Silence. Darkness. Nothingness and void are all that are to be had. It would seem that everything that had existed has ceased to be and that that shall be is to be created. All of the sudden from what seems like the depths of nowhere, a beautiful but warped voice beckons out of nowhere. "COME TO ME, COME TO ME AND MAKE YOUR DESTINY EASIER!" Instantly a flash of light that appears so intense, anyone would agree that they believed they would now be blind as it's intensity lowers until sight can resume.
As the intensity of the light comes down, you find yourself come to be immersed in a warm, flickering orange light. Despite the warm feel to your skin, the aura doesn't come off as warm as what sounds like muffled screams surround you.
As the intensity of the light comes down, you find yourself come to be immersed in a warm, flickering orange mist. However the mist is still too thick to easily identify the shapes that are both still, yet moving around. It is clear to see though where ever you are, there is a state of panic as screams can be heard.
As the intensity of the light comes down, you find yourself come to be immersed in a warm, flickering orange mist. Through the mist you see many moving shapes and shadows, while shapes that seem to look like buildings seem to dance with a sporadic orange light at the top. Screams and slight cackling is heard all around you as it is obvious that where ever you are, this is not a state of peace.
Once again, you hear the voice and it's distorted, angelic tone call out "Come to me, and I will give you your destiny and show your fate!"
Suspicious and distrustful, Delia peers into the mist unable to focus clearly on any of the shapes moving in the bedlam.
"Who are you?" she demands of the disembodied voice. "What do you want?"
Meanwhile she wracks her brain for any explanation to this phenomenon.
Nuri looks about, despite not being able to see much beyond her limited range of vision. ”May Saranrae and the sun above guide me through whatever this is.”
You're able to tell that this isn't a natural environment and is a vision of some sort. However your calls out seem to be unanswered.
As you say your quick prayer, you don't quite make much more out. However you do feel the presence that this seems to be a divine vision, but no clear idea as to the divine source.
Once again, you hear the voice and it's distorted, angelic tone call out "Come to me, and I will give you your destiny and show your fate!"
You notice a blurred and hazy shape, part of it looking firm, while the other appearing to be soft.
You see a wide shape that stands about as tall of a human woman, the left side firm while the right side seems jagged, frayed and limp.
Chapter I: Burnt Offerings
Part I: Festival and Fire
For five years, the faithful of Sandpoint have attended church in temporary structures erected after fire destroyed the previous temple, and while their new religious leader was helpful, kind, and wise, church wasn’t the same. Now, the new cathedral is finally done. All that remains is for the Swallowtail Festival to renew the site’s blessings from the gods and it will be as if the Sandpoint Fire had never occurred.
23rd of Rova, 4708 AR. A beautiful day has fallen upon the small town of Sandpoint. There are people everywhere along with tents and signs. The obvious signs of a festival that is occurring. A festival that has become dear to the residents of Sandpoint, the Swallowtail Festival. A stage has been set up in front of the cathedral in the center of town and a woman with short auburn hair stands in the center. Behind her sit four wooden chairs, three of them occupied. As the crowd notices her, a hush descends and all eyes turn to the stage. She smiles and begins to speak.
"Welcome! As many of you know, and for those of you who don’t, my name is Kendra Deverin and I am proud to say that I am the mayor of this fine town. It's wonderful to see so many of you here to join us on this proud day. I'd like to extend my welcome to the many new faces I see in the crowd. I hope you all are enjoying your stay here in Sandpoint and especially if it is your first visit here I sincerely hope that you're having a wonderful time. After all, today is a very large day for us and we do our best to make it such a grand delight for anyone to enjoy! And to all of the old faces I see today, thank you for coming and thank you for everything that each of you has done to keep this town strong in recent years. I see that even Larz Rovanky has torn himself away from work to join us today! It is truly a miracle from Desna herself!” There is quite a bit of laughter and many eyes are turned to a serious looking man dressed in all leather and wearing a sour expression on his face. Kendra waves to him and continues. “Oh come Larz, don’t be so down trodden, it’s a festival; you’re supposed to have fun! In any case, welcome one and all once again, to the Swallowtail Festival! Before we keep going with all the fun for right now, there are a few other people here behind me that would like to give a few words as well. Apparently I’m not allowed as the mayor to hog all the sunlight, who would’ve guessed? Without further a due, let me introduce your Sheriff, Belor Hemlock!"
A dour looking man wearing a worn breastplate and a long sword belted at his waist stands and walks to the center of the stage. His head is shaved and he his eyes are constantly moving about the crowd. He shakes the Mayor's hand and begins to speak.
"Thank you Ms. Mayor. I’m glad to see that everyone is having fun and staying safe. However, even in the heat of celebration, let us not forget the sad events that brought us to this day. And also let us not forget the souls that were lost five years ago. I would like you to all join me in a moment of silence to remember the lives that were lost in the fire that claimed our previous chapel on that fateful night.” The Sheriff lowers his head and the crowd joins him, many of them quite awkwardly as the silence persists. After the moment is over, the Sheriff raises his head and begins to speak again. “In remembering let us also not allow these events to repeat themselves. I am of the understanding that a bonfire is planned for tonight. I urge you all to observe caution during this event.” He clears his throat and smiles awkwardly. “And ummm... Well, enjoy yourselves. Let me introduce the next speaker; please, give your attention to Cyrdak Drokkus, proprietor of the local theatre."
He nods to the crowd and walks back to his chair, passing the next speaker who is already on his way up to the center-stage. This man is quite a contrast to the Sheriff; he is brightly dressed, sports a well-groomed goatee, and seems to be thoroughly enjoying the day. As he reaches the center stage he loosens his collar a bit, winks into the crowd and starts to talk.
"Well, thank you Sheriff for that uplifting oratory. Now I know this town has been through some hard times, but look at what we've accomplished.” He motions towards the church. “And I'm telling you, they spared no expense with this place. Father Zantus' chamber pot? Solid gold. I kid you not; our generous nobles put a pretty copper into the construction of this joint. I think the Churches even chipped in a silver or two! I even heard a rumor that all of the Gods got together and scrounged up four gold pieces to help get this thing built! But don't take it from me, the Padre over here is the one with the direct line, he's the one you want to hear from! But before I let him get things going I'd like to take this opportunity to extend my personal invitation to each and every one of you to the new production of "The Harpy's Curse" starring the world-famous Magnimarian diva Allishanda as Avisera the harpy queen! It's all premiering tomorrow evening at the Sandpoint Theatre and it is going to be fab-u-lous! And now join me in a bit of applause for his holiness himself, Father Zantus!"
The crowd cheers as Cyrdak motions Zantus to the center stage. The young priest looks noticeably abashed at the reception set up for him. He wears the traditional ceremonial robes of a priest of Desna and a shiny silver holy symbol about his neck. He smiles and tries to calm the crowd down, eventually speaking when the applause has subsided. "Ahem, thank you. Thank you, Cyrdak. And thank all of you for coming to join us on this most Holy day. Today is a day of new beginnings so without boring you with long speeches, I declare the Swallowtail Festival officially underway!"
No later than the words escape his mouth, a stage covered wagon releases a storm of swallowtail butterflies into the air as the crowd erupts in cheer and celebration, signifying that the Swallowtail Festival has begun and joys can be had!
Within the town square and along many of the streets are plenty of places to enjoy an activity or two, all available for the young and young at heart. Vendors have places set up to purchase various items, be it general goods, clothing, or just a souvenir of Sandpoint. And there stand many places to eat, allowing a taste that all of Sandpoint has to offer, each and every meal provided to anyone who wants at no cost to them.
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Nilah stays at the back of the crowd, cloak drawn close while listening to the town's leaders speak. She's still new enough here to be cautious about her obvious Div features. There are two problems with nice small towns. Their townsfolk tend to be a bit more suspicious to (literal) outsiders, and it almost certainly isn't big enough to factor into her search.
The tiefling continues to scan the crowd for overly-popular activities or interesting individuals. If nothing or nobody stands out after a short period of time she heads to the Rusty Dragon to have a drink and listen to the stories at tables, or perhaps convince some locals that she's not so bad as those infernal Chelaxians.
Delia ignores the speakers, instead muttering the components to a detect magic spell while everyone is distracted. She was at this festival, despite her strong distaste for people, because the crow had told her to be here, and so far it had made good on its promise; she had acquired power and was becoming stronger still. But the little beast was never too direct with its guidance. No, it made her work for it.
So now, while everyone else listens to the prestigious townsfolk prattle on, Delia browses the wares of the various vendors for some seemingly innocuous trinket overlooked by a less perceptive eye.
Unaware of whether she's asleep, or has simply been dragged somewhere without notice against her will, Eloen immediately distrusts attempts to guide her. She hunkers down to look for tracks - to see if she can see some place where she or someone else walked here. When that fails, she squints until she sees the hazy figure - then immediately turns and walks directly away from it as she draws her bow and watches for hostile intent from elsewhere in the mists.
Suddenly finding herself back in Sandpoint, Eloen looks about warily. Yet there's no sign of the strange being, no residue, no hostiles; just the jostling, jolly crowds of the Swallowtail Festival. Even the smells are the same. She warily releases her fingers from her bowstring, though she keeps the bow in her left hand. She blinks a few times, but discovers that her eyes are already adjusted to the bright sunlight. How strange... was she here the whole time? Was it a vision? An hallucination? Or was she remembering a snippet of some terrible time when she was captured and then had her memory wiped?
Shaken, she meanders past one of the food vendors, ignoring the skewers of meat, as her appetite is dampened by the uncanny experience.
While not quite able to make out much of the festival’s opening ceremony, she murmurs a quiet prayer to Saranrae when Zantus mentions the holy day. Once the festivities are underway, Nuri takes in the sights, sounds and smells. Stopping by a pastry stand, she buys a few small cakes, one for herself and the rest to hand out to those who seem they might need them.
As you walk around the festival, you find a few games that draw a fair amount of attention, mainly those based on some sort of athletic ability. There is one you over hear of that seems to draw a crowd that at first glance seems a little shady that’s further down the city towards the docks. A lot of the crowds seem to be enjoying food more than anything as the scents woft over, creating an aroma of interesting flavors.
As you withdraw from the crowds, not many give too much notice to you. A few glances at your companion, but not much else. As browse through vendors, you come across a small display that seems to have a variety of different items, and not really in any consistency of the other vendors. As you start to look, an exotic-looking character with bright blue eyes, long red hair, and almost bronze-colored skin, comes next to you with a cheerful and seemingly excited tone of attitude. ”Well hello there miss! And might I say hello to your wonderfully looking feathered companion! Is there anything in particular that you are looking for?”
As you come to and try to make sense of what had just happened, you get a few glares of confusion as some look towards you, wondering why you had an arrow ready to let loose. Moving forward though, you sense a lot of joyous commotion as you walk around. Moving past different food vendors, a dark haired woman with some light colors in it approaches you, not stopping directly in your path, but at a point in attempt to gather your attention. ”Hey there, that’s a lot of food you just passed by. Sure you’re not hungry?”
As you take in your surroundings, you can tell that there is a lot of joyful attitudes surrounding you. From the different sights of clothing and jewelry and trinkets being provided for purchase by different vendors to the smells of food that has been prepared by various means, local and exotic, it’s quite an overwhelming positive feeling. As you purchase some of the pastries that weren’t made available for no cost, you seem to gather a fair amount of children that look at you with glee. Their parents give you nods and smile at your gesture, as one of the bakers from the pastry stand approaches you from the side. ”Well isn’t this kind of you? Many of us have provided food for no cost, yet you allow others to have some of the purchasable items for no cost to them. That’s wonderful to see dear, it is nice to see such kindness on a day such as today.”
Nuri smiles at the baker and says, "Kindness is it's own reward is it not? Besides, on a day of festivity it is fitting to bring more festivity to those who could not otherwise enjoy it."
Eloen puts her arrow back away and starts to relax a bit as the festivities return to a semblance of normalcy. She browses the offered foodstuffs, settling just on a piece of fresh fruit for now.
"My appetite is a bit subdued at the moment," she notes to the stranger. "Perhaps as the festival goes on."
Farumph takes a deep breath, before catching it and beginning to cough. A little too close to the spice cart. He thinks, taking more than a few steps from it.
The next breath is quite a bit nicer - the sweet smell of sweets, the heat of roast, and unfortunately quite a bit of sweat, with the sun. Still, the fervor around Farumph made it hard to resist joining in. Forgetting the uncomfortable dream he had, Farumph goes to procure whatever exotic foodstuffs he can find.