Silvertree Chronicles Bk 01 Ch 01

Silvertree Chronicles Book One, Chapter 1, The World Awaits (Dragon Wars Enhanced Edition)

Synopsis: The life of Eldar Silvertree from graduation at the prestigious Elven Academy and desires to leave it behind; only to return full circle to shake Elven Society to the core.

***Inspired by multiple fantasy environments. Not endorsed by any of them. © EmotionalStorm April 2021. This story cannot be transferred to any other site besides Literotica.com without the prior authorizations in writing from the author and EmotionalStorm must be credited for this work.

Author's notes:

Chapter 1 is a glimpse into the younger years of Eldar Silvertree. They are drawn from his journal entries. The main story is seen in Chapter 2 and beyond.

For those who have not read my bio, please note I write as a form of therapy for a Traumatic Brain Injury. I know the English majors will probably encounter issues that annoy them. If this is your only focus, instead of the story itself, then this is not the story for you. I am not and will never be a professional writer.

I do it to tell the story, for those who wish to read them. I originally submitted this story back in mid-2017 to mid-2018. I have worked to try and improve my writing style while struggling with this issue. I have added some editing software and written a few other stories. Now I am revising and editing this earlier work to try and bring it up to a higher standard from what I have managed to learn over the last few years.

Prologue

During the 6th Age, 6th Era of the Dragon Arlos, the world of Tildar was a complex place. Wars existed between different cultures with the races being only mildly tolerant of each other. Intermixing of races was highly discouraged.

Even between different groups of the elves such as Drow, Wood Elves, Moon Elves, and Gold Elves. Gold-Elves had 2 Stausts, Gold Elf and High Elf, with the latter referring to Gold Elves of the Nobility and the decadently wealthy. Those offspring from across 2 Elven races were considered 'impurities' within their race let alone breeding with humans.

Breeding with humans, the offspring were considered abominations. Abominations and impures would allow the House Elder to Rule the offense disown-able, Most were disowned, with few exceptions, if the Elven House Elders chose to take it that far. The Records from earlier ages were lost in the Dragon Wars of the 5th Age.

Else rewritten in the early part of the 6th Age to remove many of these "black marks of history" from within their history. Changing races to reflect pure races and in some cases changing the names associated to be more elven sounding.

A "few" of the "Half-Dragons" were kept in the records if those dragon types remained in the 6th Age, were not "historically relevant," and they showed infusions of Magical Dragonblood into various houses. An actual source of pride, for many Elven Houses.

The exception to the rule in regards to mixed races. Dragonblooded Elves was a desired trait for Sorcerers. Also true in Drow, human, and many barbaric lands of the Orcs and goblinoid races. Though the Orcs and the lesser races kept no written histories generally.

In Elven lands, the rewriting of history was ordered to be done by several rulers to remove any records of a "far laxer and less civilized" time in Elven history. Where breeding with Dragons occurred to create Half-Dragons.

Also, marriage to multiple spouses that were required due to the fewer males from thousands of years of wars. That was the general view of the matter. The Council of Dragons, also known as Dragon Council of Nine formed at the end of Dragon Wars.

The Dragon Council of Nine kept a factual list of all of the Dragonblooded in every race had formalized a method for all 'civilized species' held in a restricted section accessible only to Metallic Dragon and Neutral Dragon Royalty, ruling Kings or Queens only and not the general population.

The Chromatic Dragons never tracked their breeding efforts into other races during the Dragon Wars. The Dragon Council of Nine, as part of the Peace Treaty, had cut off the fertility to Half Dragons to be born fertile. This was done through magical means at the end of the Dragon Wars. Though the method was not 100% effective or made clear to any outside races as to the why and how of the matter.

They established a standardized calendar to track the months and years of each era inside of the 6th Age. All races had since adopted this as the standard method for tracking time in accordance with the Peace Treaty ending the War of Dragons. Each Era was 1,000 years and was named after a different dragon that had passed on during the first 900 years of the previous era.

Dragons tend to take their time on matters so 99 years became the standard period for the Council to debate this simple issue. Prior to that time, each race kept track of time differently even changing calendars based upon the ruler at the time.

Tildar had a few peculiarities like 3 moons. The first moon known as Darion was unusual in that it appears low on the horizon but only did so at dusk and dawn. The majority of the land, over 99.99% of the world was north of the equator.

The orbit of Darrion reflected in the night sky most of the night, except at dusk and dawn. Records on the lost southern continent were largely lost and considered irrelevant.

Darion was always a full moon, though nobody could explain how that occurred.

The other two moons were known as the twins and had regular lunar cycles, yet were not tied into a month as the phasing of the moons changed every day, With crescent moons appearing in the night sky every 8 days, facing in one direction or the other. The moons were extremely close together, so both moons would be in the same cycles. Full moons were considered a time of celebration and storytelling as the two moons had the appearance of the "comedy and tragedy" masks.

Chapter 1

Who Am I?

21st Janta 6952

This is my first journal entry. After 20 years of life, one of the oddest things I had found in history is how it is perceived and who wrote it. While most history is recorded by scholars and historians, very little happened to be recorded from the firsthand account of those who were involved.

What can I say, I read a lot and it is encouraged by my mother. I would want some means to have a say in any history written about me, not that I might have an interesting history. I took a quill to this journal to record my thoughts. I decided to start with who am I?

I was born on the 5th of Septa in the year 6931 on the night of the double crescent--which is the easiest part of my life that everyone could agree upon. My mother, Elara Strong Oak of the Wood Elves, and my father happen to be Heliar'vasius Silvertree of the Moon Elves. My name is Eldar Silvertree...sort of. My parents were never married having a yearlong romance during the Hordda Orc Wars, which ran from 6920 to 6930.

Both my parents were in their first century of life with my father approaching the end of his first century, just 20 to 30 years into adulthood when I was conceived. I was not just a bastard but an impure bastard. If I had been half-human, I would have been an abomination bastard!

I lucked out in that regard. My father recognized me as his eldest child, though he was forbidden by his family from even considering marrying a Wood Elf. My mother is a warrior type though she might be more roguish in manner. She was good with a bow and quick with dual blades, leading to my second thought on her being more roguish, that, and the light armor she prefers.

Longsword with shortsword being her favorite combination. While my father is a mage that had some skill with a longsword instead of the quarterstaff. At least the description of him by my mother never mentioned him having a staff or armor, likely a mage of some type.

My features happen to be a stark mix of my parents. I had the olive-tanned complexion of my mother and the silver hair color of my father. My eyes were another matter. Violet eyes are considered a rare feature in the Moon Elf line and non-existent in Wood Elf lines. Normally there were gold flecks in the iris or even no flecks in the iris when it did occur. Mine, however, has silver flecks in the irises.

1st Feba 6968

I spent the first 37 years of my life living with my mother and training with long swords and bows. I have been adequate with a bow, at least proficient but there are far better archers. The swords which I have excelled at, especially for someone of my age. My father came to see me only once during this time when I was 35.

He gifted me with my first true and only prized possession. An elven long sword made of red crystal. The sword was, obviously, very old and enchanted. Its abilities shrouded from any divination spell I could cast. My father stated he would not give me the command word for another 40 years and only if I took good care of it.

Tragedy struck this year when my mother was killed during a border skirmish. I don't know when or where. The information is not being shared with me or in any detail, not even given a funeral. With no Wood Elf relative willing to take me in, I was sent to my father's home in the Capital.

My arrival in the Capital City of Aileron created havoc for my father, mostly for my father's family as he was "away on business." He had been married for only 36 years and I had a half-brother named Elios'vasius who was 3 years old.

His wife was Vattia'Desua Silvertree, who came from a very wealthy Moon Elf family. The marriage was arranged to strengthen magical traits in the offspring they produced. Needless to say, I never met either of them. My father's family sent me straight to the Academy as soon as I arrived at the city gates.

Most students of the Academy lived in dormitories which kept me out of their sight. The Academy went about testing me for different talents to figure out which path my education should proceed. Interestingly enough, my strength in swords was noted as well as my "barely tapped into" aptitude in magic which they divined.

I would have 'some potential' with that. They grudgingly admitted. My time would be split between the melee and arcane schools with a focus on magic initially, to get me caught up to where someone of my age should have been already.

My sword skills were more advanced than someone my age should possess, even though I fought left-handed to infuriate them even more. If they only knew the truth. Testing for arcane talents in the remote parts of the kingdom was rare, my skills were far behind my peers which frustrated me initially.

I started hardening myself to the ridicule that I was subjected to even further from both students and staff. I found solace and freedom in the vast libraries they had. I only hoped this path would somehow give my life some meaning.

---

Deca 17th 6991

I gave up on making friends at the Academy. I had a few acquaintances. The history of the Orc Wars happened to be a topic of interest to me. I have taken the time to read as much as I could on the subject given my parent's personal history in the last Orc War. I went further back into history, over 5,000 years back to look over the history.

I compared them to the maps of those times in regards to the borders of the Elven Kingdom. Hundreds of miles of land had been lost over generations. Entire sections of forests had not been replanted even after the last war. Maybe it was the Wood Elf in me. I thought it should be important to stop the loss of territory. Maybe even reclaim some of it, if possible.

...

Septa 5th 6996

Life in this school continued to be lonely and difficult. Very few students of undesired lineages stayed long at the Academy. Some of the more intolerant bullies had gone to other easier targets as my time here has progressed.

Some due to my last name and others because of my speed with a sword. Today, I turn 55. To my surprise, I was 1 of 6 students brought in for additional evaluation. I had been given no warning as to what this would entail or who would be doing the evaluation.

The 6 of us were broken into two groups and each person faced off against each member of the opposite team in the use of swords. There were over 30 people who watched the evaluations including one Half-Elf of Moon Elf heritage. A rarity to be seen at the Academy. He seemed to be leading the evaluation. The top 3 from swords then moved on and faced each other in terms of magical skill. The top two moving forward to face off in a head-to-head competition with a mix of both. I was selected to face off with a student who was 5 years my senior and from House Goldbar.

He lived for offensive spellcasting. I had been on the receiving end of some of his spells early on in my training and he was one of the bullies who had backed off from that stance after facing me with swords years ago.

Still, he hated me and he was a better arcane, while I was a better swordsman. I mixed offensive and defensive spells. Knowing he would not immediately challenge me with swords I went and cast shield as I expected and got a magic missile thrown at me. I went for a melee attack that caused him to lose concentration and disrupted his next spell. I cast a mirror image after he disengaged.

I pressed forward with my melee strikes as his shocking grasp got one of my images. I gave him no room to cast spells after that and pressed the fight on him and would not give him any quarter to recover. He moved and I countered it aggressively even tumbling at one point to cut off his escape. My melee attacks put him completely into a melee defensive position and out of his comfort zone.

He finally yielded after I disarmed him. The elf that conducted the evaluation was a Half-Elf Blade Singer Grand Master. He came to the Academy to upgrade his status and to select an apprentice. Grand Master Yetto offered to train me. This was a 30-year commitment just to become a Master with a requirement to return to the academy every 20-30 years to be evaluated for Grand Master status.

Once a Grand Master at least one 30-year commitment to training another apprentice was required. Selecting an Academy student was desired but not required. If you defeat an existing master or Grand Master who has gone rogue in combat you were required to claim their ring. Any rings of fallen Masters or Grand Masters had to be returned as soon as practical. Any details of how the ring was recovered or obtained would also be given.

This was considered a huge commitment and a great honor. I had told Grand Master Yetto I had not been informed what the evaluation concerned, as this was my first time in the proving ground. He stated it was irregular to not be informed beforehand. I told him I would be honored to be his apprentice. I fought my opponent left-handed as it created greater issues for him to deal with. I was ambidextrous and just slightly better with my right hand.

Though Master Trainer Yetto did not know this about, at least not yet as I still have some trust issues. Something I picked up from my mother. Maybe this could be a future worth pursuing. I had been getting more frustrated with the path of my training of late.

He seemed to be in a similar circumstance to my situation as he did not fit the paradigm of those who taught here. He had been trained by his father and mother outside of the Academy starting at the age of 7. He wanted to be recognized as a Grand Master which he had just completed at his first trial and against the head of the Blade Singer Council.

Grand Masters could only be recognized through the Academy. He decided he wanted to take on at least one apprentice before he died, maybe two if he felt he had the energy. As Half-Elves have a very short lifespan compared to other elves. Some had made it to 160 years of age or just beyond. Nobody kept statistics on them at the Academy.

While my Grand Master understood my problems with acceptance in the elven community, he would not allow it to be a crutch or a motivation in my instruction. He had faced it himself and he knew it was possible to achieve a balance against prejudices.

He expected My biggest competition was and always would be against myself and my own personal fears and aspirations. Now the downside to all of this was a strict code of conduct. Honor in all actions in battle and protection of the elven people being the two big issues.

While I believed in helping fellow elves, those around me tended to only pay lip-service to the idea. When I finish school, I would look to leave the city as I have no home. I would either be an adventurer looking for lost treasures or a mercenary. Heck, I could be both to advance my skills. I have a long life if I keep my wits about me.

---

Miya 15th 7001

Every five years during this training Blade Singer apprentices faced off against each other in a tournament. My instructor warned me to not expect to win these competitions until my twenty-fifth or thirtieth-year evaluations. I had insisted on fighting them all left-handed and let them think lesser of me until I felt it was advantageous to reveal the truth in the future.

There had only been a few students to ever win it more than once and they had never had anyone win them 3 times since the origins of the Academy and tournaments, at least in the 6th Age. Only the Blade Singer Council had records on earlier ages. There were 30 apprentices at this evaluation and I was 1 of 5 first-time competitors and I finished in 23rd place, the top spot by any five years that came into the contest.

---

Mia 15th 7006 Era of the Dragon Vloxin

It was the day of my 10-year evaluation, 32 competitors in the field with graduates having moved on and 7 new 5th years entered the contest. I finished 13th out of the field but another 10th year finished in 11th. She was a High Elf or Gold Elf with lots of family money, named Traylar'sune Goldensong. I found her fighting style to be unpredictable at times. As though she had been able to anticipate the opponent's next move in some cases As I had watched her previous matches.

---

Septa 5th 7006

I received an envelope in the mail with a Silvertree logo and a slip of paper with the command word and the phrase to enjoy. I didn't put the command word into my journal as I don't want to spread that information around. But I did head out to a practice field and thought the words after drawing the sword and purple and blue flames flickered across the edge of the blade and the red crystal turned black.

The fire puts off torchlight but increases my low-light vision range to almost double. The dark vision was an entirely different matter as they were originally designed to fight abyssal creatures and their minions, such as the Drow. This blade was definitely a one-off from being a 'Hells Blade.'

They were all said to be of a black crystal that repelled other light sources. The sword carried a similar enchantment from blades I had researched, yet it was not one of those blades. It was said that the spell used to enchant the blade was lost to known memory, since before the first age.

Something to watch for in my travels. Today also marked my move out of standard dorm housing and into adult dorm housing. Not many adults still attending the Academy but because of our age and potential for sex, we are relocated.

---

Janta 15th 7009

While this did not affect me personally, I thought it worth noting. The Council of Dragons was late in naming the next Dragon Era--Trorgar. The heated debate resulted in merging two dragons' names to end the deadlock. The first time in known history.

The two dragons in question Rogartus and Trobarim; a gold versus red dragon no less. The council was typically made up of Nine members; however, a council member fell ill and died mysteriously before the final ballot occurred resulting in a 4 to 4 standoff and no additional time was either allotted or scheduled to debate the issue.