Silverglen Holt

To get to Silverglen from the First holt is a matter of following the streams south of the swamp until they run dry, then continuing into the south mountain range. After about three hands of days, the mountains are totally surrounding the travelers, and soon enough there will be a rise in the middle of the normally low valley between the east and west ranges. Crossing this is a simple matter, it is but a hill. Covered by Tripwire's pit traps and netting! Word to the wise Silverglen visitor: beware, these traps are made for elves alone.

Upon cresting the hill, the view is a stunning one, through the tall mossy evergreens to the east can be seen a large lake, totally smooth and quite reflective. The origin of the holt's name as well as their main entertainment is this lake, called lake Mirror. When seen on overcast days, which is to say many here, the lake takes on a buffed silver look, and with little imagination, anyone can see instead a 'hole' right through the mountains to the other side of the sky!

The lake is roughly oval, following all the curves of the land and filling the valley at its lowest points. There is little in the way of beach, the pebbles and such that form the water's edge are smoothed from many years of rising and falling, but these terminate quite abruptly at about six paces away from the water. The grassy turf all around on the whole valley is hardy and lives in little dirt, and so is ideally situated where the water can reach its short roots. A few large stone outcroppings break up the water's edge, but nothing else does. The lake is a little more than a Howl long, and merely a shout across the short side. This does take a long time to walk around, could be done, but usually isn't necessary. Dotting the shore are small shaped dens and tents, anyone is welcome to use these as a rest stop.

The west half of the valley is where the main holt sits, and most of the inhabitants have some kind of permanent den here. The eastern half is not used generally as a living area, mostly for hunting and exploring. The holt cave is situated at the south-west corner of the lake, on a kind of level area overlooking the water. Many old pathways cross on this area around the cave, some were worn by animals before the elves came. The deepest wear is toward the central meeting rooms, where all the grass has been cleared away. There, the elves gather to make traps, tell stories and generally sit around when time permits. Any storyteller must stand in the center of this area and turn frequently, for all the hills around them will be filled with listeners.

Inside the cave, there are several large open entryways. The more northerly one is a direct entrance to the tanners den, and the southern one is to the storm shelter and main dens. Inside the top levels is airy and bright, occasionally with roots from the trees above dangling into the space. Torches are frequently used in the main den, but for the tanning area they use magically lit pieces of glass and gems similar to those in the Great Tree at the First holt. (In fact, many of those were shaped by the same people now living here!) A thin corridor connects the two main upper caves.

From the inside of the meeting cave, many facets about Silverglen life become apparent: the many shelves of elk and deer antlers strewn about, healing medicines and supplies carefully placed near the doorway, and the scent of very old injuries compounded seasonally. Here many healings occur, here many tales of grand chases are coughed out while being patched up by the attendants. Shields and spears decorate the walls more than any other kind of bangle, but they have their share of artisans' work as well.

Apart from the small entryway leading to the tanner's hall there is another opening in the walls, leading into a dark but well-used area. The ground becomes slanted but subtly so, and curves around to the right very slowly. Here and there are new dens, the stone here is easily shaped. The first cave on the right is one with a permanent fire kept on, the smoking room. Many racks of meat and fish are left here for an eight of days or more, and the firewood is shaped to have the best aroma and taste come out. Up at the far end of this cave is a tunnel that literally sucks the air out of the place, fueled by more magic.

Past this is the metalworking area, a much smaller room, because only Spearmaker has the ability. Below this room is a storage chamber with all of her work, quite a bit of it used. To the left down the hall is the boneshapers' den, with nearly as many shaped weapons in their storage room. The spiraling hallway continues until it splits into left and right forks, both of which lead to typical dens. Most of these hallways are lit only by the crystals, rarely are there torches brought this far down.

Outside, on Tripwire's hill, there are few animals to be caught, they have learned over the years not to stray in this direction. Past this hill due west, however, is a peak renown for its great herds of sheep and goats. They graze on the east side of their mountaintop in the summer, and on the west -- away from the holt -- during the winter, but never do they leave the area. Therefore, the elves do not over hunt them, knowing they could starve by doing so.

The western hunting range of the Silverglen is only two days away, the peaks become hard climbing and rarely are animals seen there. The eastern and southern ranges, however, are quite extensive. South there are more hills that eventually grade into rolling pastureland, where the herds of southern deer come for the winter. The east however is only one peak away from the plains, where great herds of elk, deer, antelope, pigs and all manner of other beings stroll around yearly. Sometimes the plains wanderers visit this close to the Silverglen holt, and are more at ease here than in the South, being kind of kindred spirits in hunting ability.

North of the holt is pretty much off limits for hunting. The bogs and swampy land there being one reason, but the temper of the local bears and longtooth cats deter even the bravest wolf, and the tusks of the wild boar living there are prized but rarely got.

Mirror lake provides year-round fishing, mainly done by hand like the bears do, when the spawning season is ended. Wintertime hunting means sitting on the ice for hours and fishing the old fashioned way, with a hook. There are no large animals living in the lake, other than the stray fish outliving its time. The deepest point in the lake is about twenty heights, far too deep to go without the ability to shape the water for breathing, or the lungs for breathing water, besides which it is very cold down there. The yearly runoff water raises the level of the lake up to the grassline, only rarely does it flood. The huts and dens shaped into the forest nearby do occasionally become dens for animals, so the elves don't leave much in them at any time.

The trip from Silverglen to Plains, as mentioned above, is barely a hand away, however with the size of the plains the likelihood of meeting an elf is pretty low unless they know to expect company. To the west the trip to the scrub desert is an eight of days slow travel over rough terrain. Nothing else of interest is found nearby, everything else is described in the Plains and Nomads sections.

Drawn away from the First holt because of their wild tendancies, and led by Sunspark , who in her firey rages is quite capable of scaring even her own followers. She is tempered by the knowledge that she does lead, so often she relies on her lovemate Twilight to steady her. Twilight is taller and less elfin than most.

Another reason for leaving was the unusual works of one Cloudbolt the flesh shaper. She has left a chain of strange animals all up and down the mountain range, some of which are fully intelligent; many, though, are not. She has changed her own skin to be tatooed and yellow, and is a very odd elf.

Their tanner is Snowfall , who makes hardy skins into beautiful works. Her work needs to be both protective and camoflaging, and she succeeds at both. Her ability to tan hides is second only to her ability to dance, and she is well known for both.

Spearmaker is the main weaponsmith for this holt, there are others but she is always making something. She and several others (including Sunspark) went west over the mountains to investigate the source of a bizarre weather pattern, but that is their story to tell!

Tripwire is a trapmaker on overtime. His traps riddle the side of the holt nearest the mountains. Most elves have been caught at one time or another in some of these. He takes pride in this, as entertainment is hard to come by here (he thinks).

Kaleidascope arrived later than most, with Tiger, Deerbound and Souldagger . Her sendings are always drifting around the holt, and beyond. Her mismatched eyes are quite like her chain of thought, watch out for her if you are in a hurry, she'll catch your imagination and hold you there!

A landmark of sorts is Skyflight , the eldest of three generations of linked astral projectionists, his daughter Newbud and her son Briar all share the load of communications from the northern holts to the southern. Often they travel as a trio, but they usually trade off in shifts.

Feral is a bit of an outsider, even though he is perfectly acceptable to the wild Silverglen elves. He is a shape shifter who uses his wolfen form to hunt and in fact, he shares a strange bond with all the wolves in the Silverglen pack. He has sired several litters of Greater Wolves, by at least three females in the pack (who shall remain nameless because they desire it that way), and these half-breeds have begun exploring their wide territory: both east into the plains and west over the mountains with Nomad, and south to the coast with Surfmaster. Recently Feral has been joined by Tiger who is a woman bonded to a large rare tiger, she spends a lot more time as a cat or tiger than as an elf, though it remains to be seen whether she will mate to her bond-cat.

Inhabitants of the Silverglen Holt ((FEMALE)) ((MALE)) /c = child