Life in the Alienage: A Reality Check

When Soris described his life in the Alienage, I pictured a humble community of elves working together despite the cruel treatment they received from humans. However, staring at the decrepit wooden shacks, stacked on one another two or three stories tall, I wondered if he exaggerated his story to paint a better picture of his life outside a prison cell.

Some of the structures could barely stand on their own without the aid of stilts and even then appeared to tilt precariously like unsteady toy blocks. Thin and sickly-looking livestock milled about, nibbling on small patches of grass or low hanging laundry stretched across the buildings. Mud paths replaced the clean stone roads of the city broken occasionally by large puddles of water.

The

“We elves rarely receive any kindness from humans and rarer do we call each other friends. As Soris said, it is no trouble for you to stay with us.”

“I—,” An itch ran across my scalp making me pause to reach up and scratch. Moving fast, Shianni grabbed my wrist before it made contact.

“Don’t! You probably have lice and I am not washing everything in this house again. Come on,” she said, grudgingly, dragging me by the wrist. “Let’s at least get you both cleaned up before we continue arguing about what to do.”

Shianni pulled me outside after checking to confirm no one was out, still curious about the earlier disturbance. Soris followed behind along with their uncle who brought two stools for us to sit on. Curious on how a couple elves were planning to wash away over a years’ worth of filth I waited in trepidation.

Shianni ducked back into the house while the old elf grabbed a couple buckets by the doorway and walked towards the square. Knowing water was involved in the clean-up process helped me to relax enough to listen to Soris reassure me no one was going to throw me out. I felt better until Shianni came back outside with a bowl full of disturbing looking tools. Seeing my reaction made her smile, showing