Arieltalia's Story Thread

The Raven, Part I

I first met Raven at the behest of my husband. I was a proper noble’s wife back then, hard and indifferent, a proper elven duchess. Do not look at me like that, I had been raised to be as such. I later learned the truth, but I am getting ahead of myself…

The cold marble of the atrium reflected Arieltalia’s mood perfectly. So he had called her here, nay, commanded, as usual, and, as usual, she had resented it, but she had obeyed. And so she sat in a sumptuous velvet-upholstered chair, hands folded in her lap in order to appear subservient.

Liniel entered presently with his usual small retinue of servants and sycophants, his mouth a thin line carved across his otherwise handsome face. To his right there strode a hooded man, a human, Ariel surmised by his height and girth. A ranger from the wilds, no doubt, judging by the dirt smudges upon his leather garments. Could he have not cleaned himself up, knowing that he would be in their presence?

The duke stopped and gave his wife an abbreviated bow in the form of a curt nod, and she responded similarly, not even bothering to rise from her chair.

“My lady, may I present Raven.” Liniel gestured to the ranger, who simply remained standing, not even bothering to remove his hood. “I wish you to get accustomed to his presence, as he has aided me in some of the more difficult… and profitable… business ventures.” The duke smiled smoothly to himself, obviously proud of whatever he had planned. “Also, I have hired him as your bodyguard for the times that I will be away, seeing as we have had such problems with the rabble lately. I will leave you both to your further introductions. That is all.”

Indifferent to the seething resentment shining in his wife’s eyes at that last statement, Liniel held up a hand to silence any further conversation, turned on his heel, and promptly marched out in the direction in which he had entered. He nodded to the richly-dressed elf who had stepped up and taken the ranger’s place to his right, beginning a quiet conversation as he walked.

Ariel’s eyes moved from the point between her husband’s shoulders in which she would have liked to plant a dagger to find the ranger still standing before her as he was. And he still had not removed his hood. This rankled her, and she began in a venomous tone. “So you call yourself Raven, do you? The nickname every thirteen-year-old boy chooses in order to sound dark, brooding, and mysterious.” She picked a speck of lint from her sleeve. “How trite.”

A sound not unlike a quiet chuckle came from the man, and he brushed the hood from his head with one hand, revealing a shock of close-clipped ebon hair. “You’ll have to blame my mother for that. I had black fuzz on my head when I was born, and she thought it was fittin’, bless her soul.”

The duchess bristled, a small pout forming at the edges of her mouth. “I see.” She took another look at him, and found his bright blue eyes steadily upon her. Was that a twinkle of amusement? She snorted. “You could have at least washed before coming here. And scraped the hair from your face, human.”

He rubbed at the dark two-day growth upon his chin and jaw and winked at her. “Just came in from the watches. Your husband thought it best to make your acquaintance now, m’lady.”

“And why is that?”

“Well, seein’ as he’ll be goin’ off again on business before nightfall...”

“What?!” Ariel exploded, rising from her chair. She began to stalk in the direction the duke had exited.

Raven shot a hand out and caught her arm, and she swung around, tripping over her feet in her momentum. She glared at him as he steadied her with his other hand. “Don’t. S’all I got to say.” His face remained impassive, but a sense of foreboding colored his tone.

“Take your dirty hands from me,” she commanded through gritted teeth.

He made a show of releasing her, then took a few steps back and performed quite a proper bow. “So… what is there to do ‘round here? Might as well show me, seein’ as we’ll be stuck with each other for awhile.”

For the next few weeks, we were almost constantly in each other’s company. I learned quite a bit about humans that I had never even bothered to be interested in before, and I grew to like him a great deal. I found that he had a wife back in some far land, but that he took jobs that sent him away for the “adventure”, or so he said. I remember finding that comment a bit odd, knowing that I was in little danger there up high in my exquisitely appointed palace.

» Edited on: 2011-01-10 12:00:27

The Raven, Part II One day, I decided to play a little trick on my dear friend. I had not told him much of my childhood, and I doubted that he had any idea of what training a young noble elven maiden must go through in order to become a duchess… “Where are you takin’ me, darlin’?” Raven was blindfolded, and being carefully led down various hallways. Finally the hard echo of marble underfoot gave way to the soft crunch of fine gravel. “And, we are here,” Ariel announced as she stopped and stepped around him to remove the blindfold. He whistled, looking around. This was the palace’s private armory and dueling quarters. Stepping forward, the ranger advanced upon the one thing that caught his eye above all others – a graceful bow, finely imbued with the most excellent of gold decorations. “Go ahead, try it,” Ariel encouraged, opening the case with a key from the chatelaine that hung from her dainty belt. Raven lifted the bow and weighed it with his hand, then strung it almost effortlessly. “Flimsy?” He tilted his head and regarded her in confusion, his fingers still testing the string. “Hardly,” she laughed. “There is the magic of the tree still in the wood, you see. It wants you to string it, so it helps you. Understand?” He shook his head. “No, but I’ll give ya it feels nice in my hand.” He reached for a quiver and made his way to stand across from the archery target. Loosing an arrow, Raven grinned when it hit the center, and then fired off a few more, and they landed close to the first one. “Fine bow here, m’lady. Fine one.” “You may have it if you like,” Ariel offered with a smile. At his surprised expression, she continued coyly. “But first you must win a duel with me.” “Barely worth a sweat, darlin’,” he quipped, shaking his head and examining the bow again. A moment later he barely managed to draw his sword to block the blow of a greatsword coming down upon him. With elven grace and speed, she withdrew the mighty weapon, spun, and pressed the attack again. But Raven was ready this time. He tilted out of the way, but instead of attacking, he smacked the flat side of his blade across her rear end, then faced her once more, a lopsided grin upon his face. Outraged, Ariel looped the sword around her in a figure eight, catching the hilt of his sword with the tip of her elven blade. Her upswing pried it from his grip and sent it flying. Backing up, Raven tripped on the small stairs behind him, and Ariel winced as he went down, relieved that she found him unhurt and smirking at her as she advanced upon him, sword lowered, with a triumphant smile. “Do you yield?” she inquired nobly. “Aye, I yield,” he responded. But then, suddenly, Ariel found herself down upon the grey gravel herself, her sword flung from her hand as her ankle had been twisted out from underneath her. She looked up to see a nocked arrow aimed directly at her chest. “Do you yield?” Raven’s smile was cocky yet gentle. She nodded, finding herself a bit bruised as she tried to sit up. Placing the bow down, Raven knelt by her side and eased her efforts by slipping an arm under her back. She smiled up at him in gratitude, and their eyes met for a long moment. He continued to raise her upwards towards him, and his voice cracked when he inquired of her again. “Do you yield?” Her reply was whispered and breathless before his lips came down upon hers. “I yield.” Yes, we did become lovers after that, and nearly inseparable. Days passed by, then turned into months with no word from Liniel. We filled them with picnics and more sparring. And I even ventured to teach him the elven language.

» Edited on: 2011-01-10 11:59:57

The Raven, Part III The day had to eventually come when my husband returned home. Raven and I endlessly pondered a solution to the situation. Little did we know that what would happen was beyond anything either of us could have possibly imagined. Liniel had been home a few days before he summoned the duchess into his company, once again to the atrium. The servants spoke of an endless string of unknown men and women moving to and from the lord’s study, where he had holed himself up for the duration. They assumed the duke had come into political favor, as these new acquaintances were always lavishly dressed. Raven was nowhere to be found when Ariel got the message from his lordship to meet her. She took this both as a blessing and a curse, as she felt stronger when by the human’s side, but she knew all too well that eventually she would have to face her husband alone. She didn’t quite know what she would say to him, actually, and so she sat nervously perched upon the same velvet chair that she had been seated upon when she had met the ranger so many months ago. A smile came to her lips as she reflected upon the time spent with her love, and it immediately vanished as Liniel imperiously entered the space. “My lord, it is good to see you well,” Arieltalia politely ventured as she rose from her chair and dropped into a deep curtsey. “Oh, I am quite well, my lady. Quite well, indeed.” He fingered a heavy golden ring on one of his hands, and Ariel noticed that he now wore jewels on every finger. Liniel then motioned behind him, and, seemingly out of thin air, came six of the duke’s present followers, all as richly bedecked as he was. “And soon you will be as fortunate as I.” He held out his hand to his wife with a steely smile. The air became thick as Ariel realized that all eyes in the open-arched room were expectantly fixed upon her, waiting for her to take her husband’s outstretched hand. She felt uneasy, perhaps a bit unsteady on her feet, and she blinked. As she hesitated, Liniel took a step forward towards her, and at that moment something whizzed through the air, striking Ariel and sending her backwards a short distance and straight to the floor. She turned her head to see Raven crouching in one of the far arches, the bow she had given him in his hand. And as she noticed the tears running down his cheeks, creatures of molten rock began to rise up all around him. Liniel’s eyes above her glowed with an unnatural light, and his form began shifting. She shuddered, and the last thing she saw before her eyes closed was an arrow protruding from her chest. Yes, he had taken my life to save my soul from Laethys’ grasp. And now that I have been called back to Telara, almost a century later, I bear the scar above my heart still. And I wonder, and hope against hope, that Raven himself had somehow managed to escape, though I fear that I must someday cut down the monster that he has become.

» Edited on: 2011-01-10 11:59:15

I like this a lot!!! I assume that it ties into the RIFT quest lines somehow? I now must get a Beta key to determine if my computer will hack it. Great job!

Thanks! Well, the game doesn't exactly illuminate the lore as much as I would like it to, but I have read a lot of the lore on the web and I went out and purchased the comics. This is just Ariel's backstory in Rift, her starting point and where her mind is and why.

Wow! Fantastic! Thank you for giving a little life to a game I still don't quite understand the lore of yet.

Life Skills (Memory) “You’re going to get a bill for this,” Raven remarked casually as he brought forth a wrapped package. “I hope you don’t mind. It’s for you, after all.” “How did you…? When did you…?” Arieltalia was at a loss for words. They were in the marketplace and she had been by his side the entire time. He grinned at her boyishly. “It’s called ‘sleight-of-hand’, darlin’.” “Wonderful,” she sighed, then went to unwrap the gift. “Please do not pick any pockets. Neither will you attempt to teach me how to do it.” She rolled her eyes. “Ah-ah,” he admonished, taking the parcel away from her. “Wait until we get back to the estate. Anyway, you’re getting pretty good with the bow.” He shook his head. “Not so good with two hands at once, though.” The elf stopped and glared at him. “Excuse me?” “Sword-and-dagger fightin’. You’re quick and nimble, so it’d be ideal for you. New skills are always good to learn, you know.” She crossed her arms and smirked. “I was just thinking that last night,” she remarked drily. He clutched two hands over his heart and pretended to sway on his feet. Ariel’s smile told him she was joking. “Come along, then.”

» Edited on: 2011-01-28 06:07:04

Grand writing, Silmandra! Hurrah!

Thanks! Looking forward to seeing some new stuff from you, friend. ;)