Willow's End - Jera Skyspear
Elvish words/phrases linked to Glossary OR hover mouse to see translation.
Venturing

Another stop on another plane on another world, but this one showed promise. Word eventually carried that the seeking would end here. Without much question it was accepted, and met in fact with a somewhat collective sigh of relief, whether the House of the Silver Rose was aware of it or not.

The Hyandakalan council of nine, duly chosen by the membership, assembled a scouting expedition to ride out and locate a suitable place for the clan to take up residence. They were given rather specific requirements for everything from climate to shelter materials to food sources and such like. It took nearly a year for the scouts to return with a viable location but the wait had been worth it. The council deemed the location as near perfect, at least as much as this world might allow.

At a considerable distance from where the Green Silences had come to rest, there was a range of mountains which had locally been called The Dragon's Back. The appearance of it was indeed suggestive of the knotted back ridge of a curled and sleeping dragon. Although several of the peaks would have served the clan's purposes, one was a location seemingly designed for them.

When the scouts had surveyed the upper levels, they found a very interesting feature on one peak. A natural rock formation, or perhaps even an ancient construct, made the crude steps of a terrace, graced here and there with standing stones resembling columns. The semi-circular bank of roughly stepped stone seemed perfect for designated clan members to take positions and execute their practiced abilities with lightning.

At the base of the stone steps was a pool of water, both attractive to storms and useful for conducting energy, specifically into the rock layers beneath it. Surely within the pressed layers of stone there were metals to be touched. The natural temple would help channel the power of storms, the direct force of lightning, straight down into the mountain. And, being a high peak, there should be no shortage of storms wanting to strike in this arena.

Thus the peak and potential home for the Clan Hyandakalan, was to be called Raumo Korda, after the Storm Temple formation itself.

However, there were other considerations to be reconciled, such as the dwarves who lived beneath the same mountain and a human settlement in the valley on the other side.

The scouts confirmed suspicions about the presence of the dwarves. The mountain was indeed spidered throughout with veins of silver and lead, so the dwarves were running a full mining operation. The dwarf complex was both a benefit and potential difficulty but for now would be worked to advantage as much as possible. At least the elf clan knew that the mountain itself was rich for their intentions. Of course, they had no interest in doing any mining themselves, so a deal might be struck --- enhanced ore in exchange for a reasonable ration of it.

The presence of the humans seemed neither here nor there, but again, there was potential for trouble, as the Sithryn had learned all too well, so the council would need to devise a way to fold them in or leave them out without consequence. Or perhaps the dwarves, having shared opposite sides of the mountain base with them, had found a coin for peace.

The original intent was pure and reasonable. Under the guidance of Uuringar, several of the clan's number could draw and direct lightning. They would serve the dual purpose of protecting the community from strikes and making good use of the resource. As they'd learned from the storm-tortured plane, that power had a magnificent effect on some metals, particularly silver. If a lightning strike could be fed into a vein of silver, the ore was imbued with the power, force, and even nuances of the light. This in fact appeared more true of silver than any other metal. There seemed to be a natural affinity at work.

In further investigation for their Raumo Korda home, it was discovered that such was not a new process on this world either. Light-enhanced silver occurred naturally here as well, but with the random infrequency of a lightning strike in just the right place. Thus the special silver, which had already been given a name it turns out, had existed on this world long before the clan arrived here. There was just a very limited supply of it and, advantageously, a very hungry market for it.

The special silver is lighter than ordinary silver, but much stronger, and never tarnishes. On this world it had come to be called Mithril Silver or Truesilver. It was said to be worth more than other precious metals, many fold. But with the clan's ability it would no longer be only a rare gift from the skies. It could be made with purpose.

Naturally, such a skill had to be kept secret, else the value of the material would drop tremendously and no longer counterbalance the risk of intervening in this way. Many local stories were told concerning the mithril metal. The elves surmised that in ages long past, in a fabled place called Moria, there were those who may have also been aware of the relationship between lightning and silver. If so, they had kept the secret very well. Most on this world seemed to have no inkling of the origin of mithril silver, only that it was rare and exceedingly valuable.

This was all well and good. The elf clan was determined to make their homestead at Raumo Korda and they would negotiate with the dwarves to do it. Best to make peace at the outset by some cooperative agreement. The language barrier was where Kumori went to work. It was a cautious meeting indeed when a small delegation of the clan met with the dwarf leadership, but Kumori put them at ease with runes they recognized and from there began to build a vocabulary such that she could translate between the two groups. This alone took great patience and the better part of a year before the talks and trust grew to fruitful levels.

With considerable diplomatic efforts, the clan made a pact with the dwarves and, by necessity, with the humans living in the valley on the other side of the mountain. The humans appeared to have a market for the metals beyond the quantities the dwarves and elves themselves would use, so the triangle was formed to be of benefit to all, and hopefully sufficient enough to maintain peace through interdependence.

The elves would be content with having a reasonable amount of silver and mithril mined for them to use in their own metal crafting. The dwarves were not enlightened on the process of mithril but they understood, even from their own lore, that having elves in the vicinity was somehow beneficial, though granted, it was a rather grudging admission. Their superstition was useful in this regard. The humans seemed to dislike both races, yet understood the commerce well enough and wanted to stake a claim in it.

Thus, the clan moved to their new location upon the mountain. Homes and gathering places were easily built within a lush forest strewn with rocky outcroppings. There was much delight over the varieties of trees, grasses, herbs, mosses and wildflowers, especially vibrant heather which splashed the landscape in bright white to deep purple. The mountain was alive with smaller residents too, from newts and songbirds to friendly furry visitors and wild game. The Storm Temple was given some distance, so that the community could be kept safe from activities there. Each family was well pleased with the choice and soon felt very much at home.

It all seemed a more than suitable arrangement, from the peak of Raumo Korda to the pastoral valley and deep into the mountain mines. But of course, where there's coin and a variable resource involved, trouble could and likely would eventually follow.

DHP © Jun 02 2002

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