• In the midst of an enormous shimmering cloud of stardust, there lies a small chain of planets. Each is different, and each has their own stories, but this story is abut one in particular, a small, blue earth, which supports all the life that we know exists: Terrathan. From the ice floes where the Bu'wark lived, to the far north where the ice wielders had their domain, to the main continent, where the great imperial city of Skygard sat, peoples of all kinds, skins, and magics, lived and made their living, In the various forests and sundry that stretched across different parts of the world, lived all sorts of human-like creatures, like the elusive and noble Felixians, a people with furry, patterned skins, tails, ears, senses, and claws just like ordinary cats. But none of these is this story about. On another continent, a heavily forested one, was the great kingdom of Galadrien, huge but hidden, deep within the recesses of the enormous and ancient forests made of trees of astonishing size. Branches and whole trees curved and shaped themselves into banisters, staircases, and the roofs of great rooms. Beautiful rooms and homes were cut into living trees, and they continued to grow. Crystals grew everywhere, especially around and in the palace. The people who lived here were different from other peoples, and well they should be; they were elves. But they were not plains elves, like the kind who lived on the main continent and had intermarried with humans and such. These were forest elves, ancient and mysterious, and very rarely was there any elf among them whose blood held a drop of human blood, or anything else. Other people, especially humans, rarely found or met the forest elves, so there was very little chance for intermixing of races. The forest elves were a merry people, filled with laughter and mirth, yet they were serious, kind, and wise. There reigned over them a great king and queen, the lord Arvenin, and the lady Niniane, two elves as beautiful, wise, and benevolent as one would wish for monarchs. Now, recently in the elves' kingdom, there had much of great excitement, for the Queen was soon to give birth, to not one child but two, twins, the holy ones had divined. Soon the time arrived, and the city was quiet, waiting for news. The King sat silently, waiting to see his lady, and his children. A maiden came forth, and curtsying, told him that the days of rest were over, that he might come and see his lady Queen. He came, and saw the Queen sitting up in her bed, smiling. He smiled back, and went to her. She glanced toward the other side of the great room, where a small bed, with raised sides and draped in beautiful embroidered green silk sat. The King went toward it, and looked down at the two new infants born to him. They lay side by side, looking at him with steady, bright, golden eyes. He looked from one little face to the other, noting with especial interest that one was a boy, the other a girl, both with the same gold eyes that he and the Queen had. Both had little tufts of hair, like most babies, but the girl's was pink, the same deep pink that one sees in the sky at the most beautiful of sunsets. The King knew what this meant: his new daughter was now a priestess of the moon, until she was twenty years old. The Queen also had pink hair, a pink that matched the rosy paleness of the sky at dawn. His new son, however, had hair of the deepest purple, almost black. Black or purple hair was what most elves had, unless they were born to the temple of the moon, and destined to become a priest or priestess. Nevertheless, the King could hardly contain his joy. A new princess and prince, exquisite twins born to the kingdom of Galadrien. The King reached a hand down to the babies. To his delight, two tiny, strong hands grasped his; the twins had each reached for the father's fingers at the same time, clutching him together. He leaned over and picked them up, looking between the two. He looked at the Queen, and a smile went between them. A few days later, there was a great celebration for the christening of the new prince and princess. The elves came, bringing gifts, gathering round the cradle carved from crystal in the center of the throne room, to look upon the twins. The King and Queen appeared, and everyone drew back to watch and hear the Naming. The Queen approached the cradle, tall and beautiful, with ankle length hair, and gold eyes. She picked up the princess, and then she spoke in her clear, silvery voice. "This one shall be named Lunaire, shining moon." Now the King came forward, handsome and strong, with hair blacker then raven feathers, also with glittering golden eyes. He picked up the prince, and said in his deep, resounding voice, "This one shall be named Endoaur, one earth." Together they raised their arms, and held the twins high. A great cheering filled the hall. Placed back in the crystalline cradle, side by side, the twin prince and princess watched everything nearby with a bright, steady interest. As the years passed, the two grew, always together, and often they brought their younger sister, Arwen, born to their mother when they were two. The older princess, Lunaire, was watched with special care, for she was born a priestess as well as a princess, and thus was she considered holy, and thus the crown princess. She was also proven at an early age to be a prophetess, and she had visions of astonishing accuracy. This ability, though rare, was not unknown, and the reason for the little princess Lunaire's skill foresight was known, though only to the priests and priestesses and her own family. A mark not unlike a rune, shaped like a sickle moon and silver in color, was emblazoned on the base of her neck, between her shoulderblades. By the powers in this mark, Lunaire was granted many rare and unusual abilities, and she retained a powerful connection to the moon and the night. Thus continued the happy existence of the forest elves in peace, but it was not to last. When Lunaire and Endouar were eight, and their sister six, Lunaire wandered away through the great woods, to their very edge. She was not lost, but she was very far from home- and safety. She spied a spiral of smoke, a way off behind a hill. Lunaire decided to investigate, and climbed over the hill to find a small camp. Four men sat grouped around a fire, not far off from a small airship. Lunaire moved closer, wanting to know why the strange men were so near the forest of the wood elves. She saw at once that not all of the men were totally human, and stood staring at them for a few seconds. One happened to look up, exactly in the direction where she stood, and saw to his utter amazement, a small, exquisitely beautiful young child, with golden eyes and waist length rose hair...and pointed ears. Pointed ears. One of the fabled elves! How perfect a find. He leaped up, and his companions did the same, startled, till they looked in the direction that he was. All four ran at her. The little princess was terrified, and darted off as fast as possible. The men followed at a thunderous pace, but for all their efforts, Lunaire was extremely difficult to catch. She was as fleet-footed as a deer, and she kept changing direction, but the men soon changed their tactics, and chased her into a trap. The little princess cried out and struggled, but they bound her arms and drugged her asleep. They took her back to their camp, handling her very carefully, packed their camp, and carried her on board their airship, and took off for the main continent. Back in Galadrien, the princess's absence was noted by her twin and little sister, and they had raised the alarm. The kingdom went into a panic, for Princess Lunaire was gone. Utterly gone. The entire forest was scoured, and soon they had left the forest and searched the surrounding area, but they found nothing but the remains of a very temporary campsite. But there, a bracelet was found, one of silver with delicate tracery on it, given the princess by her twin on their seventh birthday. She never took it off, so finding it was a true sign for the elves that their elder princess had been spirited away by evil characters. All of Galadrien was distraught, and her brother Prince Endouar grieved bitterly for his twin, and her sister Princess Arwen wept endlessly for her elder sister, as King Arvenin and Queen Niniane mourned their daughter. Far away, Lunaire lived, a captive of the slavers who had found and kidnapped her. On the main continent, Lunaire and the slavers approached the great imperial city of Skygard, where the royal Northrain family ruled. She thought there might be a chance to escape here, because Skygard's city gates were protected by guards trained in various magics. Soon they were close to the city, and Lunaire formed a plan. That night, which was the night before her ninth birthday, she undid the ropes round her wrists, then ankles, then she ran for the city. She reached it near morning, and slipped through the gates with a large group of people whose skin was as dark like hers. She kept her long hair over her ears to ward off suspicion. Her hair color attracted little attention, as many people in Skygard had hair colored strangely by magic or dye. Once inside the city, she knew the slavers would probably never find her again. She wandered through the great city, until she found a temple. She went in, and sat and cried, each tear for her mother , her father, her twin, her sister, all of her people that she lost a year ago. The old abbess of the temple heard the child crying, and came to find the lovely little girl weeping on the steps of the altar. The kindly woman took the little princess away to the cloister, where she comforted the little girl, and eventually Lunaire told her her story, and the abbess took her in, and raised her there in the holy place, but the abbess had changed her name slightly, so no one would ever trace the elven princess for harmful purposes. Lunaire had never told the slavers her name, so they were unable to trace her. Lunaire lived in Skygard now, and the abbess raised her to a gentle, beautiful young woman of nineteen, nearing her twentieth birthday. It was soon after these times when Lunaire found friendship and adventure with a most unusual group, and left the city to find her life again with these strange and courageous people.
    To read about Lunaire and learn the whole group's story, read our RP story-
    Terrathan: An epic adventure.