“Let’s just take it easy, I’m just trying to figure out if anyone lives here.” Lanek called out, hoping that the three elves behind him could understand him. Several tense moments passed in silence with Lanek wondering if he was about to get shot in the back before one of the elves responded.
“Your creeping around our home isn’t very trustworthy behavior, so you’ll have to forgive us for remaining alert. Now, turn around very slowly and tell us who you are and what you want.” The elf’s voice was stern and gruff, his tone leaving very little doubt as to what would happen if Lanek didn’t comply.
Lanek turned, keeping his hands in plain view. Meanwhile, Isaac remained on guard, positioning himself to intercept any attacks since the elves clearly couldn’t sense him. Finally, Lanek sent a quick command to Maximilian, mostly telling him to remain calm. I don’t think they spotted him.
“My name is Lanek, I’m scouting the area to find a way to reach and cross the mountains to the north. I only came here because I was told that there might be ruins here.” Lanek responded. The three elves were staring at him in surprise, and he was positive that it had nothing to do with what he had said.
“What are you? You’re not of any race I have ever encountered.” The elf that Isaac had identified as a spell caster demanded. He could see how Isaac had come to that conclusion since everything about the man seemed to scream wizard. The elf grasped a large staff with intricate carvings along the length and a large crystal mounted atop it. He wore no armor, just a long green coat over fairly fancy looking trousers and a white shirt with arcane symbols stitched on the coat’s shoulders and on the shirt right over his heart. The elf had pale blonde hair and stood a head taller than his two companions.
“Uh, I’m a dranrid. I can’t really tell you more than that, I evolved into it and the System hasn’t really told me anything about it other than that they are an ancient species that has gone extinct. I was a human until a few months ago.” While he didn’t really want to share that much information, the revelation from Isaac that lie detector spells existed made him decide to be as honest as possible. He didn’t want this encounter to end in bloodshed simply because he decided to be deceitful.
The blonde elf arched an eyebrow and glanced at his two companions. The other two elves were clearly related, although he wasn’t sure if they shared the same race as the blonde man. For all he knew, they could be a different elf variant. The pair were shorter than their companion and were about Lanek’s height. They wore dark green cloaks over light brown leather armor, including a set of bracers, greaves, and breastplate. He wasn’t sure how much protection the light armor provided, but he knew better than to judge it from appearance alone considering his own coat provided more protection than it should have considering the material it was made from.
Both elves also had light brown skin and black hair. It was hard to tell from this angle, but Lanek could swear that the male had his hair arranged into a topknot while the female had very short hair. I think that’s called a pixie cut, but I could be wrong. I guess it makes sense in the wilderness, probably easier to take care of and clean if it is that short.
The two smaller elves, most likely siblings, were also heavily armed. He had almost believed them to be hunters or archers, but seeing how each of them not only carried a longbow, a sword, a hand axe, and numerous knives on their person, he was leaning more towards rangers or a higher tier version of that class. Lanek refrained from using [Identify] to satisfy his curiosity. He already knew that some people and beings could detect when someone was using the skill and he didn’t want these people to get jumpy.
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“Hmm, a dranrid? I must admit, I’ve never heard of that race, and I’ve had access to many tomes of history.” The blonde elf mused.
“Does it matter?” The dark-haired male elf spoke up. “Dranrid or whatever, he came to rob us.”
Lanek snorted, causing the elf to give him a sharp glare while the blonde elf seemed curious. “Cut the shit, I said I came looking for ruins. If this place was in ruins or abandoned, yeah I was going to loot it. You can’t blame me for assuming the fort was vacant considering how very few people seem to be left in this part of the world.”
“I would suggest that you show more respect when you have two arrows pointed straight at your heart.” The dark-haired man snarled while the taller elf seemed amused by the conversation.
“Well, I would suggest that we all try to be civil and you point those arrows elsewhere. I understand where you’re coming from as I am outside your home and I can see how that might make you suspicious. However, there are limits to my patience, especially since I’ve done nothing aside from look at the fort.”
The elf flushed with anger and drew back his bowstring even further. “You do not get to dictate how this goes. You’re not in control, if we want to take you prisoner or put you down right now, we will.”
Lanek sighed and shook his head. “Screw it. Put the bows away, I won’t tell you again.”
At Lanek’s words, the dark-haired man turned almost purple with rage and all signs of amusement or mirth slipped off his face as he locked his eyes on Lanek and shifted his staff into a defensive position. The final elf remained silent, although she also appeared ready to attack, at least until a deep rumble from behind them. All three elves stiffened at the sound.
“Oh, let me translate that for you. He says to listen to me. Right. Fucking. Now.” Lanek said, feeling a bit of vindictive amusement at the alarm on the faces of the three elves.
“Do you think we’re afraid of some beast? It would just be another hunt for me.” The dark-haired male said. He began to turn around when a shadow fell on all three of them.
“Athas!” Barked the tall elf. “Put your bow down. Whatever that is, it is no ordinary beast.”
“But…” Athas began before the tall elf cut him off.
“Think, boy. If the creature got that close to use with no one noticing it, Lanek here could have set it upon us at any time. They don’t want to fight, right?” The man said, looking over at Lanek.
“Right. I wasn’t expecting to run into anyone and I was hopeful that we could talk considering you’re both the first elves I’ve met and the first non-ratmen I’ve encountered for weeks. At this point, that seems unlikely, so just point your weapons elsewhere and I’ll be on my way.” Lanek said.
“See, it is fine. Athas, Alanah, put your bows away. That is an order.” The tall elf turned back to Lanek. “My name is Cithrel. Maybe we can still have that conversation? We’ve been isolated for some time and I would welcome any news or information you still wish to share.”
“Sure, let’s just start over, shall we? Isaac, Max, you guys can show yourselves.” While there was no real reason to reveal Isaac’s existence to the elves, he figured that making the spirit appear would further cement that he wasn’t looking for a fight. As the former king materialized between Lanek and the elves, the two archers’ eyes widened at how close a heavily armed and armored human had been to their position. Lanek chose not to share that they were just out of the spirit’s reach and completely safe.
Maximilian chose to take a more belligerent method of introducing himself. Rather than simply go around the elves to reach Lanek, he walked between the sibling, shoving them both out of his way, growling the entire time. Quit it, buddy. I know you’re pissed, but we did just trespass on their territory.
Max snorted before acquiescing and ceased growling. Although, the massive beast still made his displeasure known as he glared at the elves. Or, more specifically, glared at Athas. For his part, Athas had gone white as a sheet once he saw Maximilian in all of his glory. Lanek diplomatically hid a smile to avoid looking like he was mocking the man.
Curious. She doesn’t seem scared at all. Lanek thought as he saw Alanah’s eyes focused on the demigryph. He could swear they were sparkling as she admired the creature. I wouldn’t be surprised if she asked to pet him!
“You command a demigryph?” Cithrel said in astonishment. “It seems like this could be a very interesting conversation. Please, join us inside where we can be more comfortable and we show you proper hospitality.”