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       I'm overdue in getting around to posting about Feis 08. You'll have to forgive me. New baby, economy, job, loads of things to be done besides. Easy for a person to get sidetracked.

       2008's Feis started out with me getting lost.
       Bear with me.
       It took place in Caer Aurora(Aurora, Hubbard, and Wilsonville, Oregon): the Royal Court of the Realm of Astoria(Washington and Oregon). Lady Dame Dena ap Nine Death Storms, my sister-in-arms, is the current ruler.
       There were only three of us and a guest attending this year's Feis: myself, Dragonfaire: an Astorian citizen, and Lori, Lady Dena's roommate and part of her family circle. The economy and other factors precluded many of the others from attending, which was to be expected, considering how tough times have been of late. But we all manage.
       As I was saying, I got lost. It all started with my flying in late in the afternoon on that Friday into Portland, Oregon. After I got my rental car, I found my way out of the airport complex and started finding my way to the train station where I was to pick up Dragonfaire, who was riding in from the Tacoma, Washington area. She had already arrived before I had, so it should have just been a small thing of finding her.
       First time in a city you donnae' know, and it's supposed to be simple... Riiight...
       Took a wrong turn and it ended up taking me an hour to get unlost and actually get to the train station, where Dragonfaire was waiting for me. After having a few laughs, we had a few more trying to find our way OUT of Portland, in order to get to Wilsonville to get to the Super 8. I'll see if I can get her to email me her side of the story. Needless to say, Portland thinks us irrevocably cracked.
       We made it to our hotel, and called Lady Dame Dena ni Nine Death Storms: ruler of Astoria, who got mixed up thinking we wouldnae' be in till the weekend after then. You can kind of see where this is going. I'm thinking that the Powers that Be wanted this Feis to be unpretentious and impromptu. In either case, Dena came over dressed in black and purple: complete with wig, after some Halloween festivities she had been at earlier that evening. We hung out in the hotel room for a bit before going to one of the nearby restauraunts for a little dinner, before heading back to the hotel. I forgot what gift Dragonfaire gave Dena, but what I gave her were an earring and necklace set that Lady Dame Xanthi Senara the Silent ni VoceDeConsicenza: ruler of the Dells made for her.(It ended up that Lori wore the earrings, as Dena's piercings were closed up) Dena then decided that, for this Feis, she and her roommate Lori were going to take us on a tour of the Columbia River Gorge the next day. This fit in with a certain quest that Dragonfaire was on, for she was informed prior to coming that there were staves that she was meant to find. One she had already found, if memory serves, before she came to the Feis. The other two she would find in Oregon. It promised to be an adventurous Saturday.

       Morning came, and Dena and Lori came over to our hotel to pick us up. The day turned out to be cloudy and rainy,... but it only added to the day. So off we went: four magickfolk listening to Celtic and New Age music, skipping through Portland on our way to our adventure in the Gorge.
       We drove East out of Portland on I-84 and got off in Troutdale, taking the Historic Columbia River Highway through the back communities hidden back off the Gorge along the Sand River. We stopped at one point that especially caught Dragonfaire's interest: an Iron Dragon watching the road. Imagine that.

       We stopped there for a bit to take pictures and plan out how the rest of the adventure would go. Personally speaking, there's nothing like ancient trees and gorges in mist and fog. So we hung out for a few minutes. Chatted back and forth. Had some chocolate.
       Dena's trunk is a treasure chest, to be certain. You never know what you might find when you open it. Down the line, I got a Japanese version of the Chronicles of Narnia out of that particular treasure chest on wheels. You would half expect to see a rainbow following the car around wherever it rolls. But I digress. We piled back into the car and continued driving on. Being as I never actually seen a picture of the Columbia River Gorge, myself, and having my head full of treespeak and mountains, I stupidly enough mistook the Sand River gorge we were driving along as being part of the Gorge. I was about to find out just how off I was. The road turned off till we were hugging the heavily wooded sides of rock walls. But not so heavily wooded that this sight through the trees couldnae' freeze my heart. Welcome to Vista House.

The Columbia River Gorge
as seen from Vista House

       It sort of became clear to me that everything from that point on was enchanted. The place looks like it came from some magickal world, which works out just fine for magickfolk like us. It seemed that we stood in an Oracle of the Winds, on the edge of the bowl of the world. The interior of the Vista House was impressive, as well. And to think, it used to be little more than a bathroom. These days, its an observatory, museum, gallery, gift shop, and cafe. But the one thing that marks the House as spectacular is its view. There's nothing like it that I've seen thusfar. We were to find out - though Lady Dena, of course, already knew - just how enchanted the area was.


The next few stops brought us to various waterfalls and stops along the side of the Gorge, on our adventure and journey to find Dragonfaire's staff. Among the views of the mountains, which were covered by mists and clouds, we took our time at the suggestion of Lady Dena. It was, in her words, the only true way to appreciate the experience. Two of the more memorable falls along the way down were Bridal Veil Falls and Wahkeena Falls. Bridal Veil Falls we reached after a short stop at Latourrel Falls a few miles before, and Shepperd's Dell(which is near impossible to see from the road). As well as taking our time to enjoy the experience, we were also following Dragonfaire's intuition, as well as a little of our own, as to where her healing staff were to be. Like at Latourrel, we found that it wasn't there. At that point, I suspected that it would be found at Multnomah, while Dena figured the end of our particular adventure, at Horsetail Falls: directly after Multnomah. There was also the side adventure of my meeting a certain "official" of the area, mixed into the journey. In either case, the stop wasn't a waste as we took in the beauty of the falls, before moving on.


Wahkeena Falls was next on the trail, after Coopey Falls. This itself was a good spot to stop and explore, even though we still hadn't come across Dragonfaire's staff: however warmer we were. As you can see, we had a good view of the falls. We also discovered a new friend in an old and rather huge tree elder. Though his main trunk had long since been cut down it didn't take away from the massiveness of his presence. It would have taken the four of us at the most to encircle his girth. And though his original trunk had been removed, he still found a way to grow, as we saw that a new trunk had been growing out of him for quite some time. Across the path from him, was a multi-trunked tree, that happened to be in a vortex. A couple of us went ahead and had our pictures taken within the vortex, as you can see off to the side. All the same, the true charge would come when we reached Multnomah.
       Multnomah Falls like the rest of the Gorge itself, is more than what any book, page, or picture can give proper credit for. Not only is it arguably the tallest waterfall on the Oregon side of the Gorge: rising at a height of over 1000 feet total for both tiers, but it is also the energy center for that section of the Gorge. Obviously, it draws the tourists, as there were dozens upon dozens of tourists there: from the gift shop and lodge at the base of the falls, to the very top, and all points between. There seemed to be no time of the day short of just before sunset when there wasn't people climing either part way up or all the way up the falls. Suffice it to say, the energy that flows from Multnomah is something that has to be experienced for oneself. Suffice it to say, Lady Dena was overloaded halfway up, just across the Footbridge that spanned over the lower tier. But that came after what I had discovered about Multnomah.

Halfway up the first tier of the falls is a cave of sorts, the energy of which came pouring out as the waterfall fell from the top. By this time, our group was a little "inebriated" off of the energy of the place. It occured to me that the cave was like some sort of front window, and the why hit me right then. I looked to Lady Dena and said "You never told me you had a Fae stronghold in the middle of your Realm..." She gave me a sidelong glance and said, "There's a lot about my Realm I haven't told you about..."We shared a smile and a laugh as we crossed the bridge, but the energy was so much that she couldn't go any farther. So we slowly made our way back down, taking our time to enjoy the scenery. While doing so, I took my time studying the area surrounding the falls: from the sides of the Gorge it occupied to the trees - a lot of them old growth - That occupied the area. It almost seemed as if Multnomah was the front door of a fortress of sorts. One that, I would come to realize in looking back upon the trip, reached from Crown Point to the last stop in our journey.

       After spending some time refreshing ourselves and going through the gift shop at the Lodge that sits at the foot of the falls, we got into the car for the last leg of our journey. We almost thought that Dragonfaire's staff was there at Multnomah. In fact, it would seem to be the obvious choice,... but it wasn't. I myself had found some pieces there. But the pull drew her - and us - farther down. That's when we came to the "back door" of the fortress, and the last stop on our adventure: Horsetail Falls.

       Horsetail Falls is a bit understated when compared to the majesty of the "front door" that is Multnomah Falls, but it is no less beautiful. And when it comes to this adventure of ours, no less important. When we arrived there, we knew that at least one of Lady Dragonfaire's staves would be there. She herself felt the pull of it as soon as we arrived. We spent several minutes searching around the pool fomed by the falls, but it kept eluding us. Being that Horsetail is the "backdoor" of the fortress (something Lord Flint finds no small humor about where the name is concerned), maybe the staff itself would be understated.

       Coming from the pool, I was drawn to a certain tree that I had stopped at when we first arrived. Something told me that my meeting with the fae lady of the area had a lot to do with this tree. So I went to sit under the tree and had my meeting, as it were. I'll not go into it here. Suffice it to say that it was interesting.

       As I was coming out of the meeting, Dragonfaire called me. She had found something. Leaving the tree, I walked up the path off to the East of the tree, where everyone was standing... When I got there, everyone was looking down the slope from the trail, which was gradual as is. She said she felt her healer's staff down there somewhere, and indicated two branches that stuck out: one on one side, and one on the other. As I'm the one with the long legs, it was left to me to retrieve either one. Upon walking halfway down the slope, I stepped over a branch that was halfway between the two, and knew that it was actually the one that was waiting for her,... but said nothing and made as if to go for the one farther down the slope. I hadn't taken more than two steps before she asked me to stop and bring the branch that I stepped over. I did, and it was the one. After shortening it, it was perfect size. It had been waiting for her there all this time. With that, Our adventure along the Gorge was done,... and we headed back. After a stop at the Multnomah Lodge to retrieve something Dragonfaire left by accident, we took the Interstate back to the beginning of the trail to have a little something to eat, before heading back to Lady Dena's home in Caer Aurora.

       Interestingly enough, it turns out that, after a bit of hanging out, we discovered that Lady Dena had had Dragonfaire's battle staff all along. She had created it some years ago, but knew it was not to be with her for long. When she brought it out for Dragonfaire to see, it was as obvious to her as her healing staff. As it turned out, she would be taking her battle staff back with her on the train, and her healing staff, along with other things we found along the way, Dena would either send along to us, or bring it with her to the Feis. So, it turned out the adventure had not concluded till then. Imagine that...

       We went back to the hotel room that Dragonfaire and I had shared to spend some more time talking and hanging out. Lori decided to stay behind to rest and said her goodbyes then. When we got to the room, after a bit of talking and chatting, it was decided mutually that Dragonfaire would be the new provincial ruler of Astoria's province of Verdania. And since I had them both there, I Knighted them both. I had to use Dragonfiare's staff and Dena's cane respectively to do so, as I didnae' necessarily have my Sword of Vigil with me. (Donnae' think they let you carry those on planes...). We concluded the evening so that we all could rest from the day we had, and be up early enough to have our breakfast and Scattering. It may only be three of us,... but it would be a proper Scattering to be certain...

       Morning came and the three of us got together for breakfast. We got a lot of looks... But then, when you have magickfolk walking around... one in a trenchcoat... and one carrying around an adorned battlestaff with her,... you're bound to get looks. There were plenty, but we didnae' mind. We sat, chatted, discussed how next year's Feis would go: which we already knew was going to be in the North. Nothing big,... just riding the aftermath of so much energy. After that, we went to our cars, and were even able to get a couple to take a pic of the three of us. We then said our Byes and went on our way: Dena back home, and Dragonfaire and I off to the train station. After nearly getting lost - again - we finally found our way back to the train station. After getting someone to take a picture of us, Dragonfaire and I said our goodbyes, and I made my way to the airport. Several hours later, the Dells welcomed me back.

       One adventure down in the realm of Astoria. The next Feis coming, I'll not have to travel overmuch. For it'll be here in the Dells. We'll see what kind of story I have to tell you then...

                     Good Dreaming and Blessed Be,
                     -Lord Shadow