Of the many battles I fought in defending the town, the Pantherghast attack of June, 590 is one that will remain in my memory. Four wood elves who had been traveling through Ravenholt fell to the creature, and all elves in town felt the impact of their loss. They weren't merely dead, they were Obliterated as if their spirits had never lived. This was quite shocking to myself, and most elves who knew of it. Any time the creatures came to Ravenholt, all elves were catalyzed into cooperation and action, regardless of their culture. It was inspiring to see us united this way, but tragic that it sometimes took a Pantherghast attack to accomplish it. During this same few days, Mother Merry Discipline had gone missing. It was disturbing to see this champion of life attack the Healer's Guild as one of the lesser undead.
Quoted from the Raven's Herald of August 590:
“Mother was last seen as a zombie attacking the Healer's Guild in May. After being driven into the lake she disappeared. Apparently afraid to return to her own guild to be resurrected she traveled all the way to her home guild in Evendarr where she was resurrected. She of course remembers none of this. Word has reached the Duke that after spending some time recuperating from her ordeal, she will be returning to Ravenholt.”
Perhaps due to my service in the Healer's Guild, and near daily dispensing of bandages, I frequently was mistaken for an Earth Scholar. This has been a long standing frustration and running joke that haunts me to this day. Eventually I learned a small amount of healing spells just so she could avoid having to explain multiple times that she was a Celestial Scholar with no healing magic. The Healer's Guild became my home for most of my years in Ravenholt, after Adumagil and Rayna returned to the Ash Forest. I fought side by side with other guild members, and remember them fondly. Due to the importance of the ritual Healer's Circle in the Guildhouse, it was the frequent target of attacks. My knowledge of tactics and security earned me the position of Head of Security in the Healer's Guild. That same knowledge would cause a rift between myself and the other healers in time to come.
In October of 590 I first met Aran Elenaro, King of Quentari when the Royal Family visited Ravenholt. As reported by the Raven's Herald:
“The entourage included Crown Prince Mirtaur, His brother Prince Morlith, and the Head of the High Council, Lady Arienwen, along with the Royal Herald, the Lady's Personal Servant, and several guardsmen. While the intent of their visit was to obtain the Temporal Weapon, and the Amulet, they accepted the Duke's invitation to be guests at his table.” Lady Arienwen's food taster was poisoned, and the Duke's Herald A'Dean accused Prince Morlith. The accusation was retracted after Morlith's furious denial. The perpetrator was not discovered. What was also discovered was that Duchess, Rowen Morganna Ravenhurst, who had been discovered to also be Baroness Blackmere, was further revealed as the long lost Crown Princess of Quentari. She had a tearful reunion with her brother Mirtaur. After dinner and entertainment, Archmage Arcevol entered to return the Temporal Weapon and the Amulet. In a second surprise, he was accompanied by Aran Elenaro, who had been missing for 400 years. The king accepted Tarillen back into the family, allowing her the choice of whether to return or to stay transformed to human with the Duke. She chose life with the Duke. Also as reported by the Raven's Herald, “In a completely surprising announcement, King Richard of Evendarr adopted both Duke Ravenhurst and King Elenaro as his own sons, although Elenaro declined the honor.”
Elenaro announced his intention to leave the throne to Mirtaur, wanting to experience the world after his long imprisonment. He informed Morlith that if Mirtaur should not be able to perform the duties of the throne, then he would return himself. This infuriated Morlith, the elder son, who stormed out. He returned later, casing Death spells at Tarillen. Baron Blaneny threw herself in the path of the spells, and so fell instead of Tarillen. The guards and citizens were shocked, but quickly came to their senses and restrained the frenzied Prince. After that, he left the festivities for good. Overall, the meeting produced more positive relations between Quentari and Evendarr. Morlith was seen a few more times over the next 5 years in Ravenholt. He is nice enough to me, but he makes me uneasy and my feelings are mixed. On the one hand is the knowledge that he is Elenaro's son. I would like to believe that some of that noble blood still runs in Morlith, and that it can be dominant some day. On the other hand, well, he tried to kill his own sister and there's no getting around that no matter his reasons. I dearly hope that some part of Morlith does still hold the ability to love others, and his cousins. I hope that his noble blood will lead him out of whatever madness made him turn on his family and which seemingly drives him.
November brought some good news, with the reported destruction of the Pantherghast Summoning Scroll. This was accomplished by the human mage “Brutus,” Baron Durchasi Ruinvorn Morsuldur, High Lord Morsuldur, and Lord Scafloc. There were doubts it was truly destroyed but none of the monsters were seen for a long time, until 594.
Early in 591, in the cold month of February, High Lord Gust Darkwind put a notice in the Raven's Herald which would lead me to one of my personal goals. In the ad, he asked all elves to come to a Great Meeting of the Elves. At this meeting, he spoke of the Pantherghast and other issues which he argued the necessity of the elves banding together for their mutual defense. Having attended this meeting, I was moved by his speech. Given our large differences in outlook, I have come to realize that the elves will not unite officially under any one person but can be encouraged to work together more often for our mutual benefit. The one event that would unite us surprisingly quickly, as I mentioned, was whenever news of a pantherghast spread around. We would immediately meet together to plan and defend one another.
A tragic and related incident was that the true, grisly nature of a Quentari by the name of Lankirin was revealed. He had disguised himself as the human named Brutus, who had traveled in Ravenholt collecting pieces of the fabled Amulet of Xylar. It was revealed that Lankirin had collected many vials of Elven blood in his laboratory and had been studying the summoning of Pantherghasts against elves. Such crimes could not go unpunished, and so the fiend was Obliterated by Mother Merry. Adumegil, Rayna, Lunasiria and Constantine stood to witness the beginning of the ritual. They then ceremonially turned their backs on Lankirin, and so demonstrated their shunning of him and disapproval of his actions. They held through the entire ritual through the madman's screams, first against the elves, and then in his own soul's agony. This event has seemingly been forgotten in Ravenholt, as it was never reported in the local Raven's Herald or spoken of very much. This is something that I will carry with me always. Lankirin's Laboratory was cleared and all trapped elven souls released.
Changes to the Healer's Guild that year brought further changes to my fortunes. In October 591, Father Darkshroud of Evendarr was brought into the Healer's Guild to run the place during Mother Merry's pregnancy. It was strange to work for anyone but Mother Merry, but he was a good leader. Later, Mother Merry retired as Guildmistress, and Damon took over as Guildmaster. He tried his best to lead well, but his inner troubles drove him. He could not equal the wisdom or leadership of the former Guildmistress, and so I left the guild. By this time there was a circle of friends who, for whatever reason, were loyal to me and followed me out of the Guild. We were disturbed by what they saw as a failing on the current members of the official Healer's Guild to organize and protect themselves, thereby threatening the service they were able to provide for Ravenholt. My friends encouraged me to form our own Healer's Guild. Lady Tristamere the Sarr offered to cast the Permanent Earth Circle. This was somewhat controversial, what with my being a Celestial Scholar. This was balanced by my having proven to be good at tactics and inspiring loyalty among many of those who worked with us in and out of the Guild.
The happy state of motherhood came when I gave birth to two fraternal twins, borne on May 25, 591 E.R. Damon is their father. My daughter, Rudhaiwe Saleros is the elder of the two. Her brother is named Malfindol, and was born just a few minutes later. Damon had requested that both children bear “Lycos Vanyacelebrin” at the end of their names in honor of his family, and so they do. Star charts were drawn up by Celestial Scholar Lady Zaramore of the Mage's Guild. The twins currently reside with House Saleros in Quentari. As is traditional with the Quentari, the twins are being raised within the extended family, and so their names end in Saleros.