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Session Stories - Moments in Roleplaying (updated 6/15/2023)
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<blockquote data-quote="Nthal" data-source="post: 8536166" data-attributes="member: 6971069"><p>So this story is one of the last ones about Arnara I that I plan to publish for a while; she hasn't been active in a campaign to play in after all. But this one needs a bit of setup.</p><p></p><p>We were in between ideas for a campaign, and I had an terrible terrible idea that I just had to do. I offered to the group that I would run a oneshot for a single evening, that was going to be a grand melee of sorts. Several rules: </p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">They could bring a single character from a prior campaign</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">That character would be at level 20.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Each character could have 1 legendary, 2 very rare, 2 rare, and and 3 uncommon/commons.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">The legendary could not be a named item, but it had to be unique in the party.<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Chosen were: The Robe of the Arch Magi, Luck Blade, Vorpal Blade, Rod of Lordly Might, Staff of the Magi, and Cloak of Invisibility</li> </ol></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Several items were banned as needed: <ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Scrolls of the Comet or Tarrasque summoning, or Nether scroll of Azumar. Legendary ban: Gloves of Soul catching. Very Rare ban: Illusionist Bracers</li> </ol></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">The combat would allow for several short rests, but there would be no long rests.</li> </ol><p>So several characters I have written about were selected, notably Sage Redoubt, Adrissa, Rafelor, Hawthorn (with Yaka), Shalai and Kianna. The last thing I told them was the name of the one shot was <em><strong>Thay Slay Right. </strong></em>They arrived and were told that the Zulkirs of Thay were fighting over who would be the next leader, as Szass Tam couldn't be bothered with it anymore. So the other seven Zulkirs, summoned something and were using the city of Waterdeep as the battleground, and had manage to trap key figures in in the Castle with a barrier.</p><p></p><p>What the event was based one was the Holy Grail War from the anime <strong><em>Fate Stay/Night, </em></strong>with some elements of the story from Unlimited Blade Works, Fate Zero all mixed up. Then I rolled up the Heroic spirits, some using stats from published sources and buffing them (primary stat at 30, con at 30, Legendary actions equal to party minus 1.) Each of the heroic spirits was accompanied by a lich in a modified version of Ottiluke resilent sphere (it couldn't be moved). If they could defeat the lich, the spirit would join them. If they beat the spirit, the lich perishes. Also the Spirits would take shots at each other as well to balance things out. Who were the Spirits? The Spirits were from the history of D&D...mostly. They were:</p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Round 1<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Lancer - Aeren from Ebberon, cast as a Valanar warrior with a double scimitar.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Saber - Aribeth de Tyrmarande, as based on the Minsc and Boo's guide to Villany, and buffed oathbreaker abilities.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Archer - Pentar from Planescape, Factol of the Doomguard as a Arcane Archer.</li> </ul></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Short rest, then Round 2<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Rider - Kitiara Uth Matar from Dragonlance with Skie, an Ancient Blue Dragon. Kitiara was a Cavalier</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Assassin - Aran Linvail, Guild Master of the Shadow Thieves of Amn, rogue Assasin</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Berzerker - The Lord of Blades, from Eberron. He was just slightly modified from the source material, and he's an artificer.</li> </ul></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Short rest, then Round 3<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Caster - Arnara from the future, a level 20 Bladesinger who could use the spell slots of the lich and her own. (she did open with a Meteor Swarm, and cast Foresight on herself.)</li> </ul></li> </ul><p>They managed to rescue Saber, and also managed to rescue Arnara. Then Szass Tam revealed himself, and the fact it was all a ploy to have the other Zulkirs die, and power his monstricity Grailitus, which was based off of Tromokratis from the Mythic Odyesseys of Theros.</p><p></p><p>It was challenging, and as a one shot it was for entertainment. So I wasn't trying to kill everyone. But we had fun with the Epilogue as we tied several families together in the future from two campaigns.</p><p></p><p>So enjoy!</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><strong>Story XXII – The End of All Things</strong></p><p></p><p>All Rafelor could feel was exhaustion, as he slid down the wall of a house in Waterdeep. Nearby the corpse of the magical corruption of the Weave was slowly, dissolving into nothingness. It took all they had to bring it down, and it very nearly killed them, as it swallowed up some of them alive. In fact, if wasn’t for the earlier actions of the group, they would have certainly perished, Rafelor thought.</p><p></p><p>Earlier in the night, they managed to rescue a damned soul from the clutches of a lich, and with her help they were able to defeat the summoned heroes and villains from ages past, present or future. The one that fought at their side was the infamous Aribeth de Tyrmarande. Rafelor didn’t remember a lot about her, other than she almost destroyed Neverwinter over a century ago. That seemed to earn her a trip to the Nine Hells where she had been burning ever since. But at this moment, saving Waterdeep at the cost of herself, may have redeemed her in the end. Or so he hoped. But it wasn’t her that Rafelor was concerned with, but the second person.</p><p></p><p>Taking a deep breath, Rafelor groaned and stood up again, and looked for his mentor. He found her standing and looking over the city, her moonblade point down on the stone. She was not garbed in her normal flowing dresses or skirts, but instead was strapped into a form fitting black leather garment festooned with golden locks and cords sealed with metal. Eldritch runes and sigils were stamped all over the dark surface and over the seals and locks. All to keep her from using her own considerable power to escape and destroy it. The lich that summoned her as a tool but was right to fear her, for once set free loose from her chains, she was perhaps one of the most dangerous women that Rafelor knew.</p><p></p><p>But the woman before him seemed different than the one he saw recently. First was the moonblade she bore. It was unfamiliar to him edged with bright mithril silver and seven glowing runes along the fuller. He knew it must have been the blade that forged her house thousands of years ago. But he had no idea she had found it and had claimed its power. Her hair was no longer in the bob she usually preferred, but her silver hair was now long, and drifted around her shoulders. She gazed over the devastation they had wrought over the city, pulling on the gloves in annoyance, the locks unwilling to give. She then heard Rafelor’s approach and turned to look at him with a smile.</p><p></p><p>“I don’t suppose you have a knife and could…cut my hands out their prison. Rafelor nodded, and pulled a dirk from his belt, and quickly cut the bands of leather binding the leather to her wrists. She pulled them off and dropped them to the charred earth and rubbed her wrists, massaging feeling back into them.</p><p></p><p>“Thank you,” the elf said, as she looked at her former student. She stepped closer to him, and for the first time tonight, Rafelor could see her face clearly. She smiled warmly but she still seemed distant as she reached out to touch the half-elf on the cheek with her now freed hand. Her gaze at him was pained as she sighed, and she seemed to be looking at him as if he were a distant memory. As he reached up to touch her hand, he noticed her eyes had changed. Where once before they were a bright blue, they now had cataracts of crescent moons, their points down in them partially obscuring her pupils and part of her iris. But it clearly didn’t interfere with her own vision as she smiled at his touch.</p><p></p><p>“Your eyes—” Rafelor stammered.</p><p></p><p>Arnara nodded slowly, “I will explain. But I do not have a lot of time.”</p><p></p><p>“You look diff—”</p><p></p><p>“Rafelor…this might be hard for you to understand. But I’m not Arnara. I’m probably in the Misty Forest now doing…something. I…am not <strong><em>real.</em></strong>”</p><p></p><p>“You’re right. I don’t understand this.” Rafelor said confused.</p><p></p><p>“The Zulkirs…used a Netherese spell to conjure us to fight here. But their conjurations sought out strong souls, noble or fell. But it didn’t summon the souls, but rather it made a kind of simulacrum of us. The ritual knew no boundaries, pulling in souls from other planes and in my case, time. The others,” and she pointed with her chin at Aribeth, “May not even realize the truth as I do. We have gaps in our memories, but not on who we are…or were. But even though I am not a real person, I…feel. The wind in my face, the emotions in my heart, the pain…all of it.”</p><p></p><p>Arnara took the dirk from Rafelor and then turned and looked at the city and scrunched her face, “This has to almost what…around 1500? I’m guessing that as Undermountain is still there, and not a crater in the earth.” turning around she smiled again at the confused Rafelor. “My memories are hazy on a lot of details; I’m not a perfect copy after all. But I am from around 2400 Dale Reckoning. In my time the city looks much different. It’s grown beyond the walls and magic powers so many things. But the world is very different too. There are far fewer <em>Tel’Quessir</em>. Most of the <em>Teu</em> left on the Second Retreat, as did many of the <em>Sy </em>and <em>Or</em>. That included the rest of my house. But it matters little now; my eyes,” Arnara gestures at the cataracts, “wopuld be the Seldarine’s way of saying ‘it is your time to go to home Arvandor, we call you.’”</p><p></p><p>“No, I can’t lose you now!”</p><p></p><p>“Raf…I’m a simulacrum remember? Arnara is at home. And I won't be going to Arvandor...or anywhere else.” she looked down and furrows her brow a moment. “But for me this is still difficult. As I said, I...I still feel all Arnara would have. And for me, I last saw you over six centuries ago. You were a distant memory in my mind for a long time.”</p><p></p><p>“What you <em>forgot</em> me?”</p><p></p><p>“No…never. The Reveries would never let me…in this life or the next. And seeing you again brings with it all the memories of that time we spent with each other…and the sorrow of losing you. And it is wonderful to see you as you again.”</p><p></p><p>“I don’t understand.”</p><p></p><p>“You passed away six centuries ago,” Rafelor’s jaw dropped as he realized that this Arnara had lived many times his own and was finally approaching the end of her own life. “But I saw you constantly, as I watched you and yours grow older. I saw you in your children, they grew and called me ‘Auntie Arnara,’ had children of their own, and passed on themselves.”</p><p></p><p>“What really? Not 1st Aunt of House Ustina? And children? How many?”</p><p></p><p>Arnara pursed her lips together, “I don’t know what I should or should not tell you. Your future isn’t written yet, and nor has it for the real me here. This Arnara may not be the one that arrives at the end. But I can tell you that for me, I watched your family grow. I saw over twenty generations of your family carry the Ustina name. And together they had more children, and they then passed beyond the veil. But I have seen you in all of them, and I have felt your passing in each one too.” She clutched her upper arms with her hands as she shivered at the memories. “It’s why elves as a rule do not spend long periods of time with shorter lived races. You may not see it often, but <em>Tel’Quessir</em> are full of powerful emotions. We hold them close, and do not show them often in public, and sometimes not even in private. But with humans, and others we choose not to form close bonds, because we wish to spare ourselves the pain. The pain of caring for someone that is a for us only a momentary bright flicker in our memories and hearts. A memory too short for the pain we feel.”</p><p></p><p>Arnara looked down a moment and sighs, “I broke that rule, watching your family for centuries. I could not look away; I didn’t want to. So, in my mind, all of you were ‘Rafelor’ in some way or form. It made it easier considering you all kept writing journals. So many that I had to create a simulacrum of myself whose sole job was keep track of them and to correct them. There probably is a small wing in Candlekeep now with the collection. But it made the pain of every generation passing on almost bearable. I could read their experiences even though I wasn’t there. Understood their hopes and fears and dreams. Every one of them.</p><p></p><p>“But now after watching so many of your kin depart, I am sad that it is now I who must finally leave. As I said I don’t have a lot of time. I can feel the spell the Zulkir’s wove unravelling, and I will soon dissipate back into the Weave. But I still feel the bittersweet pleasure of seeing you, as you, for a final time. As she would.”</p><p></p><p>Rafelor stood there stunned at what she said. Confused at how she wasn’t Arnara yet and so calm at her approaching end. That she wasn’t destined for Arvandor but was simply to melt away like winter’s snow in the spring. It seemed unfair to create such a copy and to give it joy and pain, like any other person and be cursed with the knowledge that she isn’t even real.</p><p></p><p>“I guess you and Apolyta have something in common then.” Rafelor quipped.</p><p></p><p>Arnara chuckled, “You are right…we do. I am sorry I do not have time to see her again. It’s been a while.”</p><p></p><p>“What happens to the others? Can you tell me?”</p><p></p><p>Anara sat down on a stone wall for a moment and used Rafelor’s dirk to slice away cords that bound a pair of high boots to her legs. She spoke as wrestled to pull each of her feet free from their prison. “Well, Hawthorn starts his own family…and Yaka becomes a treasured heirloom. Once Hawthorn passed away, Yaka would talk less and less and fall into a deep sleep on the mantle. But every couple of generations, someone would touch him, and wake him up and they’d harangue Hawthorn’s descendant for the rest of their life. The last time it was one of the girls was dared to lick it which got her quite a tirade. But, It’s happened at least seven or ten times now.” Freeing her feet, Arnara wiggled and stretched her toes, feeling the ash and dirt with them as she continued. “I remember that at some point their house blends with another one in Amphail…the Grosks I believe. It was a big wedding to say the least; the affair lasted a tenday. But I was busy tracking your family’s descendants, so I didn’t follow them as closely, sorry.</p><p></p><p>“As for the others from our party, I remember that on one of Myrai’s visits, she took Shalai to Eberron, to a place called Adar to meet some ‘kindred spirits’. I know that Adrissa and Sage and I met at some point as well. She adopted a needy child or two, and she and Sage took time to raise them. The rest, all drifted in different directions, and I lost track of them.”</p><p></p><p>“What about Apolyta?”</p><p></p><p>Arnara looked uncomfortable but smiled nonetheless, “I was proud of her. She found the Moonblade of the house, but—” and Arnara frowned a moment and shook her head. “—It didn’t give her the peace she wanted. The <em>Sy’Tel’Quessier</em> never accepted her as one of their own. They didn’t trust the hags and were suspicious of the High Magic used. I always wondered if I could have done something different that would have made her feel at home with us, and them with her. But, in the end, it created a rift between my house and our <em>Sy’Quessir </em>kin. It became a such a sore point, I moved everything and everyone to Evereska.”</p><p></p><p>“Moving the house sounds like a lot of annoying problems.”</p><p></p><p>“Well…I moved everything, not just my kin. The tree, the mansion, <strong><em>everything.</em></strong> The <em>Sy</em> wanted to wipe away the mansion down to nothing. To ‘remove the taint of magic’ they said. So, I chose not to leave it for the others to repurpose. I was angry; I felt that we had done nothing to earn their distrust. But it was perhaps simply time to leave. Melandrach didn’t want us to either, but he released us from our duties.</p><p></p><p>“That tree and the estate was our house for almost seven millennia; since ancient Illefarn, the Ardeep kingdom, and the second Illefarn. Before the <em>Sy </em>came and claimed the Misty Forest. And I did ask the tree’s opinion before I did it, and he was fine with a new place to grow. And with a ritual I moved it all to Evereska, and there Apolyta found some measure of peace, and she remained with us for a long time. But Avandor called for her, and she departed a century ago. She was happy that the Seldarine wanted her.”</p><p></p><p>“Did you ever have your own children?”</p><p></p><p>Arnara leaned back and looked at the moon, Selune above with a smile. “I found someone acceptable and had three wonderful children. Two remained in the house, and the third joined another in Evereska. I’m proud of what they have become. Less happy of having said goodbye to two of them already.”</p><p></p><p>“I’m glad you and your husband—”</p><p></p><p>“I did not marry my mate.” Arnara corrected. “We agreed to raise children together. We cared for each other dearly, but we never married. That’s not uncommon for elves to do that; to mate for children and marry another for love. It’s rare for a head of a house to do it, but…well…it’s done.”</p><p></p><p>“And I bet that Myrai has already passed on. Did you—”</p><p></p><p>Arnara shook her head, “Myrai was with me. As it turned out, she…she was going to outlive me by about a millennium. But as to what happens…I don’t know what my fate would be.” Arnara looked at the Moonblade next to her and sighed. “Binding oneself to a Moonblade comes with great responsibility. I didn’t want to particularly do it, nor was I planning to do so. But circumstances required me to make a choice. You see, every wielder spends time as…part of the blade when they pass on. I would spend time with my ancestors within the blade and guide the next wielder and delay going to Arvandor and my rebirth…for seven bearers of that blade. It does assume that someday my son or one of his line will take up the blade.</p><p></p><p>Arnara looked at Rafelor with a sad look. “But if the sword believes it has accomplished all it must, and then it will free all the souls, and become a beautiful heirloom. But it is possible that none of it will happen. I don’t know. I just know what this…Arnara saw. Perhaps it will not come to pass. Perhaps something better or worse will instead.</p><p></p><p>Arnara smiled as she looked at her friend. “But I don’t regret it, despite it not really being me and none of it real yet for the real me. But you did save me. If they had won…I don’t want to think what could have happened, trapped in their control. But I’m sure that Szass Tam would have treated my family poorly. So, thank you for that.” Anara smiled again and stood. She embraced the half-elf and rubbed Rafelor’s neck as she lay her forehead against his chest. They stood there quietly for a moment, with only the hint of sniffle coming from her.</p><p></p><p>Suddenly she inhaled and looked Rafelor in the eyes again and returned to him the dirk she had borrowed. “It’s time. Please cut the rest of the leather away from my body. It is holding me here unnaturally, and it quite frankly hurts a lot.”</p><p></p><p>“Right…” Rafelor murmured, as he started to cut the straps along her back, that bound tightly the eldritch garment to her, starting with the locked leather bustier, and then he cut away more straps underneath freeing her arms from the sleeved top. Finally, he cut away as the cords bound with once molten metal that held the tight pantaloons onto her hips. With a quick series of slices, he shredded the cords that held the leather to her thighs and calves. She shook off the garment, and it fell away revealing her smooth white skin, now aglow with the power of the Weave. Right then, the moonlight struck her naked form, nearly blinding Rafelor as her body gave off an iridescent glow. She turned and gave an impish smile to Rafelor and spoke, as her form dissipated into motes of light as the Weave claimed her.</p><p></p><p>“<em>Al Hond Ebrath Rafelor, Uol Tath Shantar En Tath Lalala Ol Hond Ebrath. Avluve’ Tyss.”*</em></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>* Rafelor, A True Friend, As The Trees And The Water Are True Friends. Farewell Cousin.”</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Nthal, post: 8536166, member: 6971069"] So this story is one of the last ones about Arnara I that I plan to publish for a while; she hasn't been active in a campaign to play in after all. But this one needs a bit of setup. We were in between ideas for a campaign, and I had an terrible terrible idea that I just had to do. I offered to the group that I would run a oneshot for a single evening, that was going to be a grand melee of sorts. Several rules: [LIST=1] [*]They could bring a single character from a prior campaign [*]That character would be at level 20. [*]Each character could have 1 legendary, 2 very rare, 2 rare, and and 3 uncommon/commons. [*]The legendary could not be a named item, but it had to be unique in the party. [LIST=1] [*]Chosen were: The Robe of the Arch Magi, Luck Blade, Vorpal Blade, Rod of Lordly Might, Staff of the Magi, and Cloak of Invisibility [/LIST] [*]Several items were banned as needed: [LIST=1] [*]Scrolls of the Comet or Tarrasque summoning, or Nether scroll of Azumar. Legendary ban: Gloves of Soul catching. Very Rare ban: Illusionist Bracers [/LIST] [*]The combat would allow for several short rests, but there would be no long rests. [/LIST] So several characters I have written about were selected, notably Sage Redoubt, Adrissa, Rafelor, Hawthorn (with Yaka), Shalai and Kianna. The last thing I told them was the name of the one shot was [I][B]Thay Slay Right. [/B][/I]They arrived and were told that the Zulkirs of Thay were fighting over who would be the next leader, as Szass Tam couldn't be bothered with it anymore. So the other seven Zulkirs, summoned something and were using the city of Waterdeep as the battleground, and had manage to trap key figures in in the Castle with a barrier. What the event was based one was the Holy Grail War from the anime [B][I]Fate Stay/Night, [/I][/B]with some elements of the story from Unlimited Blade Works, Fate Zero all mixed up. Then I rolled up the Heroic spirits, some using stats from published sources and buffing them (primary stat at 30, con at 30, Legendary actions equal to party minus 1.) Each of the heroic spirits was accompanied by a lich in a modified version of Ottiluke resilent sphere (it couldn't be moved). If they could defeat the lich, the spirit would join them. If they beat the spirit, the lich perishes. Also the Spirits would take shots at each other as well to balance things out. Who were the Spirits? The Spirits were from the history of D&D...mostly. They were: [LIST] [*]Round 1 [LIST] [*]Lancer - Aeren from Ebberon, cast as a Valanar warrior with a double scimitar. [*]Saber - Aribeth de Tyrmarande, as based on the Minsc and Boo's guide to Villany, and buffed oathbreaker abilities. [*]Archer - Pentar from Planescape, Factol of the Doomguard as a Arcane Archer. [/LIST] [*]Short rest, then Round 2 [LIST] [*]Rider - Kitiara Uth Matar from Dragonlance with Skie, an Ancient Blue Dragon. Kitiara was a Cavalier [*]Assassin - Aran Linvail, Guild Master of the Shadow Thieves of Amn, rogue Assasin [*]Berzerker - The Lord of Blades, from Eberron. He was just slightly modified from the source material, and he's an artificer. [/LIST] [*]Short rest, then Round 3 [LIST] [*]Caster - Arnara from the future, a level 20 Bladesinger who could use the spell slots of the lich and her own. (she did open with a Meteor Swarm, and cast Foresight on herself.) [/LIST] [/LIST] They managed to rescue Saber, and also managed to rescue Arnara. Then Szass Tam revealed himself, and the fact it was all a ploy to have the other Zulkirs die, and power his monstricity Grailitus, which was based off of Tromokratis from the Mythic Odyesseys of Theros. It was challenging, and as a one shot it was for entertainment. So I wasn't trying to kill everyone. But we had fun with the Epilogue as we tied several families together in the future from two campaigns. So enjoy! [CENTER][B]Story XXII – The End of All Things[/B][/CENTER] All Rafelor could feel was exhaustion, as he slid down the wall of a house in Waterdeep. Nearby the corpse of the magical corruption of the Weave was slowly, dissolving into nothingness. It took all they had to bring it down, and it very nearly killed them, as it swallowed up some of them alive. In fact, if wasn’t for the earlier actions of the group, they would have certainly perished, Rafelor thought. Earlier in the night, they managed to rescue a damned soul from the clutches of a lich, and with her help they were able to defeat the summoned heroes and villains from ages past, present or future. The one that fought at their side was the infamous Aribeth de Tyrmarande. Rafelor didn’t remember a lot about her, other than she almost destroyed Neverwinter over a century ago. That seemed to earn her a trip to the Nine Hells where she had been burning ever since. But at this moment, saving Waterdeep at the cost of herself, may have redeemed her in the end. Or so he hoped. But it wasn’t her that Rafelor was concerned with, but the second person. Taking a deep breath, Rafelor groaned and stood up again, and looked for his mentor. He found her standing and looking over the city, her moonblade point down on the stone. She was not garbed in her normal flowing dresses or skirts, but instead was strapped into a form fitting black leather garment festooned with golden locks and cords sealed with metal. Eldritch runes and sigils were stamped all over the dark surface and over the seals and locks. All to keep her from using her own considerable power to escape and destroy it. The lich that summoned her as a tool but was right to fear her, for once set free loose from her chains, she was perhaps one of the most dangerous women that Rafelor knew. But the woman before him seemed different than the one he saw recently. First was the moonblade she bore. It was unfamiliar to him edged with bright mithril silver and seven glowing runes along the fuller. He knew it must have been the blade that forged her house thousands of years ago. But he had no idea she had found it and had claimed its power. Her hair was no longer in the bob she usually preferred, but her silver hair was now long, and drifted around her shoulders. She gazed over the devastation they had wrought over the city, pulling on the gloves in annoyance, the locks unwilling to give. She then heard Rafelor’s approach and turned to look at him with a smile. “I don’t suppose you have a knife and could…cut my hands out their prison. Rafelor nodded, and pulled a dirk from his belt, and quickly cut the bands of leather binding the leather to her wrists. She pulled them off and dropped them to the charred earth and rubbed her wrists, massaging feeling back into them. “Thank you,” the elf said, as she looked at her former student. She stepped closer to him, and for the first time tonight, Rafelor could see her face clearly. She smiled warmly but she still seemed distant as she reached out to touch the half-elf on the cheek with her now freed hand. Her gaze at him was pained as she sighed, and she seemed to be looking at him as if he were a distant memory. As he reached up to touch her hand, he noticed her eyes had changed. Where once before they were a bright blue, they now had cataracts of crescent moons, their points down in them partially obscuring her pupils and part of her iris. But it clearly didn’t interfere with her own vision as she smiled at his touch. “Your eyes—” Rafelor stammered. Arnara nodded slowly, “I will explain. But I do not have a lot of time.” “You look diff—” “Rafelor…this might be hard for you to understand. But I’m not Arnara. I’m probably in the Misty Forest now doing…something. I…am not [B][I]real.[/I][/B]” “You’re right. I don’t understand this.” Rafelor said confused. “The Zulkirs…used a Netherese spell to conjure us to fight here. But their conjurations sought out strong souls, noble or fell. But it didn’t summon the souls, but rather it made a kind of simulacrum of us. The ritual knew no boundaries, pulling in souls from other planes and in my case, time. The others,” and she pointed with her chin at Aribeth, “May not even realize the truth as I do. We have gaps in our memories, but not on who we are…or were. But even though I am not a real person, I…feel. The wind in my face, the emotions in my heart, the pain…all of it.” Arnara took the dirk from Rafelor and then turned and looked at the city and scrunched her face, “This has to almost what…around 1500? I’m guessing that as Undermountain is still there, and not a crater in the earth.” turning around she smiled again at the confused Rafelor. “My memories are hazy on a lot of details; I’m not a perfect copy after all. But I am from around 2400 Dale Reckoning. In my time the city looks much different. It’s grown beyond the walls and magic powers so many things. But the world is very different too. There are far fewer [I]Tel’Quessir[/I]. Most of the [I]Teu[/I] left on the Second Retreat, as did many of the [I]Sy [/I]and [I]Or[/I]. That included the rest of my house. But it matters little now; my eyes,” Arnara gestures at the cataracts, “wopuld be the Seldarine’s way of saying ‘it is your time to go to home Arvandor, we call you.’” “No, I can’t lose you now!” “Raf…I’m a simulacrum remember? Arnara is at home. And I won't be going to Arvandor...or anywhere else.” she looked down and furrows her brow a moment. “But for me this is still difficult. As I said, I...I still feel all Arnara would have. And for me, I last saw you over six centuries ago. You were a distant memory in my mind for a long time.” “What you [I]forgot[/I] me?” “No…never. The Reveries would never let me…in this life or the next. And seeing you again brings with it all the memories of that time we spent with each other…and the sorrow of losing you. And it is wonderful to see you as you again.” “I don’t understand.” “You passed away six centuries ago,” Rafelor’s jaw dropped as he realized that this Arnara had lived many times his own and was finally approaching the end of her own life. “But I saw you constantly, as I watched you and yours grow older. I saw you in your children, they grew and called me ‘Auntie Arnara,’ had children of their own, and passed on themselves.” “What really? Not 1st Aunt of House Ustina? And children? How many?” Arnara pursed her lips together, “I don’t know what I should or should not tell you. Your future isn’t written yet, and nor has it for the real me here. This Arnara may not be the one that arrives at the end. But I can tell you that for me, I watched your family grow. I saw over twenty generations of your family carry the Ustina name. And together they had more children, and they then passed beyond the veil. But I have seen you in all of them, and I have felt your passing in each one too.” She clutched her upper arms with her hands as she shivered at the memories. “It’s why elves as a rule do not spend long periods of time with shorter lived races. You may not see it often, but [I]Tel’Quessir[/I] are full of powerful emotions. We hold them close, and do not show them often in public, and sometimes not even in private. But with humans, and others we choose not to form close bonds, because we wish to spare ourselves the pain. The pain of caring for someone that is a for us only a momentary bright flicker in our memories and hearts. A memory too short for the pain we feel.” Arnara looked down a moment and sighs, “I broke that rule, watching your family for centuries. I could not look away; I didn’t want to. So, in my mind, all of you were ‘Rafelor’ in some way or form. It made it easier considering you all kept writing journals. So many that I had to create a simulacrum of myself whose sole job was keep track of them and to correct them. There probably is a small wing in Candlekeep now with the collection. But it made the pain of every generation passing on almost bearable. I could read their experiences even though I wasn’t there. Understood their hopes and fears and dreams. Every one of them. “But now after watching so many of your kin depart, I am sad that it is now I who must finally leave. As I said I don’t have a lot of time. I can feel the spell the Zulkir’s wove unravelling, and I will soon dissipate back into the Weave. But I still feel the bittersweet pleasure of seeing you, as you, for a final time. As she would.” Rafelor stood there stunned at what she said. Confused at how she wasn’t Arnara yet and so calm at her approaching end. That she wasn’t destined for Arvandor but was simply to melt away like winter’s snow in the spring. It seemed unfair to create such a copy and to give it joy and pain, like any other person and be cursed with the knowledge that she isn’t even real. “I guess you and Apolyta have something in common then.” Rafelor quipped. Arnara chuckled, “You are right…we do. I am sorry I do not have time to see her again. It’s been a while.” “What happens to the others? Can you tell me?” Anara sat down on a stone wall for a moment and used Rafelor’s dirk to slice away cords that bound a pair of high boots to her legs. She spoke as wrestled to pull each of her feet free from their prison. “Well, Hawthorn starts his own family…and Yaka becomes a treasured heirloom. Once Hawthorn passed away, Yaka would talk less and less and fall into a deep sleep on the mantle. But every couple of generations, someone would touch him, and wake him up and they’d harangue Hawthorn’s descendant for the rest of their life. The last time it was one of the girls was dared to lick it which got her quite a tirade. But, It’s happened at least seven or ten times now.” Freeing her feet, Arnara wiggled and stretched her toes, feeling the ash and dirt with them as she continued. “I remember that at some point their house blends with another one in Amphail…the Grosks I believe. It was a big wedding to say the least; the affair lasted a tenday. But I was busy tracking your family’s descendants, so I didn’t follow them as closely, sorry. “As for the others from our party, I remember that on one of Myrai’s visits, she took Shalai to Eberron, to a place called Adar to meet some ‘kindred spirits’. I know that Adrissa and Sage and I met at some point as well. She adopted a needy child or two, and she and Sage took time to raise them. The rest, all drifted in different directions, and I lost track of them.” “What about Apolyta?” Arnara looked uncomfortable but smiled nonetheless, “I was proud of her. She found the Moonblade of the house, but—” and Arnara frowned a moment and shook her head. “—It didn’t give her the peace she wanted. The [I]Sy’Tel’Quessier[/I] never accepted her as one of their own. They didn’t trust the hags and were suspicious of the High Magic used. I always wondered if I could have done something different that would have made her feel at home with us, and them with her. But, in the end, it created a rift between my house and our [I]Sy’Quessir [/I]kin. It became a such a sore point, I moved everything and everyone to Evereska.” “Moving the house sounds like a lot of annoying problems.” “Well…I moved everything, not just my kin. The tree, the mansion, [B][I]everything.[/I][/B] The [I]Sy[/I] wanted to wipe away the mansion down to nothing. To ‘remove the taint of magic’ they said. So, I chose not to leave it for the others to repurpose. I was angry; I felt that we had done nothing to earn their distrust. But it was perhaps simply time to leave. Melandrach didn’t want us to either, but he released us from our duties. “That tree and the estate was our house for almost seven millennia; since ancient Illefarn, the Ardeep kingdom, and the second Illefarn. Before the [I]Sy [/I]came and claimed the Misty Forest. And I did ask the tree’s opinion before I did it, and he was fine with a new place to grow. And with a ritual I moved it all to Evereska, and there Apolyta found some measure of peace, and she remained with us for a long time. But Avandor called for her, and she departed a century ago. She was happy that the Seldarine wanted her.” “Did you ever have your own children?” Arnara leaned back and looked at the moon, Selune above with a smile. “I found someone acceptable and had three wonderful children. Two remained in the house, and the third joined another in Evereska. I’m proud of what they have become. Less happy of having said goodbye to two of them already.” “I’m glad you and your husband—” “I did not marry my mate.” Arnara corrected. “We agreed to raise children together. We cared for each other dearly, but we never married. That’s not uncommon for elves to do that; to mate for children and marry another for love. It’s rare for a head of a house to do it, but…well…it’s done.” “And I bet that Myrai has already passed on. Did you—” Arnara shook her head, “Myrai was with me. As it turned out, she…she was going to outlive me by about a millennium. But as to what happens…I don’t know what my fate would be.” Arnara looked at the Moonblade next to her and sighed. “Binding oneself to a Moonblade comes with great responsibility. I didn’t want to particularly do it, nor was I planning to do so. But circumstances required me to make a choice. You see, every wielder spends time as…part of the blade when they pass on. I would spend time with my ancestors within the blade and guide the next wielder and delay going to Arvandor and my rebirth…for seven bearers of that blade. It does assume that someday my son or one of his line will take up the blade. Arnara looked at Rafelor with a sad look. “But if the sword believes it has accomplished all it must, and then it will free all the souls, and become a beautiful heirloom. But it is possible that none of it will happen. I don’t know. I just know what this…Arnara saw. Perhaps it will not come to pass. Perhaps something better or worse will instead. Arnara smiled as she looked at her friend. “But I don’t regret it, despite it not really being me and none of it real yet for the real me. But you did save me. If they had won…I don’t want to think what could have happened, trapped in their control. But I’m sure that Szass Tam would have treated my family poorly. So, thank you for that.” Anara smiled again and stood. She embraced the half-elf and rubbed Rafelor’s neck as she lay her forehead against his chest. They stood there quietly for a moment, with only the hint of sniffle coming from her. Suddenly she inhaled and looked Rafelor in the eyes again and returned to him the dirk she had borrowed. “It’s time. Please cut the rest of the leather away from my body. It is holding me here unnaturally, and it quite frankly hurts a lot.” “Right…” Rafelor murmured, as he started to cut the straps along her back, that bound tightly the eldritch garment to her, starting with the locked leather bustier, and then he cut away more straps underneath freeing her arms from the sleeved top. Finally, he cut away as the cords bound with once molten metal that held the tight pantaloons onto her hips. With a quick series of slices, he shredded the cords that held the leather to her thighs and calves. She shook off the garment, and it fell away revealing her smooth white skin, now aglow with the power of the Weave. Right then, the moonlight struck her naked form, nearly blinding Rafelor as her body gave off an iridescent glow. She turned and gave an impish smile to Rafelor and spoke, as her form dissipated into motes of light as the Weave claimed her. “[I]Al Hond Ebrath Rafelor, Uol Tath Shantar En Tath Lalala Ol Hond Ebrath. Avluve’ Tyss.”*[/I] * Rafelor, A True Friend, As The Trees And The Water Are True Friends. Farewell Cousin.” [/QUOTE]
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Session Stories - Moments in Roleplaying (updated 6/15/2023)
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