<div class="floatleft">(https://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/6/62/BlackbirdFemale.jpg)</div>Blackbird (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=254604.msg12583584#msg12583584)<br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Stats</div><div class="spoiler_body"><strong>Hit points:</strong> 75/75 <strong>Hit die:</strong> 7/7d12 <strong>Initiative:</strong>+4<br/><strong>Conditions:</strong><br/><strong>Abilities:</strong> Rage 4/4<br/><strong>Equipment:</strong> Longbow +1</div></div><br/><hr/><em>"Do you really have to go, mamma?" asked the young half-elven girl, looking up at Blackbird plaintively.<br/><br/>"I do, darling," she replied to her daughter, kneeling and embracing her tenderly. "The Lords Below have chosen me to go beyond the Limits and seek out the Promised Land, just like in the stories Grandpa tells. I'm going to look for the mountains and the forests that our ancestors lived in, before the Great Sheltering. If I'm brave and diligent and pay attention, we will find a way for all of us to go there soon. And I need you to be brave too, dear heart."<br/><br/>An old human man put his hand on Blackbird's shoulder. His few remaining scraps of hair were as white as chalk, and he supported himself shakily with a walking stick. "It will be dangerous. You know why the Sheltering was done in the first place. Nobody can say what lies beyond the Limits."<br/><br/>Blackbird put her arms around the old man and pressed herself close to him, kissing him passionately. "Don't you worry about me, my love," she said with a chuckle. "You know I live for danger. You just make sure I still have a family to come home to at the end of my mission, alright?" She turned her attention to a much younger elven man and gave him a similar embrace and farewell.<br/><br/>The tribe's chieftain, Kestrel, drew Blackbird aside and lowered his voice. "The tribe will survive without you, my daughter," he murmured. "But will it survive with the knowledge you bring back? If we truly can return to the Promised Land, the tribe could split in two. Some will choose the life they have made here on the spires, rather than travel to a land they only know from stories."<br/><br/>"I know, father. But we must give them that choice. And no matter what they choose, they will all still live under the Great Eagle's watchful eye. He will not forsake us, no matter where we roam."<br/><br/>She bade goodbye to her family - her father and mother, her husbands, her brother, her three children and her one infant grandson - and set out towards her rendezvous with the Memento, praying that the spirits would guide her safely home again.</em><br/><br/><hr/><br/>It was night, but Blackbird was far too excited to enter her trance. She had spent the entire night on the deck, having only spent enough time in her cabin to stow her gear securely. The sounds of strange creatures near the ship had prompted her to patrol the deck with her magitech bow at the ready, but so far they had travelled without incident. In quieter lulls, she lay on a blanket and gazed up at the stars, recounting the constellations from her grandmother's stories. It may be that her recollection wasn't quite right, or that the stars themselves had changed in the centuries since the Sheltering, but she was almost certain that she could see the constellations of the Eagle, the Wolf and the Bear, shining down on her just as they had on her ancestors.<br/><br/>As the eastern sky began to brighten, she ran to the starboard rail and leaned out over it, transfixed by the sight. She cast off her shawl and spread her arms wide to welcome the sun, letting its red rays play over her bare torso and illuminate her tattoos. She watched the water come into view, marvelling at the way the light made it sparkle. Her heart began to race as the many colours of the forest were lit up by the sun.<br/><br/><em>The Promised Land.</em><br/><br/>"It's all true!" she cried, tears of joy streaming down her face. She turned and threw her arms around the nearest other crew member, hugging them tightly. "The stories were all true!"