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[[Chap21Cheat|Chapter Archive]]
[[Chap21Cheat|Chapter Archive]]
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A short chapter that opens with Sarine having yet another painful flashback.  Her friend Misa comes calling with the news that the elven powers-that-be are mobilizing forces to deal with the Anilis situation.  We learn that Misa knows about Sarine's ambivalent views regarding errants and shares them, at least to the point that Misa wants to partner with Sarine on the search, but Sarine would rather go it alone, as usual.  Meanwhile, Ian exults in his mysteriously new-found powers, while Meji considers how to turn them to her advantage...
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A short chapter that opens with [[Sarine]] having yet another painful flashback.  Her friend [[Misa]] comes calling with the news that the elven powers-that-be are mobilizing forces to deal with the [[Anilis]] situation.  We learn that Misa knows about Sarine's ambivalent views regarding errants and shares them, at least to the point that Misa wants to partner with Sarine on the search, but Sarine would rather go it alone, as usual.  Meanwhile, [[Ian]] exults in his mysteriously new-found powers, while [[Meji]] considers how to turn them to her advantage...
==[http://www.errantstory.com/archive.php?date=2006-07-05 Cold Commands]==
==[http://www.errantstory.com/archive.php?date=2006-07-05 Cold Commands]==
''no chapter archive yet''
''no chapter archive yet''

Revision as of 16:15, 11 July 2006

Table of Contents
Prologue: I Used to Believe

Chapter 1: Psychotic Mage Chick
Chapter 2: Dead Leaves
Chapter 3: The Best of Intentions
Chapter 4: Attachments
Chapter 5: Where Do We Go When We Just Don't Know...
Chapter 6: A Fork in the Road
Chapter 7: Travel Sick
Chapter 8: Lost in the Distant Horizon
Chapter 9: Worn Paths
Chapter 10: Antique lands
Chapter 11: Half Sunk
Chapter 12: Shattered Visage
Chapter 13: Don't Want This
Chapter 14: Which Yet Survive
Chapter 15: That Dream Where You...
Chapter 16: Stamped on These Lifeless Things
Chapter 17: Expectations
Chapter 18: An Interlude...
Chapter 19: Burden In My Hand
Chapter 20: 'Home Again, Home Again...'
Chapter 21: 'Flying Away'
Chapter 22: 'Cold Commands'


I Used to Believe

Prologue Archive

A pregnant elf (Sarine Elle) worries to her husband about the health and safety of her half elf child in a world where the half elves are sometimes born “wrong” and elves and half elves are at war. Her husband tries to reassure her.

Two thousand years pass. Sarine appears as a mysterious cloaked figure in a western-style town. She asks questions of the locals and approaches a man drinking alone in a bar (Derren Felmel). A short conversation about local murders unnerves the man. Sarine apologizes, then cuts his throat and resumes travel as a mysterious cloaked figure.

Psychotic Mage Chick

Chapter Archive

A young half elf girl (Meji Hinadori) discusses with her familiar (Ellis) her predicament in school. She is failing and needs a spectacular senior project in order to graduate. In class, she announces her intention of becoming “An Insane, All-Powerful Demigod” and enslaving all of reality. This announcement is greeted with laughter and doubt, rather than surprise or horror. Her teacher attempts to dissuade her, but gives up when it becomes apparent that Meji has no plan at all, and likely won’t even make it out into the world sufficiently to be in danger.

Angered by being ridiculed, Meji attempts actual research. Thanks to a Deus Ex Machina spell, she discovers that precisely the information she needs to accomplish her task may be located in the “Heretic Knowledge Vault” in Veracia. Meji is determined to locate the power she needs to show up her teacher and classmates, so she begins her journey by taking a warp gate to Saus.

Dead Leaves

Chapter Archive

Introduction of the Ensigerum, though they are not named in the story yet. A monk (Warrel) times a girl (Sara Amraphel) as she eliminates a room full of men armed with guns. The girl is berated by her teacher for even as a novice allowing one of the Gewehr to so much as put a bullet hole in her sleeve.

In Saus, Meji and Ellis witness several men bullying a naïve young man, and are threatened by the bullies. Meji “resists” the bullies with perhaps excessive force. The young man (Chris) expresses his gratitude at length. Meji and Ellis finally turn invisible to escape the wannabe hero’s chatter and resume their journey only after he’s gone.

Outside town, Meji encounters a group of police searching for a Gewehr assassin. The assassin (Jon Amraphel) attempts to use her as a hostage. Meji electrocutes the police and threatens to turn in Jon for a bounty. He saves Meji’s life and decides to travel with her and pretend to be her bodyguard.

The Best of Intentions

Chapter Archive

Jon reveals that the reason he is being hunted by the police is that he was turned in after an assassination. He and Meji journey to Emerylon together before splitting up. There, Jon is ordered by his boss to lay low indefinitely, and there is a brief discussion of the recent Ensigerum attack.

Meanwhile, Meji breaks into the church library only to discover that another half elf (Ian Samael) is already there and he has the book she wants. Upon being discovered by a nun, he and Meji escape the library together. Jon leaves the Gewehr hideout just in time to be informed by a search party that two mages tried to burn down the vault.

Attachments...

Chapter Archive

Sarine, in Saus as she tracks the errants, has a painful flashback to the death of her husband/mate. This is interrupted by a random townsperson who confides to Sarine that a terrifying mage is on the loose and has trashed some young men of the town (who, of course, were the ones who had tormented Chris, and thus had it coming). The intelligence source gets annoying and is eventually commanded by Sarine to go away, as she tries to get over the flashback.

Outside Emerylon, Jon meets up with Meji and Ian. After a bit of male bonding, they all decide to travel together, and Ian reveals that his reason for wanting the book is to heal his sister and some others from his village who are sick.

Camped down for the night, the trio discusses the prevailing explanations for the existence of the various races in the world. Meanwhile, Sarine terrifies the surviving bully from Saus.

Where Do We Go When We Just Don't Know...

Chapter Archive

A long, portentous chapter that opens with Ian explaining to Meji why he's on his quest and why he has no use for elves. They start making sense out of the mysterious book, Meji noting that there appear to be coordinates for something and allowing that a battlemage friend of hers (Bani) knows more about the subject than she does. Following a carefully staged but ultimately unsuccessful attempt by Meji to get Ian interested in her "nubile, pert young body" (sic -- drollery from Ellis follows), the party continues to Saus. There, things get lively.

Jon, who has decided to sneak into town via the rooftops, has an unfortunate misstep that leads to an encounter with "Polly," the "seamstress" who busted Jon earlier. While he's disentangling himself from this, Sarine attempts to report back to the elves, but rather than getting aid from fellow rangers, is surprised and annoyed to have summoned Toren, who is an elven military commander, and an elven military unit. Toren rather condescendingly dismisses Sarine and stages an ambush for the half elves, which Ian however detects in time to avoid the worst of the magical assault. Jon, who's still trying to escape from Polly (and vice versa), hears the resulting fracas and goes to investigate...

A Fork in the Road

Chapter Archive

A violent melee breaks out between the elven military party and Jon and Ian, Meji being incapacitated by the disruption effects cast by Toren. Jon and Meji flee while Ian is still casting mighty fire spells (which have left much of the town in flames), and leave the area via a slow boat to avoid detection. En route to wherever they're going, Jon summons a memory that suggests a possible next step for the group's quest.

Meanwhile, Sarine (whose opinion of the elven raid was never high -- "Well... this certainly turned into a mess" -- and who was not part of the melee) has been healing wounded elven soldiers. She intimidates a Shipping Company Guy into telling her where Jon and Meji are going, but for reasons not yet revealed, chooses to conceal this information when she has an encounter in town with fellow elven ranger Sarna, whose opinion of humans is also not very high. Of course, her opinion of the elven army and the "Lead Dead Moron" (Toren) isn't very high either, and her body language suggests that she doesn't have a high opinion of much of anything. Condescension, we're beginning to learn, just comes pretty easily to elves.

Travel Sick

Chapter Archive

Somewhere in north eastern Veracia, Imperatrix Anita is practicing her fighting skills. She's head of the Ensigerum, an order of fighting monks who lost most of their fighting skills because they don't need them anymore. Time magic is so much more convenient. The Imperatrix is not happy with the lack of ambition of her subjects either, who don't care about the world outside except to protect their village. Word of the incident at Saus has reached them, and so has Chris. He's the son of Correl, a former monk who risked his life to leave the order and obviously did not tell his son about the details of his departure. Chris is allowed to join the order, though his prospects are dim.

Over in Farrel, at the city of Taberna, Mandi is running a bar in memory of her father. Business is slow when her long-time-no-see buddy Jon shows up. But his arrival is not unexpected, as somebody had been asking questions about him and Meji. Mandi remembers a thing or two about Jon's good-hearted nature, and a flashback reveals that he was involved in some unspecified activities of which his mother did not approve. He still feels guilty about letting his little sister Sara down, but is living in denial.

Finally, the inquisitive hooded stranger shows up to have a chat. It's Sarine, who's beautifully pointed ears trigger a fierce reaction with Jon. Sarine is particularily interested in the book that was considered important enough to be hidden not only from humans and errants, but also from elves. Too bad it went missing in Saus, along with Ian. Jon's plan is to go chasing old wives' tales with Meji, for lack of something better to do. Sarine states her intention to help, though she is not very specific about it. During all this talk, Meji had been moping upstairs, travel sick or for some other reason. Her reaction to Sarine's ears is even fiercer than Jon's.

Lost in the Distant Horizon

Chapter Archive

Jon and Meji leave for Thranel, with a new twist: Sarine is coming along. Meji is not too fond of this, while Jon is not too fond of using a warp gate. Sarine displays her usefulness by giving Mandi an explanation for her destroyed guestroom, magical nocturnal emissions. Her attempt to disperse Jon's uneasiness about his first time by explaining the scientific details of warp travel is met with less success. At the warp gate in Taberna, Jon seems to be lucky since Thranel has no such device. Alternative means of travel are discussed, including Ellis transforming into his true form, which is not helpful. Eventually Port Lorrel is chosen as the next stop, for having a warp gate and being in walking distance from Thranel.

Arriving in Port Lorrel, Meji bumps into her old schoolmate Bani. Childhood memories arise... Bani being the new girl in school, making friends with the undergrown outsider Meji at the age of 14. We learn that not all familiars are winged cats, but some are micro tentacle monsters with password protected adult modes. Meji grew up in the house of her grandfather, who was also very supportive in jumpstarting her school career. Bani pointed out some future advantages of Meji's delayed aging, like dancing. Nowadays, Meji admits feelings for Ian, kind of.

Meanwhile, Jon and Sarine have an intimate talk at a nearby bistro, revealing not much of anything.

Worn Paths

Chapter Archive

Meji, Sarine, Jon, and Ellis travel from Port Lorrel to Thranel. Meji is cranky because they are walking - except for Ellis who is flying - but Jon doesn't like horses. Ellis pisses everyone off, getting a flashy X-ray style spell in return. Sarine pisses everyone off as well, by using weird-ass names in her speech like everyone is supposed to know what they mean, which probably marks the first time that Jon and Ellis are in agreement about anything. The following short lesson in elven races is learned best by investigating the Heretic Knowledge Vault (not the real one - this one).

Sarine and Meji have a talk about Meji's roots. Her father Rarune, an elven ambassador showing up in Tsuirakushiti every twenty years, is not likely to be pleased about meeting his daughter. At night, Sarine is having a bath in some kind of river while Jon is guarding her against lurking perverts, not minding possible consequences. Meji is still moping occasionally, when she isn't causing explosions. Just when Sarine is about to start a really long lesson about elven history, the chapter ends.

Antique Lands

Chapter Archive

Sarine narrates elven history. The four elven races were at peace with eachother. It was their golden age, when dwarves had faded away, trolls were driven away, and the gods had walked away. An expedition looking for the dwarves instead stumbled across a new race, the humans. They were primitive, fragile, easy to impress, and looked vaguely like elves. The elves took the humans back home with them, for protection and study. They turned out to be quick in learning and reproduction, so they filled out the jobs in elven society for which there never was enough manpower before. Both races flourished.

Humans also turned out to be genetically compatible with elves. The elven fertility rate had always been marginal, so there was another gap that humans helped to fill. Compared to humans, half elves were stronger, faster, healthier, lived longer, and had more talent for magic. So, in order to improve on the human race, intercourse was intensified. Half elves took over most of the jobs previously filled by humans, which in turn retreated to manual labor. The only humans that were still teached directly by elves were gladiators, who received their training from the Viradior, an elven military elite force that had nothing else to do in those times of peace. Sarine herself was one of those Viradior training human gladiators.

Sarine explains, with just a hint of personal involvement, that direct coupling between humans and elves was still in fashion at the time. One of the reasons for that is that the human had the decency to die before the elf could get tired of the relationship, which is the closest analogy to love for an immortal. While many elves still had reservations against bonding with humans, those did not apply to bonding with half elves. As the number of half elves being born increased, it became apparent that some of them had physical, magical, or psychological deficiencies. Those half elves were called errants. Magical treatments were mostly useless because of the half elves' natural resistance against magic. But since only few errants were born, half elves continued to incorporate themselves into elven society and their achievements rivaled those of the elves.

Malacia, the capital of one of the elven races, was a city built upon an artificial island floating in the sky. Elves, half elves, and humans joined their forces to build a new city based on the same principle, to become the first true half elven city. Some elven religious fanatics were raving against the half elves, but they were mostly ignored until... the strongest half elven mage alive, Kiyan Nizami, went bananas and within a quarter of an hour damaged Malacia to the point that it had to be abandoned and sunk into the ocean. The vibe was tense afterwards, but construction of the new city continued for another year, mainly driven by half elves and human mages. It was already floating in the sky when it suddenly B4ed, disappearing for 1800 years (to reappear as Tsuirakushiti).

Elves, half elves, and humans were all very upset after these two disasters. A motion suggesting to "put errants out of their misery before they have a chance to become dangerous" triggered arguments, which became violent, and blossomed into a civil war. At the beginning, it was between those who "wanted the best" and those who wanted to avoid a genocide, but that gradually turned into a war between elves and half elves, the latter now all considered errants. This lasted for centuries, destroying almost all of elven society. When finally nobody was willing to fight anymore and all half elves were dead or scattered, the remaining elves retired into their only city still standing. They blamed the humans as the cause of all misery, threw them out of the city, and created a magical barrier keeping everyone out. This barrier would last for 1500 years, until Veracia sent Luminosita and made contact with the elves again.

Meji, Ellis and Jon are not exactly satisfied with this excursion in elven history. But since Sarine took all day, without even explaining what this problem is that she was hinting at, nobody dares to ask questions.

Half Sunk

Chapter Archive

In which Chris gets his head handed to him, and Imperatrix Anita pays the Church a visit.

There's also some Sarine/Jon action at the end.


Shattered Visage

Chapter Archive

In which an awkward morning after is quickly solved by a memory wipe, the source of enmity between the Ensigerum and the Wraiths is revealed, and Anita ponders taking her order in a new direction.

Don't Want This

Chapter Archive

In which Meji and company find burning wagons, a place to rest, and an Elven guardian who doesn't like questions. Meanwhile, Jon confronts Sarine about some missing memories.

Which Yet Survive

Chapter Archive

In which Melrin attacks, and the group leaves town before anyone starts asking questions.

That Dream Where You...

Chapter Archive

In which Chris is demoralized by the truth of his father's past, bandits are mentally dominated and killed, and our heros finally reach the ruins of the elves.

Stamped On These Lifeless Things

Chapter Archive

In which trees grow force crystals tuned to elven blood, Meji finds what she's looking for the hard way, and Jon finds out what's missing from his head.

Oh! And Nookie and Kawaii show up. That happens too.

Expectations

Chapter Archive

In which the servants of the Gods aren't all they're cracked up to be, Sarine's world spins like a gyroscope, Meji goes and finds something to touch...


wait for it...


... and Ian does it.


An Interlude...

Chapter Archive

In which we find out everything we wanted to know about Ian, as well as where the Goddess escaped to.

Burden In My Hand

Chapter Archive

In which secret plots begin against the Wraiths, Sarine and Jon part ways, Jon finds Ellis (and tries to pawn him off), and Sarine finds an angry gate guard at the entrance to the Elven lands.

Home Again, Home Again...

Chapter Archive

In which Misa gets her ass handed to her during a prank, Sarine takes the Elven subway, Elven security doesn't measure up, and Sarine confronts the Council about certain goddess hiding places.

Flying Away

Chapter Archive

A short chapter that opens with Sarine having yet another painful flashback. Her friend Misa comes calling with the news that the elven powers-that-be are mobilizing forces to deal with the Anilis situation. We learn that Misa knows about Sarine's ambivalent views regarding errants and shares them, at least to the point that Misa wants to partner with Sarine on the search, but Sarine would rather go it alone, as usual. Meanwhile, Ian exults in his mysteriously new-found powers, while Meji considers how to turn them to her advantage...

Cold Commands

no chapter archive yet

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