Chapter 44: Gweneth
Month of the Summer Tide, long days and short nights.
After Anse and the others woke up, it was already past six o’clock, and the sky was still bright. They packed their valuables and weapons, preparing to sample Moon Elf cuisine and inquire about some news.
“Don’t call me by name when there are people around, call me Captain.” Anse put on his cloak, afraid of attracting the attention of the Blue Flame Cult.
“Okay…” Brat and the other understood.
The treehouse was dozens of meters away from the mushroom house, occupying a larger area, but the interior colors were quite different. The treehouse was mainly ink green, complemented by curved domes and moon gates, giving it a very natural charm.
The first floor was the dining room, filled with round tables or square tables, with a long bar on one side, like a combination of tavern and restaurant.
At this hour, it was dinnertime, and the spacious dining room was already more than half full, mostly travelers from the mushroom house.
The waiters were almost all Moon Elves, with pointed ears, white skin, and hair mainly silver white or light blue, both men and women, generally good-looking.
Anse plopped down on a high round stool by the bar, silently observing the dining crowd.
These people were all well-dressed, mainly professionals, merchants, and nobles, with almost no one shouting loudly, quite quiet.
“What would you three gentlemen like?” A handsome, dashing male elf waved over a waiter and approached.
Anse took the menu from the bar and found that the prices were much higher than ordinary restaurants, but reasonable compared to the room fees.
“Elf nut bread, grilled mushrooms, grilled bluefin fish, herbal tea.”
These were the cheapest items; things like bacon green spear rolls, vegetable stew, seafood rice were each more expensive than the last.
Brat took the menu and ordered almost the same as Anse, just swapping the herbal tea for ale.
Finn looked at the especially bland dishes and only ordered grilled fish and smoked venison. Though he had Wood Elf bloodline, he loved eating meat.
“Please wait a moment.” The male elf wrote down the menu and handed it to a nearby waiter.
Then he poured three glasses of wine from glass bottles and placed them one by one in front of Anse and the others.
“House signature moon dew wine, on me.” He sat across from Anse at the bar.
“Hm?” Anse immediately became alert; one glass of moon dew wine cost 2 silver coins, more expensive than the venison.
No courtesy without a reason.
“Don’t be nervous, I’m Kalenno, one of the owners of Moon Shadow Kui Ling.” The male elf waved his hand and hurriedly explained, “I’ve longed for adventure since I was young, but my family wouldn’t allow it.
If you can tell me about what you’ve seen on the road these past few days, dinner’s on me today.”
“These past few days?” Anse’s heart skipped a beat. “Can you tell me how you figured that out?”
“You just checked in, covered in road dust mixed with blood scent; do I need to guess?” Kalenno smirked, his eyes full of confidence.
Indeed, no need to guess, because when Anse and the others went to the dock to watch the excitement, he had spotted them from the rooftop.
Anse looked at him calmly, and soon the dice popped up Kalenno’s information:
【Kalenno, Moon Elf, Level 4 Warrior（Psionic Warrior）】
“We’re new here and not familiar with the situation. Would you tell us about it?” He turned the tables; if the other was willing to share, he didn’t mind revealing a bit.
“Of course.” Kalenno didn’t hesitate. “Then let me tell you about the recent news first. A few days ago…”
After the incident in Baldur’s Gate, Silver Scale Bay quickly got the news. At first, it only spread among the upper class, and commoners thought it was a rumor.
Only when a large number of merchant ships left the Chongsa River did the news truly explode, after which refugees poured in daily, and more people learned of Baldur’s Gate’s tragedy.
Today, the Cormyr royal merchant caravan, escorted by a Dragon Lake Fleet warship, tried to pass through Dragon Bridge but was attacked by a large number of Kuo-Toa. Though they barely escaped, the losses were heavy.
The Dragon Lake Fleet was a recently formed fleet of the Kingdom of Cormyr, specialized for escort, with decent firepower, but still hard to defend against attacks launched directly from underwater.
The busiest were the various Adventurer’s Guilds, with countless tasks, most for rescuing family and friends in Baldur’s Gate, but few adventurers dared to take them.
“Are there passenger ships to Dagger Beach or Waterdeep?” Anse was more concerned about this.
“Yes, but ship tickets have risen in price; probably can’t buy any now.” Kalenno poured himself a glass of wine and downed it. “I advise you not to take those small boats; merfolk infest Sword Sea, quite dangerous.”
Too many people wanting to leave, normal to not get tickets; this situation might ease in a week.
But who knows what the situation will be in a week?
Kuo-Toa who have lived long-term in the dark, filthy underground waters find surface waters like paradise; no way they’d leave.
But Anse wasn’t in a hurry. Silver Scale Bay was expensive but overall safe, far from the disaster center, yet not too “peaceful,” just matching his expectations.
After all, he needed combat to level up; peaceful days weren’t what he wanted.
While chatting, their dishes arrived.
Anse gave Brat a look, and Brat understood, starting to vividly recount the past few days’ experiences.
But this time the protagonists became the paladins; they were just insignificant bystanders. Last night’s undead too—they and the Stonemason Guild just happened to see it, did nothing.
Nothing to hide about these, as too many people saw them.
These thrilling, perilous experiences made Kalenno exclaim in excitement, constantly pouring wine for Brat; soon several cups were drunk.
It was clear he really loved adventure, face full of longing, beaming at exciting parts as if he were the protagonist.
When Brat finished, the area around the bar was packed with people, many waiters eavesdropping too.
Anse had quietly slipped to the corner earlier, cloaked, unnoticed, but after waiting a long time, he didn’t see those Blue Flame Cult people emerge.
“You seem to be waiting for someone?” A magnetic voice suddenly sounded in his ear.
Anse’s muscles tensed; turning his head, a graceful female elf approached, in an intricate moon-white robe, holding a wine glass, smiling at him.
“Who are you?” His holy symbol didn’t warn, so he relaxed a bit.
“I’m the owner here, Gweneth. Didn’t Kalenno tell you?” Gweneth’s skin seemed to glow with moonlight, giving an unreal feeling.
“No.” Anse stared into her blue eyes. “Do you need something, Lady Gweneth?”
Gweneth leaned close to Anse: “Follower of Tyr, little Dara forgot to remind you: no fighting at Moon Shadow Kui Ling, and certainly no killing.”
“You’re overthinking it.” Anse acted nonchalant.
“Hehe…” Gweneth lightly clinked her wine glass against his teacup and turned to leave.
Crisp footsteps faded; Anse stared at her slender waist as the dice spun for a long time, finally detecting her class info before her back vanished.
【Gweneth, Moon Elf, Level 6 Sorcerer（Moon Sorcery）, Level 1 Priest】
‘Level 7 professional running a town inn? Toril is full of fierce people everywhere.’
Anse downed his herbal tea, letting the mint flavor mix with the air’s fragrance in his nose.
He hadn’t planned to act in the inn anyway, and being mistaken for a Follower of Tyr wasn’t necessarily bad.
‘Moon Sorcery.’ Another extremely rare sorcerer subclass.
At this moment, Finn hurried over and whispered in his ear:
“They went out.”
Anse stood and left the dining room; under the sunset, several blue-robed figures vanished at the garden entrance.
Moon Elves
Also called silver elves or Teu-Tel’Quessir, Moon Elves are more tolerant and adventure-loving than other elf types.
When their ancient empire fell, Moon Elves were scattered among other races, after which they formed the tradition of friendly coexistence with non-elf neighbors. They mix with others but still live with kin in hidden settlements and secluded fortresses.
Other elves sometimes see Moon Elves as frivolous and foolish. But it is their cultural, intellectual, and temperamental fluidity that allowed them to survive that harsh period of elven history and prosper afterward. Moon Elf communities can be seen across Faerun, and many Moon Elves live in other races’ settlements, sharing life with them for years or even decades.
Moon Elves have the High Elf racial traits from the 《Player’s Handbook》.
Their skin is pale with blue flecks. Their hair color is similar to humans; some Moon Elves have silver white or varying shades of blue hair. Their eyes are blue or green, with golden flecks.
