Of Elder Blood
Sixteenth Day of the First Month 294 AC
One could scarce imagine a place less like the cobbled streets of Oldtown than the shores of the Otterstone River turned crimson in the light of the setting sun. Great knotted willows shade the banks while tall oak trees watch the comings and goings of humankind in regal splendor amid the chirping of sparrows and the first trills of still sleepy nightingales. Yet this is not a wild land either, House Rowan has ruled upon these shores since the Age of Heroes, its streams tamed to the dance of mill wheels and bound in bridges, its hills dotted with the keeps of knightly houses and even its woods managed by sharp-eyed wardens, yet there are other guardians awakening in these woods born of an older and more perilous time, and they too shall have their due.
"The earth is rich here and the fruit heavy upon the branch," Soft Strider says, running delicate fingers over the leaves of a wild blueberry bush. "You will find those of the land in good spirits and kindly disposition."
"Those smallfolk who had to move house and home, and abandon their fields, wouldn't think so," Alyssa Crowl scoffs, recalling what Garth has said about the place you were seeking three months ago. The woodcutters had driven too far into the heart of the woods, too close to Rowan's Rest where the fabric of the world grew thin and touched upon the untamed wilds of the fey lands.
"That was a kindness though," Danar says bluntly. "The fey could've just killed the wood cutters and kept killing 'em until they learned where not to walk."
Leto, who had taken the position of first among your Erinyes guards in this outing, nodded along, though she added, "They should've given a warning, too. It cuts down on having to mark the boundary line in blood."
Alyssa obviously does not know what to do about a Fallen angel agreeing with her husband, though thankfully she is saved from replying as the dryad Rhaella interjects, "The blood of the innocent and ignorant makes for bitter sprouts. I for one am glad they called on the Green Knight to move the villages and gladder still the lord of this land agreed to have it done. It would have been a poor thing for the two branches of the tree so long divided to tangle again in strife."
"Two branches?" you ask, bemused. You had not actually thought to have her write a report before the mission, but then she had been on the other side of the world for most of the past three months. When would she have had time to learn anything about the fey of the Reach.
"Oh, apologizes for not mentioning it sooner." Her cheeks darken a deeper green. "I spoke with Moonsong about she whom we are visiting, who spoke with the fey lord Crimson Lotus... I think he was called. He said the lady of Rowan's Rest was a daughter of she whom mortals now call Rowan Goldentree, from whom the mortal lords of this land claim descent."
"Aren't dryads born of other dryads?" Waymar asked confused. "That would mean Rowan was..."
"A dryad herself as well as a daughter of Garth the Green," Kira finishes excitedly. "One with a gold-leafed tree who, after some sorrow or heartbreak, retreated to her tree deep in the wilds, and by the whims of legend, that became seedling of a golden tree of her locks. Only..."
"That begs the question where her tree might be," you finish. "Not all fey were so lucky as to survive the ages, I imagine." Still the realization of the fey lady's history in the Reach only makes it more important to make the right impression. Gifts might serve as well as honeyed words, Soft Strider and Rhaella agree.
What do you bring to the Dryad Queen of Rowan's Rest and how do you greet her?
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OOC: Not as long as I would have liked, but this is where the break point works out to with Rhaella making her roll for fey gossip. Not yet edited.
