- • Thane Brightward, NG male Human Ex-Paladin of Iomedae
- • Zoltan Rod Rogor, LG male Dwarf Monk, follower of Iomedae and member of the Eagle Watch
- • Lady Tanaquil Octavia Charthagnion, Baroness Halikarnassos, LE female Tiefling Infernal Sorceress and possibly the only Chelaxian contribution to the Crusade
- • Lady Jādhanakṛti «Jadni» Vārima, NG female Human Inquisitor (Sanctified Slayer) of Ragathiel
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1 | Lo! In the land of Taldor, there lived a noble house by the name of Vārima, and though they had served as a pillar of the royal court of Taldor for centuries, they kept in mind the customs of the land of Vudra, whence had come their forebears.
2 | And unto a lady of house Vārima was born a girl, and the lady blessed her in the name of the GODS and named her Jādhanakṛti, for it sounded long and dignified and vaguely Vudran.
3 | And as Jādhanakṛti reached seven years of age, a wretched demon, stricken be his foul name from the world, descended upon her from the twilight as she walked in the garden, and his claws and beak wrought grievous harm upon her.
4 | But lo! a woman of the house-guard heard her cries and advanced upon the demon with gleaming sword and shining valor, and struck a wound upon him, and lo! he let off of Jādhanakṛti, and took flight in terror.
5 | And house Vārima called upon the best healers of the court to tend upon Jādhanakṛti, and behold: She did not die. But even as her wounds healed, her soul trembled with the demon's lingering curse.
6 | But the house-guard who had saved her came unto her and gave her a small wooden figure, and spake: Behold, my lady: This is the angel RAGATHIEL, praisèd be His name upon the world, who guided my sword. Be thou still and relinquish thy fear, for He slayeth all demons. And thus was healed the wound in the heart of Jādhanakṛti.
7 | And the girl grew tall and hale and willful, but her tutors despaired and said unto her mother: Yea, though we have taught unto Jādhanakṛti the intricate beauty of trade negotiations and the fractal tapestry of court intrigues, she struggleth to commit them unto her memory, and even the reading of letters is difficult unto her.
8 | And thus her mother spake unto Jādhanakṛti and said: Jadni dear, if thou learnèst not thy trade and thy mores, how wilt though draw upon thee the gaze of a suitor and bring forth unto me a grandchild? It is thy duty to thy standing and thy house. And would it slay thee to smile once upon a while?
9 | And a great ennui came upon Jādhanakṛti, and she spake: Mother dear, the study of trade and arithmetic is like unto the eating of sawdust to me, and the courts are replete with petty and shallow cretins. Is it not also a fitting path for a noble lady to follow a religious calling?
10 | I shall at once go unto the library and thence retrieve the book of saints, the one with sparse prose and ample illustrations, and peruse it to find my calling.
11 | And behold! The book held many gilt paintings of all the GODS, but one painting above them all caught the eyes of Jādhanakṛti: For it displayed an angel wreathed in flame, and His face was terrible to behold: and in His hand He wielded a magnificent sword of the purest fire, and with it He slew a terrible demon. And Jādhanakṛti beheld the painting and smiled, for she recognized the Lord RAGATHIEL.
12 | And Jādhanakṛti declaimed: Lo! I shall pledge myself to the service of RAGATHIEL, praisèd be His name upon the world. And soon she was given unto the care of a priest of the Lord RAGATHIEL, and taught in His ways.
13 | And Jādhanakṛti bought unto herself a tall sword in the style favored by the the Lord RAGATHIEL, and though it did not shed heat, its blade was wrought in waves like unto a flame, and light danced upon it like living fire when it was wielded. And Jādhanakṛti looked upon it and smiled.
14 | But the priest spake unto Jādhanakṛti and said: Yea, the time hath come to apprentice thee unto the lore of our faith. Thou shalt learn of chivalry and honor, and of the thousands upon thousands of years of history of the war upon Hell and the Abyss. And he gave unto Jādhanakṛti a tower of books.
15 | And a great ennui came upon Jādhanakṛti, and she spake: Is it not also the duty of our faith to wield the sword and strike down the demons upon the world?
16 | And the priest frowned, and his face was terrible to behold, but he saw the wisdom in the words of Jādhanakṛti, for he had learnèd for himself that the reading of books was like unto the chewing of caltrops to Jādhanakṛti. And he spake: Shouldst thou wish to follow the path of the sword, make thy way to the World-Wound, where the demon-kind walketh the land, and join thou the sacred order of our faith, whose holy purpose is to bring death upon them.
17 | And Jādhanakṛti rejoiced, and took upon herself the path to the World-Wound: For she did not relish to face the wrath of demons, but they could scarcely bring such terror upon her as did the books of Taldor.
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At last. After finally receiving permission from the crown, I have arrived in Kenabres. After so many petitions, I had nearly given up hope.
My extended family likely had a hand in it. Now that my parents are dead and in Hell, and unable to keep me hidden from sight and protect me, I am sure the rest were only too happy to get me out of Cheliax, and all too hopeful that I will be slain by either a demon or a paladin, and leave the barony free for the taking.
I still miss my parents.
But I, at least, am thrilled to be here. I have always known that the official Chelaxian policy regarding the Worldwound was madness – not that I would ever say so aloud, I am not a fool. But still. “Let’s you and him fight?” Madness. What does the House of Thrune expect will happen if the guardians of the Worldwound are overwhelmed? The destruction of the world will politely stop at the Chelaxian border? I have known what demons are since one attacked me when I was a child. They are chaos. Annihilation. The end of all things.
I am not, to be honest, fond of paladins and their smug hypocrisy either. “My pact with an extraplanar entity to increase my power to murder my enemies is right and proper. Your pact with an extraplanar entity to increase your power to murder your enemies is awful and bad.” Ugh. But paladins are a political threat. They can be reasoned with. They understand the importance of civilization, of Law. Demons are an existential threat.
I will work with paladins, or monks, or inquisitors, or cavaliers, or even clerics of the enemy gods if it will save the world.
(And who knows? Perhaps along the way, a paladin or two might be brought around to seeing the error of their ways. Carefully, of course – they are so very quick to judgement.)
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I confirm: tomorrow we will have our duty at the Clydwell Plaza. It's Armasse and as usual we have to lookout for potential candidates for our company. I will report back to Irabeth in the evening. May Iomedae protect us ...
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O Lord RAGATHIEL, blessèd be Thy name upon the World: Hear my plight, for I bequeath besiege beseem? — oh, vrock this.
Hey, it's me, Jadni. Remember me? I wouldn't blame if you didn't; I don't do this nearly often enough. Truth be told, I've always wondered why you accepted me into your service to begin with. You must know about the selfish motives that brought me into your fold. But I reckon you're the pragmatic kind of god — you're a general, after all —, and I do mean to bear the sword into battle for you. If you have a plan for me, please show me. I do hope you have a plan.
Forgive my candor, but what the vrock were you gods thinking? Ten thousand faithful souls in that city, generations of paladins toiling their life away for you, jumping through all your hoops to please you, and you let this happen? What does it take to get a reaction out of you? Do mortal lives mean anything to you at all? We could have used a miracle, or even just a bit of warning.
I suppose I should be grateful to be alive. Terendelev used her last breath to spare us. I'm not sure if I was imagining things, but it felt like she beseeched (beseech! that was the word! well, too late) us to take on her mantle as protectors of Kenabres. It's not like she had many options left, but even so, we're a pitiful investment.
I mean, it could be worse. My cousin Tanaquil is here, of all people. Last time I saw her, a highly improbable demon-related freak incident almost killed the both of us. And now this? It has to be more than just bad luck. What if we were meant to end up here? But whatever purpose we're supposed to serve, I doubt we'll do any good like this, hobbling through the deep bowels of the Earth, half of us wounded, half of us mad, barely managing not to get nibbled to death by the vermin of the depths. We lost most of our belongings, too. We're counting every crossbow bolt and candle stump. Even my tea stash is gone. Mother's chai mixture, straight from the old country, half a hundred cups' worth.
If this is your punishment, Ragathiel, I will endure it, but I'm worried it might not even be that. Do you not care for our fates? Or do you, but are powerless to interfere? Do you even see us down here?
Please don't leave us alone. I beseech Thee.
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The Testament of Tanaquil Octavia Charthagnion, Part I: Everything Changed When The Fire Demon Attacked
I had been in Kenabres only a few weeks when it happened, looking for a mercenary group that might be willing to take on a sorceress of little skill, and even less tolerance for sanctimonious posturing. I was attending the Armasse celebration to assess the various attending companies when the balor began its assault.
It started when the building containing the wardstone exploded. Then the huge demon descended from the sky, flaming whip in one hand and sword in the other. Great cracks rent open in the earth and the demonic hordes poured out.
I am not ashamed to say that I tried to run away. When I saw there was nowhere to run to, however, I fought, for what little good it did. I came here to fight demons, after all, although I did not expect to be doing it so soon, or against such long odds.
I doubt I even scratched one.
For a moment, it looked like the tide might turn when Terendelev, the great silver dragon that guards Kenabres, launched herself into the air to fight the balor. But it was only the hope of a moment. She was soon vanquished, and felled.
One of the chasms opened beneath my feet, and I thought all was lost for me, but as her last act, Terendelev slowed the fall of myself and those around me. I cannot say why she singled us out. Most likely we were the only ones in her view, and that spell the only one she had time and breath left to cast. Coincidence. But whatever the reason, I have reason to be glad that she practiced what she purported to preach, and used her dying moment to save the lives of people she knew not at all.
When I came back to consciousness, I was deep under the earth, the crack closed above. Corpses lay beneath the rocks all around me. I did not know what had happened above -- whether a counterattack had been mounted against the demons, whether the forces of the Abyss had vanquished all, whether, in fact, anyone above was yet living.
What I did soon come to realize was that six others had been saved along with me, and still survived:
To my immense surprise, one turned out to be my cousin Jadni, whom I have not seen in years. What a small, strange world. I can only imagine her life led her here for the same reason mine did, the repercussions of that demon's attack on the two of us so very long ago. During the brief period when we were close, she was a bit of a jock, although not at all a bad sort. It is impossible, as of yet, to say how the years have changed her. She has evinced some healing magic; possibly she has become a cleric of some sort. I recall from her correspondence that she developed a bit of a fixation on some angel or another after that fanatic in her household saved us.
Also with us is one Thane, a human warrior and an interesting fellow. He had little good to say about anyone or anything. We had barely awoken when he called me a devil and all but accused me of being in league with evil (neither of which is inaccurate, but ... HOW RUDE.) However, I have also noticed that he is tireless in his defense of this little group, and has in fact his skill with the greatsword has been instrumental in our survival so far. He is also eloquent when he chooses to be, and I frankly admire his scathing remarks about "good" warriors who kill innocents in their zeal to punish "evil". Honestly I am rapidly starting to like the man.
Next is Zsoltan, a dwarf who seems to prefer to communicate more with his fists than with his words. I am not sure what to make of him yet. He apparently is a member of the Eagle Watch, and if it turns out any others remain alive I suppose I might ask if they are recruiting. Times are so desperate they might even say yes.
Speaking of which, the next survivor was his acquaintance Anevia, another human, wife of the head of the Eagle Watch, Irabeth. Anevia broke her leg in the fall, and can walk only with difficulty, She is distraught at the idea that her spouse might not have survived the demonic incursion, and appears to be on the verge of collapsing into outright despair.
The elf Aravanshial is in even worse straits, having been blinded by the balor's whip before falling into the depths. He is imperious, officious, and self-important. However, he may also be by far the most powerful among us; I have seen him cast a spell far beyond my current abilities, at least. If we can keep him pointed in the right direction, he might be of crucial aid to the rest of us. Which makes the next member of our group all the more annoying --
Horgus. Horgus is an ass. A human with no obvious redeeming qualities, he has repeatedly insisted that we leave the wounded behind in the hopes of better securing his own safety, and offered the rest of us money in the hopes that we will abandon them. Given that the wounded in question have proven themselves far more useful than he is, this is beyond idiotic. I would not be surprised if he considers himself "good" in spite of this.
So. That is the group I find myself with.
Soon after our awakening, we discovered we were not altogether trapped, as there were passages leading away, and an old campfire as evidence that earlier explorers had been here before; the rent in the earth dropped us into some kind of cave system. It is also infested with giant vermin, which Thane, Zsoltan, Jadni, and Anevia were able to dispatch (Thane doing the lion's share of the damage). I was not able to accomplish much against the monsters, but I have been trying to help the blind, lame, or useless members of the party keep up.
After journeying for quite some time -- fortunately for the humans, Jadni is able to produce light -- we came across an abandoned temple glowing with a sickly green light. Inside was a what appeared to be a praying dwarf, who ignored us until he revealed himself to be some sort of undead monster. A difficult battle ensued, as most weapons did little damage against it. Aravanshial cast a ward against evil (although unfortunately it protected the creature from me as well as protecting us against it), and Thane was able to cleave it in two. By that point, Horgus had run off. Before I could go collect him, Anevia descended into utter depression and we had to convince her to keep going.
I found Horgus not far off -- I imagine he didn't want to go further without a light source -- and he attempted to convince me to leave the rest of the group behind and escort him for some sum of money. When I pointed out that without Thane, we would both be dead, he amended the proposal to include Thane and no one else. He offered to sign a contract because "that's what you people do, right?" (which is not inaccurate, but ... HOW RUDE.) I declined, much to his disgruntlement, and we rejoined the rest of the group.
And now, I suppose, we must strike onwards. All may very well be lost up above, but I live yet, and do not intend to give up on my life's work until that changes.
(If then; I don't know about the others, but the undead dwarf seems rather inspirational to me. Not even death can stop the truly motivated.)
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Of course! Just when you're sure it can't get any worse...
Unspeakable what these Paladins of the Order of the Flaming Lance have done... all in the name of Iomedae. But she seems to be all fine with it, as long as enough demons are send back to the abyss. I am so through with her! Shall she have her Holy War... but without me!
Done with this farce of a Crusade I am on my way through Kenabres. To Numeria, Brevoy, or any of the River Kingdoms? Heck, even Galt seems like a better and more noble place than this. But sure, of course, no pause for me! Just when I'm about to leave this wretched hive of scum and villainy, the wardstone explodes, a balor decapitates Terendelev, and the abyss opens up to swallow us all. And then darkness...
But it isn't the abyss I am waking up in, though it might as well be. I am underground, who knows how deep. Around me a number of people, some badly hurt like an elf and a fighter. But sure, the guy that complains the most is barely scratched. As I help the elf up, I see more poor souls. A sturdy dwarf, as wide as he is tall, who stays pleasantly calm. A priest or possibly cleric, I recognise her holy symbol - Ragathiel - of course. And sure, a tiefling mage, or witch, from Cheliax of all places. Iomedae, this plotting, vengeful $@#%&, has clearly decided to punish me!
But what does it help? We need to get out of these caverns we are trapped in. I try to heal the elf, but sure, Iomedae is above that... even now... even for clearly wounded civilians... The mage and the cleric are apparently related, they start having a coffee party. Wrong time, wrong place! I convince them we must leave now! So on we go, I slice through a number of giant maggots, and we arrive at a temple or crypt of some sort. Inside, apparently a dwarf, but really an undead monster - how surprising! I destroy it.
No sign of an escape path. Screw this! Onward we push...
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We follow the tunnels. The whiny human, Horgus by name, tries to buy my services as bodyguard. As he puts it, for one of the most important people. I ask who that might be, but he meant himself. I have a hearty laugh! No, my services are not for sale!
We enter a larger cavern. Another dwarf! This time, a real dwarf... but deranged? He attacks us with foul magic and hits Tanaquil, the mage. As a reflex, I call for divine help, and out of nowhere, a shield of holy force surrounds me! Hm... she's toying with me again... No time to think this through. I rush around a bend into another cavern and raise my sword! The dwarf continues attacking us. Jadni, the priest is at his heels, Zsoltan, our warrior, is closing up as well. I charge the enemy and I am sure to hit him, but my sword cuts through air, just as if the dwarf had blurred out? The next moment I only see colours everywhere! I fall... and can't control my body...
When I get up again, my allies have killed our attacker. They seem to be more capable than I thought... Pleasant surprise... I find a few coins on the dwarf's body, which I take. He doesn't need them anymore... I separate them from my coins though. We continue further and encounter a group of disfigured people. One of them is buried in rubble! I help lifting the rocks, but I slip. Luckily, the others help as well, and we are able to pull the hurt guy out. Tanaquil gives him a potion. They seem to live down here, have even been born here. They agree to lead us to their village, where we can ask their chief for a way out.
We cross a chasm, everyone in their way, and find two dead paladins. They seem to be followers of Iomedae, eh, even here? Can't throw a stone and not hit a follower of that vile $@#%&. They're not carrying longswords though... Strange... Did she also shatter their swords? Upon closer inspection, we find they're no followers of Iomedae after all, but they possess a unholy symbol of Baphomet. The elf speculates they are cultists, and that they had been infiltrating and subverting the Crusade for years... Now that I think about it... It would explain a lot...
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I have been wondering about the motives of my companions. They are a somewhat peculiar lot, and I have not been able to see through them yet... My senses are clouded.
Zsoltan, the dwarven warrior, does not talk much, but when he does it is only about the Eagle Watch. At first I was sure he is just another zealot of the Inheritor, eager to follow her every order. But I have come to think that he does not seem to be all too faithful really, but that his zeal is more focused on his martial arts. I am not sure if I prefer the latter. He's clearly dangerous, yet also helpful so far. I hope he doesn't snap like the other dwarf...
Jadni, the human priest, seems to have come to the Worldwound for glory. But I guess she expected it differently. Reality can be unnerving. Unless she stole the holy symbol she is wearing, she follows Ragathiel. If you'd ask me whether there is any god more conniving than the Lady of 'Valor', I'd say it's him. Well, possibly it's a good thing that this Crusade has been crushed now, before she could have been corrupted by it...
Tanaquil, the tiefling mage, came here to help to rid the world of demons, as she claims. I am not entirely sure yet whether this is her only motive. But then, a month ago, I would have opposed a devil from Cheliax by all means. Now? Not so sure anymore. At least she doesn't pretend to care about common welfare or valour, like my Iomedaen 'friends'. So far, she has been very effective at keeping our group in line, and I admire her practical attitude. Still, I must be wary! She is as slippery as an eel...
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The Testament of Tanaquil Octavia Charthagnion, Part II: Subterranean Homesick Blues
I have been spending most of my time keeping our little group motivated, pointed in the right direction, and not at each other's throats. I don't know if Thane would have actually murdered Horgus or Aravanshial without intervention, but I suspect both he and Jadni were seriously considering binding and gagging them.
Oh, and I nearly perished in a fight against a crazed dwarf. Another crazed dwarf. Which, incidentally, led some members of our party to start wondering if, perhaps, dwarves could not be trusted. IN THE HEARING OF THE DWARF FIGHTING FOR THEM AND PROTECTING THEIR LIVES.
I have no words.
Anyway.
The temple and the campfire gave us hope that there were ways out of these caves, as clearly people had been coming and going, and Aravanshial shared with us that there are persistent rumors of underground dwellers, descendants of the warriors of the First Crusade who had been warped by Abyssal energies -- possibly in appearance only, rather than in mind. I could not help but see a certain similarity between their situation and mine, if they in fact existed.
Once we departed the underground temple, I took the opportunity to catch up with Jadni. Apparently, she took to religion as a means of avoiding scholarly studies, and then took to the sword as a means of avoiding her religious studies. I couldn't help but smile. Same old Jadni.
However, this curious path has apparently led her to become an inquisitor of her deity, which is ... troubling. "Oh, good, the Inquisition is here, I feel safe now," said no one ever. She reassured me that I, her friend and cousin, would surely never be subject to her divine wrath, which might have been more comforting if she hadn't seen the need to reassure me of it. We shall see.
The talk among the group then turned for a while to demons, as well it might, and the topic of law and good led Aravanshial to wax on for awhile about Cheliax and the infernal bargain, etc. He seemed embarrassed when Jadni mentioned to him that I was Chelaxian, after which Thane felt compelled to tell the blind elf that I was a Tiefling. No one at any point asked me my thoughts about the infernal bargain, so I kept my own counsel.
After some time, we came to a cavern where statues had been carved, which eventually we determined were of the warriors of the First Crusade, which seemed to give some credence to the "underground dwellers" theory. We spent a short amount of time sketching them at Aravanshial's insistence, and that is when we heard a voice from down a tunnel.
Hoping it might be someone who could guide us out, I hastened forward and promptly got smacked in the face by two bolts of force energy. It was the crazed dwarf I spoke of earlier. Attempts to speak with him proved pointless, and soon we found ourselves in a pitched battle with a mage. I hung back to protect Aravanshial and Horgus, firing crossbow bolts when I could, while the others rushed forward. Thane was knocked unconscious by mystic energies. I managed to actually hit our enemy with a crossbow bolt, but my next shot did nothing but rip the skin off my finger. Ow. Zsoltan, Jadni, and Anevia kept him busy and managed to spoil a spell he tried to cast, but things seemed likely to go south quickly when he downed a potion that made him invisible. Jadni, however, proved to have exceptionally keen senses, and managed to fell him sight unseen.
Once we'd determined everyone was all right and the dwarf became visible again, Thane began going through his pockets. I asked if looting corpses was a thing we were doing, and it was generally agreed that the situation called for it. All right, then.
On a bright note, Anevia seemed noticeably more cheerful after the battle, and even offered me some helpful advice on how not to injure myself with a crossbow again. I think, possibly, she'd been feeling a bit useless because of her broken leg, and proving herself in battle perked her up again. I'm glad -- I rather like Anevia. I hope her wife survives in the world above.
We went further.
Sometime later, we came into a cavern with a ruined tower, and a curious pair of humanoids drew swords as we approached. One appeared to be half-lizard, and the other some combination of human and many animals. After some tense discussion, we convinced them we meant no harm, and they revealed that one of their number had been trapped under the falling tower when the ground shook during the demon attack. After a few attempts that endangered the poor man's life further, we managed to dig him out and heal him up a bit. After some discussion, in their gratitude they agreed to guide us to their village, so that we might at least get some rest in safety.
I have made that sound much simpler than it was. Aravanshial was delighted that we had found the "mole people" and continuously asked obnoxious questions, and Horgus was outright suspicious of them and nearly earned us their emnity. Several members of the group did not take their behavior well, and things seemed likely to come to blows.
I managed to take Horgus aside and have a talk with him, and he admitted that life by the Worldwound had perhaps made him overly prejudiced against those with a warped appearance. He eventually apologized unprompted, which surprised me. Perhaps there is more to him than I had thought.
Perhaps.
Aravanshial proved more difficult to control, but we were eventually able to get him to temper his questions by pointing out that patience might eventually get him more information, as it had been mentioned that someone in their village knew more about their history and might be more inclined to share that knowledge. He also came on his own to the conclusion that these people might be valuable allies for the cause of the Crusade -- I agree -- which I think helped him hold his tongue better.
The route to the village, however, was interrupted by a chasm that had opened during the shaking of the earth. Getting across proved a tricky endeavor, especially with one of our number blind and another lame. Eventually we secured a rope Jadni was carrying on our side, and Zsoltan jumped the gap to secure it on the other, only just making it. I stayed on the near side with a scroll Aravanshial lent to me that would create a web that would catch any who would fall. Aravanshial himself used a spell of levitation to help him cross the gap, and various others either jumped across or used the rope, depending on their inclination. Anevia decided to jump in spite of her broken leg, and it was a near thing, but Zsoltan was able to grab her arm and keep her from falling.
Since I was the only one who could cast the webbing spell, I went last, with nothing to catch me if I fell. I retreated deeper into the cavern and, once out of sight, cast the spell of Infernal Healing, so that if I fell there was a chance that I might not bleed to death in a ditch. I do not think any of them saw or heard me do it, so my ... inclinations in that direction may still be unknown. For now.
Anwyay, I jumped. And nearly fell. Jadni was able to catch me at the last moment.
Moving on, we came to a place where our guides warned us that a "spore spewer", some kind of deadly fungus, lurked in wait. However, as we carefully made our way in, we found the fungus dead along with two apparent Crusaders. A quick inspection proved that they were actually followers of Baphomet. Aravanshial was unexpectedly delighted. Apparently he has been arguing for years that the Fourth Crusade had been infiltrated by the enemy, but his theories had been dismissed out of hand. At last, here was the proof. I also noticed a light seem to come on in Thane's eyes. It will be a pity if he eventually decides to blame all the faults of "goodness" on infiltration by "evilness". But I do not know what caused his fall from faith; it may in fact be just that or it may be something else entirely.
After a bit of discussion as to how we might prove this infiltration, we took the bodies with us, thinking we might at least leave them in the village among possible allies.
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Hey Ragathiel —
If I had to guess, I'd say the theme of today's lesson is prejudice. Horgus and Aravashnial are certainly trying to outdo each other in overt racism, ranting against Chelaxians, «mole people», and even Dwarves in plain earshot of such representatives. Had I not shed my mother's accent among my Taldan peers, no doubt they would have added Vudrans to the list. Aravanshial is claiming academic interest as the reason for his behavior, whereas I suppose Horgus is comfortable just being an arse.
As for religious prejudice, Thane appears convinced that we Ragathielites are fanatics who readily slay innocents if it serves our path to glory, whereas Tanaquil gave me the strangest of looks — almost panicked? — when I mentioned that the technical term for my vocation was Inquisitor, as if I were just looking for the nearest pyre to strap her to. Does she really doubt my judgment that much? Or does she just extrapolate from the Chelaxian brand of religious persecution?
Then again, Thane does appear to have a dark history with his fellow Iomedaeans, and if these Baphomet cultists are any indication, the problem might be wide-spread and systemic.
Aravashnial has long argued that the crusades were being undermined by abyssal influences, to largely deaf ears. If we were to bring these machinations to light, perhaps we could help cleanse the crusade of this disease. Then again, there might not be enough left of the crusade for any of this to matter.
As for my own prejudices? Well, for one thing, I am not particularly proud of having treated Horgus with nothing but impatience and contempt since the very beginning. Sure, his behavior is indisputably imbecilic and disruptive, but the confrontational way in which Thane and I have been reacting to him no doubt reinforced it. Meanwhile, Tanaquil seems to be making headway with Horgus. She is the only one in the group who can muster the patience to speak to him without losing her temper, and she appears to be getting through to him. Who knows, she might even get him to shut up and pull his weight. She puts us to shame, honestly.
I do wonder, though, whether Tanquil adopted a considerate and de-escalating air as a self-preservation tactic, so as not to give the more fanatic elements of the crusade a reason to persecute her. Maybe that's also how you survive as a reasonable person under the merciless pressure of Chelaxian culture while avoiding forced re-education.
Hmm. Add that to my list of prejudices.
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For Irabeths report (hope she is still alive):
- The city is under heavy attack, regrouping failed, suddenly falling underground, survived thanks to the protector.
- Changed priority immediately to secure Irabeths wife, she is injured but it is not serious.
- Searching for an exit, we are several people, I keep a low profile still unsure about the others motives, at least one of them might be useful for the Eagle watch, I will ask them when we are out.
- Contact with underground people positive, their intel is helpful, heading to their settlement
- Path crossed with two crusaders, but something is wrong, there might be infiltration going on, still investigating.
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The Testament of Tanaquil Octavia Charthagnion, Part III: Teenage Mutant Ranger Spider -- Secrets of the Ooze
Our newfound friends led us back to their village, a ramshackle construction on an island in the middle of an underground lake. They promptly took us to their leader, Chief Suul, an elderly man with ratlike features. We told him of what had taken place -- the demon attack above, the possible destruction of the Wardstone, the infiltration by enemy forces. It was not long before he offered to gather together his own forces to aid the world above, if the current Crusaders would accept their help; apparently, most of them take their inherited duties as descendants of the First Crusaders extremely seriously.
And Chief Suul confirmed that they were such descendants, exactly as Aravanshial had suspected. It is a hard life, it seems, with few reaching Chief Suul's advanced age of thirty. Many generations have passed for them in the hundred years since they abandoned the surface. I would guess that most do not live beyond their adolescence.
The conversation went relatively smoothly, all told. Aravanshial asked some invasive questions, and Horgus was eager to leave a place he found not to his tastes, but in general they remained within the bounds of politeness.
We agreed to take news of their gathering forces to the Eagle Watch in order to formalize the alliance. Asking the quickest way to the surface, we were told it lay through an area claimed by traitors to their kind who had sided with the demons, and others like the followers of Baphomet we had found earlier. After getting a rough assessment of their relative might, we decided to go in that direction, both to help clear a path for our new allies, and to seek further evidence of the demonic infiltration. Chief Suul lent us several potions of magical healing to aid our quest.
A ... longish debate followed as to the best way to approach, irritating Anevia to the point that she nearly strode off to take on the demon cultists all on her lonesome. Nevertheless, we convinced her to wait long enough for us to take the time to analyze our resources (which turned out to include several scrolls from Aravanshial which proved invaluable).
And so we set off. When we got close, I furnished the unarmored among us with force armor, Aravanshial and I used a wand he had to increase our life essence (which ended up eventually saving me from an ignominious death), and Zsoltan went ahead to scout, hoping to grant us the advantage of surprise.
Like many of the best-laid plans, it failed immediately upon contact with the enemy. Zsoltan was spotted right away, and we had to rush to his rescue as he was attacked by foes from within the well-fortified redoubt.
A series of running battles followed as we fought our way past the door and into the room beyond. A giant lizard trundled out and poisoned Thane before it was felled. And midway through the combat, a traitor descendant of the First Crusaders with the likeness of a humanoid spider popped in through a door and began peppering us with deadly arrows and ...
Well. I am not immune to beauty. She was breathtaking. What a pity we found ourselves on opposing sides.
We managed to drive her off and had killed the others, and were securing the room when I foolishly opened a door to see what was beyond it. Two false Crusaders were beyond it, as it happened, and one cast a spell that forced me to come towards her. This put me in a dire situation, and if not for the False Life Aravanshial had lent to me, I would have been beheaded by a scythe. But once again, we were able to kill one and drive the other off.
After a more careful search of the rooms, we determined that the archer had probably descended down a rope ladder through a hole in the floor. Zsoltan went down first and was immediately attacked; there were more foes below at yet another fortified position.
It was a difficult battle. Arrows and blows wrought great damage in our ranks; Thane was nearly brought low, and Jadni fell unconscious in the very act of felling a foe. We were able to clear the room and revive them with potions, and then Jadni held the door shut against further opponents while we recuperated as quickly as we could. But our enemies were pounding on the door, and as we concocted a plan, one of them shattered it open.
Fortunately, the plan was in place, and I cast the webbing spell from Aravanshial's scroll. I followed up soon after with his scroll of Grease, and the fear-causing spell scroll we'd found in the second mad dwarf's possession.
Even so, it was another difficult fight. While a tiefling lurking behind the door was felled immediately, dropping like a punk and bringing shame upon our people, the archer proved a tougher nut to crack, and an Inquisitor of the demon lord Baphomet assaulted Jadni with a blade of force and nearly brought her low again. But the web spell made it impossible for her to use her own weapon, and finding herself with limited options, she attempted to drink a potion -- bringing about her downfall, as she was beheaded in her distraction.
I asked the spider archer if she preferred to fight to the death or call it quits, and she lowered her bow so I cast no further spells upon her. But nor did she surrender to us, slipping away while we took the time to lower the spells that had previously hampered her.
I am glad she chose not to battle further, honestly. It would have been a pity to erase such beauty from the world.
Why are the pretty ones always demon worshippers?
Thane downed the potion that the Inquisitor had been about to drink, thinking it was a healing draught, and promptly turned invisible. You should really always check first.
We gathered together to assess the situation, and determine our next steps.
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Addenda:
This marks the second time that I have impetuously led the way and been smacked in the face for my trouble. I must learn to restrain myself, no matter how impatient I become with my current companions' tendency to endlessly discuss the pros and cons of any given situation.
I truly wish the others would stop treating Aravanshial like a useless burden. His magecraft is quite powerful, and may have saved all of our lives. Admittedly, his mode of address does not do him many favors in terms of how the others view him.
A question for calmer times -- should I make an attempt to seduce Thane? Perhaps I should create a list of the pros and cons.
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Hey Ragathiel —
We went to war. I hope to gods it's the right side we're fighting for. It's one thing to cut down the demons invading our land, whose evil is woven into their very being... but here, we're eradicating one tribe of deformed humanoids merely on behalf of another tribe of deformed humanoids, on nothing but Chief Suul's word. We're the invaders here. If we had met the tribes in the reverse order, would we have fought for the other side instead?
Probably not, to be fair. The human cultists among the other tribe wear their demonic allegiance in plain sight and clearly fill some dominant role in their society, whereas Chief Suul makes a convincing argument for his people's century-long perseverance in the service of the crusades. If he is to be believed, there is a veritable army of their kind living in this network of caves, and he is rallying them to join the fourth crusade, what little there may be left of it. In cleaving them a path through the cultists to the surface, we might end up aiding the crusade much more than if we'd simply joined the fray on the surface. It's the right thing to do.
Also: Ouch. Warfare hurts. That last fight almost took us all out. Without Chief Suul's curative potions or Aravashnial's powerful scrolls that Tanaquil expertly employed to shape the battlefield, we would be lizard food now. Aravashnial also worked some advanced magic on me to enhance my heroism, and I did get to put it to good use a few times. I hope you were watching! At least I now know the meaning of fighting to exhaustion. I'll have to learn that spell for myself one day, it feels good.
I suppose we've cleared at best half the enemy forces so far, so we've still got a lot of fighting ahead of us — without the benefit of magic scrolls. At least we found a wand on the dead inquisitor, which she had used to summon a spiritual weapon to attack me during our confrontation (again: ouch), and there are a few charges left on it. Apart from the regular tribespeople, who don't worry me that much as long as they don't get to crowd us, there's at least one more cultist at large. The archer also got away, but I'm hoping she abandoned the lair entirely. I suspect she threw her lot in with the cultists for practical rather than zealous reasons. She certainly knows how to make an arrow count, just ask Thane...
Tanaquil seemed positively smitted by the archer's appearance. I can't say I see what she sees — several eyes stacked one above the other, and spider legs sticking out of the back? If anything, one of the first locals we met, Lann, is rather cute. Part of him looks like it belongs to a lizardfolk or nagaji, but it meshes rather well with his human part. It's really more like well-done theater make-up than a deformation. In other circumstances, he could pass as a half-dragon. I was rather dismayed by the revelation that the locals have greatly reduced life spans, with thirty years counting as venerable age. Given Lann's well-behaved morph, I can only hope he's one of the longer-lived ones, and that life on the surface will do him good.
But I shouldn't divert myself with such frivolity in the middle of an act of war. Especially given that I lost my entire stash of night-tea in the fall.
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Oh, is *that* the tea you're missing? And here Tanaquil was thinking you were longing for a nice orange pekoe.
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The Testament of Tanaquil Octavia Charthagnion, Part IV: Demons to the Left of Me, Zealots to the Right, Here I Am, Stuck in Kenabres With You
Well. My patience finally snapped. Somewhat to my surprise, it was not Horgus who pushed me past the end of my tether, but Aravashnial, whom I had honestly respected until ...
But I get ahead of myself.
An investigation of the room found a letter to the Inquisitor (Hosilla, as we discovered), from one "S.V.", who told her to hunker down beneath the earth while the attack took place above. It included this "S.V.'s" plan to rule Drezen after Kenabres was conquered, the location of several cultist lairs and a password for entry (assuming there was no trickery in the letter), and the mention of the theft of a valuable magic sword. Quite a lot of useful information, if we can get it to the right people. If there are any right people left to get it to.
Meanwhile, the spider woman -- Wenduag -- had barricaded herself in a further room. After giving her many assurances that we would do her no harm if she attacked us no further, she opened the door and we conversed with her. She revealed that she was not an altogether willing accomplice of the demon cultists, as her tribe had been taken over by Hosilla and her cultist minions. We asked if the others of the tribe might be convinced to abandon the cause of the demon cultists, and she thought they might if she asked them. We agreed among ourselves to do our best to do no further harm to them, but only to the demon cultists.
Horgus, of course, was suspicious of her motives, and to be honest I don't think he was being unreasonable. But she proved to be a stalwart ally, and talking with her prevented us from killing some possible coerced innocents. And what is the point of it all, anyway, if we do not give people second chances?
(My attempts to flirt with her, incidentally, were met with *constant* interruptions from my fellow travelers. Nonetheless I was able to chat with her a time or two. My word but she's gorgeous.)
In the room she had barricaded herself, we found some of Hosilla's treasures, including the stolen magic sword, Radiance. When Thane picked it up it glowed with a holy light and that sort of thing. Destined weapon and so on and so forth, blah blah blah. It gave me the creeps. Thane too, as far as I could tell.
Climbing back up the ladder, we found little else but a well on the floor above. So we steeled ourselves to pursue the demon cultist that had fled even further up. Wenduag and Zsoltan volunteered to scout, but once again Zsoltan's stealth proved inadequate, and we soon found ourselves racing up after them. More of Wenduag's tribesmen attacked us, egged on by the demon cultist. Zsoltan and I did our best to incapacitate them without harm, and although Jadni was not so circumspect she did not kill any either. After some time, Wenduag began to win them over and convinced them to rebel, and the cultist fled in fear and disgust.
A careful pursuit led us to a maze which proved to be infested with some kind of minor demons. It turned into a difficult fight in the close confines; many of our weapons had little effect, and my remaining spells were all but useless. Meanwhile, they summoned more demons like themselves and plagued us with foul and noxious gases. Zsoltan and Wenduag were able to do little against them; Jadni proved considerably more effective with her morningstar of cold iron. Thane tried to use Radiance against them, and was sometimes effective but more often came close to stabbing himself in the foot with it. Eventually he gave up on the sword in disgust.
Soon after, he was choking on poisonous gas.
As for me, I made use of my few remaining cold iron crossbow bolts, and by picking my moments carefully I was able to do some damage. I'm getting better; Anevia's lessons seem to have taken.
At length, Jadni was able to dispatch the final demon, and Wenduag told us that the path to the world above lay beyond the maze. She decided to return with her surviving compatriots to Chief Suul, and offer their support to the gathering army. I told her that I hoped we would meet again. *Sigh of longing*.
We continued on, eventually finding ourselves in the old sewer system of Kenabres. A ladder led to a grate, above which we could see only the dark of night. Jadni climbed up and pushed the grate aside, and the rest of us followed ...
We found a city in ruins.
Buildings smashed or on fire. Corpses in the streets. The clouds overhead as red as blood. Great rents in the earth emitting dark smoke.
In the face of this tragedy, we of course immediately fell to bickering.
Aravashnial insisted that we find the library where he had been trained, saying that his order, the Rift Wardens, might give us crucial aid. Anevia wanted to go to her home to look for her wife. Zsoltan also wanted to find Irabeth and rejoin his comrades in the Eagle Watch. Jadni wanted to investigate the cultist lairs we'd learned of in the letter. Thane wanted to flee for the River Kingdoms. Horgus called all these ideas foolish, and insisted that we go to his manse. Jadni and Thane took umbrage at his insistence.
On and on and on. (This is what happens when Law breaks down.)
Anyway, we finally agreed to take the obvious course, which was to start with the closer locations and work through them in order. That put the library as the first order of business.
The going was treacherous, and difficult, and the city eerily empty save for the dead.
Before we reached the library, we came across a group of crusaders. At first we were thrilled to see potential allies, until we realized what they were about. Apparently, these lunatics had gotten it into their heads that sacrificing a virgin would give their swords power against demons. They had recruited a "wiling" teenage girl to the cause.
As we all protested, I said that no such ritual existed, and called upon Aravashnial to back me up. To my utter shock, he declared that he had heard such rituals might be effective. Serves me right, I suppose, for requesting the support of a conspiracy theorist.
Thane, fortunately, was able to threaten them into leaving, and they backed off rather than fight us. The girl -- I didn't quite catch her name, Anvie? -- proved, as we suspected, to not be "willing" so much as shellshocked and barely coherent. She had seen her parents dismembered and devoured by some kind of many-armed snake demon. We took her along with us, Anevia seeing to her safety while I took over guiding the elf.
And ... yelling at the elf. I started by remonstrating with him about saying such a thing to those people, and he began by arguing that lying and saying he did not know of such a ritual would have been intellectually dishonest, and ended by saying that he approved of this horrific action, as he viewed the sacrifice of one to potentially save more as a worthwhile trade. He even put forward the notion that if more had been willing to take such measures -- or perhaps willing to listen to him, it wasn't clear by that point in the argument -- then Kenabres might not have fallen. I snapped at him that insufficient virgin sacrifice was not the downfall of the Fourth Crusade.
My opinion of him has plummeted. Such sophistry. It reminds me of the kinds of arguments that get made back home, by the many imbeciles who have completely misunderstood the nature of Evil and Law. Cut a swathe through the innocent and helpless to achieve your ends! Ugh. It makes me physically sick.
Jadni, incidentally, seemed convinced that the idea had been put in their heads by a demonic cultist infiltrator. Possibly she's right, but I rather doubt it. Just as I thought when she seemed to have suspicions that Horgus might be evil, I think she is quick to judge "Good" and "Evil" in light of her personal moral instincts. She seems to be herself innocent of the knowledge of the horrors that can be committed in the name of "Good", and of the true nature of "Evil".
I am still somewhat worried about what will happen if she discovers that I am Evil. I doubt I can conceal that forever, or even for very long.
We made our way to the library, and to Aravashnial's horror found it had been all but destroyed. We entered the ruins to find an odd scene -- the librarians had been captured by tieflings (AGAIN! WHY!) and an armored human who was intent on burning all the books. Thane tried to bluff his way past the man's defenses, claiming we were "reinforcements", but he was seen through instantly and challenged to a duel.
What followed was a battle of titans. The man nearly killed Thane with one blow of his mace, but Thane countered with a sword strike of his own that direly wounded his opponent *and* killed one of the tieflings with a single blow.
But the next swipe of the mace left Thane unconscious and bleeding on the ground.
The rest of us had not been inactive -- Zsoltan leapt forward and took a few strikes, and I hit our enemy first with a ray that sapped his strength, and then with a shot of frost directly to his ear which finally brought him down.
Meanwhile, the librarians had escaped their bonds, and one slew the final tiefling enemy with a single mighty spell. (Which might have come in handy before they were captured, but who am I to judge?) She then turned her attention to us, readying another spell and demanding to know our intentions. I threw forward Aravashnial's name in the hopes that it would be recognized ...
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Addenda -- Pros and Cons of Attempting to Seduce Thane:
PROS
He's pretty, and it's been a while
I might be able to win him over to the side of Evil; he already seems fairly disgusted with Good, which is halfway there
CONS
His disgust with Good seems to stem more from some kind of psychological trauma than a reasoned, considered philosophical decision, and that is much less of a solid bedrock on which to build things
Since he's clearly damaged (see psychological trauma, above), I'm worried he might, I don't know, have a breakdown or something right in the middle of things
CAN'T TELL
I'm unable to decide if sleeping with him would make him LESS likely to murder me in outrage if he discovers I am Evil, or MORE likely to murder me in outrage if he discovers I am Evil
So ... hm. Seems like kind of a wash.
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Hey Ragathiel —
I'm not sure what I expected from Kenabres, but it caught me unprepared. I should be glad the streets weren't swarming with demons anymore, but the emptiness is difficult to stomach. Only a fraction of the buildings lie in rubble, with the rest just... given up for lost. Perhaps a giant crater would be easier to deal with.
The worst part is that when we finally met someone in the streets, it was a band of desperation-crazed survivors about to slaughter an innocent girl on the off-chance that it might grant their swords magical powers against demons. With that sort of crusader, who even needs demons? If you gods were trying to prove a point here, yes, we get it. The bad guys won. The crusade is crushed both in body and in spirit.
At least they had the good sense to give up the girl and leave. The proverbial withering glare of the inquisition at work? I just hope they won't just find another orphan to sacrifice to their superstitions once they're out of our sight.
Also, what kind of crusader needs a demonic invasion to figure out that regular weapons barely so much as scratch demons? The pamphlets with Yaniel's sound advice are everywhere (sponsored by the weapon shops, sure, but sound advice nonetheless). Even I read one, and you know how much I loathe reading. It's not like cold iron costs the world, either; everyone can afford at least a cold iron dagger.
Back in that maze, I was certainly glad to have that cold iron morningstar at hand, uncultured as it may be compared to my blade. I had to crush the three demons more or less by myself after they took out Thane and Zsoltan with that cloud of miasma. Tanaquil did surprise me once by planting a cold iron bolt solidly into the second of the demons, and then again by rushing the last one of them with her spear when I threatened to succumb to it. She's full of surprises, that one!
Zsoltan may have fists of steel and the temper to go with them, but he didn't get past the demons' tough hide. We'll have to get him a cold iron weapon as soon as we can. I just hope he didn't take an oath never to bear arms or somesuch. I suspect it might be spectacularly difficult to change his mind on anything, even for dwarven standards.
At least Thane got a cold iron sword handed to him on a silver platter, and it's no less than Yaniel's own legendary blade. To be fair, he probably could have hewn his way through any demon with that old greatsword of his... And he seems to be having trouble adjusting to the shorter blade. From the way he's swearing at it, one might think Iomedae sent it to him personally as a convoluted form of punishment. But I admit I was amazed to see a magical weapon up close, and a legendary one at that. Thane seemed to share some sort of religious bonding moment with it when he picked it up. Good for him, I guess.
You know, come to think of it, the strange coincidences that brought our group together, spirited us away from the midst of mayhem to relative safety, led us to a forgotten army of reinforcements just waiting to rejoin the fight, and thrust a sword of legend onto Thane would make a curious amount of sense if we were living through the origin story of a hero. Are we all supporting characters in Thane's gods-ordained path to glory? He did start on a low point, turned away from his faith, but already things are starting to look up for him with the discovery that demon cults might be responsible for the horrors he witnessed. And the rest of us are a suitably diverse cast of characters: The blinded sage, the hobbled ranger, the grim dwarf, the insufferable rich imbecile, the exotic warrior princess, even the requisite token devil... And then there's the unlikely relations, too: Two cousins, polar opposites in many ways, grown up in distant countries and estranged by a decade, suddenly reunited? At least three people with independent ties to the mysterious Irabeth? It's a bit much, even for an opera.
I can only hope it's not the kind of story where the supporting characters die horribly one by one to heighten the hero's drama.
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We arrive at the village of the below-surface-dwellers and talk to their chief. He insists he will summon reinforcements for the Crusade. I'm not sure this is sensible, but sure. They seem to be the descendants of the first Crusaders, and look what has become of them.
The way out of here? According to the chief the only path goes through the caves claimed by demon-worshipping traitors. Of course. Thanks. So we approach this traitors' den and, for some reason, send the dward ahead as scout. Unsurprisingly his sneaking is worse than his fighting, and he is attacked before we even notice! And, of course, this nest is well fortified.
I rush in, slicing through the defence. Then, a giant lizard charges me and bites my arm. Something wicked enters my blood. I retreat and heal up before getting almost hit by an arrow. My comrades manage to defeat all cultists, but before we can rest, Tanaquil opens another door!
After clearing the caves, we find the archer retreated down a ladder. We follow, but these cultist have barricaded themselves. Nasty fight. Jadni holds the door as more cultists try to kill us. She opens it again, Tanaquil casts a web spell, and we fell an evil devil-blood! I close the door again and we heal up some more. When the door burst open, we face a demon-worshipping priest. But she didn't think this through! The webs catch her weapon and she gets distracted. With a mighty swing I decapitate her! The only one left is the archer, but she flees again.
I grab one of the priest's healing potions and down it, but the evil wench had cursed it, and I disappear...
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We pursue the archer and persuade her to join us. Turns out she is no demon-worshipper at all, but her tribe has been taken over by the cultist. We promise to help free her people.
Searching the rooms for clues, I find this longsword. I pick it up, but... I can't remember. It feels strange. As if it... But no! I despise it and everything it represents! For it is Radiance, the long-lost sword of one of Iomedae's most zealous followers. Still... As if being stuck in a previous life, I keep holding it.
We explored some more and found another floor above. At some point we have to tell Zoltan that his scouting is dangerous. He was caught again, and we fought through another wave of cultists. This time they even summoned demons! I am foolish enough to wield Radiance against them. The sword clearly hates me as much as I hate it! I almost kill myself. Or was it her? I try to destroy the wicked sword, but it doesn't even scratch. It taunts me...
We spot an exit and suddenly find ourselves in the destroyed Kenabres. Well, not much left here but corpses. I suggest we make our way out of here, to the River Kingdoms, but my companions think it is saver to reach the library first!?!
On our way we stumble across a group of Crusader. When I see the symbols on their shields I tense up! The f*$@% Order of the Flaming Lance. Still the same bastards! In their zeal they had the great idea to sacrifice a virgin and bathe their swords in her blood, because that would give them an edge in fighting the demons. They literally go over dead bodies! Their 'willing' sacrifice is a young paralysed girl. Tanaquil asks Aravashnial to step in and explain the idiocy in this. But he confirms what I have been assuming for a while: the guy is a moron! He backs them up. I grab my two-hander. Slowly I say: LEAVE - THE - GIRL - IN - PEACE! - NOW! Luckily these bastards are still the same cowards they used to be, and they flee. We take the girl along and I swear to protect her.
We arrive at the library. Like much of Kenabres it has collapsed in ruins. In what is remaining, one of these oh-so-good Crusaders has captured the librarians. I go in and pretend we are reinforcements of whatever failed Order he belongs to. He does not buy it and attacks me. But I strike back and, while ending my swing, I cleave one of his devil friends in half! This is what sword not tainted by Iomedae can do! As this thought goes through my head the world around me becomes dark...
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The Testament of Tanaquil Octavia Charthagnion, Part V: When Fire Beetles Battle With Their Spittle In A Hovel And The Hovel's Rather Little In A City That's Been Totaled, This Is What We Call A Totaled City Little Hovel Fire Beetle Spittle Battle
Our initial encounter with the remaining Rift Wardens did not go well. Traumatized by their experience with the vicious Cavalier and his tiefling minions, they assumed we were blackguards as well (which, to be fair, I am, although the others are not), and one of them threw a gout of fire at Jadni and Zsoltan. It wasn't until I went and fetched Aravashnial himself that they realized we were not their foes.
When we finally talked, their story was a terrifying one; enormous demons had rampaged through the area, crushing buildings beneath them, seemingly to some organized purpose. Then, as one, that mysterious purpose completed, they drifted off into the city to wreak random havok. Possibly their cause was an assault on the Rift Wardens themselves; Aravashnial said there were items now buried in the rubble which might provide valuable assistance to the defense of the city.
Finding himself in charge - his superior was gone, and no one knew where or if he were alive or dead - Aravashnial promptly organized his people into a group capable of searching for whatever remaining resources could be found. But before that, for the first time since the initial attack, we slept in the relatively defensible position of the library. We were all so exhausted that not even Horgus or Anevia objected.
We all slept in a single room, so there was no good opportunity to seduce anybody. I was probably too tired anyway.
In the morning, we left Aravashnial and his cohort to their task, telling them we would send word back if we found any organized defense of the city remaining. Before we left, he gifted me with his wand of False Life and a scroll of Dispel Magic to aid in our further travels, and I thanked him sincerely, telling him that his magical aid had been invaluable to our survival. For all my dislike of his utilitarian philosophy and his abrasive need to be in charge, I do believe he genuinely wants to help in the great cause and resist the demonic invasion of the world, and that matters. There are many difference we can overcome if we agree on that.
We set off, Anvie choosing to come with us rather than remain behind at the library. Or next stop was the Nyserian Manor, where the note in Hosilla's quarters said that demon cultists were hiding. It lay behind a mound of rubble that was what remained of part of the city wall, and Anevia said she could not climb it. After much argument (nothing in this group happens without much argument), Anevia, Anvie, and Horgus stayed behind, hidden from sight in the rubble by Anevia's skill as a scout.
The Nyserian Manor, however, was utterly destroyed. Nothing was left but detritus and some kind of oily slick. I detected the remains of some kind of summoning magic - a conjuration, perhaps? - and considered asking Jadni to detect for remnants of evil, but I thought better of it. The longer no one thinks to detect for evil in my presence, the better off I shall be. (Speaking of which, I fell from the rocks on the way back and injured myself slightly, so I once again cast the spell of Infernal Healing to seal my wounds.)
We continued on, wending our way to Horgus' home, but before we got there we came across a pair of Abrikandalu demons trying to break their way into some place of business, the sounds of panicked screams coming from within. Of course we immediately took action.
Thane, Jadni, and Zsoltan engaged them hand-to-hand, while Anevia and I stayed back and fired at them from range. Horgus, sensibly, hid behind a cart, and Anvie stayed well back. The demons seemed particularly enraged by Radiance, and one of the demons tried to break it, to no avail. But their attacks against Thane himself found more purchase, and soon he was left horrifically scarred and bloodied on the ground. It began to look a bit dire at that point, since Jadni was also sorely wounded, and Zsoltan could do little against them with his fists. But the tide turned when Zsoltan picked up the cold iron shortspear I had thrown, and Jadni bashed one of the demons down with a mighty blow. Then Anevia finished the fight with a shot from her bow that took the other straight through the skull. It wasn't even a cold iron arrow. Impressive.
We convinced the panicked couple inside the building that we meant no harm, and eventually they came out - Garn and the very pregnant Julli, makers and sellers of fine clothing. (I miss fine clothing. I sold all mine before I arrived here.)
After talking with them, like Anvie they decided it was safer to travel with us and look for a place of safety rather than stay behind. (Thane suggested they flee to Mendev. Because he seems to believe that such a trip would be easy for them to make right now. I was ... sarcastic in response.) Our ranks had now swelled to nine. Although Garn and Julli were no warriors, they did, as it turned out, have valuable information for us; they knew the location of Topaz Solution, the final hideout of the demon cultists mentioned in the letter to Hosilla.
We trekked onwards and came to Horgus' manse, which to Thane's great surprise was intact and in relatively good shape. Horgus, however, was disgruntled to discover that his hired guards had fled, taking with them everything of value they could lay their hands on. His secret vault, however, had been left intact and unrobbed.
Upon discovery of this, he said that our assistance had been "above average". Thane and Jadni took it as another insult, but I think it was the only way he knew how to pay a compliment, and took it as I think it was intended. In any case, he shoved a bag of gold into our hands as thanks, as well, declaring that it would never be said that he did not pay those who "did work for him".
He chose to stay in the safety of his vault, and we once again told him we would send word if we found any defenders of the city remaining.
We next set out for the little home Anevia shared with her wife, and when it came into sight she rushed forward, calling out Irabeth's name. No one seemed to be inside, however ... until a fire beetle materialized from nowhere and attacked her, spitting fire from its mandibles. It was quickly disposed of and, recognizing it as a summoned creature, we looked for the source, who eventually emerged from invisibility as he announced that he would leave Anevia's body for Irabeth to find.
The half-orc sorcerer threw spells that brought Anevia unconscious, but I tossed a tanglefoot bag, Jadni grappled him, and soon he was hard pressed and surrounded. He fought hard, casting magic missiles from a wand, but when Zsoltan revived Anevia with a potion, she destroyed him with her short sword, once again decisively ending the fight.
She was in a near-hysterical state, but we calmed her down by pointing out that if he intended to leave her there for Irabeth, he cannot have killed Irabeth. Apparently, he was some old foe whose life Irabeth had spared long ago, now bent on revenge. We suspected he had joined in the demonic invasion, but for all we know he might have simply been taking advantage of the opportunity. I said that revenge does no one any good, and then realized that was a bit ironic given that I had dedicated my entire life to battling demons after one attacked me as a child.
Anevia searched the house and soon found, to her joy, that a note had been left for her by Irabeth! Apparently, Irabeth was organizing the city's remaining defenders at an inn called, appropriately enough, the Defender's Heart. Anevia nearly collapsed with relief that her wife was alive. I nearly did, too, upon learning that we were not alone. I asked Zsoltan if the Eagle Watch was recruiting, and he said he would vouch for me and they would certainly take me on. We shall see.
When I complimented Anevia on her cozy home, she mentioned that she had always wanted a slightly larger one, but Irabeth tended to give all their money away to worthy causes. She agreed with me immediately, however, that a small home with love in it was better than a large one without.
For myself, I will not deny that living in the baronial manor had its charms, but once my parents were dead and there was no love for me there anymore, leaving it caused me no regrets. (Nor do I regret, before I left, thoroughly ridding myself all of the barony's money and assets as soon as I inherited them. I especially do not regret how livid it made the cousins who had been visibly salivating over their prospects once my trip was approved.)
We decided that we should go directly to the Defender's Heart before we investigated the other hideouts of the demon cultists. We had, after all, much potentially valuable information to share by this point:
- Our evidence of the cultist infiltration of the Fourth Crusade
- The two cultist hideouts we had not yet investigated
- The letter to Hosilla itself, and all it implied
- The army gathering in the tunnels beneath the city, eager to aid the cause
- The potential resources of the Rift Wardens, even now being searched for in the rubble
Quite a lot for a day and a half!
Our way to the Defender's Heart was once again not without incident, for we came across a makeshift stage in the street, where a pair of quasits were forcing townspeople to perform what looked like Chelaxian Opera - or at least it had a death count as high as Chelaxian Opera. We engaged the foes once again, as both the surviving townspeople and Garn and Julli fled in terror.
The quasits proved difficult foes, flying, healing their damage even as it was taken, turning themselves invisible at a whim, and casting a spell that reduced Thane to a quivering mass of terrified jelly. One of them we had taken for dead even came back to consciousness, but Zsoltan, who had once again borrowed my cold iron shortspear, nailed it to a wall. Eventually we prevailed, but I lost one of my last two cold iron crossbow bolts in the fight.
We searched for Garn and Julli, and finally found them some blocks away. We had to coax them to come with us. They were in despair and terror at the fate of their city, and wondered if their gods had abandoned them. Thane, of course, responded by cursing the gods as useless, which I am certain helped matters. (Sarcasm again.) I am seriously starting to wonder if I should switch to some other prospect to seduce and corrupt, although no obvious other choices have thus far presented themselves. Maybe I won't seduce and corrupt ANYONE AT ALL. So THERE.
In any event, we finally made our way to the Defender's Heart, and I cast Protection From Good on myself just to give myself a few extra moments if a pack of paladins decided I was persona non grata. The inn had been fortified into a credible redoubt, and the guard on duty recognized Anevia and Zsoltan even before the password was given (and he let us in once he double checked that they vouched for "the one with the horns". This kind of thing is why I take the precautions I take.)
Soon after we were inside, Anevia saw Irabeth and flung herself into her wife's arms, and ... Well.
I may have found myself with a bit of dust caught in my eye, if you take my meaning.
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The Testament of Tanaquil Octavia Charthagnion, Part V: When Fire Beetles Battle With Their Spittle In A Hovel And The Hovel's Rather Little In A City That's Been Totaled, This Is What We Call A Totaled City Little Hovel Fire Beetle Spittle Battle
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Her post headings are almost the best part of this Campaign Journal. :) Thank you, gang, for posting your updates and journals on the game :)
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Hey Ragathiel —
is it just me or are things looking up a bit? Irabeth's improvised stronghold feels like a metropolis after the desolation we've wandered through. We've managed to vanquish all the demons we met, we saved a pregnant woman, we reunited Anevia with her wife, and best of all, we got rid of Horgus. Things could be worse.
It's not that I don't see the other sides of those coins. The survivors are a mere sliver of a shadow of the city's original population. For that one pregnant woman we saved, countless others were slaughtered. The demons we faced were the least of their kinds, and yet it cost us our utmost to prevail against them. Meanwhile, the paths of destruction through the buildings and the verbal accounts of the survivors speak of demons of unimaginable power. We might just have been exceedingly lucky in our choice of path so far, and the next encounter might spell our certain doom.
But be that as it may, the fates have tossed us a bone, and I'll be damned if I don't gnaw the hells out of it. Who knows, maybe they even have tea at the Defender's Heart.
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The Testament of Tanaquil Octavia Charthagnion, Part VI (section 1 of 2): Beyond Good And Evil, Chapter One -- Prejudices Of Paladins
Well, the expected has happened.
Irabeth welcomed us and we made our report to her, giving her our news of the descendants of the First Crusaders, of activities of the Rift Wardens, of the refugees we had saved, of the infiltration of the Fourth Crusade by demonic cultists ...
And, well. That is when she nearly accused me of being one myself. She had detected for the presence of Evil, and of course I registered as such. I had hoped to talk to her about that in private when I requested to join the Eagle Watch, but ... there was no opportunity. I have doubts that there will ever be one, now.
Unsurprisingly, she reacted with all the blinkered prejudice against Evil characteristic of those who do not truly understand its nature. Much to my surprise, however, my companions leapt to my defense, including Anevia. I was ... touched.
At first I was enraged by Irabeth's response, I will admit. If a Chaotic Good ranger had offered a sword in the fight, would she have blinked? I think not. Even though that ranger's alignment is as far from her as mine. Even though that ranger's alignment would have been as close to the demons as mine. Would such a one have met with suspicion and distrust? No, the divide is always seen as being between "good" and "evil", never the real fight, the TRUE fight, between Law and Chaos.
After a time, I managed to calm myself down, though. To be fair, I cannot deny that the prejudice against Evil has been well earned by the horrible acts that have so often been committed in its name. That the "good" are usually just as willing to slay and burn in the name of their cause is also a point that should be made more often, but I come from Cheliax and cannot deny -- most self-described "evil" people are as awful as their reputation would have it.
It is not Irabeth's fault that hardly anyone understands Evil.
I am proud of my heritage. My parents were Evil. My grandparents were Evil. All they ever wanted was for me to carry on that tradition. And I do.
An evil person is, of course, one who commits evil acts. But almost all acts are arguable, are they not? The tyrant claims their rule is for the benefit of the country. The cynic argues that the philanthropist gives only selfishly, to make themselves feel better, not from any real altruism. So what is the truth?
There is only one act whose evil nature is literally writ in the very laws of the universe. Inarguably and ineluctably.
The casting of evil spells is an evil act.
It must be noted that intent is IRRELEVANT. Effect is IRRELEVANT. The canonical example given is the casting of an evil spell to save innocent lives. This is an evil act, and doing so more than once or twice turns you evil.
If all evil spells had no purpose other than horror and destruction, then Good might have a reasonable argument to make here as to the reason for this. But ... there are evil healing spells. Evil spells that protect you from mind control. (Mind control spells, incidentally, are not evil, not even Dominate Person.) True, there are evil spells that cause pain, like the Excruciating Deformation ... and also not-evil spells that cause pain. Inflict Pain is not an evil spell. Spells that LIGHT PEOPLE ON FIRE, like Burning Invective, are not evil spells. Innumerable spells with no purpose other than enslavement, death, destruction, and devastation are not evil.
Meanwhile, there is a Good spell that does nothing other than enable you to punch people in the face better. (I would note that the same rules supposedly apply to "good" spells as apply to "evil" spells, meaning intent and effect are irrelevant, so if you cast that spell in order to punch helpless orphans in the face, it would apparently turn you good. I doubt you will hear that mentioned often among the paladins.) There is a "good" spell the elves use whose function is to scour all life from an area, with fire.
It is, I think, not difficult to understand why I believe that the common claims as to the meaning of evil and good are sheer nonsense. That is why, instead of the laughable claims of "good", I hew to the law. And what is the fundamental principle of the law?
That it should apply to all equally. The great principle of civilization, of justice. All are as one before the Law. A rule made by the strong to benefit themselves at the expense of the weak is false Law, the "Law" of the demons where the mighty prey on those below them, and no one and nothing can stop them. In other words, chaos.
So there can be no true Law where some are enslaved where others go free. How could it possibly apply equally to those in such different situations? There can be no true Law where some suffer where others are happy. There can be no true Law where some are poor where others are wealthy. The Law cannot possibly apply to equally. It becomes distorted. An abomination, wrapping back around to the chaotic rule by might that it claims to oppose. Including in my poor, flawed, home country, still struggling to find its way to the truth.
So I will serve the Law. And I will do so with Evil, as my parents would want. I will cast Evil spells, and I will use these Evil acts to heal, and to protect, and to create justice and freedom, and my Evil parents will look up from Hell and be proud of me because I found a way to be Evil like they always wanted and when I am dead I will join them there and ...
I ... seem to have digressed a bit.
I shall move on.
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The Testament of Tanaquil Octavia Charthagnion, Part VI (section 2 of 2): Topaz Solutions And Other Problems
In the midst of my ... whatever that was above -- disquisition? I neglected to mention that Irabeth made what is apparently a shocking revelation to Zsoltan. The "S.V." who signed the letter to Hosilla is apparently one Staunton Vhane, Zsoltan's uncle -- a crusader who turned to evil and may currently be in the demon-held city of Drezen. Apparently, this was kept secret so as not to demoralize the troops. I am not sure how Zsoltan took it; he is difficult to read.
She also revealed that the situation that the situation throughout the Crusade was dreadful. The wardstones had been weakened everywhere by whatever the demons had done here -- an attack which might have been years in the planning, apparently -- and demon assaults were rife across the front, although none was so organized and dire as what had happened in Kenabres. Though the Crusade was hard pressed everywhere, reinforcements might be on their way ... although they could not, apparently, arrive for at least several days, leaving the current defenders of the city on their own for some time longer.
After the meeting with the group as a whole, I chatted briefly with Irabeth alone -- not taking too much of her time, as she clearly wanted to continue her reunion with Anevia -- and assured her that whatever our differences, we were on the same side of the Crusade. I think the reassurances of Anevia and Zsoltan had tempered her suspicions somewhat; even earlier, when I asked if I was not welcome at the Defender's Heart, she demurred and let me stay. She said she hoped I was not lying, and I said I did not lie, which I think surprised her. (What do people think Lawful MEANS?) Anyway, she said we had that much in common, at least.
I think, though, that my idle dream of joining the Eagle Watch may end up being no more than a dream.
I went on to have a conversation with Jadni, to see what she felt about the revelation of my alignment, and she was quite reassuring in her belief in my ... well, she sort of said my innate goodness, or perhaps lack of evilness, both of which are rather insulting to a Chelaxian, but I understood she was trying to give credit to me in the only terms she had been raised to use. I ended up explaining a bit about my beliefs as stated above, and while I do not think I won her over completely, she admitted that something seemed very wrong and broken with the rules of the universe we had been given to use. No argument there. Jadni may not be much for book learning, but she is wise.
And I guess I need not fear the dread hand of the Inquisition, at least not in the form of my cousin.
We took some time to trade for a few supplies -- Thane scored a suit of Half Plate from somewhere -- and regrouped to discuss our immediate plans. Since the day was far from done, we agreed that we should go and investigate the remaining hideouts of the cultists before more time elapsed, rather than rest and renew our magic. Irabeth had told us that manpower was scant, so it seemed a good use of our time.
We flipped a coin and ended up traveling first to Topaz Solutions, where Thane knocked on the door and announced the password we had discovered in the note to Hosilla. What we met were not cultists, but looters intent on getting away with what they could carry. (It took Thane a bit of time to realize this, and he repeated the password several times, much to their bafflement.) As we had been looting the bodies of the dead from nearly the beginning of our ventures after the demon attack, we had very little moral leg to stand on in protest, so we let them go about their business, and only ventured into the building to investigate after they departed.
The intelligence we had gathered had not led us astray ... mostly. It *had* at one point been used as a hideout for cultists. Zsoltan, using some kind of Dwarf-sense, quickly detected the presence of a secret door that led to an underground chamber. The cultists had left, however, leaving behind them an obvious trap.
I mean, really obvious. Some kind of clockwork demon was set above a glass bottle and below a symbol of Baphomet, and as we entered a magical voice essentially said, "This is a trap! I hope it is followers of Iomedae who have fallen into my trap, and not mere peasants who would be a waste of this trap's trappiness!"
Needless to say, we ended up setting off the trap anyway.
The bottle was smashed by the clockwork and released some kind of gas with oddly varying (chaotic?) effects, and meanwhile a howling plant creature appeared and attacked us. While I doubt we were in much danger, we fumbled about throughout the fight in an almost comical way, Jadni vomiting from the gas and Thane exhausted and grappled by a plant, until we finally prevailed.
We moved on to the Tower of Estrod, and this time when Thane gave the password we were given entrance by a pair of obvious demon cultists. They bought Thane's smooth lies without question, and when with a wink and a nod he indicated he planned to attack them while their guard was down, we all set upon them as one. The battle was brief, and they did little damage other than tagging Zsoltan and me with a burst of negative energy, although Jadni had some difficulty getting into proper flanking position.
Descending the stairs, we found ourselves in a magical darkness, and soon an evil Tiefling BECAUSE OF COURSE IT WAS ANOTHER EVIL TIEFLING GIVING ALL EVIL TIEFLINGS EVERYWHERE A BAD NAME BY WORKING FOR THE DEMONS COME ON THERE ARE LOTS OF CHOICES FOR EVIL TIEFLINGS YOU CAN BE LAWFUL EVIL OR NEUTRAL EVIL WHAT *IS* THIS
Ahem.
An evil Tiefling witch began hurling spells at us. I employed my new Wand of Magic Missile to good effect, and between that and the warriors hewing away at him, he did not last overlong.
Moving into the next room, we found no more cultists, but we did discover a list of those who had infiltrated the Fourth Crusade (and I hope it will be realized that my name was, of course, NOT on it.) We also discovered a note filled with names and references we did not understand. Vorlesh? The Red Morning Massacre? Nahyndrian crystals?
We can only hope that there are those who know more of these matters than we do.
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I truly love the discourse on evil and will be sharing it with my flatmate who runs the Reign of Winter game I started but he continued so I could enjoy being a player for the first time in a decade or so. ^^ Thank you for sharing your campaign journals :)
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Hey Ragathiel —
so perhaps I was exaggerating a bit when I likened the Defender's Heart to a metropolis. There's certainly a heartening number of survivors here, but they are as organized as a bag of cats. We were hoping to replenish some of our strained resources, but since there was no such thing as a warehouse or armory, we were pretty much down to walking through the crowded corridors and talking to people haphazardly until we met someone willing to barter. Thane got lucky and scored a solid set of half plate, whereas I spent all my time just looking for a healer to tend to my wound fever. I did eventually find a priest who cured me with a powerful incantation, far above what I can muster, for what seemed like a pittance of a price. He and his colleagues in vocation were so overworked that I half considered buying them some of their own medicine.
In any case, I gave up on finding myself a cold iron bastard sword, as I had hoped. They're rare enough weapons to begin with, and even if there had been one up for bartering, I could have spent the whole night looking for it. My trusty morningstar will have to do for now. I do admit I'm starting to appreciate the solid report of a bludgeon connecting with its intended target. Sword wounds can be deceptive, but if you've hit someone with a mace, you know you've hit them. I hope you don't mind me going off-brand for a bit! But you're a soldier yourself, I'm sure you understand.
Speaking of understanding: Irabeth openly distrusted Tanaquil, and not just because of the horns. Turns out she radiates an evil aura! I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself, and even so, it's blatantly at odds with her behavior and my assessment of her character. Anyway, none of our group seemed too fazed, and we convinced Irabeth to take our word for it.
I had a very interesting chat with Tanaquil about the matter afterwards. According to her, her alignment is entirely due to her habitual use of evil spells, rather than to any heinous acts. If I understand her correctly, she deliberately does this to cultivate an evil alignment, so as to follow in the proud family tradition of her evil forebears. She seems hell-bent on living up to her parents' and grandparents' expectations, even though they most definitely earned their evil alignment the old-fashioned way. Talk about daddy issues! And would her ancestors really approve of her idealistic crusade on the basis of such a mere technicality? Well, I suppose exploiting legal loopholes is a traditional Chelaxian thing, so they'd have to respect that, at least.
Tanaquil made a very good point on how the magic concept of Good and Evil is broken, on the basis of the extremely arbitrary way in which some spells are Evil-aligned whereas others are not. She takes this as proof that Good and Evil are not actually a matter of laudable and objectionable morals, but rather just different cultural tradition... like tea and coffee, I suppose. (Where coffee would correspond to Evil, obviously.) She agrees that most Evil Chelaxians behave in reprehensible ways («giving Evil a bad name»), but she blames that on the corrupting influence of Chaos, rather than Evil itself. I did point out that the same rules of magic that she invokes to defend Evil also insist that most of those Chelaxians are, in fact, Lawful rather than Chaotic. She had no answer to that. Maybe I'm actually getting through to her? And if Chaos were the problem, wouldn't the faithful of Desna be a scourge upon the land...?
Tanaquil is a good person, no doubt about that. I do think her fixation on Evil is unhealthy, and she would be more at peace with herself and her convictions if she embraced her goodness rather than masking it with an artificial stigma of Evil. I'm not going to risk our rapport pushing the issue, but I hope being part of our group and fighting demons among the forces of Good might naturally soften her stance and bring her to reconsider.
The mundane concepts of Good and Evil might not be as objective and testable as the magical ones, and the two concepts might be at odds with each other, but that doesn't render the former moot. Thane and Tanaquil think me naïve to believe in the former, but things like morality, altruism and kindness are older, more universal and more relevant concepts than the technicalities of arcane theory. If magic evil fails to match moral evil, it is the former that should be discredited.
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This is a delightful addition to Tanaquil's commentary above. And it's kind of amusing in a way. Tanaquil is very much the case of someone who is Evil because of technicalities rather than because she's evil. Or at least her actions seem to suggest as such. She would be absolutely perfect for the Beyond Morality Mythic 3rd Tier Universal Path Ability. Heck, I suspect if she chooses to get that, she'd probably drift into moral goodness even as she continues to magically use evil spells. ^^ And it would undoubtedly be fascinating to hear her comments on this if that should happen.
Yours is a most interesting and enjoyable game. Thank you again for sharing your stories. :)
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Evil according to set, objective rules rather than some eternally arguable subjective ethos.
why Bestow Curse is less evil than Fleshworm Infestation
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The Testament of Tanaquil Octavia Charthagnion, Part VII: A Child Is Born In Kenabres, In Kenabres, And Joy Is In Golarion, Allelujah, Allelujah!
Once again, this has been quite the day thus far. This morning, I helped deliver a baby. This evening, I may help save the world.
Or see it plummet into doom shortly before my death.
I'll begin where I broke off my narrative yesterday. We returned to the Defender's Heart and found Irabeth. She leafed through the documents tracing the cultists' movements throughout Kenabres with interest, but when she perused the letter from Minagho to the witch Faxon, she swore an oath so profane that Jadni was briefly convinced she was a cultist in disguise, and then she hurried out of the room.
We were not, then, entirely sure what to make of that, although it seemed reasonable to assume that it was nothing good.
That being done, I went to track down Anvie, Garn, and Julli to see if they needed anything, and to check how they were settling in. I was unable to find Anvie -- she was, apparently, off helping the Crusaders with various tasks -- but I was able to locate Garn and Julli. Julli was half asleep, so I chatted with the worried Garn, who begged me for reassurance. For his sake, I forced myself to be optimistic. Reinforcements were coming, after all, so all we need do was hold out for a few days in a place that had been made a fortress bristling with what soldiers remained.
As it turns out, my optimism was thoroughly unwarranted, but I could not have known that at the time.
To thank me for my efforts in rescuing him from the demons, Garn insisted that I take a suit of fine clothes. I tried to argue that I should pay for it, as it was his livelihood, but he would not hear of it, so in the end I accepted it and thanked him. In all honesty, I found myself near tears, although not unhappy ones; I could not say precisely why. (It is, incidentally, the finest clothing I have worn since I gave everything to the Halflings back home.)
When I returned to my ... room, I suppose, although it's really a barracks I am sharing with my newfound comrades and a number of members of the Eagle Watch -- there was something afoot, with many people rushing to the entrance of the Inn. My fellows and I joined the throng, and discovered that several events were occurring at once.
First, the forces of the descendants of the First Crusaders had arrived! Chief Suul had assembled a force of perhaps two dozen, which cannot be discounted as minor when it increases our fighting forces by a significant percent -- maybe two hundred have found their way to the Defender's Heart altogether, and many are not warriors. The Crusaders regarded them with a variety of reactions; surprise, disgust, suspicion, delight. I tried to make them welcome.
Wenduag was also there, I was much pleased to see, with the others she had convinced to abandon Hosilla. They stood a bit apart from the rest -- apparently they had not fully won the trust of their kin. Since the surface dwellers did not universally welcome them either, she was in a bit of a black mood, one I recognized all too well from my own experience. I tried to convince her that fighting on the same side would build trust quickly, but she was dubious, and wondered if Hosilla had the right of it, and fear was a better foundation in which to put one's faith. I did my best to tell her that fear disintegrates as soon as someone stronger arrives, whereas trust binds and lasts, for all that it is slower to form. I do not know how that came across to her. While she is still breathtakingly beautiful, she is also dour and more than a little grumpy by nature, I think.
Which means that, while I still very much hope to keep her as a friend, I am having second thoughts about anything else. I think after everything I have been through in my life, I just want to find someone ... nice to seduce. Someone sweet, who appreciates me. Why is that so difficult? And for that matter, why doesn't someone like that ever approach me, and say, "Hey, Tanaquil, I sure wouldn't mind being seduced by you." Maybe it's me. Maybe I'm just not the kind of person people want to be seduced and corrupted into forming a loving relationship with. Maybe I'll just always be lonely.
Gah. I'm getting maudlin. Seeing Garn and Julli, and especially Anevia and Irabeth, has been putting it on my mind. Anevia and Irabeth have seduced and corrupted each other so beautifully, you know? They've so clearly seduced and corrupted each other into caring about each other SO MUCH, and ...
Anyway.
The arrival of the reinforcements proved not to be the only furor at the gate. When we proceeded further, we found that a caravan of supplies had arrived, provided by none other than Horgus! My suspicion that the man had hidden depths proved to be correct after all (although they are DEEPLY hidden.) I later found out that he had, among other things, provided Thane and Zsoltan with cold iron weapons.
But there was still more -- also arriving was Aravashnial and the Rift Wardens, bearing magical gifts; more wands, more potions, and even a Chime of Opening! I have seen more powerful magic objects in the past couple of days than I had ever seen before in my life (although perhaps the most impressive was still to come on the morrow.) Aravashnial was thrilled to learn that his superior Quednys was still alive, and rushed off to find him at once.
After that, we finally bedded down for the night in our barracks ... only to be woken early the next morning by an emergency. A harried messenger woke Jadni with the news that Julli was giving birth; Jadni was apparently the closest thing to a midwife he had been able to find in the confusion of the Defender's Heart.
Jadni promptly woke the rest of us, but by the time we learned what was up, the messenger had already taken off to who knows where. Fortunately I knew which room Garn and Julli were staying in after having located them the previous night, so I led Jadni there while the others searched for anyone who might know what they were doing.
We arrived to find the birth in the hands of Jadni, myself, and an older woman who had at least had children of her own. While I had seven siblings, I was the youngest and did not see any of them born. Or die, for that matter; all of them were assassinated before my birth. Jadni was similarly inexperienced, and the birth, it turned out, was a difficult premature delivery. There was ... quite a lot of blood.
We mustered what resources we could. I cast a spell of Bear's Endurance on Julli from a scroll we had found, and between that and Jadni's healing spells and potions, were were able to pull both mother and child through. When an actual cleric finally arrived, Thane practically towing him there by the ear, it was someone who likewise knew nothing of childbirth, but at least was able to see to Julli's health. Soon mother and child were sleeping in a bed we managed to find for them, with a nearly incoherent Garn beside them.
The child was a boy, and they named it Thane.
In the wake of all that, we had come close to forgetting about the situation outside the walls of the Inn. But we were soon reminded when Anevia summoned us to a meeting led by Irabeth and Quednys. (As we walked there, she begged us to help convince Irabeth to get some sleep; apparently, the paladin has not rested in days. There was, as we found, little we could do to convince her, though.)
The meeting was a tense one. Irabeth and Quednys explained that the letter to Faxon had led them to a dire conclusion. Vorlesh, the witch who had opened the Worldwound in the first place more than a hundred years ago, was in the last steps of a plan that might have been decades in the making. The wardstone of Kenabres had been damaged but not completely destroyed, and she had come up with a way to invert its powers and cause devastation in the wardstone network across the entire border. All of the forces who had lately arrived there to repel the demon assaults had been led into a trap; those assaults were not the opportunistic, disorganized attacks we had assumed. They were a deliberate ruse to lure as much of the host as they could to the border. When Vorlesh's plan was completed, they would all be slain, the wardstone network destroyed, and the demons unleashed unhindered across the world.
There was no time to warn the rest of the Crusade; the plan might come to its completion at any moment. The only hope, it had been decided, was to stage a diversionary assault to lure most of the demons out of the Grey Garrison, where the damaged wardstone was being kept, while a commando force entered and destroyed the wardstone before it could be transformed, using a Rod of Cancellation that Quednys gave to the cause (the powerful magic object I mentioned earlier.)
It was proposed that the commando team consist of ... myself, Jadni, Thane, and Zsoltan.
Quednys was, frankly, not impressed with our qualifications for the task. He treated all of our questions as evidence of our insufficiency, whether they were intelligent (Jadni asking how an artifact like a wardstone might be destroyed, before he presented the Rod of Cancellation), ignorant (me asking about Vorlesh, as I knew little about the history of the Worldwound -- I never did get an answer, since time was admittedly pressing), or ... bizarre (Zsoltan proposing for some reason that we go and lead an assault on Drezen instead; I think he must be very upset about his uncle.)
At any rate, it soon became obvious why we were chosen. Other than Irabeth, who would lead the diversionary assault, we were the most capable people there who were not crippled, blind, elderly, or otherwise incapacitated. Anevia spoke warmly of our skills, but the simple fact is, there was no one else.
As a sorcerer, my greatest achievement is the ability to make a burst of glitter appear in the air. The times are bad indeed if the fate of the world is even partly in my hands.
We prepared as much as we could. I asked around for details about the Grey Garrison, and got as much of a description of its interior as could be obtained. The wardstone will almost certainly be located on the top floor, unless our foes are fools, and I do not think we can rely upon that.
Soon the forces of the Defender's Heart set out, those from the surface and those from below it, warriors and mages and stealthy archers, all led by Irabeth. Anevia stayed behind with a small defense force, worried to anger about her lady love. We had given Irabeth a wand of Bless Weapon we had found, and a potion of Barkskin to aid her defenses, but she insisted that our task was the most important and would accept nothing else.
Irabeth tried to impress upon us that our mission was too important for us to play heroes; if we thought we were near death, we were to retreat and regroup, however much that damaged our chances. Better if we could do it as soon as possible, but better to have any chance than no chance at all. She wished the blessings of Iomedae upon us, and Thane decided this was the ideal time to curse Iomedae and rant about her uselessness, even going so far as to wonder if Iomedae might have somehow been in league with the demons who attacked Kenabres. (I do not know exactly what happened, but the man is DAMAGED. This is why I have decided that seducing him is probably a bad idea.) It was, however, impossible not to note that even as Thane derided the gods, inspiring speeches, and heroism, he was there preparing to charge headlong into danger for a worthy cause.
Anyway, I wished Irabeth good luck. (She called me "friend' today, rather to my surprise! And I notice that there has been no further talk of my ... proclivities. I wonder if Anevia told her more of what happened below the city. She certainly seems to be our tireless advocate.)
The charge was led, and a host of demons were drawn from the Grey Garrison by a cunning, organized retreat, as arrows pelted them from the rooftops. We approached the building.
The remaining guard was only two ... but two demons, as it turned out, wormlike creatures wearing as suits the corpses of Lord Holrun and Lord Nyserian. They summoned lesser demons to help them -- although Jadni had cast a protective spell which prevented summoned creatures from touching her, a great benefit. The battle was by no means easy, as the worm demons devoured their corpse suits to replenish their vigor, and pelted us with harmful spells. In the end, though, our cold iron weapons overcame them.
I worry, though. Our resources are limited, and every fight will use more. How many until we run out?
We approached the doors, and Thane used the Chime of Opening to unlock it. Zsoltan pulled the doors open, and we saw ...
Tieflings.
Sigh.
(By the way, I have noticed something odd. Our little group is two humans, a dwarf, and a tiefling, and every single demon cultist we have encountered or heard about has been ... a human, a dwarf, or a tielfing. No embittered gnomes, no demon-worshipping drow. The only possible exception -- and we are by no means sure he was in league with the demons -- was a half-orc ... who was lying in wait for the only half-orc we know here. It is very strange. Coincidence, I suppose.)
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Addenda:
When I pointed out to Thane that his heroic actions belied his cynical words, he made the argument that he was acting purely out of selfish self-interest, as if the world were overrun by demons he would suffer along with everyone else.
I was rather delighted by this, as it is nearly the same argument I have often used to demonstrate why my own ideals are ultimately Evil ones -- if the Law demands absolute equality, and I selfishly wish to personally be free, happy, etc., then adherence to my own philosophy insists that I must strive for *everyone* to be free, happy, etc.
Not my strongest argument, of course, but a reasonable quick demonstration of the impossibly muddled tangle that is ethics.
I swear, Thane would be happier if he were a Gray Paladin (Archetype found in Ultimate Intrigue). Not as many Paladin Perks, but at least he doesn't have to be Lawful Good. (Also, has he considered one of the non-Lawful deities to worship instead? I hear Desna is pretty chill...)
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Hey Ragathiel —
here we are again, treading the path of war. Unlike our little skirmish in the underground, the stakes are now infinitely much higher. The cost of failure is the instant death of tens of thousand crusaders all around the Worldwound, followed by no less than the extinction of mankind as the demon host takes the world by storm.
The only thing that makes the pressure bearable is the sheer unimaginable scale of it — in contrast, our task is mercifully limited and straightforward. A small building, two and a half floors, roughly three rooms per floor; or so our sources claimed. Unlike the rival tribes of Descendants underground, our enemies here are beyond any moral ambiguity, and thus to be terminated with extreme prejudice.
I try not to exercise my imagination too much about what we will encounter within these walls. I have no doubt that their numbers are stacked against us, and given the key importance of the wardstone in the enemy's grand design, I expect it is guarded by a choicer breed of demons and cultists than the ones we've barely prevailed against in the past two days. But there are no questions to mull over, no decisions to make. It's us or them, and the clock is ticking. Out there in the city, Irabeth's company is paying in blood, limbs, and lives for each minute we spend.
I am become a blade. Wield me, Ragathiel.
PS: I delivered a baby last night. Can you believe it? I was utterly unprepared, the birth was going traumatically awry, blood everywhere, no healer in sight. I spent the last of my own curative magic on Julli, as well as some of my scant consumables, and Tanaquil wrought some arcane magic on her to heighten her body's endurance. Even so, she remained unconscious and at death's door throughout, and just barely pulled through. I've never felt so helpless and out of my depth in my life. And yet it ended well. I grinned like a gingerbread horse when I held the tiny baby in my blood-soaked hands. If I could get through this, how bad can the Gray Garrison really be in comparison?
PPS: I sent Thane to get us one of the company's actual healers before Tanaquil and I set off to find Julli. He did eventually arrive with a healer in tow — after it was all over. Just before Julli's husband fainted, he revealed the boy's name... I'm sure you guessed it. Thane. (Men...) I just hope when this opera of ours is finished, the critics will tear it apart. Thane is clearly a Mary Sue.
PPPS: I later claimed Jadhanakṛti would have worked for a boy, but I suppose the male version would have to be Jadhanakṛta? I really know shamefully little about the Old Country's tongue. I'll have to study it someday, preferably when I've saved the world and retired and have more time on my hands than I can use.
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The Testament of Tanaquil Octavia Charthagnion, Part VIII: Time Flies Like An Arrow; Demon Flies Apparently Like A Pigeon
Well ... I appear to have helped save the world.
I may be about to be ripped to strips by a small horde of demons, but even if that happens I HELPED SAVE THE WORLD.
From demons. I feel it's important to emphasize that point. I saved the world from DEMONS. That's OK, right? No Chelaxian citizen or devil could possibly object to my striking a great blow against demonkind. That's entirely within the remit of Lawful Evilness.
Right?
I'm sorry, I'm infused with Celestial Energies right now and that has me feeling ... confused. After what happened to my parents, dancing so close to Goodness feels a bit like spitting on their graves.
But it's for an important cause. A Lawful cause. I knew what I was getting into when I decided to ally with the Good for it. It's OK.
It's OK.
Where did I last leave off? Oh, yes. We were fighting our way into the Grey Garrison, our path blocked by a pack of Tieflings. They held us at the door while one ran off to gather reinforcements, and did a fair job of barring our entrance for a bit. A spell of Darkness affected Thane and Jadni's senses and caused several of Thane's most powerful blows to miss entirely in the dim light. However, I was able to cast a spell of Glitterdust that blinded a number of them (the power of Glitter for the win!) and once Jadni used her wand of Daylight to banish the darkness, we soon fought our way inside.
The building throughout was a wretched scene of devastation, defiled chapels, blood and filth, and even at one point body parts stitched together to form a totem to some demonic lord. A grotesque demonstration of the habits of demons and their followers.
While the others pursued the Tiefling that had run down a hallway, I dragged in the corpses of the Vermlek demons and shut the doors so that there was a chance that any passing demon wouldn't immediately see that things were greatly amiss. While I was doing so, the fight turned into a running battle against a number of Cultists who had been holed up deeper in the Garrison, and a Tiefling (of course) alchemist who began tossing bombs at us and proved to be one of the greatest threats we had to face in the entire complex.
While the cultists blocked the warriors from getting at the alchemist, he threw explosives that left Thane and Zsoltan not only deeply injured, but on fire. Jadni was able to douse them with a Water spell or two, but it generally wasn't long before they were aflame again. Soon they were in dire straights. I noticed an unopened door that I thought might lead me around to flank the alchemist from behind, and reasoning that any reinforcements must surely have come out to join the battle by that point, I opened it.
And was promptly reminded why I should Never. Ever. Ever. Open a door. Behind it was not a back way to the fight but rather two Abrikandilu demons who had until that point been preoccupied. I backed off quickly.
The cultists had by that time been vanquished, and the fight split in two, with Jadni and I fighting against the demons and Thane and Zsoltan battling the alchemist. Jadni and I did fairly well between her morningstar and a demonbane crossbow bolt I fired. Although the demons tried their hardest to scrape Jadni's face off, soon one was felled. But Thane and Zsoltan were finding the alchemist almost impossible to hit, and it wasn't long before Zsoltan was unconscious, dying, and on fire, and Thane was barely standing. And also on fire.
I left Jadni to face the final demon and forced a healing potion down Zsoltan's throat before he burned to death, and happily at that point the tide of the battle turned. Jadni doused the fires and bashed the demon to death, and Zsoltan and Thane cornered the alchemist and finally struck true.
Thane had been left exhausted by the fight, so we paused briefly to examine our surroundings, and soon found Irabeth's ancestral sword! It was accompanied by a note that seemed to indicate that there were fell plans to do ... something to it, but fortunately they had not yet come to fruition. We briefly discussed sending Zsoltan, invisible, to bear the sword to Irabeth for use in her battle, but decided that since we could not know exactly where she was in the Old City, it would take too long for Zsoltan to search her out. We decided to press on and complete our own task as quickly as possible. But I was filled with worry for our friend.
The next door we opened led to a nest of Dretches, who assailed us with a Stinking Cloud that left me briefly nauseated and unable to fight. They were less of a threat now than they were previously, however, when we lacked cold iron weapons and other means of dealing with demons. We bested them in short order and raced up the stairs.
At the top, we found more cultists and Tieflings, and though they tried to bottleneck us in the stairwell, we fought our way through. I fired off magic missiles whenever I could get a glimpse of one, which proved effective, although my second attempt at a Glitterdust was not so devastating as the first. When a final fleeing Tiefling was felled by a magic missile, we began exploring the floor, looking for the stairs up.
And of course, we went through EVERY SINGLE ROOM before we found proper door. First we found an eyrie that had once been filled with pigeons, but the pigeons had been devoured by a pair of giant, demonic flies. We rid the world of them while I groused about the ridiculousness of a pigeon cote in a building without windows, but it turned out there was one small window we had missed.
We dashed through the rest of the rooms and finally found the stairs, guarded by zombies. (It reminded me of home, a bit.) A pair of zombies got a couple of lucky hits on Thane, leading him to predict doom and devastation, but in fact we disposed of them rather quickly because, well. They were zombies. Not the gravest of threats.
Knowing that the Wardstone must lie on the floor above, Zsoltan took a potion of invisibility, so that he could make effective use of the Rod of Cancellation. The rest of us cast what spells we could. Jadni gave us the Blessing of Ragathiel ... which was weird ... and offered me a spell of Protection from Evil, which would have been weirder, but we decided it would be better to put it on Thane anyway.
But we clambered up the stairs to find not the Wardstone -- at least not at first -- but a door guarded by an enormous minotaur.
Thane immediately shouted that we should run away. We ignored him. It later turned out that he had meant this as a ruse, hoping to draw the minotaur away from the door so that the invisible Zsoltan could pass through.
Perhaps we might have realized he was not in earnest, had he not spent the past several days encouraging us all to run away from Kenabres.
At any rate, we engaged the minotaur. I took my own potion of invisibility to get into position, and soon was able to sap its strength with a spell. While it dealt mighty blows with its axe, it proved not to be particularly well-guaded against our own attacks, and we brought it down before it was able to fully decapitate anyone. Zsoltan became visible for the fight, and then downed another potion. I cast a spell of Mirror Images upon myself.
And so we passed through the final door.
In the last room of the Garrison, the Wardstone was in an iron cage, guarded by an oddly mutated woman with a claw for a hand, whom we later learned was named Jeslyn. She shouted that we would not defeat her. Thane and Jadni engaged her in combat and at first had difficulty landing their blows, although I was able to tag her -- barely -- with a Scorching Ray. But meanwhile, Zsoltan slipped invisibly to the cage and attempted to destroy the Wardstone ... to no effect. It resisted the Rod of Cancellation.
Jeslyn attempted to freeze Zsoltan with a spell, but he was able to shrug it off. After that, I waited until she attempted to cast before hurling my offensive spells at her, aiming to spoil her magic; realizing my tactic, she switched to striking at Thane and Jadni with her scythe -- but to little effect; she was not as mighty a warrior as a spellcaster. Zsoltan jabbed at the Wardstone again and again, each time failing. We heard the sounds of battle from below, our allies and the demons they fought having come back to the Garrison, but we had no way of knowing who was winning, whether Irabeth would come racing up the stairs to aid us, or a horde of monsters bent on destroying us.
At almost the same moment, Jeslyn was brought a hair's breadth from unconsciousness by mighty blows from Thane and Jadni, Irabeth appeared at the top of the stairwell, fresh from her victorious fight, and Zsoltan thrust at the Wardstone a fourth or fifth time
And
It
Cracked
And the room was filled with light as fragments of the broken Wardstone shredded Jeslyn to pieces, leaving the rest of us unscathed (I half expected it to shred me as well, but it did not)
And we saw visions, that we knew to be true; the rest of the Wardstones across the front line exploding, destroying the demons lying in wait or damaging them so badly they fled back to the Worldwound
Visions of the past, of the Herald of Iomedae launching the second Crusade ... of Lord Hulrun launching the third by slaughtering a pack of accused "witches" ... of the Kenabres Wardstone being cracked by a blow from the Balor Lord who slew Terendelev ... of Staunton Vhane, Zsoltan's uncle, battling Irabeth and burning his hand on the Wardstone before he fled ...
And of Areelu Vorlesh, the wtich who opened the Worldwound, cursing us and vowing that even though we had stymied her plans, we would not live to see our victory. Which proved to be no vision at all. Her image was in the room with us.
She cast a spell of Suffocation which affected only Irabeth, who dropped unconscious. But the rest of us, infused with the Wardstone's energies, were unaffected. Puzzled, Vorlesh promptly began opening gates to the demonic realm. Demons began to pour through. The room began to fill; more than half a dozen demons Jadni identified as Babaus, and an enormous Vrock, had already stepped across the gateways when a burst of the Wardstone's energies pulsed out of the four of us.
Vorlesh's image disappeared with a shriek. The gates vanished with demons halfway through, severed in half by their sudden disappearance. We were, however, still left with the demons who had already come through to fight.
However, for the moment, we are still infused with this ... energy, this ... Goodness. And disturbing as that may be, it might be exactly what we need in order to prevail ...
(And, I suppose, all the Wardstones are gone now. That may be a problem later on.)
I am curious how you'll be handling the Mythic aspects of the game as non-Mythic heroes. One alternative I came up with was Regenerating Hero Points. It lacks some of the uberness of Mythic, but does allow some other elements of the game that very much is the foundation from which Mythic was likely crafted. And I suppose leveling up the heroes early also works (and having them go above level 20 through use of secondary classes or Prestige classes)...
Thank you for sharing your journals :)
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The Testament of Tanaquil Octavia Charthagnion, Part IX (section 1 of 3): Maybe The Real Demonic Invasion Was The Friendships We Made Along The Way
This is a very confusing time for me, ethically speaking. I ... appear to have received the blessings of the goddess Iomedae. That is definitely not anything I had been expecting.
I will revisit that later, however. First, I shall resume my narrative.
In some ways, the situation was the most dire we had ever faced. Eight Babau demons and a Vrock had materialized in the room before the gates slammed closed. In ordinary circumstances, our fate would have been sealed. But we were infused with power of the shattered Wardstone, which muted their blows and added power to our own. Which side would win was an open question.
The fight began well for our side. As Jadni and I fell back to entryway, I once more cast a spell of Glitterdust which blinded some of the Babaus. Jadni and Zsoltan flanked the Vrock and pummeled it with blows, while Thane flung his greatsword through no less than four of the Babaus in a single mighty sweep. The Vrock shrieked its stunning cry, but we were able to shrug it off – and neither its spores nor the Babau’s acidic slime had any effect on us. The wards upon us were mighty.
But then the demons began to show their power. A strength-sapping spell I cast upon the Vrock failed to penetrate its natural resistance to magic, and the great demon clawed through Zsoltan’s protections. Meanwhile, the Babaus encircled Zsoltan and Thane, and began to work together to wear away at them. Although Jadni and Zsoltan brought the Vrock down early, with a floor-shaking crash as it fell, the monk and the warrior were soon in poor shape.
Abandoning offensive magic as unlikely to work against them – I had few spells left at that point anyway – I healed Irabeth with a potion, and after a few moments of disorientation she leapt into the fray, smiting a Babau for grievous damage. But a counteroffensive from the Babaus brought low Thane and Zsoltan, who had suffered dozens of cuts that snuck past their guard, and Irabeth as well, as she lacked our mystic protections. It became a race between the powers closing our wounds and the demons determined to rend them back open.
I fired my crossbow from the other room, landing shot after shot that penetrated their normally nigh-invulnerable hides. Thane soon opened his eyes and used a never-before-seen ability to heal himself; apparently, his faith in Iomedae had been restored by the visions he had seen (I knew his distaste for the Good wouldn’t last; unconsidered positions are castles built upon sand.) Zsoltan soon awoke as well and used a potion to lessen his wounds, and the two of them drew themselves up, shrugging off opportunistic attacks like the bites of small insects. Jadni drew Irabeth’s ancestral blade from the scabbard on Thane’s belt and lay about her as well.
The tide by now had turned again; the more Babaus that fell, the less they were able to use flanking against us, and without flanking, the damage they could do was little. When half had been slain, they switched from tooth and claw to longspears in an effort to do more damage, but it availed them little. Finally, one broke and fled down the stairs with Jadni and I in pursuit, while Thane and Zsoltan finished off those who remained in the room. I slew the final one with a magic crossbow bolt as it tried to make its escape.
We had prevailed.
The power of the Wardstone drained away from us bit by bit, but did not leave entirely. We felt the brush of the goddess upon us. Both my magic and my body seem stronger than they were.
When we woke Irabeth, we learned what had transpired outside. The diversionary attack had been initially successful in leading the demons away from the Garrison (although with great cost of life.) At some point, however, the fiends realized something was amiss, and the fight became a running battle into and through the Garrison itself. When Zsoltan destroyed the Wardstone, however, a sphere of light pulsed out of the room and annihilated what demons were left in the city.
Our return sparked another enthusiastic reunion between Irabeth and Anevia (those two melt my heart.) As for myself, I plucked up the courage to ask Irabeth if I might join the Eagle Watch, all things considered. Anevia and Zsoltan clamored for her to accept me before she had a chance to speak. And she allowed that I might join if I wished. I asked what oaths I would have to take – for I take oaths seriously, and could not have sworn to violate my beliefs – but it required me only to fight demons and defend the helpless against them. The very thing, in fact, to which I have already dedicated my entire life.
So now I am a member of the Eagle Watch. Admittedly with my joy at this tempered by the death and devastation that preceded it, joining was nonetheless one of the happiest moments of my life. Jadni signed on as well, although Thane declined. He is distrustful of crusading organizations, I think. In any event, we all spent the next few days repairing the damage the demons had caused – cleaning, building, hunting for the remnants of the cultists, and, alas, burying the dead. I did my best to check in on all the people I have met over the past few days. There are so many that I have come to care for. That is, perhaps, the single most unexpected result of my coming to join the Crusade.
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The Testament of Tanaquil Octavia Charthagnion, Part IX (section 2 of 3): Irabeth Tirablade And The Last Crusade
Speaking of newfound friends, during this time, we received another surprise was when we learned that Anvie had joined the Eagle Watch as well! Proud in her new armor, she approached us a few days later to bring us some of the spoils found in the Garrison after it had been cleaned out (I selected some cold iron bolts and found one magicked against demons; Thane picked up some full plate armor. I imagine Jadni might inherit his half-plate.)
Anvie was curious about our brush with divinity, although disappointed that we had not seen the goddess herself in person. When Thane posited that the gods seldom if ever talk to mortals directly, Anvie wondered how anyone could know what was right or wrong, and confided to us that she was nervous about how to know whether she was doing the right thing. I wondered if she was thinking about the deluded fools who tried to sacrifice her. Was that really only a few days ago?
I counselled her as best as I could from my own experience, telling her that her best approach was strive to have a code arrived at through thought and wisdom, one that could bend to acknowledge difficult situations without breaking, one that asked only that she try her best.
Advice I should keep in mind myself.
She had also, incidentally, very clearly developed a bit of a crush on Thane. Not at all shocking, considering the circumstances under which they met. And, I mean, I get it, obviously. He’s an attractive man, an impressive warrior, etc. But my own flush of lust for him has passed, I think. (It had already waned considerably, and there was a conversation we had later which put the final nail in that coffin. But more on that in good time.)
Horgus was also a frequent sight around the Defender’s Heart, as he had fully taken on the thankless role of quartermaster and supplier to the Kenabres branch of the Crusade, albeit with characteristic ill-temper. He at one point tried to convince Thane to become his bodyguard and flee with him to the River Kingdoms, but I don’t think his heart was really in it. It was more just for old time’s sake.
Several days after the destruction of the Wardstone, Queen Galfrey’s army at last arrived in the city. And soon thereafter, as we sat to a meal, Anevia informed us that we had been summoned to an audience with the Queen herself. I nearly choked on my soup, and quickly went to change into the outfit Garn had gifted me. (It was to be the third time I was in the presence of royalty, and I never do so without being aware of the risk of being summarily beheaded.)
We went to the riverside to find the Queen – unaccompanied by any guard, curiously enough – in conversation with Quednys and Irabeth, discussing the necessity for curing Aravashnial’s blindness to some end. The pair of them left as we arrived, Irabeth nodding to us and Quednys hardly bothering to acknowledge our existence.
The conversation with the Queen was interesting, if something of an etiquette catastrophe. Jadni interrupted her once, and Thane went on and on about his pet topics. She seemed to take it gracefullly, though; I imagine spending so much of her time among the military has sanded away any impatience she might have had for such things.
She told us that there were two views of us in the army – some considered us to be the “Wardens of Kenabres” and saviours of the Crusade for our destruction of the Wardstone network. Others blamed us for destroying the entirety of the Crusade’s defenses and looked upon us with suspicion or outright loathing. She very graciously did not say that my presence in the group did not help alleviate the latter view, although it surely must have been a factor.
Further, the demons were not resting idle after their defeat. Hoping to take advantage of the loss of the Wardstones, a demonic army was marching south from Drezen. Queen Galfrey intended to meet this force on the field herself, but thought it a grand opportunity to send a smaller force to retake Drezen, so was planning to send the Eagle Watch, and us along with them. The morale victory of this would be threefold: reversing one of the greatest losses of an earlier Crusade, cementing our position as heroes rather than villains, and ideally retrieving the lost “Sword of Valor” – a banner carried at one time by Iomedae herself. This, Queen Galfrey thought, would be key to rallying the long-dispirited troops at the start of what she was already calling the Fifth Crusade.
Thane, however, took exception to this title, insisting that “The Fifth Crusade” sounded somewhat weak, and that we should instead grandly call it “The Final Crusade”. I am not sure he realized that could be taken in two ways, one of them rather ominous.
He also went on at some length at how important it was to be on the alert for demon cultist infiltration of the ranks. He isn’t at all wrong about that, and we should be vigilant, but he did go on for quite some time. I wonder if the others realize how likely it is that any failures, sabotage, or difficulties will be immediately blamed on me, though. I have no doubt, given the obsession with Evil characteristic of paladins, that half of our fellow soldiers are expecting it of me already.
I will bet you anything you care to name that not a single person is going to be checked for Chaotic tendencies, no matter that they would be no further from demon cultism than I am ... or closer, in the case of the Chaotic and Neutral. “What is your purpose here?” “To SOW CHAOS!” “Well, that can’t possibly be a problem. Please be on the lookout for any Evil.” This isn’t to say that all Chaotic people are a problem – far from it. But I guarantee that a Lawful opponent of demons who happens to be Evil will not receive the same benefit of the doubt.
In any event, not long after our audience with the Queen, we found ourselves at a council of war, planning the assault on Drezen. There were some familiar faces there – Irabeth, of course, and Anevia, who will lead the scouts, as well as a newly-sighted Aravashnial. I’ve no doubt Horgus will be dealing with logistics and supply, although he was not present. There were also some new faces – Nurah, a halfling bard and advisor to the Queen who had participated in a failed attempt to take Drezen some years before, Sosiel, a priest of Shelyn, and Aron, an expert in traps and similar matters.
The plan was laid out quickly for a journey up the east side of the river, with a stop at an allied village, before crossing at a ford. And then we shall go on to Drezen. Zsoltan, of course, has personal reasons for going, although as usual he said little. He did mention at the end, though, that he wanted to have “a word” with his uncle Staunton.
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The Testament of Tanaquil Octavia Charthagnion, Part IX (section 3 of 3 ... Criminy): Beyond Good And Evil, Chapter Two – The Evil Aura
So now the time has come to wrestle with some of the issues that have been plaguing my mind of late. I have been chosen as a champion of Iomedae. I can feel her presence.
This is ... more unsettling than I would care to admit.
It shouldn't be unsettling. I have vowed to fight in her Crusade. I am her ally in the cause of Law. If she claims to be "Good", what of it? What does that matter to me, when our goals are the same?
Once again, I must consider the case of the Chaotic Good ranger. Would such a one in my position feel discomfort or disquiet? I am not sure, but I think they would consider a calling on behalf of "The Good" to be sufficient cause to be proud of the distinction they had been granted.
It all comes back to my parents, and what "Good" people did to them, for "Good" reasons. Reasons I cannot, truly, even consider unmerited. But they were my parents, and they loved me, and now they are dead. And it was, somewhat, my fault.
And if I embrace the Good, they would consider it ... would have considered it ... the ultimate betrayal. How close have I come already?
Good. Evil. Words of little meaning and vast import.
Which brings me to Thane. In an attempt to root out treason in the ranks, he has apparently been Detecting for Evil auras. Which is in and of itself ridiculous; any traitor embedding themselves in a nest of paladins would disguise their aura as an obvious first step. That is, in fact, one of the best pieces of evidence that I am *not* such a traitor, since I wear my evil nature proudly. Not that anyone is likely to be logical enough to come to this conclusion.
In any event, he detected my Evil aura, and came to consult with me about it -- seeming almost to believe it was a secret, or a surprise revelation, which was rather odd when Irabeth announced it in front of him a few days ago.
And so I asked him this:
Picture two rebels in Cheliax, attacking a caravan. One is thinking, "I will kill these evil guards and free the slaves!" The other is thinking, "I love killing guards; killing guards is my favorite thing!"
But wait! Both of them are lying to themselves. The one who thinks they want to free the slaves actually just loves killing guards. The one who is convinced that killing guards is their true motivation secretly, in their heart, wants to free the slaves.
But wait! They were mistaken as to the nature of the caravan. It was not slave traders at all. It was bringing ice cream to orphans.
But wait! There is something they will never know, and never find out -- that ice cream was poisoned!
And now you cast Detect Evil upon them. Leaving aside the many ways that the spell can be deceived ... WHAT IS IT DETECTING?
What they think their intentions are? Their true intentions? What they think the effects are? The true effects? And in whose opinion of their intentions and effects? Their own? The gods? The universe? Some combination?
WHAT IS GOOD AND WHAT IS EVIL? WHAT DO THOSE WORDS EVEN MEAN?
This is why I cling to the one, known universal FACT. Evil spells are evil acts. Everything else is a mess, a muddle, a confusing and conditional set of circumstances. The same, I admit, is true of Law and Chaos, but Law at least embodies the principle that you should HAVE a principle. That you should build something solid to hold on to in the ethical mist.
Thane, as it happened, had a ready answer regarding what would have been revealed about those two hypothetical rebels. Detecting an Evil Aura, he told me, meant that an Evil Aura had been detected. Which is true enough, I suppose, albeit a complete tautology and not much use in answering the ethical questions involved. Certainly it is a more thoughtful response than espousing that Detecting an Evil aura meant the subject was ripe for killing.
In any event, he told me that in spite of his Detection of my nature, he would judge me by my actions alone. It came off as a bit of a warning. I thanked him, in any case, biting my tongue on the fact that I was thanking him for announcing that he would not actually act on his unreasonable prejudice against me unless he deemed it appropriate.
Honestly, though, to be fair, it was no doubt well meant. It is the best I can likely expect from a paladin, and it would be churlish to wish for better than the best.
I wish, though, that he had a better answer for me. Until someone does, though, I will cling to what I know.
I am Lawful, because I abide by my code.
I am Evil, because I use Evil spells to achieve my ends, regardless of why I use them, how I use them, or the goals I use them for.
I have not betrayed those who loved me. I have not betrayed my country.
I am, somehow ... blessed by Iomedae.
And I am so very, very tired.
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I've been showing this to my co-GM who is running a Necromancer NPC in our Reign of Winter campaign (another campaign I truly would love to see you guys go through!) just for the whole "I'm evil because of evil-aligned spells" bit and they're enjoying this immensely. :) Because, seriously, why should a necromancer be evil just because they're animating dead bodies? ^^;; Is it any more evil than using Enchantment/Charm to steal someone's autonomy, or Evocation to inflict bodily harm on someone, or using a blade on someone?
Anyway, thank you again for sharing your campaign journals :)
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Alas! But best not to burn out on the game. Have fun with Star Wars! And I look forward to seeing how Kyrademon does as a GM! :)