Well, I'm screwing around with Forgotten Realms history here. Though I loved the book, I'm changing some of the facts put down in Evermeet : Island of Elves so the outcome of the war is a lot more favorable for the elves.
Truly, I think every fact of history taking place after the Bhaalspawn saga is fair game for the writer. How can the world, after all, still be canon after the Bhaalspawn war left the Sword Coast in chaos? Besides, I like elves, so try and stop me...
In the meantime, I hope you like the conclusion of this story.
A'mael Mellonamin epilogue : Beloved
1409 DR, Evermeet
Aribeth stretched after she awoke in her bed. Her own bed, in her own home, next to her own husband. As she slowly opened her eyes and gazed at the blue, cloudless sky over the calm sea outside of the window, she reflected on the many changes in her life since she met Alris.
Her love for him had led her from the cold, dreary and ultimately soulless city of Neverwinter to the magnificent natural spendour of Evermeet. Green, tall trees, magnificent cities and unspoiled wilderness. Yes, this was true beauty, and there was nothing like it in the world of humans. She took solace in the fact that dedicated elves were recreating the splendor of their ancient glories all over the mainland, rebuilding ruined cities and forts, and reclaiming their ancient forests.
That was why the attack on Evermeet back in 1371 was such a blow to her, and many elves indeed. But things could have been much worse. Though initial invasion-forces devastated a grand portion of Leuthtilspar and burned part of the forests surrounding it, the damage was largely contained. Still, things were looking grim at the time. A huge invasion-force of human pirates, backed up by servants of Lolth and Malar were headed towards the island, and the traitor Kymil Nimesin, the arrogant sun-elven usurper had infiltrated the queen's inner circle. For a moment, it looked as if the Twilight of the Elves was indeed at hand.
Luckily, word of the impending invasion spread out to the mainland, and Leilani Leafwalker, the only Evermeet high-mage who was off the island at the time gathered a group of mostly elven adventurers and, breaking every rule in the book, transported non-elves to Evermeet, including both the parties of Laska and Alris. After Aribeth and her party carved their path through the initial wave of invaders, they managed to stop the high-mages from forming a spell-circle which had been sabotaged by Nimesin, and which would have killed them all.
Meanwhile, Laska and her friends stormed into the elven courtroom to unmask and confront Nimesin... and they succeeded in even killing the traitorous former high-mage in front of Queen Amlaruil. Or, to be more precise, one partymember killed Nimesin, making one of the unlikeliest of persons one of the most legendary figures in elven lore : Jan Jansen.
Aribeth snickered for a moment. As her friend Jan told the story, he swooped down sitting on the back of his well-trained attack-griffin, chasing the evil elf through the four corners of the worlds, slinging spells back and forth until Jan personally ripped Nimesin's evil heart out and fed his to his griffin.
Of course, what really happened was that Nimesin slipped over a turnip and broke his neck, but that didn't stop Jan.
Aribeth allowed her mind to bring back the images of the slaughter that followed. With Nimesin dead and the high-mages alive, the ships carrying the mostly human invasion-force sailed into the bay, but instead of the easy victory they expected, they found Evermeet's magical defenses at full strength. Boxed in by the Elven navy, cutting them off from any escape, elven mages and the Silver dragon defenders of Evermeet made quick work off the terrified humans. They expected an easy victory, plenty of treasure and getting their share of the elven females... instead, they ended up rotting away at the bottom of the bay.
After the war ended, and the followers of Lolth and Malar had been repelled, came the time of celebration and rebuilding. Even though the loss of life on the side of the elves was minimal, the invasion had a deep impact on the elven spirits, which only led to intensify the need for rebuilding elven settlements on the mainland.
Still, Evermeet was far from depopulated. Evermeet was still the sanctuary of the elves. Alris' mother still lived here, but after helping to rebuild, Alris and Aribeth had left again for adventures on the mainland. Ten years they travelled above and beyond the face of Toril... Kara-Tur, Cormyr, the Moonshaes, Chult. They saw Tomi and Sharwyn turn into old marrieds... old bickering marrieds at that. They saw Linu develop into a strong and confident leader, who was now in charge of Silverymoon's temple to Sehahine Moonbow... but to all good things come an end, even though this was a happy one. One evening, after it was decided that the party's adventuring days were over, Aribeth announced that she was pregnant.
Of course, Alris was overjoyed, as was House Leafwalker. The first Leafwalker child since Laska was to be born on Evermeet. Together, Alris and Aribeth found a lovely spot wedged between the forest and the beach just under the town of Ruith, where they built their own home. They built a lovely, three-storey home with plenty of room for a family to live in. Plenty of magical stone and wood went into the building, which was further adorned with traditional elven furniture and plenty, plenty of plants.
"Good morning," Alris smiled at his wife as he opened his eyes.
Aribeth said nothing. Instead, she flowed into his arms and pressed her lips on his. She deepened the kiss and felt Alris' hands roam over her bare back. "Well," Aribeth said as she finally broke the kiss and laid her chin on Alris' chest. "That's a good beginning of the day."
"I'm glad you're back," Alris said.
"Don't get melodramatic," Aribeth chuckled. "I'm only away four days a tenday," Aribeth mused. She had been offered a teaching position at the Taltempla Fighter's Academy, where she taught combat to young cadets and studied for the rank of Defender at the same time. Aribeth enjoyed teaching, as well as improving herself, but she found herself spending too much time away from her children, so she considered cutting back to attending merely three or two days a tenday. She was young enough.
"Okay, ew!" sounded a voice from the dooropening. The two elves turned to look and found their daughter standing there. Rayruil Leafwalker, a thin, red-headed long-haired teen elf, was barely thirty years of age, but was a spitfire from her birth. She was opinionated and pig-headed, strong of body and mind, proud and able... In short, she was a true Leafwalker female.
"Good morning to you too, Rayruil," Aribeth chuckled.
"Will you two stop sucking face for just a moment and make some breakfast for your kids?" Rayruil said, putting her hands on her hips. "We're getting hungry already!"
"We'll be right down," Alris said. "Are Arwen and Lirlas up already?"
"Use your ears," Rayruil said. "They're out playing on the beach already."
"Okay, call them inside," Aribeth said. "We'll be down soon."
"From the position you're in right now, I think it'll take you about an hour to come down to the breakfast table, right?" Rayruil smirked. "Shall I close the door behind me? Still, I'd expect you to take care of the kids you actually have first before you start making more."
Aribeth giggled briefly and Alris blushed when they heard Rayruil mutter the words 'bloody frisky parents. Put some clothes on and KEEP them on!' after she had closed the door.
"So, do you think we'll have more children?" Alris smiled.
"Well, Arwen and Lirlas are twins," Aribeth smiled. "You know what Hanali says about twins..."
"Yes," Alris smiled. "Arwen and Lirlas are supposed to symbolize prosperity and growth for our family, House Leafwalker and Evermeet itself," he droned the rethoric he had been hearing ever since Arwen and Lirlas were born. "Funny though, despite all what the priests say, I just see two happy kids playing. They can't help it elven twins are so rare."
"Well, if the twins are any indication," Aribeth smiled as she kissed her husband again. "We'll have a big family... shall we turn it into a self-fulfilling prophecy?"
It indeed took them an hour to get to the breakfast-table.
---
"Can we eat the deer mom shot on the way home?" Arwen pleaded with those blue eyes of hers. "Can we? Can we? Can we? Can we?"
"That deer is for supper, sweety," Aribeth said. "You have your milk and fruit now."
"Awww..." Arwen pouted.
"Dad didn't have much luck hunting today, did you, dad?" Rayruil smirked.
"Errr," Alris blushed, "I, uh, tripped over a branch and missed the shot. It's a good thing your mom is good with the bow or we might have starved to death already."
"Nah, there's always the foodstores," Rayruil smiled. Food was distributed freely among the elves of Evermeet.
Aribeth looked at her children as they were eating. Arwen had piercing blue eyes and jet-black hair, while Lirlas blonde with distant black eyes. Already all three of her children showed the immense innate magical talent that was apparent in all Leafwalker women. Oddly enough, and this puzzled the entire Leafwalker family, Lirlas was the first boy to share in this family-trait which was usually only part of the female line. Luckily, Leilani, the grand matriarch of the Leafwalker clan had decided that the children could and should choose their own path in life, and Aribeth was happy about that. She knew she would have fought Leilani in any way possible had the matriarch tried to force her children into the study of magic and she was happy it would never come to that.
Then, her eyes drifted to her daughter's clothing... Tight leather pants, and a vest which was kept open in the front by three straining straps.
"You're not wearing that out," Aribeth muttered.
"What?!" Rayruil shouted. "Why not?!"
"Rayruil," Alris asked his headstrong daughter, "can't we have a breakfast without an argument once?"
"Oh, Rayruil is in trouble!" Lirlas said while the two children giggled.
"You're a bit too young to be wearing a vest like that," Aribeth said. "You'll send out certain... signals, if you get my drift."
"Why? Aunty Laska said I have the body for it!" Rayruil retorted, shaking the red hair on her head like she always did when she was angry.
"But not the maturity," Alris said. "And Laska has a lot more experience with life than you."
"I wish 'Aunty Laska' would keep her big mouth shut once," Aribeth chuckled and shook her head.
"Why can't I do what I want?!" Rayruil shouted.
"Because you want too much too quickly," Aribeth said calmly. "Stop behaving like a human. Stop trying to do everything at once! You're only thirty, for Correllion's sake!"
Rayruil's eyes darted through the room for a moment, before sighing harshly, getting up and walking out of the door. So angry she was, that she never noticed the tall elf she bumped into.
"Whoa, it's nice to meet a receptive audience," Laska smiled while Rayruil wrapped her arms around her.
"Hi, aunty Laska!" she greeted cheerful.
"Now what did I tell you?" Laska raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, errr, hi, Laska!"
"Better."
---
"So, I felt this immense pressure on my shoulder," Laska said as she and her niece were walking barefoot over the sandy beach. "I actually felt the bones crack. I swear, it was sticking out of my skin and out of my armor... worse than that : when I scrambled up, this piece of bone actually fell out..."
"You're kidding!" Rayruil raved. "Err, you are kidding, right?"
"You try having an ogre in metal boots standing on top of your shoulder when you've been knocked down," Laska said. "But Viconia was able to heal it, at least."
"Did Viconia put the bone back?"
"Oh, yes," Laska grimaced, "hurt like hell too."
"Weren't you afraid?"
"Nah, not afraid... well, I was afraid what Rose would say when I got home," Laska chuckled.
"Wow," Rayruil raved.
"Oh, yeah," Laska smiled. "There's always something happening in Cormanthyr. I love living in Myth Romwinya. So, what's new with you? Are you still with that boyfriend of yours."
"Nah, we broke up," Rayruil said. "He moved to Taltempla with his family, so we couldn't see each other as much anymore."
"I take it, it was a long goodbye?" Laska smirked.
"Oh, yeah," Rayruil blushed slightly. "But, I think I'll try having a girlfriend next."
"Good girl," Laska said.
"Say," Rayruil asked hopefully. "Can I sail around Evermeet with the Swiftwind?"
"Sorry, kid," Laska said. "I portalled in. My mom wanted me to pick up some scrolls at the Queen's Library for her."
"Oh," A brief silence followed.
"You know, I don't get it," Rayruil said. "Mom and dad don't mind who I'm sleeping with, but they both object to what outfit I'm wearing!"
"And how many changes of outfits did you have this month?" Laska asked.
"Err, fourteen?" Rayruil offered.
"Are you surprised your parents worry about your speed of pace?" Laska said.
"I guess not," Rayruil sighed. "But... there's so much I want to do! So much I want to try! So many people I want to meet!" she said. "I want to be on the stage! I can sing and dance and act, and I want to learn how to do those things better, and perform on stage for every elven city in the Realms?! I want to learn magic and travel the world! I want to find a lover and someone to share my life with! I want to become the most famous elf that ever lived! What's wrong with that?"
"Nothing," Laska smiled. "But you should take your time for it. Come on, you're only thirty. There's enough time to do all those things. Take it easy, already!"
"But, you're only 67 and you've travelled all over the Sword Coast!" Rayruil said. "How can you say such a thing? Do you know mom and dad want me to stay at home for over a century?! They're quenching the fire in my spirit!"
"No, they're not," Laska said. "They just don't want you to get hurt. Elves aren't supposed to live their lives as fast as you are living it."
"But you're..."
"Sixty-seven, I know," Laska said. "I know, I'm not exactly the most typical of elves, but the pace at which you want to live your life makes even my head spin. Slow down, already! I had to grow up fast, but that doesn't mean you have to."
"But, aunty Laska, I... you're my idol, you know? My big example..." Rayruil said. "And now you tell me that... I'm moving too fast? But, you told me always to grasp at everything life has to offer me!"
"Well, if someone like me is your big example there's something seriously wrong with your life," Laska grinned. "And you actually listen to the crap I tell you? Wow, I'm dangerous."
"But..."
"Look, if life is an apple-tree, you musn't pick all the apples at once. If you do, you're bound to get a nasty tummy-ache. It's better to take the apples one at a time," Laska said.
"Wow," Rayruil said, "that's deep. I think..."
"Thanks... I got it from Jan," Laska grinned.
"Jan?"
"Yeah, just put turnips in the place of apples."
"Ah."
"Just... if you eat so many apples so quickly at once, you won't taste any of them! And that would be a bloody shame."
"I... think I understand."
"Good," Laska said. "Your parents care for you, they don't want to get hurt. And they don't want to see you hurtling through your life at break-neck speed. The faster you move, the harder you fall if something goes wrong."
"But I..." suddenly, Rayruil fell silent and came to a halt. She gulped and Laska followed her eyes to a young moon-elf some hundred meters in the distance. She had lovely long raven-hair and a milky white skin.
"I take it, this is your perspective future girlfriend?" Laska smirked.
"Uh-huh," Rayruil blushed. "That's Anneralia. She lives deeper in the forest, but she often comes to the beach to look for sea-shells."
"Well," Laska said. "In that case, I have to make myself scarce. I'd say this tasty apple looks ready to be picked. Go on, you go try some of your best lines on her..."
Rayruil gulped, counting every step she came closer to Anneralia.
---
"I'm happy," Alris said as he and his wife were standing on the porch of their home, watching the twins play.
"So am I," Aribeth said when she felt Alris' arms snake across her waist and felt him kiss the nape of her neck. "Do you think Laska will be able to help Rayruil?"
"I think so," Alris said. "She sees Laska as her big example. Besides, what thirty-year old child listens to her parents."
"I just hope she slows down a bit," Aribeth said. "I knew I had trouble growing up in the fast-paced human world."
"She'll be fine," Alris said. "She's got a good head on her shoulders, but she's too stubborn for her own good."
"That seems to be a Leafwalker family trait," Aribeth said, turned around and kissed her husband.
"Tylmarande-trait too, it seems," Alris said. "You fit in well."
"Your uncle doesn't agree, sadly," Aribeth said.
"Oh, uncle Brekthiel hates everybody, don't let it bother you," Alris said.
"I never said it did..."
Sounds of running could be heard across the beach, the source soon becoming apparent. Rayruil ran over the porch and had run inside, if Aribeth didn't nap her just before running inside. "Let go! I've got a date with Anneralia and I have to prepare!"
"And when is this date?" Aribeth smirked.
"Tomorrow-evening and... Oh, I gotcha. Slow down... Taste the apple," Rayruil chuckled as Aribeth let her go. Rayruil calmly walked inside, and instead of going through her wardrobe, she decided to finish the breakfast she had left standing.
"You're washing up this morning," Alris called after his daughter.
"Awwww, dad!" came from inside the house.
"You know the rules! First one to stand up from the table washes up..."
"Apple?" Aribeth still muttered.
Together, Aribeth and Alris continued to watch their children play.
