Celine decided to stay on the Sea Serpent for awhile to protect the crew from further pirate invasions. As she and the crew quickly found out, she did not even need to, for her fame as the capturer of the captian of the Sabre Serpents captain made other pirates and rogue ships fear the Sea Serpent and they usually went out of their way to avoid the ship after that little encounter. Eventually, the pirate captian was dumped off on a little deserted island in the middle of the Ferrican Sea, as penance for his crimes.

6 years passed as Celine protected the ship from harm, and then finally one day they docked at a small port near the city of Tikara. Celine saw the great forests outside the city and felt a stab of homesickness. A ship was really no place for an elf, the forests were her home.

The captian noticed Celine's expression and walked over to the unusually quiet elf.

"What is the matter, our 'Swashbuckler of the Seas'?" he asked, using the name that himself and many of the crew now called Celine, in honor of her victories against the marauding pirates.

"You know, I haven't been into a forest for quite a while, and I kind of miss it." Celine told him truthfully, gazing out towards the tall trees east of the city. The captian followed her gaze and grinned.

"Ah, if my elven friend is missing the forest, then she should go back there." he told her, grinning."Only if you want to, you will go with my blessing, of course."

"I'd like to. Not that serving on your vessel was not exciting." she said with a wry grin. "You're sure? I'd hate to abandon you at the feet of pirate scum."

"With your reputation so far ahead of you, I don't believe that we necessarily need you on the ship anymore, the pirates won't come within two leagues of us!" he said, clapping her on the shoulder. "Yes, go, but let me give you something before you leave." he told her, disappearing into his cabin. Celine maintained her gaze on the forest. It would be nice to go back again. The captian reappeared, a longbow in his hands

"I've been holding on to this for quite a while now, it had been the property of one of my dear elven friends who was killed by a pirate crew so very long ago, thus starting my hatred against all pirates." he told her, handing it to her. Celine gasped. She had never seen such fine workmanship on a bow, and with metal inlays the thing was practically indestructable. The captian smiled as she tested the string. "Seeing your skill with a bow, I figure that you needed something more durable then the wooden one that you have. Consider it a gift for saving this ship and the crew from more than one encounter with pirates." he said, smiling at her awed expression.

"Thank you, dear captian. I will treasure this always." she said reverently, slinging it over her shoulder. Suddenly, she broke into a huge grin. "How about one more song before I go?" she said, bringing out her flute.

Celine played a couple of songs and was wished goodbye by the crew, who had come to like the strange elf. Watching the ship depart, she wondered if any elves lived in the forests that she had seen. Grinning excitedly, she picked up her pack and started off towards the forest.

****

The silver carriage drawn by two white horses passed through the main street of Tikara, headed for the forest which was on the east side of town. The occupant, a high elf lord, sat and gazed out the window as the carriage went through the center of town. Something suddenly made him stop and think for a moment though. An elf maiden was walking down the middle of the street, looking ready for a long trek, as she seemed to be carrying everything that she owned with her. That was not the really strange thing, though. Her long golden hair cascaded down what appeared to be a merchant's outfit, which was unusual for an elf of this area. Most elves were rangers or magic users, this maiden looked to be an actual fighter. He pulled the carriage up beside her and stopped.

"My lady." Jander Sunstar said, leaning out of the carriage. "From where do you travel and where are you traveling to?" he asked, looking at her emerald eyes, again strange for an elf of these lands.

Celine looked up at the carriage. A golden skinned elf leaned out and looked at her, holding out his hand grandly as he spoke. Warily, she placed a hand on her sword.

"Who are you?" she asked, looking over his regal apparel.

"Do not be alarmed, my lady. I am Jander Sunstar of Waterdeep." he said, looking towards her sword idly, an amused smile on his lips. "Trust me, I think you could hurt me a lot more than I you, considering that I do not carry any weapons." Celine removed her hand from the sword and sighed. She sure didn't know where she was going, that was for sure, and she could use a guide in this place.

"I'm supposing you want me to get in that thing?" she asked him, looking at it curiously. She had never seen anyone but a human using a carriage before. Jander nodded, and Celine accepted his help up into the vehicle. The carriage began to move again.

"Well, I don't believe you've told me your name." Jander said, an amused look on his face.

"Celine Skyblade." she told him, "So, are there many elves living in the forest?" she asked, wanting to know if her assumptions were true.

"Yes, of course, but surely you knew that, being an elf of these realms?" he asked, puzzled.

"Actually, no, I'm not of these realms. I'm not quite sure where I was from originally." Celine told him with a wry grin. "I suppose you could say that I'm just a wanderer."

"Ah, I see. That is why you do not look similar to any of the elves of this region." he said. "For one, most of them do not carry a sword as if it were a part of them." he pointed out, glancing at the weapon. Celine smiled.

"I have been taught by a very skilled swordsman." she told him. "I also can play the flute as well." she commented, tapping the instrument at her belt.

"Perhaps you shall have to play for me sometime." he told her. "Also, most elves of your particular coloring live in the faraway land of Krynn. Perhaps you've heard of it?" he asked.

"No, I haven't. Where is Krynn, exactly?" Celine asked, interested. The word Krynn sounded familiar to her for some reason.

�Krynn is a land far, far to the west of here. It is many month�s journey on ship, and many years on land. I had the fortune of traveling from there to here, Makeco, several years ago. On the fastest skiff they could get, it still took us six months." he explained.

�Yes, Krynn is a beautiful place, filled with forests as far as the eye can see. And elves. There are three different kinds of elves on Krynn, you see. They are the Kagonesti, the Silvanesti and the Qualinesti.� he said, his face suddenly clouding with a memory. �I had the fortune of visitng the Qualinesti elves. The Qualinesti forest was the most beautiful that I had ever seen in all my long years as an elf living in Toril, which is yet another world besides here. It was a sad place though, for after the war, two of their best were lost, a young warrior and a fine priest. Thier comrades said that they saw the two suddenly disappear and then that was it. They never saw them again. The elves told me that the father of the young priest who disappeared went into a depressed frenzy and acquired the most prominent mage of the white robes to find his lost daughter....ah, but you don�t want to hear a sad story, do you my friend?� he asked, finally looking directly at Celine again. Celine was looking out the window at the scenery going by. No, Celine thought, she did not know this Krynn. She had possibly heard of it from the centaur, which was why it seemed so familiar.

"It sounds quite nice." Celine said, smiling at her companion.

"Tell me about your adventures. I love hearing about what goes on outside this land, it intrigues me. You see, I am a bit of a story buff." he said, smiling at her kindly. Celine shrugged and agreed. She was pleased to finally meet another elf.

"You should hear about my years on the Sea Serpent then. " she told him, beginning to tell the tales of the adventures with the pirates they had encountered.

Jander listened and loved the story about how Celine had basically single-handedly defeated the pirate ship. After she was done, he looked outside and made a gesture.

"We are here." he told her. "The Kin'stara forest, my current home."

Celine gazed around the part of the forest that they were entering. Houses were perched high up in the trees, wooden walkways and ropes connecting them all. Two elves with longbows slung over their backs escorted the carriage away after Jander and Celine had gotten out, and they looked over Celine with curiosity. She didn't notice, for she was too engrossed with watching two bowmen practicing shooting at a target made out of straw. They kept missing the bullseye, the one usually hitting the outside edge. On a spur of the moment decision, she quickly knocked an arrow onto her bow, and released it, aiming at the target. The arrow soared over head the two elves, who were a bit shorter than Celine, and struck the target right in the center. Jander looked at her, amazed.

"Well, I had a centaur teacher teach me how to use the bow, and I got a lot of practice on the ship I traveled on." Celine explained, seeing his startled look. The two elves by the target looked at her in amazement also.

"Celine, those are two of our best archers." he said, awe still in his voice.

"So?" she asked, walking towards the target. Jander followed.

***
"Magic"