Silvertree Chronicles Bk. 03 Pt. 02

They are at the embassy which has been reopened. The King will see you all in the morning. The Countess and the other Knight Paladin will be present."

Gia looked at her, "Did you guide his sword?"

Melia asked, "I thought using a hand crossbow would be against his code?"

She held up a hand and nodded, "He knew the sword would not be lost. He made a last request if you will. To ensure nobody died trying to get it into the scabbard. When a wielder dies, the list of those safe to handle it is voided. Until a new wielder is chosen. Angel your gestalt daughter will be in the Academy at fifteen.

She is destined to draw the blade then and become another champion. The will does address the amulet he got for the child. As to the hand crossbow, drow are technically elven. Rule 11 said, 'Must use elven made longswords, longbows, and shields.' But it did not say 'only' or 'exclusively.' We used 'only' in rule 10. Something we have already worked to correct in the rules. He abided by them, but like many Silvertree family members, he looked for and found a loop-hole."

Melia looked at her, "What did he add to the sword?"

She smiled, "He was the first to notice an overlap between two abilities. He thought about changing it to poison immunity. He decided not to. He added the ability from the ring on his left hand. Spell turning. He was saddened by the loss of his brother and sister and hopes his children will fair better.

The balance is restoring itself with so many champions off the field at the same time. There will be a resurgence of champions before then and they will be younger because of his actions. An elven Champion will be born to Vandria Gilmadrith. The next war could be longer than the last one his Grandfather fought in.

The orc, drow, dwarf, and several human deities will have champions on the field. We cannot read Dragon Champions like the others. That was why we did not see this one as being a dragon champion until we spoke with Bahamut, it was not his champion but one who had plagued his champions because of the treaties for almost 5,000 years.

Needless to say, he was impressed by our champion and his solution. Chaos is ahead. On the evening of the next double crescent moons, you ladies will bring the rings and follow his instructions."

With that, she disappeared and left the women to their sorrow. The following morning, they teleported into the conference room with the Queen Mother and the King waited with the others.

The King looked at the ladies, "I am so sorry for your loss and the loss to the elven people. He stopped 2 wars in their tracks or at least made them much smaller to deal with. He unlocked the final abilities in the Elven warhorses, took out the largest slave running government, and hopefully curtailed the forces the chromatics will be able to bring to bear.

Present estimates he put in his note to me show deaths of the enemy being around 125,000 dying due to his strategies, and they were his strategies according to the messages I got from the Lady of Dreams. Some effects, like the drow and the orc valley controls he put in place, could help to protect us even more in the coming war as well.

He rebuilt our fleet in that ocean and brought the light of truth to our world. I was asked not to open this tube until you were present. The amulet he wanted in the bag is still being crafted but has been paid for. I inquired about it because he mentioned it in open court."

The King pointed at the table, "No formalities during this." Everyone sat and the King pulled out the will and cracked the seal on it. "This was to be read a few days after his funeral.

To my Wives,

My father received word to finish tasks prior to his death. I am assuming that is the case if this is being read because I would have changed it otherwise. I hope my death was not in vain. Know I love you all and our children. I fought for a better future for all of them.

Inside is my journals and a letter to the blade wielder, Angel's Gestalt Daughter, and future champion is my educated guess as I was not given the guidance directly. My guesses are usually spot on and I trust this one.

This is to be given to her when she takes up the sword. I am willing the charter for the mercenary company to her when she becomes an adult. She will assume command over the unit. Until then My Training General Tranosa Duskmoon should oversee them.

She must take up the sword when she becomes 15 years of age and training is to begin immediately. This was requested from the Gods and that should not be ignored. As a Blade Singer, my Aunt or the current Master Trainer are the only choices. Only the best will do.

As a dragon blooded sorceress as well, I give my dear Aunt or the Master Trainer one more headache to deal with in trying to temper her magical abilities. That will not likely be possible. Unless she bucks the Silvertree convention and is not headstrong and opinionated on matters. She will strive to be as formidable as possible for the good of the people and tempering that will be next to impossible.

She or they should plan accordingly. The amulet is of physical perfection minor increases to strength, dexterity, and poison immunity. She will not have a boost to the constitution so she might have a 'normal' love life. Given the Blade Singer and sorcerer are based on different attributes I had concerns.

I wanted this to balance her out on the field of physical combat. What ability the gods decide to have it focus upon I am sure it will work out for the best. Some might be wondering why I did not put my decryption ability into the sword.

The answer is if the Gods wish for the champion to reveal secrets then they will. Some secrets are best left as secrets. The blade wielder's journal showed me this much. I am requesting my shield go to my dragon rider Half-dragon son with the borders painted gold. If it served its purpose then it will be an asset to him when the war returns."

The King paused and chuckled, "He killed 3 dragons by getting in the mouth and killing them from the inside out. His father walked into the mouth of a Draco-lich and wedged himself into it while casting lighting into the creature. His grandfather faced down a Draco-liches flaming breath weapon. That shield of his is most ingenious but very heavy." He continued after this tangent.

"I spoke with my friend and training partner. They will become a full-time trainer of paladins taking on four after he is married. Like my Aunt. The King should know this as it is a change in the code.

The King chuckled, "The gods modified that code to add the words exclusively on rules 10 and 11 and removed the word only from rule 10. Something to do with using a Drow Elven hand-crossbow."

The wives nodded and Angel sighed, "We knew about that from the Lady of Dreams. She told us of his loop-hole he exploited to spring his trap." She explained to the King what occurred and King just shook his head in disbelief.

He sighed, "Champions will surprise you, Something my Mother told me. Returning to the will.

I want my Grandfather's bow is to go into the hands of an arcane archer. I also request that a second element is added to it. The option to switch to acid. Working in the same fashion.

This is to give the wielder options when fighting the dragons that will be coming. I gave my deathward belt to Angel to use as I had the saddle. It should be given to Gia's eldest child. All of the enchanter books to Melia's enchantress daughter. That ensures one item ends up in the hands of each of my wives' children beyond the Moon Blade.

There will be money; tons of money. I spent over half of the reward money and award money on my men but not house money or money coming in from the Goldbar issues. I wish for Melia to ensure all the wives are treated fairly in the division of assets.

I want them to divide out 25% of my existing assets so they all have an even amount. 15% to the church on the stipulation that only the best armor and shield be bought for the Paladins with it; else it will go to my wives. That is the highest level of enchanted protection on both; non-negotiable and should be monitored by the Royal family.

Weapons are still the trainer's choice. The other 60% to be evenly divided among my surviving children. Money may be drawn for them to be geared well for survival or to finance their pending weddings.

The remaining balance is to be held until they are seventy-five. Let the Countess know the window will be narrower. If I have passed my heir to the sword is to be the next champion. They would have to be an adult before the dragon's return. Plan your cycles accordingly."

The countess chuckled. The King continued, "Let all of my children know they are to find love, marriage, happiness, and to kill the enemy before they are killed by them. The way a Paladin would.

With all of my love and devotion,

Travious Silvertree, Knight Paladin, Champion of Corellon Larethian, Husband and Father.

They looked at his Aunt who sighed, "I will plan accordingly. Something tells me she will be more of a beast than I was with my father. Her being part sorcerer will prevent me from tapering some of her spells. I will have to work to find a diplomatic solution with her. The amulet will ensure she never competes in any tournament as will the sword because of all the immunities it provides.

The Academies added rules that no Moon Blade holder students could compete in them after Moon Ray's win and Strong oaks performance in the tournaments under my grandfather. Neither of the swords gave any immunities at that time. But they saw it as a valid problem in the future, especially with the unknown god rune.

She will be fully trained. While not an adult she could be the youngest Grand Master to pick up students. I am assuming a champion will be Grand Master worthy. Given our family history that should not be a stretch.

It also lets me know who the likely next student who should get the master training band should be provided they live longer than me. I have seven children thanks to his father pushing me to find love. I owe it to them and all of you."

Melia looked at her, "Keep another slot open for my son when he is ready."

She nodded, "He might be taught by his own sister or one of my other students that graduate out before she finishes. I can only do so many and we have no total for how many we have coming as Gia is all unknown."

Zaria sighed, "I will keep a space for him as well following his sister most likely as he will be 45 then. It might be weird for him to be trained by his sister."

Melia looked at Gia, "Did you ever divine how many children you have? What their classes are to be?"

She shook her head, "I did not want to know. I think that is why he went with something that would work for any of them for my children."

Melia looked at the ladies, "For our children. We will make sure that they all have something from their father. He did not have much time or in some cases insight into how many children he was having in order to get it for them before he died."

The ladies all nodded. The Queen Mother finally spoke, "Something is up with the Silvertree family to have so many children to become Champions. I will say they are a strong and righteous family. Even those who were not a champion."

The Duchess chuckled, "Except maybe the rascal of a brother bard of mine. I will ensure all of the elf and elf-blooded children are recognized. My nephew found the issue with the Goldbar Family. That would have likely gotten him far more one share of that. I will ensure it goes directly to his survivors as the church will be getting enough as it is.

He will be paying for the armor and shields for paladins for the next thousand years from that amount of money. I sit on the council so I know his current holdings are just over 200 million. Without the Goldbar issues as they are still collecting all of that money and information and working out the division. House Silvertree is looking at almost 70% of those assets, and they are in the Billions of Gold pieces."

The ladies went home. The twelve-year mark was a turning point in elven society as the King made the existence of the half-elven/half-dragon progeny known to the Kingdom. This came as a shock to all but a few who were in the know. The King informed the citizens of the expected return of the dragon homeland in just over 60 years.

Raising an army to aid in this fight was the only solution. The direction came from the Gods. Passed upon to the King and the Champion to take care of these matters. The forge was installed 4 years after Travious's passing and was in full service within 6 months after that.

It took almost 10 years to find a small mercenary company that worked with aerial mounts. They were dragon hunters of course. The thought of working with dragons was a hard sell. They were down to a single dragon lance from the leader's family collection of 6.

The other five having been lost or broken over the last 40 years hunting chromatic dragons who plagued smaller kingdoms. Earning them titles, riches, and women. All of that was in jeopardy for them with the shortage of dragon lances. It was negotiated for twenty lances for one trainer for 10 years and another 10 when he finished.

This allowed them and their children to retain their status and keep up the good fight. That one trainer taught the first 10 riders. The training grounds became one of the most secure zones for taking on rogue dragons. They trained over 300 riders for the Shadow Riders during this time as well under General Tranosa as the King increased its size yet again.

All geared for fighting dragons from Elven warhorses. Half-dragons in the elven kingdom numbered in at just over 300. One of those was the Champion's daughter and newly crowned Queen to the Elven Empire. The alliance with the humans took a turn for the worst for a couple of years after Travious's passing.

The human King delayed formalizing the expansion of the Gray Blades efforts along the border. A small group of ogres and orcs numbering under 500 destroyed the southern protection force and the town of Cotton Web. Forces from the main army arrived only in time to view the aftermath of the destruction and to chase the remains oof this horde back into the valley. The champions' prediction had come to reality.

The human nobility knowing of this King's delays in securing and signing this agreement immediately sought for him to step down in favor of his younger brother. That ended 10 years of poor rule over the people and signally a turning point back toward the alliance the humans desperately needed for the upcoming conflict.

They set about building their own wall to block off the southern pass. The dwarves lived up to their end of the deal. They allowed the allies to use the forge on an equal basis. They did charge a slight premium on the raw material of course. The new wall and road were a welcomed addition to the dwarven and human businesses.

Also, a boon to the Gray Blades reputation. Their numbers increased with the increase in the mercenary size to 300 per hosting ally. 1,200 Gray Blades. Underground storage of explosives to be used when the war occurred again was underway. It was slowly being grown over time with the output expected to be doubled in the first 30 years.

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Septa 1st 7116

Jazzia Silvertree was born first to Amy Silvertree. Followed by her twin sisters. Visha Silvertree the future enchantresses, and Sisha Silvertree the future arcane archer. Like the other children, they were given an amulet of poison protection.

Septa 1st 7131

Jazzia Silvertree removed her amulet and took up the family blade and a holy symbol to Corellon Larethian. The new amulet attached in the King's Audience chamber as she drew the blade. Her Great Aunt the Duchess took her into training immediately.

Octa 10th 7146

The call for the Blade holders came. Goldeagle, General of the Elven army led the assault. Every Shadow Rider, dragon mage, and dragon rider trained was brought into the fight. General Tranosa led the shadow riders. Angel led the Dragon mages and riders.

A call came in pleading for help from the 'Queen's granddaughter.' Griffon's Peak finally needed to be addressed. They knew this was likely a trap. Details of the fight were classified by the Kingdom. Tranosa Dusk Moon, Instructor Moon Bow, Grand Master Strong Oak, and Army General Goldeagle died in the fight.

The strain over losing her nephew was too much for the Queen Mother and she died 2 days later. Half-dragon from every mother lost one except for Majisa. Her son being hailed a hero for putting the killing blow into Matroxxxa. The Draco-lich was not present.

Countess Amy Silvertree lost all four of her firstborn children in the engagement. All of the blades were in new hands within a week of the funerals. Angel did not survive the battle and her body was brought home by Angel's husband of two days, as was Gia's body.

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Gia never remarried, in keeping with the Paladin's code of wives being fertile. She did continue her relationship with Melia until she fell in the battle for Griffon's Peak.

She was infertile after giving birth to 5 girls. 2 enchanters, 2 battle mages, and 1 cleric Ranger gestalt. They were divined by Doc in secret after they were born in order to ensure they got to the appropriate trainers as dictated by the Royal Family and Eldar's previous work. All of whom married off into different elven houses when they became adults. The cleric ranger daughter married another cleric in her order for Solonar.

Angel's and Gia's daughters were all raised by Melia. Majisa raised her children in a new home with environmental controls. She took Travious's concern and found a Mage willing to live as a dragon in the ring in which to bond with. She still spent 'quality time' with Melia on occasions as she knew the burden she was carrying, with 12 children, and she still had a responsibility to those 12 children as well as her own.

Here 'husband' did not mind his wife's excursions because he took on an occasional male lover during those times and in elven form. She was the only woman he wanted or needed as she was an aggressive woman in bed in either form.

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Deca 7th 7146

Jazzia disarms her Aunt for the first time with 15 years under her belt. Over the next 15 years, she honed her skills even further. Taking on four Grand Master blade singers at a time and disarming them eighty percent of the time by her 20th year.

While winning every single contest against 3-4 multiple opponents after 24 years. She was strong, patient, a charmer, highly intelligent, and lightning-fast with a blade or a spell without haste. She rarely needed healing as her wounds closed up over minutes and not the seconds his Great Grandfather experienced.

Septa 1st 7161

The youngest Grand Master in the history of the Academy graduated. The Capital Blade Singer Council was not impressed by the precedence. Thus far they had not been informed she was a champion.

Septa 3rd 7161

Duchess Silvertree fell to an orc assassin's poisoned bolt walking along the wall at the border. The poison was something new. It appears to be a combined version of the drow paralysis venom with the necrotic poison. The assassin was killed. He was found on the wrong side of the wall and an examination found a tunnel.

The new commanding General of the Gray Blades Goldeagle took matters into his own hands and pockets. Buying dwarven explosives. They dropped them over the wall and found a series of tunnels having been built across the valley. He orders a dropping of ten percent of the wartime reserves across the valley exposing and burying the tunnels.