Chapter 212: Chapter 194 – Elves of the Forest of Shadows

"Other races - humans, especially - tend to differentiate elves based on the region they live in. Those that dwelled in the tundras of Jötunberg were called frost elves. Inhabitants of the shadow forest, shadow elves. The nomadic tribes that were present in northern Alcidea and western Ur-Teros, plains elves, while dwellers of the Great Emerald Forest were called wood elves.

 

Amongst the elves themselves, an elf is just an elf, no less and no more." - Frilla Borsdatter, Jötunbergian historian, circa 518 FP.

The group spent that night at the local equivalent of an inn, a large treehouse where guests were housed during their stay in the area. Despite the settlement barely being the size of a village, Cal was surprised to see that the amenities they offered their guests were better than many cities she had been to.

 

She had not expected beds that had mattresses filled with fine downs, though the room being spotlessly clean was more expected. Supposedly the elves in the region had been a bit obsessed with cleaning and keeping diseases away after a plague culled nearly a fifth of their population long ago.

 

They spent a restful night at the settlement, with the night time noises of a forest as their lullaby, something none of their group found troublesome in the least, as they were used to camping out in the wilderness to begin with.

 

The next morning, they mounted Hócht once again, as the undead construct walked the cleared path through the forest. Even at a trot, the massive bone construct was as fast as a horse on a gallop, and Leissa estimated that they should reach the central area, the main hub of activity in the forest, by evening.

 

That was a trip that normally took three days on foot or carriage, as evidenced by the small settlements they passed on their way, where other travelers usually rested the nights.

 

As the entire forest was the domain of the elves, there was quite naturally no outlaw activities - a trait it shared with Ptolodecca as a whole, now that Cal thought about it - and their trip through the woods were serene and peaceful. Not even wild animals bothered them, though Cal attributed that to the massive behemoth of an undead construct they were riding on.

 

Much like what their guide promised, they reached the central area just as the rays of the setting sun caused a convocation of shadows to be cast on the trunks of the trees around them. Like before, their arrival was clearly known ahead of time, and a group of people already awaited them by the entrance to the elven city.

 

A group of five elves - each of a different generation, Cal noticed - welcomed them, whom Leissa introduced as the current council of the community, each of them chosen to represent their current generation.

 

Their guide exchanged a hug with the middle-aged councilwoman who looked to be four hundred or so, and introduced her to the group as her mother. Apparently the young elvish girl became Mimia and Éirynn's disciple partly due to happenstance.

 

She had accompanied her mother to a meeting at Tohrmutgent when she was younger, and had reached out with her mind to the small animals around when she was bored and played in a park by the palace.

 

As she was a soulweaver, for her to reach out and somewhat communicate her intent to animals had been something she was accustomed to. What she had not expected was that there were other entities in the Palace of Bones sensitive to such things.

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The poor girl was utterly terrified and flabbergasted when half a dozen undead constructs, each shaped like a masterwork sculpture from countless pieces of bones, and very lifelike, gathered around her. Her nervousness had just doubled when a giant wolf of bone sniffed her with curiosity.

 

Mimia and Éirynn found her soon afterward, and after a little bit of testing, they found that Leissa happened to be a Soulweaver who approached things very similarly to Mimia. That was what led to the girls accepting her as a disciple.

 

The matter was considered nothing short of a great honor to the elves themselves, as they had lived under Ptolodeccan rule for a long time now. Many of them worshiped Tohrmut, and as the Bone Lord himself was his highest priest, to be a grand-disciple of his was an unprecedented honor to them. Leissa herself had a hard time believing her luck for a good while back then.

After the enthusiastic greeting, they were welcomed warmly, and a feast was held for them. Many of the elves looked at Hócht in awe, and many others looked at Leissa with obvious envy as she led the undead construct like a pet.

 

Whole animals were roasted on a spit. Some of them familiar sights like wild boars or waterfowl, while others were quite unfamiliar to the group. One of the things being roasted had a finned body not unlike a seal, but far larger in size, with a long neck nearly twice the length of its body.

 

Cal was told that it was a marine creature that inhabited the seas to the south. The elves that lived by the sea occasionally caught some when they fished, and the creatures had long been considered a delicacy amongst the locals.

 

Cuts of flesh from the long, slender neck of the creature - considered the best part - were served in plates set before Cal and her group, and they partook of the feast after they thanked their hosts. The round cut before them had noticeably shrunk in size after it was cooked, and they cut into it with their knives.

 

When Cal bit into the compact meat, it crumbled apart in her mouth, not unlike particularly fragile fish. The flavor however was far more meaty, and copious amounts of meat juices and rendered fat gushed out from the meat, as it enveloped her taste buts in a rich, pleasant meatiness.

 

It was a meal unlike what any of them had tasted before, and they dug into their plates with gusto.

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