Hello, Everyone!
Welcome to the next episode of Mary Windfiddle’s story! Please read to the end for a brief message about the next episodes.
Anyway. Last time, our heroes got introduced to Tesaya – an elven paladin who was going to be their hostess and guide around Myth Adofhaer. They learned that she hadn’t progressed in her craft (in D&D terms – hadn’t leveled up) in the last 42 years . Which, for an elf, was obviously a bad thing. Tesaya was very athletic and at a first glance seemed capable and nice. Buut helping our friends seemed like a chore for her.
The trio sat on various pieces of furniture in the small room. Tesaya opened her arms in a welcoming gesture.
“So, I’m Tesaya,” she said. “But I’d like to know you, as well as what you can do in a fight.”
Again, with the emphasis on their usefulness. Mary’d noticed that was a repeating motif among the elves. She couldn’t understand that. In her mind, people didn’t have to be useful to be valuable.
While she was frowning, her friends introduced themselves. Bruno started with a brief and concise description of his healing abilities and warhammer mastery and Aurum only said a few words about his bard magic.
“Bruno can also make wonderful toys,” Mary interjected, staring defiantly at everyone, “and Aurum is excellent when playing the piano. As for me, I can do magic but I also like to write and read books. We have many more talents and capabilities than the ones we use when fighting.”
“I see,” Tesaya said. “I like reading, too.”
“Really?” Mary’s eyes sparkled. “What’s your favourite book?”
“‘Battle Strategy’ by Shwarz,” Tesaya said.
Mary felt a little disappointed. These kinds of books weren’t her favorite read. The ones she liked were full of adventures, magic and mystery. However, she was sure she could find something interesting in… well, ‘Battle Strategy’ by Shwarz.
“You should let me read it,” she said without much vigour.
“Yes, of course,” Tesaya said with a polite smile. “Now, as for my fighting capabilities, I’m equally able to attack my enemies, and defend and heal my allies. I’m a Paladin of the Ancients. My Oath is to Nature itself and not to any particular deity.”
She touched her chest and Mary saw a pendant hanging on a leather strap. It was made of wood and she couldn’t discern the exact form. It was something like a wolf head… or maybe a bear. When Tesaya’s hand brushed its surface, soft light glimmered around their hostess and the wooden furniture around her sprouted with small offsets covered with leaves. That explained the rooted chairs Mary’d noticed before.
“You should know, however, that for many years I haven’t made any progress with developing my Paladin skills,” Tesaya continued.“
“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. “And besides, you can’t ask questions like that when we’ve just met her!”
She glared at her friend, angry that he seemed to have joined everyone’s unfair treatment. An awkward silence settled on the house.
“Annnyway,” Tesaya said. “Are you hungry?”
“Extremely!” Bruno said. “I was wondering what we could do to get some food out here, since we’re not allowed to go anywhere.”
“I have something in the back,” Tesaya said. “Follow me.”
She led them out in the courtyard and invited them around a small campfire. On a log beside it there were two dead rabbits. She took them and skinned them with a single, well-practiced motion. Mary shuddered.
“Don’t be skittish, Mary,” Tesaya said. “In nature, the wolf and the fox eat the rabbit. We are no different than them.”
She started gutting the rabbits. Mary frowned. She wasn’t skittish. She ate meat and knew how it got on the table. It was Tesaya’s motion that had surprised her. She hadn’t expected its brutality.
They sat down on some logs around the fire and waited for the meat to get done.
“So, about the case you’re working on,” Tesaya said, looking at them gravely. “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.”
“But how?” Mary asked, “And what about the other children? Don't they have souls? I mean, if nobody dies…”
“That's the thing,” Tesaya said, “we can't have children unless there's a free soul out there. Conception just… doesn't happen.”
Mary bit her lips. That information explained so much! The way elves hid in their city and rarely were seen outside? The way they always insisted on everyone being useful? No wonder they treated their less successful people so differently. After all, they held a soul, which, otherwise, could reach their fullest potential.
It didn't excuse their attitude, but at least it… explained it.
“But what about half-elves?” Bruno asked. “Meraket is full of them.”
“Well,” Tesaya said, “half-elves are different. We don't know for sure, those are just theories, but we think that the human part gives them the ability to have a soul.”
“So it's not an elven soul inside them,” Aurum said.
She shook her head.
“Do you… remember?” Mary said. “I mean, your past lives?”
“We do, while we’re young,” Tesaya smiled.
“How old is 'young' for your people?” Aurum asked. “I mean, no offence but it's not like someone could tell just by looking.”
“Fair,” Tesaya said. “Elves are considered children until we get to a hundred years of age. During this period we can… remember. We don't really sleep, you know, but when we trance, we dream of the happiest moments of our past lives. It's truly a blessed time and that's one reason it's an awful thing to harm an elf while they are still at this age.”
Mary remembered the tunnels underneath Belfast and little Dalia, so scared and jumpy while awake. Every time they’d stopped for a rest, the little girl used to just sit in a corner with her eyes closed and the happiest of expressions.
She must have been dreaming of her past lives.
Sooo… Elven souls are a finite number, eh? This piece of worldbuilding blew my mind when our DM introduced it on the table! I really had to rethink everything I knew about elves and why they were so grumpy and withdrawn.
I get so excited when he serves us such an interesting detail of his world! And it’s an honour to be able to share it with y'all :)
Anyway, the Holidays are upon us. I’m going to take sort of a break from posting. I'll see you only once next week (on Wednesday, the 28th of December), and then I'll be back in January, with the brand new chapter of Mary Windfiddle’s story! ❤️
I hope you join us then!
Take care and be well!
Episodes of Mary Windfiddle's story come out every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
(Also, here's a link to the Chapter Guide and the Glossary for the series. You're welcome!)
An important disclaimer: These are 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 and Bruno) 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.