Madame Slomp in her schoolhouseMadame Slomp is a fixture in the small town of West Fethil. For the last several decades, she has held the position of village schoolmistress, and has been regarded by the townsfolk as a kind, if slightly batty, old lady who perhaps lives with a few too many cats. Little do they suspect that Elspeth Slomp has lived quite a notable life indeed!
Her tale begins in the self-same town where she now teaches school. She was born to an unassuming Fethilian farming family almost 95 years ago, and of the 10 Slomp children, she was the only daughter. Her childhood passed rather uneventfully, but it was clear to everyone that the young Elspeth was a quick and fiery girl with a deep love of dance and music. She began tagging along with her older brothers whenever they attended red elvish dancing circles at an early age, and looked foward to the next one with much excitement.
Elspeth grew into a lovely lass by the time she was 15: petite, with delicate features, and flowing blond hair the color the grain fields she grew up in. These qualities (but certainly not her dispositional or intellectual ones) attracted the attentions of the son of a well-known, and quite wealthy, military family. His parents approached hers, and a marriage was arranged for the two youngsters, with the wedding date set no more than a month away. While love-matches are common among Elothninians, especially among the peasants in the borderlands, arranged marriages do take place from time to time when the match would ensure some sort of economic or social benefit to one or both families. such was the case for Elspeth: she was essentially being traded away so that her future in-laws could sate the desires of their particularly unruly son, and her family would gain a boost in prestige and reputation by association with theirs. Elspeth was crushed! As the wedding date loomed larger and larger, she vowed to find a way out of her predicament - and against all odds, she did!
On the eve of her wedding, her parents sent her to her room early to rest and prepare for the next day's festivities. Some of Elspeth's friends, knowing how embittered she was feeling, took the oppurtunity to spirit her away to an elvish dancing circle for one last hurrah. They danced with abandon well into the night, around a bonfire with elves and satyrs, but none danced with more enthusiasm than Elspeth.
In the wee hours of the morning, as the dancing circle was winding down, a handsome young elf struck up a conversation with Elspeth. He complimented her on her dancing, telling her that he wouldn't have been able to tell her from the elves were it not for her hair. All at once, she was struck with an idea! She asked if if what he said was really true or if it was just the kind of thing Charmers say, but he laughed and said that he was honestly impressed. Elspeth plucked up all her courage then and asked the young elf if she could join his group of travelling entertainers. He was surprised, and intrigued, so Elspeth explained her predicament and how this would be excellent cover for her to escape West Fethil under, since she could even pass for one of his kind if she dyed her hair!
"We'll take ye, lass," he responded, grinning ear-to-ear as elves do, "but only if ye promise not ta' dye yer hair! Keep it ta' way 'tis, an' we'll claim yer a spirit o' ta' Fethil or summat." With that, Elspeth had been set free of her betrothal and a mundayne (in both senses) life in the dusty hamlet. She bid an emotional and warm farewell to her friends, promised she'd write them under an assumed name, and started a new life with the elves.
Elspeth spent the next 25 traveling with her small dancing troupe, which, in addition to Carador, the elf who she had spoken with that night and who (it turned out) was the star storyteller of the group, was composed of 3 elves who acted out the stories he told, a satyr who played the lute divinely, and 3 elves who danced along to his music. Elspeth herself fell in with the dancers and got along with them splendidly as they refined her natural skills and taught her new ones. The small band roamed the Elothninian countryside, making merry and spinning tall tales, and soon found that they were making even more money with Elspeth than they had before - she had become an attractions of sorts, and Elothninians came from all over to get a glimpse at the 'blond elf girl.'
Soon, however, it became clear that tension was brewing within the troupe which Elspeth, as a human, did not initially recognize. She soon realized that some of the elves were sympathizers with the Rebel Forces, and that the ballads that they were singing actually served as coded news from the Border Wars! Other members of the troupe felt strongly that bringing such news was not their place and that such reckless actions compromised their ability to make their living. Carador, to whom Elspeth had grown quite close and whom the other troupe members considered her married to, felt this divide most keenly: he explained that his twin brother struck out from their isolated village in the northern reaches of the Fethil, an act which tore his family apart. While he listened attentively to the news from the front for any scraps of information about his twin, Rethnaki, Carador also firmly believed that any involvement in the Border Wars was more of a detriment to his race than a benefit.
Tensions came to a head, just outside of a particularly profitable stop in Helletiern City, where the road forks northward, towards Susselfen, and southward, towards Neerhemhind. Half the troupe wanted to go to Susselfen, where they would be able to play a more directly useful role spying for the rebels. Carador's half of the troupe wanted to go to Elftown, in Neerhemhind, and set up shop as settled entertainers. After a long and vicious argument, the troupe split in half, with one band headed towards the foggy town of Susselfen and the other towards the merry streets of Elftown.
Elspeth spent the next 10 or so years with Carador and the others in Elftown performing in the streets and squares. In Elftown, Elspeth became fluent in several elvish dialects and learned much about magic. It was a comfortable life, and her worries about the Border Wars and the elves' place in them soon retreated from her mind...until one night, when Carador's twin came to visit. After the two elves (both equally handsome and charming, with identical features and mannerisms) caught up with each other, the conversation naturally turned to that which had kept them apart for so long: the Border Wars. They argued into the night, but it was the kind of argument, thought Elspeth, which only occurs when you have been at an impasse for a very long time - each twin knew the other's position as well as he knew his own, and went through it with an air of fatigue and resignation.
While listening to them go round and round, Elspeth could not help but notice herself nodding more in agreement with Rethnaki than Carador. She had not thought about the war for over a decade (which, while just a blink in an elf's eye is quite long for a human), and perhaps it was time to reconsider her position on the matter. Eventually, Elspeth realized that she had been drawn further and further into the conversation until she herself was at the center of it!
After several hours of heated discussion, she was convinced to aid the rebels, and decided to travel to Susselfen and open a tavern, where she (using her fluency in several languages) could spy even more unobtrusively on Imperial doings there. When Carador protested, Elspeth pointed out that she (now pushing 50 years old) was no longer fit to be a spry dancing-girl, but perfect as an unassuming owner of a tavern. In Susselfen, Elspeth quickly became the center of the rebel spy network. They had few trustworthy humans to turn to, and her tavern, with its good location and known human owner, was a hotspot of Imperial activity. She wrote everything of interest she heard down on napkins in elvish, which she gave to a ring of delivery boys to the rebel commanders in the area. Few know it, but Elspeth Slomp is largely responsible for about 15 years of excellent strategy on the part of the Rebels.
By the time she was nearing 70 years old, Elspeth felt that it was time to let her high-stakes life in Susselfen go. She bided her time until a suitable human sympathizer to the rebel cause came along and sold him the tavern. She packed up her things and traveled back to her hometown of West Fethil and became, of course, Madame Slomp. While her students regard her as a dotty, unmarried old woman who is amusingly easy to startle, they are not aware that she still attends the dancing circles, listening for hidden news about the rebels, or that she still writes Carador letters every day, and that he returns them just as swiftly.
Her tale begins in the self-same town where she now teaches school. She was born to an unassuming Fethilian farming family almost 95 years ago, and of the 10 Slomp children, she was the only daughter. Her childhood passed rather uneventfully, but it was clear to everyone that the young Elspeth was a quick and fiery girl with a deep love of dance and music. She began tagging along with her older brothers whenever they attended red elvish dancing circles at an early age, and looked foward to the next one with much excitement.
Elspeth grew into a lovely lass by the time she was 15: petite, with delicate features, and flowing blond hair the color the grain fields she grew up in. These qualities (but certainly not her dispositional or intellectual ones) attracted the attentions of the son of a well-known, and quite wealthy, military family. His parents approached hers, and a marriage was arranged for the two youngsters, with the wedding date set no more than a month away. While love-matches are common among Elothninians, especially among the peasants in the borderlands, arranged marriages do take place from time to time when the match would ensure some sort of economic or social benefit to one or both families. such was the case for Elspeth: she was essentially being traded away so that her future in-laws could sate the desires of their particularly unruly son, and her family would gain a boost in prestige and reputation by association with theirs. Elspeth was crushed! As the wedding date loomed larger and larger, she vowed to find a way out of her predicament - and against all odds, she did!
On the eve of her wedding, her parents sent her to her room early to rest and prepare for the next day's festivities. Some of Elspeth's friends, knowing how embittered she was feeling, took the oppurtunity to spirit her away to an elvish dancing circle for one last hurrah. They danced with abandon well into the night, around a bonfire with elves and satyrs, but none danced with more enthusiasm than Elspeth.
In the wee hours of the morning, as the dancing circle was winding down, a handsome young elf struck up a conversation with Elspeth. He complimented her on her dancing, telling her that he wouldn't have been able to tell her from the elves were it not for her hair. All at once, she was struck with an idea! She asked if if what he said was really true or if it was just the kind of thing Charmers say, but he laughed and said that he was honestly impressed. Elspeth plucked up all her courage then and asked the young elf if she could join his group of travelling entertainers. He was surprised, and intrigued, so Elspeth explained her predicament and how this would be excellent cover for her to escape West Fethil under, since she could even pass for one of his kind if she dyed her hair!
"We'll take ye, lass," he responded, grinning ear-to-ear as elves do, "but only if ye promise not ta' dye yer hair! Keep it ta' way 'tis, an' we'll claim yer a spirit o' ta' Fethil or summat." With that, Elspeth had been set free of her betrothal and a mundayne (in both senses) life in the dusty hamlet. She bid an emotional and warm farewell to her friends, promised she'd write them under an assumed name, and started a new life with the elves.
Elspeth spent the next 25 traveling with her small dancing troupe, which, in addition to Carador, the elf who she had spoken with that night and who (it turned out) was the star storyteller of the group, was composed of 3 elves who acted out the stories he told, a satyr who played the lute divinely, and 3 elves who danced along to his music. Elspeth herself fell in with the dancers and got along with them splendidly as they refined her natural skills and taught her new ones. The small band roamed the Elothninian countryside, making merry and spinning tall tales, and soon found that they were making even more money with Elspeth than they had before - she had become an attractions of sorts, and Elothninians came from all over to get a glimpse at the 'blond elf girl.'
Soon, however, it became clear that tension was brewing within the troupe which Elspeth, as a human, did not initially recognize. She soon realized that some of the elves were sympathizers with the Rebel Forces, and that the ballads that they were singing actually served as coded news from the Border Wars! Other members of the troupe felt strongly that bringing such news was not their place and that such reckless actions compromised their ability to make their living. Carador, to whom Elspeth had grown quite close and whom the other troupe members considered her married to, felt this divide most keenly: he explained that his twin brother struck out from their isolated village in the northern reaches of the Fethil, an act which tore his family apart. While he listened attentively to the news from the front for any scraps of information about his twin, Rethnaki, Carador also firmly believed that any involvement in the Border Wars was more of a detriment to his race than a benefit.
Tensions came to a head, just outside of a particularly profitable stop in Helletiern City, where the road forks northward, towards Susselfen, and southward, towards Neerhemhind. Half the troupe wanted to go to Susselfen, where they would be able to play a more directly useful role spying for the rebels. Carador's half of the troupe wanted to go to Elftown, in Neerhemhind, and set up shop as settled entertainers. After a long and vicious argument, the troupe split in half, with one band headed towards the foggy town of Susselfen and the other towards the merry streets of Elftown.
Elspeth spent the next 10 or so years with Carador and the others in Elftown performing in the streets and squares. In Elftown, Elspeth became fluent in several elvish dialects and learned much about magic. It was a comfortable life, and her worries about the Border Wars and the elves' place in them soon retreated from her mind...until one night, when Carador's twin came to visit. After the two elves (both equally handsome and charming, with identical features and mannerisms) caught up with each other, the conversation naturally turned to that which had kept them apart for so long: the Border Wars. They argued into the night, but it was the kind of argument, thought Elspeth, which only occurs when you have been at an impasse for a very long time - each twin knew the other's position as well as he knew his own, and went through it with an air of fatigue and resignation.
While listening to them go round and round, Elspeth could not help but notice herself nodding more in agreement with Rethnaki than Carador. She had not thought about the war for over a decade (which, while just a blink in an elf's eye is quite long for a human), and perhaps it was time to reconsider her position on the matter. Eventually, Elspeth realized that she had been drawn further and further into the conversation until she herself was at the center of it!
After several hours of heated discussion, she was convinced to aid the rebels, and decided to travel to Susselfen and open a tavern, where she (using her fluency in several languages) could spy even more unobtrusively on Imperial doings there. When Carador protested, Elspeth pointed out that she (now pushing 50 years old) was no longer fit to be a spry dancing-girl, but perfect as an unassuming owner of a tavern. In Susselfen, Elspeth quickly became the center of the rebel spy network. They had few trustworthy humans to turn to, and her tavern, with its good location and known human owner, was a hotspot of Imperial activity. She wrote everything of interest she heard down on napkins in elvish, which she gave to a ring of delivery boys to the rebel commanders in the area. Few know it, but Elspeth Slomp is largely responsible for about 15 years of excellent strategy on the part of the Rebels.
By the time she was nearing 70 years old, Elspeth felt that it was time to let her high-stakes life in Susselfen go. She bided her time until a suitable human sympathizer to the rebel cause came along and sold him the tavern. She packed up her things and traveled back to her hometown of West Fethil and became, of course, Madame Slomp. While her students regard her as a dotty, unmarried old woman who is amusingly easy to startle, they are not aware that she still attends the dancing circles, listening for hidden news about the rebels, or that she still writes Carador letters every day, and that he returns them just as swiftly.
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