Caliaphy sat on Serna's shoulder humming a little tune, "Somewhere out there beneath the pale moonlight..."

"That sounds nice," The Shield Maiden mused with a smile.

Alyson stopped when she heard the kurori singing her favorite childhood song, "A nice song best sung at night when the stars fill the heavens."

Madeous walked along side the Swordsman, "Irzen, when was the last time you were home in the Underdark? Surely, there's a part of you that longs to return home and to see how your kin have been."

"It's been a full century since my Shadow Riders and I rode out of Naermon Nithren," The Swordsman sighed wistfully, "And I do long to return home and to see how my son is carrying on our family business and how my daughter is doing in her arcane studies. I miss them. I also miss my men. It was after my Shadow Riders defeated a contingent of Venger's army at the Battle of The Nudorn March, that I was plucked from them and dropped into Alyson and Willow's company. My men had standing orders that they were to return to Naermon Nithren should I fall in battle or disappear for an extended period of time. I wonder, sometimes, if they returned home. I wonder if they are waiting for me there."

Madeous glanced about the party and nodded, "Hmm, perhaps venturing towards your home wouldn't be such a bad idea sometime when there aren't any young ones in our company. And as much as I enjoy the company of children, the Underdark is no place for someone like Serna or Caliaphy."

"Or any Surface Dwellers for that matter." Irzen confessed apologetically, "Don't get me wrong. My people have had contact with Surface Dwellers in the past. But those Humans who came were either explorers or part of a diplomatic mission or a trading party. And they were always armed to the teeth. When they arrived, my people always treated them with respect and did business with them but we never allowed them to stay longer than necessary."

"Well, it was just a thought." Madeous stretched a little as they walked along the coast.

"And its a good thought!" Irzen smiled at Madeous, "I have no problem returning to Naermon Nithren with you guys. But you're going to have to be careful and our visit is going to have to be a brief one. My people are fairly open-minded but we are still Drow. And as you well know, we Drow do not nurse grudges, we harbor them!"

"Of that I know too well. Grudges held by elves in general can last and or passed down through each generation without really finding out the whole truth." Madeous nodded.

"Isn't that the way of the Realm though?" Irzen asked rhetorically.

Lazheros looked over at the elemental pondering something, "Alyson told me that you've already laid your first clutch of eggs and they've hatched?"

Quake stayed back about ten feet behind the party to keep pace with him, "Yes. Gifts of fire, stone and metal to the Duergar of Mount Chasme. We freed them the mindflayers and in return I gained a lair and provided them with smaller versions of myself as guardians."

The elementalist quietly thought about her creation that sacrificed his life at the battle of West Fall, "Oh Mermidon, what should I tell Trokar Whitebeard now..."

The fire-stone dragon swung her head over to Alyson and nuzzled her, "Lady, my little brother who flies high in the heavens and the sky shall return soon but my brother, black and brooding will evolve just as you awakened us only months ago. One will become steel and the other mithral in their final stage of evolution. After all we three are aspects of you brought to life."

"Serna," Lazheros asked seeing the girl being quiet, "Are you alright? You're too quiet for my liking."

The kurori continued to hum the song from an American Tail pausing only to tap the shield maiden on the shoulder, "The Bronze Man has a point, you are really, really quiet, Serna."

"I was just doing some thinking," Serna quipped honestly, "That's all."

"Oh, may I inquire what is it you're thinking about?" The Bronze Man asked.

"Why can't we all be Drow?" The Shield Maiden replied as she turned towards the others, "You're a dragon right? Why can't you cast a spell on all of us and turn us into Drow. I would love to see Captain Irzen's homeland. Why can't we all be Drow for a day or two?"

"What?!" Irzen asked in pure disbelief.

The Bronze Man stopped walking, "No. I cannot cast the spell you desire, however, the kurori can."

Caliaphy snapped out of the song she was singing and fluttered over to the dragon, "What do you mean, Bronze Man?"

"You know exactly what I mean, Caliaphy." Lazheros narrowed his eyes at her, "Of all the times you got Alyson into trouble in Asylum, 'Seeming' got you out of some of the worse spots because of your magic."

Now Madeous was curious now, "That would make sense about some of the stories Alyson told me of how you both got away."

Caliaphy hovered with her arms crossed, "Hmph! And why would I cast 'Seeming' on all of us just to go in the heart of the Underdark where there's more than just drow, dark dwarves, and far worse kinds of monsters?"

"Caliaphy has a point!" Irzen strode over to The Bronze Man and The Fairy, "And even if she could do it, how long could she keep it up? If she loses her concentration at the wrong time or is rendered unconscious for any reason, then the jig would be up and you guys would either have a hell of a lot of explaining to do OR you would have to fight your way out of Shadow Haven and the Underdark itself."

"Seeming doesn't require concentration to cast it and it would last eight hours. So basically its a really powerful illusion." Caliaphy quipped.

"It was just an idea, Captain Irzen." Serna hunched her shoulders.

The Swordsman dropped to one knee and comfortingly placed his hand upon The Shield Maiden's shoulder, "True, but it is a dangerous one. You have to understand, Serna, that there is a lot more to being a Drow than just looking the part. You have to have the demeanor, the look, the swagger of my people. Not to mention that you have to have a mastery of the Drow language too."

Irzen looked at Caliaphy, "Does your spell include speaking in the Drow language as well?"

"Nope. Seeming can alter the appearance of everyone here changing their looks, gear, and size that's all." The kurori snapped her fingers.

Madeous came over to Serna, "There was a time that Alyson wanted to come with me during my adventures, and I said no because the places that my friends and I went were far too dangerous for kids regardless of their age. Children do not have the discipline or the stomach to handle horrors of places foreign to them. There is beauty everywhere in the Realm but also death and carnage. I'm not your elder or parent but what you decide now will dictate your life later down the road. You're a kid, still, Serna and that is something that really annoys a certain Force of Evil."