Stillwater says "They are, but that is no concern of an outsider. What did you want to talk to me about?"

"I am looking for an ancient elven artifact, a gate to be precise."

Stillwater says "I'm sorry, I am unfamiliar with that term. Can you describe this gate?"

So I quickly describe the gate in detail to Stillwater, I even describe the elven characters on the gate. It isn't until I describe the characters that Stillwater seems to recognize the description. He then gets up, goes over to another part of the hut, and returns with a chest.

When he opens the chest I immediately see the gate, or at least pieces of it. The entire chest is filled with foot long pieces of the gate, they are easily recognizable. However, I doubt that I can put it back together and have it work properly.

Stillwater says "This has been handed down among the tribe for a very long time. Is this what you are looking for?"

"Well, these are pieces of what I was looking for."

Stillwater says "They are just a bunch of rocks to me. Considering how many orcs you killed, you can have them."

"I will see if the gate can be repaired. If not then I will return them to you and you can use them as decorations or something."

Stillwater says "Swiftleaf will take you to a hut that you can use. You have proven yourself to be on our side so you are our guest."

"Thank you."

After I pick up the chest I follow Swiftleaf who takes me to one of the nearby huts. Like many others it shows signs of neglect and when I step inside it is completely bare. No furniture at all, not even a bed, and as I am looking around Swiftleaf leaves without a word.

Not much in the way of hospitality for a guest, but right now I don't really care. Opening the chest I start taking the pieces out one by one and try to match them up. It would seem that all the pieces of the gate are here, but it still isn't easy to match up the edges of them all.

In the end it takes me about two hours to match up all the pieces and complete the gate. Then I pick up two of the pieces, hold them together, and try to use some mana to fuse them together. Unfortunately, it has no effect whatsoever, the stone of the two pieces doesn't react.

"Seronia, Krenocia, can you see what I am seeing?"

Both say "Yes."

"Is there any chance of repairing it?"

Seronia says "I doubt it."

Krenocia says "Maybe if you had a team of archmages. Alone? Not a chance!"

"Well then, it's official, I'm stuck here!"

Seronia says "It looks that way!"

Krenocia says "Well, not stuck exactly, you just have no quick way home."

"Are you absolutely sure it can't be fixed?"

Seronia says "No, but you can't fix it. It is elven magic, so if there are mages among the elves maybe they can fix it."

"That makes sense. I haven't seen any mages, but I can check."

Krenocia says "Is there anything else we can help with?"

"Um, if I invite you both into a soulscape would you be able to help me reach the others and invite them?"

Both say "Yes, we should be able to."

"Alright, I will create the soulscape after I check with the elves for mages."

It is easy enough to make my way back to Stillwater's hut where I find him exactly as I left him. As I enter his hut I notice that it is fairly bare as well, although he does have a sleeping mat. As I sit down opposite him I try to sense if he has any mana, he does but not much.

Stillwater says "Are you able to use the stones?"

"Not as they are, the gate needs to be repaired. Are there any mages among your tribe?"

Stillwater says "No, I'm afraid not. As far as I know our tribe has never had any mages."

"In that case, there is no chance of fixing the gate."

Stillwater says "So, what do you plan to do now?"

"I am not sure yet. I still need to get home, but that isn't going to be easy."

Stillwater says "Is there anything we can help with?"

"Well, if you don't mind, I would like to know your current situation."

Stillwater says "To be honest, it's not good. We probably won't last too much longer."

"That bad? Are the orcs really that much of a problem for you?"

Stillwater says "No. In fact, without the orcs we would already be gone. Their attack on the humans is what saved us!"

"I don't understand?"

Stillwater says "Before the orcs went to war we were being constantly attacked by human slavers. There used to be thousands of elves on this island. Now there are less than two hundred of us left."

"Are your people that were taken still on the island?"

Stillwater says "No, they were taken away on boats. I don't know where they were taken to."

"That complicates things. If you knew where they were I could try and get them back. Now the only option would be to find a human to ask."

Stillwater says "I doubt you would have much luck, the humans would likely attack you."

"Yeah, I expect they would. I would just interrogate the survivors."

Stillwater says "If you hadn't killed so many orcs I would think you are insane!"

"You wouldn't be the first to call me that. Do your scouts keep an eye on the humans?"

Stillwater says "Yes. Why?"

"What kind of numbers do the humans have? How are they doing against the orcs?"

Stillwater says "The numbers change based on how many boats are there, but it is usually around five thousand. So far they have been holding the orcs off fairly well, mainly due to their siege weapons."

"What can you tell me about the human town?"

Stillwater says "It isn't really a town. More of a fort with docks."

"Is it made of wood or stone?"

Stillwater says "Wood. They cut down most of a forest when they built it. That was what started the conflict between us."

"Alright, thank you. I am going to go rest and come up with a plan."

As I leave Stillwater's hut I am already thinking of ways to wipe out the humans. The easiest way would be to sabotage them and then let the orcs wipe them out. Then I could just finish off whatever orcs are left and the fort would be mine.

However, that doesn't get me any information about where the elves were taken. Assuming it is on the mainland I am also going to need a boat to get there. If the orcs attack, any boats that don't escape will probably end up on fire.

In fact, the orcs may just burn down the entire fort during the battle, which wouldn't be good for me. There are many options to consider, but first I need to talk to the others and explain. It is going to be hard because I really messed up this time and I can't deny that.

'Create Soulscape!'