Suvi - for that, she kept reminding herself, was her name now - sat in the grass on top of the small isle of stone that formed the outermost wall of Moonflower Hollow, awaiting the sunrise. The nymphs had welcomed her, finding no animosity or ill intent in her aura, for indeed there was none - at least not now. She had offered them a small trinket from her travel bags - a child's toy from Gethspar that, though common, was rather pretty and amusing to fiddle with. They had seemed - if not pleased exactly - sufficiently appeased.
Even at this early pre-dawn hour, the Hollow was lively with nymphs and city-dwellers, either up late or early to enjoy the Hollow's gifts. Seeking solitude, Suvi had made her way across the bridge to this isolated meadow and as she sat in the soft grass, she gazed out at the Great Crystal across the waters of the Bay of Viir-Nais and reflected on her journey from the Kyr mountains back here to the east and Ansa`fel.
Shortly after her Undoing and Reformation - as the ritual designated the steps - the hatred and anger felt by Skolvor had remained dominant in her psyche. As she had dressed, she had determined to return immediately to Ansa`fel to seek out and murder Lyrena, and this intention had animated her for the first part of her journey. But as the days had passed on the road and the persona of Suvi-Ké had continued to assert itself, those feelings had faded. She found as she travelled that people treated her differently now that she was no longer a menacing Naga snake, but a simple green girl down from the mountains. Folks were friendly and generous to her, offering her places to sleep and food to eat. And she needed their kindness, for this new body was not nearly so hardy as Skolvor had been. And the more she had been shown kindness, the more she had felt kindly towards others. The warmth of her new blood seemed to be warming her heart as well. This was not unexpected, but it was something she had not felt for a thousand years.
By the time she had reached Ansa'fel, then, the decision to kill Lyrena was no longer so clear to her. She remembered the desire to do it and could, if she concentrated on Skolvor, summon the rage that would motivate her to action. But she had to work at it. It was no longer natural to her. It was someone else's memory. Rather, she found that as she contemplated the battle between Skolvor and Lyrena from this new, more objective perspective, she was rather fascinated by the blood elf and her loyalty to this beautiful city. She was also intrigued - in a completely new way - by Caldiin; the King's twin, with whom Skolvor had teamed up for the ambush. Even Skolvor had been aware of the rage and pain in the man, though the Naga had had no interest in doing anything other than using Caldiin for his own ends. But to Suvi, those insights felt different. Almost compelling her to seek him out and... was this the right thought: help him?
She pushed the thought aside in frustration. She had to be careful. This new body was bringing with it a softness she had not experienced since the time of Arvyn. Skolvor had been a response, she suspected, to the disaster of that form - the hero, as Arvyn had thought of himself - and she was not going to allow these new feelings of amity with her fellow beings to undo the millennia of work she had undertaken to ensure her safety and survival since then. Arvyn had nearly gotten himself killed through his generosity of spirit and desire to protect. Suvi would not make the same mistake. Fine to be kind. Fatal to be soft.
She sighed. There was no point fighting the change, of course. This new body and persona were what they were, and she would have to get used to the greater complexity of emotions she was feeling again. Skolvor had been rather simple to inhabit - cold, calculating, brooding, moody, but completely devoid of concern for anyone else. That had certainly had its advantages. But it had also been, if she was honest, rather lonely. The question was how to thread the needle. She needed different things now to survive - both physically and psychologically - and Skolvor's way would no longer suffice. Yet at the same time, she was a continuation of the life that had been Skolvor, Arvyn, and many others, and like her predecessors, she had a duty to continue that life.
She watched as the sun rose out of the sea ahead of her across the waters and then stood, brushing the grass off her trousers. Trading careful steps back through the Hollow to the crystal terrace and then over the bridge and into the Mystic Market, she contemplated who she would need to be here in Ansa'fel - at least for now. She remained a mage of Än'vakor, of course, but she was far from her source of power and the role was essentially pointless - both magically and socially. She had a reservoir of energy, of course, but using it would be unwise and might even reveal to certain citizens of this city who she had been. Better to hide that, she thought. As she exited the other end of the market, making her way past the House of Healing, the Mage Guild - she moved quickly past that - and along the Player's Square back to the Wayward King, the lighthouse tower caught her eye. She smiled. The Library of Light. Of course; scholars from across the High Kingdom came to Ansa'fel to access the Library's repository of rare books. Very well then, she was Suvi-Ké, a scholar from the Library of Tears in the city of Ravkash in Gethspar. This was in fact a half-truth. She had served in the library long before Skolvor or Arvyn, and had accessed its works more recently - much to the chagrin of the librarians - as Skolvor. She knew it well enough to play this part.
The decision made, she stepped into the noisy taproom of the Wayward King and made her way quickly up to her room on the first floor. Shutting the door behind her, she moved over to her bed and collapsed into it, enjoying the simple feeling of the soft sheets on her new skin. After a few moments, she fell asleep, still exhausted and recovering from both the transformation and the travel, yet feeling much more peaceful than she had done for many many days.