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So, what were the elven brothers doing in Shadowdale? Well, it all started when the parents of Landroval and Gwaihir left to go to Evermeet with most of the rest of the elves of Faerun. The two elven children were very young, but their parents felt they had to go, so the little ones were left with their uncle who lived in Deepingdale and was staying behind out of love for the Dalelands. Everything was fine for many, many years. Young Gwaihir developed a deep love for the woods and animals of the forest, while younger Landroval began to notice strange magical powers, like being able to make a small ball of fire appear on his hand and do tricks. Landroval shared this with his family, but he was reluctant to make his unusual powers known, because to elves, arcane magic is to be learned from a book after months or years of study. But he kept it to himself and was all right, although disturbed. Tragically, our (Gwaihir is telling these stories) uncle died defending Deepingdale against a Drow raiding party. His group of soldiers on patrol were the only thing standing between about sixty Drow and the sleeping Dale town. Though outnumbered three to one, they fought the Drow back into the woods and saved countless lives. He and his band were regarded as heroes and martyrs by the folk of Deepingdale. As our uncle lay dying, he told his steward he had very important information for us, young adult elves that we were, about the truth of our heritage and our parents' ancestry. He sent for us, but by the time we arrived at the battlefield, it was too late. Even in their grief, Landroval and Gwaihir puzzled over the meaning of their uncle's last words. What could he have wanted to tell them about their ancestry? And (they whispered in the night) could it have something to do with Landroval's innate magical ability? Luckily, the two elves had a starting place from which to start their journey for the truth. In his youth, our uncle had adventured with our mother and father for a short time, before retiring at the birth of his own twins. During the occupation of Daggerdale, a Zhent raiding party attacked the manor house while our uncle and his son were leading a patrol. His wife was killed, and the daughter kidnapped and carried off. He returned to find his manor house in flames, his wife dead, and his daughter gone. Instead of bringing them closer together, the tragedy destroyed the relationship between him and his son, who blamed our uncle for the tragedy. He developed the attitude of, "if we had been watching out for ourselves instead of helping the town, our family would still be whole." As the months passed, our cousin's bitterness grew worse, until one night he disappeared. In the following three years, our uncle put his life back together, and never lost faith in his god or the spirit of the Dales, for that bond of friendship and brotherhood has held the Dales together for centuries. When our parents joined the retreat to Evermeet, our uncle was delighted to take us under his wing, seeing it as a chance to make right his failures of the past. But as I said, we had a starting place. We are headed to Shadowdale to speak with an old friend of our uncle and parents from their adventuring days. He is a half-elven bard named Alvorin who lives in Shadowdale now. We have met him before on several occasions, and we have suspected in the past that he and our uncle may have had ties to some other, larger organization. However, all we want to know is what is the truth of our heritage, and what strange being or creature figures into our family tree? |