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The elven capital of Teleriand was the oldest still standing city in the entire plane and one of the oldest in the Higher Planes in general. No one alive currently could say for sure how long the city had stood the test of time. The city itself was located in a large valley between several mountains and didn't need walls because nature had already provided them, making it one of the most defensible locations possible. The mountains themselves were also inhabited by a large number of dragons that had allied with the High Elves. That meant no magical beasts dared to set foot or even fly over the area without their permission.
Karna had actually visited the city in a previous life, and it was one of the few cities still standing. The area had been controlled by the High Elves and their draconic allies even back then, though their influence had grown since, as other nations and sects had fallen during the long years. Back when Karna had last visited the city, most of the planes had been controlled by various sects instead of nations. Now those sects had long fallen while the elven city had grown into an empire.
While the city itself had existed back then, it had changed quite a bit. As long-lived as the High Elves could be, even they had gone through a lot of cultural changes in the intervening years, and those cultural changes had left their marks on the city as well. Back then, the city was almost exclusive to the High Elves, but now the other elven clans had made their home in Teleriand. What’s more, even other races seemed welcome in the city, although they were definitely in the minority. Not surprising considering the whole city was akin to a holy land for all elves.
Despite all the changes to the city, some things remained the same. Karna felt quite nostalgic as she ran her hand along the base of an enormous statue made of white stone. It depicted an elven woman wearing a crown that held a long spear above her head in a gesture of victory. Similar statues were placed all around the city, and some of them had existed even during her previous life, preserved to this day by magic. Despite the magic, many of the features of the statue had worn out and had been repaired several times. As a result, the appearance of the statue had changed quite a bit from what Karna remembered. Some of the oldest buildings and temples had also been preserved. The palace still stood at the heart of the city as well, although it had been expanded since then.
The city itself was filled with elven elegance and focus on details. There wasn’t even a single piece of stone or railing in the city that had not been turned into a work of art with intricate carvings done by master crafters. Both stone and wood were used in abundance to construct the buildings, both predominantly in white colors. Even during normal times, the city was still filled with color as pennants, flags, carpets, banners, and all sorts of other colorful cloth-covered walls, floors, and balconies. Most of the roofs were tiled blue or red, depending on the district, and the abundant green of trees, gardens, plazas, and other plants were plentiful. Now with the festival preparations about to finish, every surface was also decorated with fancy and colorful ornaments reaching from simple lanterns and confetti, to large arches that covered many of the city's streets with decorations hanging from them. The buildings also had large glass windows, some of which were heavily tinted.
As the group entered the city proper, having left the merchant caravan behind at the gates, it was quite obvious that flowers were everywhere. Every building and every stall where peddlers hawked their wares was covered in various flowers that all seemed to be alive and thriving. Those same peddlers and stalls filled every street large and small. All sorts of wares suitable for a festival were being placed in prominent places to be displayed and sold to customers walking by. "Seems like masks are a rather popular item," Miralen commented as she looked at the wares. Indeed, almost every fifth shop seemed to be selling various types of masks ranging from simple to extremely gaudy. As she was the expert on elven culture, being an elf herself, she knew why that was, but didn’t want to spoil things by explaining just yet.
"Magical masks at that," Karna commented, her sharp senses picking up the traces of magic in even the cheapest masks. "It seems the masks all have simple spells to prevent others from recognizing the wearer. The fancier the mask, the stronger the effect. They don’t change your features in any way, but anyone looking at you will not be able to recognize you due to the enchantment, and the fancier ones will even make any observers unable to remember what you looked like afterwards.”
"I think that's likely a theme of the festival," Shaheera said in a careful voice. His presence was not exactly unwelcome in the city, but people seemed wary of him anywhere he went. He wasn’t the only Leonid around, but they’d only seen one other since their arrival.
"Sharp eyes customers!" An elven peddler selling such masks standing nearby shouted to them, having obviously overheard their words. "For the first four days of the festival, the participants are all expected to wear masks."
“Why?” Sieg asked confused.
“Ah, you haven’t taken part in the festival of life before, have you?” The peddler laughed. “You’re in for a real experience then. There are many explanations depending on who you ask, and undoubtedly different people wear the masks for different reasons. Many would tell you that the masks are so that everyone can participate and have fun as equals. No matter your clan, your position, your power, or indeed even your race, everyone can take part and not be any different from others. The girl you’re dancing with might be a peddler like us, an adventurer of great power, or even the Queen herself. That’s part of the mystery and the fun of the whole thing.” He explained with an excited voice, clearly hoping to make some sales.
“And what would others say?” Travan asked a little suspicious. He was not as familiar with the elven culture thanks to having grown among a very mixed crowd.
“Well, anonymity grants several advantages as mentioned before and it’s a festival of life for many reasons, and only the most obvious reasons have to do with the gods. Traditionally, many new lives will be created during the festival. Not everyone avails themselves to this part of the festival, but the possibility is there and a large part of what makes the whole thing so much fun.” The peddler said in a slightly bashful voice. He wasn’t quite used to explaining these details to non-elves.
“Ah.” Travan’s voice made it clear that he was not too happy about the idea.
“We should still get the masks. We’ll need to blend in during the festival, and I doubt anyone of us will skip on participating. Cheap masks will likely do.” Sieg pointed out, and they all grabbed one of the masks from the stand. The peddler had given them good information and his masks were rather pretty, so they bought from him.
As soon as they got away from the stand, Karna muttered a few words, and the enchantments of her rather simple but attractive mask broke. The mask was just a simple carnival mask that surrounded her eyes and covered most of the upper portion of her face. It was made from lavender velvet that faded to black near the edges, with a couple of lavender and black feathers sprouting up from a small gold-colored stone on the forehead. After breaking the enchantment, she drew several complex formations in the air with her fingers while chanting complicated spells at the same time. As soon as she was done, the glowing magic seemed to sink inside the mask, forming glowing runes on the inner surface of the cloth. It was actually a slight surprise the simple cloth mask could withstand such a heavy enchantment.
“What did you do?” Miralen asked with a raised eye-brow.
"Well, I didn't want to go around looking for a high-quality mask, so I simply made one," Karna stated and slipped the mask on her face. Despite the entire group being aware of who it was that wore the mask, they were all unable to recognize her. Well, they could easily recognize her from the neck down, but if anyone had asked, they wouldn't have been able to describe her even while looking straight at her face. Even her blueish white hair seemed to disappear from their memory.
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“Well, it works.” Shaheera exhaled, stunned at how powerful the effect was. “I wonder if anyone would try to use the masks to commit crimes after the festival. Seems like a useful feature.”
“The enchantments are made to be temporary on purpose. Besides, the effect isn’t exactly hard to break, although it’s etiquette to not do so during the festival. I recommend against it as it would be considered very rude.” Miralen explained what she knew of the enchantments. The masks were very temporary as far as magic items went and any half-decent enchanter could make one with relatively little effort.
“Oh, by the way, I forgot to ask this morning. How did it go with the gifts?” Sieg suddenly asked.
“No problems. I’ve got them covered.” Karna stated confidently. Making gifts was easy for her because she had access to certain things that no one else was able to create.
“Good. Then let’s find a place to stay for the duration of the festival at least. I’d prefer near the palace, but we’ll have to take what we can. Many of the best inns are likely already full, so we might have to spend some time finding something suitable.” Sieg took Karna at her word. If she said the matter was covered, then it was covered.
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“Cendirion, darling!” The elven queen opened her arms wide to welcome her eldest son. The two of them were in private so the Queen was able to act without inhibitions.
The tall and powerfully built elven man smiled widely and walked quite willingly to return his mother’s greeting. “Mother. It’s good to be back.” He whispered with a warm voice. The two hugged for a while before they both took enough distance to take a better look at each other. “You look good. A little tired, but good.”
“The last year has kept me busy. Preparations for the Expansion and pacifying the new territories.” Queen Amaranthine confided in her son. The two had not seen each other in over a year as Cendirion had been traveling the planes in order to hone himself and get the last push to reach the eighth rank as a warrior.
“Not that I’m not happy to see you or the rest of the family, but what was so important that I had to drop everything and come home? The Expansion isn’t happening right now, is it?” He questioned. He’d been forced to rush and push himself to his limits to make the breakthrough in time to make it back home.
“No, of course not!” The Queen waved the worry away. “It’s time for celebration, and we need the family together.” She said innocently. She was never very good at hiding things from her eldest son. Not because she was a bad actor, but because Cendirion knew her so well.
The prince’s eyes narrowed. “Mother, you’re clearly keeping something from me. There’s no way you called me back just to celebrate Finuwar’s coming of age. I’ll remind you that you didn’t call me back when Anaire came of age, despite the fact that she likely made a bigger fuss about it, so using that excuse rings a little hollow.”
“Nonsense! Of course you should be here for your little brother. It would be bad form if the eldest son was not home at such an important time. Anaire is a girl, so the expectations are different. While your presence would’ve been preferred, it wasn’t required. Besides, we're celebrating your recent improvements as well, and you’re one of the main stars of the whole event.” Amaranthine continued to play ignorant.
“Uh-huh. Recent improvements that wouldn’t have happened yet if you hadn’t rushed me. And I note that my second brother, the crown prince, isn’t home.” He countered skeptically. It was a rather good point as well. Cendirion had dedicated his life to growing stronger and cultivation, so the position of crown prince had been left to his next oldest brother. Not that anyone expected Amaranthine to let go of her position for thousands of years, so the whole issue was pointless. The High Elves were already functionally immortal when it came to age, even without reaching the rank of one.
“Which is all the more reason for me to invite you. It worked well for you, didn’t it? You shouldn’t always be so suspicious!” Amaranthine deflected. “It’s also the festival of life. You should have fun and relax once in a while as well.” She pulled out a purple mask that looked just like any other used during the festival and tried to hand it to him.
Cendirion was about to argue but the Queen placed a finger on his lips. “Shush, I know. I’m not expecting you to be like your siblings and get married or anything. That's not what I meant. Just relax and have some fun. You've earned a little break. As I said, you’re one of the stars of these celebrations, so make the most of the first days. The last few days you’ll be stuck with endless diplomatic events and balls thrown in your and your brother’s honor.”
Amaranthine knew she couldn’t tell her son why she had really called him back. Some of her visions had told her of certain impossible to ignore opportunities if things went just right during this festival. It required some work to make sure all the pieces came together so that her visions became reality, but luck was on her side and all the pieces were falling into place despite the long odds originally. However, she knew that if she told the truth to Cendirion, none of what she had seen would come to pass as things had to go just right. Her son wasn’t stupid though.
"It's one of those things isn't it?" He asked with an annoyed voice. He had enough experience with his mother to recognize the signs. He had literally been named after the Queen's powers after all. His name translated into 'The son of the one who sees'. "Divines damn it, mother. You know I dislike it when you pull something like this."
“I’m quite sure I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Amaranthine admitted nothing. That he suspected something was fine, and couldn’t be avoided in her visions. Suspecting something was quite different from knowing what was going on though. “Now how was your trip?”
Cendirion knew his mother wouldn’t budge as she likely had a reason to keep her secrets, so he acquiesced to the change in topic. Maybe it wouldn’t bother him if he didn’t think too hard about it, and worrying about it wouldn’t help anything anyway. “It was hard but rewarding. Many of the other worlds are a lot less safe in comparison to ours. Fighting the beasts and even the scourges is a good way to hone my skills. I would be lying if I said it wasn’t dangerous though.”
Amaranthine guided her son to sit with her on a couch and gave his shoulder an encouraging squeeze, while also deftly slipping the mask into his lap. “I know son. I worry about you of course, but we both know that the only way to truly become strong is to face dangers. Especially those that put our lives on the line. While someone who grows up in a safe environment might reach a high rank, their power would be fragile. Growing up in a gilded cage is a good way to create rotten children. Your father would be proud of you.”
“Thank you. That…means a lot to me.” Cendirion replied with a heavy voice. His father and the previous king of the elves had been a powerful warrior and a wise man. Something that he tried to live up to. Even after the man had passed away his shadow was long.
The two sat in silence for a moment, missing the man they had both cared about. Amaranthine had never remarried after Cendirion’s father had passed, although it was obvious that she had taken lovers since then as only one of Cendirion’s siblings was old enough to have been sired by the previous king. The elven society didn’t really have a stigma against bastards due to the relatively low birth rate of elves, which led to every child being celebrated. So the fact the other kids had been born as the result of affairs only sparked some rumors about what the Queen might get up to during the festival and didn't create problems. It was also one of the reasons the festival of life was so popular and widely accepted. The Divines had also reputedly blessed the festival so that the fertility of everyone participating was higher than normal, which was a big deal especially for the High Elves that had the lowest birthrate normally.
"You should spend some time with your siblings. Especially Finuwar and your little sisters. They’ve missed you while you’ve been gone. You’ve been on these trips most of their lives. They know why you do it and understand, but they still miss you. You’re their idol after all.” Amaranthine prodded her son to do his familial duties. “You should stay for a while now that you’ve returned.
“Don’t worry, I will. I need to stabilize my new rank anyway.” He laughed. He rather enjoyed spending time with his siblings after all. Elves reached adulthood significantly slower than other races, but that was mostly a cultural thing due to their long lives and not something that was dictated by their physical growth. As such, even elves that weren’t considered adults were much more advanced than youngsters from other races, simply because they were older. That was especially true for High Elves that lived even longer and grew slower than any of the other elven clans. Thus, even if all his siblings weren’t adults yet, they were still good company. “Oh, by the way, did anything happen during Anaire’s coming of age? I know you were looking for a husband for her, but knowing her, that didn’t work out.”
"Ah, so you do know. Your little sister refuses to settle for anyone that can't live up to her big brother." Amaranthine said with equal measure frustration and amusement. "Her standards are too high. Especially now that you’ve reached the eighth rank. Luckily Finuwar isn’t quite as picky as your sister. There are already quite a few candidates that he has in mind.”
Amaranthine started arranging marriages for her kids almost as soon as they became of age for political reasons, but she wasn’t in the habit of forcing those marriages on her kids. The children themselves had a lot of say in who they ended up with, and they had the power to approve or veto any potential candidate. Anaire had done a lot of vetoing, while Finuwar was a lot less strict with his standards. Amaranthine wasn’t sure if that was purely a good thing as the boy did a bit too much accepting, though of course none of the candidates that passed her screening were of low standard.
“Well, I don’t know about that, but I do know she was never too happy with the prospect. I always got the sense that she’d be happier taking my path. Yes, I know she doesn’t have my talent, but still.” Cendirion and his mother had gone through this discussion before, and they respected each other’s points of view, even if they didn’t agree.
“Well, ultimately it is her choice to make. I just wish that she’ll make it for the right reasons, because going down your path will not be easy. I don’t want her to do it just because she idolizes you. It needs to be something she truly wants for herself. So do me a favor. When you do visit her tonight, tell her the truth about your travels. Not just the highlights and the exciting parts. Tell her about the unglamorous parts as well. She needs to hear the truth and not just embellished stories about your heroics." Amaranthine wanted the best for her children, and sometimes that wasn’t easy.
“So anyone interesting coming to this shindig?” Cendirion changed subjects again, and decided to fish for information instead.
“Oh, I think you’ll be positively surprised.” The Queen replied mysteriously.
“Fine. Be that way.” Cendirion laughed before getting up to go see his siblings. The Queen noted with satisfaction that he’d taken the mask along despite his protestations, and a sneaky smile bloomed on her face. Things were really falling into place.