She nods, "Okay, are we ready to get the Hells outta here now?" She asks as she wraps the pendant in the material and puts it in her pocket, while storing the potion in her pack.
Ruedo nods, clasping the cloak. "Yes, let's go."
It takes about an hour or so to make your way back to this dungeon's entrance. Ascending the stairs, you find Tiadora waiting for you.
"Well, took you long enough." She says before leading you back to the Cardinal's office. Looking out the windows on the way there, you note that the sun seems to be just starting to rise. You surmise it took you all night to retrieve the pendant.
Adrastus sits in his study seeming almost to have not moved an inch from where he gave you your orders. “You’ve returned.”
Eri nods as she pulls the wrapped pendant out of her pocket and lays it on his desk, "As requested. We would have been back sooner, but we actually needed to rest so that we wouldn't die retrieving it for you."
The high priest holds the trinket and pauses as if in deep contemplation. He watches the holy symbol glitter in the light. “A pretty enough thing, eh?” He muses. “This is a holy symbol of Mitra in particular the sort favored by the Knights of the Alerion. Perhaps you already knew that. Remember this symbol. This is the mark of those who destroyed our faith and sought to banish all trace of the worship of our Father from these shores. These, my friends, are your enemies.” He tosses the holy symbol to Eri and smiles. “You have done well. Escaping from Branderscar, slaughtering Sir Balin … yes, you are worthy. Now, let us complete your training…”
"And how will we be completing our training?" Ruedo asks.
"And how will we be completing our training?" Ruedo asks.
The Cardinal smiled, "You shall see young man, you shall see."
Over the course of the next three months, Cardinal Thorn works with you as a group and individually. Honing your particular skill sets to fight in unison and sharpening a particular talent within each of you. On several occasions, he permits you to train on your own while he's off doing who knows what. Yet in these sessions, you are not alone, Tiadora stands off in a corner observing you rather coldly.
At the end of the three months, you are called to the dining hall for a banquet in your honor. As you all enter the hall, a parcel for each of you sits on a side table. Opening them, you find what appears to be a magical object and a not describing what it does. "A gift, to commemorate your completion of the training." You commence eating the food.
After eating, Thorn arose and said, "There is one more thing that needs be done. Tiadora."
The icy woman brought in a pair of female slaves with sacks over their heads and a wicked smile on her lips. Removing the sacks, the slaves are revealed to be Betty and Fiona.
The Cardinal announces, "A ceremony of blood and fire must be observed. Choose one of them."
"Why? Why must there be? They are both human beings and I most certainly will NOT choose to kill one of them for a stupid ceremony. We are what we are without it. If you want our help....or services...or whatever the hells you wish to call them....you'll forget about the stupid ceremony right the hells now." She says as she stands there with her hands on her hips defiantly.
Looking back and forth between Thorn and Tiadora she says, "In fact...I'll do you one better. If you try to kill either one of them....I'll kill Frosty the snow Bit<h." She says in a near growl.
Tiadora simply scoffed, "You can certainly try petulant one."
The Cardinal raised a hand to quiet her. Looking at Eri, "Dear child, it is Asmodeus' will that one be sacrificed. As you may well remember, you agreed to allow the spread of his worship. Blood must be spilled to do so."
She balls her hands into fists on the table before shifting and throwing her chair across the room, "Don't patronize me. If you had said that in the beginning I would have told you to go straight to hell. You Have about a billion servants in this place but you just happened to pick the ones we might care about. See...I may eat people, but I find this sick. This is why I hate people, because all you do is lie and deceive to meet your own ends. If this is what it takes, then I'm done. I won't have anything to do with it." She says before turning and walking angrily away from the table.
Ravanalonna looks at the women, processing the Cardinal's words, taking in Tiadora's smug smile, the smile she would one day burn from her face. If Eri kept pushing, she would kill Betty just to spite her.
Looking at Fiona she sighs. She'd very much enjoyed her company, but deep down she understood. Fiona, Betty, they were constructs in a manner of speaking. Much of their true selves wiped clean by Tiadoras's magic, a level of control that left them very little of themselves.It was likely that the people they were in their previous lives would be appalled, perhaps even wish death.
At the very least the girl, though essentially a will-less slave, had gotten to experience some pleasure......a lot of pleasure before her end.
Stepping forward, she walks up to Fiona, smiling at her she gives her a smoldering kiss. "I choose her."
'Then she'll be free of you.'
Stopping in her tracks she turns to face Ravan. Looking shocked she asks barely above a whisper, "Why? Why are you giving in to these ass#oles?" Though it's in a whisper, the rage and grief in her voice is unmistakable.
Ruedo remains silent. He had no connection to the slaves nor did he have any right to tell Eri what to feel or do. All he could do was let this farce play out and see what happened next.
"The people we know, the Betty that brought you food, she isn't real. They do as we tell them because they lack the will to do anything else." Ravanalonna says.
She shakes her head like she's trying to clear it of something, "So...what you're saying is that they can do whatever they want to them because....because they're just puppets? Then what are we? Do we have no free will of our own either?" She asks as her mind tries to process everything as she takes out her axe and twirls it around while thinking.
The Cardinal stepped forward and directed Fiona to an adjoining room. "You are not puppets. You are champions in service to a cause. One that will bring much needed strength to this land. And with such strength, such means of control will not be necessary."
She shakes her head again, "I want to believe you....I just....I don't know what to think anymore. I never had to think about such things before. I don't know what to believe anymore." She says quietly before throwing her axe on the floor and sitting down.
Cyrus leans back in his chair quietly as Eri once again makes a simple task gruelingly tedious.
The Cardinal picked up the axe and handed it back to Eri. "Believe in your strength and that my guidance will be justly pointed at those who would oppress you."
She nods as she gets up from the floor where she was sitting, "Okay....that's good enough, for now." She says as she tries to compose herself.
Ravanalonna remains silent.
Eri walks over to Ravan and puts a hand on her arm as she collects herself and turns back into her more human guise. Looking up at Ravan through damp eyes she shakes her head, "I'm so sorry Rav." She says barely above a whisper.
The Cardinal steps into the other room after Fiona and out of sight. Shortly after, there came a strange chanting and then......utter silence. Moments later, Thorn emerged with a bloodied silver athame. "Behold," he proclaims, "The Nessian Knot is forged."
Another slave comes into the room and whispers something his ear. "Just in time," Cardinal Thorn remarks, "My ship has arrived."
Leading the newly forged Knot outside behind the manor, he points to the river dock. Moored to it, is a square-sailed long ship. By the way it sat in the water, it would appear to be heavily laden with cargo.
"Well my children, with your training complete, it is time to set out on your first mission. Your mission is war, my children. You will bring war to Talingarde. There are two objectives. First, you will see a shipment of munitions delivered to a bugbear chieftain named Sakkarot Fire-Axe. He makes his camp on the northern coast of Lake Tarik beyond the Watch Wall. With this shipment, the Fire-Axe will have resources enough to unite the barbarous humanoid tribes of the north and light the fire of war.” Pointing to the long ship, he continued, "That is the Frosthammer, captained by Kargeld Odenkirk. Tomorrow when the ship is resupplied it will be your transport. The captain is a ruthless mercenary and not to be trusted. He knows nothing of the specifics of our mission and you should keep it that way. He knows he is smuggling cargo to the north beyond the Watch Wall. That is all he need know. Once the cargo is safely delivered, he will take you just south across the lake under cover of darkness and land you near the town of Aldencross. There our contract with Captain Odenkirk will be concluded."
After leading you back inside to the dining hall, he continued, “It is shame how greedy he has proven. I had hoped to let the captain serve me again but it seems he is too much of a liability. Kill him. Kill his crew. Burn his ship and leave no survivors. It is crucial that no one suspects our involvement and that loose ends are taken care of. Be sure to reclaim the coin I gave him. Best not to be wasteful."
Taking a seat, “That done, you will begin your second task. We will do more still to aid our ally the Fire-axe. The bugbears are mighty warriors but poor siege engineers. You will infiltrate the tower Balentyne, keystone of the Watch Wall, kill its commander and open the gate for Sakkarot’s horde. Once the shaggy monstrosities pierce the Watch Wall, the bugbears will pillage and lay waste to the townships of the north and the local garrisons will have no choice but to meet the Fire-Axe in the open field. Sakkarot is the most brilliant, gifted and murderous bugbear of his generation. I expect these battles will go poorly for the knights and yeoman of fair Talingarde. Do all of this and then when your task is done, break this clay seal." He hands over a delicately carved clay seal adorned with a tangled knot of thorns surrounding the holy symbol of Asmodeus. “I will have more instructions then. Succeed and I will see you rewarded handsomely. Fail or betray me and you will pray for the comfort of Hell before I am done with you. The mission you start upon today is a holy mission. The people of Talingarde think they have seen the last of the mighty Asmodeus. Soon enough we will remind them that there is no escaping the grasp of Hell. Let us toast our success.”
He pours one glass of deep red wine for each of you and then finally pours one for himself. He raises the glass and offers a toast. “To war.”
She raises her glass, "To everyone getting what they justly deserve."
Ruedo says nothing, but lifts his glass.
Ravanalonna simply squeezes Eri's hand, thanking her for her support.
"To vengeance upon those who have wronged us." Ravanalonna says, her eyes glittering with intensity as she lifts her glass.
She just looks at Ravan and squeezes her hand back while nodding, without saying anything else.
"To Asmodeus." Cyrus says with glass raised.
Downing his wine, Thorn said, "Excellent. Now I suggest you all get some rest. Tomorrow's the start of a long journey."
Rolling her eyes at Cyrus she takes a sip of the wine before making a face and putting it down. She hated things that tasted bitter. Turning around she went back to the table and picked up the shiny looking shirt before holding out her hand for Ruedo.
Ruedo takes the magical bag and Eri's hand.
After he takes her hand she leans into him as they start to head out of the dining area.
"I know you're not okay," Ruedo says. "But it's fine."
"I'll be glad to be out of here tomorrow," Caliban says absently. "We've spent enough time in the 'lap of luxury', methinks."
She shakes her head, "There's nothing luxurious about this place." She comments without any apparent emotion, as if she'd turned it off. "I am tired of being here though." Looking back at Ravan she asks, "I know you're not okay either....but eventually that bi+<h will get what's coming to her. I promise you that."
Looking at Ravan and seeing the tightly controlled fury written all over her face she lets go of Ruedo's hand for a moment and walks back over to Ravan. Looking up at her for a moment she hesitates slightly before putting her arms around her and gives her a hug. While she hugs her she whispers softly, "I'm so so sorry. I know it doesn't seem like it now....but things will get better after we get out of here and some day we will get to show her exactly why you don't fu<k with us. We can talk later if you want to. I'll be in the room with Ruedo if you want to find me." She didn't know why, but she just thought maybe Ravan could use a hug and it was an easy way to say things to her without the others overhearing. She was sure there was more that she wanted to say to her but felt she couldn't in front of the a&@%&@~s that were toying with them.
The hug is as welcomed as it is unexpected, and sorely needed. "Yes we will, and I'll be glad to have you beside me so we can both enjoy hearing her last breath when it happens. They'll all learn. Thank you Eri." she whispers back returning the hug.
She nods slightly as she pulls back from the hug, "We'll see you later then." Giving her arm a little pat she turns and walks back to Ruedo. Taking his hand she looks up at him, "Ready to go?"
Ruedo nods.