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THE HISTORY OF THE FAE part 2 August 2007
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/.--.\ The Avatar Gazette
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== |`::`| read HELP GAZETTE
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@/\@ / |...::..|` | | `| This edition edited by
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IN THIS ISSUE August 2007
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WORDS FROM THE EDITOR...................................CERDWYN
THE HISTORY OF THE FAE....................................SKORN
The Elves and The Drow
A TALE OF A DROW..........................................AJIMO
CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP FOR THE DRAGON'S SOUL..............LIGHTNIN
MY STORY...................................................SEGO
PARTING WORDS - HOW TO VOTE.............................CERDWYN
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WORDS FROM THE EDITOR by CERDWYN
This is part 2 of the first of the Racial History issues and
Devoted to the Fae, or in this case their descendents, the
elves and drow. We hoped you enjoyed our first issue and will
be looking forward to our future ones. Again, special thanks
to Skorn for the introductory material and stay tuned for
your chance to vote for your favorite of the stories in this
two part issue.
Now on with the words.
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THE HISTORY OF THE FAE by SKORN
The Elves and Drow
With the birth of the Eighth Generation of Midgaardian Fae, a new
race was brought into the realm. The High Elves. Possessing the
beauty of the antecedents, yet lacking their raw power and raw
emotions. The High Elves were a truly magical race. Superior in
the arcane arts in comparison to the others occupying the surface
of Midgaardia, they were not quite as physically powerful as their
kin, yet still formidable foemen.
It was during the first war of the Giants and Ents that the High
Elven race was split asunder by forces insidious. The Dark Fae
begot the Dark High Elves, and these twisted and evil creatures
allied with dwarves who were also as malignant as they and
descended into the depths of Midgaardia to become the High Drow
and Duergar respectively. The High Drow stood neutral during the
Giant-Ent war, only to resurface once peace broke out in an attempt
to destroy their enemies.
Dwelling in cities as far different from each other as possible,
the High Drow and High Elves built to their nature. The High Elves
in their beautiful crystalline structure called Avalon, with its
towers and gardens of unearthly beauty. The High Drow in their
underground cavernous structure known as Reveria'Valsi, with its
myriad of chambers and trials, all dangerous to the unwary. Each
race building and learning, trying to better themselves and become
as powerful as their True Fae forerunners.
Siding with their kin, the True Fae, the High Elves, and High Drow
warred with each other off and on, each seeking to annihilate their
kinfolk. The armies of the Dark Fae with their Drow worshippers
versus the armies of the Light Fae and their Elven followers. It was
during this war that the forces of the High Drow and their lesser
Drow followers were subverted by the Spider Demon Lloth. Believing
her to be a Goddess, they fell into idolatry, and removed their
support from the Dark Fae. The great war of the Fae ended on the
bloody fields of Avalon. The great crystal towers and walls holding
back the forces of Dark until Adrial Skythain arrived with the dawn
and shattered the armies of the Twilight Fae.
During the years after this war, the Elves and Drow lived in a
state of neutrality, each one content to let the other live,
though no contact was permitted between the two. The powers of
both races waned, and during these times the lesser Fae were
spawned by the Elves. These small fae-like creatures became the
forerunners of the Sprites. Then, destruction loomed. Ancient
forces not seen for centuries reappeared and the lands were torn
asunder during the time of the second Giant-Ent war.
It begins with a plant, a plant with intelligence, a plant with
dreams and desires of its own - The plant Demon Glasya. Born unto
a world of peace, Glasya rallied the forces of the giants and drew
Straul back the plane of Midgaardia. This time the conflict would
be too large for anyone to declare their neutrality. With the
destruction of Midgaardia looming, all the races banded together
to oppose this foul force invading their lands. Sadly, it availed
them little. The Elves and their allies could not keep the forces
of Straul from decimating their numbers. The ancient cities of
Keresh, Avalon, and even the underground High Drow city Reveria
were destroyed by the marauding armies. Bolstered by the might of
the Heroes who inhabited the realm, the forces of the Light fought
back, but again to little affect. The armies of Glasya and Straul
were too powerful. In the end, the Immortal Guardians of Midgaard,
brought forth unto the realm by Merrighand after Kisestre's death,
were forced to intervene. They destroy Glasya and buried his temple
under the earth. The giants were struck dumb and left to wander,
never again to rally under Straul's name. And the elves and drow...
slaughtered almost into oblivion, they still retain their inherent
racial enmity for one another. The only city left standing is that
of the Elves - the heart of the Kingdom of the Willows, left
standing in the shadows where once Avalon rose.
Perhaps in time, the High Elves will return to the land, to lift
their merely mortal brethren to heights unattained since their
seventh generation gave birth to the first of the Elves. Who can
tell where and when this might occur, for even in their destruction,
the High Elves left a legacy of love and caring that carries on
today in their Elven descendents.
As for the High Drow, dark and twisted though they were, their
ancient city was finally unearthed and revealed and ancient
passageways uncovered and explored. Scholarly delvers have mapped
some of them, yet they speak of horrible monsters and vile arcane
powers dwelling within. The High Drow may never come back, but their
presence remains within Reveria'Valsi and who knows what evil and
darkness may lurk within their ancient tombs and places of power.
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A TALE OF A DROW by AJIMO
I was born a drow, enslaved to the mine shafts by dwarves at a
young age. People call us Dark Elves because we once were elves,
but after a long ancestry of enslavement and brutal punishment
by the dwarves, our skin and eyes begin to change and adapt to
the darkness of the caves. Soon, to escape the entrapment, we even
embraced dark magic to set us free. To this day our form has been
altered permanently, our skin singed with the mark of our struggle
and our eyes are much more comfortable in the darkness. And in the
darkness we stayed.
This is the reason why I despise elves, their arrogant ears and
attitude. I despise also that during that time, they failed to
rescue their fellow elves who were captured by the dwarves and
forced into mining labor and despise them for leaving us in there
with those dirty dwarves just so they can negotiate a truce.
When I was little I despised the dwarves. Then, when my parents
told me that my ancestors were from a long line of High Elf
Clerics, I started to despise the Elves even more, because what
they did disgusted me. They told me that a Cleric was supposed to
heal and keep their party members safe from harm and to give all
they could give and even sacrifice all they could. This High Elf
was mighty and the gods always had a close watch over him. Rarely
did any harm come to him when he battled monsters. His confidence
in his god grew stronger and stronger and he thought that he could
change the ways of the dwarves. Scavengers the dwarves were, like
before the elves had met them.
The first time he encountered the dwarves, they almost killed
him. After frequent visits, the Cleric met a Dwarf named Scoragon.
Scoragon was the head of his clan. They would meet and go off on
far journeys together. Until one day, during the darkness of night,
shadows appeared and killed him when he was drunk. The Clan of
Scoragon was not too pleased and soon a snowball started to roll
as things became worse and worse. The Cleric was powerless to stop
the snowball.
The Dwarves and Elves were at war, hunting dark figures. Each
blaming the other side for their talent or lack of talent and soon
the land became an issue. "Poison! Poisoned! Someone poisoned the
land!!" was one theory, but the truth was that no one knew the
whole story. Each side believed it was the other and soon the
dark figures disappeared from their fury as it was turned
toward each other. The Dwarves started by killing off the Elves'
warriors and archers and captured the Cleric, hoping he could
heal the land.
As time went by, more and more prisoners appeared and soon the
Dwarves just put them to work. The Elves on the other side fought
back strongly. Alas, they decided to move deeper in the forest
and further away from the dwarves. They masked themselves with
magic, until a truce had been made. They did not think about the
Cleric they left behind or any other prisoners. They ran and hid
themselves further into the forest.
This is where my hatred is from and it fuels me to gain experience.
For, from the day when I was born, healing abilities came to be
naturally. I can also feel a strange warmth always around me, it
keeps me safe. I wonder if it is Tul-Sith's smile. Even though
I am against combat in my own way, I swear that the elves shall
pay one day, for what they had done to my family!
Of course this story hasn't ended yet, with every breath I take
a new day will come. I shall be by myself, waiting for tomorrow
with my fellow outcast Elves, now called Drows by Elves who had
abandoned us during the war.
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CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP FOR THE DRAGON'S SOUL LIGHTNIN
It has been over 100 years since I acquired my most valued
possession. Chicken Noodle Soup for the Dragons Soul is the most
definitive cookbook ever written to meet the tastes of dragons,
particularly mine. Every dragon should have a copy! Too bad mine
is the only oneÅ What makes this book so special and why would a
dragon treasure it so much? Well, it is no small secret that we
dragons have insatiable appetites and that we are prone to eating
just about anything that moves. The problem is that everything
tastes like chicken to a dragon! How boring! Everything tastes like
chicken - kobolds, gnomes, dwarves, humans, kzinti, even sprites.
You can sprinkle as much Tony Chacheres (Original Creole Seasoning)
on a Halfling as you want, it will stay taste the same - like
chicken. In all my time, I have only found one thing that doesn't
taste like chicken - chicken.
So a cookbook of chicken recipes is a valuable item to a dragon.
But, since dragons spend so much of their time sleeping and
counting their many treasures, they usually don't have time for
searching for such things. And so it came to pass that on the 7th
day of Deception in the Month of the Dragon, I met a man named
Nementus, the cook for King Saeren of Silmavar. Nementus told
me, while brewing up a batch of his famous Terigithyanki Chicken
Stew, that he heard of an elf that had written a book that
contained just about every chicken recipe he could think of and
most likely a few that hadn't been yet created.(You see, only an
elf would have the time and patience to do something such as this.)
As it turned out, the elf's name was Aramus, a professional
adventurer as he likes to call himself, who is in the employ
of the High Sylph. It seemed some time ago, a young green
dragon named Ildriad had moved in to Morgan Vale, presumably
at the request of the Banshee to help her tip the balance in
favor of her rather than the Sylph and her dryads. At last the
Banshee would be able to conquer the vale and have her revenge.
The High Sylph and Aramus, once the news of the dragon's presence
became known, devised a plan. Knowing that if the dragon ever
established a lair it would be nearly impossible to force it out,
they decided to try other means. Aramus proposed, if Ildriad
were to leave now and spare the vale, in one year he would be
compensated by having the most diverse tome of chicken recipes
ever created. The recipes would come from all the races, all the
lands, every mother and grandmother's kitchen. It would have
recipes for chicken soup, chicken and dumplings, fried chicken,
lemon chicken, baked chicken, chicken and rice, chicken and
sprite, chicken cacciatore, general tsos chicken, and so it
would never be outdated by new recipes, when a new recipe was
created, it also appeared in the book as if it had always been
there.
It took Aramus a year and a day to complete the quest. (It
always takes a year and a day.) The extra day was spent convincing
the hydras of the lost island to tell him the secret ingredient to
their famous volcano chicken (eventually just taking the recipe
off their hands, replacing it with an I.O.U.) He got lost on
his way back, but arrived just in time to deliver the new book
to the dragon. As an added touch, he included a large bag full
of live Lost Island Reds.(Rumor has it that it was in fact, ALL
of the Lost Island Reds, as none have been seen there since
Aramus' departure.) Ildriad quickly flew away to Silmavar with his
new treasure and the bag of chickens, and they all lived happily
ever after.
Oh, you are probably wondering how it is that I, and not Ildriad,
have the book now. It seemed that news of the cookbook got around,
and so many other dragons moved in to the area that there wasn't
a chicken to be found anywhere. King Saeren sent his guards and
his hunter, Gardre, to either defeat Ildriad or retrieve the book.
They encountered a band of goblins along the way and a small
skirmish took place. The goblins quickly fled, as they always do,
and left behind much of what they were carrying. The tome was
among the spoils of the battle, the goblins having either stolen
it or scavenged it off of a partially charred corpse. The book
was returned, and placed in the custody of Nementus, who
immediately set about trying out the new recipes. He only got the
opportunity to make one before having a horrible, untimely death ...
Terigithyanki Chicken Stew.
And yes, it was quite delicious.
Pass the salt please.
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MY STORY by SEGO
I woke up in a meadow under the watchful eye of Nom. I do not
recall how I arrived there or what had gone on before, I just
knew that I had to survive. Being very weak, I subsisted on the
mice and other such creatures in the meadow, which was my home
for a short time.
I killed a hawk on one occasion and found that by holding its
feather my vitality felt better. Finding this feather led me to
believe there was much more beyond the meadow. I ventured out to
find several areas adjacent to the meadow where I could test my
agility and cunning against more than mice. A nice lady called
'The nanny' was kind enough to give me her robe after our little
chat. I think it is because my beginning was so hard that I do
not trust others and would rather kill and take what I want or
need.
I have since traveled out of the meadow to another man similar
to Nom; he is called Sol. After finding these people and talking
with other adventurers I have come to realize that I was right
about the meadow. There is much to this world... and from the
rumors and gossip that I have overheard there is much that I have
to learn and explore.
I have found the great city of Midgaard, and Aelmon who has been
beneficial to me. It seems this Aelmon person remains in a place
where adventurers like to pass through a lot. I should be able to
gain good information from this area and those passing through
here. Maybe even get the chance to follow along with some of these
passing adventurers.
I see others looking at me as though they are better than me.
Perhaps this is true. Because I am a drow my strength is not as
great as that of others, but I am agile enough that I will dance
around them while I cut them down to size. I am learning that
I am eager to help others unload more useful items.
I hate how weak I am and that sun is something awful. The night
is a friend in whom I find comfort and can put my talents to use.
I use stealth and cunning with my agility to compensate for lack
of strength. I might not smite my enemy with a single blow but I
will make them feel death coming with many bleeding wounds.
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PARTING WORDS - HOW TO VOTE by CERDWYN
Thank you again to everyone who submitted stories for this 2-part
issue. Expect to see quest points added to you soon. And special
thanks to Darii for her editorial skills and seeing that these
get published on time. Lastly, thank you Skorn for your intro
stories for this issue.
Now, which story did you like the best? To vote, you must be
registered on the Avatar web page at www.outland.org. Keep a
close eye in the next day or so for a poll. It will only be up
for 2 weeks. There you can vote for your favorite story and
the winner will receive a special prize.
If you deleted the first issue already and want to go back and
re-read the stories you found there, they can be found on that
same website under archives, gazette, 2007.
And remember to submit your stories about giants, ents, the
Giant-Ent wars or any other race you wish to write about to
gazinput@outland.org. All types of entries are welcome.
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This is the new Avatar Gazette. It is published with the
permission and cooperation of the Avatar staff and edited by
Cerdwyn. (Original concept by Asamaro and Dizzy.)
The Gazette is written in plain vanilla ASCII text to ensure
that everyone can enjoy it regardless of computer type.
To subscribe to the Gazette, send internet e-mail to
majordomo@outland.org. In the body of your email put:
subscribe gazette username@hostname (MudName - RealName)
e.g. subscribe gazette snikt@outland.org (Snikt - Kevin Jagh)
If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, criticisms,
compliments or (best of all) articles that you've written
for the Gazette, please send them to via email to the
address: gazinput@outland.org Please use 'Gazette' as your
subject.
You can also view the latest issue of the Gazette while
playing Avatar by typing 'help newgaz' anywhere in the game,
or on the design web site at http://www.outland.org.
Click on archives, gazettes.
Original credit for Ascii art or other submissions is given
if known.
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