Okay, this story is much like that found in the "Elf Determination" storythread. However, early on it diverged. Diverged right upon around the time Artizza (former human turned elf formerly named Astra) and Fertal (former human turned elf formerly named Fred) ran into a friendly seeming elfin "guide". A fellow elf hanging around that one tree with the rope ladder on it. The intentions seemed friendly enough, however, the "guide's" intentions, however, were not as innocent as he'd led the newly transformed elves (intoxicated by their new nature) to believe.

Tricked up into the treetops and then into a large Oak tree (the Oak of Ages), the new elves fell into a trap that transported them into the realms of Hell. Once there, they found themselves the subjects of a what some describe as a recruiting drive for some Shadow War. This "recruitment" involved what you would call torture which would only stop unless they somehow found a way to escape or resist (possible, actually, under the Strictures on the Demons....but let us not go there right now). If they gave in to stop the pain and signed a contract in blood (binding themselves fully into the Demon's camp and completing their transformation fully and permanently into Dark Elves, as opposed to being "proto-Dark Elves"). Something like cancer would have been injected into their spirits, assimilating and twisting all that was good within until they became a dark parody of the noble people they'd been before. Well, this recruitment hadn't well gotten underway (painful as it had been considering the dagger the Demons caused each elf to drive into their own hearts) when a rescue from their plight happened.

Now, the reason why Artizza and Fertal got snatched away lay hand in hand with why Oberon and the Demons are so ticked! See, our little girl set her cronies to a place to recruit where they had no BUSINESS being. See, the various Offices are rather. . ..shall we say. . ..protective over their territories and the territories that belong to their Champions. In this case, we are talking about the Territories upon a place called Terra Prime which, upon the death of the rest of that world, become pocket universes of their own and forevermore be like what the Faerie enjoy. . . . .more or less. Stems from promises given to various rulers who became Champions of the Rules and Agents (long story, don't ask, leave it at it played into the needs of those Celestrials and such).

See, the problem here is that the Champions of one Office (in this case the Army of Darkness' Dark Elves) cannot set up permanent residence within another Offices' Special Territory (in this case the forest upon Terra Prime claimed by both the Terra Prime Elves and their allies, Aqualaria).

Yep.

Steep penalties for offenders, folks. Even AFTER the "base" on Terra Prime, already burnt to the ground by a barrage fire from some shuttlecraft had razed it, was abandoned permanently. . ..

No, that Shadow War is still on and various other versions of the girl monster are about, doing their thing. Just this little girl. . ..

Uh. . . . .

Don't ask. . ..

It. . ..would age you decades just to hear what is going on, so terrible. . .

. . ..

So, when Compensation comes up, the Demons don't have as good of leverage as they'd have in episode 24917. So, with ill grace, the claims upon this Artizza and this Fertal are given over without even a whimper!

Instead, anger is taken out on unfortunate children. 'Tis not necessarily fair or just, some might say, to do such. However, that's the way the Hellcrew works. Deal with it.

So, still somewhat. . ..singed elves are given a choice, and given the alternatives (and the opportunities to strike back blows at now hated Entities), Artizza and Fertal (these ones) gladly become yet another set of Champions.

Unlike the other Champions, these elves aren't immediately going off upon a Validation Quest until after the Validation quest of one Chaina who's just finished speaking with a demifox lass named Andrea (re: 24358 for events).

Author's Note: See these bios for characters in question:

http : // www.geo cities. com/rule179 / Character Bios/ Chiana Bios.htm# Chiana
http : //www.geo cities.com /rule179 /Character Bios/ BiosTerra8a.html#Andrea

And here for a synopsis for Chiana's Validation Quest up to around that point:

http : //www. geo cities. com /rule179/Plot Summaries / Episode 24339 .htm
http : //www. geo cities. com/ rule179/Plot Summaries / Episode 24358. htm

As Chiana is getting over whatever had come over her she can only stare at the elves who've appeared just before her, singing an odd song. . ..

Kind of beautiful, in a way, sung by elven voices, and she (the new dragoness) is almost enchanted by that alone.

As for the elves, they know how close they came and. . ..well. . . . .a song is almost better than prayer for them. . ..in their hearts. . ..

After that, these elves told the other surprised what had happened and why they'd been sent here. Something to do with "follow-on" business on "Aylse" after their other Quest is complete. . .. Something to do with what Inquirer and the others immediately recognize from the rather confused description given by the "proto-Dark Elves" (who have much to still learn about such thing as the multi-verse and such) that the object of their Quest is nothing less than Analogs of themselves! That is, yet another elfin set named Fertal and Artizza! If they win this Quest (a Challenge set up by a very naughty little girl right before she got royally "smacked down" as Elrondir puts it later), these analogs get free of all claims from the Office of Evil and (due to prior wishes) can become yet ANOTHER set of Champions....

If not, then the analogs are going to have to face resisting the "persuasion techniques" for recruitment into a "Shadow War".

At the time it will look like something like an elfin double duet, but later we'll see it's three. Three is a magic number, they say after all....

"Okay," Ragan sighs, "This is Frellin' weird."