Meeting in the Golden City

It was a bright, sunlit day, with a lazy breeze blowing through the Golden City, Gilderan. It would have been a perfect day to lay about, and enjoy the day. Unfortunately for the Eldari making his way through the streets, he wasn't going to be able to enjoy the day. Merlin made his way towards where the Elder Council was housed, though he appeared to not be in a hurry. In fact, he was already a half-hour late to his summons by the Council. Which brought the Magus of Flowers much joy. He waved at some of the Eldari who waved at him, though some whispered as he passed by. It wasn't a big deal to Merlin, as he knew this reaction would happen, as it has so often happened before, any time he decided to grace the Eldari populace with his presence. He made it to the Damerlond, and theatrically bowed to the guards outside. "I believe I was summoned by the oh so gracious Council?" One of the guards nodded, and went inside to inform the Council that Merlin had arrived. The Magus chuckled, as he stood there, hands behind his back. A few minutes later, the guard came back, and motioned inside. Once again bowing, quite over the top. 

Several hours later.......

Sitting at a table, holding a glass of water, Merlin heaved a huge sigh. Looking at the woman with him, he took a small sip, before speaking. "Must the Council summon me over such trivial things? Surely, the mages here are quite enough to satisfy their questions? Or do you so enjoy to see me suffer, Mariel?" Indeed, the woman with Merlin was an old friend. Mariel Shor. Though, Merlin had not seen her in some time, as his studies in his tower, and abroad often leave him away for months at a time. Taking another sip, his smile returned, and despite however Mariel answered him, he waved it off. "Oh well. As tiring as it is to be summoned by my dear children, it does allow me a chance to see our home. Even I grow homesick, and no sight is quite like our Golden City, now is it?" Looking over Merlin seemed to lose himself to the scenery, his eyes shifting a golden tone. Almost as if to match the city he stared at. Though, he was still listening intently to whatever Mariel was saying. Looking back at her, Merlin grew curious. "Has anything of not happened since last we spoke? I forget how long it has been since we last spoke, though I feel it has been a good amount of time. So, do tell, Mariel Shor."

Mariel sighed with frustration as she sat in her Council seat in the Damerlond, the central governmental building in the Golden City of the Eldari. Known as Gilderan to the Eldari, the Golden City was a marvel to behold, a city of remarkable culture and beauty. On this day however, Mariel Shor would rather be somewhere else. The Council had assembled, and they were waiting for the arrival of Merlin, a eccentric maverick whom Mariel had been friends with for centuries. Because of this, she knew how poor his timekeeping was, and she had tried to emphasize this fact to the Council, but they had insisted on waiting. Mariel, for her part, had not wanted to involve Merlin in these proceedings. She knew the man hated ceremony and official events, and she had no desire to put her friend through it. However, despite being the daughter of one of the Eldari's greatest heroes, the traditionally conservative Council no longer held her more liberal views in as much esteem as they once did, and thus they waited. After an interminable delay, Merlin eventually made his appearance, and the meeting got underway.


After the meeting, Mariel sat with Merlin in an auxiliary function room in the Damerlond, which had been set up to provide refreshments for the attendees. Merlin sipped water while Mariel cradled a cup of tea. She listened as Merlin bemoaned the fact that he had summoned to the meeting at all, going as far as to level a joking accusation at her potential responsibility. Mariel narrowed her eys in a show of mock-annoyance. "Believe me, I wanted you there even less than you wanted to be there." She sipped her tea, then sighed and her expression turned dour. "But alas, my word weighs less and less these days. Don't misunderstand, the weight of being Dalrodir Shor's daughter is not a weapon I desire to wield, but even my basic standing as a Council member seems to count for little."

Merlin then changed the subject to his own enjoyment of seeing his homeland again, and Mariel smiled in agreement. "As much as I struggle with the matters beneath, but I must agree." Merlin then asked about things that have happened since the last time they spoke, and it indeed had been about a year by her reckoning. "It has been a while indeed." She sighed again as she recollected any events of note that had occurred. "Unfortunately, not much of note has happened. The Council continues to maintain its policy of stale isolationism. Some bright young minds in the Academy give me some hope for the future, though. I also heard from Fayla recently. Both her and Valatrix took down a relatively powerful bandit leader in the Free Lands." Mariel fought to control her overwhelming feeling of absence that she felt whenever she thought of her only daughter, but she knew that she was doing what she was born to do. What Calrados would have wanted her to do, she thought, to fly free.

Mariel then had an idea to break the misery-ridden talk of politics and missing her child. "Say, do you have any plans for the next few hours? I am scheduled to meet a couple of friends down in the Promenade. It's just occurred to me that despite me being friends with them and you for centuries, you've somehow never met them. They're both Warriors, but they're good people. I trust them both implicitly. What do you think? If you don't have anything else planned that is."


Yavanna sat with Rowan Aratris, her lifelong friend and fellow Eternal Watch member, and sighed wearily. The tea she had in front of her was now starting to go cold as she idly stirred it. Yavanna and Rowan were sitting in the Gryphon's Rest, a well-known food and drink establishment on the Promenade, the main mercantile and recreation district in Gilderan. They had agreed to meet their friend Mariel Shor for lunch once her meeting in the Council chambers had concluded. Unfortunately, they had no idea when the meeting would conclude, so they waited in boredom. Yavanna took a sip of her now-lukewarm tea and sighed noisily. "I don't understand why the Council even meets anymore. From what I understand, it's just the same crap everytime. Mariel submits ideas and the other stale-minded politicians shoot her down." She placed her cup back on the table and looked at Rowan with a slight twinge of embarrassment. "I'm sorry. It's just frustrating how the Council can be happy for our people to just sit in our lands and let the rest of the world pass us by."

Rowan Aratris sat across from his life long friend Yavanna Elbereth, waiting for their other long time friend Mariel Shor to finish up with her council meeting. Rowan sat in semi calm silence, Kaila's axe at his hip, finger stroking the blade. He rarely went somewhere without his sword but he'd left it in his quarters since this was just lunch. But the axe never left his side for any reason. It was the most precious thing he had, the only part of his Kaila left. He listened to Yavanna complain about the council in silence, her presence anchoring him and keeping his mind distracted from the past. Rowan gave her a slight grin as she finished her tirade. "You know politicians. They need to be seen doing something, or they risk losing their pay." He replied, and she apologized. It was unlike her to lose her cool, and he nodded in agreement. "That's the problem with living for a thousand years, everything becomes easy to overlook. Especially when your safe and sound in the golden city. If half of them had faught in a war instead of sending others to do it, they might have a bit more interest in the world outside our lands." Rowan said.

Silence fell, and Rowan turned his attention back to the strange summons he'd recieved a few days ago, to meet with Councilman Helodir Quirion for a special assignment. It was not unheard of for the Eternal watch to do special missions for the council, but usually the council went through the Watch, and as a group. He was curious to say the least, and he considered telling Yavanna about it. But then a waitress arrived with the fresh pot of tea he'd ordered. She placed it down between them, giving Rowan an appreciating look as she did. Something he was used to. Then she looked at Yavanna, smiled and bit her lip slightly. Rowan raised an eyebrow as the waitress left. "I think she's in to you, Yavanna." He said, as He leaned forward and Filled Yavanna's cup then poured a fresh cup for himself.

Merlin merely listened to Mariel as she recounted on recent things, though he cocked his head to the side when she brought up her daughter. "Hmmm. I seem to always hear more and more about Faylandrea, and Valatrix lately." Tapping his fingernail on his cup, Merlin thought for a second, before shaking his head. "I believe times are changing again. I seem to always feel restless during moments like this." He pointed at Mariel. "Your peers on the Council will have to make some decisions soon, I would wager. An important one at that." Merlin winked, before continuing. "Though, I have been wrong before."

Finishing his water, Merlin perked up, when Mariel asked if he would go with her to meet people that Merlin had, apparently, never met. Sitting back, and stroking his chin, Merlin thought for a second. He then shrugged his shoulders "I think a change of scenery would do us both good, if I am being completely honest. But, let us hurry. If I had known you had other matters, I probably would have attemted to get here a tad bit sooner." He got up, and followed after Mariel.

As they got to the Gryphon's Rest, Merlin nodded his approval. "Ah. It has been a while, but I remember this place having very good food." As Mariel guided them to the table, Merlin could almost guess who it was they were meeting. The two had an aura about them, the same as many of the peoples he had met on his travels. When Mariel got top the table, Merlin stood back for a few seconds, allowing her to exchange what pleasantries they were accustomed to. Taking a lull in the conversation, Merlin moved forward, placing a hand gingerly on an unoccupied chair. Looking at Mariel, as he figured she would introduce him, Merlin quickly shook his head. He liked to introduce himself, as many people liked to give him a grand introduction. "Hello to the both of you. I am a friends of Mariel's, as well. My name is Merlin, what sounds good to eat?" He looked at both of them, his eyes changing color from a deep gold, to a ocean blue, and finally resting at a peaceful green, the same as nettles on a tree.

Mariel inclined her head slightly at Merlin's comment about Fayla and Vala. "Indeed. I do miss her dearly, but she is living a life that she deserves, one that she could never live here. I at least know that Vala is looking after her. I wasn't entirely sure about her when Fayla first introduced me to her, but they are an inspiration to me everyday. Father would have been so proud of them both." Merlin then absorbed the rest of her diatribe before offering an insight of his own, noting his feeling that there maybe an important decision on the way. "You may be right. I'm just not sure we're going to like it." Merlin seemed to perk up at the suggestion of accompanying Mariel to meet her friends, and she smiled warmly. "Indeed, I think we both need to get away from the Damerlond for a while."


Yavanna allowed herself a small appreciative smile as Rowan gave her another one of his famous calm and measured responses to her impatience with politics. He was right as usual, and she was grateful more than ever that she had found a friend who understood her as much as he and Mariel did. "This is true, as much as I hate to agree with you. Although, if they had fought in a war, they'd have most likely been killed and replaced by someone stupider, knowing our luck." Rowan seemed to settle into a quiet introspection, which caused Yavanna to do the same. She wondered if there was more she could be doing to help Mariel in her daily fight against the Council, or if she would just make things worse. Her frustration crept in again as she realized, not for the first time, that there were no easy answers. Their silence was broken by a young waitress who excused herself before placing a pot of tea between them. The young woman gave Rowan the same look most females gave him due to his striking good looks, something that Yavanna has found amusement in teasing him over. The young woman's look towards her, however, was markedly less subtle, and Yavanna found herself being a source of amusement for Rowan. "I'm probably ten times her age," Yavanna said as she poured tea for both of them, though the young woman still seemed eager to try and catch her eye, "at least."


After another few moments, Mariel and another person entered the establishment and Yavanna waved them over. Mariel sat down on one side of them, while the man sat on the other side and introduced himself. Mariel then acted like she was a shy newcomer. "And I'm Mariel. Mariel Shor. Nice to meet you." Yavanna offered Merlin a handshake. "Nice to meet you, Merlin." She then narrowed her eyes at Mariel. "You, on the other hand? Not so sure." Mariel gave her a look of mock-offense. "Ow." Her expression then turned serious. "I am sorry for being late. The Council decided that this was the best day to take inventory." Yavanna shrugged. "It's okay. We expected it anyway. We know what you're up against." Yavanna then turned her attention to Merlin, whose eye color seemed to be changing in front of her own eyes, eventually settling on an Eldross-like green. "So Merlin, how did you get tangled up with this one?" she said, gesturing to Mariel.

Rowan nodded. "Very true. And we'd have to deal with politicians cluttering up the battlefield. I suppose we could always run for office." He said with a chuckle. When Rowan pointed out the waitresses interest in Yavanna she waved it off, noting she was probably 10 times the woman's age. Rowan shrugged. "Maybe. But life isn't just about training and fighting. You've got to enjoy the little things too." Rowan shrugged again. "Then again, you are very old. One might even say ancient." He said with a grin.

A few moments later, Mariel finally arrived, along with a vaguely familiar Eldari with silvery hair and gold eyes that changed color as he introduced himself. Rowan recognized the name. If he was correct, Merlin was the Magi who'd faught Liliana Kor'vesa after she'd gone berserk in the city. She had been one of the most powerful Magi alive at the time. Rowan was impressed to say the least. He offered the man a handshake too. "Well met, Merlin. I'm Rowan Aratris, and this one is Yavanna Elbereth." Yavanna asked how Merlin had met Mariel, and Rowan listened in silence as he answered.