With elves, or any of the fae for that matter, you can’t necessarily discern age based on appearance. There were some signs if you knew how to look, but you could never be sure. Patience, for example, was a key piece of information if you understood how to interpret it. The older the elf the more patient they were typically were. However, if an elf was an elder or held great responsibility, it was equally possible that the less patient they were the older they were. The big fish can be quirky like that.
Another key piece of information when evaluating the age of a fae is their power and their control over that power. This holds for all races to some degree, but the fae are naturally so long lived that it is exaggerated for them. They absorb magic particles over time and, relative to a number of factors, that absorption continues to strengthen them physically and mentally over time. They also tend to improve their control over magic particles over time. If a fae is powerful and you can feel it, then that fae is middle aged. If a fae seems weak and has weak control over their abilities, then they are likely very young. If there is no sign whatsoever of a fae’s power, then they are likely masters of control and you better watch out because they are very strong.
***
Elder Beluar Ilinerios from Eastern Tear was old for an elf, old and eccentric. Beluar was also not particularly patient and wasn’t a huge fan of humans. As a result, when he and Deldes arrived with the dawn to find Delirin and me relaxing by the fire, he didn’t necessarily handle things with aplomb. None of us were spared. Beluar whirled on Deldes first and said, “Where is the spectacular alignment of Dream Tender jellyfish that you described, Deldes. I don’t see anything all that interesting. All I see is Delirin wasting her time with this human. Galan must be losing his touch.”
It was like Beluar was talking to himself. Before any of us could even respond, he started again, “This human doesn’t even look like he completed the rite, let alone like he was in the falls for over an hour. He looks just fine. A human would be an empty husk drained of magic particles if half of what you claimed was true. If this is a joke, it is in poor taste and both of your parents will hear of this prank.”
Deldes and Delirin both bristled at this, but they said nothing, content to take the verbal lashing at Beluar’s hands. I wasn’t feeling so charitable, but I also didn’t want to make any more trouble for my companions, especially after they had summoned this grumpy old elf in an effort to help me. I tossed my recently recorded dream journal to Beluar and said, “All the proof there can be is in there. Take a look if you like. Otherwise, I appreciate your concern, but, as you say, I am doing just fine and your aid is no longer required.”
Of course, Beluar caught the notebook with effortless elven grace. I could tell that he was annoyed, but his curiosity got the better of him before he said anything further. Like I said, quirky. He sat down on an empty bench by the fire and started reading. It was amusing to watch his almost condescending curiosity phase into rapt attention as paged through the journal. I had experienced about ten dreams from which I could recall at least some fragment of significance. According to Delirin, most who successfully completed the rite could only recollect one or two dreams. Delirin had also observed that many of the dreams that I described in the journal were quite lengthy, detailed and logical. They were more like memories than dreams.
I did my best to capture the salient details in the journal, but it was difficult to get the feelings and specifics, still vivid in my mind, in notes on a page. I mentioned the same when I tried to strike up a conversation with Beluar as he sat contemplating by the fire after finishing my notes. He didn’t apologize for his harsh words, but he did produce a small, translucent white crystal cylinder. He handed the crystal to me and said that if I focused my thoughts on the dreams while infusing the crystal with some magic particles, I could store and share some images from my dreams. I did just as he suggested and, although I think that he was a little skeptical that I could manage the mana control necessary for the process.
I offered him the crystal when I was done and he spent a few minutes reviewing what I had included. He turned to me and said, “This is indeed a cause for celebration. You have been blessed by the Dream Tenders. The images are so vivid and your teams were so long, I have never seen a rite concluded in this way. Take the crystal as my gift. You should show these materials to Galan as well. Also, what did you feel during the dream with Collective*Nupos? The images were difficult to make sense of and the experience was like nothing with which I am familiar.”
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“That was a very weird dream. It was the only dream in which I was myself and to me it felt very peaceful. Collective*Nupos wasn’t frightening, they felt calm and empty to me. I guess they felt like death now that I think of it, but not really in a bad way. I will make sure to share these materials with Galan. Thank you Elder Beluar,” I replied to the old elf. It seemed that we were on quite better terms than on his arrival.
The old elf addressed Deldes and Delirin, “I spoke too quickly before. Good work Deldes and Delirin. Indeed this new moon was something unique. I will tell your parents of this when I return to Eastern Tear. You should accompany Harris back to the Emerald Sea and Galan.”
***
The way back from Ghostlight Falls was very much easier than the way there. The control that I had learned over my stealth skill allowed me to travel with Deldes and Delirin safely while still preventing the ducks or any other monsters from focusing on or even detecting me. This was the safest configuration of my current skill, as it prevented both the jungle full of murderous bird-lizards from attacking me and simultaneously preventing my shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later companions from doing the same.
Unencumbered by the local fauna and bolstered by magically enhanced constitutions, we made the entire trip of approximately one hundred fifty miles on foot in just five days. The journal in which I had made my notes on the dreams that I had experienced at Ghostlight Falls, which had also been signed by Delirin as my witness, served as my proof of completion for the rite of passage. This token allowed me additional status, which is to say any status at all, with the fae community and a number of privileges that came with that status. This meant that I was just one short visit with my favorite brownies away from completing my month-long dream of a giant sloth mount shopping spree.
***
Galan’s smile shifted subtly as he read my journal. He was an expert in keeping his face schooled and, from what I could gather, this expertise was bolstered by some kind of a zen personal philosophy. However, as he moved from surprise to a distant kind of melancholy before handing my notebook over to Leirin. Galan turned to me, again in possession of his trademark buddha’s smile, and said with genuine curiosity, “Those are some interesting dreams, Harris. May I see the crystal from Beluar that you mentioned?”
As Galan reviewed the crystal, his face paled for a moment and when he finished he didn’t offer it to Lierin. Instead, he set the crystal on the table before him in the small meeting room that we were occupying on the second floor of the original board game cafe. “Well you certainly have an interesting crop of dreams there Harris. I’ve never heard of anyone having such an expansive and diverse experience. I am confident that the experience will benefit you well beyond the fuel it provides to advance your class. I’ll have to ask Beluar his thoughts the next time we meet, but the most interesting dream to me was the forest one that you describe of an explorer arriving in a new world and eventually purchasing a magic compass. I remember that happening, Harris. I crafted and sold that compass over three hundred and fifty years ago. The images from your dream were so accurate, they were like my own memories from another perspective. I didn’t realize that this was possible and I am not sure what it means.”
“I am,” I ventured. “I passed the test and now it is time to go buy a sloth.”
Galan laughed, “Mortals. Always so rooted in the present. Though I suppose it makes sense given your experiences up to now, but you may want to consider slowing down now that you have more time.”
I turned to Leirin to get the conversation back on track and asked, “Leirin Loramenor, want to do a little mount shopping today? Also, what is my budget? I don’t know how much money I have anymore. Hopeful enough to add a giant armored sloth to the team.”
Leirin was visibly delighted by the invitation and she responded in kind, “I’d be happy to take you shopping Harris and you have about forty-two thousand gold on your account currently. A typical mount costs about one hundred gold with an elite mount costing about ten times as much.” I was pretty flush with cash at that point. The plan that I had made to get a job, establish some business ventures and hunt for fun and profit was actually panning out at a much faster pace than I could have hoped. Though the acceleration in my financial fortunes was almost entirely Leirin’s doing.
I don’t know what Galan, Leirin and the rest of the brownies were actually doing in the Emerald Sea, but I was sure that it was more than met the eye. Leirin’s motivations for helping me also had to be deeper, because I couldn’t quite understand them myself. I hate to disappoint you, but there was nothing romantic between Leirin and me. Leirin was like a much older sister who really enjoyed helping her little brother. Why she saw me that way was a puzzle that I never really resolved, but Lierin is a complex person. I am not a complex person, so what I had on my mind was plain for all to see: sloth shopping.