[Ytrewtsu]

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Adventures Unlimited is a Rom 2.4b6 based mud. We have been around for over 6 years and pride ourselves on having a nice mud with a well developed world . We are trying to attract more players (currently mid 20's peak hours). The following story was posted on our forums by a player with the name of Sarai.

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What can an elf do?
by Sarai

It was late when Miranthe returned from the tower to the inn room she shared with her sylvan friend Sarai. Night had long since fallen - it had been a long day of duty - and she expected Sarai to be fast asleep. But when she opened the door and padded softly into the room, it was to find Sarai on her knees by the altar to their goddess, praying.

Though Miranthe was sure she hadn't made enough noise to disturb her friend, when she closed the door Sarai turned, rising. She smiled in greeting, but in the candlelight her face looked sad. The rims of her eyes were red, from crying.

'Miranthe,' she said, 'I need to go to Deltherian. Won't you come with me?'

It was an unusual request, even from Sarai. Usually she knew when Miranthe was exhausted; when it was too late to do anything but rest. 'I don't think...' Miranthe began, looking at the darkened window.

'Please,' said Sarai. And then she told Miranthe of what she had seen in her mirror: the Dark Lord's visit to Naerlan and the instructions He had issued His worshippers.

* * *

The woods were deathly quiet. Not comfortable there even at the best of times, Miranthe kept her glaive in hand as she followed Sarai to the town. They weren't welcomed on arrival. The streets were bare; the doors and windows of the houses shut fast. The shops had been left untended and when Miranthe tried the inn door they found it bolted closed. But there were no signs of destruction.

After a moment's hesitation, Sarai led the way back into the woods. 'They can't all be indoors,' she said, and Miranthe nodded her understanding. Her own people would never set up camp without posting guards.

Miranthe would not have noticed the scout had Sarai not paused by the path and lifted her lantern to look into the trees. Even seeing Sarai smile, it took her a while to make out the shape of the elf hiding there. And she did not see him move - the next moment he was on the ground and bowing to Sarai.

'Has there been danger here?' Sarai asked.

The scout shook his head. When he spoke, his voice was so soft it barely disturbed the silence. 'Not here. They came, and went past.' He was looking in the direction of the pass.

'Has anyone been to see?'

'Not for hours.' He spread his hands in a gesture of helplessness. 'Priestess, those who went did not come back.'

When Sarai touched her arm, Miranthe turned with her, unsurprised to see that her friend meant to continue on into Illianathoren Pass. Together they took the path into the pass, moving quietly so as not to disturb the orcs on guard near the encampment.

The elves' grove was as silent as the Sylvan Woods. Nobody walked the usually busy track that led to the tree, and doors were pulled to and fastened. Dead bodies lay in the dirt, their limbs severed and abandoned - too many to count easily.

Sarai stood very still by Miranthe's side, her lantern held aloft, silently weeping. For once, Miranthe felt the temptation to do the same. Awkward, not sure to comfort anyone, Miranthe tried to think of something to say. It occurred to her that Sarai might never have seen anything like this before.

As Miranthe turned to her friend, a door opened, and a tall, aged sylvan stepped out. He looked worn and tired, but he stepped carefully around the pools of drying blood on the grass and bowed to the two women.

'We are far too late,' Sarai said. And then, 'Have you any wounded? Anything I can do...'

The elf turned. The nearest corpse lay only a few paces away, one arm gone, and a gaping hole in its chest where the heart had been ripped out. Sarai lowered the lantern, too late. 'No wounded,' the elf said. 'But many dead, priestess. Will you pray for their souls, and for those who have lost loved ones?'

Sarai nodded, and took the sylvan's arm when he offered it. A pace behind, Miranthe followed as they went inside to where the still-terrified elves gathered. To pray for those who had suffered the wrath of the Dark Lord, Ytrewtsu.

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Ytrewtsu

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