Life In Aquavon (for marianna)

[VGKforever]

The city of Aquavan was a rather isolated municipality on the east coast of the continent of Wolftor. It lay situated between a vast mountain range, and the ocean which separated it from the continent of Tamriel by 5000 miles. While remote, it was a bustling city, home to humans, halflings, elves of all kinds, gnomes, dwarves, Orcs, and even an occasional Argonian or Khajiit (from Tamriel, of course.) Recently, Aquavan had become home to a number of Wood Elves. The dwindling Spriggan population of Valenwood had proven deadly for the Bosmer, and they sought out a more reliable (and sustainable) source of Taproot. Luckily for them, the forests at the foot of the mountains surrounding Aquavan were filled with Spriggans of all varieties, making the location a bastion for Wood Elves from across Tamriel.

[GalacticBattles]

At twenty years old, Areyalani, the young lady who presided over Aquavan, was exhausted. Fairies, Sprites, Pixies and winged people called Etheres made their home in an underground kingdom that spanned the continent, and their point of entry from that kingdom into Aquavan lay in the forest, below a grassy cliff. They assumed the duty of looking after the forest's Spriggan, and they were tired of the Wood Elves who exploited them for the plant called Taproot without their permission. It was Areyalani's duty to help the immigrant elves to lead productive lives and get what they needed honestly, and though not all Elves were thieves and she'd succeeded in rehabilitating some, she was burdened by feelings of failure.

[VGKforever]

The fact that an international organization that called itself the Thieves' Guild had a hold in Aquavan didn't help matters when it came to thievery. Though he denied it to the last, one of the local barkeeps, Adelard Browning, who ran a tavern known as The Grey Bat over in the Temple District, was thought to have an underground passage in his inn that ran through the city sewers, where the Thieves' Guild operated.
At the moment, one of his patrons, an 18-year-old Wood Elf in leather armor with a dark hood, finished her drink and attempted to excuse herself to the basement. From there, she'd run through the passage leading though the sewers, and into the Thieves' Den. She'd recently been tasked with a very difficult break-in. Her objective had been to infiltrate the estate of one of the wealthiest families in Aquavon, find the matron's prized blood ruby necklace, steal it, and slip out unnoticed. She'd almost been successful, and she would have gotten away with it if it hadn't been for the family dog. The barking had alerted the guards, and while she thought she'd managed to escape unseen, she wasn't as sure as she could be. She would spend the next few days hiding in the Thieves' Den, waiting for things to blow over just in case. But just as she opened the door to the basement, she felt a rough hand on her shoulder.

[GalacticBattles]

It had been two minutes from closing time in Areyalani's office when she'd received the news about the elf girl who had been arrested under suspicion of being the culprit in last night's attempted theft. Every single evening, she battled the urge she felt to close a few minutes early, gritted her teeth ans persevered till the last second, and now she cursed herself for it. She summoned the head of the police force, asked her to bring the girl with her, and, as she waited, forced herself to sit upright.

[VGKforever]

Two armored guards escorted the young woman in. They were struggling heftily, as she'd cast an Ironflesh spell on herself. While the purpose of the spell was to make one impervious to damage, it also had the effect of greatly increasing its subject's weight without altering their form. Her hood had been removed, revealing dark brown hair, tan skin, dark brown eyes, pointed ears, and a slightly crooked nose. Anyone familiar with the elven races would be able to recognize her as a Bosmer.

[GalacticBattles]

Areyalani addressed the guards. "Thank you. You can let her go and leave now." Because she'd been trained by the Etheres to use certain heat-and-energy-manipulating powers, she was confident in her ability to handle things from here. Hopefully she could quickly obtain enough information about this girl to be able to call it a night. She had a little Elven student and attendant who was waiting at home for her, and she missed her horribly.
"What is your name?"

[VGKforever]

"Im no heni," (I don't understand) the girl responded in Sindarin, an elven language. She understood human speech perfectly well, but this may have been a good opportunity to feign ignorance if there ever was one. While she spoke, she was busy focusing her energy. She was not adept at illusion spells, but she'd successfully cast an invisibility spell once before, and she had a feeling her life (or at least her freedom) possibly relied on doing it again.

[GalacticBattles]

Areyalani brought her hands a few inches apart from each other. Blue light began to amass between them.
"Sweet, I'm not going to hurt you." She spoke as quietly as she ever did. "But if you try to use your powers to get around me, I will convert the energy you're trying to use into heat and make you lethargic. Just cooperate with me and tell me who you are."

[VGKforever]

The young elf frowned, recognizing the blue light as a ward spell, specifically a Steadfast ward, which was intermediate magic. How strange, she thought, that a human should possess such an ability. Aside from halflings and Bretons, humans were typically some of the least magical creatures in existence, next to Orcs. She had no way of knowing whether or not the promise that this woman wouldn’t hurt her were true or not, but if she knew counter-magic, then unfortunately cooperating was her best bet. “My name is Aerin,” she said after a long hesitation. She wouldn’t divulge more information unprompted.

[GalacticBattles]

"Please, Aerin, what's your surname?"