Harper Split-Party Thread

She rips the sword out of your weakened grasp, and with her own blood still on it, she slides it into her belt. Throwing you over her shoulder, she begins walking again. As she walks, she keeps you surprisingly steady despite the uneven ground. You notice that you are in a long natural cavern corridor. Periodically you pass a torch sconce, but not regularly enough to light the way well. The ceiling is high, but there are stalactites, and more than once you see one moving away from you that must've come precariously close to your head. The sound of trickling, dripping water and the smell of cold, wet rock confirm you are in a cave system inside the mountain. The vague scent of singed flesh confirms that you and your friends did significant damage to this foe.

After what's likely to be several hundred yards, the Cold Woman turns a sharp corner, and the tunnel becomes more of a hallway, intentionally formed. Walking another hundred yards or so, the hallway opens into a small room. She turns to face the hallway you've just come through, and, while hearing the sounds of ice crackling, you see the room for the first time. Given it's location, it's surprisingly comfortably furnished. There's a pile of animal skin rugs and blankets on the floor. A small padded chair and desk with a quill and inkpot and a few loose pieces of parchment sits in the middle of the room, and a small book shelf and a wardrobe are against the wall on the left. Across the room from you is another door-sized entry way.

The Cold Woman spins around again, and you notice the doorway you just came through is now solid ice.

The gingerly lays you down on the animal skins, and straightens herself. She looks directly into your eyes as a glowing ribbon of light begins to twirl around her, beginning at her feet, and swirling up. It engulfs her briefly, and then glides up to the ceiling, illuminating the room. The woman, in addition to being completely healed of her wounds, looks more like the version of herself that you recognize. In the stern tone of a parent putting their child in time out, she tells you, "You are only a prisoner until I can trust you not to misbehave."

She turns and strides out of the room through the other opening, beginning to build a wall of ice as she approaches the exit. By the time she reaches the doorway, there's just enough room for her to pass through, then it fills in as the ice crystals grow together to form a solid sheet.

You shiver, and notice that you are cold. It is, however, oddly comforting, as it's very much a natural chill since there's no fire in the room.

The desk shatters into a thousand shards of splintered wood, sending pieces, along with your frustration, all over the room. Your search doesn't return anything useful to your plight.

After a few moments, the ice wall leading deeper into the mountain begins retreating, and in comes the Cold Woman, bearing a tray of what look like fairly fine foods. There's even a warm bowl of a creamy stew. She sets the tray down on top of the bookshelf, then waves her arms creating a table and chairs out of ice.

"This behavior of yours is expected, although I had hoped for a bit more civility. I realize I haven't treated you very well. Please enjoy this meal. I would be happy to join you, if I'm welcome. And, I would understand if I'm not."

She folds her hands and waits for a response.

Although she had genuinely hoped you would want to talk, she doesn't indicate disappointment. Stoic, she hardly moves when she replies. "Very well, Mr. Harper. You may call me Illarastra. When you are interested in learning more about your mother, just call for me."

She turns on her heels and begins out the doorway.

She turns to you, and her face, while still stoic, has softened. "Eat," she says. You detect the slightest hint of compassion in her voice. She sits down in the icy chair across from your place at the new table, folds her hands in her lap, and says softly, "Your mother..." her thoughts seem further away, now. She clearly still has her attention on you, but, also somewhere in another world, another life.

"Well, she was my daughter, for one."

She pulls a plate from the tray and begins building a small sandwich.

"You're here because I've been rying to connect with you, my grandson, for some time. You are quite adept at running, I must say."

She pauses for a brief moment. "You are alive because I've been protecting you."

"Now, please, come eat. I will leave if it will be easier, but you must be exhausted and hungry."

"I always thought that was an interesting phrase, no? 'Fairy tale?' I mean, that it should connote something false or fantastical, when we live in a world where fairies indeed exist. Must be a holdover from before the Fall." She finishes building a small bruschetta and takes a bite.

Her chewing leaves a long, uncomfortable silence.

After swallowing, she puts down the toast and continues, looking right into your eyes. "Remember the night your father died? I do. All too clearly." She takes a deep breath. "Did you ever wonder why he might have been a fight with the person you shot and killed? Did you ever try to find out?"

"Hmph." She takes the second bite, finishing of her bruschetta. "And, I'm guessing you were too busy to follow up on the events of the night you left Port Willow. Did you ever, once, stop to think that I might have been following you all this time, all these years, out of some other motivation than malicious intent? Can you now, since you don't seem to be on the run this very moment, imagine why someone with my abilities and power might find someone like you interesting enough to dedicate years to following... pursuing?" Her tone is not harsh; it is delicate and pleading. Illarastra pays no more attention to the food, nor anything else in existence; she is focusing entirely on you.

"Well, besides you being my grandson..." she gives you a knowing look, "I love you. You're my only family. And, also, I've been protecting you." She gives the last sentence without a shred of superiority or condescension. She is, for the first time, showing some emotion. "You may have recognized that I'm not exactly, how should I say, normal? I am Fey."

"My permanent existence on this plane is not one of my choosing, but it is my reality nonetheless. Many many years ago, I fell in love with a mortal elf, and gave birth to your mother. She was everything good and nothing bad." She smiles, remembering. A tear forms at the corner of her eye, but her voice is unwavering. "Your mother is the reason I am still here; she is why I cannot go be with my own kind. I regret nothing, though; I would have given my very soul to Asmodeus himself for just one moment with her. You should have seen her as a baby." She smiles again, and wipes a tear from her cheek. When she died, I... I broke. I didn't know what to do. I was a disaster. Then I found out that you had lived! A boy! My grandson.

Long pause.

"When I came to see you, your father refused. He said that I couldn't be around, that I was dangerous, that I reminded him too much of her. Sadly, he was the only person who understood my misery. But, at least he had you for comfort. I had no one. I honored his request, however, no matter how much it hurt. I am a woman of honor."

"When I found out that he had begun... dealings... that could put you in danger, I had to take action. I was only planning to make my way back into your life, when my associate fought with him and killed him. And, even though Jorren and I never got along after Arl... after your mother's death, I NEVER wanted him dead. When you shot my companion, I retaliated without any knowledge of who you were. I'm so glad I didn't hurt you."

She takes a long sip of water

"There were other times I protected you without your knowledge, but there was one incident that I'm sure you remember. The night in Port Willow. That was the first time I noticed your physical reaction to my presence. I'm sorry for the disruption it caused that night. I'm not sorry for incapacitating the assassins who were also in that slophole getting ready to end you. Nor do I apologize for preventing the bounty hunters from following you by destroying their boats."

She pauses as another thought strikes her. "You didn't think my spell ended just at the boat you were on by accident, did you?"

"Your father was trying to make a better life for you, and in doing so established relationships that he did not fully understand. He did nothing evil, only foolish. And his overreaching put you in danger. But that is a conversation for next time."

She shifts in her chair, and her face takes on an intensity you've not seen before. "There's something more that I want to speak with you about, and is the reason for my recent less-than-passive actions regarding you. I am aware that you are searching for Thalnoth Ur-Quan. I can give you a small, but I think useful, bit of information about him. Whatever he is planning, he lacks some components. He is collecting all five pieces of the Horn of Dorothir. Once he has obtained all five fragments, he will be able to accomplish whatever task he is planning.

Importantly, my most recent information has him in possession of two of the legendary fragments. Do not let anyone convince you that the fragments are not real, or that the Horn of Dorothir never was. It is indeed very real, and very powerful. If you hope to stop him, you must find the other fragments before he does.

For reasons I cannot reveal, I am unable to assist you in this task."

She stands. "And unfortunately, with this revelation, our time together is coming to a close. I've no doubt we'll meet again. I hope by then you'll have had a chance to process all this, and will regard me with something other than hatred."

She turns to leave through the door that leads further into the mountain. Then stops, and turns back around to face you. "One last thing, grandson." It's weird to hear her call you that, since she still looks to be your peer in age, "If you go out the way you came, you should be able to fairly easily return to the mountain pass, and on to Redwall." She cracks a mischievous smile. She seems to know you. "However, if you venture further into the mountain, it will be more dangerous and difficult... but much more rewarding. I won't tell you what awaits you, but it's almost certainly nothing you've seen before."

She takes a deep bow.

"Goodbye Clark Harper. Until next time." She gives you a long loving look, and passes through the doorway into darkness.

Both ice walls blocking your egress dissipate.