The Pixie Lord and the Drow

A band of surface drow adventurers were travelling a path through a jungle. The area began to change. The wild jungle slowly became more beautiful, with many more brilliant colors, and sights. Instead of the crashing of dinosaurs and the sounds of monkeys mingled with birds, the air filled with music as well as a sweet aroma of roses and gardenias, instead of sweat and mildew. A wonderful song was heard as well as the sounds of fairy laughter. The heroes saw hundreds of lights swirling around in different groups through lush oaks and pines.

The heroes were met by a woman of stunning character and beauty. Her long flowing hair covered her nudity. She sat on the back of a pure white horse with a large spiral ivory horn. Resting on her long, slender legs was a harp of astounding beauty and design. The wood frame looked as if it had been coaxed to grow that way as a piece of living art it.

A red haired creature then entered from off to her left, playing a pan flute in perfect rhythm with the harp. It was as tall as a half-elf, and instead of typical humanoid legs, it had the rear legs of a goat. Its hooves were jet black, as were its little nubby horns.

Together, the wood-nymph and the faun sing:

Come yon children of nature.

Come and bring your praise to thee.

Please don't feel this is aggression

Your presence in the court must be heeded.

Come yon children of nature.

Come and bring your praise to thee.

Please don't feel this is aggression

Your presence in the court must be heeded.

Those hundred of swirling lights all came near, like a whirlwind, and a second later the group was not where it had been, but in a new place. The heroes found themselves near a lush lake. Fish dance in and out of the lake’s water, flipping above the water with quick flicks of their broad tail, in harmony with the music that has been heard this entire time.

Sitting on a toadstool near the lake was a small personage with his back to the heroes, holding a fishing pole in his hand. He called out to the fish, "Hear there! Quit yer prancing about like a drunk’n teenager and come put your mouth on me hook, see."

The fellow on the toadstool jumped up. He was a little man, dressed in green. He looked around and jumps again.

"What's this? What's this?" The little man shouted. "Who ordered the fancy festivities!"

"Gloria! Gloria!" he shouted at the beautiful woman. "Go get some clothes on and stop teasing the mortals! Get!"

"And you, Old Goat! Gee! Get out! What are you trying to do? Give these mortals the willies! And stop making the fish dance!" He chased the goat-taur away as well.

Then he made a series of tremendous leaps through the flashing lights. "You lot too!" he shouted. "Go on with ye!"

The beautiful female, the half goat man and the horse with the horn all seem to bow to the diminutive figure as if he is in charge of them all. They then leave together through the brush. The music fades with them. The fish, dive back into the water and is now unseen. Small ripples play across the shore as their last trace.

Finally, there is only the lakeshore, the small man, and the surface drow. The man sat on the toadstool and said, "Whew! I don't know how anyone can think with all that going on."

"Sit down, please, sit down." He motions you to sit, though whether he meant the ground or nearby toadstools was hard to tell.

"Now, I apologize for all that. After coming all that way, it's not fair to fuddle you. And it sure doesn't take much to fuddle mortals!" He winked.

"After all that, at last we can talk. Now, what is it that brings you to me, and what can I do for you?"

The heroes reacted to all this with a little more than some amazement. The little man in green watched the consternation and confusion in obvious amusement. One hero, a bold sort named Eclip, had the presence of mind to call out the little man on his outrageousness.

"You've forgotten already that you called us here to give each of us a bucket of gold and three wishes?” says Eclip. “I've heard that fairy wine is strong, and can make you forget things."

The small fellow grinned and then laughed! "Oh! My!" he said as he got a hold of himself. "That is a good one. And I guess it is about the proportion one would expect. Four gaping mortals to each clever one! It's the clever ones who make us laugh the most, so I guess we can put up with the dimmer wits for a good chuckle."

"Now YOU, my friend" -- he pointed to Eclip -- "have got it a bit backwards! It's three pots of gold and one wish!"

He waved his hand, and in front of Eclip appeared three tiny pots, each one brimming with miniscule gold pieces. "Now what is your wish? You know, of course, that faerie wishes can be tricksy, so maybe your slower friends here can give you some advice! Quickly! Wish now or not at all!"

He stood, eyes twinkling, waiting for Eclip to voice his wish. Eclip and his friends dithered and pondered. Most did not want to accept the fairy gift, not the gold, maybe not the wish! They were too suspicious.

The green-clad man's eyes flashed, with annoyance rather than amusement. He looked up, and seemed to address someone who was not there.

"Now we see why mortals can be tiresome, too. Ah, Ebryon, for your sake I will not be angry. But it is hard." He turned back to the party.

"Heh," the fey creature scoffs. "I thought you were witty and quick. But like most mortals, your flashes of brightness tend to get drowned out by the dullness of your souls. Too bad."

"But yes, I would not take your time merely to taunt you and play havoc with your puny minds. Well, in a former day I would have, but now we are all friends, right? The Fae King says so!"

"Not only that, but he says that fey and plants and animals are all to help mortals wherever possible."

"In fact, I have a present for your group. Here is a blessing for the animals who choose to travel with your party." He sang a little wordless song, and the animal friends of the drow responded as if to meeting a friend. They received the blessing of heroism from the Pixie.

"That's just a small part of the good will that King Ebryon, the Fae King, wants you all to feel. He asked me to tell you all that he is reformed and good and kind to mortals and all that. Ha! Let me see him in a couple centuries and then we'll know if THAT's true!"

"So consider yourselves told! The Fey King is eager to atone for the harm he has caused.” The small fey man told several tales of the Fey King and his works, all from the point of view of one who saw them. It became clear that this fairy is ancient indeed, and has seen all the ages of the Wold.

"Well!" the Pixie Lord exclaimed. "That's that! Just to set the record straight! Any questions?"

Eclip again stands out. “I would like to find out more about this battle between the Wold's heroes and the Fae King."

The small green fae man smiled, seeming to be in the mood for storytelling, and launched into the tale of the War on Ebryon with little prompting.

"The Fae King slept for several ages of the Wold. But the Elves of the Wold hit on a way to wake him up. And they decided to do so. Some people are still angry at them for that, but done is done, I always say."

"After the Fae King came back, he was full of vinegar and life, and he was none too pleased with the so-called "civilization" you mortals had concocted. He decided to put mortals in their place. He re-established his realm, called the Wold's Cradle. He worked to take you mortals down a notch, and he was none too gentle in doing it."

"In some places, magic plagues drove folk from cities. In other places, the forces of nature, like flood and earthquake, were set loose. It was a wild time."

"Well, the mortal adventurers of the Wold, led by the heroes who call themselves 'Dragons,' fought back. They worked with Queen Maab to discover the Fae King's weakness. They travelled back in time to recover the Fae Bane. They hunted down all the King's avatars all over the Wold. And in the end, they forced him to Reform and Atone."

"So now the Fae King has Reformed. He is a friend to mortals, and his power is constrained. He is striving to show that he -- including the fae and Nature itself -- can help others."

"And he sent me around to tell you all about it. Now, my time grows short. Final questions? How about that wish? Last chance!"

One of the drow stood forth, willing to gamble on the good faith of the fey. This Xesor politely asked, "I wish for the knowledge and skills of a wizard as if I had studied for that profession all my life. It has always been my deepest desire to perform the arcane art called magic."

The little man in green laughed when Xesor asked for Eclip's wish. "A bold one, after all! And magic has always been my own love, too. Done and done!"

"Now, mortals, I have other heroes to visit, and other wishes to grant. Remember the mercy of Ebryon, who has reformed, and who is your friend!"

As the chat winds down, the swirling lights descended on the heroes again. Surrounded by the lights, the heroes heard the Pixie’s voice again. "You were many days away from your destination, so the great Ebyron has allowed me to take you closer to where you want to be."

Then the heroes found themselves with their long journey almost complete.

-- Adapted from The Adventures of the Heroes of Ust Delmah, September 2007.

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