I am Snowfall, daughter of Raindance and Nightspark, Chieftess of Peacock Mountain Holt. Goldvoice could relate the history of our tribe better than I, but I do know the story as well as any. So I will tell you. Let me start at the beginning, then. Peacock Mountain has been home to generations of elves, since the High Ones' first appearance. When they wandered to the mountain, those that survived were weak and at the mercy of their new environment. They were lucky, then, that they caught the attentions of the Black dragons who had control over much of the land. The leader of the Black dragons, whose name all know, but will not speak, knew that they would not survive much longer unaided, and had them choose a representative to come to him. She was given part of his blood then, and made half elf, half dragon. It was something of an experiment, but the dragons knew no other way. When she survived, and, indeed helped the rest of her tribe do the same, one by one, the others were brought into the dragon's den, and given the same gift, if a bit less than the first one. The dragons realized they had given her more than necessary when her strength seemed to go beyond theirs even. Elf blood and dragon blood were an excellent match, and the tribe flourished.
The first elf to be given the Blood was Daina, whom we refer to as Mother Daina. It is her blood that has that of the dragon running most thickly through it, and her blood that still governs the tribe today, through me, and my mother before me, and her father before her, and so on, throughout the turns.
My mother's story is a different one, however...
The Holt has always had trouble with Red Dragons. They are clever, and prey on elves seemingly for sport. Few turns go by without some sort of run-in, and many of our tribe mates have been lost to these creatures. Rather than live in fear and hiding, we choose to fight them, and have developed ways of defending ourselves. The biggest events in the Holt were always the hunt, the dragons, and the festivals. Until that day when my mother and father went on the hunt. Father was caught up in the chase for a particular doe, and her stag attacked him before he could stop it. Mother attempted to save him, and did manage to drag him away so the others on the hunt could finish the stag, but not before she was run into a sheer wall of the mountain. I wasn't there, and I have never asked for the details of what, exactly happened to them. I know enough. The tribe was left without a healer (Silvan's master, Sunsink, was injured trying to help them, and died of his wounds before anyone knew he had jumped after the stag), and Nightspark died almost immediately. Those who were there will take oath that Raindance, at that moment, opened her eyes and sent, the most powerful send anyone in the tribe has ever experienced to this day. To some of the elders, it was as if she was showing them, rather than communicating, guiding them down a path. To the rest of us, we only felt the feelings and knew their meanings. It was clear what had to be done, but unclear how Raindance knew. With her last bit of life, she told us we were to seek our kind, elves, elsewhere. They need us, she sent. And then, she died. That is all I know of that night, and all I care to know.
Once the tribe recovered from shock, I was made Chieftess, and the planning began. Those who had been shown the path- Arrowheart. Sparkle, Wren, Phoenix, Lily, Cricket, Grunbaum, and Aerie- decided to take up this quest. They were each sure their path lie in the direction of the sun’s sinking. They left not three sunsinks after Raindance and Nightspark were burned and laid to rest.
Effectively, this left the youngest members of the tribe to retain the Holt. All of the elders, excepting Knotwood, left to Wander. I was by no means ready to take control, but my tribe is understanding, and they ask little they know I cannot give. The seasons have come and gone, and ten winters have passed since we heard the last sendings of the Wanderers. We await them, and the others, with no little anxiety. But life goes on, and we have our own problems to deal with, here at the bottom of our mountain.
