Drulissa's Domain

 She saw a dark elf today. Standing on the platform of the grand tree city of Kelethin, she peered over the edge and met eyes with a dark elf female, who looked back into her eyes the moment she peered over the edge. The woman's eyes were a deep shade of purple, and her hair was white. She was clad in black, form-fitting armor, and her face was bluish. The most notable part about her was her hair, which was long and white. The elf and dark elf stared at each other, and then the dark elf was gone, her dark cloak hiding her from sight. They were worlds apart, the elves and the dark elves, yet here one was, peering up at the platforms, and surely would be killed by the rangers of the city. "You saw her?" A male elf stood behind her. He was a ranger, an archer. His name was Kiron. "I did," she answered. He turned to his companions. "Spread out and look for the Tier'dal! We must not let her infiltrate our city." "Yes, sir," the others said. Th...

 Reports came in from the Harbor District that a small, local candle shop specializing in custom candles had exploded, taking out the first floor of the shop and damaging the row houses above. No casualties reported, but injuries have been reported. The shop's owner and staff are still reported missing. Queen Antonia Bayle and the Qeynos Department of Justice are working closely with the Mage's Guild to determine the cause of the explosion. Qeynos City Guard is currently on scene, investigating. The area has been blocked off, with city laborers and those a part of the City Construction Guild assisting in cleanup efforts. Some say that the candleshop must have had specialized crafting stations for working on magical candles, and an accident while crafting led to a severe feedback loop, causing a chain-reaction explosion. Rumors from ships in the harbors, and visible on the docks, indicate that the most severe damage is isolated in the back of the shop, which some say was o...

 She sat in her office listening to the rain outside, her eyes closed and focusing on the sounds of each drop striking the glass behind her. Her eyes were closed, and she was deep in thought. The knock on her door brought her back to the present. "Enter," she said with a sigh. Opalynna, her daughter, entered with a stack of papers in her hands. "I have the reports you asked for," Opal said as she walked across the room and laid them on the desk. "The laboratory results and the reports from the magicians who studied the coffin and the body." Alustrae looked up at her, her eyes feeling heavy. "Put it all over there, in the box by the fire." Opal walked to the fireplace and dropped the papers in the box. She was a bit confused as to why she did not read them, but she did as she was told. "Mother?" "Yes?" "What is wrong?" Alu took a deep breath, about to speak, when Captain Varlikh walked in the door....

The tall ships sat in Qeynos harbor, and the endless procession of traders loading wagons and hauling them off through the streets of the capital made it a hectic day—and a miserable one due to the rain. Draft horses snorted and heaved wagon loads stacked two or three layers high, and anything that could be damaged if wet was covered with tarps, tied down, with sheets of water dripping onto the cobbled streets below. In her hand was a glass. She stared at the nice piece of crystalware. The glass had a small spider etched into the bottom as a maker's mark. This piece had just come back from the lab. The gnomes had their ways of pulling information off of objects. With careful study and alchemical analysis, they could discern a great deal about who held the glass and what was in it, and even recover fragments of things too small for the eye to see. Much of that information was valuable to investigators like her, provided the correct glass was taken into evidence. She sighed. ...

Alustrae's hand shook in anger, and she pushed the third ruined draft off the table. Her office still lay in shambles after the ransacking by Captain Varlikh and his band of assassins, when they looked for the parcel with the flute sent to her by those associated with a case she had been taken off. She had returned the flute to the Ratonga family, since it was the right thing to do. Had Varlikh and his men taken it, the instrument would have most certainly been destroyed or disappeared into the hands of a private collector. She looked across her desk at her daughter, Opalynna. "Mother," Opal said, "I worry about you like this." Alu pulled a fresh sheet of parchment and began writing again. "Any romantic feelings for that man? Ereon?" Opal shook her head, a tear running down her cheek. "No. He is funny. He makes me laugh. People like him bring joy to the world." Alu finished transcribing the last page of witness statements for the ...

 The laborer sat in his seat, eating his dinner of boiled pork, potatoes, onions, and carrots, stabbing his food with a fork. He had finished his day's work, washed, and sat at the table to eat his supper, which was still hot and steaming. His wife and children had been forced to stay in the tent city across the street while they worked on the new house, and he missed them. He knew they were safe, but the separation was too long. He had been working on constructing the new homes for the past six days, and he was happy and proud that the work was nearly complete. He had been given the day off today and slept in the completed home, which would be his once the final inspection was complete. "Charlie?" his friend and coworker Doug, whom he called Dougie, asked, stumbling into the tavern in what seemed like a haze. "Sit your ass down, Dougie," Charlie huffed. "Yer ass is drunk again." "Charlie? Doug said, "Someone outside wants to hear tha...