Chapter Twenty Four Point Five : The Fall Of A Clan or Just Another Night In The Life Of A Beguiler

Here begins a hidden chapter in the life of Elysia Brenna or in sylvan “Blissful Beauty of Fairyland” as my Mother told me in my youth but I lived another life in another world across the Plane of Shadow. On that world which has many names from the Feywild or perhaps even the Plane of Faerie living amongst the Unseelie Court I had another name Ali’Ama Er’Odar which in the elven script translates to “Shadow Beauty of the Winter World” and it was while living among my Mother’s people I learned of the Elven Ninja Clan know as Deth’Bes Oth’On which meant “Eternal Oath and Gate Keeper” and while I was smart enough to realize even at an early age the existence of the Fellowship of Shadows and the services they provided for the Queen. It was only recently that I realized the connection and the role my Mother had played in the demise of that Clan which was the price for her freedom. Exactly how I came about this information and the ramifications that may befall my Associate have yet to be written but now that I know the truth I felt compelled to include a record for the future.

Perhaps it might be best to pick up this tale in the Winter Realm of the Unseelie Court where I spent a great deal of my youth. I know in past I have spoken of how my Mother Drusilia Nailo who was spending time among the Summer Court of the Seelie while I spent plenty of time learning the ways of the Fey. It was during the time when I had began spending perhaps too much time with my Satyr companion Oren and the mysteries of Dionysius that I had first heard rumors of a Gate from the Unseelie Realm thru the Plane of Shadow which exited onto the Material World of Hyboria. Now of course this was about the same time that I was really living it up shall we say debauchery and merriment and all at the ripe young age of fourteen years. Which also was about the same time that seeking even more excitement since of course my hubris knew no bounds I came across the followers of Loki. Now the followers of Loki were even more perverse in their practices and fit my lack of morality perfectly which of course lead to a lust for power which lead to my embrace my fiendish heritage. Now how much of that looking back at it had to do with my Fey bloodline my inherent dark nature or my Mothers superior Unseelie nature I cannot really say but the damage was done and thus was born Markessa De’Mornae. Now how this all ties together with my choice to embrace my Fiendish heritage as opposed to my Fey heritage which lead my Mother to depart the Unseelie Court and return to Hyboria I had believed at the time had only to do with me. In reality I now realize she had another agenda for while she was able to shadow walk from the Feywild the Unseelie Queen’s Fellowship of Shadow minions did not all possess this ability. Now what was unknown to me at the time was the Deth’Bes Oth’On monastery which had been located on a remote mountain top was also the location of a portal to the Plane of Shadow. So while in the past I had always known that she had paid a price to the Unseelie Queen in order to gain not only her freedom but mine as well as my sisters she had only barely alluded to giving her former Queen a key which was more than worth the price she had asked for only now did I realize the key had been unobstructed access to a portal to the Plane of Shadow. So while four years later when I met the Associate in his guise as the Elven Merchant Morgan the Nimble who it would turn out was the last survivor of the Deth’Bes Oth’On I never put anything together but now after seeing into the mind of the Associate the veil behind the price which had been paid was finally laid bare.

I have said in the past that my Mother had told me about how the Deth’Bes Oth’On had operated and how their operations had eventually threatened not only several other Ninja Clans but a number of Thieves and even Assassin’s Guilds which in the end had eventually lead to the complete slaughter of the Clan which she had always said was something that had always saddened her. So now even more started to become clear regarding the bindings that the Associate had spoken of in the past for it seemed that he had been a Fellowship of Shadow plant all along. For I now realized that the Associate was in reality a Changling with a Fey bloodline which of course had allowed him to portray the role of an Elf for the years that he had needed to and an entire false life was build for him with magic. Now what role he eventually played in the downfall of his Clan’s stronghold remains to be seen and now that the memories have been forever shattered it will no doubt forever remain a mystery. What I do know for sure is that perhaps my Mother was not only using the Associate as a check and balance system for me to be able to lean on but she might have had another motive in mind and wanted me to be someone in his life who would always accept him in return for services rendered which would have been for the benefit of my entire family. So having realized all of this did it change my feelings in anyway actually not in the least. For as far as I was concerned even if the Associate had in the past performed some service for my family then I truly looked at it this way what had he done for me lately. In reality the Associate had done nothing to me but frustrate, reject and abandon me when I had needed him the most. Alright I will admit perhaps I might be exaggerating but then again this is my story after all. So while the last night when I had been resting I had a feeling that he had wanted to get closer to me but to be honest I am not public with my affections. So alright it might seem strange that for someone as immoral as I am and always ready to start a sexual escapade at a moment’s notice or even attend the wildest of parties would scoff at the showing of public affection but the reality is that I am respectful and well mannered. So the idea of showing public affection which I had learned could lead to your opponents gaining insight into what you valued and therefore gain an advantage in negotiations was something to be avoided at all costs. So in reality by giving the impression that I could love either a man or a woman which in time actually became the case I had always been able to prevent any adversary from gaining such an easy advantage. No of course this meant always hiding my true feelings from everyone which in the past had proven easy for in reality I had only one friend which at the time was the Associate. Even to him on orders from my Mother I had been ordered to master my display of my emotions and to even learn to distract my always present libido and at the time the perverse and macabre rituals of Loki were almost enough to almost drive me to the brink of embracing my darkest nature. Looking back it was at a ritual orgy or festival if you will that I had been invited to in honor of Malcanthet the Demoness and patron of not only evil, chaos, trickery and temptation who had been the patron of my Father that I almost given in to the darkness that I thought I had glimpsed the Associate and remembered the way he used to look upon me with honor and respect in the Elven Court in years past that had jarred me to my senses. I had made an excuse and pulled myself by sheer force of will away from the ritual and used my abilities to alter my appearance and slip away vowing to be better than I had in the past. If in reality it had been the Associate in the chamber of horrors I have never asked in the past but I knew for sure now that it was indeed him. For while I had used my skills and one of the many cover identities that I always kept handy to lose any tail while leaving I know now that he had while not interfering in my life been attempting to follow and keep track of me. I realize now that it was only my change of heart thank Aphrodite that drew me away from the most dangerous sexual or otherwise situations which in the past had been my obsession that allowed me to give him the slip as it were for about a year until we had met once again on the boat that eventually lead to Emerald.

I have come to the conclusion that in reality I owe the Associate perhaps more than I can ever repay but that he has wronged me is still a fact that I cannot forget. So while perhaps it has become more clear to me now why he hates Assassins who were mainly responsible in his eyes for the death of all of the Deth’Bes Oth’On to whom he had come to emulate and respect who actually were able to bring honor to a profession known worldwide for being devoid of such a thing. It even perhaps caused me to realize that I needed to let him make up his own mind on the path he would choose. I also realized that if I truly felt that to be evil was wrong which was something that I still held onto even if I realized it was sometimes necessary to perform evil acts but to seek redemption afterward than my tact toward the Associate would have to change. So while I truly no longer held the love for him within my heart as I had in the past I still worship Aphrodite and her scriptures state to value romantic love, sexual desire and of course physical beauty. To ignore that I still desire sexually the Associate who after all is a Fey Changling and will devote time to subject some other time would be like me asking someone to ignore my beauty when in truth even the most attractive Nymph in the service of Aphrodite would be jealous. Perhaps while I intend to keep my distance for awhile I may not resist for all that long on the condition of course that he share his many talents with my lover Dirty Anna. It’s perhaps a high price I realize but a woman with my beauty and intellect would have to be a little vain don’t you think and after all I am worth it.