Return to the Tanglewood (Open)

[Lilith Sunseeker]

Lilith Sunseeker drifted to a trailing stop, butterscotch eyes following the trunk of the tree infront of her up to immeasurable heights. It was oddly shiny, the texture smooth unlike the bark of normal trees, and sharp edges jutted out ready to catch the unwary traveller with a nasty injury. Hundreds of metres above her head the first branches curled out into space.

The elf reached out one dusky green hand, long fingers trailing over the smooth metallic tree. The faint clink of copper against steel could be heard, Lilith's own skin matching the tree's living metal exterior.
She smiled. She'd missed this place.

The tree marked the entrance to the Tanglewood, native home to her race, the Tangle Elves. Beyond the tree in front of her stretched endless others, thick shadows drifting beneath them and a thin fog winding it's way among silver-grey trunks. A chilling silence choked the air but the Elf that slipped into the darkness beneath the metal trees looked unmistakably comfortable. She effortlessly avoided the sharp edges protruding from the trees which could have cut to the bone if one wasn't careful. She easily found a lower branch that allowed her to climb athletically into the trees and wind her way higher and higher into the metallic canopy. She followed branches like paths with the elegance of the effortlessly familiar.

The Elf smiled at the others of her race she came across as she made her way deeper in the Tangle. All were like her; tall, elegant, slender and athletic with dusky green copper skin, butterscotch eyes and dark tattoos decorating their bodies. Their attire was made of leather, and they carried at least one but commonly many weapons. Dark hair in disarray also characterised each, usually short to medium length in males and very long in females. The soft clink of metal on metal followed each wherever they went from their skin against the trees and the metal beads and jewellery most wore. They were a race of hunters and warriors, dark and softly spoken, harsh and confident. Wild and frightening in their prowess, those outside of the Tangle knew of their existance but had learnt little of their specifics. The only Tangle Elves to leave the Tangle and make a permanent home elsewhere were Lilith and her mother and sister.

Lilith leapt lightly down a level, her balance faultless despite the several metre drop. When one lived life in the branches of trees learning balance was a necessity and those who failed did not live long. A grin danced across her expression at the grim, taller male Tangle Elf that stood before her.
"Mica. It's good to see you again, my friend."
"Lilith! Back at last?"
"Just for a visit. I have employ with the High Council now, as a warrior. With this war brewing with the mortals they are grateful for more soldiers."
The older elf nodded, turning and leading the way into a chamber built into the trees. It was clearly a meeting place, chairs and tables scattered through the room and other Elves bustling around preparing a meal.
"Something happening tonight?" Lilith asked.
"Indeed. The feast for Erou."
"How could I have forgotten!" Lilith smiled. Fortuitous timing indeed to arrive back on that very night, one of the Tangle Elve's biggest celebrations.

"Did your mother and sister return too?"
Lilith shook her head, apologetic on their behalf.
"No, mother has commitments at Council and my sister elected to remain with her. Just me, this time."
Mica nodded, smiling.
"That will do for me. We've missed you since you left."
"And I've missed everyone here. And the Tangle. It still feels like home."
Lilith and Mica sat amid the preparations, talking as the minutes slipped away. She had much to catch up on.

[Alrae]

They never did do well in the Tanglewood, now did they? This one had done worse than most, blood all over the place. Something had attacked him, clearly. It looked like it had been a rather large beast, but there wasn't any proof to say it hadn't been a tree. Or a particularly angry Tangle Elf. Anything that chose to live this far South seemed to have a natural hatred towards Humans, and judging by the remains this had been a Human. Probably.
Hard to tell, since most of it was still hanging from the trees dripping all over the place.

Alrae had expected to find something a little more... intact? Yes, 'more intact' could easily describe her expectations this time. She assumed it was a 'he' since it seemed to be a solider and the Humans rarely let their women do solider work. He had probably died less than half an hour ago, the blood was still fresh.
She weaved through the dangerous branches to what was left of the torso and head and discovered that she actually wasn't as late as she's expected. In fact, this was even better than a complete body. He was still alive!

Of course he wasn't doing too well at that, sitting in a puddle of blood all bandaged up by whoever had survived the attack better than he. No sign of his friend, but Alrae could always get the Skunk to sniff him out when she was done. That was how she'd found this one in the first place, the massive spirit had sensed something about to die and rushed off after it.
You simply couldn't ignore a corpse-finding skunk the size of a horse.
"It's okay dear, you're safe now. This will all be over soon..." In some sort of miracle of Human Spirit, the thing was still conscious. He'd be a brilliant addition to the collection, then! All that willpower! Once it was under control, this one would be useful.
She had to hurry, of course. He was only just hanging on and if she wasn't quick he could slip away forever. It would be impossible to drag something this strong-willed back once it had died - unless it wanted to come back of course.
She set a glass bottle next to what was left of him and dug out her spellbook.
The spell was really just a modification of the typical Spirit Link most Death affinities could produce. Rather than chat with it, though, it allowed Alrae to trap the spirit in the nearest container. A few minutes later the bottle was filled with the misty blue-gray of captured spirit, a cork ensuring that he wouldn't escape. It wasn't too often that you caught someone on the edge of death after all, and these captured spirits were rare. "Come along then, Skunky dear, we've got to keep moving or we'll never know if the Tangle Elves want to let us into their territory." Paranoia was getting to her, and she needed to find a new cave to transfer the bulk of her collection to. Permission or not, she was planning on using the Tanglewood. At the moment though, she could try asking the first copper-skinned Fae she ran into. Getting permission was always better than losing a whole lake of captured souls to another High Council raid.

[Lilith Sunseeker]

Lilith and Mica talked for several hours after her arrival. Time slipped away unnoticed and unchecked; there was nothing but the impending celebration to regulate their companionship. Eventually however this check was enough to cause the elves to finish their conversation for the night. Mica was needed for the celebration and although Lilith would like to join them later, she had no place among the official councils and talks that would occur first. After all, she no longer lived here and that was enough to lose her any kind of authority.

The two embraced fondly, the soft clink of metal on metal accompanying the action, and promised to meet again later. Mica ascended towards the law chambers while Lilith descended, choosing to occupy her time by reacquainting herself with the forest she loved.

It did not take her long to reach the ground. She lost herself with ease among the metallic labyrinth of trunks, found peace in the silence and almost tangible goodwill of the trees to her presence. A dusky green hand trailed over the smooth silver and bronze and she passed without hurry or care through her homeland. A Tangle Elf could not be anything but comfortable here.
Her absent-minded contemplation and lack of worry in this place she cared for and trusted led her to a false sense of security. Nonetheless even the most distracted of Elves could not have failed to notice the gory splash of rust-red across the trunk of a tree. Lilith sniffed it delicately and rubbed her fingers across it; blood, human, probably male. Trained as a hunter such things could be easily ascertained.

Her curiosity was piqued. Lilith was young, only a little over a hundred, and thus pursued the signs with youthful intrigue rather than the responsible interest an older elf might have, in order to see that this was no threat to the clan. The scene grew rapidly more interesting - huge amounts of blood, sinews and tendons, chunks of bone, even whole identifiable limbs. She examined each not with disgust or despair but with interest. A warrior and a hunter could not be unaccustomed to such sights.

Finally she found the remainder of the person. A male human, just as she'd guessed, and certainly very dead. Not long since however - he was not yet stiff and cold.
Such injuries might have been caused by an animal or even the trees themselves, and Lilith idly wondered what a human was doing in the Tangle. Even more interesting though were the footprints that led away from the body, deeper into the Tangle. Lilith closed the man's eyes, a mark of respect to the fallen, and followed the footprints.
Lilith travelled swiftly now and nothing could travel quicker than a Tangle Elf within the Tangle. It therefore didn't take very long for her to spot a person in the distance, too far away to ascertain species or gender.

"Hey!" An inelegant greeting but Lilith was more interesting in catching this person up than appearing polite. She broke into a jog, the person coming closer by the second.
"Pray stop and talk with me, traveller?"

[Alrae]

Alrae was startled out of her paranoid train of thought by a voice coming from somewhere off behind her. It certainly sounded like a Tangle Elf, if there was really a special vocal range that could be assigned to their kind. Maybe it was just her imagination, but since nobody tended to discuss the vocal ranges of different kinds of Elves, she just assumed that what she identified as a typical Tangle Elf voice was, in fact, rather typical.
But anyways- She hadn't expected to hear it.
"Cousin!" She turned around, careful to hide the stress that came with so sudden a meeting. "I was just looking for a guide! I'm considering taking up residence in the Tangle, with all the pressure up north." From the High Council, granted, but if she left it at 'pressure' then it might sound more like she was fleeing the Mortals. "A nice cave down here in the Tangle could reduce the distractions, I'm doing a lot of studying these days. Though I must say, he has me worried." To clarify, she pointed at what was left of the Human. "Do you get a lot of their kind down here? I was under the impression that they had given up on this part of the forest. Of course, permission is always needed, so I'll ask whoever I need to ask first. I am Alrae Polyandrium, my parents are on the High Council... though I doubt you've heard of most of us Northern Fae." Hopefully. It wasn't like recognition was a good thing in Alrae's book.

That metal skin, though. She had been ready for something thicker, maybe of a copper color, but not this! They really did have skin made of metal, didn't they? Oh yes, it was wonderful! She could imagine it, armies made of near indestructable undead! Yes, there would in fact be some graverobbing going on once she got settled.

[Lilith Sunseeker]

To Lilith's delight the subject of her chase responded rather than running in the other direction. The latter seemed to be a common response to any kind of life encountered in the Tanglewood, usually accompanied by high-pitched shrieking. To be fair when the life you were likely to encounter was either some kind of efficient, vicious predator or a Tangle Elf, this was probably an intelligent response.

Lucky, really, that Alrae had run into Lilith rather than one of her comrades. Her kind were fair but most did things by the book and that would have meant dragging her to Council to put in her application for residence and state her business in the Tangle, and so on. Lilith, no longer a resident, wasn't so bound by their laws.
"Cousin." Lilith nodded, trailing to a stop when she caught the traveller up. Automatically her deep gold eyes appraised Alrae - female, Fae, presumably a talented magic user due to her lack of obvious weaponary.

"Residence in the Tangle? A guide would indeed benefit you. I know of a chain of caves deeper in the forest which may suit your needs." The elf grinned, intrigued by the fragile-looking Fae she had stumbled across that was, nonetheless, uninjured thus far.

Her gaze followed Alrae's indication and she shrugged, seeming unperturbed by the dead man.
"Humans sent by the mortal king come every six months or so to the Tangle. What he hopes them to find I don't know - we suspect he seeks confirmation of the existance of metal-skinned warrior elves - but the trees never let them leave. They have posed little threat so far and do not survive their time here long." What the King was making of soldiers never returning she didn't know but for now his recon missions hadn't escalated beyond this minor intrigue.
"The Tangle Elves have long since stopped bothering to find and dispatch them ourselves. The trees or predators do quite a thorough job, as you see." Lilith grinned as she began to walk nochalantly through the trees, trusting her new companion to follow.

"Pleasure to meet you, Alrae. I am Lilith Sunseeker, a native of this land obviously. However I do actually know something of the Northern Elves; my mother, too, is on the High Council and I am a warrior for them. Thus in some ways you are lucky to have met me rather than another Elf - I have no legal claim to the Tangle and as far as I'm concerned you may settle where you like." She ducked naturally under a low hanging branch, steps never faltering.
"I strongly advise you do nothing to anger the natives or the forest, of course. Both can be very violent if provoked." Again she grinned, plainly youthful in her high spirits.[/color]