For some time now, I have been working on a series of paintings revolving around two original characters. It is a romantic adventure based on a story that a friend and I created about a year and a half ago called "The Tale of the Pirate and the Prince" I have already mentioned briefly in a previous post the tale of a pirate known as Captain Memoria, the pirate who has lived for three centuries, whose life-force is protected by the Stone of Eternity. He is one of my most frequent reoccurring characters because I always found his story to special to me. It was always my intention to expand his character further in the realm of my art, but little did I know when it all began just where this wayward pirate would travel.
The tale of the pirate and the prince is scattered in a chaotic order within my paintings, mostly because certain aspects of the story appealed more to me at certain times. The story was being written, and continues to amend itself to this day leaving room for expansion. In some ways it is an endless mystery, a story that reveals itself piece by piece in no particular order... with each piece, we get to know the characters and their relationship a little more.
Introduction of the Elvin Prince--
It all began in a painting called "Guardians of the Woodland Realm"
It features two traveling elves standing guard over a woodland territory. One is an Elvin Archer, protecting the forest and his traveling companion. He is called Mikirodor Dwinnedelf and his story, at this point, really goes no further than this picture. The other elf, bearing a jewel broached cape and a staff, is known as Tolmlithine Eplithon. Tolmlithine would become lucky enough travel beyond the bounds of this painting, and into a more epic tale...
Tolmlithine Eplithon is no simple elf in this vast woodland realm. He comes from a line of royal blood, and is one of several princes in the Eplithon Dynasty. Bearing his wooden staff, he is of a rare class of Mage Elves (elves who possess magical abilities.) Some of these abilities include; communication with animals and the ability influence water and the growth of plants. 
Though all elves share a love for the forest most of royal blood have primary interests in political and ceremonial values. Such is not the case with Tolmlithine, he is far more solitary and independent in nature bearing a curiosity for the world around him, and the world that lies beyond the borders of the forest. His interests are far less ideological and more geared toward the preservation of unity of nature. Relatively young in age in comparison to many of his kind, Tolmlithine is also described as having an old soul quality about him that many other elves no longer possess. He is deeply connected to the forest and oddly drawn to the sea... a connection that comes possibly from the ancient ancestral tie of Elves and Merfolk.
One day, while wandering long forgotten territories of the forest realm, to Tolmlithine's surprise, he encountered a creature that was only thought to exist in rumors and legends. He first mistook the creature as an ancient forest dryad, but she looked upon him with loving eyes and said "No young prince, I am no dryad. I have existed far longer than the thoughts of trees, for I am mother to the forest. I am humbly your friend, The Forest Queen."
Tolmlithine was shocked to be greeted by such a host, as it had not been recorded for centuries that any had laid eyes upon the rumored Fairy Queen of the Forest Realms.
She had appeared to the young prince for he possessed special qualities she had not felt within elf kind for many centuries, and there within the flowery groves of the forest glade she bore to him a special gift, The Light of Life and Love.
"This enchantment will live within you forever, and can be guided by your heart and by your staff. Its light will shine brightest in the company of the one whose heart you will hold, for it is powered by love itself"
One could wander the earth for a lifetime seeking true love, but a treasure such as this cannot be marked on any map. Those who seek love in its purest form rarely find it, but this is not to say that a kindred soul can never be found. Quite the opposite in fact, for it is in moments when love is furthest from our minds that such a treasure appears... sometimes in the most unlikely places, and sometimes in the most unlikely people...
(To Be continued...)
