Vale of Mysteries

About the Vale

Cautiously, you approach the edge of the Fey Forest. Between the trunks, everything is grey and foreboding and deathly silent. The leaves don't so much as stir in the gentle breeze that wafts an odor of organic decay. The great wood almost seems to be dying. You consider going back. You even turn around. But you would always wonder.... Perhaps just a look inside the fringe....

You step into the shadow of the trees. The life force of the wood staggers you and knocks you to your knees. Gone is the grey decay and, in its place is a verdant vibrancy, cool breeze, and scent of... of green. Birds sing in the canopy overhead, and little furry creatures scurry through the leaf litter among the roots. You turn around and look back the way you came. Outside the treeline, the fields and road are grey and lifeless... pale and silent.

The tromp of hooves pulls you back around. A score of yards away stands a white hart. He ducks his head in your direction, turns, and bounds off into the woods. Without scarcely a thought, you follow.

The hart leads you on a chase over hill and through dell, always just close enough for you to catch a glimpse through the trees. Suddenly, he is gone. You slow and stop. The flanks of hills rise around you on all sides. Great ash trees, draped in ivy, reach up out of the vale, and the occasional furze stands sentry. The forest is hushed, calm... expectant....

"Ahem."

You whirl around, but there is no one there. You turn back and see a tall elf leaning against an ash.

"Greetings, traveller." The voice is tinged with amusement, and that is definitely amusement dancing in his bright eyes. "What brings you to this vale? No..." he holds up a hand, forestalling your explanation, "...let me guess. You seek..." he peers up into the trees and strokes a beard you would have sworn wasn't there a moment ago, "...an answer to that which has no question. You came here because the world does not have the answer; therefore, the answer must lie in that which the world rejects... builds defenses against... labels as forbidden.

"Are you ready to cast loose the bindings on your mind?" The beard is gone, but now his ears no longer bear the graceful elven points. "For you must release what you know in order to find what your heart desires. It is a pathless way you seek. No one can guide you, and if you are ever not afraid," he waggles a finger in front of your nose, "then you are headed in the wrong direction.

Come," he pushes away from the tree, once more fully elven, and strides over to a boulder where he sits down, "sit. Your way may be pathless, but it need not be friendless. My name is Kiriannin. Let us stretch your mind and free your thought. Compared to what you seek, I can present you with only small mysteries, but you must practice, must be ready," he smiles, and his features flicker to human and back for a moment, "if you truly mean to continue your quest."