mule driver ever said. With a violent crash, the bridge abruptly gave way beneath the cart, plunging mule, cart, and driver into the icy river. Nerlic and the other hunters ran. He almost made it to the far side when the bridge creaked again and fell. Nerlic yelled in alarm as he was dropped into the cold water. It was bitterly cold. He immediately began swimming as hard as he could to the side, but the Dragon?s Tail was a fast-moving river. He heard his friends screaming, and his arms began to numb. The water was cold? oh, so cold?


?So you made it to shore alive, alone of your friends. You know the Dragon?s Tail well.?

Nerlic?s eyes opened. He was drained, utterly exhausted. His chest heaved, but he looked up. A young lass in white furs was standing near him. She was quite pretty, but her eyes were as cold as the river. He placed his hand down, preparing to get up, but a heavy leather boot crushed his wrist back into the cold mud.

?As far as whatever remaining friends and family will ever know, you died in the horrific, accidental collapse of the Dragon?s Tail Bridge. Anyone who examines the ruins will decide the supports were warped and weathered by the cold and water. Eight hunters and their pack mule will have died in a tragic accident. But perhaps you deserve to know that you and your companions are dead in the name of Auril. You will defile nature no longer.?

Nerlic?s mind barely registered her words, but his eyed widened as he saw her begin to chant a spell.

?For too long have you and the rest of so-called civilization raped nature. You carve great holes in the earth for the sake of metal to make petty trinkets. You hunt animals to the edge of extinction just to gather a few shiny coins. You fell great trees to fuel fires to keep your houses warm. Know this as you die, poacher, that nature has fangs, and it does bite back.?

Nerlic was overcome by the cold, then darkness, then eternity.


?Xarana, we need to talk.?

The young druid nodded. Oliamr wore a grave expression. Though Xarana had reached her majority, and lived independently, he and Selyn still looked after her as best they could. But Selyn couldn?t know about this little conversation. Oliamr had watched Xarana sabotage the bridge, watched her lay her deadly trap. Not even the other members of the Circle would suspect that Xarana had murdered eight men in cold blood, one personally. But Oliamr knew.

?Xarana, I know what you did. Why did those men deserve death??

?They defiled nature, took far more from her than what they needed to survive.?

?Yes, but why did you choose such an? extreme action? You could have talked to them, reasoned with them.?

?I could have. But that would have been no guarantee they would have stopped. Nature is not a merciful thing, Archdruid. It is destruction as well as creation, death as well as life.?

?And such is the way of the balance, Xarana. But did those men truly deserve death for their actions??

?All who oppose nature deserve death. Civilization is a crawling blight on the face of nature, and we must be the ones to burn out the infection, and cleanse the wounds.?

?But is civilization not capable of much good? Do you truly believe in the eradication of all civilization, regardless of creed??

?Yes.?

?Then just between you and me, Xarana, I feel much the same way. As do others. But the rest of the Circle wouldn?t understand us, so we have to stay hidden. You must not tell your mother about this, Xarana. It has to stay between you and me.?

?If that is the way it must be. Selyn and I have grown? apart from each other, these last few years.?

?Yes. You are learning what it means to be an adult and a druid, Xarana. You are dismissed.?

Xarana bowed, and left. Oliamr smiled at the half-elf?s departing form.

She would be a powerful addition to the Circle. And not the Circle to which Selyn belonged.

[Tempest]

Here we go again...

Chapter IV

The young woman stumbled along in the snow. She was blindfolded, and ears plugged. It was uncomfortable, but she had endured it many times before. Olaimr held her hand as the group of druids continued their walk, guiding her forward. As an Avenger himself, and the closest thing Xarana had to a father, he was responsible for guiding her toward the sacred grove where the Avengers held rites. She had almost completed her training, and was already a force to be reckoned with. Nowhere near as agile as one would think-she was actually fairly clumsy. But she made up for it, and then some. She was strong, very physically tough, and had an intuitive perception of things that was oddly missing even in older druids.

The procession kept a steady pace, sometimes using spells on the young woman to keep her from knowing where they were going. The Avengers were a secretive sect of the Circle, and for good reason. The rituals to become one of nature?s avowed warriors were difficult on initiates, to say the least. Very few accepted by the Avengers completed their training. No one minded. An Avenger had to be a person of great strength and resourcefulness, able to walk amidst the full force of nature?s fury unprotected, and emerge unscathed. Such was the way of things. In order to serve nature, one had to truly understand that which one hoped to yield. The Avengers embraced this philosophy wholeheartedly. A philosophy which was about to culminate in the final test of the Avenger. Initiates had been known to die during this test. And Xarana had deliberately chosen the most harrowing circumstances imaginable for her final trial.

Oliamr, Xarana, and the others finally made their way to the small, hidden glade where the Avengers met. Each druid present was garbed in the likeness of the animal which they felt best represented their bond to nature, and their desired service to it. Not surprisingly, most of the small group resembled wild beasts. Oliamr himself wore the pelt and mask of a dire bear, a strong and fierce predator well known to the inhabitants of the Crystal Forest. Also present were panthers, eagles, boars, owls, and other predators of the cold north.

With the druids present, they assembled into a circle, with Xarana standing alone in the center. The leader of the Avengers, a forest gnome by the name of Melithet, stepped forward into the circle. Though Oliamr technically outranked Melithet, the gnome had deliberately avoided taking a higher position in the Circle-which, considering he could easily best Oliamr, was probably a good thing. Melithet himself wore the likeness of a wolverine-small, but possessed of a terrible fury. He removed Xarana?s blinds, leaving her in the center of a circle of Avengers, herself wearing nothing but her winter furs. Melithet spoke.

?Xarana of the Crystal Forest, you stand before us once again. Eight trials have you taken, and eight trials have you passed. You are a servant of nature, but before you can claim to truly understand nature?s fury, you must first endure it. A claim without knowledge is hollow, and an Avenger?s duty is too solemn to trust to a well-intentioned fool. You must not act out of petty greed, or hatred, or any of the trappings of civilization. You must be an Avenger, a righter of wrongs, and one to take action where none others dare. You have come far on the Avenger?s path, Xarana. Now only one final test awaits you. And the nature of that test depends upon your nature, druid. What animal, what spirit do you bond with as your link to nature??

Everyone present knew what Xarana?s answer would be.

?The winter wolf. I am a servant of cold fury, extinguishing the fire of the injustices against nature with the icy embrace of winter. Summer is balanced by winter, fire by ice. I am a huntress of the cold.?

?So be it, Xarana of the Crystal Forest. You will need the spirit of the winter wolf if you are to survive your final trial. And let us grant you this small blessing.?

Melithet withdrew a beautifully crafted mask, bearing a fearsome likeness of a great white wolf. He placed the mask on Xarana?s face, completely obscuring her human and elven features. The cold young woman was gone, replaced by something even more at home on the ice.

?The final trial is a simple one, winter wolf. Do not overlook simple lessons for complex stories. You will be taken far away from here. Your task is to make your way back. We will not be looking over you, winter wolf. Your success or failure is strictly between you and nature. And you must do this completely without protection. Remove all of your clothing and equipment, save for your mask. You must complete this trial utterly without the trappings of civilization. Feel nature?s wrath upon your bare skin, and endure it with your own power and cunning-the gifts nature gives you. Do so now.?

Xarana didn?t hesitate. She quickly disrobed, leaving her pale body naked in the snow. She wasn?t self-conscious in the slightest, which was good. Those who hesitated, those who feared to face nature naked and without the trappings of civilization, always failed the trial. Always.

Melithet applied a spell to her, and she disappeared. Her trial had begun.


Xarana abruptly found herself alone in an unfamiliar place. She quickly took a look around, and assessed her situation. She was exposed on a rocky outcropping, on a mountain side, and judging by how off she felt, she had gone up in altitude as well. The terrain was unfamiliar to her, which was no surprise. Complicating matters was the fact that she wasn?t sure where the Avengers? glade was, either. Despite their precautions, she had gotten a vague sense of the glade?s location. It was located around the base of a great waterfall, at the bottom of a towering cliff. She then cast a few spells, ascertaining the direction she had to travel. Behind her. And straight over the mountain range. It was relatively warm, but Xarana shivered.

She carefully made her way up the rocky side of the mountain. There was very little snow on this side of the mountain range, but that was only a small blessing. Facing the great mountain, Xarana was deeply aware of how pitifully vulnerable she was. To any sort of predator, beast or humanoid, she was an easy victim. A young half-elven woman, devoid of even clothing to protect her modesty, trasversing a great mountain. But then there was a tingle of cold on her, almost a reassuring caress, letting her know that Auril still guided her. Xarana smiled, and pressed onward.

Finally, night began to fall, and the air turned bitterly cold. Xarana was worried. Shelter was hard to find in these windswept mountains, especially with snow beginning to fall again. She had deliberately chosen to take her final trial in the first weeks of winter, but she was starting to wonder if perhaps that had not been the most intelligent choice. Snow already coated the ground. She had to find refuge for the night, and soon. But there was none to be found. These mountains were old and worn, no caves or trees dotted the endless rock landscape. Eventually, she simply found a small crevice, shielded from the wind, and silently wondered if she was going to die, alone and forgotten.

The wind howled over her crevice, and snow fell heavily. Xarana knew the signs of a blizzard. It was almost unheard of for one to come so early in the season, but come one had. But there was a musical quality to the wind as it blew through the mountain pass, almost singing.

What are you doing down there?, the wind asked.

?I don?t know!? Xarana shouted back.

Don?t you think you should?

Why?!

It?s cold. Why don?t you at least have some warm clothes?

I can?t! I?m on my final trial!

Trial for what?

To become an Avenger! To become a defender of nature!

I can choose my defenders myself. Why are you doing this?

To prove myself!

To what? You already think of yourself as an Avenger, so who can say you aren?t one?

The other Avengers!

Do the opinions of others mean so much? Think what you want, then act on it.

It can?t be that easy!

Why not? Nature is a web of simple things. Together they seem complex, but they are not.

I? I don?t know!

Good. That is the first step towards wisdom.

What are you?!

I am the wind, Avenger. But my friend, winter, passes along her blessing.

Winter?! Auril?!

Why complicate things? Just accept. Your life?s complex enough without worrying about a voice on the wind talking to you.

But I!-

Take it on faith, as it were. A storm brews in your heart, child. The thunder is most amused by you. Feel free to devastate the Realms with that storm. It will be interesting to watch.

I will! I will see the Realms tremble before the might of nature!

Good girl. I?ve tarried too long, now. There?s a town I?m due to strike soon. Take this gift from winter, and run along at daybreak. Goodbye, Xarana.

The snow around Xarana suddenly felt warm and reassuring. She quickly fell asleep.


Xarana moved swiftly. The cloak she had awoken with was of purest white, seemingly woven snow. And its clasps were small holy symbols of Auril. She would never forget that dream-like conversation, to the end of her days. She was no longer afraid. No longer afraid of what others thought of her, or even if she passed or failed the trial. She lived to serve nature and winter, and to bring ruin upon any who would defy that power. At long last, she was content.


Oliamr watched the young woman re-enter the circle. A cloak of purest white clung to her, matching perfectly the white wolf mask she wore. There was a confidence and strength in her step that had not been there before, and through the holes in her mask, yellow-green eyes blazed with determination, even as a chill lurked behind them. Even in the deep snow, her movements were swift and sure. He had privately been worried about her. It was a terrible blizzard that had struck the night after she first disappeared, one of the worst he had ever seen. But she survived.

Melithet walked to her as she stood in the center of the circle once again.

?You have returned to us, winter wolf, having survived a terrible trial, and bearing the favor of nature.?

There was a grin behind the wolverine mask.

?Welcome to the Avengers, Xarana.?

[Tempest]

Not sure if this is the true end or not... I may end up writing another chapter down the line.


Chapter V


The encounter had been rather expected, all things considered. For several years, Xarana had heard of the Shadow Circle, whispered about by Selyn, by Oliamr, by the other druids. It had been a week now since she had killed the hunting party on the Dragon?s Tail River, and three days since becoming an Avenger. Night had just fallen, and with it, two visitors arrived at the small house perched at the base of the mountainside where Xarana lived. Their forms were shifting and indistinct as a result of illusionary magics, but she could tell they wore dark masks.

?Who are you and what do you want?? She asked.

?We are well met, Avenger Xarana. We represent the Shadow Circle, an organization you may have heard of in the past. I assure you, we are not quite what most druids make us out to be.?

?Some call you murderers, traitors to nature, and worse.?

?Ah, the perspective of weak men and women, too afraid to do more than simply defend nature against the onslaught of civilization. To be a champion of nature is to do more than simply defend. You must go on the offensive, and cleanse from nature the blight called civilization.?

?I think you know how I feel about this already, if I?m not mistaken.?

?Indeed we do, and we are impressed with the way you handled those interlopers on the river little less than a tenday past.?

?So why are you here? I?m sure you didn?t drop by simply to tell me all about your group.?

?Not quite, Xarana. You see, we are here to offer you a place within our circle? if you can prove yourself worthy.?

The half-elf laughed coldly.

?Prove myself worthy? Seems I?ve been doing nothing but that recently. Fine. What little test do your superiors have in mind??

?Even here along the Spine of the World, civilization maintains a corrupting presence upon nature. We wish you to eradicate one of its outposts-the village of Northspire.?

Xarana?s blood chilled. Her home village. Selyn was, coincidence or not, away on a journey to meet with the Great Druid in Kuldahar. Xarana had never had anything but hostility for those she knew in her childhood, but to massacre them all?

?And what if I do not agree to this??

?Then you will be killed. We have heard of your prowess, little avenger, but you cannot stop us. The decision you must make is simple. Are you strong, or weak??

Xarana looked down at the ground. For all of her training, for all of her determination to wipe civilization from the face of the world, it somehow seemed far more personal now. She hadn?t hesitated to hunt down and kill interlopers. Her birth-mother lay dead by her hand, as did eight hunters. But was she prepared to go this far? She could still turn away from this course, but she knew that destroying her home village would be a cliff. Once she went across it, there would be no turning back. Then memories swam into being. The other children cursing her as a freak. The parents refusing to look in her direction. The Shadow Druid?s question rang in her ears. ?Are you strong, or weak??

And with that, the last flickers of warmth in the young woman?s heart were extinguished.

?It will be done.?

?A wise decision. You have two tendays, Xarana. Farewell, but do not think of betraying us. We will know.?

The two druids at once shifted forms, both becoming black ravens that flew away into the night. Xarana herself was not yet capable of performing such a feat, but the message-and the task before her-was plain. Northspire, the tiny village she had once called her home, was doomed.


Two figures walked through the woods. It was the height of Flamerule, and there was no hint of snow upon the ground. Those who lived on the Spine of the World knew to take advantage of the fleeting summer while they could. The pair were laughing and talking as they walked through the glades outside of their home of Northspire. One of the two was male, the other was female. They had no worries about being found, or of danger. The druids and rangers kept the wild well-patrolled, and they thought themselves perfectly safe.

Not quite a correct assumption. Two pairs of eyes tracked their progress through the wood.

The two individuals continued on, unaware of the hunters. Their names were Nynthsar and Rulast, and they were typical for a youthful man and woman of Northspire. They had also been contemporaries of Xarana. Rulast, like his father, had chosen to learn the trade of woodworking, and spent much of his time in his workshop, creating chairs, tables, bed-frames, and other necessities of life in the north. He was of average height, but broad across the chest, and was already starting to develop the big beard and booming laugh everyone associated with his father. A chip off the old block. Nynthsar, on the other hand, was tall, and more lean than slender-she had a very awkward sort of beauty at best, but she was a voracious learner, and spent much time in the company of a wizard who maintained an abode nearby. She was a fair hand at magic, and like her tutor, delighted in entertaining the children of the village with flashy displays of illusionary magic.

As the observer could and did surmise, they were lovers, and engaged to be wed at first snowfall. They walked hand in hand towards one of their favorite trysts-a special moment for them during the short summer months. The air was quite warm, and the plants all in full bloom. For them, the world was in its proper shape, and everything was going perfectly.

For Xarana, things were getting that way as well. Her plan would please Talona more than Auril, no doubt, but some things couldn?t be helped. She and her wolf wove silently through the wood, unseen and unheard by their prey. Seeing them laugh and flirt and be happy did naught but reinforce the cold in her heart. Joy, civilization, warmth? all would be extinguished by the cold. The lovers? path wound farther away from the village than she had expected-they were quite confident in the safety of the woods. Normally, they would have been correct. Today, they would be wrong, and fatally so. There were certain advantages, however. She had spoken with several animals, and knew there was no one in earshot now, even if her prey screamed at the top of their lungs. Which they very well might.

Soon enough, Rulast and Nynthsar reached their destination. It was a small glade on the mountainside, and offered a breathtaking view of the valley below. Plant growth was thick here, offering a well-secluded and comfortable spot for such activities as they intended to carry out. Once they arrived, they set down the packs they had brought with them, laying out plenty of food and fresh water for them to enjoy together. Things then proceeded to courting, then flirting, then their clothes were spread across the ground and they proceeded to do what came naturally, the scent of musk tinging the clean mountain air.

Xarana let them proceed. Better to let the animals mate and get it over with before their fate arrived. She turned away in disgust as they carried on, and took the time to check her dagger and spear. Both were honed to a razor?s edge. More than sufficient for what she had in mind. In due time, the sounds of mating stopped, and a visual check confirmed. It was time for their end. She began a quiet prayer to nature, summoning its fury against the interlopers.

Rulast and Nynthsar lay contentedly on their backs, savoring the warm afterglow of the moment. The hint that something was wrong came far, far too late. Nynthsar screamed in alarm as the bushes suddenly reached out to her. Even the grass reached up and wove itself around her body. Rulast managed to get himself standing, but the small nearby tree abruptly bent over and wrapped itself around him, completely immobilizing his torso and arms.

?What the hell is going on?!? He shouted.

?I would have thought that obvious by now.? Another voice called in response.

He watched a woman emerge from the woods, clad in leather and furs that resembled armor more than anything else. A large wolf was at her side, and the eyes of both newcomers were cold and pitiless.

?It is regrettable, to an extent, but I am afraid the two of you must die. Your deaths are a necessity.?

Rulast?s eyes went wide as he recognized the woman. It was the half-elf girl. She motioned her wolf over to Nynthsar.

?She is of no use. Feast upon her.? She directed.

The young woman entangled in the plant growth screamed as the wolf growled and evaluated its struggling prey. She continued to scream until the wolf casually walked over to her, and bit down hard on her throat? then tore it out. A hideous gurgling wail emerged as the naked young woman realized just what was happening. It went on for a few minutes, eventually replaced by the sound of flesh tearing and bone crunching as the wolf ate her. Rulast vomited, and looked at Xarana in absolute terror.

?Why?? He managed to get out.

?Because it is necessary in the greater scheme of things. My companion needed to feed, and your mate was of no use to me. She now feeds nature. You couldn?t ask for a better fate than that. After all, what is the death of two people in nature?s plans? Or even a hundred. Or a thousand. You, on the other hand, will go on to serve a far greater purpose. Be honored, Rulast. You are as ever a fool with no true appreciation for nature, but nature has a use for you nonetheless.?

Rulast?s eyes went even wider as the druidess approached him, drawing a knife from her belt. Stepping behind him so blood wouldn?t spray across her, she carved a jagged tear across his throat. Blood sprayed forth and he, too, made a death wail as his heart methodically pumped the life from his chest. When it was done, his body hung limply in the tree?s embrace. Xarana picked up the large backpack he had carried, and when the tree released him, roughly stuffed the corpse into it. It didn?t fit all that well, but she had a use for the body, and he was rather past the point of caring how she carried him. What was left of Nynthsar, she left for the worms.


Seldom had Xarana been more grateful that Selyn had taught her much of alchemy and creating potent chemical mixtures from the resources nature provided. Rulast?s body had begun to stink, and though she was not particularly bothered by the smell of rot and decay, it would have been a-literally-dead giveaway of what she was up to. Northspire was situated at the base of a great rock formation-a tall needle of rock thrusting up from the mountainside from which the village had taken its name. As such, it was situated too far from the river for a source of water. Selyn herself had dug a well just below the village. It was deep, but it provided a plentiful source of fresh water. It was the only source of water for the village.

Under the cover of darkness, the druidess approached the village well. Her skill at moving unseen may have been sufficient for stalking Rulast and Nynthsar, but she was realistic enough to know that she needed something to tip the scales, especially since the village was on alert. The disappearance of the two young humans had not gone unnoticed, and the villagers had asked the druids and rangers to see if they could find them. Xarana herself had promised to do everything in her power to find them. Trouble was? she already knew. And nature once again provided the solution to her problem.

A soft prayer to Auril, and a bank of fog rolled into the village, centering around the well. Unusual weather, but not out of the question. Xarana moved quickly, taking full advantage of the fog. She dumped Rulast?s corpse out of the backpack and onto the ground, then proceeded to lock heavy iron weights around the corpse?s neck and limbs. Casting another spell, this one negating sound immediately around the well, she heaved the body into the open well. With the weights, it immediately sank to the bottom-far deeper than the buckets ever dipped. Finally, she took three vials from a belt pouch and emptied their contents into the well. They would hide any sign there was something amiss with the water, unless another druid were to check, in which case they would see something very much akin to what had been done.

Namely, the well had been poisoned. A decaying body gives off all manner of foul toxins and pestilence, which now flowed into the village?s sole water supply. In a day or two, the villagers would start to realize something was amiss as they began to sicken. A cursory check would see nothing. Eventually, someone might get the idea that the well had been tainted. But Xarana?s careful preparation would stop any non-magical analysis short of dropping oneself down the well and finding Rulast?s bloated corpse. She took advantage of the fog bank once again to slip away from the village.


About a tenday later, there was another knock on Xarana?s door late at night. She opened it, and saw the two Shadow Druids who had assigned her the task of destroying Northspire. She inclined her head towards them.

?It is done.?

?Yes indeed. Well done, Xarana. There were a few survivors, either strong enough to resist the pestilence you unleashed or who were simply away. We have taken them prisoner. No one outside the Shadow Circle can ever know what happened.?

?And what of me??

?We will find you again in four day?s time. The Shadow Moot is nigh, and it will be an honor to welcome you into the fold? Shadowed One.?