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Session Stories - Moments in Roleplaying (updated 6/15/2023)
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<blockquote data-quote="Nthal" data-source="post: 8268418" data-attributes="member: 6971069"><p style="text-align: center"><strong><em>Story III - Ametrine’s Fate</em></strong></p><p></p><p></p><p>The journey back to town, and the three-day trek to eventual warmth of the <em>Griffon’s Nest</em> was as it was before. Blood spilled on the seeking the weapons wanted by the baron and the ancillary wealth that came with it. Five returning to town, each with a story to tell. Even at the surface that story was the same; six went in, five came out. That mistakes were made, and the opening of a door was involved. But that is where it ended.</p><p></p><p>The clouds rumbled with distant thunder, of a torrent of rain on the other sides of the peaks. Flashes of white light scattered across the overcast sky, illuminating the trees. Hawthorne was fairly certain that the rain would stay at the other side of the peaks. So, the party rested, eating their rations with smiles all around at their success. Almost.</p><p></p><p>Arnara sat on a nearby bluff of rock overlooking the fire of her companions, her hands cradling her head as she frowned. She was weary; the travel wasn’t glamorous; there were no inns or even a house to beg for shelter at in these far-off trails. Even the trails were problematic, meant for surefooted mules, hauling ore along the ridges of the mountains. And concept of a trail was a loose one, with many sections in poor condition since the dwarves abandoned their holdings with the coming of the Kingdom of Many Arrows. All of it added up to long hard days of travel with armor, weapons and now coin on the return.</p><p></p><p>But weighed on Arnara was how dissimilar the second foray into the fortress was compared to the first. She took it upon herself to help actively guide the others. It was a common tactic of the elves. They did not gather large armies, so they learned how to fight with few numbers with effective results. Basic ideas, on making sure that you never turned your back on a foe that could strike. Take rest where you can. Support each other. In a fight of attrition every death matters, on both sides. And it was on that point that Arnara was disappointed with herself.</p><p></p><p>She failed again.</p><p></p><p>Another of their party died at a door. It was comical and it was a strange feeling of history repeating itself. She watched the Aasimar, Ametrine, open the door before anyone else stood by their side. Granted she was already badly wounded, but the folly of opening a door in that condition while Arnara was still trying to get the others to focus and take on the last of the duergar. She opened it alone and quickly died alone on the floor.</p><p></p><p><em>You’re supposed to learn from mistakes. </em><strong><em>I </em></strong><em>should have learned from my own.</em></p><p></p><p>Granted, nothing was a simple as that. After dealing with the aftereffects of a spell wounding Kiana and Arnara, and also causing Ametrine to fall, they were then betrayed. The elven woman, Idalla, planted an almost fatal kiss on Hawthorns lips. His screams started strong and then finished with a whimper as the elf they trusted gave him a memory he would not forget. The elf’s image melted away and became one of a fiend; a succubus from the lower planes. She stood there with a wicked smile as she handily took the blows from Rafelor, Hawthorn, and Arnara as they all rushed over to try to save him. But it wasn’t enough and Idalla disappeared into the ether.</p><p></p><p>It was for a simple reason that Arana did this. A dangerous foe was behind them and needed to be removed, so they all could deal with the duergar smiths. Arnara assumed that either Balthasar or Kiana would be able to help the fallen Aasimar. What happened next, Arnara wasn’t prepared for; another disguise dropped revealing a fiend.</p><p></p><p>But she should have been.</p><p></p><p>As Arnara sat there, she heard footsteps approaching, crushing the thick bed of pine needles that covered the floor of the wood. Turning slightly, she was surprised to see Kiana approaching her.</p><p></p><p>“The stew is as ready as it is ever going to be,” Kiana said with a grimace.</p><p></p><p>Arnara looked at the human…no <em>tiefling</em> coolly, as she remembered a private conversation, she had with Ametrine. The party was focused on the tombs of the dwarves, when the aasimar pulled Arnara aside.</p><p></p><p>“I sense something from our ‘Human’ friend,” she whispered.</p><p></p><p>Arnara was startled by the statement from Ametrine and was surprised that she was opening up to Arnara at all. Perhaps it was because Arnara invited her to come with them and deal with the dwarven hold while the others dithered on the idea. So, she replied in the aasimar’s native tongue, “What do you mean <em>ha-celas</em>?”</p><p></p><p>She remembered the look of surprise on Ametrine’s face, but she quickly replied in the language of angels, “The human who can strangely see in the dark must be a fiend of some sorts. I thought out of everyone here you'd know what to do about her.”</p><p></p><p>Arnara had glanced at Kianna and wondered aloud to Ametrine, “A tiefling perhaps? And do what? A friend told me about them; not all are evil...in the same way not all <em>ha-celas</em> are good.”</p><p></p><p>Ametrine considered and replied, “hmm, I suppose so. I just thought I should warn you if anything <strong><em>DOES</em></strong> happen.”</p><p></p><p>“Unless she is a creature of belief, I will let her....and your actions determine mine.” She remembered saying. As she turned away to rejoin the group. Later, there was a fight against the smelly troglodytes, and Arnara turned to Ametrine and spoke her mind again to Ametrine in Celestial, “She healed our party...I doubt she is evil.”</p><p></p><p>Ametrine replied, still suspicious, “Maybe, but why would she pretend to be human?”</p><p></p><p>Arnara pointed out “Many <em>ha-celas</em> do not admit to being such. Tieflings are distrusted I am told, so why ruin a first impression? I suppose we could just ask her.”</p><p></p><p>Ametrine frowned. Then she nodded and said quietly, “That sounds good.”</p><p></p><p>It was uncomfortable; like they were forming a conspiracy against Kianna. But Arnara had decided to wait and see; which of the two were worthy of trust. But was Ametrine giving a warning, or did she have malicious intent? And so what if Kianna had a glamour concealing herself? The Fey did this without ill intent. And many tieflings would travel in disguise to avoid unwarranted attention; it meant nothing.</p><p></p><p>Or did it?</p><p></p><p>And now Kianna was beckoning Arnara to join the rest to eat and break bread with each other. A common ritual of trust among all the people of the Sword Coast.</p><p></p><p>“Why?” Anara asked.</p><p></p><p>“Huh? Because Balthasar is trying to feed us. Badly I suppose—”</p><p></p><p>“Why did you let her die?” Arnara asked pointedly.</p><p></p><p>Kianna frowned a moment before looking Arnara in the eye.</p><p></p><p>“I made a choice; it was her or Balthasar and I didn’t want to lose him while he was still fighting for us.”</p><p></p><p>Arnara stammered angrily, “But she fought for us, too. She shed her blood…gladly for us. She may have been impulsive, but she was willing to…give it all. You had time!”</p><p></p><p>Kianna shrugged, “It was a choice I had to make, and she put herself in danger,”</p><p></p><p>“She made a mistake.”</p><p></p><p>Kiana looked at the ground, her shoulders slumped as she weakly shrugged.</p><p></p><p>“Did I?”</p><p></p><p>“What do you mean?” Kianna said, her head looking at elf apprehensively.</p><p></p><p>“Ametrine knew of your…fiendish blood.”</p><p></p><p>“And what of it?” Kianna spat.</p><p></p><p>“I <strong><em>defended</em></strong> you,” I said. “I didn’t care. You fought and bled and healed us. You had earned my trust. I convinced <strong><em>her.</em> </strong>But now…you hide your face again behind that mask, even after we’ve seen the truth.”</p><p></p><p>Kianna took a deep breath before speaking, “Look, any choice can backfire. I—”</p><p></p><p>“—I don’t care why,” Arnara said standing up. She stepped close to Kianna and looked the disguised figure in the eye.</p><p></p><p>“You helped, and fought, and bled. I don’t forget that. I don’t know if what happened was a mistake, and you are being glib about it, or if there was something else. All I have to say about it, is that if you want to have people trust the face behind that mask, you need to act like that person behind the mask is worthy of saving.”</p><p></p><p>Kianna closed her mouth and stiffly regarded Arnara, “I’ll sleep on it.”</p><p></p><p>“You do that…” Arnara said as she moved past Kianna and headed to the questionable meal that Balthasar had prepared. And as she did so, she quietly said.</p><p></p><p>“…Because I don’t sleep,”</p><p></p><p><strong>Session Notes:</strong></p><p></p><p>This was a collaboration of a between Kiana's player and I, after the main session was done and we were travelling back to the inn. Kianna had a mystery of why she was hiding, and the DM ruled the fiendish taint was detectable by the paladin for story reasons. Still was an interesting interlude.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Nthal, post: 8268418, member: 6971069"] [CENTER][B][I]Story III - Ametrine’s Fate[/I][/B][/CENTER] The journey back to town, and the three-day trek to eventual warmth of the [I]Griffon’s Nest[/I] was as it was before. Blood spilled on the seeking the weapons wanted by the baron and the ancillary wealth that came with it. Five returning to town, each with a story to tell. Even at the surface that story was the same; six went in, five came out. That mistakes were made, and the opening of a door was involved. But that is where it ended. The clouds rumbled with distant thunder, of a torrent of rain on the other sides of the peaks. Flashes of white light scattered across the overcast sky, illuminating the trees. Hawthorne was fairly certain that the rain would stay at the other side of the peaks. So, the party rested, eating their rations with smiles all around at their success. Almost. Arnara sat on a nearby bluff of rock overlooking the fire of her companions, her hands cradling her head as she frowned. She was weary; the travel wasn’t glamorous; there were no inns or even a house to beg for shelter at in these far-off trails. Even the trails were problematic, meant for surefooted mules, hauling ore along the ridges of the mountains. And concept of a trail was a loose one, with many sections in poor condition since the dwarves abandoned their holdings with the coming of the Kingdom of Many Arrows. All of it added up to long hard days of travel with armor, weapons and now coin on the return. But weighed on Arnara was how dissimilar the second foray into the fortress was compared to the first. She took it upon herself to help actively guide the others. It was a common tactic of the elves. They did not gather large armies, so they learned how to fight with few numbers with effective results. Basic ideas, on making sure that you never turned your back on a foe that could strike. Take rest where you can. Support each other. In a fight of attrition every death matters, on both sides. And it was on that point that Arnara was disappointed with herself. She failed again. Another of their party died at a door. It was comical and it was a strange feeling of history repeating itself. She watched the Aasimar, Ametrine, open the door before anyone else stood by their side. Granted she was already badly wounded, but the folly of opening a door in that condition while Arnara was still trying to get the others to focus and take on the last of the duergar. She opened it alone and quickly died alone on the floor. [I]You’re supposed to learn from mistakes. [/I][B][I]I [/I][/B][I]should have learned from my own.[/I] Granted, nothing was a simple as that. After dealing with the aftereffects of a spell wounding Kiana and Arnara, and also causing Ametrine to fall, they were then betrayed. The elven woman, Idalla, planted an almost fatal kiss on Hawthorns lips. His screams started strong and then finished with a whimper as the elf they trusted gave him a memory he would not forget. The elf’s image melted away and became one of a fiend; a succubus from the lower planes. She stood there with a wicked smile as she handily took the blows from Rafelor, Hawthorn, and Arnara as they all rushed over to try to save him. But it wasn’t enough and Idalla disappeared into the ether. It was for a simple reason that Arana did this. A dangerous foe was behind them and needed to be removed, so they all could deal with the duergar smiths. Arnara assumed that either Balthasar or Kiana would be able to help the fallen Aasimar. What happened next, Arnara wasn’t prepared for; another disguise dropped revealing a fiend. But she should have been. As Arnara sat there, she heard footsteps approaching, crushing the thick bed of pine needles that covered the floor of the wood. Turning slightly, she was surprised to see Kiana approaching her. “The stew is as ready as it is ever going to be,” Kiana said with a grimace. Arnara looked at the human…no [I]tiefling[/I] coolly, as she remembered a private conversation, she had with Ametrine. The party was focused on the tombs of the dwarves, when the aasimar pulled Arnara aside. “I sense something from our ‘Human’ friend,” she whispered. Arnara was startled by the statement from Ametrine and was surprised that she was opening up to Arnara at all. Perhaps it was because Arnara invited her to come with them and deal with the dwarven hold while the others dithered on the idea. So, she replied in the aasimar’s native tongue, “What do you mean [I]ha-celas[/I]?” She remembered the look of surprise on Ametrine’s face, but she quickly replied in the language of angels, “The human who can strangely see in the dark must be a fiend of some sorts. I thought out of everyone here you'd know what to do about her.” Arnara had glanced at Kianna and wondered aloud to Ametrine, “A tiefling perhaps? And do what? A friend told me about them; not all are evil...in the same way not all [I]ha-celas[/I] are good.” Ametrine considered and replied, “hmm, I suppose so. I just thought I should warn you if anything [B][I]DOES[/I][/B] happen.” “Unless she is a creature of belief, I will let her....and your actions determine mine.” She remembered saying. As she turned away to rejoin the group. Later, there was a fight against the smelly troglodytes, and Arnara turned to Ametrine and spoke her mind again to Ametrine in Celestial, “She healed our party...I doubt she is evil.” Ametrine replied, still suspicious, “Maybe, but why would she pretend to be human?” Arnara pointed out “Many [I]ha-celas[/I] do not admit to being such. Tieflings are distrusted I am told, so why ruin a first impression? I suppose we could just ask her.” Ametrine frowned. Then she nodded and said quietly, “That sounds good.” It was uncomfortable; like they were forming a conspiracy against Kianna. But Arnara had decided to wait and see; which of the two were worthy of trust. But was Ametrine giving a warning, or did she have malicious intent? And so what if Kianna had a glamour concealing herself? The Fey did this without ill intent. And many tieflings would travel in disguise to avoid unwarranted attention; it meant nothing. Or did it? And now Kianna was beckoning Arnara to join the rest to eat and break bread with each other. A common ritual of trust among all the people of the Sword Coast. “Why?” Anara asked. “Huh? Because Balthasar is trying to feed us. Badly I suppose—” “Why did you let her die?” Arnara asked pointedly. Kianna frowned a moment before looking Arnara in the eye. “I made a choice; it was her or Balthasar and I didn’t want to lose him while he was still fighting for us.” Arnara stammered angrily, “But she fought for us, too. She shed her blood…gladly for us. She may have been impulsive, but she was willing to…give it all. You had time!” Kianna shrugged, “It was a choice I had to make, and she put herself in danger,” “She made a mistake.” Kiana looked at the ground, her shoulders slumped as she weakly shrugged. “Did I?” “What do you mean?” Kianna said, her head looking at elf apprehensively. “Ametrine knew of your…fiendish blood.” “And what of it?” Kianna spat. “I [B][I]defended[/I][/B] you,” I said. “I didn’t care. You fought and bled and healed us. You had earned my trust. I convinced [B][I]her.[/I] [/B]But now…you hide your face again behind that mask, even after we’ve seen the truth.” Kianna took a deep breath before speaking, “Look, any choice can backfire. I—” “—I don’t care why,” Arnara said standing up. She stepped close to Kianna and looked the disguised figure in the eye. “You helped, and fought, and bled. I don’t forget that. I don’t know if what happened was a mistake, and you are being glib about it, or if there was something else. All I have to say about it, is that if you want to have people trust the face behind that mask, you need to act like that person behind the mask is worthy of saving.” Kianna closed her mouth and stiffly regarded Arnara, “I’ll sleep on it.” “You do that…” Arnara said as she moved past Kianna and headed to the questionable meal that Balthasar had prepared. And as she did so, she quietly said. “…Because I don’t sleep,” [B]Session Notes:[/B] This was a collaboration of a between Kiana's player and I, after the main session was done and we were travelling back to the inn. Kianna had a mystery of why she was hiding, and the DM ruled the fiendish taint was detectable by the paladin for story reasons. Still was an interesting interlude. [/QUOTE]
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