Maintainer's Note: Ekuar in this log is emitted by Rayek's player. ---- From: To: Subject: Tyree, Ekuar, Suntop - Jan 28 Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1999 22:06:55 EST ______________________________________________ [It's now been a little more than a hand of days since Rayek and Eveshka left the Palace, and a couple of days since Shenshen offered Tyree an apology. The young one's still been upset and keeping mostly to himself and since then, he's gone through something of a wardrobe change as well, his new clothing more reminiscent of something a Glider might wear. In this one, Tyree is found on the second level of the Palace by Ekuar, with Suntop showing up not long afterwards.] Second Level This wide corridor sports myriad tiny ripples and swirls in its walls and floor, as if once it might have been rife with damage; now, these patterns seem only to add to the ethereal feel of the place, giving your surroundings a flowing, airy look. The air is full of a barely palpable tingle, a sense of welcome, a stronger sense of magic. At one end of the corridor you can see the stairs that wind back down into the lower level of this place; at the opposite end, a tall doorway that glimmers golden in the faint light. Contents: Sleeping Furs Obvious exits: Scroll Chamber Winding Stairway Type 'palace help' for commands you may use here. Tyree ----- Tyree is still a young elf, whose growing height speaks of his partial Glider heritage, for the fledgling is taller than non-Glider elves the same age as he. Growing fast, he's already over two hands in age, and his formerly wide, deep black eyes have narrowed some, but they still show an awareness and maturity lacking in most his age. His face has begun to thin and it appears somewhat more angular, a contrast to the former roundness of it when he was only around a hand of turns old, and it's framed by hair black as the night sky, curling slightly towards the ends. It stops a little past his shoulderblades, left untied, and his pointed ears break through on each side of his head. His skin is a bit darker than what one would find on a full- blooded Glider who's stayed in Blue Mountain for hundreds of turns, but it's still nowhere near as dark as the skin of an elf of Sunfolk descent. Tyree's wardrobe suggests that he's starting to more fully embrace the Glider in him, having shed his old one-piece jumper for something quite different. That, or perhaps he's just picked up a fashion pointer or two from Rayek along the way. His attire leans more towards the form-fitting side as opposed to the looser styles a lot of Sunfolk and Wolfriders opt for, and black is the prevailing color with silver highlights. Adorning his upper body is a black piece of fabric cut relatively close to his frame, and it ties off between his chest, stopping about half a hand below his neck. The sleeves that trail to end at his wrists lack much looseness to them, yet they still look comfortable. The top connects to a pair of leggings that are also black in color, cut closer than the upper portion, with silver stitching on the outsides of each leg. They tuck into silver-white boots that stop slightly below his knees, the tops rounded in white feathers. A belt of that same color wraps around his waist, a few small pouches connected to it. There's a wiry, light appearance to him, but it in no way suggests weakness. Ekuar has arrived. Ekuar makes his way up the stairway slowly, leaning on his staff heavily. As always, the rockshaper comes up to check on Tilia, bearing his regular assortment of meat and water looped around his neck. But he seems slightly listless, tired even. His Brownskin's departure has left its mark on the old elf. Tyree can be seen up in the wide corridor, floating just above the ground instead of walking like most elves. Those who haven't seen the lately-scarce elf would notice a change in clothing on him. Ekuar draws to a halt as he sees the young one. He pauses, then a gentle smile breaks out across his face. "Ah, lad. I was wondering where you'd gotten off to." He notices the clothes, but the rockshaper is tactful enough not to mention them yet. Ekuar ----- Ekuar is an ancient elf made small, gaunt, and frail by millennia of torture and neglect. He is entirely bald, with large, limpid brown eyes gazing mildly out of a pale, craggy face. His left arm is gone at the shoulder, and his left leg is missing below the knee. Strapped to the leg stump is a well-made wooden shin, ending in a padded foot for balance. He leans on a sturdy carved staff; his remaining hand is missing its middle finger. With all of this damage, you might be tempted to think of him as "half an elf"... unless you looked closer. Then you would see the purity and joy shining within the gnarled body. You would sense the feeling within this firstborn of the High Ones that, despite any amount of mutilation, he is indeed whole. This is a puppet controlled by Rayek. Check +roster Reserved to see if Ekuar is available for play. Tyree turns in place at Ekuar's voice. There's one elf who's always seemed to help take care of and look after the tyke, and Tyree's always seen him as an Uncle of sorts. "Clear skies, Ekuar.." he greets half-heartedly, meeting eyes for just a moment. "Not Papa Ekuar, mm?" The rockshaper's smile is friendly, but concerned as he moves towards the floater. Once there, he stops and, with an ease you wouldn't think possible for an elf with one arm, leans on his staff and takes off the sack looped about his neck. "Aah.. That's better." Tyree's known Ekuar to be quite capable for one with his unfortunate disabilities, and he settles until his silvery boots touch the floor beneath them, only a couple inches. His arms wrap around themselves, more of a look of holding them rather than just crossing them. "How are you doing?" Ekuar says "Oh, I get by, eh, child, I get by." He pauses, then his brown eyes seem more serious. "How are you, lad?" "I think I'm getting by, too." Tyree answers, still not all that pleased with what happened a few days ago. If he's not, it must be even more difficult for Ekuar. "Still upset." he murmurs. Ekuar answers softly, "I am too, little one, but..." He pauses, then reaches forth a gnarled hand to pat the boy's shoulder lightly. "Don't worry, though. He always, eh, comes back. Just needs some time by himself." Tyree's needed some time to himself as well, as evidenced by his relative scarcity lately. The still-growing fledgling's come to know the Palace pretty much front to back, especially the quietest places of it. Questions come. "Has he ever been that mad before? I've never seen him like that. Not that bad. Would he really have hurt us?" Surprise flickers across the rockshaper's face. "Oh, of course not, little one! He, eh. He was just upset that's all." The hand on Tyree's shoulder squeezes gently. "He loves us all too very much to do something like that." Tyree frowns. "'Veshka didn't help, either. I'm worried about her, too. How she made herself look before she left. She told me to look after mama, like she wasn't going to come back." he continues, before realizing that Ekuar answered him. The squeeze on his shoulder helps slightly. "I know he cares, but still." Suntop comes up the stairwell from below. Ekuar sighs softly, a crinkle appearing in his brow. "I know. Brownskin, he's.. eh. Hard to understand sometimes. The pretty one too. But they'll come back..." He offers a slight smile, hand slipping off of the boy's shoulder and going back to his staff again. "She will. And if she won't, we'll find her." Suntop runs up the stairs, looking about. Upon seeing Ekuar with the cub Tyree, he visibly relaxes. Managing a bit of a smile he greets the two. "Shade Ekuar, Tyree..." He turns quiet as he hears Ekuar's words and then asks, "Any word from either of them?" Suntop ------ Named for the sun-bright golden hair which now falls freely to the middle of his back, Suntop, although no longer a child, still retains a bit of innocence linked with that past time. But upon a closer, deeper look into his brilliant blue eyes, that innocence seems to be intertwined with an unlearned, unstudied wisdom and power that seems far too old for his seemingly young age. Of late, these eyes seem darker, wilder; Not in color, for they still shine brightly, contrasting with his dusky skin, nor in intensity, but somewhere deeper inside this mystic's mind. That is not the only change this young elf has seen. His movements seem sharper, less relaxed than they had been, and his slight scent has grown stronger. His clothes are a mixture of desert and forest, in the bright colors this elf favors. Not the same, Tyree fears. Neither will come back quite the same as when they left. And what of him? The blowup's had an effect on him as well, but just what kind of effect isn't certain yet. "Yeah.." he agrees, shifting a hand to rub the opposite shoulder that Ekuar had just been touching. "I thought about following," he admits, before his dark eyes shift to regard the approaching Suntop. "Clear skies, Suntop.." he greets, looking back to Ekuar at the mystic's question. "I was going to ask that, too." Ekuar says "Hello, Suntop." The rockshaper's head bobs in Suntop's direction as the lad comes running up the stairs. He offers a smile that falters at the question. "No, I'm afraid, eh, not." Ekuar seems saddened, but not all together surprised by this." Suntop frowns as he catches his breath. "How many more days should we give them? He is acting just like a cub...they both are." Tyree lifts off the floor again, back to floating an inch or two from it. He's gotten to be a lot better at doing that since he was about half the age he is now. "I don't know..where do you think they went?" he asks. The sun-haired elf's opinion seems to disturb Ekuar, for the rockshaper frowns and shakes his head. "Not cubs, child... We don't know what happened. We shouldn't be pointing fingers." Suntop scratches just under his chin, "If my aunt was involved, I have a good guess." A faint smile threatens the corners of Tyree's lips. As it has before, it bears a faint resemblance to half-smiles Rayek's often given others. "She apologized to me the other day." Ekuar nods. "You see?" says the old rockshaper, never the one to hold anything against anyone. "She, eh. She's a good lass. She means well." "Zwoot scat." Tyree scowls initially. Eh? Where did he learn /that/ phrase? More accurately, /who/ did he learn it from? One guess. But it just came out suddenly. He bites his lip. "Um, sorry. I dunno. She was really sad and all, but I still think it's her fault for all of this, sorry or not. She wanted me to go see her but I wanted to be by myself." He realizes that might bother Suntop, having to hear that about his aunt, but he's not sure. He's not going to lie, though. "All she ever seems to do is vanish into her room with someone else." Suntop watches Tyree, listening to the tirade in silence. Then, his voice still soft he asks, "She has had a difficult time here, as I think many have. But obviously something was done to Rayek...or else why would he act like that...?" Ekuar quirks an amused brow at the oath escaping from the boy's lips, then shakes his head slowly. "Now, lad. That's not a, eh, bad thing. One wishes Brownskin were a little more, eh, relaxed." The image brings a wistful smile to the rockshaper's face briefly. Then he looks to Suntop, brown eyes questioning, but silent. Of all the people in the Palace, it's strange for even Ekuar not to know what bothers his soulson. Tyree tries to watch what he says after letting slip with one of Rayek's curses. "He /is/ wound up pretty tightly.." he admits, shrugging as he hovers in place. "But I bet it's 'cause of everybody else here and trying to look after them." Well, this is good. Tyree's holding a conversation that's amounted to more than a hello and goodbye. Blue eyes glance down the staircase at all the tents and temporary rooms before looking back to the young one. "The Palace is for all the elves, Tyree...no matter what Rayek might think. They belong here just as much as you or I...but they also can look after themselves." He has never known Rayek to be so protective over the Sunfolk...except for maybe Savah. Ekuar murmurs, "Ah, but Brownskin protects the Palace, Suntop. And those inside it. There is very little that he loves more than this place." Tyree offers a slight nod to both Suntop and Ekuar's words, finding them easy to agree with. "Then why does he leave?" A simple question from the mystic. "I don't know," the rockshaper confesses softly, brown eyes distressed. Tyree asks a simple question. "Have you ever felt like you just had to go somewhere quiet, and be by yourself?" Suntop looks to Tyree, "Of course..." Ekuar's gaze shifts to Tyree, regarding the boy solemnly. "Maybe..father felt that way, after all of what's happened here lately." Tyree surmises aloud. He may be onto something too, since he's more often then not been one to follow Rayek around. "Maybe there just got to be too much up here," He points to his head. "So he had to go let it out." But Eveshka...he worries more about her. Ekuar says after a moment, softly, "Yes.. That's, eh. That's Brownskin." But it doesn't erase the worry from the aged elf's eyes. Suntop gives a soft sigh, "Perhaps..." He also tries not to worry...as Rayek is just a send away. But, for how long? It is still not safe in the desert...the humans could still be in Sorrow's End... Tyree murmurs something to himself about going to find Rayek. Is he thinking about leaving, too? Ekuar glances at Tyree, his brow crinkling. "I hope, eh. I hope no one thinks about following him," the rockshaper says impulsively, brown gaze unwavering from the boy. "The pretty one - eh, Ktai - would be fretful if more of her family up and disappeared." Suntop's eyes flick to Ekuar then to Tyree, "Oh, aye...she'd be terribly upset..." Tyree frowns, lips drawing tight for a moment. "Right." he answers, glancing down the hall opposite from Ekuar and Suntop. His concentration wavers, resulting in him sinking back to the ground, a look of startlement on his face. "I..don't want to upset mama any more." Ekuar's three-fingered hand rests gently on the boy's shoulder, patting comfortingly. "Nor we, child. Nor we. It'll be alright." Suntop's forehead creases in a slight frown but he says, "He'll be back soon...like you said, Tyree...perhaps he just needs time alone." Ekuar says softly, "Yes. Brownskin, he, eh. Likes to handle things alone." Tyree breathes out through his nostrils, forcing himself to relax to an extent at Ekuar's hand on his shoulder again. "Right..back soon. I hope so." he murmurs. Ekuar says softly, perhaps to himself, "I do too, child." The rockshaper pauses, then shakes his head slowly. "I'm, eh, tired, children. I think this old body of mine needs some rest." Checking on Tilia seems to have been forgotten. "Rest well, Ekuar." Suntop then looks to Tyree, "So...you spoke with Shenshen already?" Tyree intends to use Ekuar's words as a reason to excuse himself as well, lifting back into a hovering position. "Take care of yourself then, Papa Ekuar." he uses the name he was teased slightly with earlier. Then at Suntop's question, he postpones his departure a moment. "...yes." "I will, lads." On that, Ekuar slowly makes his way back down the staircase, leaning heavily upon his staff. Forgetful as always, or perhaps too worried with the current situation, he leaves the satchel he brought with him lying near the wall. Ekuar vanishes down the stairs. Suntop does not want to keep Tyree...so he nods, "I see..." He then catches sight of the satchel and starts to call Ekuar back...but rethinks his action and moves the bag to a safe place. "Well..I'll be, umm." Tyree begins, not wanting Suntop to feel uncomfortable around him. "I'll be around. Maybe outside, or just someplace quiet." Unlike Rayek, Tyree can still find peace inside the palace. He reaches down and smoothes out a few feathers that line his boots, then lifts up a bit higher. It's not that he feels uncomfortable around him, per se...but he does understand the need to be alone. "Do you wish to talk at all?" He is a good listener...and he does share some of Tyree's concerns for Rayek and Eveshka. Tyree brushes a bit of hair from the side of his face, smoothing out a sleeve covering his arm. "Maybe later..?" he offers. Suntop nods, blue eyes flicking to the child's gestures...and garb. He rubs at his arms, trying to dispel the sudden goosebumps. Tyree notices the sudden bit of discomfort in Suntop, but any questions about that can wait for later. If it's a Glider thing..well, he can understand. He's been made uncomfortable by one before. But after all, he is also one, moreso than any other background's blood within him. "Well..see you later, Suntop." he says, floating off down the stairway towards the larger hall, and then outside. Suntop watches Tyree float off before descending the stairs to try and find his aunt. ..