Eight departed for Oerth. Only seven returned to Sigil. . .
Where is Cherry?
((Decided to add in portions, its a hell of a lot to edit for one post!))
Cherry's Quest For Faith
-
*Tsidkenu
- Posts: 156
- Joined: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am
Cherry's Quest for Faith - Part I
The Bazaar was humming with its usual activity. Merchants were buying and selling. Bodies were ordering their favourite bub. The latest SIGIS article being read and discussed. There was a certain type of serenity to the sensation, that bizarre intermingling of barminess into one conglomerated whole, all present in the one place at any given time. None of that mattered to me anymore, though. I took my glass of bright green absinthe in my hand and turned around to look at those gathered with me.
Almost everyone was here now. Sharon had just arrived, rugged up in her winter woollens. I donÂ’t think it would have mattered what she wore, actually, because the delightful sorceress had that irrepressible force of personality that turned heads wherever she went. I was glad of her presence, because she brought another world of experience, wisdom and, most importantly, understanding to the quest upon which I was about to embark. She was the first to volunteer herself to my cause. Here she was still, at the end of it all.
Sharon, like Danae, Vashtalla, Saileach, Nami and Lance, was privy to the deeper secrets of my mission. Admittedly I had told Danae a little bit more than I had told Sharon, simply because the priestess of the Faerunian god of the dead was a valuable beacon of comfort to me. I do not think she understood just yet how important her part would be in this task, alongside the delicate mission she had passed on to Vashtalla for my sake. But in time she would know fully that I had meant every word I had told her.
The others were here now, too. Saileach was standing next to me with an uncharacteristic glass of wine in her hand. I was sure she would ask her question again. That answer would be forthcoming at the proper time; I would rather I didnÂ’t have to think about it right now, though. She didnÂ’t say much. IÂ’m fairly certain the nymph was trembling inwardly with the same degree of trepidation that I had been for the entire week prior as I steeled my determination.
Helena looked good in her get-up. I was anxious about her given all that Namael had told me of late. Both she and Sharon had promised to make sure HelenaÂ’s darker side did not spoil my mission, for I had prepared a specific spell just for that possible happenstance. I wasnÂ’t really enthusiastic about using Finger of Death on one of my own friends, though, but if it came to that I would not hesitate to do it.
I had asked Rexxar to come despite being advised otherwise by everyone else present, more or less. Vashtalla and Danae were not overly enthused about that, and perhaps that played a contributing part to LanceÂ’s decision not to accompany us. The young ogre was looking for an opportunity to prove himself to me and, well, with LanceÂ’s backdown I felt we might need the extra sword arm, assuming he could be concealed somehow from the townsfolk of Kelten, once we got there at least. His presence was only going to be a bane or a boon to the mission. How much I prayed for it to be the latter!
“Tahir's coming. He's meditating right now,” Sharon’s soothing and supportive voice broke through my bombardment of thoughts. I looked over to her and gave her a smile, a rare thing in the build-up while I had concealed my visage from public view but it was now out on show in all its distortion.
"I didn't want to toast with any of us absent though," I answered her. I meant it, too. Some of them wouldnÂ’t realise this may well be our last opportunity for a drink together. "Because now we are about to depart."
Some of the voices hushed slightly as they discussed the latest chant from the SIGIS. Lance poked his head around the wall and greeted everyone with his trademark phrase.
“Oi.”
“ Oi,” Danae parroted back in kind.
"...You goin out too?" Lance asked her, somewhat surprised perhaps.
“Going to follow us off and wave as we all take off hm? - Oh yeah,” she answered.
Whatever else began to be spoken in the interim, my focus was fixated on a hulking, armoured Jann who was making his way into the square. Tahir had arrived. I smiled in his direction.
"Good."
"The Wall is here.." Helena quipped, joking or otherwise. I hope she appreciated the severity of the truth behind her sentiment.
“I am prepared.” Tahir inhaled quietly and spoke softly to all of us. We were assembled. It was time to toast.
"Friends, it is time," I called out loud enough for Lance and Danae to hear as well, who were on the other side of the wall in the Bazaar but I could hear their voices.
"Eh. If you lot trip over the first portal out yer all gonna be screwed. I got 'nough faith that won't happen, at least," Lance said as every eye and ear turned to face me. I was feeling quite anxious. It would not be the only moment that every eye would be trained on me during this journey.
“ Psh. Oh wait,” Danae scoffed at Lance before she paused, prodding him in the side with a SIGIS paper. “ Cherry is talking.”
"I heard..." he muttered lowly. A few other random folk also craned their heads at me, waiting to hear what I was going to say, wondering alike what I was doing. I took an invisible gulp of air and spoke only the few words that were on my heart at that exact moment.
"Many friends I have made. None of you are insignificant to me. I will toast to you all, to Sigil where I met you. And to a prayer for a new beginning."
Such few words, but all of them laden with the deepest treasures of my heart. I couldn’t say what was going to happen once I returned to Oerth. We could be killed by the cultists in whose cave we would arrive after I opened the planar Gate from the Broken Reach. We could be killed by the witch-hunters I had eluded most of my life, like my mother before me. We could be killed by Kelten’s vile and tyrannical ataman, just because we were ‘outsiders’ liable to pay exorbitant taxes. We could be killed by the corrupted vileness that awaited us in the haunted forest surrounding Shadow Valley. We could be killed by the demons I knew would come to reclaim Syletalsia’s soul once I had been freed from her taint.
Danae hugged the rather human-looking Vashtalla at this point, listening intently. Tahir looked somewhat detatched, however intense his gaze was upon me. I lifted my drink in the air as those who had drinks alongside did likewise. I drank. That was all I was going to say. Nami had gotten herself a glass of absinthe, just as I had, and I could tell she struggled not to cough and splutter when she sipped it. Everyone else sipped at what they had gotten for themselves.
“Hear hear!” Sharon called out and flashed that wide, supportive grin of hers at me. I wasn’t going to finish my drink so I just left what remained on the bar counter. Helena polished all hers off, though. It was time.
"It is either your shortcut, or we move for the Barracks," I said to Sharon. I didnÂ’t know if she had managed to find another, easier way. I tugged my dull brown hood back up and reaffixed my mask to hide my warped, greyed facial features.
“ Just so happens that I know of the right shortcut,” Sharon replied with that grin still beaming from her lips. “Everyone's gathered and ready, then?”
Nods were returned all round. Namael nodded. Rexxar voiced his affirmation. Tahir confirmed his willingness. Helena assented. Saileach remained as quiet as ever.
“I'll open it up in Thalasia,” Sharon continued. “Meet me there when you're all set.”
It was a pretty emotional moment. Twenty two years had I borne the curse. Twenty two years had I plumbed the vileness of the Abyss for answers, conjured fiends for interrogation, scoured the wilds of the Hraak Forest for clues, all while fearing my next episode of fury and violence. Yet it had only taken four months in the City of Doors; a divine boon from the Tuatha de Danan and so many faithful friends to assist me. How much worse it could have been they would never know. They had not seen my sway towards the darkness, words spoken in secret, a demonÂ’s True Name offered, an influence that ceased when Akalabeth departed. Untaramar was too absorbed within himself to try to convince me otherwise, not that I even gave him the opportunity after my return from the Spring of Knowledge. My thoughts were only disturbed by DanaeÂ’s voice of farewell.
“Sees now, Lance,” she quipped while waving at the weapon and armour smith. He cast a glance at the group as we started to leave. Vashtalla lifted two fingers at him, his own expression solemn.
“Good luck, you lot,” he said. I could help but give him one long, final gaze. He knew what I was going to do. And i suspected that, too, was part of the reason why he didn’t want to come. I waved. Simple and sincere. Another woman went over to him to inquire about some weapon or armour work. His attentions turned elsewhere after a single wave of his own. There was nothing more to be said.
The Bazaar was humming with its usual activity. Merchants were buying and selling. Bodies were ordering their favourite bub. The latest SIGIS article being read and discussed. There was a certain type of serenity to the sensation, that bizarre intermingling of barminess into one conglomerated whole, all present in the one place at any given time. None of that mattered to me anymore, though. I took my glass of bright green absinthe in my hand and turned around to look at those gathered with me.
Almost everyone was here now. Sharon had just arrived, rugged up in her winter woollens. I donÂ’t think it would have mattered what she wore, actually, because the delightful sorceress had that irrepressible force of personality that turned heads wherever she went. I was glad of her presence, because she brought another world of experience, wisdom and, most importantly, understanding to the quest upon which I was about to embark. She was the first to volunteer herself to my cause. Here she was still, at the end of it all.
Sharon, like Danae, Vashtalla, Saileach, Nami and Lance, was privy to the deeper secrets of my mission. Admittedly I had told Danae a little bit more than I had told Sharon, simply because the priestess of the Faerunian god of the dead was a valuable beacon of comfort to me. I do not think she understood just yet how important her part would be in this task, alongside the delicate mission she had passed on to Vashtalla for my sake. But in time she would know fully that I had meant every word I had told her.
The others were here now, too. Saileach was standing next to me with an uncharacteristic glass of wine in her hand. I was sure she would ask her question again. That answer would be forthcoming at the proper time; I would rather I didnÂ’t have to think about it right now, though. She didnÂ’t say much. IÂ’m fairly certain the nymph was trembling inwardly with the same degree of trepidation that I had been for the entire week prior as I steeled my determination.
Helena looked good in her get-up. I was anxious about her given all that Namael had told me of late. Both she and Sharon had promised to make sure HelenaÂ’s darker side did not spoil my mission, for I had prepared a specific spell just for that possible happenstance. I wasnÂ’t really enthusiastic about using Finger of Death on one of my own friends, though, but if it came to that I would not hesitate to do it.
I had asked Rexxar to come despite being advised otherwise by everyone else present, more or less. Vashtalla and Danae were not overly enthused about that, and perhaps that played a contributing part to LanceÂ’s decision not to accompany us. The young ogre was looking for an opportunity to prove himself to me and, well, with LanceÂ’s backdown I felt we might need the extra sword arm, assuming he could be concealed somehow from the townsfolk of Kelten, once we got there at least. His presence was only going to be a bane or a boon to the mission. How much I prayed for it to be the latter!
“Tahir's coming. He's meditating right now,” Sharon’s soothing and supportive voice broke through my bombardment of thoughts. I looked over to her and gave her a smile, a rare thing in the build-up while I had concealed my visage from public view but it was now out on show in all its distortion.
"I didn't want to toast with any of us absent though," I answered her. I meant it, too. Some of them wouldnÂ’t realise this may well be our last opportunity for a drink together. "Because now we are about to depart."
Some of the voices hushed slightly as they discussed the latest chant from the SIGIS. Lance poked his head around the wall and greeted everyone with his trademark phrase.
“Oi.”
“ Oi,” Danae parroted back in kind.
"...You goin out too?" Lance asked her, somewhat surprised perhaps.
“Going to follow us off and wave as we all take off hm? - Oh yeah,” she answered.
Whatever else began to be spoken in the interim, my focus was fixated on a hulking, armoured Jann who was making his way into the square. Tahir had arrived. I smiled in his direction.
"Good."
"The Wall is here.." Helena quipped, joking or otherwise. I hope she appreciated the severity of the truth behind her sentiment.
“I am prepared.” Tahir inhaled quietly and spoke softly to all of us. We were assembled. It was time to toast.
"Friends, it is time," I called out loud enough for Lance and Danae to hear as well, who were on the other side of the wall in the Bazaar but I could hear their voices.
"Eh. If you lot trip over the first portal out yer all gonna be screwed. I got 'nough faith that won't happen, at least," Lance said as every eye and ear turned to face me. I was feeling quite anxious. It would not be the only moment that every eye would be trained on me during this journey.
“ Psh. Oh wait,” Danae scoffed at Lance before she paused, prodding him in the side with a SIGIS paper. “ Cherry is talking.”
"I heard..." he muttered lowly. A few other random folk also craned their heads at me, waiting to hear what I was going to say, wondering alike what I was doing. I took an invisible gulp of air and spoke only the few words that were on my heart at that exact moment.
"Many friends I have made. None of you are insignificant to me. I will toast to you all, to Sigil where I met you. And to a prayer for a new beginning."
Such few words, but all of them laden with the deepest treasures of my heart. I couldn’t say what was going to happen once I returned to Oerth. We could be killed by the cultists in whose cave we would arrive after I opened the planar Gate from the Broken Reach. We could be killed by the witch-hunters I had eluded most of my life, like my mother before me. We could be killed by Kelten’s vile and tyrannical ataman, just because we were ‘outsiders’ liable to pay exorbitant taxes. We could be killed by the corrupted vileness that awaited us in the haunted forest surrounding Shadow Valley. We could be killed by the demons I knew would come to reclaim Syletalsia’s soul once I had been freed from her taint.
Danae hugged the rather human-looking Vashtalla at this point, listening intently. Tahir looked somewhat detatched, however intense his gaze was upon me. I lifted my drink in the air as those who had drinks alongside did likewise. I drank. That was all I was going to say. Nami had gotten herself a glass of absinthe, just as I had, and I could tell she struggled not to cough and splutter when she sipped it. Everyone else sipped at what they had gotten for themselves.
“Hear hear!” Sharon called out and flashed that wide, supportive grin of hers at me. I wasn’t going to finish my drink so I just left what remained on the bar counter. Helena polished all hers off, though. It was time.
"It is either your shortcut, or we move for the Barracks," I said to Sharon. I didnÂ’t know if she had managed to find another, easier way. I tugged my dull brown hood back up and reaffixed my mask to hide my warped, greyed facial features.
“ Just so happens that I know of the right shortcut,” Sharon replied with that grin still beaming from her lips. “Everyone's gathered and ready, then?”
Nods were returned all round. Namael nodded. Rexxar voiced his affirmation. Tahir confirmed his willingness. Helena assented. Saileach remained as quiet as ever.
“I'll open it up in Thalasia,” Sharon continued. “Meet me there when you're all set.”
It was a pretty emotional moment. Twenty two years had I borne the curse. Twenty two years had I plumbed the vileness of the Abyss for answers, conjured fiends for interrogation, scoured the wilds of the Hraak Forest for clues, all while fearing my next episode of fury and violence. Yet it had only taken four months in the City of Doors; a divine boon from the Tuatha de Danan and so many faithful friends to assist me. How much worse it could have been they would never know. They had not seen my sway towards the darkness, words spoken in secret, a demonÂ’s True Name offered, an influence that ceased when Akalabeth departed. Untaramar was too absorbed within himself to try to convince me otherwise, not that I even gave him the opportunity after my return from the Spring of Knowledge. My thoughts were only disturbed by DanaeÂ’s voice of farewell.
“Sees now, Lance,” she quipped while waving at the weapon and armour smith. He cast a glance at the group as we started to leave. Vashtalla lifted two fingers at him, his own expression solemn.
“Good luck, you lot,” he said. I could help but give him one long, final gaze. He knew what I was going to do. And i suspected that, too, was part of the reason why he didn’t want to come. I waved. Simple and sincere. Another woman went over to him to inquire about some weapon or armour work. His attentions turned elsewhere after a single wave of his own. There was nothing more to be said.
-
*Tsidkenu
- Posts: 156
- Joined: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am
Cherry's Quest for Faith - Part II
The interior of the Foul Olde Spirit Inn was the same as I remembered. Dim, but fresh. I had spent my first few weeks in Sigil here, renting a room until I got my own little place in the Civic Festhall after I joined the Society of Sensation. There were good and bad memories left in both places. Sharon opened the doorway to Thalasia. That was a familiar portal too, a place filled with fond memories.
"Damn itÂ’s been too long since IÂ’ve stepped foot here..." Helena remarked as soon as she emerged into the divine brightness of the pristine world.
“Feels weird to be here in fur,” Danae remarked alongside. It was a strange sight indeed to be dressed for winter in Elysium’s warmth. But this was not our final destination.
“Tahir, Namael, Helena, Rex, Danae, Hugh Man, Cherry, Saileach... That is everyone, then?” Sharon performed a brief head count, utilising Vashtalla’s human-disguised code name.
“Here!” Rexxar answered enthusiastically.
“Broken reach was it?” Nami quizzed Sharon. I guess she was as confused as I was, because I had told them we had to Gate from the Broken Reach in the reverse manner to which I had found my way to the Cage in the first place.
“ We won't need to go to Broken Reach thankfully. I know of a way to a cave outside of Kelti,” Sharon answered with that grin of hers. “So if you're all ready, I'll open the way to the Infinite Staircase.”
“Kelti....” Nami answered, her measure of confusion deepening. I couldn’t blame her. It was the wrong place.
"The town is called Kelten. . ." I corrected Sharon. It was a small detail, but an important one especially where portals were concerned. I sincerely hoped she wasnÂ’t about to transport us to some far flung corner of continental Flanaess from which our journey would receive a significant increase in its difficulty.
“ ... Excuse me, Kelten,” she replied. I really did hope she was taking us to the right place, because my Gate spell would not function from the prime material plane of Oerth to another location on the same. Saileach sent one apprehensive glance at the gateway to Elysium we had travelled through and that was not lost to me. I had been wary I was being spied upon ever since Nami brought it to my attention that a quasit had taken interest in my affairs. I didn’t really want or need the attention right now, but another part of me simply concluded that whatever they gleaned simply didn’t matter any more.
“ I am ready,” Rexxar’s gruff voice interrupted my wild thoughts. I noticed Danae gripping hold of the elf-turned-human's hand. Some of the others murmured in the background but I had stopped paying attention when Sharon pulled open a gateway to another world. A gateway to my world. I was surprised. I knew she had interesting powers, but this was totally unexpected.
"You. . . you mean. . . I don't need to Gate us?" I asked her immediately. I wish she had told me beforehand so I could have prepared another spell, but I suppose I could keep it in reserve for now.
“ Everyone head in,” Sharon answered as she held up her hand and prodded at a bit of energy in the air. Her hands glowed with arcane energy as she suddenly pulled the portal open. I peered into the gateway to see what was awaiting them on the other side. All I could see was the gloom of darkness, just as it was when I had departed.
"Once we head in, let's... keep things calm and, well, discreet. Rexxar may want to uhh... Do we have an invisibility for him?"
"I do," I answered. I was not sure whether it was needed so soon. I had only prepared the one, metamagicked to last an entire day. I didnÂ’t know which cave we were to appear inside, or whether the cultists would still be there after all this time.
“I won't attack unless told,” the ogre promised and took his axe out anyway.
He better not, because I also have a Dominate Monster spell to take control of him if he starts getting out of hand. I paused on that thought as Tahir used his empathic abilities to share his life-force with Sharon, Saileach and Danae. At least those three would be safe.
“... Good, Rexxar, but you may want to put the axe down for now, in case someone spots you,” Sharon told him while my mind was distracted.
“Toril?” he asked further.
"Oerth. My home world, Rexxar," you answered him. ItÂ’s all he needed to know, really.
“Where are we going?” Rexxar asked. It suddenly dawned on you that you hadn’t really briefed everyone about the mission. Not that they all needed to know the finer details. Nevertheless, I had no idea where we were going to appear now. I could only hope Sharon would get us somewhere minutely close to Kelten.
“ Sharon. Seeing spells, if you would be so kind,” Tahir requested of the sorceress
“ We're starting from a cave just outside of Kelten. We're going to see if we can get some sled dogs for the cold season,” Sharon told Rexxar while she tended to Tahir’s request, weaving together a few more strands of magic.
“Mhmmm Oerth...” Rexxar mumbled in reply as his mind likely went into overdrive. There were good reasons why I told him only very little about the true nature of the trip.
"Sharon. I. . . I am ready. . ." I exclaimed with a measure of determination. They couldnÂ’t feel the utter anxiety I had in my heart, though. This was a return to the known, in order to take a leap into the unknown.
"Same. Let's go in,” Sharon answered. The feel of this portal was so very different to the abyssal gate I conjured last time, albeit to travel in the other direction.
“Hm. Good,” Tahir remarked as everyone made their final preparations to leave behind what was familiar, what was comfortable.
“ Okay lets do this,” Rexxar concurred. Vashtalla emitted a snicker at something at this point, but I was in no mood for joking.
“I'll be your shadow, for when things go... err... tits up?" Helena promised.
“Preferably they will not. I am at the vanguard as ever,” Tahir met her wager and raised her one.
“. . .Tits up. That's a funny one I've not heard,” Danae snickered some more, but by then my fingertips were brushing across the surface of the portal. A familiar embrace of chaotic arcane energy to whisk me away to complete my destiny. I stepped through.
The interior of the Foul Olde Spirit Inn was the same as I remembered. Dim, but fresh. I had spent my first few weeks in Sigil here, renting a room until I got my own little place in the Civic Festhall after I joined the Society of Sensation. There were good and bad memories left in both places. Sharon opened the doorway to Thalasia. That was a familiar portal too, a place filled with fond memories.
"Damn itÂ’s been too long since IÂ’ve stepped foot here..." Helena remarked as soon as she emerged into the divine brightness of the pristine world.
“Feels weird to be here in fur,” Danae remarked alongside. It was a strange sight indeed to be dressed for winter in Elysium’s warmth. But this was not our final destination.
“Tahir, Namael, Helena, Rex, Danae, Hugh Man, Cherry, Saileach... That is everyone, then?” Sharon performed a brief head count, utilising Vashtalla’s human-disguised code name.
“Here!” Rexxar answered enthusiastically.
“Broken reach was it?” Nami quizzed Sharon. I guess she was as confused as I was, because I had told them we had to Gate from the Broken Reach in the reverse manner to which I had found my way to the Cage in the first place.
“ We won't need to go to Broken Reach thankfully. I know of a way to a cave outside of Kelti,” Sharon answered with that grin of hers. “So if you're all ready, I'll open the way to the Infinite Staircase.”
“Kelti....” Nami answered, her measure of confusion deepening. I couldn’t blame her. It was the wrong place.
"The town is called Kelten. . ." I corrected Sharon. It was a small detail, but an important one especially where portals were concerned. I sincerely hoped she wasnÂ’t about to transport us to some far flung corner of continental Flanaess from which our journey would receive a significant increase in its difficulty.
“ ... Excuse me, Kelten,” she replied. I really did hope she was taking us to the right place, because my Gate spell would not function from the prime material plane of Oerth to another location on the same. Saileach sent one apprehensive glance at the gateway to Elysium we had travelled through and that was not lost to me. I had been wary I was being spied upon ever since Nami brought it to my attention that a quasit had taken interest in my affairs. I didn’t really want or need the attention right now, but another part of me simply concluded that whatever they gleaned simply didn’t matter any more.
“ I am ready,” Rexxar’s gruff voice interrupted my wild thoughts. I noticed Danae gripping hold of the elf-turned-human's hand. Some of the others murmured in the background but I had stopped paying attention when Sharon pulled open a gateway to another world. A gateway to my world. I was surprised. I knew she had interesting powers, but this was totally unexpected.
"You. . . you mean. . . I don't need to Gate us?" I asked her immediately. I wish she had told me beforehand so I could have prepared another spell, but I suppose I could keep it in reserve for now.
“ Everyone head in,” Sharon answered as she held up her hand and prodded at a bit of energy in the air. Her hands glowed with arcane energy as she suddenly pulled the portal open. I peered into the gateway to see what was awaiting them on the other side. All I could see was the gloom of darkness, just as it was when I had departed.
"Once we head in, let's... keep things calm and, well, discreet. Rexxar may want to uhh... Do we have an invisibility for him?"
"I do," I answered. I was not sure whether it was needed so soon. I had only prepared the one, metamagicked to last an entire day. I didnÂ’t know which cave we were to appear inside, or whether the cultists would still be there after all this time.
“I won't attack unless told,” the ogre promised and took his axe out anyway.
He better not, because I also have a Dominate Monster spell to take control of him if he starts getting out of hand. I paused on that thought as Tahir used his empathic abilities to share his life-force with Sharon, Saileach and Danae. At least those three would be safe.
“... Good, Rexxar, but you may want to put the axe down for now, in case someone spots you,” Sharon told him while my mind was distracted.
“Toril?” he asked further.
"Oerth. My home world, Rexxar," you answered him. ItÂ’s all he needed to know, really.
“Where are we going?” Rexxar asked. It suddenly dawned on you that you hadn’t really briefed everyone about the mission. Not that they all needed to know the finer details. Nevertheless, I had no idea where we were going to appear now. I could only hope Sharon would get us somewhere minutely close to Kelten.
“ Sharon. Seeing spells, if you would be so kind,” Tahir requested of the sorceress
“ We're starting from a cave just outside of Kelten. We're going to see if we can get some sled dogs for the cold season,” Sharon told Rexxar while she tended to Tahir’s request, weaving together a few more strands of magic.
“Mhmmm Oerth...” Rexxar mumbled in reply as his mind likely went into overdrive. There were good reasons why I told him only very little about the true nature of the trip.
"Sharon. I. . . I am ready. . ." I exclaimed with a measure of determination. They couldnÂ’t feel the utter anxiety I had in my heart, though. This was a return to the known, in order to take a leap into the unknown.
"Same. Let's go in,” Sharon answered. The feel of this portal was so very different to the abyssal gate I conjured last time, albeit to travel in the other direction.
“Hm. Good,” Tahir remarked as everyone made their final preparations to leave behind what was familiar, what was comfortable.
“ Okay lets do this,” Rexxar concurred. Vashtalla emitted a snicker at something at this point, but I was in no mood for joking.
“I'll be your shadow, for when things go... err... tits up?" Helena promised.
“Preferably they will not. I am at the vanguard as ever,” Tahir met her wager and raised her one.
“. . .Tits up. That's a funny one I've not heard,” Danae snickered some more, but by then my fingertips were brushing across the surface of the portal. A familiar embrace of chaotic arcane energy to whisk me away to complete my destiny. I stepped through.
-
*Tsidkenu
- Posts: 156
- Joined: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am
Cherry's Quest for Faith - Part III
It was not necessarily worse than I expected on the other side, but it was a surprise just the same. The rest of the party stumbled through the gateway as if they were all on a LadyÂ’s Day stroll, seemingly oblivious to the immediate threat presented to us. I knew what it was. I knew where it was, as I had been here before. The dark cave was filled with the subdued chanting of several dark figures focused on a body in the centre of the gathering. Our portal had spat us out almost directly in the centre of the cultic circle, accompanied by expected startled cries.
Sharon, who had gone through first, came to an immediate halt and held up her hand in an attempt to placate the worshippers of Beltar with friendliness. The others were equally as clueless, except for Tahir. His hand went immediately to his sword.
“Soooo why do I need to be out of sight?” the dull ogre exclaimed, despite the fact I had already expended my only Persistent Invisibility upon him.
"....are we ..here..?" Helena also asked. I didnÂ’t have time to answer either of them. My initial reaction was self preservation. A click of my fingers was all it took to conceal me from sight. I knew they were cultists of Beltar, and they would not negotiate.
“Waiting on a call, Lady Sapphire,” Tahir whispered in my direction. I waited. The cult leader was startled from his chant.
"...and we offer you this sacrifice Beltar, oh mighty goddes of--- Beltar's word!"
The whole cave was on edge now. At least it was the same cave I had used last time. I did expect that the cultists might be here still, but I couldnÂ’t be sure. I killed some of them the last time I came to utilise the gateway to make my way to Sigil. The others seemed a bit at a loss. I should have told them all about this, at least, but then again I was not really expecting Sharon to portal us to precisely the same cave as before. The surrounding cultists glanced nervously at their leader, their prayers interrupted. He frowned and starts to address us.
"Who are you?! Where did you come from! What sorcery is this, to disturb our unholy ritual!"
Unholy, hm? I would give them unholy. I put on my best demonic voice. Everyone else was both tense and exposed as I tried to induce terror in the weak minded amongst the cultists.
"You will let us pass or you will all perish!"
Weapons were readied. Helena vanished into the gloom of the caveÂ’s shadows. Vashtalla offered the cultists a wicked grin, using the powers of his mind to give them a showing of razor-edged, gleaming teeth and fangs to try and promote my ruse. Several of the cultists seemed to quake in their boots, glancing towards the cavern exit. Their leader looked incredibly displeased.
"You have spoiled the sacrifice for our mistress! Clearly she has sent you to replace-- Get back here!"
The pikers didn't even wait for him to finish, and just flat bolted for the exit, to his extreme displeasure, eliciting a snicker from Danae. Rexxar gazed about confused, unsure as to where they were, or why they were there.
“Just hang on Rex... Shh,” Sharon tried to reassure him.
“ I know I know just odd,” he whispered back in the manner only an ogre is capable of.
“ So hard to find good help now-a-days,” Vashtalla mocked the cultists, which immediately hastened the inevitable hostility.
"You all must not understand the faces of displeasure when they are sent," Saileach added in an attempt to strengthen my attempts at dissuading hostility. It was in vain.
"Ignore them! For Beltar!" the head cultist spat out, both verbally and physically, shouting at the others to attack.
"You were warned!" I hissed at them and from my concealment and began to weave my hands to cast a powerful and deadly spell. Wail of the Banshee.
“Yes yes... I am sure we all have good one-liners... But business first,” Tahir remarked glibly and raised his blade to attack. That was all the impetus Rexxar needed. From his own place of invisibile concealment, the ogre’s greataxe smashed down upon the cult leader, cleaving him in twain, before the powerful swing cleft three more of the cultists dead before they could even do anything. Helena’s quick wrist-blades slew another cultist, whose corpse she kicked away from herself. Blood soaked the cavern floor from the dead bodies even before my spell managed to snuff the life out of the only remaining cultist.
“That was not even my best,” Rexxar boasted once the hostilities had ended. I breathed a sigh of relief. The first potential threat had been realised, and promptly defeated. Silence fell over the cave once more.
"This. . . this was the very place. . ." I said before trailing off to myself.
“Place of power... l likely lay-lines here... difficult to know if they even knew that,” Tahir spoke up. It seems the Jann had an innate sense of the power of the place, for that was certainly a core component of why I dared to transport myself to the Abyss from here.
“Yeah... Could feel it but,” Vashtalla answered Tahir. He left his contrast unexplained.
“Cherry... ?” came Sharon’s voice to break my momentary daze of self-reflection.
“We do not need to travel further?” Saileach asked me simultaneously.
“We do. . .” I answered, trying to concentrate. It was much harder the last time I had come here. “This is how I got to the Broken Reach. . .” I continued, the memory of that trip flooding back to my mind. There is a marked difference between studying and binding demons, and visiting their home plane. “They are cultists of Beltar, a goddess of violence and darkness.” Blades returned to their sheaths, and exhales of relief echoed about the cave.
“I... apologize for that. I didn't know there were cultists that regarded this place,” Sharon sighed sincerely. I did tell her, undoubtedly, what awaited us if we had gated across from the Abyss. I found it as intriguing as Tahir and Vashtalla did that Sharon managed to link the planes to the same location. I wondered where else its lay-lines drifted off to? I didn’t really have time to think about that right now, though.
“They would not have negotiated with us. We are about a day's walk from Kelten now. . .” I said to reassure them.
“They are dead. But we should depart, lest they bring friends,” Tahir said. “Die they might - I'd rather avoid more combat and delays.”
I agreed, and revealed my intention by stepping over the bloodied bodies.
“Follow.”
“Aye, some did run. Also, Rexxer, the reason why we need to keep you invisible is... well, the common people would run and possibly attack us if they see an ogre,” Sharon remarked as we made our way outside. The earthy ‘warmth’ of the cave interior quickly gave way to the freezing temperatures outside we were about to encounter.
It was not necessarily worse than I expected on the other side, but it was a surprise just the same. The rest of the party stumbled through the gateway as if they were all on a LadyÂ’s Day stroll, seemingly oblivious to the immediate threat presented to us. I knew what it was. I knew where it was, as I had been here before. The dark cave was filled with the subdued chanting of several dark figures focused on a body in the centre of the gathering. Our portal had spat us out almost directly in the centre of the cultic circle, accompanied by expected startled cries.
Sharon, who had gone through first, came to an immediate halt and held up her hand in an attempt to placate the worshippers of Beltar with friendliness. The others were equally as clueless, except for Tahir. His hand went immediately to his sword.
“Soooo why do I need to be out of sight?” the dull ogre exclaimed, despite the fact I had already expended my only Persistent Invisibility upon him.
"....are we ..here..?" Helena also asked. I didnÂ’t have time to answer either of them. My initial reaction was self preservation. A click of my fingers was all it took to conceal me from sight. I knew they were cultists of Beltar, and they would not negotiate.
“Waiting on a call, Lady Sapphire,” Tahir whispered in my direction. I waited. The cult leader was startled from his chant.
"...and we offer you this sacrifice Beltar, oh mighty goddes of--- Beltar's word!"
The whole cave was on edge now. At least it was the same cave I had used last time. I did expect that the cultists might be here still, but I couldnÂ’t be sure. I killed some of them the last time I came to utilise the gateway to make my way to Sigil. The others seemed a bit at a loss. I should have told them all about this, at least, but then again I was not really expecting Sharon to portal us to precisely the same cave as before. The surrounding cultists glanced nervously at their leader, their prayers interrupted. He frowned and starts to address us.
"Who are you?! Where did you come from! What sorcery is this, to disturb our unholy ritual!"
Unholy, hm? I would give them unholy. I put on my best demonic voice. Everyone else was both tense and exposed as I tried to induce terror in the weak minded amongst the cultists.
"You will let us pass or you will all perish!"
Weapons were readied. Helena vanished into the gloom of the caveÂ’s shadows. Vashtalla offered the cultists a wicked grin, using the powers of his mind to give them a showing of razor-edged, gleaming teeth and fangs to try and promote my ruse. Several of the cultists seemed to quake in their boots, glancing towards the cavern exit. Their leader looked incredibly displeased.
"You have spoiled the sacrifice for our mistress! Clearly she has sent you to replace-- Get back here!"
The pikers didn't even wait for him to finish, and just flat bolted for the exit, to his extreme displeasure, eliciting a snicker from Danae. Rexxar gazed about confused, unsure as to where they were, or why they were there.
“Just hang on Rex... Shh,” Sharon tried to reassure him.
“ I know I know just odd,” he whispered back in the manner only an ogre is capable of.
“ So hard to find good help now-a-days,” Vashtalla mocked the cultists, which immediately hastened the inevitable hostility.
"You all must not understand the faces of displeasure when they are sent," Saileach added in an attempt to strengthen my attempts at dissuading hostility. It was in vain.
"Ignore them! For Beltar!" the head cultist spat out, both verbally and physically, shouting at the others to attack.
"You were warned!" I hissed at them and from my concealment and began to weave my hands to cast a powerful and deadly spell. Wail of the Banshee.
“Yes yes... I am sure we all have good one-liners... But business first,” Tahir remarked glibly and raised his blade to attack. That was all the impetus Rexxar needed. From his own place of invisibile concealment, the ogre’s greataxe smashed down upon the cult leader, cleaving him in twain, before the powerful swing cleft three more of the cultists dead before they could even do anything. Helena’s quick wrist-blades slew another cultist, whose corpse she kicked away from herself. Blood soaked the cavern floor from the dead bodies even before my spell managed to snuff the life out of the only remaining cultist.
“That was not even my best,” Rexxar boasted once the hostilities had ended. I breathed a sigh of relief. The first potential threat had been realised, and promptly defeated. Silence fell over the cave once more.
"This. . . this was the very place. . ." I said before trailing off to myself.
“Place of power... l likely lay-lines here... difficult to know if they even knew that,” Tahir spoke up. It seems the Jann had an innate sense of the power of the place, for that was certainly a core component of why I dared to transport myself to the Abyss from here.
“Yeah... Could feel it but,” Vashtalla answered Tahir. He left his contrast unexplained.
“Cherry... ?” came Sharon’s voice to break my momentary daze of self-reflection.
“We do not need to travel further?” Saileach asked me simultaneously.
“We do. . .” I answered, trying to concentrate. It was much harder the last time I had come here. “This is how I got to the Broken Reach. . .” I continued, the memory of that trip flooding back to my mind. There is a marked difference between studying and binding demons, and visiting their home plane. “They are cultists of Beltar, a goddess of violence and darkness.” Blades returned to their sheaths, and exhales of relief echoed about the cave.
“I... apologize for that. I didn't know there were cultists that regarded this place,” Sharon sighed sincerely. I did tell her, undoubtedly, what awaited us if we had gated across from the Abyss. I found it as intriguing as Tahir and Vashtalla did that Sharon managed to link the planes to the same location. I wondered where else its lay-lines drifted off to? I didn’t really have time to think about that right now, though.
“They would not have negotiated with us. We are about a day's walk from Kelten now. . .” I said to reassure them.
“They are dead. But we should depart, lest they bring friends,” Tahir said. “Die they might - I'd rather avoid more combat and delays.”
I agreed, and revealed my intention by stepping over the bloodied bodies.
“Follow.”
“Aye, some did run. Also, Rexxer, the reason why we need to keep you invisible is... well, the common people would run and possibly attack us if they see an ogre,” Sharon remarked as we made our way outside. The earthy ‘warmth’ of the cave interior quickly gave way to the freezing temperatures outside we were about to encounter.
-
*Tsidkenu
- Posts: 156
- Joined: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am
Cherry's Quest of Faith - Part IV
It took about a day of reasonably good travel through the snow before we arrived at the outskirts of the village of Kelten. We approached the town from the northwest, snow crunching underfoot as we went. It was a clear day, and if anyone wanted to track our path behind us their job would have been a relatively easy one. The ground was covered in several feet of the fine white powder, just a token of winterÂ’s fury here on the Thillonrian Peninsula. The village of Kelten rose up to meet us, small squat houses and larger merchant shops rising out of the leafless oaks, while the evergreen pines and spruce stood as sentinels on the surrounding foothills.
[align=center]
[/align]
“Rexxer shh. Theres people,” Danae cautioned him.
We were getting to the part of the journey I perceived could be the most troublesome. Kelten was a rather complicated town. I had told Sharon and Danae the most of the details of what we were doing here. Our goal was simple. Acquire a woodsman and a few dog teams to get the party north-east up the Frozen River as far as Shadow Valley. I didnÂ’t really hold any expectations that anyone would willingly accompany us beyond that point into the Glade of Whispering Oaks. Vashtalla had seen the place through his psionic understanding of lingering traces of memory in the Astral Plane, and given the gladeÂ’s locale above the Falls of Bitterness, I figured it wouldnÂ’t be too difficult to find there. Assuming we survived the journey. The question was how much trouble we were going to face from the locals here, especially that fiend of a governor. And it would be even worse if King Sevvord was in town.
“ Ahh...” Sharon sighed contentedly as she drew in a breath of crisp, Kelten air. My thoughts were disrupted.
“Rexxar will make large foot prints in the snow... best keep this in mind,” Tahir stated to us, not that I wasn’t prepared for that already.
“Its so nice,” Rexxar attempted to whisper to us. This could be bad.
“Shh. . .” I hushed him and then motioned for everyone else to gather closely to me. They all did so, gathering around me in the snow and keeping quiet.
“These folk are not the most welcoming. . . avoid the attention of the guards at all costs, alright?” I told them all. There was no way they could possibly know how this town was run by an iron fist by greedy, lying swindlers who had nothing better to do with their time than harass visitors and locals alike, exacting exorbitant taxes. The Cossacks were warmongers, and worship of the god of slaughter and strife, Erythnul, was a state-enforced religion. The peasants were kept tightly enfoeffed and in debt so that they would have little opportunity to leave. It was a generally dire state of affairs, and one that I did not have cause to meddle in. For the moment.
“Alright,” Nami assented to my request, which was echoed by a few more nods around the group.
“Shame I can’t never live somewhere like this though,” Rexxar mumbled.
The reason I feared for the ogre the most was not necessarily because he would terrify the townsfolk, but rather that the militia would try to enslave him for their own personal warmongering, or else put him in the gladiatorial pits and make a spectacle of him. While I was fairly certain Rexxar was capable of slaying all of them in single combat, I doubted he’d survive a volley of poison-tipped quarrels when the time came for him to be ‘put down.’ Again, my thoughts were interrupted by Sharon’s eager voice.
“ Your lead, Cherry,” Sharon told me, awaiting instructions for what we had to do next. Saileach decided to solve her ‘attention-grabbing’ problems by concealing herself with an invisibility spell. I decided they all needed one more caution.
“One wrong word, one improper glance and they will string you up. Nami, you will need to hide your wings.”
“ She is invisible,” Tahir immediately told me. I hadn’t noticed.”She need only remain silent.”
I put my hands to my throat and drew out my holy symbol of Obad-Hai, showing it to all present. As I did so, Danae made sure that the symbol of her Torillian god, Kelemvor, was completely concealed beneath her fur coat.
“This is Obad-Hai's symbol. If you see one, please tell me.”
“Aye,” Danae replied immediately. The others all looked at it closely and nodded affirmation.
“Sharon. . .” I said, turning my masked face upon the trustworthy sorceress.
“Yes?”
“I don't want to show my face in the village. Do. . . do you think you can find a tracker or sled team in the tavern, perhaps?"
“I can, yes.”
“Here,” I answered, takng out a bag of coins from my dimensional purse. Not only was there local currency to exchange in the Cage, but the dimensional purse was such a wonderful thing I simply don’t know how I ever survived without one. A woman’s best friend, truly!
“Five thousand is twenty year's wages here. No questions asked is the policy.”
“Wow I got the better deal,” Rexxar interjected at that point. I tried not to pay him excessive attention at that moment. Sharon took the money from me and assented to her mission.
“All right.”
“Anyone who wishes to go with her. . . may,” I said to the others.
“Suggest we keep numbers low. Avoid drawing too much attention,” Tahir immediately suggested to me. It was a good one. As much as I wished I could show them all the region where I grew up and spent so many years, this was not a sightseeing tour of the Thillonrian Peninsula. I couldn’t risk taking the whole group into town, especially not with our diverse and attention-grabbing company. I was actually pretty glad that Tahir brought it up first.
“I will stay here for now since I need to be more out of sight,” Rexxar volunteered as Sharon prepared herself to head into town. Danae and Vashtalla immediately joined her in that task. Initially, I wanted to as well.
“I will be invisible nearby, Sharon,” I said. I did want to follow them just to make sure they did not get into any trouble in this foreign place.
“Let those three go. Should be fine,” Tahir insisted again without my urging. He urged all the more when he noticed Saileach and myself starting to follow the three. “I do not suggest this. Five people walking in the snow invisible is not subtle.”
“You're right Tahir. . ,” I relented at once, stopping at the edge of town. I was anxious about being recognised, not that any of the citizens would know who I was in my currently deformed state. It was a risk I wasn’t willing to take. Not just yet, anyway. I stood back with Saileach, Namael, Rexxar and Tahir, watching the other three wander into the unknown that was Kelten. Helena followed in their shadow.
“I am keeping contact with Sharon telepathically and empathically. We will know if there is any issue,” he reassured me. That reassurance was a timely one, because I had no idea what they were walking into.
It took about a day of reasonably good travel through the snow before we arrived at the outskirts of the village of Kelten. We approached the town from the northwest, snow crunching underfoot as we went. It was a clear day, and if anyone wanted to track our path behind us their job would have been a relatively easy one. The ground was covered in several feet of the fine white powder, just a token of winterÂ’s fury here on the Thillonrian Peninsula. The village of Kelten rose up to meet us, small squat houses and larger merchant shops rising out of the leafless oaks, while the evergreen pines and spruce stood as sentinels on the surrounding foothills.
[align=center]
[/align]“Rexxer shh. Theres people,” Danae cautioned him.
We were getting to the part of the journey I perceived could be the most troublesome. Kelten was a rather complicated town. I had told Sharon and Danae the most of the details of what we were doing here. Our goal was simple. Acquire a woodsman and a few dog teams to get the party north-east up the Frozen River as far as Shadow Valley. I didnÂ’t really hold any expectations that anyone would willingly accompany us beyond that point into the Glade of Whispering Oaks. Vashtalla had seen the place through his psionic understanding of lingering traces of memory in the Astral Plane, and given the gladeÂ’s locale above the Falls of Bitterness, I figured it wouldnÂ’t be too difficult to find there. Assuming we survived the journey. The question was how much trouble we were going to face from the locals here, especially that fiend of a governor. And it would be even worse if King Sevvord was in town.
“ Ahh...” Sharon sighed contentedly as she drew in a breath of crisp, Kelten air. My thoughts were disrupted.
“Rexxar will make large foot prints in the snow... best keep this in mind,” Tahir stated to us, not that I wasn’t prepared for that already.
“Its so nice,” Rexxar attempted to whisper to us. This could be bad.
“Shh. . .” I hushed him and then motioned for everyone else to gather closely to me. They all did so, gathering around me in the snow and keeping quiet.
“These folk are not the most welcoming. . . avoid the attention of the guards at all costs, alright?” I told them all. There was no way they could possibly know how this town was run by an iron fist by greedy, lying swindlers who had nothing better to do with their time than harass visitors and locals alike, exacting exorbitant taxes. The Cossacks were warmongers, and worship of the god of slaughter and strife, Erythnul, was a state-enforced religion. The peasants were kept tightly enfoeffed and in debt so that they would have little opportunity to leave. It was a generally dire state of affairs, and one that I did not have cause to meddle in. For the moment.
“Alright,” Nami assented to my request, which was echoed by a few more nods around the group.
“Shame I can’t never live somewhere like this though,” Rexxar mumbled.
The reason I feared for the ogre the most was not necessarily because he would terrify the townsfolk, but rather that the militia would try to enslave him for their own personal warmongering, or else put him in the gladiatorial pits and make a spectacle of him. While I was fairly certain Rexxar was capable of slaying all of them in single combat, I doubted he’d survive a volley of poison-tipped quarrels when the time came for him to be ‘put down.’ Again, my thoughts were interrupted by Sharon’s eager voice.
“ Your lead, Cherry,” Sharon told me, awaiting instructions for what we had to do next. Saileach decided to solve her ‘attention-grabbing’ problems by concealing herself with an invisibility spell. I decided they all needed one more caution.
“One wrong word, one improper glance and they will string you up. Nami, you will need to hide your wings.”
“ She is invisible,” Tahir immediately told me. I hadn’t noticed.”She need only remain silent.”
I put my hands to my throat and drew out my holy symbol of Obad-Hai, showing it to all present. As I did so, Danae made sure that the symbol of her Torillian god, Kelemvor, was completely concealed beneath her fur coat.
“This is Obad-Hai's symbol. If you see one, please tell me.”
“Aye,” Danae replied immediately. The others all looked at it closely and nodded affirmation.
“Sharon. . .” I said, turning my masked face upon the trustworthy sorceress.
“Yes?”
“I don't want to show my face in the village. Do. . . do you think you can find a tracker or sled team in the tavern, perhaps?"
“I can, yes.”
“Here,” I answered, takng out a bag of coins from my dimensional purse. Not only was there local currency to exchange in the Cage, but the dimensional purse was such a wonderful thing I simply don’t know how I ever survived without one. A woman’s best friend, truly!
“Five thousand is twenty year's wages here. No questions asked is the policy.”
“Wow I got the better deal,” Rexxar interjected at that point. I tried not to pay him excessive attention at that moment. Sharon took the money from me and assented to her mission.
“All right.”
“Anyone who wishes to go with her. . . may,” I said to the others.
“Suggest we keep numbers low. Avoid drawing too much attention,” Tahir immediately suggested to me. It was a good one. As much as I wished I could show them all the region where I grew up and spent so many years, this was not a sightseeing tour of the Thillonrian Peninsula. I couldn’t risk taking the whole group into town, especially not with our diverse and attention-grabbing company. I was actually pretty glad that Tahir brought it up first.
“I will stay here for now since I need to be more out of sight,” Rexxar volunteered as Sharon prepared herself to head into town. Danae and Vashtalla immediately joined her in that task. Initially, I wanted to as well.
“I will be invisible nearby, Sharon,” I said. I did want to follow them just to make sure they did not get into any trouble in this foreign place.
“Let those three go. Should be fine,” Tahir insisted again without my urging. He urged all the more when he noticed Saileach and myself starting to follow the three. “I do not suggest this. Five people walking in the snow invisible is not subtle.”
“You're right Tahir. . ,” I relented at once, stopping at the edge of town. I was anxious about being recognised, not that any of the citizens would know who I was in my currently deformed state. It was a risk I wasn’t willing to take. Not just yet, anyway. I stood back with Saileach, Namael, Rexxar and Tahir, watching the other three wander into the unknown that was Kelten. Helena followed in their shadow.
“I am keeping contact with Sharon telepathically and empathically. We will know if there is any issue,” he reassured me. That reassurance was a timely one, because I had no idea what they were walking into.
-
*Tsidkenu
- Posts: 156
- Joined: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am
Cherry's Quest for Faith - Part V
The town is eerily quiet, for one so large. Few people walk the streets, and those that do cast fearful glances at the visitors. People can be seen inside windows, but those spotting their observation quickly close blinds. The chapel nearby towered over the squat, rustic homes, the image of a set of opening fangs encompassing a stained glass window depicting a forked tongue licking a droplet of blood. For a holy place, it does not look terribly inviting.
Sharon idled along the road, looking for a place or person that would operate a dog sled team. Danae followed quietly in her footsteps, as did Vashtalla who was pretending to mind his own business. There was a graveyard in the town that naturally caught DanaeÂ’s attention, even if for a moment, and the trio made their way to the inn. A man dressed in furs was waiting outside there, kneeling and talking to a dog. Noticing the people, he cast a questioning glance their way.
“...You're not from around here.” His dog looks up, whining and pulling back. He turns to it, patting its head and whispering. “Easy, easy girl.”
Danae glanced at Sharon, letting her do all the speaking. She paused and looked over at him.
“Hello! We're passing through, but do you know of anyone that could provide passage, like with a dog sled team?”
“Passage?” The man frowned. “You're wise to leave here as fast as you came. It depends on what you're looking for.”
Sharon paused a moment before she answered. His dog started growling, and he bent down, rubbing her neck comfortingly as he hands her a treat.
“Shh, Sheva. They won't hurt you.”
Danae smiled a bit at the dog even if it growled. Seems she had a weakness for puppers!
Vashtalla leaned in and whispered to them both. “I think he was asking about whats our method for passage.”
“We're headed up north, up the Frozen River. We're willing to pay for the trip,” Sharon replied after another pause, smiling at the man’s obvious care for his animal.
“Hmm... North, is it? ...You've heard the stories, I'm certain,” he answered them and adjusted his clothing, looking at the trio. Sharon noticed something he had concealed around his neck. She nodded at him before answering.
“I have heard rumors, yes. We'll make sure the dogs are well fed and cared for, as well as pay for the passage in that direction.”
“There is a curse on the northlands. Dark creatures roam freely, and... even the land itself is cursed.” He sighed, rubbing the dog between the ears. “If you're certain you have to go, Gavin could rent you a team of dogs, but...”
Sharon glanced at him, a look of concern on her face at the word but. The fellow turned his attention to the south, towards a large, intimidating building past the merchant's row. The others followed his gaze in that direction, some raising eyebrows, hairs pricking on their ends.
“Why did he have to set up so close to the Governor's mansion...? Listen, if you're going to speak with him, please be careful.” He looked around, leaning in and cupping his hand to his mouth. “The governor is known to have a terrible temper, and takes joy in the pain of others.”
“ Fantastic,” Vashtalla muttered to the two women.
“He's been restless lately. King Sevvord is said to be planning a visit soon, and he's more tempermental than ever.”
“Then it is best we head out soon. However, may I ask one more question?” Sharon enquired of him.
“I thought you said you didn't want any questions.” Despite his words, the man lifted an eyebrow inquisitively.
“Apologies,” Sharon answered with a bit of a light hearted chuckle, perhaps an attempt to conceal some inner anxiety. “Well, more of a request, I suppose,” she clarified, looking around with some caution, then stepped forward to lower her voice. “The... Cursebearer wishes an audience with you.”
The man immediately appeared unnerved, seeming on edge. “Cursebearer? An audience with me?” He glanced at a nearby cottage with a look of concern and care. “I suddenly have very many questions, and all of them scare me.”
“We don't mean any harm. Would you like to speak to them?”
“Ah...” he hesitated while scratching his dog's head, almost as if trying to comfort himself. “Well... I suppose there's no harm in talking...” His attention wandered back to the cottage down the row, and his expression was almost... apologetic?
“Alright,” Sharon replied reassuringly, accompanied with a faint smile and a gesture of her hand towards the dog as if to pet it. The dog wandered up to Sharon, sniffing and whimpering. She smiled more broadly and petted the dog on the head friendly-like, then turned to take him back to where the others were.
The town is eerily quiet, for one so large. Few people walk the streets, and those that do cast fearful glances at the visitors. People can be seen inside windows, but those spotting their observation quickly close blinds. The chapel nearby towered over the squat, rustic homes, the image of a set of opening fangs encompassing a stained glass window depicting a forked tongue licking a droplet of blood. For a holy place, it does not look terribly inviting.
Sharon idled along the road, looking for a place or person that would operate a dog sled team. Danae followed quietly in her footsteps, as did Vashtalla who was pretending to mind his own business. There was a graveyard in the town that naturally caught DanaeÂ’s attention, even if for a moment, and the trio made their way to the inn. A man dressed in furs was waiting outside there, kneeling and talking to a dog. Noticing the people, he cast a questioning glance their way.
“...You're not from around here.” His dog looks up, whining and pulling back. He turns to it, patting its head and whispering. “Easy, easy girl.”
Danae glanced at Sharon, letting her do all the speaking. She paused and looked over at him.
“Hello! We're passing through, but do you know of anyone that could provide passage, like with a dog sled team?”
“Passage?” The man frowned. “You're wise to leave here as fast as you came. It depends on what you're looking for.”
Sharon paused a moment before she answered. His dog started growling, and he bent down, rubbing her neck comfortingly as he hands her a treat.
“Shh, Sheva. They won't hurt you.”
Danae smiled a bit at the dog even if it growled. Seems she had a weakness for puppers!
Vashtalla leaned in and whispered to them both. “I think he was asking about whats our method for passage.”
“We're headed up north, up the Frozen River. We're willing to pay for the trip,” Sharon replied after another pause, smiling at the man’s obvious care for his animal.
“Hmm... North, is it? ...You've heard the stories, I'm certain,” he answered them and adjusted his clothing, looking at the trio. Sharon noticed something he had concealed around his neck. She nodded at him before answering.
“I have heard rumors, yes. We'll make sure the dogs are well fed and cared for, as well as pay for the passage in that direction.”
“There is a curse on the northlands. Dark creatures roam freely, and... even the land itself is cursed.” He sighed, rubbing the dog between the ears. “If you're certain you have to go, Gavin could rent you a team of dogs, but...”
Sharon glanced at him, a look of concern on her face at the word but. The fellow turned his attention to the south, towards a large, intimidating building past the merchant's row. The others followed his gaze in that direction, some raising eyebrows, hairs pricking on their ends.
“Why did he have to set up so close to the Governor's mansion...? Listen, if you're going to speak with him, please be careful.” He looked around, leaning in and cupping his hand to his mouth. “The governor is known to have a terrible temper, and takes joy in the pain of others.”
“ Fantastic,” Vashtalla muttered to the two women.
“He's been restless lately. King Sevvord is said to be planning a visit soon, and he's more tempermental than ever.”
“Then it is best we head out soon. However, may I ask one more question?” Sharon enquired of him.
“I thought you said you didn't want any questions.” Despite his words, the man lifted an eyebrow inquisitively.
“Apologies,” Sharon answered with a bit of a light hearted chuckle, perhaps an attempt to conceal some inner anxiety. “Well, more of a request, I suppose,” she clarified, looking around with some caution, then stepped forward to lower her voice. “The... Cursebearer wishes an audience with you.”
The man immediately appeared unnerved, seeming on edge. “Cursebearer? An audience with me?” He glanced at a nearby cottage with a look of concern and care. “I suddenly have very many questions, and all of them scare me.”
“We don't mean any harm. Would you like to speak to them?”
“Ah...” he hesitated while scratching his dog's head, almost as if trying to comfort himself. “Well... I suppose there's no harm in talking...” His attention wandered back to the cottage down the row, and his expression was almost... apologetic?
“Alright,” Sharon replied reassuringly, accompanied with a faint smile and a gesture of her hand towards the dog as if to pet it. The dog wandered up to Sharon, sniffing and whimpering. She smiled more broadly and petted the dog on the head friendly-like, then turned to take him back to where the others were.
-
*Tsidkenu
- Posts: 156
- Joined: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am
Cherry's Quest for Faith - Part VI
I watched them vanish from view before I turned my gaze upon Tahir. He looked exceptionally out of place here, clearly a creature of the desert and not the snow. I think he was rather correct in his suggestion to avoid drawing overt attention to ourselves. I attempted to do the same and looked at Rexxar standing barefoot in the snow.
“Rexxar, are you alright? Aren't you getting cold? You don't even have shoes.”
“No I am very hairy Cherry hehe,” he tried to whisper back.
“I'm sorry to keep you out of the town. The leaders are not very nice people.” Gods help us if King Sevvord was in town. Kelten was the next-largest settlement in his kingdom after Vlekstaad was sacked in a war about five years ago. All foreigners were treated with utmost suspicion, if not outright accused of spying for the kingdom’s enemies in the south.
“Don't worry about it,” Rexxar tried to reassure me. I just hoped the ogre wouldn’t try and do anything stupid.
“...Can you see me..?” Helena whispered to Tahir out of a shadow she was hiding in. The jann was concentrating on something else, his eyes all but shut and inattentive. Whatever sixth sense he had was not, though.
“I can,” he answered her, keeping his eyes shut. He reached out with a wand that was in his hand at the time and tapped the half-fiend.
“Impressive,” she answered with a grin. “Or i'm not too skilled heeh.”
“ Tahir you do not seem sorta out of place I mean,” Rexxar said to the mediative outsider. Helena concurred.
“The armour screams..' oh hey i'm not from here..'”
“It does. You're not mistaken,” he answered bluntly before wreathing some kind of veil over himself.
“You look like a villian from childrens books,” Rexxar added with a snicker, “and its snow and the cloths you wear.” Tahir interrupted him and directed his voice at me.
“Someone is inquiring what we're looking for. I have advised your original instructions. No questions asked.”
“We need to head north, up the Frozen River. As far as Shadow Valley. No questions asked," I answered him, just to clarify the points I had made earlier. This telepathic connection certainly made this a much easier task than I had anticipated. I couldn’t even imagine how I would manage if it were not for the hand-picked group I had assembled in Sigil. It was truly an unrepayable debt.
“Double it to ten thousand if they don't believe. Five now. Five on arrival,” I added.
“ Hrmmm,” Rexxar grumbled. “So what is it they need to do up there?”
“Try to survive,” Tahir answered him straightforwardly. I did actually wish to inform the simple-minded brute a bit more, though.
“They're getting dog teams for us, Rexxar. Make the travel faster,” I whispered back to him.
“Question Cherry?” Tahir interjected immediately over Rexxar’s ramblings of how much he liked dogs.
“....Uh...” Helena glanced at Tahir.
“Yes?” I turned my dichromatic eyes upon Tahir.
“Do you believe there is a dog-sled team in existence large enough to carry an ogre?”
Namael, who had been silent this whole time, rubbed her cheek at the thought. I answered in the manner I had prepared beforehand for this eventuality.
“Yeah... I was...wandering same thing,” Helena remarked while scratching her head.
“I can run with it Tahir,” Rexxar answered him, but that was not quite what I had in mind.
“A shrunken ogre, yes. . .” I replied. They couldn’t see the smirk I had on my face.
“Ohh,” murmured Helena as the simplicity of my solution dawned on her.
“Valid point,” Tahir concluded with a nod of approval.
“That’s why I bought animal totems,” Nami finally piped up. I had seen those, in the grove in Brux. Why I didn’t think of them is beyond me, but the solution was an excellent one.
“Or that... hehe...” Rexxar chuckled. “I can keep up with it I bet though. I do not skip leg day hehe.”
The discussion prompted more questions from the half-fiend.
“Can i... be shruken too?" she asked me. “Adventures of Tiny Helena!”
That comment elicted a bout of chuckling from Namael.
“It’s likely most of you will have to be,” Tahir remarked glibly, his eyes still shut in intense concentration. “Especially those with wings.”
“Rex wanna become a weasel for a while?” Nami asked the ogre.
“Sure Nameal...”
“I. . . only prepared one. . ." I answered them all with a frown. I wish I had prepared more, but the others had assured me that they had their own means of avoiding unnecessary attention.
“Sharon knows the spell,” Tahir reminded me. And there was no doubt the sorceress could use her impressive magical abilities to cast the spell as many times as we needed.
“I can... fly,” Helena continued, “But er... might be... best course of action. Yeah Rexxy might need it more than i do.”
“I could be a weasel like Namael said for now,” the ogre suggested. He was suddenly interrupted by Tahir’s voice.
“Sharon says the man bears that Symbol. Obad-hai.”
I suddenly froze in my place. My mind began racing. I was panicking. I knew there were clandestine followers of Beory and Obad-Hai here, suppressed by their evil overlords. But now their presence, or absence, was so pertinent to my current predicament that I think my heart missed a few dozen beats. My hand instinctively clutched at my own secreted symbol of the nature deity.
“Orders, Cherry?” he asked me.
I still wasnÂ’t ready to give any. My eyes shut and my hand covered my masked mouth all the same. Emotions flooded across me. My journey had been one of brutal, exposed truth, from the first time mother scolded me for having anything to do with Obad-HaiÂ’s faith until I had finally pieced apart the Riddle of the Curse. I now realised the power that rested behind the uncertainty, the same that drove my mother to insanity. RexxarÂ’s fortunate interruption snapped me out of my panic.
“ Wait where are we sleding with the dogs? If its out of sight I can keep up with them, if you want to save your spells.”
“More worried about scent, Rex,” Namael answered him.
“Oh the dogs might flip out... hehe,” he murmured back. “Alright weasel me.”
“Will he meet with me?” I told Tahir over the top of both of them, ignoring Rexxar for now. My composure was regained. That aura of determination that Tahir exuded naturally touched at my mind and heart.
“I need something more specific than this, Cherry. You want him to come over here?” he answered. I nodded.
“ On..what pretense? I need to know what she's asking this man.”
I paused a moment, considering very carefully how to answer. Any servant of the Shalm would know of the legends, wouldnÂ’t they? The forest was still haunted to this very day. The oral tradition of the Curse must have been passed down, just as its actual manifestation had been to me. The grove was still defiled after all these years, its corruption embodied personally, the taint of its creatorÂ’s soul lingering still. In me. It is why I was hunted. It was why I was hated. It was why I would fall in love, and lose control, and awaken to the blood-stained fingertips and gouged flesh of my hapless victims, time after time after time. He must know. MustnÂ’t he?
“Tell him the Cursebearer wishes an audience.”
Saileach came to my side when she noticed my obvious pain.
“Are you well, Cherry?”
All I could offer her was a deep sigh in anxious anticipation. Her hand touched upon my shoulder. Silence ensued. Snow patted noiselessly around us. I was afraid. So very afraid. I turned and walked away through the snow where one of the pine sentinels stood guard. It was as good a place as any to lean upon. Saileach followed me.
“Do you mind if I stay by you?”
I didnÂ’t answer. I only held her hand. My thoughts were again disrupted by another telepathic communication from the forward party.
“King Sevvord is coming soon. Does that mean anything to you?” Tahir asked me. It only meant one thing.
“We need to leave.”
“Thats what I gathered. Otherwise It seems they got what we came for.”
“Oh?” Helena asked quizzically. Namael echoed her.
“Eh?”
“.....Right, Tell Sharon to make me...Tiny Helena again and I’ll jump into a backpack or something.”
“ I am trying to concentrate,” Tahir answered them.
So was I. It all came so quickly. The crunch of approaching footsteps and an oh-so-familar voice betrayed my utter desperation.
“Hey.” It was Sharon.
“He is here. Cursebearer” Tahir stated.
The echo of that dreaded title reverberated in my ears.
I watched them vanish from view before I turned my gaze upon Tahir. He looked exceptionally out of place here, clearly a creature of the desert and not the snow. I think he was rather correct in his suggestion to avoid drawing overt attention to ourselves. I attempted to do the same and looked at Rexxar standing barefoot in the snow.
“Rexxar, are you alright? Aren't you getting cold? You don't even have shoes.”
“No I am very hairy Cherry hehe,” he tried to whisper back.
“I'm sorry to keep you out of the town. The leaders are not very nice people.” Gods help us if King Sevvord was in town. Kelten was the next-largest settlement in his kingdom after Vlekstaad was sacked in a war about five years ago. All foreigners were treated with utmost suspicion, if not outright accused of spying for the kingdom’s enemies in the south.
“Don't worry about it,” Rexxar tried to reassure me. I just hoped the ogre wouldn’t try and do anything stupid.
“...Can you see me..?” Helena whispered to Tahir out of a shadow she was hiding in. The jann was concentrating on something else, his eyes all but shut and inattentive. Whatever sixth sense he had was not, though.
“I can,” he answered her, keeping his eyes shut. He reached out with a wand that was in his hand at the time and tapped the half-fiend.
“Impressive,” she answered with a grin. “Or i'm not too skilled heeh.”
“ Tahir you do not seem sorta out of place I mean,” Rexxar said to the mediative outsider. Helena concurred.
“The armour screams..' oh hey i'm not from here..'”
“It does. You're not mistaken,” he answered bluntly before wreathing some kind of veil over himself.
“You look like a villian from childrens books,” Rexxar added with a snicker, “and its snow and the cloths you wear.” Tahir interrupted him and directed his voice at me.
“Someone is inquiring what we're looking for. I have advised your original instructions. No questions asked.”
“We need to head north, up the Frozen River. As far as Shadow Valley. No questions asked," I answered him, just to clarify the points I had made earlier. This telepathic connection certainly made this a much easier task than I had anticipated. I couldn’t even imagine how I would manage if it were not for the hand-picked group I had assembled in Sigil. It was truly an unrepayable debt.
“Double it to ten thousand if they don't believe. Five now. Five on arrival,” I added.
“ Hrmmm,” Rexxar grumbled. “So what is it they need to do up there?”
“Try to survive,” Tahir answered him straightforwardly. I did actually wish to inform the simple-minded brute a bit more, though.
“They're getting dog teams for us, Rexxar. Make the travel faster,” I whispered back to him.
“Question Cherry?” Tahir interjected immediately over Rexxar’s ramblings of how much he liked dogs.
“....Uh...” Helena glanced at Tahir.
“Yes?” I turned my dichromatic eyes upon Tahir.
“Do you believe there is a dog-sled team in existence large enough to carry an ogre?”
Namael, who had been silent this whole time, rubbed her cheek at the thought. I answered in the manner I had prepared beforehand for this eventuality.
“Yeah... I was...wandering same thing,” Helena remarked while scratching her head.
“I can run with it Tahir,” Rexxar answered him, but that was not quite what I had in mind.
“A shrunken ogre, yes. . .” I replied. They couldn’t see the smirk I had on my face.
“Ohh,” murmured Helena as the simplicity of my solution dawned on her.
“Valid point,” Tahir concluded with a nod of approval.
“That’s why I bought animal totems,” Nami finally piped up. I had seen those, in the grove in Brux. Why I didn’t think of them is beyond me, but the solution was an excellent one.
“Or that... hehe...” Rexxar chuckled. “I can keep up with it I bet though. I do not skip leg day hehe.”
The discussion prompted more questions from the half-fiend.
“Can i... be shruken too?" she asked me. “Adventures of Tiny Helena!”
That comment elicted a bout of chuckling from Namael.
“It’s likely most of you will have to be,” Tahir remarked glibly, his eyes still shut in intense concentration. “Especially those with wings.”
“Rex wanna become a weasel for a while?” Nami asked the ogre.
“Sure Nameal...”
“I. . . only prepared one. . ." I answered them all with a frown. I wish I had prepared more, but the others had assured me that they had their own means of avoiding unnecessary attention.
“Sharon knows the spell,” Tahir reminded me. And there was no doubt the sorceress could use her impressive magical abilities to cast the spell as many times as we needed.
“I can... fly,” Helena continued, “But er... might be... best course of action. Yeah Rexxy might need it more than i do.”
“I could be a weasel like Namael said for now,” the ogre suggested. He was suddenly interrupted by Tahir’s voice.
“Sharon says the man bears that Symbol. Obad-hai.”
I suddenly froze in my place. My mind began racing. I was panicking. I knew there were clandestine followers of Beory and Obad-Hai here, suppressed by their evil overlords. But now their presence, or absence, was so pertinent to my current predicament that I think my heart missed a few dozen beats. My hand instinctively clutched at my own secreted symbol of the nature deity.
“Orders, Cherry?” he asked me.
I still wasnÂ’t ready to give any. My eyes shut and my hand covered my masked mouth all the same. Emotions flooded across me. My journey had been one of brutal, exposed truth, from the first time mother scolded me for having anything to do with Obad-HaiÂ’s faith until I had finally pieced apart the Riddle of the Curse. I now realised the power that rested behind the uncertainty, the same that drove my mother to insanity. RexxarÂ’s fortunate interruption snapped me out of my panic.
“ Wait where are we sleding with the dogs? If its out of sight I can keep up with them, if you want to save your spells.”
“More worried about scent, Rex,” Namael answered him.
“Oh the dogs might flip out... hehe,” he murmured back. “Alright weasel me.”
“Will he meet with me?” I told Tahir over the top of both of them, ignoring Rexxar for now. My composure was regained. That aura of determination that Tahir exuded naturally touched at my mind and heart.
“I need something more specific than this, Cherry. You want him to come over here?” he answered. I nodded.
“ On..what pretense? I need to know what she's asking this man.”
I paused a moment, considering very carefully how to answer. Any servant of the Shalm would know of the legends, wouldnÂ’t they? The forest was still haunted to this very day. The oral tradition of the Curse must have been passed down, just as its actual manifestation had been to me. The grove was still defiled after all these years, its corruption embodied personally, the taint of its creatorÂ’s soul lingering still. In me. It is why I was hunted. It was why I was hated. It was why I would fall in love, and lose control, and awaken to the blood-stained fingertips and gouged flesh of my hapless victims, time after time after time. He must know. MustnÂ’t he?
“Tell him the Cursebearer wishes an audience.”
Saileach came to my side when she noticed my obvious pain.
“Are you well, Cherry?”
All I could offer her was a deep sigh in anxious anticipation. Her hand touched upon my shoulder. Silence ensued. Snow patted noiselessly around us. I was afraid. So very afraid. I turned and walked away through the snow where one of the pine sentinels stood guard. It was as good a place as any to lean upon. Saileach followed me.
“Do you mind if I stay by you?”
I didnÂ’t answer. I only held her hand. My thoughts were again disrupted by another telepathic communication from the forward party.
“King Sevvord is coming soon. Does that mean anything to you?” Tahir asked me. It only meant one thing.
“We need to leave.”
“Thats what I gathered. Otherwise It seems they got what we came for.”
“Oh?” Helena asked quizzically. Namael echoed her.
“Eh?”
“.....Right, Tell Sharon to make me...Tiny Helena again and I’ll jump into a backpack or something.”
“ I am trying to concentrate,” Tahir answered them.
So was I. It all came so quickly. The crunch of approaching footsteps and an oh-so-familar voice betrayed my utter desperation.
“Hey.” It was Sharon.
“He is here. Cursebearer” Tahir stated.
The echo of that dreaded title reverberated in my ears.
-
*Tsidkenu
- Posts: 156
- Joined: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am
Cherry's Quest for Faith - Part VII
The awkward pause was palpable. I utilised that moment to wave away all the spells I had warded myself with to that point. I immediately lost sight of the others, cloaked with invisibility spells as they were. I could only hear the idle crunch of snow beneath winter boots. Tahir murmured something to everyone that was beyond my reach to hear.
“Who are you talking to?” came a man’s voice in that all-too-familiar Thillonrian accent.
I could do nothing but sigh. It was a determined one, though, and I pushed myself away from the tree and pressed out into the open. He was just a run-of-the-mill outdoorsman. He was probably one of the local elk hunters by his manner of attire and affections for his hunting dog. My approach was cautious, apprehensive and misinformed. I knelt down in the snow in front of him.
“Greetings... Cursebearer?” he said to me. Sheva heeled close behind the fellow, and he watchesd my approach with a worried expression.
“W...why are you kneeling?” He looked at the others behind him. “Why is she kneeling?"
I fumbled at my neck, taking out my symbol of Obad-Hai. It was all I could think of to offer as a token of my intentions.
“Put that away now! Don't let the guards see you with that!” A look of alarm crossed his face as he hissed sharply at me.
If everyone wasnÂ’t watching me, they sure were now. Every eye was set on me. Again. His hands fumbled with a trinket at his neck, buried under his clothing in nervousness. I didnÂ’t know what to do. WasnÂ’t this man a priest? ArenÂ’t one supposed to pay respects to religious authority? I was feeling so confused and dismayed.
“Please, stand up. If the guards catch wind of anything suspicious...” he said while looking around fervently. “Who are you? What do you want from me?”
I quickly stuffed the symbol back into my clothing and stood up. I was pretty desperate for a hint, a clue, a boon, a blessing. But only three words managed to materialse from my lips.
“I. . . need. . . help. . .” I whimpered.
“You... you think I can help?” Something about my presence caused his dog to start growling, and he seems alarmed as Saileach appears as if out of thin air. “What is going on here...?”
Tahir lifted himself from the ground with his innate flight, shifting over to land beside me, feet sinking into the snow as he lands once more, as if out of nowhere. He muttered something to Saileach. Frowns circulated all around, especially from Sharon when the dog began to growl. She took out a piece of jerky from her supply bag and fed it.
“Easy, now...” she said to the animal in an attempt to placate it.
“I know I'm visible.” She tried to bear herself with a soothing presence, though, which really shouldn't be that hard given her nature.
Vashtalla looked behind also, starting to check if anyone was coming their way, or any guards. He was now on high alert with what was taking place.
I decided to answer the hunter, and truthfully.
“I'm. . . going to cleanse the Glade. . . it is ending.”
Sheva whimpers, pulling back from the jerky, her focus on Cherry. Sharon tucked the food away and stood up slowly, whimpering her own quiet sigh.
"You're going there? You're mad...” he told me in no uncertain terms.
He was right, of course. The place was a forgotten, corrupted haunt. What was once a sacred grove to Obad-Hai had been desecrated and turned into a breeding ground of evil.
“The circle is completing. . . balance is being restored,” I continued, trying to couch my language with terms he might be more familiar with, as foreign as they were dancing off my tongue. I was getting rather anxious about the prospect of being in Kelten when King Sevvord arrived. “I. . . can tarry no longer. . . we must leave."
“Wait, wait. What do you need out of me then? You won't be able to get anywhere without at least a team from Gavin...”
“A team?” Saileach suggested.
“I thought you were . . . never mind." I honestly thought the man was clergy. I guess I’ve still got a pretty long road to walk with this whole faith and religion thing.
“You thought I was what?” he asked me.
I paused for a good long while before answering.
“A servant.” I really had no idea what a cleric of Obad-Hai even was supposed to look like. Clearly it was not this man, much to my chagrin.
“ ...I follow his ways, yes, but... I am not a holy man. Look, you're looking for a guide, right?”
There was an awkward shuffle of feet in the snow as Sharon twitched nervously.C>
“Yes. As far as the Valley,” I answered him. “Your duty will be complete if you take me there.”
“King Sevvord I is supposed to be arriving in a week or two. If you can make it to Gavin's shop without getting stopped, he can get you what you need. I... could show you the way...”
“And your price?” I asked. I expected this and prepared for the same. It was quite fortunate I won third place in the Sensory Contest because those winnings were funding this part of the mission.
“Minerva’s going to kill me for this,” he said, seeming hesitant and glancing again at a nearby cottage, sighing. “Look. My wife and I have been trying to make enough to leave town. It... It just isn't possible to live here."
“I do not anticipate money will be a problem,” Tahir answered.
“You would be offering a favor, and gifts beget gifts,” Saileach also added, although to be honest I didn’t even really know what she meant by that.
“If it isn't the guards, or the Governor, it's the priests of the trinity. And they're the worst of them all,” he continued. “How much are you offering...?”
“Two hundred and fifty giftrings will last your family a year,” I answered. Giftrings were the equivalent of gold pieces around these parts and very valuable indeed. Silver halefists and copper grimfists were far more common but paled in value to the highly desired lustre of those aurum-hued coins. “I will offer you two thousand five hundred.”
I nodded to Sharon to show him and she did so, opening the bag of money I had given her before him.
“And double again when we arrive at Shadow Valley. Same amount for Gavin besides.”
His eyes opened as wide as saucers at the price, his voice falling to a whisper as he sees the bag of sparkling gold, marked with King Sevvord I's seal. “Who... are you...? That much money...”
“We are in a hurry, I believe is who we are,” Tahir answered for me. I didn’t really feel the need to answer much more than that myself.
“Best not ask too much questions...” Helena hummed at him.
“I am what I am. Take it or leave it,” I concurred with my friends. I honestly had zero expectation that he would refuse, and I was not disappointed.
He shook his head as if in a daze. With a determined look, he nodded, glancing over his shoulder.
“I'll.. have to tell my wife. And the priests of the Trinity are the local clergy," he sneered at the mention of them. “Erythnul, god of hate and slaughter. Syrul, goddess of false promises and deceit. And Beltar, goddess of malice, pits and caves.”
“Go quickly,” I instructed him. “Bring the dogs and meet us here. Sharon, count him two hundred and fifty as a token of our good-will.”
“... How does a village built around that kind of thing have any people?” Saileach asked me. I fortunately did not have to answer.
“Fear,” Tahir said.
“Desperation, love,” Helena contributed as well.
“Because they are kept too poor to leave. I... I must go tell my wife,” the fellow told us. “Go see Gavin about the dogs. I'll meet you outside of town... tomorrow. The king won't be here for another week at least, but it's still close enough to worry Volden. Oh. My name is Farron. This is Sheva." He scratched the dog’s head, at which she gave a muffled bark as if afraid of being overheard.
And that was the most immense feeling of relief I had experienced for some time. Everything was running smoothly. As soon as we had secured the dog teams we could leave immediately and wait at the designated meeting place.
“Does. . . Gavin want to see me?” I asked the fellow, but I glanced at Sharon, Danae and Vashtalla. “Or can they take care of it?”
“I... He shouldn't? Unless you need to see him, he'll do business with most any... reasonable people.”
I nodded to Sharon to take care of it. I really preferred not to go into town for the entirety of this venture, if I could help it.
“I'll see you tomorrow, then. Come along, Sheva,” Farron said at last and departed to his dwelling.
“We will meet you at the banks of the Frozen river, 2 miles north of here. Tomorrow,” I said after him. It was always best to specify the place.
“All right. I'll go see Gavin. Thank you again, Farron,” Sharon told him as he left and began to prepare herself to head back into town.
“Went better than expected?” Saileach asked me. I didn’t have time to answer before a thousand more questions and suggestions flooded in.
“Went good, yes,” Namael answered her for me, fortunately.
“We shall have to make camp then once we get closer,” Tahir suggested to us while I was busy sighing in satisfied relief.
“ Shall only Sharon go? Or all three of us?” Danae asked thr group. It was a good question, actually. Vashtalla lifted his chin at the request, an expression of faint amusement on his disguised, now-human features.
“If you feel confident, all three of you can,” I recommended them.
“Depends on what is more suspicious, I meant,” Danae clarified. So did I.
“We're going to wait outside of town.”
“Good,” Helena interjected. I was mildly surprised she wasn’t completely bored, because Namael sure looked like she was. I did appreciate it, though. Everyone was staying disciplined and sticking to the task at hand, which, I must say, is exactly what we really needed right now. For the second time I watched as Sharon, Danae and Vashtalla wandered off to find this Gavin fellow.
The awkward pause was palpable. I utilised that moment to wave away all the spells I had warded myself with to that point. I immediately lost sight of the others, cloaked with invisibility spells as they were. I could only hear the idle crunch of snow beneath winter boots. Tahir murmured something to everyone that was beyond my reach to hear.
“Who are you talking to?” came a man’s voice in that all-too-familiar Thillonrian accent.
I could do nothing but sigh. It was a determined one, though, and I pushed myself away from the tree and pressed out into the open. He was just a run-of-the-mill outdoorsman. He was probably one of the local elk hunters by his manner of attire and affections for his hunting dog. My approach was cautious, apprehensive and misinformed. I knelt down in the snow in front of him.
“Greetings... Cursebearer?” he said to me. Sheva heeled close behind the fellow, and he watchesd my approach with a worried expression.
“W...why are you kneeling?” He looked at the others behind him. “Why is she kneeling?"
I fumbled at my neck, taking out my symbol of Obad-Hai. It was all I could think of to offer as a token of my intentions.
“Put that away now! Don't let the guards see you with that!” A look of alarm crossed his face as he hissed sharply at me.
If everyone wasnÂ’t watching me, they sure were now. Every eye was set on me. Again. His hands fumbled with a trinket at his neck, buried under his clothing in nervousness. I didnÂ’t know what to do. WasnÂ’t this man a priest? ArenÂ’t one supposed to pay respects to religious authority? I was feeling so confused and dismayed.
“Please, stand up. If the guards catch wind of anything suspicious...” he said while looking around fervently. “Who are you? What do you want from me?”
I quickly stuffed the symbol back into my clothing and stood up. I was pretty desperate for a hint, a clue, a boon, a blessing. But only three words managed to materialse from my lips.
“I. . . need. . . help. . .” I whimpered.
“You... you think I can help?” Something about my presence caused his dog to start growling, and he seems alarmed as Saileach appears as if out of thin air. “What is going on here...?”
Tahir lifted himself from the ground with his innate flight, shifting over to land beside me, feet sinking into the snow as he lands once more, as if out of nowhere. He muttered something to Saileach. Frowns circulated all around, especially from Sharon when the dog began to growl. She took out a piece of jerky from her supply bag and fed it.
“Easy, now...” she said to the animal in an attempt to placate it.
“I know I'm visible.” She tried to bear herself with a soothing presence, though, which really shouldn't be that hard given her nature.
Vashtalla looked behind also, starting to check if anyone was coming their way, or any guards. He was now on high alert with what was taking place.
I decided to answer the hunter, and truthfully.
“I'm. . . going to cleanse the Glade. . . it is ending.”
Sheva whimpers, pulling back from the jerky, her focus on Cherry. Sharon tucked the food away and stood up slowly, whimpering her own quiet sigh.
"You're going there? You're mad...” he told me in no uncertain terms.
He was right, of course. The place was a forgotten, corrupted haunt. What was once a sacred grove to Obad-Hai had been desecrated and turned into a breeding ground of evil.
“The circle is completing. . . balance is being restored,” I continued, trying to couch my language with terms he might be more familiar with, as foreign as they were dancing off my tongue. I was getting rather anxious about the prospect of being in Kelten when King Sevvord arrived. “I. . . can tarry no longer. . . we must leave."
“Wait, wait. What do you need out of me then? You won't be able to get anywhere without at least a team from Gavin...”
“A team?” Saileach suggested.
“I thought you were . . . never mind." I honestly thought the man was clergy. I guess I’ve still got a pretty long road to walk with this whole faith and religion thing.
“You thought I was what?” he asked me.
I paused for a good long while before answering.
“A servant.” I really had no idea what a cleric of Obad-Hai even was supposed to look like. Clearly it was not this man, much to my chagrin.
“ ...I follow his ways, yes, but... I am not a holy man. Look, you're looking for a guide, right?”
There was an awkward shuffle of feet in the snow as Sharon twitched nervously.C>
“Yes. As far as the Valley,” I answered him. “Your duty will be complete if you take me there.”
“King Sevvord I is supposed to be arriving in a week or two. If you can make it to Gavin's shop without getting stopped, he can get you what you need. I... could show you the way...”
“And your price?” I asked. I expected this and prepared for the same. It was quite fortunate I won third place in the Sensory Contest because those winnings were funding this part of the mission.
“Minerva’s going to kill me for this,” he said, seeming hesitant and glancing again at a nearby cottage, sighing. “Look. My wife and I have been trying to make enough to leave town. It... It just isn't possible to live here."
“I do not anticipate money will be a problem,” Tahir answered.
“You would be offering a favor, and gifts beget gifts,” Saileach also added, although to be honest I didn’t even really know what she meant by that.
“If it isn't the guards, or the Governor, it's the priests of the trinity. And they're the worst of them all,” he continued. “How much are you offering...?”
“Two hundred and fifty giftrings will last your family a year,” I answered. Giftrings were the equivalent of gold pieces around these parts and very valuable indeed. Silver halefists and copper grimfists were far more common but paled in value to the highly desired lustre of those aurum-hued coins. “I will offer you two thousand five hundred.”
I nodded to Sharon to show him and she did so, opening the bag of money I had given her before him.
“And double again when we arrive at Shadow Valley. Same amount for Gavin besides.”
His eyes opened as wide as saucers at the price, his voice falling to a whisper as he sees the bag of sparkling gold, marked with King Sevvord I's seal. “Who... are you...? That much money...”
“We are in a hurry, I believe is who we are,” Tahir answered for me. I didn’t really feel the need to answer much more than that myself.
“Best not ask too much questions...” Helena hummed at him.
“I am what I am. Take it or leave it,” I concurred with my friends. I honestly had zero expectation that he would refuse, and I was not disappointed.
He shook his head as if in a daze. With a determined look, he nodded, glancing over his shoulder.
“I'll.. have to tell my wife. And the priests of the Trinity are the local clergy," he sneered at the mention of them. “Erythnul, god of hate and slaughter. Syrul, goddess of false promises and deceit. And Beltar, goddess of malice, pits and caves.”
“Go quickly,” I instructed him. “Bring the dogs and meet us here. Sharon, count him two hundred and fifty as a token of our good-will.”
“... How does a village built around that kind of thing have any people?” Saileach asked me. I fortunately did not have to answer.
“Fear,” Tahir said.
“Desperation, love,” Helena contributed as well.
“Because they are kept too poor to leave. I... I must go tell my wife,” the fellow told us. “Go see Gavin about the dogs. I'll meet you outside of town... tomorrow. The king won't be here for another week at least, but it's still close enough to worry Volden. Oh. My name is Farron. This is Sheva." He scratched the dog’s head, at which she gave a muffled bark as if afraid of being overheard.
And that was the most immense feeling of relief I had experienced for some time. Everything was running smoothly. As soon as we had secured the dog teams we could leave immediately and wait at the designated meeting place.
“Does. . . Gavin want to see me?” I asked the fellow, but I glanced at Sharon, Danae and Vashtalla. “Or can they take care of it?”
“I... He shouldn't? Unless you need to see him, he'll do business with most any... reasonable people.”
I nodded to Sharon to take care of it. I really preferred not to go into town for the entirety of this venture, if I could help it.
“I'll see you tomorrow, then. Come along, Sheva,” Farron said at last and departed to his dwelling.
“We will meet you at the banks of the Frozen river, 2 miles north of here. Tomorrow,” I said after him. It was always best to specify the place.
“All right. I'll go see Gavin. Thank you again, Farron,” Sharon told him as he left and began to prepare herself to head back into town.
“Went better than expected?” Saileach asked me. I didn’t have time to answer before a thousand more questions and suggestions flooded in.
“Went good, yes,” Namael answered her for me, fortunately.
“We shall have to make camp then once we get closer,” Tahir suggested to us while I was busy sighing in satisfied relief.
“ Shall only Sharon go? Or all three of us?” Danae asked thr group. It was a good question, actually. Vashtalla lifted his chin at the request, an expression of faint amusement on his disguised, now-human features.
“If you feel confident, all three of you can,” I recommended them.
“Depends on what is more suspicious, I meant,” Danae clarified. So did I.
“We're going to wait outside of town.”
“Good,” Helena interjected. I was mildly surprised she wasn’t completely bored, because Namael sure looked like she was. I did appreciate it, though. Everyone was staying disciplined and sticking to the task at hand, which, I must say, is exactly what we really needed right now. For the second time I watched as Sharon, Danae and Vashtalla wandered off to find this Gavin fellow.
-
*Tsidkenu
- Posts: 156
- Joined: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am
Cherry's Quest for Faith - Part VIII
The looming chapel is what caught SharonÂ’s eye again as soon as they wandered into the centre of town. It was still quiet, but to an extent that could be expected of a frontier village with a population of almost three thousand. Standing over in front of a nearby shop was a fellow talking to a customer. That caught SharonÂ’s attention almost immediately as she listened to his manner of conversation.
“No, it's been real slow. And taxes are due today... I don't know how I'm going to keep him off my... ahem... satisfied this mon...”
He trailed off as soon as he spotted the three people approaching, and a dark look crossed his face.
“Hail. Fine clothing like that, you must be the governor's... people?”
Sharon looked over to the couple speaking outside, then offered a polite smile as she shook her head at the question.
“Greetings. We were just passing through. Do any of you know of a Gavin?”
“I'm sorry, but business has been difficult. I'm afraid the dogs might be a little thin around the sides if you're looking for a ride,” he answered before muttering something beneath his breath to the other customer. “Some days I wish I didn't... ahem! Yes ma'am, that's me.”
“You're going to get in trouble mouthing off to the Governor's men like that Gavin! Watch yourself!” the other customer cautioned him.
“We do, actually, need a ride,” Sharon answered as her visage lit up. She did, however, pull the coin purse close to herself and away from obvious view.
“Ah... what's this?” Gavin replied, quirking a brow at the potential for new customers.
“Maybe we can speak inside first?” she answered after peering up at the dark, ominous building once more.
The crunchy thunk of boots approaching along the road gave away the fact that things were about to get difficult. Gavin looked over his shoulder, jumping at the Governor's arrival. The woman behind him disappeared into the shop quickly, a look of panic on her face. Sharon became incredibly cautious, tucking the bag of money away and looking over at those who were approaching. The govenor's nose was so far up in the air, it was a wonder he could even see the stone pavement before him. Behind him are two imposing guards, flanking his either side. He turned to approach Gavin with a malicious sneer. Sharon and Danae quickly stepped aside out of his way.
“Business picking up again, I see, Mister Thorstad? It's so wonderful to see your affairs doing well. The King is urgent for this month's taxes, it sounds like the rest of the kingdom has been falling... behind on their charitable contributions to the rebuilding effort. I am certain that you wouldn't want that to be us on our good Liege's arrival soon, hmmmmm?”
“G-Governor Volden! I... N-no sir, I don't know who--- Ah....!” Gavin quailed under the Governor's verbal assault, looking behind him and back at the man, raising his hands in the air defensively. “N-n-no sir.”
“Fantastic. Of course, you won't mind that the taxes have necessarily been raised again this month. I expect your contribution of... Mmm... One thousand gold coins at the keep by tonight.” Volden's eyes suspiciously swept the others behind Gavin. The men behind him noted his glance and stood at the ready, seeming to expect a command.
“ ...Oh boy,” Danae muttered beneath her breath. Vashtalla remained utterly impassive, doing his best to maintain his ruse as a non-descript human male. Even Sharon fidgeted nervously.
"O-One thou---” Gavin choked out, swallowing nervously. “Y-yes... G-governor...”
Volden sniffed, dismissing the group from his thoughts with a narrowed gaze. He turned to the guards behind him.
“Very good. Stevens! Lothric! The raiders have been trouble again. I expect double guard for the next week, if you see the slightest hint of trouble...” he trailed off suddenly. “Very well then, as you were. I'm certain' you're very busy.”
There were sighs of relief from the three visitors and Sharon in particular waited for them to move along before she eased her anxiety. Gavin, however, seemed to almost choke, swallowing deeply and leaning against his shop, pale as a sheet when the Governor departed.
“Perhaps we should... continue our business inside,” Sharon suggested.
“O-one thousand..." He was so shocked it took him a moment to realize that they were still there. “O-o-o-oh y-y-y-yes... er... y--yes, d-d-do come ins-s-s-s-ide.”
Gavin collapsed at the table, gasping
“O...One thousand...” It takes several deep breaths and a moment of quiet concentration to get himself under control. “I... I'm sorry... I guess with the look Volden gave you, you aren't his men, a-are you...?”
Danae answered with a shake of her head.
“Where am I ever going to get that much...? I can barely afford to feed my dogs...”
“No sir. Just passer-bys in need of a sled team. I... think we can help you,” Vashtalla tried to reassure him.
“A... sled team? Yes! Yes! I don't care how much you're willing to pay, just rent them!” He looked truly desperate. By the state of the house it seemed like he would be lucky to see a thousand gold in a year. “They're a little underfed, but they'll take you where you're going!”
“We will get them fed,” Vashtalla nodded in reply as he turned his attention towards Sharon. She smiled and nodded in return.
“I... I would appreciate it to no end, good sir. It's a struggle just making ends meet here, you saw how it is... Erythnul, I wish he'd just drop dead.”
“I think we can cover the tax and a little more,” Sharon told him, taking out the coin purse again. “We'll pay five thousand for the rental of a sled team. No questions asked.”
“F-five! Five thousand!” He narrowed his eyes suspiciously, looking slightly hysterical. “That's... You're too good to be true! You're just more of Syrul's people! Where would you even get all of that around here! Are... you're not thieves are you?! I don't have anything of value, I swear!”
“If we were thieves we would have mugged you by now,” Danae suggested. It didn’t have the desired effect, however.
“P-please, don't hurt me! Just-- Just take the dogs! Don't hurt them, don't hurt me!” He just slumped on the table, looking defeated and resigned to whatever the visitors had intended to do. It seemed unlikely he was going to prevent any action they attempted. Danae looked at Sharon for leadership.
“Please. We are not here to hurt you. We are jourynmen on a personal quest,” Vashtalla said to him, speaking calmly and slowly, throwing a part of his empathy talents into his voice to help soothe Gavin’s anxiety. Sharon took a deep breath and glanced at the other two.
“I will pay her back later,” she remarked calmly as she put even more coin out and slowly slid it over to Gavin. “This will cover the tax. Make sure those dogs get well fed.”
Seven thousand five hundred giftrings were left on the table in front of him. As they rose to depart, Vashtalla set two star sapphires amongst the gold for good measure. They left GavinÂ’s dwelling and made their way back to the main group who lingered just outside the verge of the town in the cold snow.
The looming chapel is what caught SharonÂ’s eye again as soon as they wandered into the centre of town. It was still quiet, but to an extent that could be expected of a frontier village with a population of almost three thousand. Standing over in front of a nearby shop was a fellow talking to a customer. That caught SharonÂ’s attention almost immediately as she listened to his manner of conversation.
“No, it's been real slow. And taxes are due today... I don't know how I'm going to keep him off my... ahem... satisfied this mon...”
He trailed off as soon as he spotted the three people approaching, and a dark look crossed his face.
“Hail. Fine clothing like that, you must be the governor's... people?”
Sharon looked over to the couple speaking outside, then offered a polite smile as she shook her head at the question.
“Greetings. We were just passing through. Do any of you know of a Gavin?”
“I'm sorry, but business has been difficult. I'm afraid the dogs might be a little thin around the sides if you're looking for a ride,” he answered before muttering something beneath his breath to the other customer. “Some days I wish I didn't... ahem! Yes ma'am, that's me.”
“You're going to get in trouble mouthing off to the Governor's men like that Gavin! Watch yourself!” the other customer cautioned him.
“We do, actually, need a ride,” Sharon answered as her visage lit up. She did, however, pull the coin purse close to herself and away from obvious view.
“Ah... what's this?” Gavin replied, quirking a brow at the potential for new customers.
“Maybe we can speak inside first?” she answered after peering up at the dark, ominous building once more.
The crunchy thunk of boots approaching along the road gave away the fact that things were about to get difficult. Gavin looked over his shoulder, jumping at the Governor's arrival. The woman behind him disappeared into the shop quickly, a look of panic on her face. Sharon became incredibly cautious, tucking the bag of money away and looking over at those who were approaching. The govenor's nose was so far up in the air, it was a wonder he could even see the stone pavement before him. Behind him are two imposing guards, flanking his either side. He turned to approach Gavin with a malicious sneer. Sharon and Danae quickly stepped aside out of his way.
“Business picking up again, I see, Mister Thorstad? It's so wonderful to see your affairs doing well. The King is urgent for this month's taxes, it sounds like the rest of the kingdom has been falling... behind on their charitable contributions to the rebuilding effort. I am certain that you wouldn't want that to be us on our good Liege's arrival soon, hmmmmm?”
“G-Governor Volden! I... N-no sir, I don't know who--- Ah....!” Gavin quailed under the Governor's verbal assault, looking behind him and back at the man, raising his hands in the air defensively. “N-n-no sir.”
“Fantastic. Of course, you won't mind that the taxes have necessarily been raised again this month. I expect your contribution of... Mmm... One thousand gold coins at the keep by tonight.” Volden's eyes suspiciously swept the others behind Gavin. The men behind him noted his glance and stood at the ready, seeming to expect a command.
“ ...Oh boy,” Danae muttered beneath her breath. Vashtalla remained utterly impassive, doing his best to maintain his ruse as a non-descript human male. Even Sharon fidgeted nervously.
"O-One thou---” Gavin choked out, swallowing nervously. “Y-yes... G-governor...”
Volden sniffed, dismissing the group from his thoughts with a narrowed gaze. He turned to the guards behind him.
“Very good. Stevens! Lothric! The raiders have been trouble again. I expect double guard for the next week, if you see the slightest hint of trouble...” he trailed off suddenly. “Very well then, as you were. I'm certain' you're very busy.”
There were sighs of relief from the three visitors and Sharon in particular waited for them to move along before she eased her anxiety. Gavin, however, seemed to almost choke, swallowing deeply and leaning against his shop, pale as a sheet when the Governor departed.
“Perhaps we should... continue our business inside,” Sharon suggested.
“O-one thousand..." He was so shocked it took him a moment to realize that they were still there. “O-o-o-oh y-y-y-yes... er... y--yes, d-d-do come ins-s-s-s-ide.”
Gavin collapsed at the table, gasping
“O...One thousand...” It takes several deep breaths and a moment of quiet concentration to get himself under control. “I... I'm sorry... I guess with the look Volden gave you, you aren't his men, a-are you...?”
Danae answered with a shake of her head.
“Where am I ever going to get that much...? I can barely afford to feed my dogs...”
“No sir. Just passer-bys in need of a sled team. I... think we can help you,” Vashtalla tried to reassure him.
“A... sled team? Yes! Yes! I don't care how much you're willing to pay, just rent them!” He looked truly desperate. By the state of the house it seemed like he would be lucky to see a thousand gold in a year. “They're a little underfed, but they'll take you where you're going!”
“We will get them fed,” Vashtalla nodded in reply as he turned his attention towards Sharon. She smiled and nodded in return.
“I... I would appreciate it to no end, good sir. It's a struggle just making ends meet here, you saw how it is... Erythnul, I wish he'd just drop dead.”
“I think we can cover the tax and a little more,” Sharon told him, taking out the coin purse again. “We'll pay five thousand for the rental of a sled team. No questions asked.”
“F-five! Five thousand!” He narrowed his eyes suspiciously, looking slightly hysterical. “That's... You're too good to be true! You're just more of Syrul's people! Where would you even get all of that around here! Are... you're not thieves are you?! I don't have anything of value, I swear!”
“If we were thieves we would have mugged you by now,” Danae suggested. It didn’t have the desired effect, however.
“P-please, don't hurt me! Just-- Just take the dogs! Don't hurt them, don't hurt me!” He just slumped on the table, looking defeated and resigned to whatever the visitors had intended to do. It seemed unlikely he was going to prevent any action they attempted. Danae looked at Sharon for leadership.
“Please. We are not here to hurt you. We are jourynmen on a personal quest,” Vashtalla said to him, speaking calmly and slowly, throwing a part of his empathy talents into his voice to help soothe Gavin’s anxiety. Sharon took a deep breath and glanced at the other two.
“I will pay her back later,” she remarked calmly as she put even more coin out and slowly slid it over to Gavin. “This will cover the tax. Make sure those dogs get well fed.”
Seven thousand five hundred giftrings were left on the table in front of him. As they rose to depart, Vashtalla set two star sapphires amongst the gold for good measure. They left GavinÂ’s dwelling and made their way back to the main group who lingered just outside the verge of the town in the cold snow.
-
*Tsidkenu
- Posts: 156
- Joined: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am
Cherry's Quest for Faith - Part IX
"I would hate to see what type of pricks these priest are," Helena turned and remarked as soon as Farron had returned to his residence. Sharon, Danae and Vashtalla had gone off into town and I was not sure how long they would be. I was relying on TahirÂ’s telepathic connection with Sharon to keep me informed of their progress.
“So...this country is ruled by a tyrant?” Namael asked me.
“It is, yes. That is why I am so cautious in town. Their capital was destroyed five years ago during the war.”
“ Hmmm,” the half angel purred as she mused over my answer.
“ Raises the question. Why would said Tyrant care to come out here himself?” Tahir now asked me. I guess my mention of the capital having been destroyed during the war was somehow inadequate.
“Because this is the biggest town now. . .” I clarified for his sake.
“He worships the Trinity I take it?” Namael asked.
“Yes. The vile three. It is state religion,” I answered. I didn’t really want to discuss it but I figured that it was a somewhat useful way to while away the time until Sharon, Danae and Vashtalla returned.
“Uh-huh...” Helena muttered while she petted the ogre-turned-weasel Rexxar. He churred as only weasels can. It reminded me of Corey so much I just had to bend down and pick him up. I left my familiar in the Festhall. At least if something happened to me he would have a nice place to weasel away the rest of his life.
“And this town is the new capital?” Nami enquired of me further.
“Sort of.”
“ Curious those cultists would have to make ritual in a cave if it is state religion.”
“Because she is the goddess of caverns, and the darkness beneath.”
“Oh right.”
“After that ...show....or performance, they might think twice about going to funny meetings like that again,” Helena commented. There would likely be another group that would return to the place eventually. It was one of their holy sites, which made even more sense to me now that the interplanar lay-lines of the location seemed quite evident.
“It's not the first time I have been there, or destroyed them,” I admitted.
I had infiltrated their ranks, actually, just to make the journey to Sigil. One of the demons I had bound had told me about the strength of the site, and its innate connections across the planes. At first I was sceptical, typical for dealings with tanarÂ’ri, but the site did prove to be ideal for me to formulate the Gate to the Broken Reach, from which I negotiated my way to Sigil. After I had seduced the cult leader it was not to difficult to kill him and scatter the others in their leaderless terror and enact my original plan at that time. Those memories were very bitter to me now.
“I do not wish to talk about this any longer.”
“Should we expect any trouble?” Saileach asked me after I made my intention clear to end the previous topic.
“Possibly.” We still had to travel north to Shadow Valley. I had been there only once before as a ten year-old. That particular experience won me third prize in the Sensory Contest.
“Here..? Or ..there...?” Helena queried my answer.
“Both,” I replied while scratching Rexxar’s little weasel head as I attempted to concentrate on other things.
Tahir was standing by in the snow, and the falling crystals were starting to build up in the crevices in his armour. Nami let out a few deep breaths and suddenly flew up into the sky. Fortunately she was invisible, that illusory aura betraying her presence to my invocation which pierced the veil between the seen and the unseen. I looked over in SaileachÂ’s direction.
“You're okay?”
“If I didn't have magic I might feel like .. an Ice-sailcle?” Funny. She never had an end of lame puns, the kind that made you smirk and groan inwardly, no matter how bad they were.
“Tahir, is everything okay?” I redirected my attention. “I just hope we don't need to head into town ourselves. . .”
“The Governor has shown up it seems,” he answered me, still highly attuned to that link he had with Sharon.
“Oh gods. . .”
“Trouble....?” Helena quizzed.
“Not yet,” Tahir replied laconically.
“He's as bad as the king. . . inform me at once if there is trouble,” I insisted. Things could quickly turn pear-shaped, though. The man was known to lynch folks who so much as looked at him the wrong way.
“It appears they are being... taxed...”
“It's a shame such things have shackled the village. It wouldn't be a simple task to throw them off,” Saileach commented. I could clearly see the innate goodness my friends possessed. I had no such desires. Yet.
“Country. Continent. It’s a widespread issue,” Tahir added. “Nor is it our path here to do so. It would be a poor choice.”
“Population is fairly scarce out here though. . . there. . . there will be other times to deal with the likes of these,” I replied.
“Get rid of this...Governer...and what fate would befall on these folks?” Helena piped in again.
“One of his lackeys will take his place.” It was a sad truth. One of his cousins or brothers or uncles would undoubtedly move in from Purnell or Bastro, and little would change, unfortunately. “You have to understand they rule by tyranny, fear and slaughter. In these they take the most pride.”
“It is cutting off the head of a Hydra. There are plenty more left,” Tahir agreed. It was surprising to hear such words coming from him. The jann could, undoubtedly, take on the entire militia and emerge unharmed if he really wished it.
“Same shit, same smell in other Prime too,” Helena said again, shaking her head as she appeared from a nearby shadow.
I decided it was time to sit down in the snow. I donÂ’t think anyone else had quite figured out that my years of acquaintance with the powers of the Abyss had harded my fortitude to the elements. Well, Saileach probably knew after that time we went for a dip in the glacial lake in Brux, near the grove.
“How you doing there, Rexxar? You okay?” I said to the weasel. “I'm so sorry about this. I wish the people here were friendly and nice like in all the other primes I hear about. . .”
“I never really expect people to be very polite, understanding, or kind,” Saileach quipped. I suppose the nymph had experienced her fair share of persecution in her time, simply because folk did not take the time to understand.
“Heh,” murmured Helena. “There are ...nasty people in my Prime too.”
“Oerth's most famous kingdom is called Greyhawk,” I said. I’d never been there, but its reputation preceeded it all over continental Flanaess, even all the way out here in the dregs of the Thillonrian winter. “It's very far from here. . . many month's journey by horse, or foot.”
“ I see. Greyhawk. Hm...like the name,” Helena answered. “Ever heard of the temple of Elemental Evil?”
“Only distant whispers, Helena. . . not too much news ever travels out this way.” That was an ironic statement. For at that very moment Sharon’s triumphant voice announced the second victory of the mission thus far.
“We have the sled dogs.”
"I would hate to see what type of pricks these priest are," Helena turned and remarked as soon as Farron had returned to his residence. Sharon, Danae and Vashtalla had gone off into town and I was not sure how long they would be. I was relying on TahirÂ’s telepathic connection with Sharon to keep me informed of their progress.
“So...this country is ruled by a tyrant?” Namael asked me.
“It is, yes. That is why I am so cautious in town. Their capital was destroyed five years ago during the war.”
“ Hmmm,” the half angel purred as she mused over my answer.
“ Raises the question. Why would said Tyrant care to come out here himself?” Tahir now asked me. I guess my mention of the capital having been destroyed during the war was somehow inadequate.
“Because this is the biggest town now. . .” I clarified for his sake.
“He worships the Trinity I take it?” Namael asked.
“Yes. The vile three. It is state religion,” I answered. I didn’t really want to discuss it but I figured that it was a somewhat useful way to while away the time until Sharon, Danae and Vashtalla returned.
“Uh-huh...” Helena muttered while she petted the ogre-turned-weasel Rexxar. He churred as only weasels can. It reminded me of Corey so much I just had to bend down and pick him up. I left my familiar in the Festhall. At least if something happened to me he would have a nice place to weasel away the rest of his life.
“And this town is the new capital?” Nami enquired of me further.
“Sort of.”
“ Curious those cultists would have to make ritual in a cave if it is state religion.”
“Because she is the goddess of caverns, and the darkness beneath.”
“Oh right.”
“After that ...show....or performance, they might think twice about going to funny meetings like that again,” Helena commented. There would likely be another group that would return to the place eventually. It was one of their holy sites, which made even more sense to me now that the interplanar lay-lines of the location seemed quite evident.
“It's not the first time I have been there, or destroyed them,” I admitted.
I had infiltrated their ranks, actually, just to make the journey to Sigil. One of the demons I had bound had told me about the strength of the site, and its innate connections across the planes. At first I was sceptical, typical for dealings with tanarÂ’ri, but the site did prove to be ideal for me to formulate the Gate to the Broken Reach, from which I negotiated my way to Sigil. After I had seduced the cult leader it was not to difficult to kill him and scatter the others in their leaderless terror and enact my original plan at that time. Those memories were very bitter to me now.
“I do not wish to talk about this any longer.”
“Should we expect any trouble?” Saileach asked me after I made my intention clear to end the previous topic.
“Possibly.” We still had to travel north to Shadow Valley. I had been there only once before as a ten year-old. That particular experience won me third prize in the Sensory Contest.
“Here..? Or ..there...?” Helena queried my answer.
“Both,” I replied while scratching Rexxar’s little weasel head as I attempted to concentrate on other things.
Tahir was standing by in the snow, and the falling crystals were starting to build up in the crevices in his armour. Nami let out a few deep breaths and suddenly flew up into the sky. Fortunately she was invisible, that illusory aura betraying her presence to my invocation which pierced the veil between the seen and the unseen. I looked over in SaileachÂ’s direction.
“You're okay?”
“If I didn't have magic I might feel like .. an Ice-sailcle?” Funny. She never had an end of lame puns, the kind that made you smirk and groan inwardly, no matter how bad they were.
“Tahir, is everything okay?” I redirected my attention. “I just hope we don't need to head into town ourselves. . .”
“The Governor has shown up it seems,” he answered me, still highly attuned to that link he had with Sharon.
“Oh gods. . .”
“Trouble....?” Helena quizzed.
“Not yet,” Tahir replied laconically.
“He's as bad as the king. . . inform me at once if there is trouble,” I insisted. Things could quickly turn pear-shaped, though. The man was known to lynch folks who so much as looked at him the wrong way.
“It appears they are being... taxed...”
“It's a shame such things have shackled the village. It wouldn't be a simple task to throw them off,” Saileach commented. I could clearly see the innate goodness my friends possessed. I had no such desires. Yet.
“Country. Continent. It’s a widespread issue,” Tahir added. “Nor is it our path here to do so. It would be a poor choice.”
“Population is fairly scarce out here though. . . there. . . there will be other times to deal with the likes of these,” I replied.
“Get rid of this...Governer...and what fate would befall on these folks?” Helena piped in again.
“One of his lackeys will take his place.” It was a sad truth. One of his cousins or brothers or uncles would undoubtedly move in from Purnell or Bastro, and little would change, unfortunately. “You have to understand they rule by tyranny, fear and slaughter. In these they take the most pride.”
“It is cutting off the head of a Hydra. There are plenty more left,” Tahir agreed. It was surprising to hear such words coming from him. The jann could, undoubtedly, take on the entire militia and emerge unharmed if he really wished it.
“Same shit, same smell in other Prime too,” Helena said again, shaking her head as she appeared from a nearby shadow.
I decided it was time to sit down in the snow. I donÂ’t think anyone else had quite figured out that my years of acquaintance with the powers of the Abyss had harded my fortitude to the elements. Well, Saileach probably knew after that time we went for a dip in the glacial lake in Brux, near the grove.
“How you doing there, Rexxar? You okay?” I said to the weasel. “I'm so sorry about this. I wish the people here were friendly and nice like in all the other primes I hear about. . .”
“I never really expect people to be very polite, understanding, or kind,” Saileach quipped. I suppose the nymph had experienced her fair share of persecution in her time, simply because folk did not take the time to understand.
“Heh,” murmured Helena. “There are ...nasty people in my Prime too.”
“Oerth's most famous kingdom is called Greyhawk,” I said. I’d never been there, but its reputation preceeded it all over continental Flanaess, even all the way out here in the dregs of the Thillonrian winter. “It's very far from here. . . many month's journey by horse, or foot.”
“ I see. Greyhawk. Hm...like the name,” Helena answered. “Ever heard of the temple of Elemental Evil?”
“Only distant whispers, Helena. . . not too much news ever travels out this way.” That was an ironic statement. For at that very moment Sharon’s triumphant voice announced the second victory of the mission thus far.
“We have the sled dogs.”