Sedia's Auvryarn Asherion's Die/D'Faer Rosin's D'Faer Asherion's Crew Gemshot Seafire MadMouth Sickrot Burdock 'Tracker' Bowen Family Tree

	The door to the tavern open and in walked a group of men looking to get drunk. As they got settled, one man noticed an elf woman sitting at the far end of the tavern alone, she was turned away from him but he could still see the outline of her face in the torch light. He smirked and asked the barkeep if he knew her. "Aye, better to stay away from her mister. Certainly not the best choice to try and court her," he answered with a grim face. "Why do you say such things? Surely a beautiful elf like her can't be that horrid," the man said. "Better you listen to me lads, stay clear of that one. Her past would make even the strongest man tremble to his knees," he said, adding "Poor lass," as he looked at her with a frown. "Well come on barkeep! Tell us the grim tale and test our strength!" another man in the group shouted. This caught everyone's attention, including the elves. She closed her book and stood up. She walked towards the group and turned quickly to the barkeep. She told him, in a sarcastic tone, not to spare them any details and handed him some gold for her drinks. She walked out of the tavern and into the dark as the others in the tavern murmured to each other. As the door closed, the men turned back to the barkeep. They drank their ale and waited for the story to begin. "Well come on barkeep! You heard the lady, no sparing details! Let's have it!" one of them cried with a bit of a laugh. "Aye, she did," said the barkeep and sighed heavily, placing his hands on the bar to steady himself, "If I must. Better sit down lads, you won't be able to stand for long." He took a deep breath and began, "Her name is Sedia Auvryarn. Her family tree is complicated so I'll try to explain it in the simplest terms. Her mother was an elf named Nydin, and her father was named Severinth, ... a dragon," he said slowly. "A dragon! Ha! What an interesting combination, an dragon and an elf! Who would have thought that it would work so well!" came the man with a boisterous laugh and continued to drink his ale. "Aye, but she was not the only child. There was an older child who was less fortunate. Her name is Nasien and she was born with the wings of a dragon and her legs were a dragon's tail. The Elven Council would not let Nydin keep the baby and neither would the Dragon Elders. The Elders took the baby and never told Nydin and Severinth where she was," continued the barkeep. "Sounds like an ophidian with wings," said one of the men with a grunt of disgust. "When it was found that they were to have another child, the Council and the Elders decided to take the baby just as they had before and split Nydin and Severinth forever. But Nydin was warned by one of her friends. So they escaped with friends and went looking for Nasien. They found her with the ophidians and demanded their daughter back. But the queen would not give up the child. Nasien also didn't want to go, the queen had poisoned her to believe that Nydin and Severinth had abandoned her and did not love her. So they left without her, Severinth having to carry Nydin away," said the barkeep. "Why would anyone want to take care of a child like that! Besides an ophidian," said the man with a shudder and handed the barkeep his glass for more ale. "Obviously you have no children," commented the barkeep as he filled the glasses and handed them back. "No, and I don't want any! Little brats they are," said the man. "Well, Nydin and the others had a hard time finding a place to stay, let alone a place to have the baby. Finally a drow approached them and told Severinth of a secluded place that was hidden from everyone but the drow. They could stay there, but in return they would have to protect the drow that lived there." "Ha! Just like the drow to take from people in need!" cried one man. "I beg you keep your voice down! Do not let her hear you say such things! She is of very close relations with the House of Elywyn and does not take kindly to those who criticize the drow," said the barkeep quickly. Then he continued, "They agreed to protect them and a few months later Sedia was born. To everyone's surprise, she turned out perfectly normal. Her mother thought it very strange to raise her daughter with the drow, but she knew she had no other choice. When Sedia was 15, the Council and Elders came to the drow city with the help of some drow that didn't want them there. Severinth was warned by a friend and he escaped with his family. But they didn't get far before they were caught. The Council confronted Nydin and demanded Sedia. They were surprised that Sedia looked like an elf, but still thought she was an abomination. Nydin refused and told Sedia to run, but she wouldn't leave her family. The Council tried to take Sedia by force, but Severinth attacked them, as did Nydin and the others with them. However, they were out numbered and Sedia had to watch her parents get slaughtered. She was about to attack them in rage, the dragon's blood in her taking control, but the others grabbed her and fled," the barkeep gripped the bar hard and his finger tips turned white. "Poor lass," said one of the men with a sigh. "But we haven't gotten to the worst part, have we barkeep?" asked another. "No, this is just the beginning. Nasien had heard about her sister and how well she was doing. She grew very jealous and demanded that her sister be killed. The ophidian queen, not wanted to upset her further, sent some warriors and a mage to look for Sedia and the others. When they found her, she was with her father's best friend, and her own, a spectral dragon named Niz. The soldiers told her that her sister wanted her dead. Niz protected her, but lost his life in the process. As the soldiers advanced on her, the others showed up. Rhea, Sandrea, and Rini had been friends of her mother. Two duergar and a human protecting an elf dragon from twelve ophidian warriors and a mage." "Now that's a battle!" came one of the men. The barkeep looked at him in annoyance and went on, "Having no way of defeating them, they ran. However the soldiers were to fast and caught them. They took Sedia and left the others for dead." "What a life story! Everyone ya know dies and everyone else is trying to kill you!" said a man with a *hic* and slammed his fist on the bar, "This is not the life a girl should have!" "But the other weren't dead. After they had recovered, they split up and went to the Council and the Elders and told them what had happened. At first they wanted nothing to do with it and were happy that Sedia was gone. But when the Elders had learned that the opidians had killed Niz, a very high and respected dragon, they grew anger," the barkeep continued. "That's it! Send the dragons to kill those evil snakes!" cried the man and jumped up quickly. But before he could find his balance, he fell to the ground. "When Nasien saw how normal her sister was, she grew even angrier and demanded that all who look like her should be killed and that Sedia's beauty be stripped from her. The ophidian queen said they could not go to war with the elf's so Nasien killed her." "That Nasien is really screwed up isn't she?" said the man, still sitting on the floor. "She told the army to attack the elves. They did as they were told and the Elders joined the Council against them. The Council said the war was further proof that Sedia should be killed," the barkeep frowned at the thought. "I remember that war. Your telling me that that woman was the cause of the whole thing?!" came one man looking very surprised. "Those elves sure are ignorant! They should kill the other one!" came another man. "Aye, Sedia was the cause. Nasien tortured her sister for weeks, telling her that if she could not be beautiful then Sedia couldn't be either. She placed a snake tattoo between her eyes so everyone could see it, the mark on an ophidian traitor. She had Sedia put through all sorts of horrors. Forcing wood spikes under her nails, dripping hot metal over her cuts, making her swallow filth...Nasien was a horrible creature. But the most terrible thing is what she did to Sedia's beautiful eyes." The men were silent for a moment as they took in what they had just heard. Finally one of them spoke, "What did she do to her eyes?" The barkeep looked to the floor, remembering the first time he had seen Sedia. He wiped away a tear and went on slowly, "Nasien was a strong mage and wanted to show Sedia how good she was. After casting a firefield on her she grabbed a hot iron that was lying near by..." the barkeep stopped as he was trying to keep his tears down. "Your telling me that that evil snake stuck that thing in her eyes!" cried the man on the floor and jumped up, only to fall down again in shock. "Aye, she did. She shaped the end of the iron into a pentagram and with it pressed against Sedia's pupil, she spoke a spell. A spell that would curse Sedia and cause her to see only the pain of world, never the good." The men looked at each other, they did not know what to say. "At the end of a few weeks, with no food or water and never-ending torture, Sedia was ready to join her parents. After her eyes were branded, she could only cry tears of blood and they now soaked her face. But the war had reached the ophidian city and the dragons and elves were winning. Rhea, and the others found Sedia and escaped with her. The Elders and the Council ordered for Nasien and Sedia to be destroyed. But Sedia could not be found and Nasien had escaped," said the barkeep as he filled their glasses once again. "I pray I never meet that snake woman!" said one man and gripped his mug. "How dare they not kill that thing!" came another man angrily. "After the war was over, Nasien began to rebuild the ophidian empire. But the other ophidians were angry with her for destroying it. They turned against her and a war started with in the city. Meanwhile, Sedia was nursed back to health by her friends. She spent months in bed while her wounds healed, thinking about all her friends who were gone. She grew very angry and one day Rhea and the others found her missing. She had taken her fire bow and a horse. They knew she was going to find her sister, but they had to stop her. Sedia made it to the city though, and found it in chaos. She killed all the ophidians she came across and found her sister in the armory. She confronted her and told her that she was going to kill her, Nasien just laughed. No one really knows what happened during the battle, but Sedia came out with her sister's head in a bag," the barkeep closed his eyes in disgust. "Having to kill your own sister, can you imagine?" said one man quietly. "But having your sister want to kill you, surely it was better to kill than be killed," said another man thoughtfully. The men exchanged sad and worried glances, then looked back at the barkeep. "Sedia did not feel that way. She sent the bag to the Elders with a note, saying that her and her friends were to be left alone. But the Council and the Elders still thought of her as a danger and did not want another war to happen, so they sent bounty hunters after her. They were instructed to only kill her and leave the others alone. When Sedia was attacked by one and heard the news, she was furious. Her and the others moved to a place called Trinity. There it would be harder for the bounty hunters to find them because of all the people around," said the barkeep with a frown at the thought of the bounty hunters. "So what is she doing here?" asked a man curiously. "She felt that by staying with her friends she put them in danger. So she packed her things one night and left them. She traveled here and took up residence in an underground city so that it would be harder for the dragon bounty hunters to get to her. But they followed her here and continue to hunt her," sighed the barkeep. "They don't know when to quit do they?" said the man angrily. "If I ever find one of those bounty hunters, I'm going to give them a piece of my mind!" came another. "I doubt you would find any," came the barkeep. "Why is that?" they asked. "Because she goes looking for them, tacking them while they track her. She also protects others by killing rouge dragons and drakes," said the barkeep. "Aye, smart woman. But what about the elf's?" the man asked. "There are not as many elven bounty hunters because most value life and would not take it away from someone, especially another elf. But the few that do try, end up like the dragons," said the barkeep with a small smile. Just then the door to the tavern opened and in walked Sedia. She had her fire bow in her hand and blood on her face. She walked up to the barkeep and handed him a large bag. "That's 1,000 gold for this drake Teirnyon," she said calmly. "Aye, thank you Sedia. Here you are and please go clean yourself, I hate to see you like that," the barkeep said and handed her the gold. "Alright, when I come down I would like some cider please," she said and walked off. "I'll make it the way you like it," he smiled and began to make her drink. "Hey barkeep, how do you know her anyway?" asked one man curiously. "She comes to the tavern often had has protected it many times. So I have gotten to know her very well," said the barkeep. "Sounds like an adventurous woman, I like her," smiled one of the men. "Aye, best not like her to much, or you could fall victim to a certain vampire she keeps around," said the barkeep with a small grin. "Ha! Sleeping with a vampire is she? Well that is the icing on the cake! Must be one happy vampire! I thought for sure she would be in bed with one of those Elywyn fellows!" the men laughed. As they did, fire arrow landed next to them in the side of the counter. They quickly put it out and looked around. Sedia was walking down the stair's looking angrily at them. "Do not speak ill of Wumpscut or the House of Elywyn in my presence!" she said and sat down at an empty table. The barkeep laughed at the look of fear on the men's faces. "I warned you lads. Better get before her temper is lost." The barkeep brought her the cider she had asked for and she thanked him. The men paid for their drinks and began to leave, each taking one last look at Sedia before walking through the door, thoughts of her torture running across their minds. To be continued....