Chiron went into action where few seemed to want to. Everyone was concerned with the welfare of the child. Lacey worked to heal the child. Seluumiel approached to assist. Satya felt it best to confiscate the boy from the apparent stranger and get the hell out of that freaky house. However, in all the chaos, Chiron interpretted the fiasco as a dogpile on the drow and decided that was his chance to act as he ran foward with shield out in front and bull rushed Lacey trying to push her out and get out himself. He failed in the attempt, only gaining a insignificant amount of ground, bringing himself and Lacey only ten feet away from the improvised door wedge holding the front door open.

Satya, Seluumiel, and Xavier made it out with the boy, while Lacey and Chiron still remain sprawled on the floor. Things seem to be getting worse. The inside of the house stays the same as the table "door wedge", the door and the patio steps with ornate columns all seems to be on the verge of fading away. Or, was it the house fading away with them inside?

Ardulace watched the strange woman carry the child outside, then found herself suddenly, but not really unexpectedly slammed to the floor.

Sprawled on the ground next to the paladin, she sighs as she thinks to herself. You knew it would be him, honestly, you knew. The others would know it was you, but you knew he wouldn't.
Rolling over to face the paladin she could not help but laugh at the absurdity of the situation. Smiling at him, her pale violet eyes ashimmer she says "Why... Chiron Po! I did not even suspect that thou cared!" She then leans forward and plants a warm, soft, wet kiss directly on his lips. "But subdue thy passions for the nonce, and let us attend to the business at hand. And in the future, thou may find that I will respond more to a gentle caress than to a flying body block."

She will then attempt to climb to her feet, and check the door through which she just came to see if the dragon is following her. She will extend her hand to help Chiron up if he is still on the floor.

Chiron shoved the drow away when she kissed him. "Vile wench, get back! You'll not poison me!" He spat and climbed to his feet, wiping his mouth. The paladin was torn. He noticed the table in the doorway fading away, and the outside world with it, but there was a drow here, a member of a race that exemplified evil and delighted in bringing pain and death to others. He felt an urge to stay and fight until he could say that he made this corner of the world a safer place by removing a dark elf that masqueraded among the surface races and kidnapped their children. But he also knew that staying to end this one's machinations would most likely leave him trapped inside this house until the evil he had sensed earlier caught and killed him.

The outside world continued to fade away.

Reluctantly, he turned and sprinted the last ten or so feet to the door, and leaped over the wedged table to safety. "Tuck and roll." he reminded himself when his feet hit the patio outside. He'd cleared the table, but was quickly running out of space on the porch. He quick-stepped down the patio stairs, but couldn't keep his feet underneath him when he hit the grass. He dropped to his knees and would have rolled to a gentle stop were it not for the bulky shield strapped to his arm, a shield that insisted he stop halfway through the first roll. His attempt at 'tuck and roll' turn into 'tuck and flop.'

Pulling himself to his feet for the second time in less than a minute, Chiron asked of the others, "Did everyone else make it out safely? Is the child alright?"

Outside of the house Seluumiel rushed over to Satya and the boy child. She kneels down to take the boys face in her hands. Elven eyes trace the contours of the child's round human face. She had seen few human children in her life, truth be told she had little dealings with humans. They were strange and impulsive creatures, short lived and often short sighted. Humans were able to accomplish much in their short lives, and in doing so had managed to stand with her people as often as against them. Seluumiel sighed, only time would tell where this boy would stand and she hoped her people would come to regret this day. The moon elf sighed again as she looked into the child's face, for now he was an innocent babe and he needed all of their help.

"We are not out of the woods yet," the elf speaks softly as she looks up to Satya, "I have some ability in healing, I will do for him what I can."

Seluumiel looked up to the heavens searching the sky as esoteric prayers left her lips. Slowly she felt the enigmatic goddess wash over her like liquid moonlight. Sehanine Moonbow filled her with divine power and Seluumiel channeled it into the boy. As the divine magic flowed through her into the boy the elf opened herself further to the power of the Daughter of the Night Sky. Closing her eyes she whispered prayers to the goddess shaping the divine power around the boy, warding him from harm. Seluumiel exhaled audibly as the last of the spell power flowed from her into the boy. though exhilarating, channeling divine power was exhausting. She laid a hand on the boys face and smiled. It had been no great work of healing or warding, but it would have to do for now - her own talents with the art were better suited for divination and obfuscation.

Seluumiel turned back to glance at the house and her eyes widened as they fell on it. The form of the structure began to wax and wane before them, still holding Lacey and Chiron within. Sehanine kalye amin. The prayer rushed through her mind as she remained immobile, unsure whether to remain with the child or to run to her companion's aid. Only a few breaths passed before Chiron emerged stumbling from the house.

Not wasting a moment the paladin addressed them all, "Did every one else make it out safely? Is the child alright?"

Seluumiel moved to answer and then stopped. Where was Lacey? Her eyes darted from Chiron to the house searching for some sign of the woman. She had questions for the dark elf, questions at the very least.

(OOC: 1 MP Cure Light Wounds, 1 MP Sanctuary - both are cast on the boy. I'm assuming that Seluumiel has time to cast both since they are both standard actions and we are not in combat, let me know if I need to change.)

(OOC: picking up where Chiron shoves her away after the kiss)

Shoved away, by the paladin, Ardulace continues to giggle giddily. The stress of having stood face to face with a hungry dragon and talked it out of its lunch, and the relief of having survived the confrontation as well as rescuing the child, clearly overwhelming her a bit.

As Chiron rises and heads for the door, Ardulace clasps her hands at her breast and lets out a soft, poignant cry of mock dismay, "Oh! A pox on the cruel and fickle hearts of men."

She then climbs to her feet, dons her Hat of Disguise, if not to preserve her own life, then at least to confuse Chiron a touch more, assumes the familiar half-elven visage she has used for so long, and steps out of the house with the others.

Should Chiron make any hostile move towards her, she'll use the cleric spell Command, and order him to "Stop!", then say "Stay thy blade, Chiron Po, I am not thy enemy."

(OOC: If neither of those are sufficient to halt his attacks, she'll defend herself as best she can physically, and when the opportunity presents itself, cast Hold Person on him, and only him).

Xavier stood outside with both Selummiel and Satya. The child was in their grasp, and Chiron and Lacey were still tied up inside the house. Well, casualties of war he thought to himself.

And then to make the matter worse, the house began to fade. Well, the two of them better hurry out...

"So, we have the baby... Satya, I guess we should inform you, but Selummiel and I... along with the other two in there... were commissioned to to rescue that child. So, now that we have the opportunity before us, I believe we should take the chance to return them. Chiron and Lacey are strong... They will be able to make it out and catch up.

"In any case, Selummiel, I believe that we should make haste to return to the town. The governor will be wishing to see this child again. Those two will be able to handle themselves." Holding out his arms, he asks, "Shall we?"

Nimble as she is, Lacey struggles to her feet. Curious as to the location of the dragon, she quickly opens the acid burned door to see not a dragon but ogres ready for battle. As they ready themselves to toss their throwing axes at the intruder, Lacey slams the door shut and on the move towards the front door and the exit, she puts her hat back on to revert back to Lacey the half elf. With that, she exits the house just in time, before it fades away to nothingness once again leaving nothing more than that of a glowing effect similar to fireflies, and still the faint sound of wind chimes is in the air.

Once out in the open Satya took a deep breath of the free air and felt the tension go out of her muscles as she made a point of putting some distance between herself and the house. Satya laid the unconscious child gently down on the ground at the edge of the clearing and tried to make sure that there were no life-threatening injuries.

Seluumiel knelt at her side and said "We are not out of the woods yet," the elf spoke softly as she looked up at Satya, "I have some ability in healing, I will do for him what I can."
Satya watched as the delicate woman gazed down at the boy with sorrow and uncertainty and quietly began to pray. The ranger had seldom seen things like this. It was so unusual to her that she stared at Seluumiel with rapt attention. She must be truly blessed in the eyes of her deity to be entrusted with the power to heal, the young woman thought to herself.

"Ten years I have been wondering, and every day I learn that there is so little that I truly know or understand about this world." Satya said this quietly so that the elf at her side only just heard the note of awe in her voice.

(Xavier)"So, we have the baby... Satya, I guess we should inform you, but Seluumiel and I... along with the other two in there... were commissioned to rescue that child. So, now that we have the opportunity before us, I believe we should take the chance to return them. Chiron and Lacey are strong.... I believe that we should make haste to return to the town. The governor will be wishing to see this child again. Those two will be able to handle themselves." Holding out his arms, he asks, "Shall we?"
At Xavier's words Satya reaches for her pack as she states,"I will go with you. It was in the town of Leaphaven that I was last, and I still have unfinished business to do there. It just was not as pressing as making sure that this child was found and returned home safely. Now I will be able to return this home safely as well." She then produces a scroll of paper with a wax seal on it. It looks very much like the ones that the adventures had received when summoned to Leaphaven in the first place. "Maybe you can help me return it to its sender. I am not from this part of the world and find I have difficulties when dealing with...written words."

There is a loud thumping sound from behind her and Satya turned her head as...

Not wasting a moment the paladin addressed them all, "Did every one else make it out safely? Is the child alright?"
Satya looked to Seluumiel for the answer to Chiron's question, when the sound of nimble feet approaching could be heard. She looked back to see their friend Lacy. She appeared to have been expelled from the magical beast just as it vanished from sight.

Seluumiel watches closely for a sign of the dark elf. Her eyes fall on the woman, once again in the guise of a half elf. She frowned. Lacey was a dark elf, and now as they stood outside the house her suspicions began to flow through her mind. The woman claimed to be a priestess of Eilistraee but words could be twisted and lies could be told. Few were the dark elves that walked free of the Spider Queen, and precious few on the planet could outplay the drow in games of intrigue. Seluumiel stood and stared past Chiron into the face of the approaching woman.

"The others approach," Seluumiel announced as she stared at the disguised drowess, "Satya will you watch the boy for a moment? There are things that need attending."

The moon elf moved slowly and deliberately to Lacey. Fixated on the priestess she walked past Chiron, ignoring his question. As she reached the other woman she stopped and held up a hand. It was a formal gesture of greeting, and not a friendly one. She studied Lacey's face searching for some sign of treachery.

Seluumiel addressed the dark elf in the common elvish dialect, "Greetings Ardulace," she spoke in a cool tone enunciating the woman's name. "There is a great deal we must discuss."

Seluumiel breathes a prayer over the boy, pleading with her god to heal the child and restore him to his former childish exuberance.

The boy's eyes flutter and he stirs. He then opens his eyes wide to the beauty that is Seluumiel and he asks, "Are you an angel, pretty lady?"

Ardulace struggles for a moment to compose herself after the emotional high of surviving the encounter with the dragon. Fighting to suppress a smile she steps away from the where the house was, and towards the others. She watches without comment as the child wakes and looks with adoration upon Seluumiel. "Are you an angel, pretty lady?"

Seluumiel addressed the dark elf in the common elvish dialect, "Greetings Ardulace," she spoke in a cool tone enunciating the woman's name. "There is a great deal we must discuss."
Ardulace returns the moon elf's cool greeting with a polite bow. "Mayhaps that is so, but to do it here and now would be foolhardy. Besides the danger of the dragon, before leaving the house I glimpsed a band of ogres readying for battle. If we do not wish to meet them, we should be well away from here when the house returns. I also suspect that this may be our only chance to leave the area without being turned unknowingly about, as Chiron was before we entered."

She then turns to the Paladin, "Thou might wish to summon thy steed Chiron Po, that it may carry yon child to safety if we are... if need be."

Taking a moment to strip off her acid-burned cloak, she holds it up to survey the damage as she waits for the others to decide on a course of action.

Seluumiel watched the drow closely. Her life had brought her into only a brief contact with the dark cousins of her people, but like any of the island of elves Seluumiel had been taught much of the drow. She did not believe the woman before her was a servant of the Spider Queen, likely she would have long been dead were Ardulace a priestess of Lolth - the Spider Queen dictated the eradication of all surface elves. Ardulace has proved herself to possess clerical power, and even the mildest of Lolth's clergy were fanatic zealots. Were she one of Lolth's the woman would have been unable to speak Eilistraee's name let alone suffer the presence of a priestess of the Seldarine.

Ardulace returned her cool greeting with a polite bow. "Mayhaps that is so, but to do it here and now would be foolhardy. Besides the danger of the dragon, before leaving the house I glimpsed a band of ogres readying for battle. If we do not wish to meet them, we should be well away from here when the house returns. I also suspect that this may be our only chance to leave the area without being turned unknowingly about, as Chiron was before we entered."

Seluumiel nodded as she responded. "You speak soundly," the moon elf paused a moment and smirked, "Do you kill spiders?"

She watched for some reaction from Ardulace before turning and walking to the stirring child. The moon elf knelt down to face the boy. She took his face in her hands and smiled.

"It is good to see you awake my child," the moon elf spoke in soothing tones. "I am called Seluumiel. What shall we call you?"

Seluumiel addressed the dark elf in an elvish dialect, "Vedui' Ardulace," she spoke in a cool tone enunciating the woman's name. "Eller naa nat'rim lye caela oquenia."

Chiron wished desperately he knew the elven language. The only thing he was able to pick out was Lacey's --Ardulace's-- name, and the tone Seluumiel used definitely wasn't friendly. whatever was said, Lacey seemed either not mind or was trying to ignore the pink elephant.

Ardulace returns the moon elf's cool words with a bow. "Mayhaps that is so, but to do it here and now would be foolhardy. Besides the danger of the dragon, before leaving the house I glimpsed a band of ogres readying for battle. If we do not wish to meet them, we should be well away from here when the house returns. I also suspect that this may be our only chance to leave the area without being turned unknowingly about, as Chiron was before we entered."

She seemed to enjoy throwing offhand insults and jabs just to see what kind of reaction it would provoke and the paladin had had enough of it. He approached Lacey and Sellumiel as the moon elf, also apparently fed up with the drow's antics, turned away to tend to the child. One hand was loosely closed around the grip of his sword, while his shield arm stayed at his side. He had conflicting emotions about how he wanted events to unravel. He wanted this arrest to go smoothly, so that they could return to town and quickly reunite the child with his hysterical mother. Part of him also wanted the drow to attack so that he wouldn't have to worry about her escape and any future evil machinations.

Ardulace turned to face Chiron as he walked closer. "Thou might wish to summon thy steed Chiron Po, that it may carry yon child to safety if we are... if need be."

"Woman, drop your disguise. It is useless now. We know your true identity and you can no longer fool us. Whatever scheme you had brewing is foiled, you can stop your tails of dragons and other creatures. The only monster here is you." Chiron had to fight to keep from screaming at the flippant woman. He took a steadying breath and began again, very deliberately. "I do intend to call Prajna to my side. But there are some other things that must be addressed first. I know that you have some magics about you that allow you to alter your appearance, and it would seem that you also have the ability to cloak your evil nature from detection. From what I know of your race, you probably have many, many more things hidden both from view and magical detection. Please, relieve yourself of your weapons and dismiss the illusion masking your true nature. Slowly." On the last word, Chiron partially draws his sword, showing only an inch of steel.

Seluumiel nodded as she responded. "You speak soundly," the moon elf paused a moment and smirked, "Do you kill spiders?"
"At every opportunity", Ardulace all but whispers in reply.

Ardulace turned to face Chiron as he walked closer. "Thou might wish to summon thy steed Chiron Po, that it may carry yon child to safety if we are... if need be."

"Woman, drop your disguise. It is useless now. We know your true identity and you can no longer fool us. Whatever scheme you had brewing is foiled, you can stop your tails of dragons and other creatures. The only monster here is you." Chiron had to fight to keep from screaming at the flippant woman. He took a steadying breath and began again, very deliberately. "I do intend to call Prajna to my side. But there are some other things that must be addressed first. I know that you have some magics about you that allow you to alter your appearance, and it would seem that you also have the ability to cloak your evil nature from detection. From what I know of your race, you probably have many, many more things hidden both from view and magical detection. Please, relieve yourself of your weapons and dismiss the illusion masking your true nature. Slowly." On the last word, Chiron partially draws his sword, showing only an inch of steel.
Ardulace stops her examination of her cloak, and shifts her gaze to the paladin. "Stay thy blade Chiron Po. I am not thy enemy."

She then considers her cloak again, and lowers her voice so that the child cannot hear. "One of the precepts of my faith, is to aid the weak and the strong, the grateful and the churlish alike. But thou, Chiron Po....." she heaves a heavy sigh. "... thou test me, truly. If thou disbelieve my 'tales', believe this..." She flings the acid burned cloak on the ground at his feet. "Or if not that, then perhaps a question to the child will suffice to ascertain the veracity of my 'tales'."

"As for this visage, I know not what tales of my people yon child may have heard, but I am certain he has suffered enough fright this day, and I will not willingly inflict more upon him by revealing myself. The truth of the matter is known to all present, and that will have to suffice."

She pauses for a moment, keenly aware that the house may re-appear at any moment. She calls out, "Seluumiel, come relieve me of my weapons, lest Chiron die of fright."

She then turns back to the paladin, "Know that I do this only that we may leave this place the more quickly and take the child to safety."

She'll surrender her weapons to Seluumiel, then turn once again to the Paladin, venom in her voice. "Thou art truly brave Sir Knight, a shining example to us all."

Satya stayed on her knees as the boy awoke.

The boy's eyes fluttered and he stirred. He then opened his eyes wide at the beauty of Seluumiel and asked, "Are you an angel, pretty lady?" Satya smiled, it warmed her heart to see this young boy connect with the moon elf. He would make a great ally to the elven people knowing that one of them cared so much to find him and return him to his family.

Suddenly Seluumiel addressed her "Satya will you watch the boy for a moment? There are things that need attending." Satya slowly stood and took the boy's hand as the moon elf walked over to Lacy and they began to speak in another language. She could not tell if Seluumiel was angry but she did not seem at all friendly with the half elf. As they brought their conversation to an end Chiron stepped in, and he seemed even less friendly. "What in the world is going on?" Satya whispered to herself as she watched trying to gain a better understanding of the drama being played out before her eyes.

"Woman, drop your disguise. It is useless now. We know your true identity and you can no longer fool us. Whatever scheme you had brewing is foiled, you can stop your tails of dragons and other creatures. The only monster here is you..." He was all but fuming. What disguise? What scheme was he referring to? As Chiron continued to rage at the woman the pieces fell into place for Satya. Lacy was the same black elf that had appeared from behind the other door with the child in her arms. She had heard of this race of dark elves but had never seen one. If she had been given more time to examine the woman when she had stumbled through the door Satya might have thought her to be a shade and no good can ever come of them. Their whole race was made up of those willing to give up their humanity to become one with the shadow realm.

Lacy says with venom in her voice. "Thou art truly brave Sir Knight, a shining example to us all."
At this Satya can stay quite no longer. "Why do you insist on tormenting each other with these games!" Looking at the half elf she asks calmly, "You have hidden your identity all this time from your companions, given no explanation as to why, and then you expect him of all people to take your word when you have been so deceptive. An elf once told me that the life that you live bares the truth of who you are, not the color of your skin, nor the air of your fading words." Then turning to the knight, "Sir, she is goading you with her words and you are giving in to it. Keep a level head or you will risk injuring someone, and one day you will deeply regret it." This last is said with sorrow and knowing in her voice.

Satya then leans down to the boy "Would you like to go home and see your mother? I am sure that she is missing you very much." Satya looked at the others then said, "This can wait." She then proceeds to walk back towards the town picking her way carefully and making sure not to tire the boy out with her usually quick pace.