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I snort at the comment, "I thought you were only four hundred years old?" I ask, trying to figure out how a four century old elf could have been around during the 5th century. Ecthelon sighs deeply rubbing the back of his neck, "you were meant to believe that. Vary rarely will a human find out that an elf is older than five centuries. They," he looks pained; "have issues coping with the idea. So we seldom tell humans the actual age of any of the older elves." Cheshire sighs deeper than Ecthelon, "we wished for him to be your trainer because of the amount of knowledge he possesses. He has probably forgotten more about war than Samuel knows of it."

Cheshire looks to Ecthelon who continues while pacing, "this is the reason for our lack of having many children. Humans for a long time desired to increase their lifetimes. To do so costs you in the ability to have children. " he hold up a hand as if a warning. "While I have no issue with those that are half elvan, I fear the desire to have children will slowly wipe the pure bloods out of existence. My people love children, more than the desire to keep their species alive."

He puts his sword down on the back table and walks out of the training room, Cheshire watches him leave then turns to me. "I doubt he ever meant to tell you these things, and he could get into major trouble for telling them to you." Cheshire gets a far away look, "the elves are not the only people who might die out due to incompatibility with their own kind you know." I thought a bit on my question of more of his kind coming to the City, he continues. "Some people have no thought to their own kind at all, while it is great to be open and welcoming to others." He looks me full in the face, "the loss of any one species is a loss the world cannot truly afford."

He jumps onto the window, "I suggest you swing by the market and examine some of the shops. Ones owned by full elves and those owned by half elves, especially if they make their own products. Miresgalsell would be a good one to see, she's a fine jeweler and has a few half elvan workers. See her work and the work of the half elvan, you will see." He then goes out the window and I stand in the room alone with my thoughts.

{Why do they have to keep secrets, are they really that scared of human behavior?}" I could feel Alberich enter my mind, {yes Gwen they are. I was hoping Ecthelon would tell you this, but you need to know. His parents were some of the first elves, the last ones alive actually. During the time of Arthur, the city they lived in was devout Christians they found out how old his parents were and had them burned at the stake for witchcraft. Ecthelon was out of town when it had happened, when word reached him. He lost his mind briefly, Mordred is the one person who brought him out of his despair. Mordred had a dream like yours, one where all of the peoples of the world could live as one people. Then his father fought him and killed him, Arthur wanted humans first; and in some cases. Only humans.}, he trailed off and I thought more on it.

Then I see a draconic eye looking in the small window, "Gwen are you alright?" I nod my head, "I just found out the real age of Ecthelon; and he was very disturbed upon finding out my new ability." The large eye blinks, "ahh Cheshire told me of this ability. As to Ecthelon's age, does it matter? You have an inkling of my age, does it bother you?" I shake my head, "as it shouldn't. The thing about the elves is they stop physically aging around the age of fifty, they aged slowly before that. About half that of a human, when they first existed in the world they weren't as long aged. Though they did still age at half the human speed, they discovered a way to genetically alter their cells so they could live quadruple their normal age. They hadn't found out till after they used it on everyone that it had a side effect."

I look at Starburst, "is it like what they are giving to Harriet?" The eye blinks again, "no; that concoction is a later discovery. It won't alter you on a genetic level, it just lets your cells keep working at top efficiency." I nod my head, and head for the door.

"Cheshire suggested I look at the difference between the full and half elves," I turn to Starburst as I walk out of the door. He nods his head, "a good idea. There is a difference between their skill levels Gwen. So much it may surprise you, oh. I scheduled a meeting for you at A Pleasant Plate for tonight. I shall go tell Ecthelon for you, " he heads off hopping across buildings again.

After a quick bath I head to the market district, specifically Miresgalsell's shop. It was situated in a building where a number of younger elves and half elves were carving patterns on the facing of the building. I hear one of the younger half elves ask, "why are we putting all these things on the building anyway?" Everyone pauses in their work for a moment and one of the older elves answer, "the spirit of the building calls to us to show it's true form child. I know you cannot hear the sounds from it, but it is there."

I pause watching and thinking on what the older elf said, and I did notice that the half elves were working on an intricate leaf pattern surrounding the rest of the images. Only the full elves were making the larger shapes, of which you could not as yet tell what they were.

I head into the shop and Miresgalsell spy's me as soon as I walk into the door. She practically floats over to me, "so I guess you are here for one of two reasons Hunter Gwen. Either because Rassaes told you of your sword here or because you were let into the information about our ages." I nod at the second and she nods her head. "I thought as much, lets use your sword to demonstrate." She turns her head and calls out, "Edgar; come bring that dagger you're working on to my workbench."

The half elf looks worried and hurries to do as Miresgalsell says, she walks me to the rear of the shop where my falchion was sitting in some kind of a stand under a intense light. I stare at the difference, Rassaes was right. The man I had turn the tooth in a sword didn't do a good job. It now looked like the falchion's curves were a part of the tooth to begin with. Miresgalsell was adding accents to the hilt and pommel. It looked like she was melding a smoky quartz into a green jade to duplicate Granite's pattern. I wipe a tear from my eye Miresgalsell comments gently, "I heard from Starburst what his pattern looked like. I hope I am doing it justice," I nod my head slowly. It reminded me of the old Dragon, Miresgalsell speaks again. "It's not quiet done yet, I have a stone on order for the pommel. You will be pleasantly surprised when you see it finished." It's beauty already surprised me, how could she make it more so?

The half elf came over with a box in his hand which he sets on the workbench next to my sword and opens it. Inside was a dagger, obviously of dwarven make. Yet while the finishing bits were pretty it wasn't the emotional beauty that my sword has. I look up at Miresgalsell with a questioning look, she waves back into the main work area and the show floor. "Your answer lies in there Hunter, I am sure you have an idea; it just needs confirming."

I slowly turn and head first into the work area, standing on the edge of the work area I notice something. The three full blooded elves working on pieces were behind partitions, while the ten half elves work on theirs in the open. I wander over to the area the elves were and I carefully knock on the partition to let the worker know I was there. The young looking female sees me and smiles waving me in, "ah Hunter Gwen. Miresgalsell warned us you may come by to look at our work today." She levers me with an intense gaze, "some of us 'older' elves are scared of losing our people you know." She then directs my gaze to the ring she was working on, it was made from what appeared to be platinum; but twisted to resemble a braid. The woman was a fixing a pattern of small gemstones into the setting, it resembled a flower. So much that you could not see the individual gem stones, it was just a glittering flower.

She points to a half elf near her, "that one is working on a similar ring if you want comparison." I nod a thank you and wander over tot he half elf who saw me coming and starts shaking as if afraid. I give the young man a frown, "what are you afraid of?" The man stammers out, "that M'lady Hunter will think my work isn't beautiful" I wave my hand at the poor man, and walk around him; he was attempting to hide his work behind him. I look at the ring and I did notice the differences right away. First the 'braid' of platinum in comparison looked rougher, then the flower made from gemstones. Well the full elf's ring was a flower that sparkled like it was a gemstone, this was gemstones that resembled a flower.

I pat the shoulder of the half elf, "no worries. It is beautiful, just not the same way as her ring is." I say pointing back at the full elf, "just because you are different does not make you inferior.. If you were inferior would Miresgalsell have had you working here?" He shakes his head, "then you have no worries. I imagine the cost of your ring will be less than her ring?" The half elf nods I continue, "this allows people who cannot afford the item made by the full elf to have something similar. It is still beautiful, just differently so." The half elf perks up hearing that, I then wander into the showroom area.

Miresgalsell had humans working in this area, and I notice that the full elf made items were stored behind glass. Yes, I could tell the difference between the two now. The diffidence was striking, it was if the full blooded elves saw something about the world that was different than that the half bloods could. I decided to try the potter's area next, as I knew we had three there. One full elf, one half elf, and a human; this should show me a great deal more diffidence.

I wandered towards the area the potters worked at, taking note that all of the crockery made was being sold out of one store. I walk into the store, a dwarf was running it and nodded to me as I walk in. "Greetin's Hunter Gwen, that summtin I cans help ye with?" I shake my head, "I was recently told about some differences in manufacture and thought I'd look myself." The dwarf smiles a knowing smile, "ah the elf boy dun spilt the beans dinnae he?" I nod my head, "kind of yes." The dwarf nods her head and waves around the shop, "well there ya be Hunter go on an take a gander than."

I do just that, walking about the room. I could see a difference between the pottery types, one looks just like something you'd find in the guard meal hall. Very basic in design, functional but no real beauty in them. The next was patterned but while it wasn't truly fancy it was still beautiful, it was also more 'polished' looking than the other one. Next I saw what I figured was made by the full blooded elf, it was spectacular. The base color looked like it was part of the clay the items were made from. I was looking at a bowl and the design on the edges was tiny as if painted on with a toothpick sized paint brush. The pattern itself was leaves, they looked like they were grown onto the the bowl.

The one that was obviously made by the half elf had a geometric pattern on it, I imagine a great deal of humans enjoyed this pattern as a daily use item. However the ones made by the full blooded elf looked like they were designed for a state dinner, or a grand party.

I thanked the dwarf for letting me look at everything, and wandered outside looking for the work area. I find it and see three men very happily working their craft, the youngest was the human. They weren't separated like the jewelers, which surprised me; so I watch a bit. There were three dwarven made kilns, obviously so they each had their own, there was a child building fires under each. These workers were joking with each other, the human was ribbing the other two about how slow they were. The full elf feigning disgust saying the human needed to learn about beauty to match him, the human laughing saying. "I don't need it with you around, you have more beauty than anyone." They all laugh, I walk forward avoiding the large piles of clay. The three notice me and they all turn to face me smiling.

"Greetings Hunter Gwen, nice to see you here." The full elf notes the curious look on my face, "I imagine you saw the jewelers first?" He shakes his head, "you know they are kept separate because the half elves are upset." The half elf mirrors the move, "They were raised in slightly 'better' families and taught they were the Gods' gift to the world. Then when they find out they are not as skilled as the full bloods they get upset. I know my skills will never be as good as my cousin here," he playfully punches the full elf. "Yet it doesn't stop me from enjoying what I do, and I do the best work I can to show I am just as proud of my skill as my cousin is."

I raise an eyebrow at the cousin comment, the human chuckles. "Well Hunter, we're all cousins here.' He points to each of them, "his sister married his father who was brother to my mom." I smile at the fact these three were so close and accepted their differences. The half elf waves a hand, "each of our families has a full set of each of our works. Most meals are served on my human cousin's work, most dinners however are my work; and fancy meals are done with my full elf cousin's."

I nod my head thinking that was a good way to go about showing off all the work, the full elf steps forward. "Hunter, we'd like to make you a set of dishes for the compound. All three of us will be working on them. The human will do the form work, the half elf will do the outlines and I will do the finish work on it. Will you be willing to accept such a gift?" I nod my head surprised, the three men grin; "good then." the human says. "They'll probably be done next week then," I blink surprised; the men laughing. "We've been working on them already, you just gave us a chance to ask you if you wanted them."

I thank them and then leave wandering the market looking over the goods for sale, now being able to notice the differences in the quality of the goods and how little there was of full elf made items. As I pause to examine some hand blown glass and I hear a melodious voice behind me, "so have you learned anything Hunter Gwen?" I turn to Ariawyn, who was standing behind me with a covered basket. "Come lets sit by the center fountain I imagine you are hungry," she turns and starts walking to the newly made fountain. One of the human business owners was trying to get out of his taxes for a year, and had originally wanted to make a statue until he discovered it had to be useful. So he commissioned a fountain, it was quite lovely and it was designed so that the younger children could play in it on hot days while their mom's shopped in the market. Tammy had ordered a permanent guard position near it to keep an eye on children. Benches were placed around it for people to watch the water or the children playing. Ariawyn sat in one of these and set her basket down and started taking things out of it.

She had brought some seared venison and some bitter greens as well as flat bread and a garlic herb butter, as well as a bottle of cold tea. She indicates I should sit opposite her on the bench and waves at the food, "feel free. I know what you've been doing today, as I am the 'unofficial' leader of the elves in this city. While I am not the oldest, I do know the most about our King's policies. It is my job to report to him of anything of importance," I blink and she continues. "No worries Ecthelon is not in trouble Hunter, however I ask that you not tell other humans about our true life spans; please. The king is willing to let the Hunter's know, however wait to tell the children till they are more. "She pauses as if attempting to find a polite way to continue, "adult behaving. I love those two however they are not the best at keeping their mouths shut."

She looks at the fountain as if not seeing it, "I'm sure you have noticed now that elves; full blooded ones. See the world different from the half bloods, those of us who are full blooded have a closer connection to the energies of the world. It seems that only full elves possess this. Though we, to my knowledge have no half mage or half Hunter elves; they might." She give me an odd look, "maybe one day we'll find out if they do."

She then picks up some food and starts eating herself, "we have a connection that lets us mimic the beauty we see in the world with unliving things. Though," she grins and nods towards the greenhouse. "You should see some of our Master gardeners, they can do amazing things with plants. We haven't recommended one so as to not make Harriet feel inadequate. She knows a great deal about plants, I should have Gilorndir ask her if having one around would bother her." She starts rummaging through her basket again pulling out a slice of her strawberry cake, "I didn't forget your favorite Hunter. Know that while we love the half elven's existence, someday my people will fade from existence. The beauty we share with the world will be lost forever then, it is why so many of my people partake in crafts that will last through the ages. So we will not be forgotten."

She then looks me full on and smiles, "so I hear I shall have you Ecthelon and the guard captains dinning with me tonight. To discuss the bandit issue, well I already have the menu planned for you all. I certainly hope this meal will be enjoy able as well as a productive one." She then gathers her basket and the containers the food had been stored in and headed back to her business. I wondered, {what did she mean by that?}