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A Thickened Plot
Apr. 13th, 2023 03:52 pm As I just emailed my GM, the plot that is thickening in the letter is purely apocryphal. Idyril is just spinning his own tales, although the bits about the glass heart of the Lady of the Unbowed Oak are all in-game. The rest? Yeah, I spend a lot of my time (in general, but also while playing D&D,) fully in my own imagination.
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April 13
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April 13
On the Isle of the Twinned Oak,
South of Brekenfort
Dearest Ave,
I’m hesitant to write to you about the recent turn of events given that you are no longer in The Beechwood to personally receive these letters. I don’t trust Mother’s secretaries not to be opening our private correspondence and reviewing it for any useful tidbits. I can only hope that between my disgrace and your… flounce, we’re considered a pair of wastrels and Mother has since told her people to find better uses for their time.
Because, Ave, I have seen the beating glass heart of the Lady of the Unbowed Oak, Queen of Oaks and Autumn and you and I both know that Mother would never hesitate to capture such a prize for herself.
According to those tasked to protect it, the Lady of the Oaks apparently had her Heart moved from the FeyWild in order to protect it from the Queen Below. For some time, the glass heart has been residing in the protective bosom of an ancient witch oak, but now, with the forces of Driftwood Ethel poised to attack, The Caravan has been tasked to fly away with it… possibly into the arms of Captain Philip and his military forces for safekeeping.
I can’t say I entirely approve of this plan. If we’ve heard nothing of Captain Philip and his army, it’s how stretched and overworked they are. However, the decision is not entirely in the hands of The Caravan.
The Elven ranger we rescued, Evee, brought us to this island by magical means and the help of an Elven Druid named Nyx. Gathered here beside the witch oak are the meager if stalwart forces loyal to the Queen of Autumn. Among their ranks are not only FeyWild Elves, as to be expected, but also some local, Prime Material troupes, including two of Eladrin Elves of rank, known to our family.
You may remember, specifically, Ranger Elanril, as during one particular, official dinner party I offered to hang him by the balls if he wouldn’t stop looking at you as though you were something good to eat. I believe you then informed everyone at the table that such a meal had already been thoroughly enjoyed… or plans to do so were in the works. Regardless of your part in it, the event was memorable for me on many levels, not the least of which was that it was one of the very few times that I was scolded by Father. I received an important lesson that day about expectations for Elven gentlemen and the affairs of women, and how very, very, VERY little we have to say in such matters. There was also some long and tedious lecture about rank among the nobility, which I have fully ignored for most of my life, but the thought that in my misguided attempt to ‘protect’ you I had insulted you has haunted me forever. Fortunately, your quick response schooled me very well, and, regardless, perhaps, of Father’s full intention, the lesson I most took to heart was that it was immensely inappropriate of me to even entertain injecting my opinion of your, or any woman’s, affairs, either literal or figurative. I’ve striven to never lose my mind in such a way since… with a decent amount of success.
I am, as you well know, not entirely well suited to live a life worthy of an Elven gentleman.
Speaking of, the other noble you may know less well, as she is the rather stuffy and taciturn Knight Aolis, who is old enough to be our grandmother and seems to remember Mother as ‘that upstart whippersnapper,’ which is, frankly, terrifying.
On one hand, I was grateful to see an elder here, since most of the rank and file of the Autumn Queen’s loyals are FeyWild, and thus have as much grasp on Human politics as I do. Even so, our Ioun monk, Grigor, seemed to know far more about the Duke that Captain Philip serves than anyone else present… which, frankly, does not bode well.
I would have offered the aid of the House of Trevorian to suss out the politics of this situation, but I am no longer its heir, and, far more importantly, I have no idea where Mother’s loyalties lie in regards to the Queen Below. I asked her, directly, once. I wrote to her.
Given what I have since learned of the Queen Below and her penchant to employ those who would infect Elves and others with Infernal potions, it seems telling that Mother didn’t even send a single spy with a warning. Not that I expect Mother would care to spare me from the Queen Below’s clutches, but more that I foolishly thought that there might be certain lines that even Mother would be loath to cross for the sake of all Elvenkind.
Apparently not.
Moreover, it’s far too easy for me to imagine Mother worming her way into the Queen Below’s graces with the full intention of stealing the Autumn Queen’s heart for herself. Honestly, Mother’s involvement would make a certain amount of sense, particularly given how much detail Chittering Lucy’s notes seemed to include of our family’s lineage and the large array of potential marriage partners the Queen Below’s faction had arranged for me had I turned coat on the Prime Material. I had even noted at the time, how much like Mother’s hand Lucy’s had felt.
There’s a sobering thought, and one that I’ll keep in mind as we begin this new undertaking.
Know that I am thinking of you wherever you roam,
Your brother,
Idyril