[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/x53CUK7.jpg[/img][/center]

[color=1BEFF2]Time: Morning
Location: River Port
Interactions: Rue[@Potter], Eris and “Valerie”(Raven)[@Tae], Annya[@princess], 
Equipment: 1 hunting knife, a flask of alcohol, a backpack, small tent, blanket, waterskin, rope, fire starting kit, lightmaker, cooking pot, a bar of soap, some drugs; skaula (8 grams) and zemak (a bit less than an ounce), rolling papers, and 191 amas. [/color]

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[color=B3E3E4]Bowyn listened as Annya spoke, his expression stern but engaged. [color=1BEFF2][i]Was this really the entirety of the elves' plan? Have a nice little beach vacation, then train a handful of humans, and just hope the rest of Avalia joined up. As if that could be enough?[/i][/color] It didn’t inspire any flicker of hope in Bowyn, he wasn’t sure he expected it to, doubted there was anything in Avalia that could. Not anymore. Roshmi had already been lost. Dark elves on both sides of the continent, they’d just work their way inward until nowhere was safe. [color=1BEFF2][i]And when had anywhere been safe? Maybe before dark elves, but never since.[/i][/color] Even worse, worse than relying on something as intangible as hope, the elf wanted to talk peace, change the violent dispositions, of dark elves. As if monsters could be tamed, could ever be something that wouldn’t maim and slaughter those they came across. Bowyn knew better, and it had been a mistake to think that even a light elf could see that truth.  

The rest of what Annya said, talk of controlling emotions and meditation was lost on him. All his mind could do was spiral down worst-case scenarios. Foolish light elves who thought they could change the nature of evil, putting all this wasted effort into peace talks and diplomacy, as if dark elves would listen, as if they contained any empathy in that void he’d seen behind dark elf eyes. Then every part of Avalia would be controlled by the Twin-Headed Dragon, and how long would it be before they reached his village? Before his home was overrun by creatures that relished in torture. An entire village of people whose very nature was to be kind and they would be left to suffer just as he had. That sort of evil wouldn’t spare any creature in Avalia, no matter how kind or good, until even people like Rue, would suffer. 

[color=1BEFF2]“You think dark elves are ever going to back down? Listen to talks of peace, that evil, pure evil, can ever be reasonable? Did not watch their little show? A dwarven prince. A fairy prince. A demihuman prince. Slaughtered. So many innocent people who had no claim of royalty, not worth broadcasting, have been slaughtered. For years. Or maybe you’re willing to forgive all that because no one from your family was slaughtered the other night. Peace will come once every last dark elf has been sent to Aklenroth. Believe me when I tell you that these creatures have no shred of anything good in them and I would rather die than let that threat linger so that others will have to one day pick up this burden once more. That is how I feel.”[/color] Bowyn spoke his piece with quiet anger, his voice even lower than usual because his words held experiences almost too painful to voice. Because how do you explain what it is to look into the face of evil, to watch a creature that kills for the fun of it, that finds joy in torture, and to feel that same evil infect you? What words even existed to explain such murky things when even after he tried it sounded so hollow to his own ears? 

[color=1BEFF2]“Every day I live in fear that that evil will make it to my home, to my people, and winter fae are not built for such horror, no decent creature is.”[/color] Bowyn’s next words were spoken in a shaky whisper, offered more to the breeze than any member of the group. He paused, pulling the anger back out of his words because he knew he could not just rage at Annya the way he had with Arn. Annya was one of the few that held true influence on how this would all play out, and Bowyn could not afford to have that bridge burnt to ash. He could not be banished from the conversation, from playing a part in this fight. [/color]

[color=1BEFF2]“And I am sorry for ruining the mood here. I am especially sorry for the humans who have been forced into this. Into a world and a war that is not their own but now, this might be the only chance to fix something that has been wrong here for so long. We must not rely on hope, or expect anything decent from this enemy. Because it will be innocent, unimportant people, who will suffer anytime we fail.”[/color]