The elven town of Qualinesti was celebrating. Their warriors had just defeated the orcish threat that had come from the east. The leader of the elven war riders dismounted his snow white steed and stood infront of an entire assembly of the elven village, to be recognized by the Speaker of the Sun and Stars, Jacquilinas Sunstar. Jacquilinas stood up, and addressed the leader, Krynnas Skyblade, who was kneeling before the Speaker.
"Krynnas, you have done a great service for your people today. We all owe you our congratulations on leading our warriors to such a great victory against our foes." he said, grandly, motioning Krynnas to stand. "For this, we, in owing you our gratitude, give you this magical pendant, which will protect you from harm while you wear it." Jacquilinas walked up to the proud Krynnas and placed a shining gold pendant around his neck. Krynnas bowed deeply to the Speaker.
"My thanks, Speaker. I will be pleased to serve you again in the future." he bowed once more and then reverently walked out of the House of the Sun and Stars. He went directly to where he had left his riding party.
"My friends. We have accomplished a great thing today, and have been rewarded well for our efforts. Now I will give you a reward for your service to me in this battle." He declared, motioning for a slim elf maiden to come towards him. She was dressed in the clothes of a priest, a long purple and gold robe, cinched at the waist with a silver rope, into which there was tucked a silver handled dagger. Her long golden brown hair fell to her waist, and she looked at Krynnas respectfully.
"Comrades, my daughter, Selinara, has learned an age old spell that we elves use to make our weapons stronger. It is this spell that is my gift to you. If you would, my fine fellows, place your weapons in a pile in front of her, please."
The men all did so, giving Selinara, a priest of Corellon Larethian, a respectful and gracious look, some even bowing. Selinara took this all with a slight smile. The priest so did love aiding others, especially the warriors of her village. She had followed in her mothers' footsteps, taking on the philosophy of "Others first, yourself last" which had been her mothers' when she had been a priest. After all of the weapons were placed, she sank to her knees and appeared to pray. Then, suddenly, her slim hands reached out towards the pile, and a strange bluish light seemed to reflect off of them for a moment. Many of the elves later would swear that Corellon Larethian's comrade, the moon herself, had come down from the sky to bless the weapons. Slowly, the bluish light faded away, and Selinara stood up.
"These magically enhanced weapons will do twice as much damage as normal and be more precise in an attack." She gestured to the weapons as she said so, her calm gaze touching each soldier's eyes for a moment. "But, if you use these weapons for an evil purpose, you will find that they will not serve you and become brittle, breaking when you strike a hard surface." Selinara then bowed to the group, backing away from the pile. With a gesture of her hand, she motioned them to take back their weapons. They did gladly, some looking their swords and bows over reverently, as if they were touching an artifact of Larethian himself. One elf, a tall elf, completely in silver armor, after taking his long sword, came towards her. Krynnas made as to stop him, but Selinara held up a hand. She smiled at the soldier serenely, noting his long dark hair and striking eyes.
"On the honor of my family and Corellon Larethian, this weapon will never be used for evil, only to protect the good citizens of Qualinesti." he bowed deeply in front of her, his blue eyes sparkling at her, "I give you my thanks."
"It is an honor to aid in the cause of protecting the forest." Selinara told him, almost becoming flustered at his statement. It had been a long time since she had ever thought of another elf in the sense of attractiveness before, being a priest and all, but this young warrior was strikingly handsome.
Selinara was still a young elf, only 85, the youngest ever to learn magic in Qualinesti, and did not have the many years of study behind her as some of her companions had. This was attributed to the untimely death of her mother, as some would say, this is what made Selinara stick with the workings of magic, instead of turning to the practice of a ranger, as her father had once wanted. Yet, she only smiled again and glided off towards her temple, seemingly uncaring about what had just happened.
Krynnas looked after her, shaking his head. His daughter continually surprised him. She, in taking her vow as a priest of Larethian, had sworn never to marry, as was the custom. A priest could not be expected to have a family and carry out his or her duties to the fullest. Although, that was truly a disservice to the prospective suitors, as Selinara was quite a beautiful maiden. He smiled suddenly, and turned to his troops, who were still standing around, some stroking their bows reverently and grinning at their fortune.
"Come on, comrades, we will celebrate with the finest feywine from my cellar tonight!" he called out, heading towards home,the proud and noble troops following him.
***
Years passed, and Selinara watched as the proud band of warriors under her father, Krynnas, defeated many a foe in protection of their forest home. She had even had the opportunity to accompany them from time to time.
Battle had always been slightly intriguing to Selinara. When standing at the back, casting her spells of protection and healing the wounded, she would watch with awe as the fighters dispatched their foes with seemingly uncaring ease as the silver blades flashed through the air and arrows streaked towards their targets. Selinara, being a priest, never let those thoughts overcome her, as it would cloud her studies of magic.
One day, on the day the elven maiden came of her 100th year,a great silver dragon landed in the center of Qualinesti. All of the elves in this quiet village were in attendance as the dragon demanded to speak to the Speaker of the Sun and Stars. Eladaras Sunstar,Jacquilinas'successor, walked slowly out of the House of the Sun, noting his village's awe at the sight of the proud silver dragon.
"Great Silver Angel, to what do we owe your visit?" Eladaras said reverently, bowing in front of the dragon. The "Silver Angel" was the Qualinesti high elves' name for the silver dragons, as they were often depicted in lore as angels from Corellon Larethian and the moon that would come and ask the elves to do Larethian's good work.
"I require of you a service. A great evil has come over the land, the red and black dragons have been released by an evil mage." she said, looking down at him seriously, her great voice booming out over the crowd. There were gasps as she mentioned the red and black dragons. "We need many warriors and priests to help drive back these vile beasts, and the evil creatures who follow in their rule. The elven riders of Qualinesti have long been rumored to be the greatest in the land. We also have need of your young priest."
"Yes, your knowledge is true." Eladaras agreed. "Is this all that you will require of us?"
"Send your riders and the priest to the edge of your forest by the sunrise of the next day, and my comrades will escort them to the lands where help is needed." she told him, spreading her great silver wings and flying off. Eladaras looked through the crowd and found Krynnas.
"Are your warriors agreed to this?" he asked, fully expecting compliance with this jurisdiciton as it had been brought to them. He shook his head. Eladaras looked at Krynnas startled. "You don't mean..."
"No, I mean that I won't be making the decision." He told Eladaras, as a shocked gasp went through the crowd. "Tyrinnas will be succeeding me in my leadership position of the Qualinesti elven war riders."
The soldier that long ago had bowed before Selinara after she had enchanted their weapons, stepped forward in the group. He bowed in front of Eladaras, his dark hair, tied back in a long ponytail, flopping over his head as he did a deep bow.
"I would be honored to lead the elven war riders into this noble battle." he said solemnly, glancing to where Selinara was standing in shock next to her father. She had a puzzled look on her face. "As long as Selinara, our priest of renown, is under my protection." he finished, looking directly at the stunned priest.
Selinara looked at her father. She did not know what to make of this, she had never needed protection before, never before had a warrior sworn to protect her. Krynnas bent down and whispered something in her ear. Her expression changed to one of calm acceptance. She nodded in the direction of Eladaras.
"I would be so honored to aid this cause." she told him, giving him a cool gaze that implied serene calmness. Tyrinnas grinned, blue eyes sparkling at Selinara for a moment, and turned to the soldiers, now his to command.
"We leave tomorrow at sunrise!" Tyrinnas cried, raising his fist in the air. The soldiers cheered and broke off to make their battle preparations. Tyrinnas then went to Krynnas and bowed in front of the older leader. "We will follow in the code that you have set. We honor your memory and will remember your great leadership." Krynnas nodded at the young elf.
�Tyrinnas, as long as you honor my agreement with you, you shall never be dishonored.� Krynnas said simply, turing and walking away, back to his home. Selinara looked at her father, looked at Tyrinnas, and, with a look of stoic patience, carefully masking the confusion she felt, glided off towards her temple. She would have to prepare for this battle, as it was going to prove to be very trying.
****
Palanthas