Eclipsed Faith

Game Master bigrig107

In the Baths
"I-I'm fine," Kiley squeaks, clearly surprised by Ari's teasing.

You may have seen it before, but that doesn't mean I want to show mine off, she thinks as she continues scrubbing the dirt from the road off of her skin.

"Relax," Ari smiles, "I'm only jesting with you. It's your prerogative and may Leira look after your secrets, such as they are." She snickers at the light innuendo. Clearly the tiefling has woken up on the right side of bed this morning and is full of the zest of life right now.

"I'd like my Ari with extra Zest, please."

The sigh from Kiley's tub is one that mixes relief with maybe just a bit of strained patience.

"I'm not that small, am I," she asks before she can stop herself.

Have to play that Wis 8 some how. ;)

”I don’t know, sweetie. It’s not always easy to tell under such loose-fitting clothing and all those scarves,” comes the inevitable reply.

Ari can almost hear Kiley's wince.

"Th-that's fair," she concedes, sounding more than a little deflated.

"You don't seem small to me" adds Lisyil, who isn't short, but is rather stick-like.

”Ah, you can only play the hand you’re dealt. Those who put Sune in the shade are few and far between so we all have to make use of what we’ve got. And the bottom line is we’re all pretty similar really.” Ari’s tone has flipped to a more serious one, even if the topic hasn’t noticeably changed. ”

You must have decent muscle tone,” she says to Kiley. ”I watched you swing that enormous sword around earlier - and note how I’m diligently avoiding making any jokes here. I doubt I could even really lift it, yet there you are hewing goblins in half. But more than any of this, it’s about confidence and how you feel. And it seems to me you’ve got plenty to be positive about.” Ari is not a natural cheerleader, being rather too self-centred for that but the downbeat response to her banter means she feels the need to try and make amends.

"I guess I do," Kiley says when Ari mentions she must have decent muscle tone and plenty to be positive about. Water sloshes and it sounds like her voice is echoing in the tub more. "I've just never wanted to attract attention, but I also don't want people treating me like I'm a child. Being short and freckled has caused a few to guess I'm a lot younger than I am."

Moving on! If you have anything else you wish to do just let me know, and then we'll get on the road again.

Once you are fed, bathed, and all of your gear gathered, you see the storm from the previous night has dwindled from the tempest it once was into nothingness. Several of the people on the tavern are discussing the freak storm on the way out, as well as the goblin attack itself.

"If you have no more business in the Inn, it looks like it's time for us to get started then. Long way to go on the road yet." Lysandra says, her pack already between her shoulders.

After the conversation in the baths, Kiley keeps quiet, a part of her wondering how the others, besides Shaggar, really saw her. She keeps close to the towering gnoll and occasionally looks at the others as they all travel down the road. More and more, though, she keeps looking at Sasha and Lysandra, and hopes that neither have begun asking themselves questions about her.

With a smile Sasha accepts Ari's thanks and intones, "To Selûne be the glory. I am blessed and believe I should share it liberally."

In the morning Sasha struggles to rise, accustomed to being more nocturnal, but makes it to a quick rinse and packs as much to eat as she's allowed to take with her so she can eat on the road. The orc-blooded human doesn't show it - much - but also doesn't make it a point to join in the light-hearted cajoling from the other women. If anyone looks in her direction they will see tattoos in all sort of interesting places and a full, healthy figure that doesn't immediately show orcish traits. She is in and out of the water in only a minute or two, content to let her thick hair dry (slowly) throughout the day.

Once she steps outside Sasha whistles sharply as she lowers a heavy hood over her eyes. Pheliks come up, ignoring cries of alarm from anyone who sees him, and the two look to the other travelers. "We're ready to go."

After stuffing himself with sausages and pints of orange juice, Shaggar waits patiently to depart at a discreet distance from the bathhouse - out of distance to eavesdrop but in range to respond if any other unforeseen attacks happened.

No unforeseen attacks happen, luckily, and the departure from the inn is thankfully uneventful. Lysandra is a polite travel companion, not showing any visible reaction to Pheliks or Shaggar.

She gives you a few minutes of travel to fully wake up before speaking.
"We didn't really get a chance to introduce ourselves properly yesterday, and for that I apologize. Shall we start with what led you to this point? I'm grateful you are here to help, of course, but I find it good to know what drives people I work with."

Humans like their words. Shaggar would prefer to smell the woman to understand her and her intent but he had learned that seven feet of predator with a muzzle full of fangs sniffing around your neck was… offputting for other races. So, words would have to suffice.

”I am Shaggar of the Bedine, of Anauroch. Many months ago, our priest had dark visions and saw portents that Elah’s faithful – you call her Selune – should receive help from the tribe. The portents were understood to point us to Baldur’s Gate. Miss Kiley is not of the Bedine,” there might be a measure of regret in Shaggar’s tone, ”and wished to return to her people over here. The Sheik asked who would make this journey for Elah? Kiley chose and I chose. We will serve Elah’s will then Kiley will go to her family and I will return to the desert… after seeing this ridiculous ‘ocean’.”

"Pretty much as Shaggar says," Kiley tells Lysandra. "He and his tribe saved me, and I had been with them for a few months before the priest received those visions. I follow Selune myself, and I feel like I'm walking in my parent's footsteps by helping."

Sasha smiles from underneath her hood. "I'm blessed by Selûne with oracular sight - nearly blind in the light and able to see clearly in moonlight or darkness. She has given me some power with divine rituals and spells too. As for why I'm here, well, I have been traveling for several years now. About two weeks ago my dreams clearly directed me south to here. When I met everyone else they allowed me to join them. I'm excited to meet more of Selûne's faithful, though I wish it were in better circumstances," she explains, revealing a bit more of why she prefers to travel at night and not day with her story.

Kiley winces internally as she listens to Sasha. She hates lying to the oracle, but she's also scared of what would happen if word about an auburn-haired tiefling started spreading.

Selune, forgive me for lying about that.

"Where have you been to in your travels," Kiley asks Sasha, as much to distract herself from her guilt as to satisfy her curiosity.

"I guess I do," Kiley says when Ari mentions she must have decent muscle tone and plenty to be positive about. Water sloshes and it sounds like her voice is echoing in the tub more. "I've just never wanted to attract attention, but I also don't want people treating me like I'm a child. Being short and freckled has caused a few to guess I'm a lot younger than I am."

Ari reflects on Kiley's words, "Yeah, that's fair enough." For sure the woman's diminutive height and appearance could certainly lead people to conclude see her as a child and she knows that she would find it annoying if others looked at her that way. "Not usually a problem I've had," she says drily, "they're usually more concerned about whether I'm going to eat their children. So yes, I totally understand the urge to blend in - hence Aamina, darling." She slips into the air genasi's breathy tone for the last bit. "And as much as I enjoy dressing up, if this is your baseline," she sweeps a hand down the length of her body, "believe it or not, it can take a lot of work. If I could do it easier I would, as sure as dwarves have beards. So I'm probably just jealous."

Her voice flips again, taking on a sultry quality. "Of coure, coming full circle, standing out," she does a theatrical little cough, "can have it's advantages. You have to be a bit discerning - and it's not always immediately obvious who is an ass, as opposed to who has one - but I've usually found that those who don't immediately spit on you is a good starting point for winnowing out those worthy of your time and attention." She tilts her head back, stretching out her neck and spreads her arms wide. "And I don't think I do too badly, all things considered - life is for living, after all," she concludes.

* * * * *

At Lysandra’s question of what brought her here, she shrugs. ”Oh you know, the usual. Lure of adventure and all that. Pays better than flirting with bar patrons while you serve them drinks too.” Her finger traces a pattern on her waist above where her tattoo is located.

Shaggar's ear perk up and he looks at Ari. "Do you do that? Eat children?" His tone is purely curious - and perhaps slightly concerning - without judgement. He could have easily been asking, "Oh, you don't eat shellfish?"

”Only if I can’t get sausages and orange juice,” Ari replies, giving Shaggar a wink.

The gnoll blinks, trying to weigh her words, but the wink finally registers. His barking laugh is full-bodied and sharp. "I will offer you more sausages in the next town so their populace does not decline."

In the Baths
Kiley goes over what Ari tells her, feeling a stab of guilt as she does so. It's not bad advice, but she isn't sure if she could ever implement it. Not as long as she fears being hunted by the Zhentarim.

"I'll keep that in mind," she tells the tiefling woman. "Thank you for the advice."

A few minutes later, a freshly bathed and dressed Kiley opens up the privacy curtains and walks out of the baths.

===

On the Road
"Maybe we should see what we can scare up for supper. I'm small enough Ari might try to eat me," Kiley laughs, feeling a little better with the levity going on between the blue-skinned woman and Shaggar.

”Small, trim, well-muscled - I don’t know enough about food to know whether that would be tasty,” Ari feigns a look of serious contemplation. ”Though I suppose if it’s going into sausages it probably doesn’t matter so much. I am, however, in favour of supper and on balance I think I’d prefer you to be cooking rather than cooked,” she says to Kiley with a grin.

Shaggar decides to play along. He pokes Kiley in the shoulder with a claw. "Feels like dark meat."

Kiley laughs as Shaggar pokes her.

"Maybe you should see how good of a cook I am before saying that," she tells Ari before repaying Shaggar's poke with a little gentle prodding of her own. "Hmm, nope. Sad to say he's all gristle."

He replies loftily, "This is a gnoll strength. It prevents others from wishing to gnaw on us."

Lysandra seems to enjoy the banter among the group, laughing along with the jokes. "Quite the eclectic group of heroes we have here, isn't it?" she says, looking around at you.

"I wish my story was as exciting as any of yours; I grew up in the church in the Gate. My mother and father, may She watch over them, were members of the faith like yours Kiley. Haven't done much outside of the church, actually. This is my first real excursion beyond the walls of the Gate." She sighs, before laughing bitterly. "Only wish it were under better circumstances, I suppose."

"And yet Our Lady does not summon us when things are easy or when we are not needed. This is the life I signed up for when I joined the church, or so I've been told."

”What sort of tasks do you normally do then?” asks Ari. Partly she’s interested in how it compares to the two churches she has experience of. Under the Cyricists she was basically not allowed to leave the tower so she’s a little surprised to discover that Lysandra also appears to have been kept under close watch and confined to the city, something that she wouldn’t expect from her knowledge of the Moonmaiden and something she personally would find intolerable. Her question about why send an inexperienced novice on a mission where you’re expecting trouble goes unasked for the moment.

"Where have you been to in your travels," Kiley asks Sasha, as much to distract herself from her guilt as to satisfy her curiosity.

"Hillsfar, and then steadily west with various caravans. I met Pheliks in Cormanthor, learned of Selûne at the House of the Lady in Immersea. I went through Baldur's Gate before heading south along the coast. There isn't a welcome for me if I ever return to Hillsfar, so I've kept moving. Pheliks is good company too. He's never eaten anyone - that I know of - but probably could. He's a big softie, though, as long as you keep him well fed," answers Sasha before listening to the others finish introducing themselves.

"I can't imagine voluntarily staying cooped up like that, Lysandra. Are you happier now?"

”Well it wasn’t like I was locked up in a prison, thankfully.” she answers, laughing. ”I wasn’t kept in some tower like a fairy tale princess, you know. Most of my time was spent at the cloister itself, helping in some way or another. Sweeping floors, attending sermons, the usual church stuff I suppose. But I wasn’t kept on a short leash or anything, I was allowed to go about my business in the city.”

”Happier being outside the gates finally, you mean? I certainly enjoy it more, yes. Feels much more…open. And free.”
She waves a hand dismissively.
”But I harbor no ill will towards my upbringing. They took me in after my parents, well, died.” she says, seeming a little shocked at the wording she herself used. ”I am just grateful to finally be afforded the chance to repay some of the kindness I’ve been shown in my life.”

Kiley could very well imagine what Sasha can't since up until a couple of years ago, she'd stayed mostly in her parent's estate with trips to visit relatives every so often. She like to travel as long as she wasn't being beset by bandits and monsters, but she'd also been worried about being found out by some unsavory group that would want to use her for their purposes. Now she has to worry about the Zhentarim finding her again.

"Have you been outside of Balder's Gate before now," Kiley asks, feeling a little curious about how sheltered Lysandra might be.

Sasha nods along as Lysandra answers her question as she keeps her heavy cloak's hood up and covering her face from the sunlight. Her hand drifts over to the rough around Pheliks' neck where she scratches him absentmindedly. "So sheltered - hard to relate," she says quietly.

Ari listens quietly at Lysandra’s explanation, happier in the knowledge that her freedom wasn’t restricted in the way she had initially thought. Baldur’s Gate is a huge place full of opportunities for pretty much anything one could desire. And in a lot of ways the woman’s experience doesn’t sound so far removed from her own time in the Twin Towers of the Eternal Eclipse and the Cavern of Mists. Sure, the atmosphere and the teachings were wildly different between the two, and likely the priesthood of Selûne would be different again. But the day to day sounds familiar enough. If the young acolyte hasn’t been outside the city, well, people are just different. She might be a wanderer but she’s met plenty of home bodies over the years. Ari still has her concerns and suspicions about this being her first mission outside though.

"I have been outside the Gate before, yes. But only on trivial journeys, like to the beach. I quite enjoy the sight and feel of the ocean." she replies, seemingly reminiscing on a good memory.

"Have you ever been down to the sea at night? Not all of you are from the Gate, so I'm not sure if you've been afforded the opportunity but it is quite an incredible sight. The sounds of the waves lapping up onto the sand, the cries of birds far above and the splash of fish below. The way the moon reflects off of the water as the ships pass through up into the Chionthar, pure divinity." She shakes her head, dispelling the daydream.

"Apologies, I tend to get over-excited about things." she finishes, a slight blush crossing her face.

"No need to apologize. I love seeing the ocean under the moon, too."

Shaggar eyes the women in turn, suspecting they are teasing him with all this mystical talk of seas and oceans and large boats traveling far...

He chuffs at Kiley and waggles a claw in her direction, "You almost had me." He sweeps his bisht around himself, as if it somehow refutes her decisively.

The rest of the morning passes by without much happening, beyond your conversations with Lysandra. Oddly you don’t see any travelers on the road besides yourself, but perhaps the recent goblin attacks have something to do with that.

A little after noon, Lysandra says the group should break for lunch.
”I brought some smoked ham and cheese from the inn, enough for all of us. Would you like some?”

Regardless of whether or not you accept, she unrolls a bedroll from the bottom of her pack and lays it out beside the road. ”Come, let us eat then.”

Kiley isn't the type to turn down free food and happily partakes.

"What have you heard about the Silvermoon Glade," she asks before taking a bite of the ham and cheese piled onto slice of bread.

Given his size, Shaggar sits down on the edge of the bedroll and skewers a slice of ham with a claw.

”Yes,” Ari agrees, jumping on Kiley’s question. ”What do you know of it as a place and what are the people like?”

Sasha listens and keeps to herself, unsure of what to make of their new companion...or the others, if she's honest. "I'm going to let Pheliks roam a bit while we eat," she says in response to the invitation as she finds a shady spot where she can take her hood off in relative comfort. "Please don't mind me - I'm not trying to be antisocial. It's just that the sunlight is hard on my eyes," she explains as she settles down for a bite of food.

”Unfortunately, I don’t know that much about the village or its people. It is a closely guarded secret among the clergy. I only know of its general location, not its exact placement.” she says, seeming frustrated at the lack of inclusion and withheld information.

”I know its people are devout Selûnite faithful, and have been since the village was founded. I know it’s where Baldur’s Gate gets all of its moonwine, and I know it is situated on a small river on the outskirts of the forest. That’s how we’ll find the Glade, by hunting down the river and following it deeper into the forest.” she says, biting into a large chunk of cheese.

”I have heard the current spiritual leader of the Glade is named Thorian, but beyond that I know little else.”

Shaggar nods, trying to be encouraging, That's more than we knew before... and quite mysterious."

Seeing Sasha off by herself, and already feeling guilty about forcing her to travel during the day, Kiley moves to sit next to her so she isn't feeling as left out.

"I can understand some secrecy, but why all of the cloak and shadow stuff," Kiley asks. "Maybe it's because I am a lay-worshiper, but it doesn't sit well with me that so little's known about the Glade."

Sasha scoots to make room in the shade for Kiley and nods at the other's complaint. "With the worshippers or Shar and who knows who or what else threatening, maybe it is necessary? I mean, I try to hide that I don't do well in the sunlight because people often assume bad things because of that. If people actually went out of their way and attacked me for it I'd be even more cautious..." she says, working through the implications a bit as she thinks out loud.

"Does it hurt a lot," Kiley quietly asks when Sasha brings up her issues with sunlight again.

The secrecy around the village Ari understands, even within the church. Nobody would be finding the Cavern of Mists without an explicit invitation, after all. But judging by Lysandra's seeming frustration about not being able to answer more, she doesn't quite feel the same way, or is not of high enough rank to know more. "Thank you," she says regarding the scant information that she has shared. As Shaggar pointed out, it's more than they knew previously. "How old is the village? Is it a new settlement or has it been shrouded in secrecy for generations?" she asks.

Sasha shakes her head. "I don't get much sun, so I burn fast. But I'm not albino or anything...it's just too bright for my eyes. Most of the time I can manage, and people are always willing to trade night-watches with me, so even when guarding a caravan I can usually manage things well," she explains to Kiley with a smile and twinkle in her mis-matched eyes from underneath her hood.

"Still, when I was insisting we travel during the day, I didn't know that sunlight caused you that much trouble. I'm sorry for being so pushy about it," Kiley says.