Hello, Everyone!
Welcome to the second character recap for Mary Windfiddle's story. This information is everything that we know about our 'friend' Tesaya, up until our latest episode.
Edit: Actually, it turned out too long for one post, so this is everything we know about Tesaya only up until the end of the Myth Adofhaer Arc. I'll post the rest of the recap next week!
The first time we heard about Tesaya was during the Council of Hundred, where the elven Elders had to decide what to do with our heroes.
"I intend to give the case to these agents," [Balaine Endoras] said. "Does anyone object?"
Nobody spoke up.
"Then it is decided. I think that it'd be appropriate to have somebody local accompany the agents while they're in the city, and help them with the investigation in the unfamiliar setting."
"Send Tesaya!" a snide voice called out from the Hundred. "Let her finally be of some use!"
(...) "It is true," [Balaine Endoras] said gravely, "that right now Tesaya is the most… expendable among us. And she can use the experience."
Whatever did that mean? Well, we learned soon enough!
"Tesaya is a Paladin. I've known her for quite a while. She’s a good person but she hasn’t… improved her craft for the past 42 years. A person like that…” [Noanar] sighed. “They are not looked upon kindly here."
As we found out later, Tesaya was a Paladin of the Ancients. Her Oath was to Nature itself and not to any particular deity. And she was, indeed, stuck in regards to improving her skills (in D&D terminology – she hadn’t gained a level in 42 years).
“Do you want me to examine you?” Bruno offered. “I can usually identify what’s wrong with people.”
“No, I don’t think that would help,” Tesaya shook her head. “People have done that before and there’s nothing wrong with the magic itself. I was told it is likely an… emotional problem of mine.”
“But maybe…” Bruno started.
“I don’t think there is anything wrong with Tesaya,” Mary interrupted.
Mary was really angry that the Elves valued people only by their usefulness to their society, and immediately became quite protective over Tesaya.
“Why do people treat you this way?” Mary asked. “They’re so rude and unfriendly!”
“Not everyone is.”
“Yes, we've seen that you have friends you can reach out to,” Mary said. “But the others? They all treat you like you’re lesser than them!”
“Well, you know that I haven’t made progress as a Paladin for a long time.”
“Yes, for fourty two years. But why? What happened 42 years ago?”
“I… think I lost my faith,” Tesaya said. “It was shortly after my father’s passing. He died in battle beyond the Teeth and it made me question… everything. (...) One of Nature’s laws is that the strong survive. But, my father was strong, and he still got killed.”
(...) Tesaya proceeded to tell them more about her Paladin Oath. It was what she called ‘the Law of Nature’ and it was at odds with ‘the Law of Civilisation’. In nature, she said, the weak don't have a say in the matters of their fate. The rabbit didn't get to vote on laws which protect it. But in society, it was different. There, everyone decided together and protected the weak.
Anyways. Tesaya… was nice! The first nice elf that our heroes had met. She was humble and polite, and helped them a great deal with their investigation in Myth Adofhaer. She even told them a few secrets – things that would get her in trouble if anyone knew she’d revealed them.
“There's something you should know. We, elves, are… a finite number.”
They stared at her, unsure of what that meant.
“There is a certain amount of elven souls in the world,” Tesaya continued, “and there could never be more than that. When an elf dies, their soul reincarnates into the next child that is born.”
“The undead attacks are not the same for us, as they are outside of Myth Adofhaer. (...) Where people get killed in other places, here elves get kidnapped. And their souls... they never come back to be reincarnated.”
~
“Yes,” Tesaya said, following Mary’s gaze. “there is a whole blessing of unicorns in our forest. We value and protect them because the magic of the Mythalar* is bound to their life force.”
Tesaya even provided Mary with some information about her birth family!
“And you probably can’t help, anyway,” Mary continued, trying to sound nonchalant about the topic. “Unless, by any chance, you knew of a person called Halas.
(...) The elven woman raised her eyes as if trying to recall something.
“I know the name,” she said.
(...) “R-really? Who… whose was it?”
“There was a human man with that name who lived in Myth Adofhaer,” Tesaya said. "(...) I'm sure there's more information about him in the Archives,"
Mary grew to like Tesaya a great deal. They even bonded over some things they had in common… 😅
“Good morning,” Mary said. “Where are you going?”
“Coffee,” Tesaya said.
“Oh! Do you have tea?”
“Do I have tea!” Tesaya scoffed. “Of course I have tea! I’m not a savage!”
~
“I have nightmares, too,” Tesaya said.
“Really? What are they about?”
“My father’s death.”
“Oh,” Mary said.
However, our heroes didn’t start out trusting Tesaya. For a long time, they were worried that she was a spy sent by the elves to learn all their secrets or sabotage their mission.
"I stole this from Tesaya," the bard said, holding out a piece of parchment. "She received it yesterday from a guard, but didn't say anything about it. (...) And I'm really suspicious that [she] might betray us at some point, so I need you to read it."
“I… I have my reservations about Tesaya as well," Mary said. "Gillean told me to be careful around her."
But it turned out that it was something way different than what they’d feared.
“All right,” Tesaya said. “Well, I can read it aloud if it’s that important to you.”
She sighed and opened the scroll. It turned out to be an official reprimand for all the ruckus Mary and Aurum had made with their little chase yesterday. The officials had given Tesaya two days of community service and a 100 gold pieces fine.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Mary said.
"I didn't want to bother you," Tesaya shrugged.
Mary was bothered. Mainly with a newly found piece of guilt bearing on her mind.
"Why would they punish you for something we did?!" she protested.
"Because you were put in my care," the elven woman said. "I'm responsible for you while you're here."
And this was, I think, the moment our heroes started treating Tesaya as a part of the group. She fought with them, provided information about their investigation, kept their secrets… And when it came to the group’s final boss-fight in Myth Adofhaer, Tesaya was of great asset. She had a big plated armour, a shield on her back and an impressive antlered helmet on her head. She fought with ferocity, resembling a wild beast.
Tesaya looked around, saw all the undeath around her and snarled, almost like an animal. She threw away her shield, as if it was useless, grabbed her sword with both her hands and ran to Kloth with a speed she hadn't seemed capable of. She slashed the dark figure once, twice, and each time, her sword lit up and burned away his darkness with Divine light.
At one point she even saved Mary’s life!
For the second time this evening, Mary gasped into consciousness. It was Tesaya's face she saw bent over her now, their hostess' hands glowing green from one of the healing jewels on her necklace.
The moment she saw Mary take a breath, the Paladin grabbed her and dragged her away from the most dangerous area.
With all the information Tesaya was able to give our heroes, however, there was one thing she couldn’t speak of – the story of Falka, Mary’s grandmother.
"Do you know anything about Falka and Terros?" [Mary] asked.
"You must know," [Tesaya] said carefully, "that there are things I simply cannot tell you about. Everything I've given you so far can be justified as information needed to solve your case… but that…" She sighed again, "is something completely outside of that. If I am to share it with you, I'll be… reprimanded."
~
"What is it, Mary?" [Tesaya] said. "I have a feeling you need something."
Mary asked about the sapphire and the dark-cloaked elves, and Tesaya sighed.
"All right," she said. "I'm going to give you one thing. Only one. But you must agree that you won't ask any more questions after that. (...)The division of the dark-cloaked elves is called 'The Order of Falka'. The sapphire is their badge."
Mary's eyes widened. A million questions flooded her mind. Why did she have to promise not to ask them?! She pressed her lips and looked at Tesаya pleadingly.
"Falka was my grandmother!" was the only thing she said.
"And I am forbidden to speak of her," Tesaya said.
And they left it at that.
~
"Suffice to say," [Tesaya] said, "if you were to talk with anyone about what I've shared with you, I never mentioned Falka and Terros. (...) If I was to follow the rules, I would be in Balaine's office right now, informing him about Mary's true identity."
"But you're not," Mary said.
"I'm not."
🤩🤩🤩 Oh, gosh! Tesaya was so cool! 🤩🤩🤩
As I said above, this recap is turning out way longer than I anticipated. There’s a lot to say about Tesaya! I think I’ll make it a two-parter, with the next post containing all the things that happened with Tesaya after our heroes left Myth Adofhaer.
See you then!
Take care and be well!
Episodes of Mary Windfiddle's story come out every Monday and Thursday.
(Also, here's a link to the Chapter Guide, the Glossary and the Map for the series. You're welcome!)
An important disclaimer: Mary Windfiddle's story is my notes from a D&D game turned into a narrative. All the worldbuilding and NPC encounters belong to our DM, and all the actions of the other main characters (Aurum, Bruno and Agatha) belong to my co-players. My contribution to the story is only everything Mary-related (actions, reactions, inner thoughts), as well as the writing itself.