Dharasha, A Compilation

[TheKai]

A lone elf sits the near the waterfall within the Misty Forest village. On his lap lay a tome, freshly bound, with a Crescent Moon gracing the cover. He sits there for a few moments, contemplating the lyrics within before handing the book to the children gathered around him.

"Read now, young ones, and be proud where you now stand."

Dharasha, A compilation

[TheKai]

Introduction

"What it means to be Dharasha"

“Dharasha is a paradise isolated from the rest of the world. The essence of beauty and nature gather here. To be a part of Dharasha is to know a home away from home. We are as one…with the forest, with each other and in our ways. We honor the traditions of the People above all others, and guard against the threats that loom ever closer to our forest. Dharasha comes before any of us, and yet all of us are Dharasha. The ideal lives in all of us, because it is much more than one place.

Being accepted into Dharasha is as much a responsibility as it is an honor. Dharashans are expected to follow the Code of Conduct put forth by the Elders and to honor the principle values of love, liberty, kinship and loyalty. We will defend the forest and old ways as the ones who came before us, and we will carry on that mantle for generations to come. Know the village, the forest, the creatures and the citizens and find yourself in the beauty of what you are a part of and what it means to you. Deceit and treachery hold no place among Dharasha…DO NOT DISAPPOINT. Listen to the words of a Dharashan but take faith in your inner voice as well.

Dharasha is pure, it's harmony, it’s an ideal of freedom we must defend.

To belong to Dharasha is a blessing, an honor and a privilege denied to many others.”

[TheKai]

The leaves are falling,
The time draws near,
The orcs are massing,
But the Elves show no fear.

With the Ahk'Aegis leading,
And the Faernsuora guiding,
En Dharasha Everae,
Was shown the weakness of what they were fighting.

Through thicket and bramble,
The Fey at their side
Not a sound was made,
As the forces ride.

You would not hear them,
Neither did the orcs,
As blade, song and spell,
Fell on them full force.

The healers tended the wounded,
And the rangers valiantly fought,
But against the might of the wizards,
Orcish savagery went for naught.

Alas, it came down to the battle of three,
The general orc,
and two Elves filled with glee.

Long they waited,
For this moment in battle,
The Elves of the Misty Forest,
The orcs would not rattle.

Swiftly and deftly they ducked and dodged,
The orc was too slow, in effect and cause.
They fell on the orc, blades and wards up,
As the head rolled from it's body,
En Dharasha Everae did erupt.

Spirits renewed and limbs given more vigor
They hunted each remaining orc,
With blade, arrow and quiver.

The threat that loomed over the forest was defeated,
With the elves returning home,
To a celebration much needed.

They rejoiced and praised the Seldarine,
And rightfully so,
Without their blessings,
The victory would have been slow.

As I sit here in the harbor,
Penning this missive,
These elves are the heroes,
That Silverymoon misses.

I must make my way north.

-Penned hastily by the Elf, Mith, now known as Kaienrai, sitting in Baldur's Gate Harbor, after hearing of the Battle of the Misty Forest.

[TheKai]

The trees, they soar!
The life, so grand!
I am home now, I think
I belong to this land.

With green as far,
As the eye can see,
The water so pure,
The city has envy.

And the People, the People!
All living as one,
Friend helping neighbor,
This village is won.

For the village is recovering,
From the past that I heard,
A child's laughter fills the air,
With the song of many birds.

The trees, they soar!
The life, so grand!
I am home now, I think
I belong to this land.

Corellon fills the air,
His love wrapped so tight,
The village is sprung,
By the Seldarine's might.

There is hustle and bustle,
With a set goal in mind,
The People are busy,
Many druids I find.

The whispers and planning,
Of many and three,
A strong work of Elves,
Will soon be set free.

The trees, they soar!
The life, so grand!
I am home now, I think
I belong to this land.

With Sel, Kael, and Ithilwen,
I was shown this wonderful sight,
How different than Silverymoon,
But never felt so right.

I am Dharasha now,
I will die helping this band,
I am home now, I think,
I belong to this land.

-Penned by the Silver Elf, Mith, now known as Kaienrai, sitting alone at the top of the waterfall within the boundary of Dharasha.

[TheKai]

Know and beware!
Foul things up north,
Dharasha is afoot,
Hammers, blades and spells held forth.

To the north of the woods we roamed,
Weapons and spells neat,
To the north of our Home we roamed,
The Dharasha Elite!

To the hills of the serpents we ventured,
A force of five Dharasha strong,
In the depths of the Temple we delved,
To right the Naga Queens wrong.

Her Art so strong and fierce,
Through minions and spells we fought,
But against the power of Kael and Ithilwen,
Her art mattered for naught.

To the south we went,
News of a dragon reached our ear,
In the home of the dragon we went,
When we left, all was clear.

In the cave we found the Black,
In a condescending and haughty manner,
The Black learned its lesson quickly,
At the end of Fhaeo's hammer!

But Dharasha does not tire,
Nor do we lax our guard,
Up to the fire peaks we roamed,
Against fire kin, we fought hard.

Through elementals and giants we fought,
Sometimes single file,
At the top of the peak we found what we sought,
The Balor so vile.

A blade of fire with spells to match,
The Balor roared it's ire,
Mendel coolly strode to it,
And quenched his blade in the gut of it's fire.

Infernal fire and magic,
Filled the volcanic peak,
The Elves, we did prevail,
Though my knees did feel weak.

The spells of the mages,
The voice of the bard,
The blades of the ranger,
The warriors hammers hit hard.

This was the first for me,
Roaming so far and wide,
Dharasha is everything,
We do provide.

-Penned drunkenly, and a littly haughtily, by the Elf Kai after having one too many victory wines in the Misty Forest.

[TheKai]

The tree of Dharasha,
So ripe and fill of energy,
A leaf has fallen,
To disrupt that synergy.

The tree stands tall,
Each root supporting the mass,
A leaf has fallen,
To lay within the grass.

But in that space,
New buds begin to grow,
A leaf has fallen,
With new buds in tow.

For the health of the tree,
Does only grow stronger,
A leaf has fallen,
With buds growing longer.

But the tree does not forget,
Those it has lost,
A leaf has fallen,
Dharasha will remember that cost.

So stand tall and proud,
In Arvandor’s glades all bright,
A leaf has fallen,
Remember the Archmage’s might.

-Penned by the Elf Kaienrai, sitting outside the abode of the First Mage, reflecting on the events and news he was given.

[TheKai]

Lo’ and behold!
The time draws near,
To breach the darkness,
Show no sign of fear!

Into the swirling shadows,
The elves will roam,
To find our brother,
And bring him home.

So string your bows,
And sharpen your swords,
Let the mighty mages,
Prepare our wards.

Lo’ and behold!
The time draws near,
To breach the darkness,
Show no sign of fear!

A place of horror,
Where nightmares are born,
The shadows so fell,
Where there is no morn.

A land of dread,
A land of bleak gloom,
They know not yet,
But Dharasha brings doom.

For lo and behold!
The time draws near,
To breach the darkness,
Show no sign of fear!

Dharasha’s best,
Enter this fight,
To face the perils,
With our own light.

We will not falter,
We will not fail,
The shadows will tremble,
For we seek Kael!

-Penned by the elf Kaienrai on a number of parchments and handed to the runners to spread word around the village of the Misty Forest.

[TheKai]

Stand strong Dharasha!
Like the mighty oaks that soar,
More trouble has come,
Let it hear us roar!

No bandit, nor shade,
Can quell our light,
Stand strong Dharasha!
We will win this fight!

Draw strength from the forest,
And from the beast within,
Stand strong Dharasha!
Our faith will win!

With steel and spell,
We brave our path,
Stand strong Dharasha!
Let them feel our wrath!

Our ranger’s guidance,
Our mages’ mind,
Stand tall Dharasha!
Our goal we’ll bind!

The Seldarine is with us,
Grab your bows,
Stand strong Dharasha!
Let’s fell our foes!

No matter what comes,
Together, we answer the call,
Stand strong Dharasha!
Together, we stand tall!

-Penned by the elf Kaienrai, sitting within the Misty Forest, after leaving Fhaeo's side in the Temple.

[TheKai]

Let them come,
Let them see,
Let the forest's enemies know,
That Dharasha will be free.

Tide after tide,
The darkness may swell,
Side by side we stand,
The Elves of Destiny will prevail.

Our bonds they hold tight,
Tighter than before,
If a strand should fail,
The bonds close in stronger more.

For no matter the distance,
Or the time in between,
When Dharashans unite,
Our Mythal will sing.

Not a Mythal of magic,
Well, some magic I think,
But a Mythal of fellowship,
Stronger than a dwarven forged link.

So let them see, and let them come,
Let evil know true fright,
The evil will dwindle,
When they behold Dharasha's might.

[TheKai]

"Come now children,
Gather near,
Let me tell you a tale,
Of the Dharashans here.

We protect and defend,
We provide and support,
But your Dharashans,
Also adventure for sport.

To the east we traveled,
Four in the group,
The Ranger, a Bard and two WIZARDS,
We formed quite the troop!

To a place of nightmares,
Passed a town riddled with death,
Near the edge of heinousness,
To a forest of dangerous breath.

The woods were different than our own,
And in the worst sort of way,
The Leaflord save that forest,
Where DRAGONS lay!

A forest filled with beasts of legend,
That many do not live to tell,
Is where your four Dharashans roamed,
The four legged doom, we intended to quell.

The forest seemed haunted,
Dread hung thick in the air,
All elves remained alert,
Falter we did not dare.

Battle after battle,
With dragons of red, green and black,
With song, blade and spell,
We guarded each other's back.

Claw versus blade,
Breath versus magic,
The elves they danced,
The dragons fell tragic.

A behemoth of rock and earth,
Whose walk made the earth tremble,
One from not our world,
The Dharashans staked a gamble.

With the Selu'Onal on the lead,
We wove spell and blade in bond,
Like the Art of old,
But now long gone.

The Archmage and First Mage,
They worked delicately within their Art pull,
Drawing from the Weave as needed,
But never disrespectful.

They called on Corellon's gift,
And used it well and clean,
No damage to the forest occured,
Not a burnt leaf or charred green.

You see children they respect the forest,
And they love the Weave,
They love the green,
And cherish it with ease.

With spells of might,
That layed low dragons and earth beast,
Not one bush or bramble was harmed,
And now we all stand here safely to feast."

-Spoken to the children of the Misty Forest village by the elf Kaienrai after a venture into the Forest of Wyrms.

[TheKai]

"Faerun,
So large and wide,
We may run and try,
But we can never truly hide.

For the fate that is made for us,
Whether brutal or blessed,
Will be our own,
Different from the rest.

We work in our daily toils,
For what? Some do not know,
For gold or sustenance,
To reap the networks that we grow.

Through it all,
Sometimes we are alone,
Through it all,
We find just how much we have grown.

Through hardship and trial,
Our spirit grows stronger,
Across the oceans and miles,
Our kinship last ever longer.

We choose who we deal with,
That was Corellon's gift,
Some choose our own,
Other decide to start a rift.

Myself? I chose the People,
I have and always will,
When the fates come calling,
I know they will stand by me still.

The Elves I hold in kinship,
In friendship and in hearth,
Are the ones I would gladly ride into battle with,
Right from the start.

In the heat of battle,
When enemies flood,
You will truly find,
That family is determined by more than just blood.

Dharasha...

[TheKai]

With but a spell, with but a thought,
The beauty of magic stems from the mind of the mage,
Learning the secrets of the Goddess herself,
Hope to never be the source of that rage.

Spells that made cities drift on the breeze,
And Art that created the Moor we know,
Art which raised Mythals around our homes,
And Art Tel’Quessir would nourish and grow.

The Mages of Dharasha are legendary,
Unyielding in their arcane might,
The foes of our forest thought they would prevail,
But instead they were left with arcane fright.

Hordes of the orcs rampaged through our wood,
With blood in their eyes and an evil grin,
They set the wood afire in their wake,
And howled in pleasure after every sin.

Needlessly tearing the forest green,
And ransacking every woodland soul,
The perversion of evil was in our home,
Raging and killing was their role.

With sweeping might and arcane fury,
The wizards stood proud against the horde,
The Weave crackling around their bodies,
Staring at what came across the ford.

Sigils in the air, hands in swift motion,
The learners of Art called on their gift,
To snuff the life of the gruesome orcs,
Dropping bodies ever so swift.

Lightning arcs and flames from above,
Hailed on them in droves,
Misleading paths and missiles of force,
With not an ounce of damage to any groves.

Ice so cold the orcs froze in midstep,
The mages unleashed their arcana,
Winds to topple and clouds to paralyze,
They fought for Misty’s nirvana.

The orc lieutenants tried to rally their gruesome forces,
Gathering their soldier’s with order and lie,
Our mages swiftly put a stop to that effort,
Lifting one finger and pointing, “Now, you DIE.”

Our allies burst through the brush,
Celestial blood fueling their veins,
Beasts and elementals and angels were called,
No longer held by peaceful reins.

They hunted the orcs through our woodland home,
Never stopping for a moment’s respite,
They answered the call of our wizards spell,
And fought to dawn’s light.

When the black horde was ravaged,
And the end was near,
The war came down to one lone battle,
Our warriors stepped forward showing no fear.

For they were wreathed in the Art,
By the Seldarine and Dharasha’s mages,
They stood proud and strong,
And fought for our home in the wood of ages.

Their sword skill surpassed,
The vile general was felled low,
The horde of orcs was turned back,
And chased out followed by our bow.

Our People stood tired and grim,
But proud to have turned back the tide,
The refugees were safe and our village whole,
With a smile back to the village we did ride.

You see Elders, magic is the mystery of the unknown and possibilities,
Something our cautious mages wisely nourish,
With learned experience and respectful use,
It will allow our People, and village, to flourish.

-Recited by the elf Kai'enrai during an elven gathering within the depths of the Misty Forest.

[TheKai]

The Gathering

The forest rejoices,
No trouble matters,
The village stands strong,
When Dharasha gathers.

From far across the Coast,
We answered the call,
Hill over mountain,
We would climb them all.

Mendel stood strong,
As the Selu'Onal is known to be,
We look to him for his leadership,
So the village can live free.

The Lady Nai so graceful,
And confident in her power,
The High Druid of the Misty,
Makes every evil cower.

The Lord Mage himself arrived,
Much to the pleasure of my eyes,
The wrathful power that is Velaris,
Would protect this pride.

Corellon blessed this gathering,
Sending Baelathor to our village,
To stop the encroaching terror,
And the wanton destruction and pillage.

Standing strong was the Lady Amywien,
So sure in her skill,
Like a lioness in her glory,
Protecting her fill.

We stood there in joy,
What a reunion this turned out to be!
But when the cold fell over us,
I dropped to a knee.

For out stepped the First Mage,
Dharasha's Cor'Selu'Taar,
Ithilwen in her assured power,
Now our efforts would surely go far.

Then we all felt the Weave pull,
With a disturbance of power,
In strode the Archmage,
Of Dharasha's arcane tower.

It was so good to see my friends,
The moment itself was regal,
Determined to do all we can,
To unravel and destroy the evil.

-Penned by the Moon Elf Kaienrai, sitting back, watching The Gathering.

[TheKai]

Come now young ones,
All children of the Misty,
Sit quiet and listen,
To our wondrous history!

While Toril was young still,
Before the first tree ever grew,
The planes rang with battle,
And blood was spilt anew.

For our Father, the Protector,
The Seldarine’s First,
Fought a horrendous battle,
And quenched that monster’s thirst.

From dawn till dusk,
The mighty battle raged,
Between our handsome father,
And an orc worn with age.

Gruumsh, the ugly,
Who’s face was like curdled milk,
Jealous of his beauty,
And his hair of silk.

Gruumsh tried to plunder,
What he would never obtain,
The power of the Elves,
He came in profane.

The orc’s black torch,
Filled the sky with infernal black smoke,
To cloud the Coronal’s vision,
To lay him low with one stroke.

But a sweep of Sehandrian,
Cleared the corrosive air,
The beauty of the blade,
Always in between the pair.

As the day waned on,
The night would see the orc grow,
Our Father he did fight,
To lay the monster orc low.

Injured and bleeding,
His blood touched the ground,
As he looked into the darkened sky,
He no longer frowned.

For Sehanine was with him,
Her tears coming from the moon,
The power of them both,
Spelled the ugly orcs doom.

He danced and he battled,
Sehandrian singing through the sky,
With the strength of the Coronal,
He destroyed the orc’s eye.

A coward and brute,
He fled to cower,
Corellon stood triumphant,
And basked in his power.

The blood from his wounds,
Mixed with the moon’s tears,
Up from those we grew,
And they blessed us for years.

You see, we are the children of that battle,
Of our beloved Coronal,
Never forget the Father,
For he always gave us all.

-Recited to the children of the Misty, while the Elder's were out on the Agelong.

[TheKai]

Under the Great Oak my friends,
Now you rest in peace.
In the golden fields of Arvandor my friends,
May you enjoy the feast.

The Leaflord calls you back,
To be one with the mighty woods,
The oaks they soar, the trees they flourish,
Because of your livelihoods.

The energy of your spirits,
Will see the sapling soar,
The work of your actions in the heat of battle,
Gives the village it's mighty roar.

The Rangers of our Village,
They know the vows they take,
To protect our home, to protect our forest,
To protect the fruits they make.

Yet none show fear when their duties call,
A testament to our Rangers,
With bow and blade and song and spell,
They vanquish all the dangers.

Under the Great Oak my friends,
Now you rest in peace.
In the golden fields of Arvandor my friends,
May you enjoy the feast.

*Penned quietly by the Moon Elf Kaienrai in honor of the fallen Rangers, sitting in Rillifane's Temple deep in the heart of the Misty Forest