Chapter Thirteen

The elves gathered around Gordor, planning their expedition upon the barrow of Melchant. Tam, who at this point had not been included in any of the planning or decision making, was feeling a little disappointed with the treatment he was receiving. “Damn them,“ he muttered to himself, deciding that he wasn’t going to put up with this crap. If they wanted to assault the barrow, then let them, he was going to have a look around the village instead, to see if he could cash in his Groll ears, and to clean out the rubbish that had accumulated in his inventory. Quietly, he made his way out through the smoke filled foundry and back on to the street.

Standing on the road outside, he glanced each way, realizing that without a guide he had no way of knowing where he was going. Seeing a villager passing by, he hailed him and asked for directions to the center of the village, thinking that any important buildings would definitely be located there. The villager gave him a look like the question confused him, but finally pointed towards a smaller road off the one he was currently on, about twenty foot away . “If you follow that road, it will take you to the village green, that’s in the center of the village.” The villager didn’t hang around to see if Tam understood him, but continued on to whatever it was he was doing before Tam interrupted him.

Before he followed the indicated path, Tam turned and took a last look at the blacksmiths. His absence obviously had not yet been noticed, for no-one had come out to see where he had disappeared to. This only convinced Tam that his importance to that group must be extremely low indeed if they didn’t care at all. He patted the pocket where the key lay and muttered to himself. “Their loss, if they don’t want me, I’m not hanging around.” then turning his back on the smiths, he strode off down the road.

It took Tam only about five minutes to reach the village green, a square of grass located in the center of the village, surrounded by the village shops. The two story village hall stood proud, occupying one whole side of the green, the side opposite from the direction which Tam had arrived. Seeing other villagers casually walking back and forth across the green, he took the quickest route to the hall by simply following their example, he walked across the grassed area. He reached the stairs that led up to the halls doorway, and with only a slight hesitation, strode up and through the doorway.

The entry room in the hall was quite small, furnished mainly with only a simple wooden office table, at which sat a greenish wizened creature that Tam could only describe as being sort of gnomish. It had large pointy ears , which perked up at the sound of his entrance, followed more slowly by the lifting of its head from a large tome it was perusing. It removed an ornate pair of bone and glass spectacles that was perched on its rather bulbous nose. Squinting at him from small, rheumy eyes, the creature spoke to Tam in a querulous tone. “Yes, can I help you ?” Its eyes blinked rapidly, as if the light hurt them.

“Is this where I can hand in my Groll ears for a reward ? “ Tam replied, not at all put off by the manner, or appearance, of the creature before him. He pulled out the pair of furry ears that he had been carrying about to illustrate the point. The gnome, if that is what it was, sighed and lifted a bucket from beneath the table it sat at, and held it out. Looking into it, Tam could see a number of other Groll ears within, so he added his two into it as well. Five copper coins slid across the table towards him, clinking and chiming cheerfully as they struck each other.

“Thank you.” Tam offered to the gnome as he pocketed the copper coins, the first coins he had earned in the week or so that he had been locked into this world. This made him think of everything that had happened to him since his real self had logged into the game, and realized that he still didn’t know what he looked like, for he had yet to have an opportunity to see his reflection. First opportunity he got, he promised he would take the time to have a look. I wonder what my real self is doing right now, he mused. Whatever it is, it must be more interesting than my experiences to date.

While he pondering upon his new life, he had slowly made his way out of the hall and now stood at the base of the stairs that he had just descended, absent mindedly rubbing the copper coins together in his pocket, a sight that any observer might have taken incorrectly. Thinking further upon this new life, he realized he was more than a little disappointed with it so far, for he had yet to participate in anything really worthwhile, and his progression so far was pitiful. I hope the real players are getting a better deal than I am, the thought, or they will be leaving the game in droves. I have virtually no money, no equipment and I can not see how I can improve on this anytime soon. If I had the chance I would have packed this in days ago. One week and I have not seen hide nor hair of another player, not even a mention, and there must be at least fifty million players online by this time.

A shout broke into his reverie, his name was being called out, he looked around to see if he could locate where it had come from, and who it was that had called out to him. Spotting Emerion across the green, waving to catch his attention, Tam waved back, then waited for Emerion to make his way over to him. He wasn’t long in arriving, and the elf, a happy grin on his face, clapped him on one shoulder. “Tam, why the heck did you leave ? We were all worried about you.”

Tam just laughed sarcastically. “Yeah, right. You were all worried about me, what bullshit. All you lot were worried about is me leaving and taking away the thing you are all really interested in… the key. That greedy giant spoke the truth when he said all he wanted the key and I could go and take a hike. You all talk about me being an Eldar, and act as if this is something not to be trusted.”

The elf looked quite upset at this, as if the words had hurt him. “That’s not true, Tam, not true at all. Gordor may havespoke a little hastily, but you have just got to understand him, and why he has a great interest in that chest. Come back with me to the smithy and we will explain it fully to you. If you still don’t trust us after that, then no one will not stop you from leaving.” Emerion looked pleadingly at him. “Please, Tam, come back with me.”

Tam took the time to think upon this, and coming to the realization that he didn’t have anything else he could do, he made the only decision that realistically could have made. ”Ok, I will come back with you, Emerion, but if this is just some ploy to get the key away from me, I will leave and this time I will not return.”

Emerion brightened up at this. “That’s fantastic, after we have explained everything, you will see you have no reason to want to leave. Come, the others will be waiting for our return.”

The smithy was just as it had been earlier, so the two of them passed through the smoke filled room and into the kitchen. On entering Tam found the rest of them were seated around the table, the giant, Gordor, occupying the chair at the head of the table, looking rather annoyed. Tam gave him a look of distrust before climbing onto one of the free chairs, his head just managing to rise above the level of the tabletop after he was seated.

Tam turned his gaze upon each of them in turn. “I’m here, so now explain.”

Gordor coughed a couple of times, clearing his throat, before speaking. “I didn’t reveal the full truth to you, Eldar, when you surprised me with the existence of that key, along with the revelation of your race. For that I do apologize, but your race is one that has caused mine, and many others, much trouble in the past. Your appearance right now, after the belief that the Eldar race had been totally wiped out from this world, concerned me greatly. The Eldars followed the old gods willingly, they being terrible dieties who almost destroyed Haven with their beliefs. Everyone rejoiced when they were defeated in the great war, along with their willing subjects, the Eldars, and both wiped out. Your race alone makes you untrustworthy, irrelevant of which gods you now follow, for the fear is still there that you could summon back those old gods to this world.” He looked meaningfully at Tam.

“I know nothing of any old gods, Gordor, nor do I have any intention of seeing if they can be brought back to Haven. In fact, as far as I know, I may be the only person of this race that exists today. Trust me, or not, I can not change your choice, but do not attribute to me any of the problems of the past. ”

Gordor nodded. “At this point, I must take you on your word, but be aware that many in this world will kill you on sight, if they know what you are. No one is prepared to take the chance on whether you may be deceiving them, for the old gods required blood sacrifice and mass torture from their followers, and the Eldar were the greatest of all the races at following these requirements. They will fear that the age of the old ones will return if you are allowed to continue in your existence. I can see from your appearance that you must be of full blood, and not some hybrid, so hide well your race from others, for they will not be as forgiving as we have been. I still hold reservations about allowing you to leave here alive.”

Tam was startled by this statement, the giant talked as if he had personal knowledge of the Eldars. “If the Eldars have been gone for centuries, how do you know what an Eldar looks like ? I don’t even know what I look like, yet ?”

Gordor smiled, a rather unsettling look on such a large face. “I am much older than I look. We giants are a long lived race and I was there, as a child, when the old gods ruled this world four hundred years ago.” He turned pensive at the memories, not pleased at recalling the horrors he had hidden away inside his mind. “I will not allow such to return to the world, if it is within my power to stop.” He got up and opened a cupboard that was on the wall behind his chair, then withdrew a large mirror from its depths. “If you wish to see what a full blooded Eldar looked like, take a peek in this mirror” He placed it on the table in front of Tam. “My memories may be old, but I will never forget the features of a race that almost destroyed the world.”

Tam leaned the mirror so he could get a better look at himself. The reflection showed a human looking individual, with a suntanned tone to its skin, the hair was unusual, being shoulder length but bluish grey in color. The one striking feature that made Tam lean back in surprise was the eyes. They were of a greenish yellow hue in color, with the pupil being cat like in appearance, split from top to bottom rather than round pupil that humans, and most other creatures had. Other than the eyes and hair, he could pass for a normal human. He knew he wasn’t of feline descent, for he would have noticed if he had claws by now. He actually liked the look of his new face. He placed the mirror down on the table top.

“So,” Alarand commented, “now you have seen yourself, the face of a dreaded Eldar, what do you think.”

Tam rubbed his face with one hand. ‘It’s a bit of a surprise, but not as bad as I thought it would be, except for these eyes. You would think with eyes like this I would be able to see in the dark.’ He blinked his eyes a few times, but his sight remained the same.

‘Yes, the Eldar were rumored to have been able to see in the dark, sure, and also to be able to see far distances as well, but other than that I have no idea if it either are true or not.” said Gordor. “But let’s now turn to why I want that key, and why I don’t want you along with me in the barrow. First, I don’t want your company, mainly because you’re just useless. You are dressed like a tramp, you have no weapons or armor, and on first impression, are also relatively weak and untrained. Why would anyone want someone like that to help them in a fight with powerful creatures ?” He indicated Tam with one hand, palm upright.

“We do agree with you, Gordor, but it is his key after all, and how else will he manage to get any better if he just stays back and watches ? If he participates he will gain some experience, and also might manage to pick up better equipment from within the barrow as we travel. Give him a chance, for we will be along to help protect him.” Daeron earnestly explained.

“Fine, bring him along, if you wish, he will be your responsibility, not mine.” The giant looked slightly displeased at this, but continued on. “My interest in this whole thing is simple. I am the sole survivor of the leadership line of my clan. Many years ago the one you know as Melchant, conquered this region, killing off the ruling family and razing their castle to the ground. His plan was to take control of everything, to rule with an iron fist. The inhabitants of this region, my clan among them, rose up and fought against him in a war that lasted for ten years.

During the last battle, members from Melchants army managed to steal into my clans village late one night, killing off all of my family, except me, and absconding with the clan ownership rock. They returned this to Melchant, who stored it in his magic chest, with the intention of having himself named as the new clan leader. Luck was with us on that day, for he was slain before he could perform the spell that would change ownership of the rock to himself.” Gordors face was expressionless as he remembered these times long past.

“Melchants death brought a time of chaos to this region, for the people were left leaderless and without direction, different groups acted as they wished, with one group raising a great barrow over the corpse of Melchant, burying him and all his possessions within. As this was done without my knowledge, I did not manage to regain the clan ownership rock before it was complete, and there it sits, still within the magic chest, of which you now possess the key to.” He looked at Tam. “Without that rock, my clan has fallen on hard times and we roam the hills and mountains as lost individuals instead of a clan, waiting for the time the stone is regained and the clan can be made whole again. I need that key, Tam, to gain the stone, and join my clan back together. I do not care what else is within that chest, I only seek the stone.”

Tams mind had fixated on the mention of a castle, and had missed most of the rest, for he wondered if there was any way he could find out the location of the ruins. He wouldn’t ask that right now, for he didn’t think that this was the appropriate time, but later, when the giant owed him a favor after the stone was retrieved, he would call in that favor and request that knowledge.

“Fine, I will support your attempt on the barrow, as long as the elves come with us. I will do my best to help you regain ownership of your clan again, but before we go, can I have something to eat, for I am famished.”