Book 11: Chapter 18: The Harpers Alliance

The World Tree Longbow, its limbs sheathed in metallic feather-like plates, was as deadly as any blade. A solid hit would have easily disemboweled the enemy before him.

Qin Lun had seized the advantage by exploiting his foe’s misjudgment of his strength. But his opponent was, after all, a highly skilled and experienced Ranger. Falling into a roll, the enemy deftly avoided his heavy swing.

Qin Lun naturally wouldn’t let such an opportunity slip. He pressed forward, bringing the World Tree Longbow down in another powerful slash.

His opponent seemed to have anticipated this follow-up, however. Bracing both hands on the ground, the foe went upside down and lightly tapped the tip of a boot against Qin Lun’s wrist. Instantly, a tingling numbness shot through Qin Lun’s right forearm, and the World Tree Longbow wobbled away, slicing through empty air.

“Huh?” Qin Lun felt a stab of surprise. He had put too much force behind that swing; now he was the one losing balance.

But strangely, the adversary didn’t press the advantage. Instead, the enemy executed several backflips to gain distance, then leaped effortlessly onto a nearby banyan tree. Perching on a branch with one hand resting on the trunk, the foe stared down at him.

“Well, well,” Qin Lun muttered, lowering his head to shake his wrist. A faint smile reappeared on his face. “Looks like I’ll need a bit more time!”

“Swish!” Qin Lun extended one hand flat. A giant Hexagram Array blazed to life on the muddy ground before him. Amid intense magical fluctuations, a colossal beast, large as a building, slowly began to take form. After a long absence, the Inferno Hound, Cerberus, reappeared in the world.

“Awooooooo…!” Cerberus threw both its ferocious heads back and howled with excitement. Turning, it spotted Qin Lun and instantly bounded towards him, tail wagging furiously. Its immense body blocked out the moonlight like a moving mountain, causing Qin Lun’s expression to change abruptly.

“Idiot! Stop! STOP!” Qin Lun yelled frantically, scrambling backwards. After reaching the High Rank, Cerberus had grown far too large. Qin Lun hadn’t trained with it at the Star Void Training Ground for a long time, leading to this colossal blunder.

“Whimper…” Cerberus halted, looking wounded. Molten lava dripped from its body, constantly turning the muddy ground around it into hissing steam. It seemed unhappy with the environment, shuffling its huge feet anxiously in place for a couple of turns, panting heavily at Qin Lun with its tongue lolling. The overpowering scent of sulphur assaulted the silver-haired Elf, making him feel breathless.

“Ha-ha-ha-ha…” Silver-bell-like laughter suddenly tinkled from the treetops. Qin Lun’s opponent, overcome by the spectacle, shook with mirth, doubling over and struggling to catch a breath. The murderous tension that had filled the field instantly drained away, replaced by a sense of the ridiculous.

Qin Lun finally raised his head, now having a moment to look closely at this formidable adversary. Unexpectedly, the enemy sheathed its scimitars and hopped down from the tree limb quite casually. With hands held up demonstratively, the figure walked towards Qin Lun, signaling an end to the fight.

Illuminated by the faint moonlight filtering through the trees and aided by his Elven Night Vision Ability, Qin Lun quickly took in the details of his opponent’s appearance.

Her stature was tall and imposing – standing almost half a head taller than Qing Lun, who was of average height. She easily topped six foot three.

A dingy hooded cloak was fastened behind her back. Her upper body was clad only in a tightly laced leather corset that thrust her prominent, basketball-sized breasts forward proudly. Below was a pair of low-rise leather pants riding far below her navel, paired with knee-high leather boots.

Her body displayed golden proportions: incredibly long legs, broad hips cinching in to a startlingly slender waist. Her powerful, shapely thighs flowing into that willowy torso formed an exaggerated S-curve. As she approached with catlike strides, the tautly muscled ridges of her exposed lower abdomen flexed visibly, the piercing in her navel winking as she moved.

This was a large woman. No! The pointed ears peeking out from the edges of her hood revealed she was also a large female Elf! Her skin was a pale blue, and her physique was obviously different from that of a common Elf.

“A Highland Elf!” Qin Lun’s eyes flashed. A moment’s search through his inherited memories as an Ancient Elven Hunter identified this Elf minority.

The Elves of Faerûn broadly included all Elves who fled the plane of Faeriel to the Prime Material Plane – Toril World. Most belonged to the Yinta’geer Elf Empire, primarily Gold Elves (now Sun Elves), Moon Elves, and Green Elves.

Besides, there were smaller, rarer branches of the Elven Race. Qin Lun had once seen Thumb-Sized Pixies among them at the Magic Cup Court. The Highland Elves were another such rare branch.

Unlike the main Elven tribes such as Sun Elves or Moon Elves, Highland Elves also cherished nature, but they were wilder in spirit, valuing primal instincts. They preferred to dwell in higher altitude mountainous forests rather than establishing settled communities in the plentiful forests of plains like the main Elves.

The cold climate brought by altitude, combined with active lives, produced Highland Elves who were generally taller and more robust. The figure before Qin Lun was likely just average for her High Rank; the males were said to be even larger and stronger.

Unsurprisingly, the majority of mainline Elves tended to look down on Highland Elves, dismissing them as “Barbarian Elves”. Just as humans sometimes called Northerners savages, racial prejudice existed among Elves too.

“Prince Firal, please forgive my intrusions and probes over these past days!” The female Elf pushed back the hood obscuring her face, placed one hand across her chest, and bowed respectfully towards Qing Lun.

Camouflage paint partially covered her strong features: high cheekbones, a straight nose bridge, and long, thin eyes. Compared to her outrageously alluring figure, her facial features held a pronouncedly androgynous, almost valkyrie quality.

“You know me?” Filar raised one eyebrow guardedly, positioning most of his body behind Cerberus.

“Firal Moonlight,” the female Elf recited smoothly, casting a glance at Cerberus. “The only Saophila Elf Prince currently acknowledged by the Gleaming Moon Court… one of the Moon Elven inheritors walking the Ancient Path… reported missing near Baldur’s Gate three months prior… Known for possessing an Ancient Elf legacy, exceptional archery, and two hunting companions – one being a dual-headed Inferno Hound from the Abyss.” She bowed again. “Yes, Your Highness. I have only just confirmed your identity.”

“Who are you?” Qin Lun’s hostility lessened slightly.

Back at the Anke Elf Court, King Thanequalas, to share the glory of the Sun Elf Diplomatic Mission’s journey along the Ancient Path with the Moon Elves, had not only shoehorned Qin Lun into Milleras’s mission but also loudly dispatched messengers to notify the Moon Elf Courts along their route.

Many Elf Courts across Faerûn had received this news of Firal. None posed a threat. Since this female Elf possessed so many “details” about him, she surely couldn’t be an enemy.

“I am a Highland Elf of the Nether Mountains. Mastashia Starstone offers her respects!” The female Elf bowed once more.

“The Nether Mountains… From the Silver Marches?” Qin Lun’s eyes flickered with thought. “You found me near Baldur’s Gate? Why have you been following us?”

“Highland Elves cooperate with the Silver Marches, but I personally have no ties to any official bodies like the Lords’ Alliance.” The female Elf smiled. “I serve… as a Harper. I act only for my personal ideals.”

“A Harper? The Harpers Alliance?” This time, Qing Lun’s surprise was genuine.

His previous time within Toril World involved being hunted by the Zhentarim while traveling alongside Milleras’s Sun Elf Diplomatic Mission. And the Harpers Alliance happened to be the mortal enemy of the Zhentarim.

The Harpers Alliance and the Zhentarim were like twins sprung from light and darkness.

The Zhentarim were undeniably evil, Lawful Evil in alignment. Their primary goal was control over trade routes in the affluent areas of Faerûn. A secondary aim was manipulating the political centers of city-states around the Moonsea – Mulmaster, Teshwave, Yûlash, Voonlar, Melvaunt, and Hillforts.

Anything they could not directly control, the Zhentarim ruthlessly subdued through terror, or secretly undermined until it offered no threat to the Black Network, forcing it to finally capitulate.

Effectively, the Zhentarim was Faerûn’s largest, most powerful Mafia Syndicate. Their influence touched every highly lucrative trade, legal or illicit: smuggling luxury goods, slave-trading, trafficking in outlawed substances and weapons, contracting assassins – anything profitable bore the shadow of the Zhentarim.

Even Syndicates have rules, however. The Zhentarim adhered to unwritten codes even within cities they controlled. Their evil targeted vulnerable groups, not the wider civilized order of the continent, hence their Lawful Evil, not Chaotic Evil, alignment.

As for the Harpers Alliance? Even the strictest Chronicler would judge them Good-aligned… albeit Chaotic Good.

Strange, wasn’t it? When Qing Lun first learned of this alignment from Milleras, it also puzzled him. A Good alignment associated with Chaos? Unthinkable; wasn’t chaos solely the domain of evil?

The Harpers Alliance was indeed an odd organization. The Harpers’ core purpose was preserving balance in the world and thwarting the schemes of the evil–intentioned. Their structure was incredibly loose. It was a secretive and paradoxical organization lacking defined leadership, comprised of wildly diverse individuals.

Any non-evil creature of any age, occupation, class within Faerun could become a Harper – Human, Half-elf, Elf, Half-being, Dwarf… The first three formed the majority; many among them were Bards or Rangers. Others held places too – Mages, Rogues, even Priests.

Most Harpers worked primarily solo. When the continental situation demanded their action, they could readily become spies, sowers of dangerous rumours, or self-sacrificing Assassins.

Essentially, the Harpers were an amalgam of such vocations. If they believed an act combatted Evil, they did not hesitate. They operated without predictable patterns, unconcerned by worldly laws, underworld codes, or even edicts from deities or churches – thus they were categorized as Chaotic.

Their lack of structure meant no Harper’s story could be told whole. Clarity was absent; regulations did not exist; perhaps nothing ever truly ended for them.

They were called Faerûn’s “Meddlers” or labeled “Utterly insane idealists”. Mostly, they drifted aimlessly, wandering and gathering crucial information about immense events that would shape the continent. Then, they formed individual judgments… and got involved.

“That… that is… a great honor!” Qin Lun spoke with feeling, experiencing for the first time a surprising sense of inadequacy in his vocabulary. He truly wasn’t sure what else to say immediately.