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 Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2010 9:14 pm
Lin quickly took a spot on the ground, she was use to sitting there, as she had spent most of her life playing and sitting outside anyways.
"This is fine thank you," she smiled brightly.
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Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2010 11:03 am
Astor nodded again and sat at his desk once more. He carefully rolled up his scroll and set it inside a drawer in the desk, then sat back in his chair and looked at Lin and Elros (who had decided to remain standing).
"Where shall I begin?" he asked them. "I was not alive when our people reached this island, though I can tell you a bit of what transpired during that period."
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Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2010 11:16 am
"Then the beginning, when they all first reached the island, even if it's a bit. It would be interesting."
And set the backdrop to how this all came about. She thought it would be very interesting.
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Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2010 11:50 am
Astor nodded again and began his tale.
"This was many thousands of years ago, when our people first came to this island. We were different then, Light Elves we were called: our time here has changed us. Our people had been sailing for months in search of new land, without knowing if or where there would be any. When they found this island, they had no choice but to land here: out of food, out of provisions, they would starve if they stayed at sea much longer.
"At first, it seemed like the best place they could possibly have found. The climate was quite moderate, and though it did not rain all the time, it did rain enough that there was an abundance of lush vegetation on the island. There was food ready for them, and once they began to care for the plants as only elves can, the plants became even more fruitful. Truly, this seemed a perfect haven for an angry people.
"They had seen, even as they were drawing near, that there were rocs on this island, and the first thing that they decided was that they would leave the rocs to themselves. They settled in the lowlands, where the rocs did not live: the rocs seemed to have made their home this cliff area, which made sense, considering that they are birds and birds do prefer higher altitudes than most other creatures. But soon it was discovered that even this would not help. The elves were intruders on this island, and though they respected the rocs and stayed away from them, the rocs feared the intruders, and one day, while some people were out collecting food, a roc came and took one of them, eating him in front of the others.
"The elves wanted to kill the rocs, exterminate them, to keep their people safe, but it was Lady Alena who stepped forward and forbade it."
There was a look of pride in Elros's eyes at that, and he was smiling widely.
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Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2010 12:27 pm
It was amazing to think that even far back then Alena had that much say over others, but she was certainly one of the oldest elves Lin had ever met.
"And the eventual partnership with the rocs?"
She couldn't imagine rocs ever fully being tamed they were birds of prey after all.
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Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2010 12:33 pm
"That, I do not know," Astor replied solemnly. "What I do know is this: that someone befriended one of the rocs and began to ride it, and that though the others were at first reluctant to befriend a creature who had already shown itself to be an enemy, they soon had no choice. The gnomes showed themselves and forced the elves to migrate up here to where we are today. And at that point, there was no question of taming the rocs: it was simply something that had to be done.
"Early methods of catching and training rocs were dangerous, and many met with accidents: being sat upon by the birds and suffocated, being eaten, being knocked over the cliff and falling to their deaths ... and then, even once some of the rocs would take riders, there were those who fell from the sky to their deaths. It was discouraging, but they had no choice: if they did not befriend the rocs they would die. With that reasoning, the deaths were not needless, but necessary sacrifices for the survival of the people."
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Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2010 12:39 pm
That had to be difficult, she couldn't imagine how often something like that must have happened. Not to mention how brave someone would have to be to try and tame them.
"It must have taken a long while," Lin murmured thoughtfully.
Not to mention to get the future generations use to the elves so they could continue to be tamed.
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Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2010 12:47 pm
Astor nodded seriously. "When the city was built, there was refuge for us - the rocs did not attack the walls, only things that moved. So by remaining indoors as much as possible, the people survived. That is when I was born ... shortly after the walls were completed and the people were more safe. My father was a rider, and it was he who introduced me to the rocs. But when I was still young, his own life was claimed by a fall from the sky.
"At that point, I determined that I would do all that I could to prevent, as much as possible, those types of deaths again. Though I knew nothing of leather-working or metallurgy, I designed the first harnesses that were used. It took nearly fifty years to perfect the design, and from that point the rocs were safe to ride - at least as far as the falling went."
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Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2010 1:08 pm
It certainly explained how Astor got involved with the rocs in the first place. This also gave her a rough idea of how old Astor was.
"I see...I've seen those harnesses..."
Well and been strapped into them a few times, she was fond of flying on a roc, even though it was kind of a like a roller coaster at times.
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Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2010 1:23 pm
Astor nodded. "Once there were harnesses, efforts to tame the rocs redoubled. The gnomes by this time were becoming quite a threat, but the rocs were the greater, and so they were the focus of our efforts. Decades passed, and slowly their trust of us grew, and more and more of them would accept riders. We found their cave, and began to befriend their hatchlings. In time, we also began to trust them. And now our relationship is what it is today."
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Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2010 1:39 pm
The amount of effort that must have taken, after all today it would be hard to tell just by looking that the two species hadn't been able to live side by side at one time.
"And now can't imagine what it would be like without them."
Next to their fire hair, it was one of the things that made the Sky Elves unique.
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Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2010 9:18 pm
Astor smiled and nodded at Lin. "Indeed. Without them we would not be here. They are invaluable. Against the gnomes, finding food, as transportation ... there is a very good reason why they have become the symbol of our nation."
There was pride in his voice, though he still looked slightly tired and his face was void of emotion.
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Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2010 9:34 pm
Lin nodded at this in understanding, she could see that. Though she noted that besides his eyes, and voice it was very hard to tell what he was thinking, or feeling.
"What is it like now learning to fly and getting to know the rocs?"
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Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2010 10:11 pm
Astor folded his hands in his lap like an obedient child. "I ... am afraid I must admit that I have done neither. After my father was killed, I was unable to go anywhere near the creatures. As much as I admire them, as much as I am addicted to learning of their history, I am deathly afraid of being near them. If you wish to learn about what it is like to be with the rocs, you should speak to a member of the Wing Riders."
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Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2010 10:18 pm
"I understand," Lin nodded.
It made sense, she supposed she would be afraid too if she had lost her parents in such a method at a young age.
"Then how about some other tales instead?"
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