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Eowen TMarr
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Posts: 1
(1/30/03 10:42 am)
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Eowen's Tale
Three Weeks Ago

To all appearances it would be a normal day at The Traveler's Inn in Trinsic. Eowen T'Marr woke early in the morning, as she had for many years, before the sun had risen. She brushed her hair and prepared her blue dress by ironing the wrinkles out of it from the previous night's washing; for all the years she had worn it while working it was well cared for. She then slipped her dress on and reveled in the warmth from the ironing as she headed to the kitchen.
For five years she had worked at The Traveler's Inn, since her mother had died from the fever. Before that, she could remember traveling from town to town as a child with her mother, always looking for work. Innkeepers usually took on her mother for help as she had once been a maid to an important Lady, or so Eowen's mother had once told her. Regardless, Eowen had learned all she knew from her mother. She learned how to help Lords and Ladies with their cloths, she learned how to clean when others were not around, and she learned all of the things that a proper Lady's maid should know.
She began the brew some tea; the Lady Navinne in room three would want her tea before she left the warmth of her bed. As the tea brewed Eowen's thoughts turned to the dream she had the previous night. It was the same dream that she had had for three nights running now. Horrifying shapes in the darkness surrounded her in the dream, clutching at her with shriveled and blackened hands. They wanted to tear her apart and devour her, and for two of those nights they almost had before she woke with a muffled shriek. Last night, however, was different. There was something else in her dream last night, and the things in the shadows were afraid of it and would not come near her. Eowen remembered feeling watched in the dream, and the presence of something that made her blood run cold.
She put the thoughts of the dream away as the teakettle began to whistle. She then loaded up a silver tray and headed for the Lady Navinne's room. The Lady Navinne was a very disagreeable woman as far as Eowen was concerned, and she hoped to spend as little time in her company as she could manage. Eowen gently knocked on the door before she opened it. She entered and quietly set the tray down on the nightstand before she crossed the room to slightly open the curtains. The Lady Navinne stirred in the bed, and Eowen spoke in a gentle whisper, "Miss, your tea is ready."
"Yes girl," came the sharp reply, "pour me a cup, and use more honey than the last time."
Eowen quickly curtsied and walked over to the silver tea tray and poured a cup while spooning in honey. When she was content that it was sweet enough to please the Lady Navinne she walked over to her and offered her the cup, "Here m'lady."
Navinne grabbed the cup, as a drunkard would grasp for another bottle. "I will wear my purple dress today girl," she spoke in a sour voice after sipping the tea. At least she was happy with the honey Eowen thought as she went to open the wardrobe. Eowen gently took out a purple dress that was trimmed in gold, probably real gold. She turned and walked over to stand next to Lady Navinne, and placed the dress carefully on the bed so as to avoid wrinkling it worse than it already was. Navinne's face turned down in a scowl as she took another sip of tea, “This tea is too cold girl. Fetch me another pot."
Irritation bit at Eowen as she took the cup from Lady Navinne and set it on the tray, "Yes m’lady. I will have this taken care of right away." She was about to leave with the tray when suddenly she was surrounded by shapes that swirled in and out of her sight. For a moment Eowen did not believe her eyes, but then she heard them speaking. Each flittering shadow was speaking, and it sounded like a quiet waterfall of voices. She could not make out what they were saying, but they seemed real enough. Eowen looked at Lady Navinne to see if she saw or heard them as well, but Navinne only seemed irritated that Eowen was standing there with her mouth open and not fetching her fresh tea.
Eowen felt dizzy and dropped the silver tray as she tried to catch herself from falling. Navinne began shrieking as she slapped Eowen across the cheek and left the room. Eowen fell to her knees sobbing. Her face stung and she could hear the voices of the flittering shadows growing louder. Lady Navinne burst back into the room pulling Master Like the Innkeeper in tow. Navinne was shouting about the hot tea that covered her and about how her favorite purple dress was ruined.
Master Like kneeled next to Eowen and looked at her as he told Lady Navinne that he would pay for the damages, "What’s the matter?" He quietly asked Eowen as Navinne continued to shout.
"My dreams are real," Eowen said through her sobs, realizing how crazy she must sound.
Master Like glanced to listen to Lady Navinne who was now screaming that the girl be let go for her incompetence. With a heavy sigh Master Like turned and wiped a tear way from Eowen's cheek. "I'm sorry Eowen.... she has many friends, and all of them powerful... I am not a rich man,” he stammered. Eowen understood; she had just become bad for business. Master Like took off his belt pouch and pushed it into Eowen's hands, "This is in remembrance of your mother and for the work that you have done for me... it's a thousand gold. I wish I could do more Eowen."

Edited by: Eowen TMarr at: 1/30/03 1:33:19 pm
Eowen TMarr
Story Teller
Posts: 2
(1/30/03 1:35 pm)
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Of Nightsingers
And that’s how she found herself lost and lonely in the wilderness. The voices frightened her, and every night the dream came to her, but it was the only company she had. No innkeeper would take her in for work, Lady Navinne had seen to that. So Eowen wandered. The voices telling her to seek the Coven of Shadows, that's all that she could understand in the tumult. She cried at night, and followed the shadows as they lead her deeper into the woods. For two weeks she wandered following the shadows, as they seemed to be leading her to some unknown destination. And on the evening of the second week she came to a clearing in the forest. In the clearing loomed a tall and dark tower, crumbling from age. She tried the doors but they were locked firm... but she heard voices coming from what appeared to be an inn just a little to the west.
Eowen's heart sank when she opened the door to the Inn and saw two black skinned elves sitting at a table in the corner. They noticed her right away and one of them stood, and in a firm and yet gentile voice said, "Please come and sit."
Eowen was stunned, all of the adventures that she encountered spoke of the dark elves as if they were murderous monsters that ate babies and worse, but they seemed polite enough to her. Yet still on her guard she went over and took the seat that the dark elf had offered her. Images danced around the dark elf as she looked at him. Eowen's mouth went dry as she saw a crown that was not there dance over his head, "I am Lord Caleb of the Bregan D'Aerth, and that is Maximus."
Eowen's gaze turned to the other elf in the room and her stomach clenched in fear as she saw a hidden monster hunting for the elf and hungering for him, and only the golden light that surrounded him protected him from being devoured, that must be love Eowen thought as she found her voice, “I am looking for the Coven of Shadows, and they tell me that you might know where to find them."

Eowen explained to the dark elves that the spirits spoke to her, and that all she knew was that is was important for her to find the Coven of Shadows. Caleb and Maximus immediately offered to help. Soon three more of their members entered the tavern. Eowen was too distraught from weeks of strange happenings to clearly remember their names, but one of them had a rune to the Coven. Eowen curtsied to Lord Caleb and thanked him for the help and promised him that she would one day return the favor. Then a gate was opened and the dark elves escorted Eowen through it to a peaceful looking villa on the other side.
Eowen began to despair as they all entered the home and found it empty. The dark elves offered her food while they waited to see if a Coven member would soon be buy, as a horse was tethered outside; an indication that someone had been here and would be back soon. Maximus spoke of his dreams and of the woman he was soon to marry. Eowen’s emotions surged with a feeling of love and care as he spoke of her, strangely she could actually feel the love they held for each other. She told Maximus of the visions she saw dancing around him, and he confessed that he feared a dungeon that he had seen in his dreams, something foreboding lie there and he was in danger. Eowen did not know what to think about her newfound ‘gift’. Things were jumbling together so suddenly that she could not control all of the emotions that swirled around inside her.
As there conversations carried on, a handsome man with unearthly blue hair entered the house. Eowen was struck for a moment with a vision of the man chasing clouds as he introduced himself as Avalon. Eowen told him of the spirits that spoke to her as he took a seat, and she related the tale of her dreams to him. While Avalon offered wise words he still seemed drained, almost as if he had just returned from a long journey that had an otherworldly feel to it, and was unable to help. He told Eowen that she needed to speak with Ariyana Sune. Eowen, weary from her hard travels, could no longer remain awake and soon after speaking with Avalon, she found a warm place to make camp outside and slept fitfully.

Eowen TMarr
Story Teller
Posts: 3
(1/30/03 1:38 pm)
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Of New Beginnings
Eowen spent the following day passing the time gathering supplies to bake a cake in order to take her mind off of things. After hours of frustration, she gave up. Baking was something she never had the knack for, no matter how her mother had tried to teach her.
Just as she had finished cleaning up the mess she had made around her camp, Ariyana appeared. Eowen felt a bit of the weight on her heart lift as she sat down with Ariyana and related the events of the past weeks to her. Eowen was nervous, what if they turned her away, where would she go, and what would she become? Eowen told her that she had been seeing visions surrounding people, and Ariyana asked what she could see around her. Eowen’s breath left her lungs for a moment, was this a test? Eowen could clearly see there was a golden balance scale balancing on the edge of a knife above the woman. The scale did not move to either direction, so she told Ariyana that she saw balance. That must be what it means I think?
Another woman entered the villa. Clearly the woman was blind as Ariyana got up from her chair to lead the newcomer to her seat. Eowen could see the vastness of the night sky about the woman as she was introduced as Lilith, a cloak of stars and darkness covered her. Ariyana left to get some tea, and Eowen and Lilith spoke for a while. Eowen began letting some of her fear of the spirits disappear from her mind as they spoke. Lilith said that she could contain the unknown presence in her dreams, and Ariyana returned soon with a hot cup of tea. Ariyana said that there were some herbs in the tea that would relax her. And Eowen, having no one else to trust and deciding she needed to start somewhere, drank the cup down. Ariyana then told Eowen to get a room at the Moonglow inn for the evening and turned to Boromir, whom Eowen hadn’t noticed was standing there until that moment, and had him escort her to the inn. Eowen was very drowsy and barely remembered lying down in the first bed that she had seen in weeks.

Her dreams had been calm that night, and she rested. When she awoke the next morning she was happy to find out that she had overslept. And she felt something new. Calm. And fire. Fire burned warm and happily inside of her. The spirits were still there, but most of them were friendly. Some of them seemed to desire nothing more than to advise her and guide her. She reached inside of herself and touched the fire that peacefully burned there and conjured a ball of fire into her hand… where had this power come from? What would she do with it? And why did she not have memories of her father? Was her mother really who she said she was?

Eowen giggled to herself as she walked down the road to the Covenstead. Answers would come in time, and she would have new friends to share the path of learning and life with. Already she had met some members of the Coven that she would gladly hold dear to her heart like family.

Eowen TMarr
Story Teller
Posts: 4
(2/7/03 11:04 pm)
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Of Faerie
The hour was late and the sun had just fallen beyond the horizon. Eowen gently touched the wilted plant that she cradled in her lap; her light caress broke a leaf from the foliage, and with a downhearted sigh she placed it back on the table. “The second one I’ve lost,” she thought quietly to herself. “I can call lightning down from the sky and I cannot make a seed take root. I can cleanse the spirit of poison and heal the body of hurt… and I cannot give life to a plant.” She buried her face into her hands as she began to cry tears of frustration.
“Coo… now there young one…” spoke a gentle voice, “no need to cry.” Startled at the sound of an unfamiliar voice Eowen squeaked and fell from the chair as she jumped back. A melodious laughter followed her display of dexterity. Eowen wiped her eyes dry with the back of her hand and she also began to laugh at her own clumsiness as she took her seat again. “My apologies child,” spoke the creature through its contagious laughter, “I had no intentions of scaring you.”
With a great deal of curiosity Eowen addressed the creature politely, “It’s alright… I was startled that’s all. It was good for a laugh. But, you must forgive my rudeness, what are you?”
Sitting cross-legged next to the dead plant, the creature was no more than a foot in height. Its body was slender in an almost awkward, yet graceful way, and it was covered in short, green fur from head to toe, while it appeared that blue swirls had been painted all over its body. It had pointed ears, longer than any elf’s that Eowen had seen, and two wings that resembled red leaves sprouted from its back. There was a star-like twinkle in its black eyes as it regarded Eowen and replied, “As to what I am, I am of the fai. I am of they that are sometimes called the ancients. As to what is unasked, I am Pook.”
Eowen giggled, “Well met then Pook. I am Eowen T’Marr. How may I help you?”
The faerie smiled as it replied, “Actually, it is: how may Pook help you.”
Eowen bit her lip for a moment, “ I do suppose I am in need of some guidance.”
“Modest is she. Much guidance does she need.”
Eowen blushed.
“Balance she must understand,” continued Pook, “the mother is a cycle, from beginning to end and all around again. What is not accepted will be presented until it has been learned.”
Eowen looked puzzled, “ I don’t understand?”
“I know. That is why it will not grow,” said Pook as he pointed to the plant, “you must accept that death is a necessary end, and the end a beginning of the cycle again.”
Eowen shook her head, “ I don’t like to see things die. That is why I chose the path of life. I want to create and nurture, not destroy.”
“Life is only part of the mother’s cycle. Learn this and know that death is also the mother’s will. Balance.”
“Life and death are the same? This is the lesson that you teach?” Eowen asked trying to clarify what she was hearing.
“She listens but she does not hear. Death is the end and the beginning; life is the beginning and the end. An ending and a beginning. No more and no less. The mother’s cycle has many.” Pook then scooped a handful of soil from the pot and began making a fine swirled pattern on the table. When he finished he looked back up into Eowen’s eyes and continued, “The spiral is balance. Learn balance. Power within you needs balance.”
“What do you know of the power I have?!” Eowen asked in surprise.
Pook smiled and replied, “Power was within you all along, Nelys only awakened you to it.”
“Nelys? Who is that?”
“Answers come as the spiral spins. For now speak to the plants as I am bid to guide thee to do.” And with that, Pook disappeared from sight.
Eowen spent the rest of the night wandering through the Moonglow woods to clear her mind. When she returned to the small tower at the Covenstead she went to the roof to see if NoX was about. She had learned to value his advice and wanted to ask his thoughts on the nature of life and death, but she found him fast asleep in a chair over his work. She quietly gathered up the poisoned daggers that lay strewn about him and put them away, being careful not to prick herself. “I wonder how he ever managed before I moved in,” she thought as she tossed a cloak over him to keep him warm. She then quietly headed downstairs and into bed. Answers would come in time, but speak to the plants?

Eowen TMarr
Story Teller
Posts: 11
(4/22/03 4:42 pm)
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Little Seeker Looks
Months now gone…..
The sun began its slow descent in the sky, and soon nightfall would cover all under her protective blanket. Eowen was alone and her thoughts troubled her. She quietly began to pack her meager belongings while hoping that no one would find her before she was finished, because she did not wish to be dissuaded from the journey that she knew she must take. She hoped that the Coven would understand, even though she was not certain that she understood herself. When she had finished packing, she clothed herself in plain garb and slung her pack over her shoulder and took the dirt road to city of Moonglow, leaving the Covenstead behind, but still close to her heart.
The stars shone in the night sky when Eowen reached the city gates. The city’s nightlife was out in full swing as Eowen made her way through the crowd. Her heart pounded in her chest, fearing that any moment someone would recognize her as she made her way to the city docks. Only once did she quickly pull down the hood of her cloak to cover her face as she walked past two Highlanders who were walking at a brisk pace the other direction.
She booked passage on the first ship leaving port and within the hour she was out to sea on a merchant vessel headed to Vesper. She was afraid, she had no idea what she was doing, but she felt that it was the right thing. As the ship pulled away from the docks she briefly thought she saw the furry little Pook waving goodbye to her. “Arathorn… Aj…. Nox. I’ll miss you. I’ll miss you all.” She whispered to the sea breeze, as the city of Moonglow became nothing more than a speck of light on the horizon.

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