BECMI Chapter 492 – Crystal and Elves

“The dragons of the Ringlands know you are the reason they prosper. That other dragons may also prosper here irritates many of them, and mortals prospering instead of being prey roundly annoys others, but the benefits have been too great… and those who have aged here have grown into the mindset of pure prosperity with patience, instead of through domination and destruction.“Which is not to say there are not at least 112 natives who would happily turn against you if a true dragon could actually take over the place.”

I had no doubt Cirru knew exactly which dragons those were, too.

“Well, Pearl’s giving us time to do something about her. I should like to surprise her. What do you think of this?” I asked her.

Cirru cocked an attentive frilled ear as she continued to enjoy her Wakefeast.

“Good morning. I trust this night finds you healthy?” I inquired of them as I came down from the sky.

The pale-skinned Shaden elves shouted and cried out in alarm, but my elven wasn’t that bad, and if they had their rough bows of ivory and horn and mushroom fibers pointed at me, I wasn’t worried in the slightest.

“Sema-shroom fibers and spider-silk.” Wow, hadn’t seen those in a long time, being here on this side of the Shores. I looked the clearly jumpy Shaden scouts over without any fear, letting them process my presence and very different attire. “You seem to be somewhat on edge. Perhaps it was all the dragons in the sky?” They could easily have seen the flights going out fishing from their caves while they tried to adjust to the sunlight.

It had been nearly eight hundred years since Darkmoor. All of the elves alive at that time had long since perished, be it by old age or violence or a hard life not letting them survive that long.

“You… you are the Lady Edge!” gasped the senior scout there, looking me up and down in utter shock.

“And you are my very distant cousins, descendants of those who ran underground when the Doom of Darkmoor came, instead of to distant shores. The Stûnarch has spoken often of you. It is good to see you finally return to your homes and heritage. Are your peoples ready to return to your birthrights?” I asked them calmly, very plainly in charge and knowing who they were.

Their bows lowered slowly, still twitchy and nervous and uncomfortable with no roof above them. “We are merely the first wave!” the senior scout spoke up proudly, trying to not shake in the presence of a total legend right in front of him who spoke with their mentor and protector.

“And you are?” I asked calmly, staring at him and daring him to be rude.

He immediately realized his gaff. “I am Candulech of the Brasiya clan, Lady Edge!” he replied quickly, and belatedly realized that it was probably a very good thing to kneel to me. He went down, and the rest of the scouts quickly followed.

“You are welcome to my lands, Candulech of the Brasiya, although you may not find them ideal.” I turned and pointed northwest. “You must not go in that direction. There is a great evil buried there, one that can kill nigh as badly as the Doom which befell Darkmoor and your ancestors fled underground from. Do not go there and waken it. Leave that to other fools and be wise.”

I pointed southwest, to where a single strait led out to the great Moor Lake there. “In that direction is the Brightmoor Empire, dominated by humans, and yet where dwarves and gnomes live in peace as well.” Some of them having immigrated from here with my blessing, protected from Wulshar’s attentions by the other races about them. “They would be willing and eager to accept an elven state among them, but I realize that might be difficult to do for you, as your ancestors were famously untrusting of humans.”

I turned and pointed north and northeast, the Ringfang in the way of us.

“In that direction are wild lands, occupied by savage mutant creatures, bestial primitives, and fell monsters, dominated by wild dragons who have little respect for any. It is a rich and wild land, but you will have to fight for every inch of it, and whatever kingdom you think to build.”

“Or you may dwell here, in the foothills along the Ringfangs, near to stone, but able to see the light and the green. You will have to put up with curious dragons, dwarven, gnomish, and human neighbors, and of course the fact that these are my lands, and my word is the law here. If you must do your own things, then you must go elsewhere, and northeast is the only route open to you.

“Go northwest, and disaster will strike.”

The Shaden looked around nervously. “We saw the dragons a-flight, looking much as the images from the Lord of Stone preserved. They have dangerous tales told of them, Lady Edge!” Candulech blurted out nervously.

“They are indeed dangerous… but not on my lands, to those who live here. A case in point.” I snapped my fingers.

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Shimmers of crystalline white popped up in every direction as spells were allowed to lapse. The Shaden looked around in utter shock as at least twoscore Crystal Dragons were visible in all directions, in the few trees, on the scattered stones, crouched on ledges, lazing around on buttes and cliffs, and all of them were looking this way.

The Shaden swallowed.

“You are in no danger from them as long as I say you are not. Indeed, the Crystal Dragons of Clan Shimmershine are very eager to meet you and work with elves. Perhaps you might wish to speak to a few of them?” I asked leadingly.

They all just gaped at me. “Speak… to a dragon?” Candulech gaped at me.

“That is what I just said, yes,” I nodded slowly.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Forgive me, Lady Edge. I had thought we would be able to explore more and see for ourselves what the surface was like, before going back and issuing our report.”

“Well, you could do that from dragonback, I suppose?” I noted archly.

They all looked at me, then at the surrounding dragons, who looked right back at them. Then everyone looked at me.

Well, they were brave scouts and explorers. They weren’t going to turn that down!

“The Crystals are very eager to be working with elves,” I answered Cirru’s following inquiry. “Importantly, all the elves are spellcasters, and the Crystals are well aware that powerful magic is the only equalizer for them. They don’t have powerful magic of their own compared to their cousins, so their only solution is to have strong friends who can fight with them to protect them. Maximizing their exposure to magic means more and more of them are learning spells, far exceeding those in the wild. If all elves can learn magic, than all dragons can, too, and they are taking lessons together.”

Cirru and Duum were flying side by side, me riding Duum as I rarely did her. She had no issues with it, of course, and was actually proud to bear me, but she also knew Duum was my Familiar and my mount, and didn’t begrudge him his proud job, either!

Neither of us had any problem communicating despite the wind.

The Shaden immigrants had spread over the western foothills over the last few decades. Druids had come to them and were helping them seed the hills and put in greenery if they desired, but the Shaden were perfectly happy with plains and grass and high visibility in all directions, and didn’t have a longing for deep forests.

They had also been rather enthusiastic converts to the Church of the Morning when they worked their way around the mountains and felt that grand, awesome rush as the sun came up for the first time.

The Stûnarch had said he would abide by all the ancient promises and look after them if they stayed below, but if they chose to go to the surface, the gods of the Morning would answer them, particularly the god of the Moon and Stars… and Silver Magic.

Thus, the priests and priestesses of Emeril’s alternate identity below came and converted to the Church of the Morning, with no ill will whatsoever.

“They have been good for the Crystals, and vice versa. The north provides them with plenty of challenges to grow, and dragons and elves age remarkably well together.” Said with not a little irony, as I had surpassed her long ago, and continued to grow quietly in my own way.

I was long into my 50’s as an Eternal after all these centuries and the sheer amount of Karma I’d earned, even if most of it was invested into my Stats. I couldn’t just take centuries off for Eternal spell research, either, as I had things that had to get done… and I’d been doing them.

“They are the weakest of dragons, but would Sorcery really equalize things for them?” Cirru asked, curious now. Her quiet growth of her own Sorcery would have shocked the dragons of this world, who had no idea it was there, unlocked by the Great One on the Far Shore as it had been.

She was capable of Casting as a Sorcerer Fifteen, with a Caster Level of 30, able to get off VII’s, something only a Dragon Ruler could do among dragons. Her Wizardry was on par with a Gold Dragon now, but that still limited her to V’s, and far fewer spells! Her Sorcery might grow another tier with the advance to Great Wyrm and advance her to VIII’s there, but the only way she was going to touch archmagicks was to go Eternal.

She knew it, too, and was indeed quite curious to what she’d be allowed to advance to once the Immortal shackles were off her… but it was easy to see the Dragon Rulers still had their own limits.

They were Immortal Creatures, however. And an Eternal… was not.

“They could hit Thirteen Sorcerer, and command VI’s,” I replied neutrally. “It’s still the lowest among dragons, but it is thrice as powerful as they can effectively reach now, greater than Elder Golds. Draconic magical heritage is quite powerful, and given the centuries it takes to gain it, to be expected.”

We were touring towards the north, where the lands of Wendar existed on the Far Shore, an elven kingdom mostly isolated by mountains from other nations, as they preferred… but surrounded by nifloids and dangerous creatures instead.

Here, it was just wild lands, and would not be settled for another millennium, only barbarians and savage primal tribes dwelling there at the crudest levels of civilization.

The crystals and the Shaden were eager to prove their combined martial prowess, so there was a lot of pressing the native creatures back in combat. That was fine, as there were a whole lot of magical creatures and dragons envious of the Ringlands to fight with!

“Think they’ll be up to grade before Pearl comes?” Cirru asked. “Her words are finding ever more purchase and more ears.”

“Karma and knowledge. The Shaden are getting stronger, every Crystal is learning magic and aging into more strength with elves they’ve grown up alongside. They aren’t afraid to dig for precious materials, nor afraid to learn the ancient skills of their forebears.” Which, it so happened, I could actually teach them, and they could then teach others. Because I’d bothered to learn traditional surface elf skills. “It more remains to be seen if she’ll wait until before or after your Greatsleep. I don’t think she’s insulting enough to wait until you are Sleeping, that would just be rude.”

Blasts of crystallizing whiteness erupted down below, where a Crystal and her rider were tangling with a chimera. The rider had probably boosted the breath weapon, so they were off to an excellent start.

“Mortals do Level up quickly, and with Clerics behind them, can endure greatly,” she agreed, me being quite living proof of that. “She may or may not recognize this, and how well they work together…”

“Then let her come in a century or two and find out…”