Edgewood Hills

A figure can be seen at the top of the first hill along the path that enters the Edgewood........there is a constant fire going as she watches the path carefully......few know of her reason for being there...and now she awaits to be summoned by the Battle Mistress.....ready for whatever judgement is passed.....she is never alone usually in the company of friends.....for those who visit her they can now see the lines upon her face , she has grown tired of the constant surveillance in this beautiful but cold place.....some would say this is punishment enough .....but she is not so sure.....but how she is lifted when a friend happens by her smile is barely visible...but her heart beats with renewed hope that pushes her on another day....until she Ania is summoned..

it has been a week and only 2 days now...that she has confessed the error of her ways and now wonders if Ariyana will show up at all.....perhaps her judgement is banishment ..these ideas play in her now confused and clouded mind.....things begin to look strange und blurry at times..there is little food for her to eat now....and the only liquids come from whatever snow she can gather .....friends bring her what they can but even she does not hunger for food now....her lips are now cracked due to the cold and her eyes are heavy with fatigue and the moist air is a constant chill on her bones.....at times it is even hard to grab hold on anything......as some approach they can often hear her speaking to those not present....as she constantly explains how it matters not if they come , but her foolishness could have put many at risk....

It had been nearly a week since Ariyana had seen Ania last. The last time they spoke was at the end of a terrible and frightening experience for both of them. She was not certain what was going through Ania's mind at the time since they last parted.

When Ariyana recieved word that Ania was in the Edgewood, she wondered why she waited there. Hearing later that Ania was waiting for her, she went to find the elf.

The drow warrioress climbed a snow-covered hill in the uniquely beautiful landscape of Edgewood, searching for Ania. Characteristically, she was in her heavy armor that symbolized the colors of the Battlemistress; Flamesong quietly sleeping in the frog across her back. Her crimson red cape played in the chilly wind along with her twin braids of long silver hair.

"Ania?" She asked the elf, standing in the ankle-high snow in her hardened leather boots.

....within her circle of snow....kept at a distance due to the flames and its heat she awakes to see Ariyana before her....she waves her hand before her eyes then looks again.....they squint as she now sees but one figure....she sits up her head lowered.....'' Grreetings , you have come to speak of yourrr decision''..her breath hangs in the cool air and she takes in another cold breath.....''....i accept vwhat everr you have decided''....the maiden's silver pendant hands fron the chain held within her fisted cold hand it too shows signs of cold as it is laced with ice and snow....'' i take full rresponsibilty und offerr no excuses.''.....she now waits to hear her....her body shudders from days of repeated snowfall and cold winds.

Ariyana looked confused, watching Ania with worried scarlet eyes. She didn't seem to know what troubled Ania so.

"And to what actions do you speak of that I am to pass judgment on?" She asked, frowning at the shivering elf.

She flipped open her haversack and produced a thick wool blanket, then approached Ania.

she glady accepts the wool blanket shivering as the cold is mixed with the warmth of the blanket ....she sighs...'' then you have not yet hearrd?''......''.i..i....i fearred forr herr life..vwe fearred''.....she adds......''vwe brrought herr vwith haste und let two humans in''.....''i,,,.i thought she knew them both''......shakes head.....''but I should have taken the prrecaution nonetheless''.....'' i later guided them out of the glade to inforrm the hunterr that she vwas to rremain vwith us.....it is then that i found out vwhat i had....unknowningly done''.....in her weakness she trembles and an almost frozen tear streaks down her cheek suddenly sticking to her skin before it can drop to the ground*.....''it is then that he confessed himself to me''.....refering to one of the humans......

Ariyana crouched beside Ania and tightened the thick blanket around the cold elf. She whispered the finishing word of an incantation to cover Ania in a spell that would help protect her from the cold.

"Are you referring to the half-drow?" She asked. "Yes, I heard she was brought in but I wasn't aware of any humans that came with them. Who were they?"

..she hesitates a long moment knowing that her words will not only inplicate her.......''vone is somevone i have met a few times.....Ivarris''.....she describes the kind weell mannered human....''you vwill know him vwhen yourr eyes meet his''......she describes his beautiful golden eyes......''it is not he i vworry about.....he is not vone who vwishes violence on any.....be it human ,elf, drrow...orr half bloods''......'' he vowed to see us safely to the edgewoods und beyond''......she adds .......''knowing this i did not think he vwould vwillingly vwalks paths vwith the otherr''......she sighs and now looks to her...''but he does as vwe do.....und vwishes to help the otherr in his vwillingnesss to end the evils in these lands''.....the human seeks rredemption''......her body slumps further assuming this does would not matter in her judgement ......'' he vwas a spy to the vones vwe call the enemy''.....this is whispered and barely heard by ariyana herself.....looking up to her as if pleading for forgiveness.....

Ariyana kept an arm about Ania to avoid the elf falling over.

"This Ivaris will be spoken to to discern his true intentions." She paused for a moment, thinking. "Who was the other than? A name? Who was he a spy for?"

She was concerned. Ania looked to her like something terrible had happened. She kept her tone calm and even as she asked Ania. It was not judgmental nor condescending. She waited for the elf's response.

.....as Ariyana asks her three questions without pause Ania..fears the worst knowing many times that broken rules were often met with severe punishments.....the only comfort those punishments were fromm along time ago.....'' they arre different''.....she thinks to herself......her left hands instinctively goes to her right foream as their is branded a reminder of such failures tot ake precautions.......''they arrre differrent''.......this gives her the ability to continue....

..'' to the humans''.....''to the humans''.....she repeats this twice very softly......looking to ariyana.....''his name is ''......she whispers it looking to her for a moment then clutching her shoulder wth her right hand......'' he has prromised us no harrm''......''Sir...sir... Ivarris..has pledged no harrm vwill be done to us by this human''....''he vwill aa.i.i..dd..uu,,ss,,,,,.''....her last words are cut off by her weakenned state as she can no longer stay awake her head falls back as does her hood peel from her head and there visible is how long she has gone unkept her tangled and messy ,her face streaked with what is endless tears ....here eyes have sunk in due to days of malnourrishment but somehow she still clutches the pendant who chains around her right wrist.....as her breath hangs in the cold air...

**name will be pm'ed and as a note you sense her fear is not so much her punishment but having let this happening the endangering of many **

Ariyana picked the unconscious Ania up and carried her back to the temple to rest. She would look into this further. She hoped Ania would recover soon.

for those who have come to her this week and some days upon the hill would notice the elf is no longer there......and the fire no longe burns..about a days worth of snow has now fallen within the circle she sat.....