Private Tales Choosing Sides

A private roleplay only for those invited by the first writer
Tessa nodded as she took a few bites of her stew. They had told her as soon as she was old enough to understand that she was different from her own parents and sister. It had been a hard truth to swallow.

"They found me abandoned when I was two or so. They said I was in an alley in the nearby town and I was almost dead from starvation. There was no one around and they even tried to find my parents but they never had luck. They always assumed that I was kidnapped as a baby since there aren't many elves around the town," she shrugged. "I do not know why I was abandoned. I had a good life though until..."

She trailed off and ate some more stew. She had been so lost since her parents died. She did not know what to do with this farm or her life. She was alone now and apparently she made a terrible farmer by herself.
 
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Arwyl decided not to prompt her to continue where she left off. He blew on a spoon of stew until it was cool enough to eat.

He tried not to look at Tessa to the point of being rude as he chewed. The reason for his curiosity was revealed as soon as he spoke.

"How old are you?" he asked. "You don't look over a hundred." It wasn't always easy with their kind. Many elves died before their third century simply because of the dangers of the land. It was only a few who lived long enough to start obviously ageing.
 
Tessa looked down at her bowl of stew and then slowly back up at Arwyl before finally answering.

"If I was two, which is what they have always counted, I am now sixty-seven," she said slowly as if she had to do the math in her head as she answered. "I know very little about...our kind...but I do know that we live longer than humans. I have already outlived my parents and some of my friends."

She ate a little more stew and studied the people in his group as they trickled in to get some stew. "Can you," she paused, "tell me about the elves?"
 
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"That is a difficult thing to do," Arwyl replied.

"Not because of any secrecy but because it is a broad question. We are a disparate people. Thousands of years of human expansion have scattered us. Elves in each corner of the world are different.

"I asked your age because I thought you might have come from Keirvarn - where I am from - where many of us are from. That elven city fell after you had already been found. Even my memories of it are not as strong as they once were. I was young when the humans set it on fire."

There was a collective shift in the mood around them. Perhaps half of the group had come from Keirvarn, but the others had suffered at the hands of humankind enough to understand. The room was quiet, the air felt heavy.
 
The room grew quiet and tense. Tessa looked around at those gathered in her house and she frowned slightly. "I am sorry that I brought it up," she said as she looked down at her bowl again. She still knew nothing about her kind, but at least now she understood that human hatred towards elves was not limited to this group.

"What does your group do?" She asked, "besides save helpless ladies." Tessa added the last part after a pause. She was trying to lighten the mood a little with her jest. She had to admit that she liked having company. She was lonely here most days.
 
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"We are trying to rebuild our lost kingdom," Arwyl declared proudly.

He wouldn't have done so just a few months ago. It was about taking small steps. They had moved from drunken revelry and attacking human outposts as a twisted form of revenge to gathering those who had lost everything.

"I spent a lot of time not being focused on what we needed to do," he explained. It was important that the others heard him say this. He didn't remember his mother being a humble queen, but he knew he had to keep his own arrogance in check.

"It's only a small town now, hidden in the outskirts of the forest. You do...know how to farm?" he asked, spotting an opportunity.
 
Tessa nodded slowly before she stood and brought her empty bowl to the counter. She did not refill it because she wanted to make sure that all of his people had their share first. The elf returned to her seat and then finally answered with more detail.

"Yes, I know how to farm. I am just having issues here because I do not have help. When my parents died, I could not afford to pay their farmhands for long and they left to find other work. It is hard running this alone," she added the last part after a pause.

She did not have any help and she had been been severely depressed being by herself. She, of course, did not know what was wrong. She just knew that she had been sad and some days she did not want to even get out of bed. She had no will do things since it was just her left in the world alone.
 
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Arwyl winced. He hadn't meant to call into question her ability to keep the farmstead running. There was a line of thought that needed to unfold a little bit at a time. Pieces that needed to slot into place.

"Who do you supply with food now?" he asked. He assumed it must have been the human town who had decided to send brigands to tax the shallow river crossings, but he didn't know the lands west of here particularly well.

What he did know was that he was limited in growing their settlement any further until they could guarantee a supply of food.
 
"Myself and our elderly neighbors a ways down the path when I can. My parents figured I would marry and move away before they died. They didn't realize that no human would want to marry me so here we are."

The last part was sad with sadness. She was grateful for her parents and she loved them dearly but they treated and raised her like a human when she wasn't one. It made life now, without them, more difficult.

"I keep thinking about selling the farm and leaving but I have no knowledge outside this little area," she stated with that twinge of sadness still in her voice.
 
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"You lot can all find spaces to rest now. Thorn, set a watch around the area. Pretty sure that was the lot of them but we should be careful."

Arwyl wanted to say more, but not everything had to be revealed to his people. He almost had to stop and listen to his own instructions. Kaius had remarked that he was starting to sound different now he took his responsibilities more seriously.

"How many people would you need to get going again? Could you...move to another location?" he asked as he stood up.

"We...we are going to need people who know how to farm. Don't really have many who do," he added with a shrug.
 
Tessa studied Arwyl for a few moments and then offered him a shrug back.

"I would need about four or five to get it running smoothly and yes, I could move to another location. If I sold this land, I could use the money to start over with the needed supplies."

She finally caught on to what he was saying and she opened her mouth to speak then closed it again. Did he want her to join his group? It would allow her to learn more about her people and she wouldn't be alone anymore. She would see more than the farm and the nearby town.
 
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It was an opportunity. The kind that he had started to notice in recent months instead of being oblivious. It was hard to look back and to realised that he had been so consumed by despair and anger for so long, that through all of it Kaius had stood by him.

Arwyl didn't want to push the matter. Tessa had clearly been through difficult times recently. Their life was not all that easy and it came with plenty of danger. He didn't want to force her out of the frying pan and into the fire.

"Our camp, out town, it isn't very big yet. We could really use someone who knew how to farm. I can't promise that we've got a large amount of good land near where we are and I can't promise it'll be safe."
 
Tessa stared at Arwyl for a few long moments before she spoke again. "I am obviously not safe here either..." She swept her hand around the house where just a little bit ago, she was being held hostage.

"Honestly, there is nothing here for me. I would like to know more about my own kind. I know nothing..."

Her voice was sad now. She was tired of being alone in a world that was not hers. Yes, she was raised by humans and that is what she knew but this still was not her world. She had not been treated the same since her parents died.
 
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"I just don't want you to make a rash decision because of how shocking this all was," Arwyl said, waving his hands to encompass several of the dark stains where they had scrubbed out the blood.

"Not all humans are that bad," he said, but it was through grated teeth. "There are even humans who have joined our cause too. It turned out that they're not just cruel to elves."

"But you would get to be among your own kind, you would...get to be among anyone at all. Sorry, that didn't need to be said that way."
 
"No, elves are my own kind. The people around here have not treated me the same since my parents died. I was tolerated while they were alive out of respect for them since they were the biggest farm in the area. Now," Tessa sighed and rain her fingers through her hair gently. "I am looked down on and whispered about. I have gotten a few offers for the farm so they can force me out."

Tessa shrugged and looked around the sitting room. "I think this," she copied Arwyl's gesture from earlier, "was just the last push I needed to actually go. If you will have me, of course."
 
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"We would be more than glad to have you with us," Arwyl replied. With a grin, he gave an exaggerated bow in her direction.

"In the morning we should plan: work out what pieces of equipment you want to sell and what we take with us.

"I have a man, Caulden, formerly a soldier and a pit fighter. How close are those making offers on your land? I suggest he poses as an actor of distant relatives of your parents to make sure you are compensated fairly. He is very good at looking stern. I'm sure he will enjoy the game quite a lot. "
 
Tessa laughed at Arwyl's bow to her. She liked this man. He had a good sense of humor and beliefs. She was actually excited about joining him and his group. There was nothing for her here and it was time for her to accept that completely.

"Yes, they are in town. I can give him their names and where they are located. I think there were four offers."

Tessa smiled at Arwyl before standing and excusing herself for a few minutes. She returned with a stack of blankets and pillows that she set on the couch. "I have these and then there are two room with beds upstairs, it is up to you all where you would like to sleep. I am going to retire though. Do not feel like you need to keep quiet for me. I have had a long day," she nodded to the group and then disappeared upstairs.

She changed and crawled into bed without any fanfare. She was exhausted and asleep before her head hit the pillow.
 
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Arwyl and the band were up early, before dawn, to see if they could get much more out of the leader of the brigands. They could not. As the land was being sold off he ensured that the man went into a deep grave hidden in the woods along with the others. It could be a long time before anyone found them.

When Tessa came downstairs she would find that only Arwyl and Caulden remained. They had helped themselves to some cheese and bread. A pot of tea was brewing.

"Good morning," Arwyl called out, offering a broad smile. "I thought that whilst Caulden accompanies you to meet your potential buyers that I might have a walk around town." He wanted to get his ear to the ground to see if there was any talk about taxing the river crossing again.
 
Tessa was not expecting that they would have put on some tea and she happy that it was almost ready. Tea was her go to drink in the morning. Arwyl seemed to be way more of a morning person than she was though.

She nodded at Arwyl as she slowly walked down the stairs. She could have easily gone back to sleep but they had things to do like sell her family farm. It was bittersweet.

"I am sure they will overly thrilled to have another elf roaming around town," Tessa grumbled. She had not lied before. It was time to go from her. She was not human and she was not wanted.
 
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"Well then, I must try out my cunning disguise," Arwyl replied. He brought up both hands to pin back his ears.

Caulden gave him one look and shook his head. "Hide them in a hat and you still look like an elf," he muttered.

Caulden was a pragmatic man. Arwyl had never really tried to dig into his past. He had gone from a man of honour with exceptional skill, to fighting in a pit on the edges of civilisation. Arwyl didn't know if Caulden respected him. He knew Caulden respected Kaius and Kaius followed his Prince and so Caulden was here.

"Haven't had a change of heart?"
 
Tessa laughed at Arwyl's disguise. "I, personally, think they will totally buy it, Arwyl." She was, obviously, being sarcastic.

Tessa looked at Caulden and smiled. He seemed like the no nonsense kind of human that she needed by her side in these negotiations. Honestly, she did not know much about selling a farm so she was pretty much relying on him.

"No, no change of heart. It is time. Caulden, do you know much about selling a farm? Because I certainly know nothing," she grabbed a mug out of the cabinet and poured herself some hot tea.
 
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At this question, a little of the men's confident air seemed to dissipate. It would be difficult to pin down what had changed. He was still sat in the same position, looking exactly as stern as he had moments before.

Somehow, without moving a muscle, he gave away the fact that he had never sold a farm in his life.

"So what I am figuring," Arwyl replied on his behalf, "is that he doesn't need to know how to sell a farm."

He was grinning from ear to ear, despite the setback to his cunning disguise.

"Whatever they offer, Caulden can slap his hand down on the table and call the offer an insult. If you have an idea of how much you want for the land then just nod to him when they're getting close."

Caulden visibly relaxed. He had been a professional soldier, not a negotiator.

" They're not going to lock me up for being an elf out here are they?" Arwyl asked, abandoning the cloth. A hood would do.
 
Tessa chuckled at the plan. The man was quite intimidating so she had a feeling that slapping the table and calling bullshit would be a good tactic. That would not work with her but it would for him. "I think that is a sound plan," she said as she took a drink of the hot, delicious tea.

"Honestly, I have no idea what a good price is. I figure they will start low and move up though. There are enough people interested that I will learn the back out point after the first, I suppose." She grabbed a couple slices of bread as she thought about if her strategy would work. Of course, it would.

Tessa was taken out of her thoughts again when Arwyl asked his next question. "No, they shouldn't lock you up. They will just be highly mistrustful and watch you like a hawk."
 
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"That sounds a good plan. We can always come back, have another cup of tea and go back to negotiate a bit more openly," Arwyl replied. He had no clue how much land was worth either.


The small town was a deeply divided place. Most of the farmers and labourers had little ambition beyond working their fields. The mayor, and the cronies he kept around him had greater plans. They wanted more travellers through the town, more coin in their pockets.

They wanted safe walls and to build bridges. Their hired goons had been taxing the river crossing to pay for a bridge. One that would bring more travellers through this route.

What they did not want was a Dreadlord in their town. The armoured woman sat above the poorly dressed regulars, stiff and straight at her table. The hilt of her sword was ornately decorated with fine gems. Her house colours left no doubt in anyone's mind what she was.

Here to trace a group of bandits who had caused some cause across vel anir fring territories. That was all she had told them.


"Where should we head first?" Caulden asked Tessa as they approached the outskirts of the town.

Arwyl walked beside them, but he drew up his hood and prepared to take a different route into the town itself.
 
Tessa let a shrug roll her shoulders as she walked next to Caulden and Arwyl. "I suppose Mr. Maester would be a good start but I do not know where he lives. We could always go to the market square and ask around. He has shown the most interest out of everyone."

Arwyl eventually peeled off from them and Tessa led Caulden into town. The town was eerily quiet. It seemed more so than usual and that worried her a little.

They made their way to the market and it was equally as quiet. The stalls and merchants were there but the patrons were few. "Something isn't right, Caulden..."
 
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