Description
Voluminous white golden hair drapes past her shoulders and curls into
beaded and bejeweled braids of silver and azure. Her face is as marble,
porcelain save a streak of onyx rooted in her neck that crosses her
right cheek and splits into a dozen dark and visible veins thinly
adorned across her forehead. Her eyes are emerald green, sparkling
unnaturally against the color of her skin. Her lips similarly so,
though surely they are painted the darker red color, perhaps without
which they would have no color at all. Her body is decidedly elven,
lithe and graceful. Her exposed arms and legs are similarly bright
white with the occasional black lines including her left index finger
which is noticeably ebony from nail to knuckle. Her frame stands at
nearly five and one half feet with feminine curves both modest and
firm, her visage is as pleasing as it is disquieting. Her smile is
soft, conveying a sadness and understanding. Her voice similarly so,
she speaks with an untraceable accent and in measured sentences without
breaking eye contact with her audience. She smells of fresh water
landing on smooth rocks with but a hint of the wildflowers that grow
just downstream.
Role
* * * The first page of a missive scribed in silver inks * * *
Added Sun Jan 26 14:49:20 2025 at level 1:
Marshall,
I swear every word I write upon this parchment is true. They are my words and
they have not been swayed by what came before or what came after. I will speak
only to the moments upon meeting who we now call Steiya, meeting her as we
found her and meeting her as I left her.
It begins in a cave. The hole is now sealed and was mostly obscured by the
overgrown grasses of the Aturi woodlands. The guildsman and our sister of the
Brigade, Myarr spotted the strange opening first. I was accompanied by two
others of the Fortress, a healer of Xathanael named Cyrahm, and a shapeshifter
by the name of Lorphaul, both Scribes and younger in rank. We wished to show
them the perplexing statues of the hidden thieves den but came across instead
this strange opening we had never seen before.
As we descended below, I took the front to attack what might be waiting for
unsuspecting travelers such as ourselves while Myarr kept her eyes peeled to
alert me to what I could not see. We walked perhaps a quarter of a mile before
we came to an opening, it was not lit and so Cyrahm opted to fire up a torch
for visibility. The room was large but clearly raided for any treasures it once
contained. There was also the bones of many who had attempted to enter this
place but did not leave, we counted three score of skulls and ribcages unique
enough to lead us to believe many, many souls had breathed their last breaths
in this room.
At the center of the room was her, a statue of an elven woman fair and proud.
Her name, which was on the plaque but seemingly scorched to nothing, left only
the final letters to be deciphered, Steiya.
* * * The second page of a missive scribed in silver inks * * *
Added Sun Jan 26 14:50:14 2025 at level 1:
The inscriptions below her name were being deciphered by Lorphaul who muttered
protection again and again, he may have even said that the word "protection"
was inscribed multiple times. My senses led me elsewhere as he spoke. The back
of the room opened to another exit from this place, one much wider and somehow
darker than the one we had entered through. I heard breathing. Myarr heard it
as well and made to exit from where we came. Cyrahm grabbed her by the tail and
said, 'No, we must allow it!' which made little sense to me when I made to move
as well but time denied me of any other action. I pulled the three smaller
brothers and sisters to me, behind the statue and watched in horror as the
creature entered the chamber. It came upon us as a thousand fangs and a hundred
claws with a body that never fully entered the room. It was black and gray and
smelled of still lit ash. I remember no other details of it but I cannot lose
the image of it from my mind. Its first claw struck the statue as I assumed it
would be our end but instead, it disappeared as quickly as it appeared. The
statue slumped as though a living form and as I gathered my senses, Lorphaul
assisted her in standing, her form naked and still marble. 'We have to leave,'
the healer said, and left we did. As we climbed out of the hole, the ground
began to collapse into itself. Moments later, there was no evidence it had ever
been there at all.
I felt shame in my lack of courage and in my hesitancy in action but knew my
compatriots had survived that day. I excused myself to pray to my Lady,
Baerinika. Any word of the strange creature or the statue made flesh are not
words I can speak to firsthand. Perhaps the others can provide more details on
what occurred that day, but this is my account.
On my honor and my courage,
Bounath Ffous
Maran of the Holy Brigade of the Phoenix
= = = A hastily scrawled note in coded words = = =
Added Sun Jan 26 14:51:19 2025 at level 1:
P,
That spot was raided but not empty, thanks for the tip. Strange thing we found
in there, good looking naked statue, you would've been pleased to gander. I'll
leave it to a Herald to sing the praises of her chest and her backside. All
marble and the stone alone was probably worth a decent coin. Very good
condition. But here's the thing. I'm in with a knight and a cleric and a man
who becomes an elephant, my hope is the elephant can carry the statue out. But
before we discuss moving the thing, this fire breathing dragon, head bigger
than any I've ever seen, comes into view. I make to run, assuming we'd all run,
but this cleric grabs my tail holding me in place like a maniac. I hit him
backside of the head as we left for his trouble. But he must have knew
something. This dragon breathes fire and soon as it hits the statue, the fire
reflects off the lady and the dragon goes poof. When the smoke clears, the lady
is no longer a statue. Or somewhat. Her skin still keeps the color of the
marble but it's soft to the touch. I wrap her in a cloak for modesty and we all
headed out of the cave, the tunnel collapses on itself as we exited. Right odd
the whole endeavor.
Now the elephant calls her Steiya, and insists that what happened is
conveniently the workings of the school of magic he is very familiar with. I'm
left wondering if he just wanted to get familiar. So I stalked a bit to see
what he was up to and it was more or less on the level. He gathered some
clothing for her, showed her around Voralian City, and spent more or less a
week teaching her language, customs, manners, and a bit of his guild secrets.
She was like an infant and he was, as a Scribe, shepherding her to safety. It
became boring and I'd seen enough to know he wasn't looking to make the statue
woman into something for coin or kicks. Not that I would have done so had I had
the chance, that would be wrong, right?
I fear I won't know more of her adventure and I hope they're riveting tales for
future souls. I am interested in the mystery of it all and what her story is,
but it's about time I put the coin away for that vista on the coast we
discussed. This last donation to the guild will be my final, the city needs a
new Godfather but it was quite a strange note to end a career upon. Be well,
brother.
-M
_ _ _ A prayer from a priest to their Lord _ _ _
Added Sun Jan 26 14:52:46 2025 at level 1:
Lord Xathanael,
Upon my honor, to gain from knowledge, and to protect the just, the pure, and
the defenseless. I accompanied brothers and sisters to a place none had seen
before and came upon a room that was littered with bones and nearly bare. What
was there was a statue of a comely woman, her name was elvish but only the
portion of "Steiya" was still visible. Below it was the word "protection"
written in languages I knew of but four while thankfully my brother Lorphaul, a
shapeshifter, could read another dozen or so. Again, it was the repeated word
"protection" and so I thought of you, my Lord.
A voice came into my head, loud and clear with a tone of peace and serenity. I
felt as though something from the statue called out to me. "Still, be of
stillness, no harm shall come to you" and I had to decide if that voice was of
good or ill intent for no sooner had the statement finished than did a foul,
sorcerous, undead creature appear. A lich perhaps, but one as large as the room
itself, its dark, threadbare cloak extending into whatever depths it came from.
The felar thief Myarr made to bolt and I stopped her. "We must allow it!" I
screamed, not even knowing why I said the words. The Maran Bounath stood in
front of us with the statue blocking the necromancer as he cast some spell that
filled the room with darkness but as it touched the marble of the elven lady
form, it inverted into light and banished the evil mage from the room if not
the realm. When my eyes adjusted, I saw the stone had become flesh and the
voice returned imploring, "Go, go now or you'll be trapped here forever," and I
urged my colleagues to depart in haste. We did so, with Steiya who seemed
disoriented and couldn't seem to understand us. As we escaped, Lorphaul began
speaking in an ancient tongue and Steiya responded and the two began
conversing. A strike upon the Fortress diverted the attention of Bounath and
Myarr, leaving us two Scribes to tend to the living statue.
I did all I could invoking your name as I communed supplication upon
supplication upon her. Outside of the strange coloration, she seemed similar to
most any other elf. She did not speak the common tongue and through rough
translation, my brother surmised for me she did not know who she was or how she
came to be. Was it a curse unbroken? Was it a spell all to its own? And what
was our part in all of this, saviors of this poor soul or foolish enablers of
some foul plot? I will pray upon it more and send her to your shrine. If she
truly is one of protection and her soul is as lighted as it seems to me,
perhaps she can find her way to the Iron Legion.
I will pray more and write further should I learn more. Strange days but I feel
a lifted spirit about the events that transpired.
Yours by my honor, through great knowledge, and devoted to the protection of
others,
Cyrham Carreigh
Scribe of the Fortress of the Light
Lorphaul's Journal - 585, Month of the Great Evil, Day of Thunder
Added Sun Jan 26 14:54:09 2025 at level 1:
* Steiya is an uncommon elven name suffix, no records in Darsylon going back
nearly a thousand years contain an instance of its use
* The elves who assisted in my research advised venturing to lost cities and
ruins for further clues, perhaps Thar-Acacia or the Vaults near the Jade Elves
* I am convinced her form is some related spell to the common stoneskin, I've
spoken to mages at the Tower of Sorcery and the Consortium but they were
unsupportive of my theories
* Steiya herself has learned the common tongue in a matter of weeks, her a's
and i's are frequently elongated, something carrying over from her original
language, presumably an ancient Elvish and perhaps it or her people were an
offshoot of the highborn elves she otherwise most resembles
* She knew a variation of the human tongue almost as old as humans themselves,
I could speak just enough of it for the two of us to converse though she told
me I spoke it like a dwarf
* It's strange what she remembers and what she doesn't, my assumption is she
has either forgotten many things due to the unnaturally long time she spent in
her state or someone has made her forget certain things
* She knew nothing of the many tentacled being we encountered in the cave, I
have tried to describe it to her many, many times but I always feel I am unable
to express fully how the beast looked and she swears she has never seen such a
creature in her life
* She does have an aptitude for the craft of shapeshifting, she learned the
shell of the tortoise as though she had cast it a thousand times before
* After providing her clothings, goods, and shelter in Voralian City, I
directed her to the Academy for further training
* If she so wishes, I told her to find the Elder Prophet or the Cardinal to see
to her joining the Fortress
* I believe she had a life before being cast in marble but my guild master
cautioned me that a soul can come from anything, he gave me a bit of strange
wisdom saying, 'Even a rock if you stare at it long enough, will have a face
and if you leave a smiling rock behind, you will feel sorrow; how else would
you describe a friend? Souls are everywhere if we but look'
A Missive Upon Plain Paper
Added Sat Mar 22 14:34:53 2025 at level 51:
Scribe Steiya,
We do not know each other but you knew my father, Lorphaul, who was among the
four you first met upon awakening. I feel compelled to seek you out as I have
been researching the mystery he described in his journals pertaining to your
discovery. He spent time trying to find records of elvish names within the Lost
Vaults and upon continuing his work, I believe I have found just such a name as
what he was looking for, Agnosteiya Lleyyana, who is listed as a member of the
court from two millennium ago. I have my theories and I aim to learn more, but
do send word when you receive this missive. I hope it finds you well,
Haumjuen Migarr
A Missive in Response
Added Sun Mar 23 09:53:01 2025 at level 51:
Haumjuen,
Thank you for your missive. I ventured to the Vaults and wandered about the
halls, not seeing any records that you spoke of. Still, I would love to hear
more of what you found.
I knew your father well and thought of him as a dear friend. He helped me early
in my life and put me on the path I still walk to this day, as a shifter within
the guild of Voralian City and as a Scribe within the Fortress where he also
served.
Your words are timed with divine providence. My Lord Xathanael tasked me with
no less than to seek out such tales. 'I send you forth to learn of your family,
its name, and bring that to me,' He said. I shall henceforth as an act of faith
take the last name you spoke within your last letter. I trust we will learn
more of it and of the story behind Agnosteiya.
Do write more when you are able and have more to share. Should you wish to meet
in person to speak, say the word and I shall be there.
Steiya Lleyyana, Scribe of the Fortress of Light
Two Excerpts From a Tome Entitled, 'ARTISANS OF THE FOURTH AGE'
Added Sun Mar 30 17:28:58 2025 at level 51:
===EXCERPT ONE===
AGNOSTEIYA LLEYYANA
An artisan of some renown during the Fourth Age, Lleyyana spent much of his
life serving the Highborn King with occasional works for other Royal and
wealthy patrons generally in exchange for similar services from other painters,
weavers, poets, and the like. A sculptor, Lleyyana famously created several
dozen works representing each of the Spheres of Influence.
===EXCERPT TWO===
(A few pages later, within a section entitled, 'KNOWN WORKS')
Statue of Protection, gifted to Pirrick, Knight of Loke. Pirrick went in search
of a great darkness, fabled to reside in the far southeastern lands. Both the
statue and Pirrick were never heard from or seen again. Number nineteen in a
series of fifty-six.
This marble statue resembled an elven woman, standing strong against an unknown
force. Her arms extend out to face what comes and her eyes, emeralds in this
case, sparkle resiliently.
PK Wins
Feb 10, 2025|Lv 27|Mausoleum|Rexio vs 2: [31] Zephaun (63%, divine power), [27] Steiya (36%)
Mar 8, 2025 |Lv 48|Ruins of Maethien|Braos vs 3: [51] Yasdal (39%), [48] Steiya (1%), [51] Dalanthilios (58%, searing light)
Apr 11, 2025|Lv 51|The Outpost of Tir-Talath|Kekukukuku vs 2: [40] Aethel (43%), [51] Steiya (56%, bleeding)