A Question of Tah'vrai

I had so much fun with this surprise encounter! Thank you so much, @Veyils.

VEYILS
She is a nimble shadowlord faeling demigoddess and has a slender lithe build standing just under three feet tall. Her hair is a dark, lank and tangled mess which spills wildly down her back, over her shoulders and sticks out messily across her face. The slick darkness of her hair contrasts harshly with her pale skin. Her hair falls in a tangled knot down her back reaching the base of her delicate bat like wings which are comprised of a sickly mix of dark purple and black shading and protrude from her back. Her eyes are a hazy green eyes set beneath darkened eyelashes. Her high cheek bones and nose give her face a sharp and pointed appearance. She is wearing a shroud of shadows, a mottled bloodstone watch, a nacreous pearl thunderhead brooch, a Brooch of the Tempest, an intricate charm bracelet of the wyrden woods, a linked ruby heart bracelet, a black velvet backpack, buckled violet suede knee-high boots, fingerless midnight gloves, a rose clasped crimson cloak, an ankle-length, web-dusted coat, a snow-white fur hat, 3 dark rose brooches, 2 diamond swan brooches, form-fitting ebony plate armour of the huntress, a twitching pair of pointed ears, a Mask of Wonder, a soft black leather satchel, 7 onyx rings of black roses, a rope ring, a thin diamond band, an iridescent white ring of twining feathers, a wyrden silk scarf tasselled with tiny ravenwood leaves, a circlet of black thorns, a silver-banded pin, Wyrden Prayer Beads of the Lady of the Thorns, the Tear of Shallah, a skittering spider costume, the Fingerblade of dha'Wyrden-cree.

SYLARI
She is a graceful elfen lady with antlers and is a small, fey woman whose willowy build lends a nimble grace to many of her movements. Piles of flaxen hair soften her milky complexion, tumbling partway down her back in artfully mussed tresses cut through by twin upswept ears. More round than they are narrow, her large, teal green eyes sparkle with vitality, flecks of grassy motes brightening the pools of her gaze. Delicate features and a button nose lend her an aura of fragility belied by the smile which never seems too far from her plump and rosy lips. Hanging from her neck on a leather thong, an othala rune can often be glimpsed. Her face is painted with red stripes. Her skin shimmers faintly from a thin application of oil and smells faintly of dragon's blood, deep and exotic. She is wearing wintry heeled shoes of sumptuous silk and diamonds, a dangling chime earring through her left ear, a dangling chime earring through her right ear, a raspberry velvet dress with creamy petticoats, a gathered cloak of soft ivory and an embossed silver skylark brooch.

Veyils flashes you a joyous smile.

In the trees above backwards avenue.
Superimposed over this location, an ethereal forest reaches up to the sky. It is quite cool. A willowisp bobs about in the air here. A massive spider skitters here, spinning her web.
You see exits leading southeast and southwest.

You cast a suspicious eye about your surroundings.

Veyils diverts the attention of a willowisp.
Veyils takes a drink from a stygian vial of wyrden splendours.
Veyils reads a scroll.
Veyils recharges a Scroll of Healing from an energy cube.
Veyils eats a sparkleberry.

You frown at Veyils.

Keeper Veyils, of the Blackened Bones smiles and says, "Bringing the fae to good Mother Night."

You say, "Good is..."

Veyils beams broadly.

Sylari hesitates for a moment. "...Not the word I've heard associated with Her."

Keeper Veyils, of the Blackened Bones smiles and says, "Oh? Perhaps you simply refer to her as glorious or beautiful."

Keeper Veyils, of the Blackened Bones asks, "Do you know how to bind the fae properly for their tah'vrai?"

Sylari flinches in the face of both those words. Her heels lightly nudge the sides of her pony, whose wings begin to fan out, and her teeth find her bottom lip uncertainly. "I've had dreams of Her champions," she finally says, voice soft despite its tightness.

Keeper Veyils, of the Blackened Bones smiles and says, "Dreams?? Her Champions? You mean her daughters?"

"I don't know." What a fool Sylari must look, shrinking slightly as her wide eyes keep themselves fixed upon Veyils. "Whoever they are, they are not...kind. But I suppose Champions have no need for kindness."

Veyils smiles broadly at you, a feral glint in her eye. "What, I agree what need does anyone have for kindness."

Veyils purses her lips pensively, gazing off into the distance as she carefully gathers her thoughts.

Sylari's lower lip once more finds its way between her teeth, digging a small furrow into it. "Kindness," she says slowly, carefully, "allows things to grow."

Keeper Veyils, of the Blackened Bones laughingly says, "Growth cares not for kindness."

Keeper Veyils, of the Blackened Bones smiles and says, "What lessons have you been taught dear?"

Bluntly, you say to Veyils, "Very few. But - I have teachers, now."

Keeper Veyils, of the Blackened Bones looks skeptical and says, "They've seem to be lacking in some areas."

Keeper Veyils, of the Blackened Bones says, "You have gathered many fae, I wonder have you ever seen their true purpose in the tah'vrai?"

Keeper Veyils, of the Blackened Bones looks skeptical and says, "Hmm I wonder if you are able to see it, or if your mmm odd ways are anathema to their true purpose..."

Sylari's chest swells slowly as she inhales, but tension keeps her shoulders up, even when she releases her breath. "I...would not choose to bind anyone to shadow," she says quietly, "when they can be free in light."

Veyils beams happily at you her eyes twinkling with fanaticism "I know! Why don't we go and see them bound properly now?!"

Sylari catches the glint of fanaticism in Veyils' eyes. How could she miss it? It causes her breath to hitch, her antlered head to lower, shoulders to hunch, fingers to flex uncertainly. Everything about it puts the elfen on edge. "No," she breathes. "I...won't. I can't."

Veyils scowls at you, her eyes narrowing at you as she whispers in a cold tone "I see, that is most unfortunate then."

Lips curling up at the corners, Veyils's mouth twists into a decidedly feral grin.

Sylari tenses abruptly, eyes going wide, staring at the shift in Veyils. "Pl...please...excuse me," she chokes out.

Keeper Veyils, of the Blackened Bones says, "Excuse you!?"

Veyils narrows her eyes at you in an unnerving manner.

Sylari's ears twitch as she flinches back, the words sharp enough to be a lash on their own.

Veyils flaps her wings quickly and begins to hover in the air.

Frowning and speaking in an icy tone, Keeper Veyils, of the Blackened Bones says, "If you do not wish to bind the fae correctly you will leave them here and depart. Now."

Sylari's lips part, working soundlessly before she forces out a dry, cracked, "I...cannot refuse them - they *wish* to come with me."

You step down off of a purple, elegant pony with feathered wings.
A purple, elegant pony with feathered wings obediently falls into line behind you.

Sylari wobbles a bit on the branches before she gains her uncertain footing.

Keeper Veyils, of the Blackened Bones says, "Do not try my patience. I will not ask again."

In the trees above backwards avenue.
The shadowy outline of a twisted forest casts a dark gloom here. It is quite cool. His jaw wrenched open, a horrifying scarecrow stands here, silent. A massive spider skitters here, spinning her web.
You see exits leading southeast and southwest.

As the sun passes below the horizon's edge, Mother Night unveils her terrible, shadowy beauty, spreading darkness across the land.

Teal eyes flickering from Veyils to Crek, whom she only just seems to notice, and then back again, Sylari crouches down. Her fingertips find twisted wood, which causes her eyes to widen further before she ducks down to the ethereal earth below.

You carefully watch your footing and shimmy down from the treetops.
Backwards avenue.
The shadowy outline of a twisted forest casts a dark gloom here. It is quite cool. The trees here grow along a perfect avenue albeit slightly backwards. The tops of the trees are embedded in the ground and the roots reach for the sky. Somehow the circulation works as they seem to be perfectly healthy and several birds fly by, although upside down also. Despite the visual warning, several signs have been placed along the road stating that all travellers should stay on the path. A flowering archway rises up from the ground. A rowan sapling clings tenaciously to the ground here. A royal knight of Faethorn stands here at the ready.
You see exits leading southeast and southwest.