Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
Session Stories - Moments in Roleplaying (updated 6/15/2023)
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Nthal" data-source="post: 8415407" data-attributes="member: 6971069"><p style="text-align: center"><strong>Story XVI - Regrets of Innocence Lost</strong></p><p></p><p></p><p>The grotto in Thay was called by Syranna ‘the Gatehouse.’ Embedded deep in the cliffs overlooking Lake Thaylambar, it was little more than a collection of magical circles set into flagstone. But now it acted as a refuge for the four, sealed here beneath the rock and stone. The Doomvault below was challenging, pushing their skills and their emotions to the edge. But now the four rested in the light of their cooking fire, for warmth.</p><p></p><p>The first was Chusi (or ‘Chewy’ as he preferred to be called) who leaned against a column of stone, fast asleep. His golden scales twinkled in the firelight, as did the edges of his great sword, ever at the ready to cleanse evil in the world. In fact, cleansing seemed to be the sole purpose for Chewy. Anyone or anything that remotely gave a whiff of evil, was to be put down. In his eyes, it was too late, and the best course of action was to send them to the afterlife to make proper amends.</p><p></p><p>Next to him, in a nest of blankets and his broad hat covering his head, lay the snoring Glint Dashwell. The halfling had cleaned and oiled his pair of hand crossbows, all within easy reach. Glint didn’t care for cleansing for the sake of cleansing. To him, Chewy’s obsession was simply a means to an end, and that end was to be paid. While every fight they had disappointed him in the lack of material wealth, he had faith that he would be well paid for his efforts. Soon…maybe. And his skill with those crossbows warranted that faith, as he had demonstrated repeatedly in the vaults below. Many of the Red Wizards and their minions found themselves peppered by his quarrels in the search for more cash.</p><p></p><p>Lounging awake by the fire, lay the sinewy form of the fey druid Zinetra. Like many eladrin from the feywild, her mood reflected the season she projected to people around her. During their fighting she took the countenance of her Archfey, the Coure of Mischief and Strife. It was cold look, her hair frosty blues and whites with eyes of solid piercing blue. But now she was in between the seasons; winter was melting away from cold ice to warm spring, her hair and eyes were drifting to match as her winter exterior thawed. But her stated reason for being there was to in the words of her Archfey, to ‘Liven up Thay.’ It was an absurd notion, that only the powerful denizens of the Feywild would even care about Thay’s gaiety or its lack of humor and ‘fun.’ But clearly someone did, and by all that twisted logic, it meant that bring down the ossifying evil of Szass Tam was the best way to accomplish it.</p><p></p><p>Last there was Arnara, the silver haired Moon elf from a noble family in the Misty Forest who sat cross legged on the ground, her chin in one of her hands. She had come on a mission of desperation, looking for forbidden necromantic knowledge horded by Szass Tam. But now, her eyes were open and unfocused, as she experienced her Reverie. Her rapier was leaning against a column has her hands pulled idly on a torc she wore around her neck. After a while, her eyes fluttered as her consciousness refocused on the now. She sighed and clambered to her feet and stretched. As she did so, she noticed that Zinetra was still awake staring into the fire with a dreamy smile, as she waved her hand and small figures danced within to her delight.</p><p></p><p>Arnara looked at the Eldarin for along moment. She then gathered her courage and approached the druid, and knelt down beside her and asked, “Zinetra? Do you have a moment?”</p><p></p><p>Zinetra laid on her blanket continued to watch the figures in the fire dance to her amusement, and without turning said, “Certainly, what is it?”</p><p></p><p>“So... thank you for...saving my life. That spell nearly froze me to death...I appreciate it—”</p><p></p><p>“—I wouldn’t be a member of the Circle of Wildfire if I were to allow you to be frozen to death, my kin,” Zinetra said still looking at the dancers in the flames.”</p><p></p><p>Arnara continued, “I had a question though. Well first, I should say that you are the first Eladrin I have ever met, and when I heard that one was going to be on this journey to Thay, I was excited. And now I have spent time with you...you seem so...happy. Not inside the Doomvault mind you…when you have winter’s glory on display you are anything but. But at each rest you seem to warm up or thaw. How...how do you do it? I mean...coming here because an Archfey thinks it needs livening up.... It just what I imagine the Seelie Court doing on a whim. And yet, you seem undaunted and unaffected by the horrors here. And then as we rest, it’s like nothing ever happened."</p><p></p><p>Zinetra cracked a small smile onto her face as she glanced at Arnara, “It's not that I am not bothered at all by the horrors here. But by knowing that by facing them the change that we shall bring for the better. My... mother has done many things on whim before this being one of them, but in the end by bringing the already dead to rest will return them to nature, it will make the unchanging anew through rebirth.”</p><p></p><p>Arnara chuckled, “I suppose that's a better way of looking at it when Chewy decides to cleanse things."</p><p></p><p>Zinetra glanced at Arnara nodding, “Yes indeed, there certainly is a fire within that one for purging the evil from this place.”</p><p></p><p>Arnara looked at the stone awkwardly, struggling to find the words she wanted to say, “As a druid of your faith...do you...lead and advise others?"</p><p></p><p>She looks into the fire for a moment and then skyward in the grotto, “I did once try to lead, and let us just say I am not particularly suitable for such tasks. No, I tend to advise or carry out tasks assigned by the Seelie Court.”</p><p></p><p>Arnara shifted nervously, “I... well...I feel...lost. Exhausted. I left home only five months ago and feels that joy and happiness are distant memories. Before my cousins Casia, Zyana and Palas had died fighting to save our home, I was...free to do what I wanted...but I was not happy. I can’t remember the last time I was. But since then, I've had to step up. Be responsible. Be prepared to lead our house. Set an example for others. But since their deaths, it seemed that joy and happiness were even a more distant dream than before.</p><p></p><p>Then I ran from my responsibilities...but all I did was find myself responsible for a group of <em>N'Tel'Quessir.</em> And then I watched two of them die as I tried to lead them. You would think after doing a great job for a baron, I would be happy, but all I can do is remember are Ametrine’s and Pyrite’s deaths. And then we saved the world from a horror we found. That we did to break the Soulmonger and defeat Acererak, saved untold number of souls. I even saved one of our companions from a fate of forever trapped in a piece of stone. But instead of contentment of doing the right thing, all I feel is and grief over the one soul I found...me; a twisted reflection that the hags used for their ends and amusement.</p><p></p><p>“I can't remember the last time I felt true joy. Or smiled. Only the tears. Sadness. Loathing. The only bright spot started as a twisted quirk of fate; a companion that had a passing resemblance to my cousin, Palas that I dearly loved and missed.”</p><p></p><p>“What happened to him?” Zinetra said sitting up fully and looking at the Moon elf with concern.</p><p></p><p>“It wasn’t just him…my elder cousins perished defending the Misty Forest from a horde of hobgoblins. But him…I saw Palas’ face in this…impetuous <em>Ha’Tel-Quessir </em>named Rafelor.”</p><p></p><p>“And who is this Rafelor to you?” Zinetra said as she leaned forward closer to Arnara.</p><p></p><p>“When I first met him, he seemed…a fool. No social graces, his ignorance on social mores, the worst type of round ear you could ask for. But he had…a spark. A passion, like Palas did. It was uncanny. I took him under my wing and taught him wizardry and opened his mind to the secrets of Bladesong. But while my pride swelled with his accomplishments, it all would be swallowed up again by everything else. Such that even what should have been true joy, was muted or twisted into sorrow of what should have been. And sorrow is all I felt then…and fell now. All the sorrow I have brought my family. All that I delivered to my father; a poor exchange in comparison of what I took from him.</p><p></p><p>“And while I don't know what you have done or seen...I'm envious. You seem far more centered than I. Makes me wonder if I am doing something wrong. Or if something is wrong with me. That all I can do now is carry burdens for others so they can smile or create them so they hate me. But those happy moments are just…denied to me now.”</p><p></p><p>Zinetra listened quietly and frowned. She reached for Arnara’s shoulder and said with compassion, “There is nothing wrong with you at all. I am not perfect, none of us are. Sometimes despite trying our best we will only find bitter despair at the end of the tunnel. You have been feeling lost, but there is always a way out of the darkness and into the light. Feeling that grief for lost comrades tells us how dear they may have been. Despite this though, if you know that you did everything you could have done at the time, then the best thing you can do is to remember them and treasure their memory in your heart. And now here you stand not being a bystander to her pain but are trying to help your sister."</p><p></p><p>“These burdens you hold should not be shouldered alone, allow the people who care about you to help and support you in order to overcome these obstacles. I myself have my own share of responsibilities but what is important is that you don't let it drown you as it seems to be doing now.”</p><p></p><p>“It does feel like I'm drowning,” Arnara said crying. “And I have asked for so much help recently; from my father, and from Rafelor. But all of that is to help my sister, and not me. And I don’t feel deserving of any of their help, least of all from my father. I’ve caused him so…so much pain and loss. And all I can think about is that I want is to hug and bare my soul to one particular person; a person I sent away thinking it was the right thing to do. And now…now I don't even know if they are alive.”</p><p></p><p>“No winter lasts forever,” Zinetra pointed out. “Spring <strong><em>does</em></strong> come. But sometimes it does take a while. All you need is patience and friends to see you through. Because if they are truly your friends, they will see you through bitter cold. Warmer times are coming; just be patient, and not so hard on yourself.”</p><p></p><p>Arnara sighed, and looked at the druid, “Thanks Zinetra, your advice is...wise.” Arnara closed her eyes for a moment before she looked at the Eladrin, "You know a little of why I am here. How I am, trying to save my sister right?”</p><p></p><p>"Yes, you had mentioned it a few times of how the demon fey had created a sort of clone of yourself and you came here for knowledge on her... condition."</p><p></p><p>Arnara nodded, “I found in the one of the books, the ritual that was used, and I think it can be used to...separate us fully. But I need to be a part of the ritual’s focus, and I can't perform it as such. I need help. I know I don't know you well, beyond being distant kin. But I need someone I can trust to perform it on me...us. Would you...."</p><p></p><p>Zinetra took a moment of pause to consider the request, “Once we have finished here, my responsibilities for the time being will have been completed, I am sure my return to the Feywild can be deferred,” Zinetra smiled and took Arnara’s hands into her own. “I would gladly help with the ritual and help remake the demon fey's twisted magic and restore the balance that has been broken by them.”</p><p></p><p>“Thank you. It means a lot to us...to me.”</p><p></p><p>“On one condition,” Zinetra said solemnly.</p><p></p><p>“And what…what do you require?”</p><p></p><p>“You tell me more about this, ‘Rafelor.’ I am…intrigued.”</p><p></p><p><strong>Session notes:</strong></p><p>So a lot of familar faces at the table, with different characters to their names. Glint was played by the same player as the 'The Blade'...Glint however is far less about justice than about coin. Zinetra was played by my daughter, who played Adrissa, while my son was the DM.</p><p></p><p>Wholesome family fun...if you can consider anything in Thay wholesome.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Nthal, post: 8415407, member: 6971069"] [CENTER][B]Story XVI - Regrets of Innocence Lost[/B][/CENTER] The grotto in Thay was called by Syranna ‘the Gatehouse.’ Embedded deep in the cliffs overlooking Lake Thaylambar, it was little more than a collection of magical circles set into flagstone. But now it acted as a refuge for the four, sealed here beneath the rock and stone. The Doomvault below was challenging, pushing their skills and their emotions to the edge. But now the four rested in the light of their cooking fire, for warmth. The first was Chusi (or ‘Chewy’ as he preferred to be called) who leaned against a column of stone, fast asleep. His golden scales twinkled in the firelight, as did the edges of his great sword, ever at the ready to cleanse evil in the world. In fact, cleansing seemed to be the sole purpose for Chewy. Anyone or anything that remotely gave a whiff of evil, was to be put down. In his eyes, it was too late, and the best course of action was to send them to the afterlife to make proper amends. Next to him, in a nest of blankets and his broad hat covering his head, lay the snoring Glint Dashwell. The halfling had cleaned and oiled his pair of hand crossbows, all within easy reach. Glint didn’t care for cleansing for the sake of cleansing. To him, Chewy’s obsession was simply a means to an end, and that end was to be paid. While every fight they had disappointed him in the lack of material wealth, he had faith that he would be well paid for his efforts. Soon…maybe. And his skill with those crossbows warranted that faith, as he had demonstrated repeatedly in the vaults below. Many of the Red Wizards and their minions found themselves peppered by his quarrels in the search for more cash. Lounging awake by the fire, lay the sinewy form of the fey druid Zinetra. Like many eladrin from the feywild, her mood reflected the season she projected to people around her. During their fighting she took the countenance of her Archfey, the Coure of Mischief and Strife. It was cold look, her hair frosty blues and whites with eyes of solid piercing blue. But now she was in between the seasons; winter was melting away from cold ice to warm spring, her hair and eyes were drifting to match as her winter exterior thawed. But her stated reason for being there was to in the words of her Archfey, to ‘Liven up Thay.’ It was an absurd notion, that only the powerful denizens of the Feywild would even care about Thay’s gaiety or its lack of humor and ‘fun.’ But clearly someone did, and by all that twisted logic, it meant that bring down the ossifying evil of Szass Tam was the best way to accomplish it. Last there was Arnara, the silver haired Moon elf from a noble family in the Misty Forest who sat cross legged on the ground, her chin in one of her hands. She had come on a mission of desperation, looking for forbidden necromantic knowledge horded by Szass Tam. But now, her eyes were open and unfocused, as she experienced her Reverie. Her rapier was leaning against a column has her hands pulled idly on a torc she wore around her neck. After a while, her eyes fluttered as her consciousness refocused on the now. She sighed and clambered to her feet and stretched. As she did so, she noticed that Zinetra was still awake staring into the fire with a dreamy smile, as she waved her hand and small figures danced within to her delight. Arnara looked at the Eldarin for along moment. She then gathered her courage and approached the druid, and knelt down beside her and asked, “Zinetra? Do you have a moment?” Zinetra laid on her blanket continued to watch the figures in the fire dance to her amusement, and without turning said, “Certainly, what is it?” “So... thank you for...saving my life. That spell nearly froze me to death...I appreciate it—” “—I wouldn’t be a member of the Circle of Wildfire if I were to allow you to be frozen to death, my kin,” Zinetra said still looking at the dancers in the flames.” Arnara continued, “I had a question though. Well first, I should say that you are the first Eladrin I have ever met, and when I heard that one was going to be on this journey to Thay, I was excited. And now I have spent time with you...you seem so...happy. Not inside the Doomvault mind you…when you have winter’s glory on display you are anything but. But at each rest you seem to warm up or thaw. How...how do you do it? I mean...coming here because an Archfey thinks it needs livening up.... It just what I imagine the Seelie Court doing on a whim. And yet, you seem undaunted and unaffected by the horrors here. And then as we rest, it’s like nothing ever happened." Zinetra cracked a small smile onto her face as she glanced at Arnara, “It's not that I am not bothered at all by the horrors here. But by knowing that by facing them the change that we shall bring for the better. My... mother has done many things on whim before this being one of them, but in the end by bringing the already dead to rest will return them to nature, it will make the unchanging anew through rebirth.” Arnara chuckled, “I suppose that's a better way of looking at it when Chewy decides to cleanse things." Zinetra glanced at Arnara nodding, “Yes indeed, there certainly is a fire within that one for purging the evil from this place.” Arnara looked at the stone awkwardly, struggling to find the words she wanted to say, “As a druid of your faith...do you...lead and advise others?" She looks into the fire for a moment and then skyward in the grotto, “I did once try to lead, and let us just say I am not particularly suitable for such tasks. No, I tend to advise or carry out tasks assigned by the Seelie Court.” Arnara shifted nervously, “I... well...I feel...lost. Exhausted. I left home only five months ago and feels that joy and happiness are distant memories. Before my cousins Casia, Zyana and Palas had died fighting to save our home, I was...free to do what I wanted...but I was not happy. I can’t remember the last time I was. But since then, I've had to step up. Be responsible. Be prepared to lead our house. Set an example for others. But since their deaths, it seemed that joy and happiness were even a more distant dream than before. Then I ran from my responsibilities...but all I did was find myself responsible for a group of [I]N'Tel'Quessir.[/I] And then I watched two of them die as I tried to lead them. You would think after doing a great job for a baron, I would be happy, but all I can do is remember are Ametrine’s and Pyrite’s deaths. And then we saved the world from a horror we found. That we did to break the Soulmonger and defeat Acererak, saved untold number of souls. I even saved one of our companions from a fate of forever trapped in a piece of stone. But instead of contentment of doing the right thing, all I feel is and grief over the one soul I found...me; a twisted reflection that the hags used for their ends and amusement. “I can't remember the last time I felt true joy. Or smiled. Only the tears. Sadness. Loathing. The only bright spot started as a twisted quirk of fate; a companion that had a passing resemblance to my cousin, Palas that I dearly loved and missed.” “What happened to him?” Zinetra said sitting up fully and looking at the Moon elf with concern. “It wasn’t just him…my elder cousins perished defending the Misty Forest from a horde of hobgoblins. But him…I saw Palas’ face in this…impetuous [I]Ha’Tel-Quessir [/I]named Rafelor.” “And who is this Rafelor to you?” Zinetra said as she leaned forward closer to Arnara. “When I first met him, he seemed…a fool. No social graces, his ignorance on social mores, the worst type of round ear you could ask for. But he had…a spark. A passion, like Palas did. It was uncanny. I took him under my wing and taught him wizardry and opened his mind to the secrets of Bladesong. But while my pride swelled with his accomplishments, it all would be swallowed up again by everything else. Such that even what should have been true joy, was muted or twisted into sorrow of what should have been. And sorrow is all I felt then…and fell now. All the sorrow I have brought my family. All that I delivered to my father; a poor exchange in comparison of what I took from him. “And while I don't know what you have done or seen...I'm envious. You seem far more centered than I. Makes me wonder if I am doing something wrong. Or if something is wrong with me. That all I can do now is carry burdens for others so they can smile or create them so they hate me. But those happy moments are just…denied to me now.” Zinetra listened quietly and frowned. She reached for Arnara’s shoulder and said with compassion, “There is nothing wrong with you at all. I am not perfect, none of us are. Sometimes despite trying our best we will only find bitter despair at the end of the tunnel. You have been feeling lost, but there is always a way out of the darkness and into the light. Feeling that grief for lost comrades tells us how dear they may have been. Despite this though, if you know that you did everything you could have done at the time, then the best thing you can do is to remember them and treasure their memory in your heart. And now here you stand not being a bystander to her pain but are trying to help your sister." “These burdens you hold should not be shouldered alone, allow the people who care about you to help and support you in order to overcome these obstacles. I myself have my own share of responsibilities but what is important is that you don't let it drown you as it seems to be doing now.” “It does feel like I'm drowning,” Arnara said crying. “And I have asked for so much help recently; from my father, and from Rafelor. But all of that is to help my sister, and not me. And I don’t feel deserving of any of their help, least of all from my father. I’ve caused him so…so much pain and loss. And all I can think about is that I want is to hug and bare my soul to one particular person; a person I sent away thinking it was the right thing to do. And now…now I don't even know if they are alive.” “No winter lasts forever,” Zinetra pointed out. “Spring [B][I]does[/I][/B] come. But sometimes it does take a while. All you need is patience and friends to see you through. Because if they are truly your friends, they will see you through bitter cold. Warmer times are coming; just be patient, and not so hard on yourself.” Arnara sighed, and looked at the druid, “Thanks Zinetra, your advice is...wise.” Arnara closed her eyes for a moment before she looked at the Eladrin, "You know a little of why I am here. How I am, trying to save my sister right?” "Yes, you had mentioned it a few times of how the demon fey had created a sort of clone of yourself and you came here for knowledge on her... condition." Arnara nodded, “I found in the one of the books, the ritual that was used, and I think it can be used to...separate us fully. But I need to be a part of the ritual’s focus, and I can't perform it as such. I need help. I know I don't know you well, beyond being distant kin. But I need someone I can trust to perform it on me...us. Would you...." Zinetra took a moment of pause to consider the request, “Once we have finished here, my responsibilities for the time being will have been completed, I am sure my return to the Feywild can be deferred,” Zinetra smiled and took Arnara’s hands into her own. “I would gladly help with the ritual and help remake the demon fey's twisted magic and restore the balance that has been broken by them.” “Thank you. It means a lot to us...to me.” “On one condition,” Zinetra said solemnly. “And what…what do you require?” “You tell me more about this, ‘Rafelor.’ I am…intrigued.” [B]Session notes:[/B] So a lot of familar faces at the table, with different characters to their names. Glint was played by the same player as the 'The Blade'...Glint however is far less about justice than about coin. Zinetra was played by my daughter, who played Adrissa, while my son was the DM. Wholesome family fun...if you can consider anything in Thay wholesome. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
Session Stories - Moments in Roleplaying (updated 6/15/2023)
Top