House Mallorn ar' Celeb'ithil

Two riders approach the great gates of House Mallorn ar' Celeb' ithil at a leisurely pace, giving the sentinels plenty of time to study them both.
The horses, both decorated in fine Elvish style in midnight blue and silver, carry two Eldar ellith. Both seem very comfortable on the back of a horse and sit astride with a graceful air.

Obviously dressed for travel, the quality of their raiment is readily apparent. The taller, auburn haired elleth, carries a sword at her waist and quiver and bow upon her back. Her dark haired companion has no visible weapons, but has a very friendly yet confident air about her.

They have approached within hailing distance and stopped their steeds. To the surprise of the sentinels they both wear friendly smiles.

The taller elleth urges her mount forward a few feet and addresses the sentinels.

"Aaye ar', Vedui'!¹ We come at the invitation of your Etriel Mistara. I present the Lore Mistress Nolemire of the House of Taliessin," she sweeps one arm in a gesture of presentation to her companion, who nods her head formally, then brings her arm to her chest," and I am Ambassador Arlywyyn of Taliessin." Bowing her head she continues, " We ask to be allowed entrance into Mallorn ar' Celeb 'ithil."

¹ Hail and greetings

"Open the gates!" Captain Brock roared to his guards at the tower, while he is already on the ground. He walks towards the closer lady of the pair. "M'ladies," as he flourishes a bow,"I am Captain Brock, in the name of Etriel Mistara I bid you welcome. I have been notified of your coming, please follow me in."

The sound of tinkling bells danced as the horses moved forward, mingling with the light laughter from the ellith. The elleth on the grey horse inclines her head toward the captain in thanks. She winks towards the Lady Arlywynn conspiratorily and returns her gaze to the captain before her. As she shifts slightly her hood falls back from her cloak, and the handles of two long knives can be seen on her back. Her cloak is held by a silvery clasp gilded in gold, red and green. It seems to be the shape of a flame or a flower.

A light breeze lifts tendrils of her dark hair as her voice rings clear. "Le suilannon* Captain. We thank you for your welcome" A soft voice continues, tickling his outer conscious though she appears to have finished speaking. "I thank you for your kindness to us my lord. Great is your fealty to your house, and that shall never be forgotten. Govaded vîn 'lass**"

* I give you my greetings.
** Our meeting is a joy.

The Great Hall is bustling with its usual morning activity. Dharasha goes over some reports with the house scribe, while sorting out papers and messages that still need to be handled by the Etriel. So far the morning is quiet until a loud crash echoes from the end of a hallway -- the one that leads to Mistara's study. The fire elf jumps up, almost knocking over one of the neat stacks the scribe has laid out and runs down the corridor towards the study. Kesh, coming out from another hallway just beats him to the door of the study.

Bursting into the room, Kesh followed shortly by Dhar stop short quickly in amazement. The sight before them is not what they had expected at all. The display table in the middle of the room is lying on its side. The Lady of the house sits sprawled on the ground in her usual tattered torn green dress, with claw marks on one of her legs, uncharacteristically giggling, while petting Faenwen, her owl. This is the woman who is usually quiet even when spoken to, and almost always has proper manners. The hand maiden and personal assistant look at each other mouthing something appearing to be, “Mistara?” then quickly looks back at the druid.

"I am sorry I startled you Faenwen," she bursts into another giggle fit as the owl hoots its reply, obviously unhappy. Looking up at the two people by the doorway, "I do apologize if I startled you too."

Dhar takes a moment to recover from seeing a rare side of his love. Mistara’s giggle turns to a laugh at the looks on both Kesh and Dhar’s face as they gawk back in amazement a moment. The two sober up quickly and go see to the druid in case the scratches are the least of her injuries.

Seeing their concern, the druid explains, "Well see, with mating season over, there are a lot of young animals in the forest Dhar. I played with a few and... well...", she gestures at her leg wound. "It looks a lot worse than it really is, I am fine. As for the table... well, I sort of misjudge my landing...."

Helping her up to her feet, Dhar is slightly handicapped by her owl still on her other arm, flapping its wings to keep its perch. She speaks in that magical voice Dhar has heard many times before as she addresses the owl, “I need your eyes at the gate my friend.” The owl seems to protest but soon it flies out the open window.

Sobering her expression a little, the Etriel looks at Kesh, who already put the table back to right, and tells her, "Kesh, we have guests coming. They are still about an hour away or so, but since trees can't really tell time...," she smiles. "Do tell Captain Brock, I want him to greet them personally." Dharasha’ess nods and heads off to find the Captain of the Watch.

Finally looking down at herself, she adds, "I think I better change." She walks into her room with a slight limp, though her face is lit up with anticipation. With a little help from her handmaiden the druid is finally dressed in an appropriate clothing, fit for entertaining dignitaries.

Shortly, Dhar returns, “Done and done, Melethen.”

She nods and says, “Then shall we meet them in the courtyard? They are here.” Dhar nods and follows her down the stairs to the courtyard, ever watchful around them. The Hall’s hustle and bustle is typical for the time of day with the staff and members off doing their assorted chores. Mistara greets them as she passes as the two head out the door, rounding on the courtyard proper. Seeing two fine horses being lead to their temporary new home by a pair of stable boys, the moon elf and fire elf see two elleth in travel clothes cut by a better seamstress. Dhar glances at Mistara and sees her smiling face as she comes to them and greets them formally, “Yomentielm' alassë ná.” <sup>1

1</sup>Our meeting is a pleasure


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A regal pair of elves round the corner as the horses are being led to the stables. She does not recognize the male, though something about him seems familiar. The ellith brings a smile to her face as she returns the grin and welcome.

"Hail Druidess! A pleasure indeed. I am honored to visit your home. Ever is thy sight a joy! You look as beautiful as the day we met in Rosin 'Sohna."

Inwardly she sent a thought of concern, with the only tell tale sign a slight eyebrow. "I noticed a slight limp? I hope you are well?"


Aloud, she continued to speak.

" The Lady Arlywynn and I have travelled many a pleasant mile, though the destination is much more rewarding because of it. I beg of you your hospitality my friend." she said with a smile. " I also wish to commend your Captain. He is a fine representative of your house."

"Hail Druidess! A pleasure indeed.” The dark haired lady begins. “I am honored to visit your home. Ever is thy sight a joy! You look as beautiful as the day we met in Rosin 'Sohna.”

Mistara grins broadly at the mention of their previous meeting, having had quite a few banter exchanges with the Loremistress she replies, “You are far too kind my dear Lady Nolemire. If I do recall it was your beauty that captivates a certain General the last time we met”

With the only tell tale sign a slight eyebrow from Nolemire, Mistara hears the words in her mind, "I noticed a slight limp? I hope you are well?"

With only a slight flick of her index finger as she cast the spell that would carry her thought to its recipient she replies as the Loremistress feeling a slight breeze of the wind that carry the druid’s word whispered in her ears, “I am quite fine M’lady, thank you for your concern. Let’s just say I had a slight error in judgment earlier this morn.”

Dhar looks to the two ellith and realizes that he recognizes one of them from a brief meeting at House Aman a while back.

“The Lady Arlywynn and I have traveled many a pleasant mile, though the destination is much more rewarding because of it. I beg of you your hospitality my friend." she says with a smile. “I also wish to commend your Captain. He is a fine representative of your house.”

Dharasha watches the exchange and knows the spell the druid casts, though not the words. Looking at the two ladies, Dharasha nods and says, “Thank you for your compliment of our captain of the watch. I will make sure to pass on your complement to Captain Brock.” Bowing to the two elliths he states, “I am Dharasha’ess, companion to Mistara. A pleasure to be seeing you again Lady Arlywynn and a pleasure to meet you Lady Nolemire.”

The Etriel adds, “Let us have a seat and some refreshment? You must be tired. Would you prefer our garden or our Great Hall? Or mayhaps you two ladies would like a bath first?”

Dhar glances to see that the visitor’s horses enter the stable, making a mental note to have the saddlebags dusted and brought to the ladies adjoining rooms in the case they both decide to spend the night which would undoubtedly brings much pleasure to Mistara, remembering how excitedly she talks about the Lady of the House Taliessin after returning from her visit to Rosin ‘Sohna.



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Releasing her horse's reigns to the stable hand with a smile of thanks, Arlywyyn glances at Nolemire and nods toward the two elves that are making their way over to them. Arlywyyn immediately recognizes Lord Dharasha’ess from their one brief, but pleasant meeting and smiles a greeting.

She sends Nolemire a quick silent message, "Ah, our hosts. The ellon is Lord Dharasha’ess, Etriel Mistara's very close friend. And that must be the Etrial herself."

As the pair approach, Etriel Mistara speaks a formal greeting. Standing next to Nolemire, politely letting the two House leaders converse uninterrupted, she is suddenly startled by the Etriel's words.
"You are far too kind my dear Lady Nolemire. If I do recall it was your beauty that captivates a certain General the last time we met"
Arlywyyn restrains from openly staring at Nolemire with a surprised and quizzical look, instead merely glancing at her and raising one eyebrow as her blue eyes sparkle with a curious,teasingly amused twinkle.

Arlywyyn continues to politely listen to the exchange, her smile now one of great amusement, until Lord Dharasha'ess addresses her.
I am Dharasha’ess, companion to Mistara. A pleasure to be seeing you again Lady Arlywynn and a pleasure to meet you Lady Nolemire.

" Yes, Lord Dharasha'ess, I am indeed delighted to have a chance to spend more time to build on that first brief encounter," she beams, "I am very thrilled to finally meet you Etriel Mistara. I have been wanting to do so for quite some time. I was excited when your invitation arrived." Bestowing a dazzling smile on the pair, she steps up to both of them and gives each a deep curtsy, stepping back to the Lore Mistress's side.

The Etriel adds, “Let us have a seat and some refreshment? You must be tired. Would you prefer our garden or our Great Hall? Or mayhaps you two ladies would like a bath first?”

" I think just a place to wash our hands and face would suffice for now. The journey was pleasant and not grueling at all. The garden sounds like a delightful place. I prefer to be outside when I can. I am famished though!" Arlywyyn answers with a chuckle as she rubs her tummy. "Is that agreeable with you my friend?" She looks to Nolemire with an inquiring expression.