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The Thorns of Winter -(updated 8/1/2023)
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<blockquote data-quote="Nthal" data-source="post: 8962766" data-attributes="member: 6971069"><p><h2 style="text-align: center">Thy will be done - 03/12/2023</h2> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center">(This section took a lot longer to edit and write than normal. Apologies)</p><p></p><p></p><p>I hung there in the construct, shocked. The voice I heard was deep and articulate. The type of voice you want to hear when someone is telling a story you want to lose yourself in. It was a voice I longed to hear. Desperate to hear after all these years. But, as I hung there in space, my mouth open, I found myself at a loss. What do I say? What do I ask? Where do I start?</p><p></p><p>As if he read my mind, came an answer, “You no doubt have questions. Questions that make your bones ache with need. I will disappoint you I fear, as some answers you are not ready for yet.”</p><p></p><p>I frowned for a moment and after some hesitation, I asked the first thing that popped in my head from the questions that were forming in my head, “The…the vision of Elsina…was…was that what really happened?”</p><p></p><p>“It is.” He answered.</p><p></p><p>“Why don’t I remember it that way?” I said to myself before addressing the voice of my father, “Did you…change…how I--?”</p><p></p><p>“—It would not do, to have two very distinct memories of the same event.”</p><p></p><p>“But…why?”</p><p></p><p>“I thought I explained that. Having two—” the voice started patiently before I cut him off.</p><p></p><p>“No.” I corrected him and pointedly asked, “Why did she have to die at all?” As I spoke, the words kept coming easier now, like a dam was starting to break and they started to fall from my mouth rapidly, “You had power enough to change the event. Why did Elisna need to die at all?”</p><p></p><p>“Because it was a mortal’s time to go in that place, in that time.” He explained, “It could have been the vendor you purchased your sweet at. The shop keeper who reported the theft. Even the woman who swung her blades in the street, could been killed. All were possibilities, and yet improbably it was you that was fates choice.”</p><p></p><p>“You said, ‘I’m sorry to grant your wish?’” I said, recalling what was said in the vision I had before coming here. “You…responded to her prayer? You <em>granted</em> it?”</p><p></p><p>“Serendipity…” The voice flatly said contradicting the word’s usual meaning in my head. There was no remorse in it. Not even a note of regret. “…By her making an offer of trade, it made it possible to let you live.”</p><p></p><p>“But…but…that doesn’t make sense.” I was recalling my own rebirth at the hands of a priest of Asmodeus over a year ago. “You could have found coin, or just convince a cleric to raise me…wait what am I saying? You’re sodding <strong><em>angel</em></strong>! You could have done it yourself!”</p><p></p><p>“Your soul was not ready to see the Fugue,” He answered again. ‘Too young, too malleable. It would have been difficult ensure the summons back to your body as your soul wouldn’t want to come back. You were not anchored to life yet, as it did not have a positive meaning for you. Hence another soul was needed in your stead.”</p><p></p><p>My mind was racing with the contradictions. How events before didn’t mesh with what was being said. “But you forced me back before, didn’t you? What made my throat bring ripped out so different.”</p><p></p><p>“That was barely possible, you had just begun to truly live.”</p><p></p><p>“What about Elisna?” I demaned angrily. “Wouldn’t she want to come back and live. Come back to…me?”</p><p></p><p>“She was content to believe that she saved your life.”</p><p></p><p>I shook my head defiantly, not wanting to believe the words “That doesn’t explain why she<strong><em> had </em></strong>to die!” I was now shouting at the construct, which seemed small as my voice echoed throughout the empty space.</p><p></p><p>“Some deaths are not intrinsic to the multiverse; they happen, and the outcome does not alter what is to be. But some events, are…notable. There are lives that have importance and impact. And their deaths too have impact. Yours would have been problematic. Others needed to take your place.”</p><p></p><p>I started to cry, I felt powerless, but more than that, I felt alone. Here was my kin, my father, explaining fate to me. It felt dismissive. “Why didn’t you pick someone else!? You didn’t have to …kill…her…” my voice faltered, as the lump grew in my throat.</p><p></p><p>“She had already made the offer, and that alone, made it easy to make the change. Anyone else could have had repercussions.”</p><p></p><p>“Repercussions? What about to me? Didn’t you <strong><em>think</em></strong> about the pain it was going to cause me?!?” I yelled into the darkness around me. “The anguish of seeing her corpse animated, and running messages around the Hive every day?”</p><p></p><p>“Is your lack of pain of such import that it worth more than a shopkeeper’s wife?” The voice questioned me, and I realized it was somewhat ignorant of me to assume that if someone else was chosen, that their friends and kin wouldn’t be impacted. But that truth did nothing to quell the churning emotions on my near sister’s fate. Heedless of my turmoil, the voice continued, “But the reverse is <strong><em>not</em></strong> true. In fact, your pain was, and still is necessary.”</p><p></p><p>I blinked through the tears and panted back in seething frustration “My pain? Like I need more of it. Elisna killed by Pentar. My first kiss of mercy I gave that boy the Faction War in Sigil. Losing Markell on the floor of the <em>Tenth Pit!</em> The burned bones of Beepu’s mother cast aside! Killing Eridan to save my friends and me! Watching Wy die in a cage! To every death I was surrounded and touched by? Hers wasn’t the first or will it be the last, but…I <strong><em>miss</em></strong> her.”</p><p></p><p>“That pain is needed, much like a hammer on a blade being forged.”</p><p></p><p>“That’s barmy!” I screamed at the construct, pulling on strands to elevate my voice and letting my fury fill the space. “I don’t need it! I don’t WANT it. I want to forget it! I want a decent night sleep without the nightmares. I don’t want to relive each and every one, over and over. And now you are telling me that you won’t let this madness end? Or me end for that matter? I’m so important that everyone else close to me should perish instead. To the blazes with that! Just let me die and save the rest the suffering!”</p><p></p><p>“That is not your destiny.”</p><p></p><p>I crossed my arms and thrashed around helplessly, trying to find a target for my glare, “Destiny? So now I have a destiny? So, what possible destiny requires me to suffer the loss of everything I hold dear! I want to ease other’s perception of death, not be the cause of it!”</p><p></p><p>“It is precisely your ability to feel it, that is important,” my father continued. “It allows you to find empathy.”</p><p></p><p>“What? My normal sense of what’s fair and right isn’t enough? A good story from a bard could do the same thing.”</p><p></p><p>The voice disagreed, “Perhaps, but it is not as powerful as personal investment and experience. And my investment in you is as great if not greater. For the good of all.”</p><p></p><p>“Investment?” I said my fury rising again. “What possible need is there to have me watch other people suffer. For <strong><em>ME</em></strong> to suffer? I’m not some petitioner paying for their sins. What are you possibly expecting to teach me? What gain is there to suffer all the way you can be hurt, whether by torture or having your heart and hopes crushed? Isn’t it enough?”</p><p></p><p>“It is not.” The voice disagreed again.</p><p></p><p>My mouth hung open in shock. The meaning there was plain and simple; I was going to hurt more; to see more, to experience more. Like the greedy inner masochist of a Sensate in me was had to devour every pain I could suffer, just because they wanted to. No, because I supposedly needed to. ‘For your own good,’ was how it felt like my…father…was trying to put it.</p><p></p><p>I was frustrated so I changed my line of questions then hoping to get answer to something, anything. I grit my teeth and forced my voice to be calmer, “Then why are you investing all of this into me? What are you trying to accomplish? What are you forging me into?”</p><p></p><p>“That is not for—”</p><p></p><p>I growled as the anger welled up in me. I wasn’t even thinking about it, but I was starting to pull on strands even here to elevate my voice. All so I could shout this proxy of the powers that seemed to want to twist fate in the worst way for me, “—<strong><em>Enough</em></strong>! If you aren’t going to answer questions, why are you here?!? Why should I even listen to you? Why should I allow you forge me into anything?”</p><p></p><p>The voice commanded me “You will be strong and endur—”</p><p></p><p>“—I don’t want to hear you give me another screed! Sodding Baator…” I exhaled and let the anger simmer back down as I glared around me, emotionally drained. I then glared at the darkness, “I am done being the marionette here. I will control my own destiny! Not the fiends who are interested in me! And not <strong><em>you</em></strong>!”</p><p></p><p>I could only hear my own heart thumping in my ears and my lungs laboring for air. I pulled my legs up and rested my head on my knees and wrapped my arms around my calves. My anger spent; it left me shaking as tears rolled down my cheeks. As the silence continued, I felt that all I had accomplished was nothing. I was simply to be treated how all immortals treated mortals. As tools. As a resource. And now for the first time really understood why Sigilites avoided celestials and their kin even more than fiends.</p><p></p><p>Celestials did not desire worship; they were instruments of the powers, and they themselves were the epitome of power. They were perfect in action and thought. And so, when flawed mortals called upon them for help, they would find themselves at the celestials’ beck and call. For angels only answered the most desperate prayers, and they did not come to help, but to be obeyed. They would demand everything to be sacrificed to defeat the greatest sins or most foul evils. The myths of them offering mercy were just that, myths.</p><p></p><p>Or so I had been told. I never had spoke to any of the celestials, and so here it was, the first one just happens to be my father. But as an angel’s daughter, no matter how important, regardless of my ‘destiny,’ I was still a mere mortal. I felt I like a child at the Gatehouse’s orphanage unworthy at sitting at the elder’s table. So, I had no idea what to expect next.</p><p></p><p>So, I was surprised to hear a quiet, soft and respectful voice now in my head, “Myrai. Please.” He said softly, with a gentled and tender tone that compelled me to listen.</p><p></p><p>I closed my eyes and sighed. I wanted to ignore him, but I couldn’t, “What?” I whispered.</p><p></p><p>“You <strong><em>are</em></strong> important. And not just to myself. Your importance to others is even greater. That is why I am talking with you now; because you are no longer hidden.”</p><p></p><p>I was expecting something else, so I asked, “Hidden? I don’t understand.”</p><p></p><p>“I arranged for the conditions to let you fall to Toril. But as you fell, I made it challenging for others to follow you. Eyes from afar could not see you. But arriving here has undone my protections. Your existence could not be hidden any longer.”</p><p></p><p>“Others? Do they know what I am?” I muttered still simmering. “Will<strong><em> they </em></strong>tell me?”</p><p></p><p>My jibe seemed to miss its mark as he continued, “They only see you as leverage, not as something important. I am their prize. Only one other truly suspects your importance; and she watches and waits for…an error.”</p><p></p><p>“Only one. Jade.” I said grimly. I could see that green halo and that knowing wicked smile in my mind, and it still twisted my stomachs into knots.</p><p></p><p>“The one that knows, is not Jade,” he said, taking me aback. “But Jade too wishes to uncover the truth and learn my secrets. This is why I cannot tell you more; you are a prize beyond counting in comparison to I; and that is saying too much. But I can tell you, while she is but a single concern among many.”</p><p></p><p>“What good does this do me?” I asked completely out of sorts. “Fiends are trying to get to me to get to you. I can’t do anything about it! I can’t run out their reach, even if I had forever and a day! There isn’t anything I can do!”</p><p></p><p>“Not correct. There are two things that must happen to ensure your safety. The first is the easiest; you must reach the end of this journey. The overlord should not be freed on principle. But at the end, there you will find what you are currently lacking.”</p><p></p><p>I nodded slowly, “Alright; finish this. Got it. What else?”</p><p></p><p>“You were found by the Webbing of Cauldrons. You must hide yourself from its sight.”</p><p></p><p>I rolled my eyes afraid of yet another distraction, “And where is this trinket?”</p><p></p><p>“It is not a device you can use. It is the name of the network used to communicate across distances and planes. A way of making deals between fiends that barely can tolerate their own kind’s presence. It was through this you were found. It was through this web that Teiazaam made a bargain from afar.”</p><p></p><p>“Bargain?” I said confused. “Who could Teiazaam made a deal with? I mean this prime is really, really off the beaten path! So, who would know…obscure…arcana…” the words drifted off into silence as I realized what she bargained with.</p><p></p><p>Another hag.</p><p></p><p>“Twisted Mirth gave me up to another hag.” I said grimly. “She barked where I was to Teiazaam.”</p><p></p><p>“And there is your opportunity.” My fathers’ voice sounded nonchalant at my revelation. “All you need to do, is bargain to your advantage.”</p><p></p><p>My eyes must have just popped out of my sockets as I hung there, my mouth agape. “Outwit a Great Auntie? You’re mad. I don’t have anything of value!”</p><p></p><p>“Great Aunties are not as simple as the lesser member of their sorority. They look beyond the misery they cause for greater goals. So, she might yet…bargain again.”</p><p></p><p>“Like Ravel…” I whispered. “She had a question she wanted answered. And got mazed for it.”</p><p></p><p>“All to her design. And she got what she wanted.”</p><p></p><p>I thought on that; she wanted to get mazed? She put herself in a prison…to keep herself hidden and safe. She probably could have left anytime. An interesting notion, but not the most important thought though.</p><p></p><p>I shook my head, trying to clear away the mblix from my father, “But all you are doing is manipulating <strong><em>me</em></strong>. Telling me partial nibblets of the past, all to hide the future. Find another. Ask someone else. Leave me alone,” I said my head hanging and my eyes closed and watering.</p><p></p><p>“That…is no longer an option. Your brother already has perished before reaching his full potential, and the time left only leaves…you.”</p><p></p><p>“A last hope. A last stab at…something,” I rued.</p><p></p><p>“Focus child. Twisted Mirth does not yet have what <strong><em>she</em></strong> wants. The gems you possess are part of it. But she needs a soul to bind it all together. One with strong…planar connections.”</p><p></p><p>I gulped. She needed <strong><em>my</em></strong> soul to finish the key. This tidy detail was never mentioned, and why would she? I couldn’t imagine the others just simply handing me over the to the hag. It wasn’t like them. But…I could see myself guilting myself into doing it. But before I could pursue this thought much further, he spoke again.</p><p></p><p>“So…you will give her one; Teiazaam’s.”</p><p></p><p>I blinked. “What?” I whispered mostly to myself.</p><p></p><p>“Teiazaam is new to her role, but she herself is an old creature of chaos and seduction. So, summoning her and using her as the binding is only appropriate to the pain she has caused you.”</p><p></p><p>I hung there in the air confused, my mind racing. I had thought that this mysterious Teiazaam was a faceless antagonist; one of many immortal fiends in the multiverse. But that I somehow knew her…I wracked my mind trying to think where when it dawned on me. “She had to have been in the <em>Tenth Pit</em> with me.”</p><p></p><p>“In her prior form of a succubus. Now, she is more powerful, a Lilitu. More than enough to create the binding you need, although you may to sweeten the deal for your Great Auntie for it. But the key to this, is something simple, her true name. Yrrthacius.”</p><p></p><p>My jaw dropped open. A true name? I had of course heard stories of their power, how a fiend couldn’t resist a calling using it. How it could force submission of any fiend. And to a hag, true names had value. But I had my doubts.</p><p></p><p>“This is…something I can use to trade with but…do I have the right? I mean, Jade and her friends watched me suffer in humiliation. Is that crime enough to use her as a binding?”</p><p></p><p>There was silence for a moment. “This is a moment of pride for me; that you would care for your opponent’s soul as much as a friend. But in my judgement, she has done enough damage to so many, that some time as a dweomer is suitable punishment. I am certain of this.”</p><p></p><p>Within the construct I head only hear my breathing as I considered. What choices did I really have? Do I play the fool, to curry favor to get to some real answers, and not this stupid miniature version of the Kriegstanz. “I guess it is a solution,” I muttered.</p><p></p><p>My father now felt as distant as could be. “Once the matter of the fiends hounding you is resolved, I can talk more openly. But for now, I will expand your abilities further.”</p><p></p><p>I opened my eyes, suddenly afraid. I saw that there were more strands floating around me, and as I watched, four of them lashed out and struck me in the torso. I threw my head back in pain and screamed as I felt the strands worming their way into me. It felt like they were tearing into my humbles and knotting themselves inside of me, and wrapping and knitting to the strands that already permeated my being. They snaked past each other, creating a crucible of flame within my soul, welding the strands to me. And as sudden as it started, it ceased. I breathed easier as I felt the sensation die down a bit.</p><p></p><p>I hung there limply in the silence, feeling the strands empowering me. As I regained my strength, I summoned the effort to ask a last question. Something that had always nagged at the back of my mind. Something selfish. “I…understand why we can’t talk about you or I. But…my mother? Can you?...” my voice trailed off into silence as I hoped.</p><p></p><p>And the silence carried on for a while, before I heard my father’s voice again, “Your mother shares much of your passion, and is a remarkable woman.”</p><p></p><p>My heart skipped a beat.</p><p></p><p>‘Is.’</p><p></p><p>I looked up into the roof of the construct and was about to ask more when he spoke again “I cannot divulge more, for both of your safety. Go!”</p><p></p><p>----</p><p></p><p>My eyes opened, and there I was back into the ice world I had left behind. bundled in my bedroll. Beside me Adrissa was still asleep next to me breathing softly. The others were asleep, all but the warforged, and perhaps The Blade, who leaned on a rock underneath our dome of protection. In the distant east of the Iron Root mountains, the barest hint of color put them into a red silhouette against the sky.</p><p></p><p>I stood up and stretched, and the warforged both turned their heads to look at me, when Bookshelf spoke. “You are up early. Did you…sleep well?” it said awkwardly. “You appear to have shed…tears.”</p><p></p><p>I rubbed my hand under my eyes, and indeed there were the moisture of tears. I nodded and smiled. “I didn’t sleep. But I had a…meaningful conversation. And I guess that is best outcome I could have hoped for.”</p><p></p><p><strong>Session Notes:</strong></p><p></p><p>I believe someone asked if there would be more questions than answers. Well...of course there would. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Nthal, post: 8962766, member: 6971069"] [HEADING=1][CENTER]Thy will be done - 03/12/2023[/CENTER][/HEADING] [CENTER] (This section took a lot longer to edit and write than normal. Apologies)[/CENTER] I hung there in the construct, shocked. The voice I heard was deep and articulate. The type of voice you want to hear when someone is telling a story you want to lose yourself in. It was a voice I longed to hear. Desperate to hear after all these years. But, as I hung there in space, my mouth open, I found myself at a loss. What do I say? What do I ask? Where do I start? As if he read my mind, came an answer, “You no doubt have questions. Questions that make your bones ache with need. I will disappoint you I fear, as some answers you are not ready for yet.” I frowned for a moment and after some hesitation, I asked the first thing that popped in my head from the questions that were forming in my head, “The…the vision of Elsina…was…was that what really happened?” “It is.” He answered. “Why don’t I remember it that way?” I said to myself before addressing the voice of my father, “Did you…change…how I--?” “—It would not do, to have two very distinct memories of the same event.” “But…why?” “I thought I explained that. Having two—” the voice started patiently before I cut him off. “No.” I corrected him and pointedly asked, “Why did she have to die at all?” As I spoke, the words kept coming easier now, like a dam was starting to break and they started to fall from my mouth rapidly, “You had power enough to change the event. Why did Elisna need to die at all?” “Because it was a mortal’s time to go in that place, in that time.” He explained, “It could have been the vendor you purchased your sweet at. The shop keeper who reported the theft. Even the woman who swung her blades in the street, could been killed. All were possibilities, and yet improbably it was you that was fates choice.” “You said, ‘I’m sorry to grant your wish?’” I said, recalling what was said in the vision I had before coming here. “You…responded to her prayer? You [I]granted[/I] it?” “Serendipity…” The voice flatly said contradicting the word’s usual meaning in my head. There was no remorse in it. Not even a note of regret. “…By her making an offer of trade, it made it possible to let you live.” “But…but…that doesn’t make sense.” I was recalling my own rebirth at the hands of a priest of Asmodeus over a year ago. “You could have found coin, or just convince a cleric to raise me…wait what am I saying? You’re sodding [B][I]angel[/I][/B]! You could have done it yourself!” “Your soul was not ready to see the Fugue,” He answered again. ‘Too young, too malleable. It would have been difficult ensure the summons back to your body as your soul wouldn’t want to come back. You were not anchored to life yet, as it did not have a positive meaning for you. Hence another soul was needed in your stead.” My mind was racing with the contradictions. How events before didn’t mesh with what was being said. “But you forced me back before, didn’t you? What made my throat bring ripped out so different.” “That was barely possible, you had just begun to truly live.” “What about Elisna?” I demaned angrily. “Wouldn’t she want to come back and live. Come back to…me?” “She was content to believe that she saved your life.” I shook my head defiantly, not wanting to believe the words “That doesn’t explain why she[B][I] had [/I][/B]to die!” I was now shouting at the construct, which seemed small as my voice echoed throughout the empty space. “Some deaths are not intrinsic to the multiverse; they happen, and the outcome does not alter what is to be. But some events, are…notable. There are lives that have importance and impact. And their deaths too have impact. Yours would have been problematic. Others needed to take your place.” I started to cry, I felt powerless, but more than that, I felt alone. Here was my kin, my father, explaining fate to me. It felt dismissive. “Why didn’t you pick someone else!? You didn’t have to …kill…her…” my voice faltered, as the lump grew in my throat. “She had already made the offer, and that alone, made it easy to make the change. Anyone else could have had repercussions.” “Repercussions? What about to me? Didn’t you [B][I]think[/I][/B] about the pain it was going to cause me?!?” I yelled into the darkness around me. “The anguish of seeing her corpse animated, and running messages around the Hive every day?” “Is your lack of pain of such import that it worth more than a shopkeeper’s wife?” The voice questioned me, and I realized it was somewhat ignorant of me to assume that if someone else was chosen, that their friends and kin wouldn’t be impacted. But that truth did nothing to quell the churning emotions on my near sister’s fate. Heedless of my turmoil, the voice continued, “But the reverse is [B][I]not[/I][/B] true. In fact, your pain was, and still is necessary.” I blinked through the tears and panted back in seething frustration “My pain? Like I need more of it. Elisna killed by Pentar. My first kiss of mercy I gave that boy the Faction War in Sigil. Losing Markell on the floor of the [I]Tenth Pit![/I] The burned bones of Beepu’s mother cast aside! Killing Eridan to save my friends and me! Watching Wy die in a cage! To every death I was surrounded and touched by? Hers wasn’t the first or will it be the last, but…I [B][I]miss[/I][/B] her.” “That pain is needed, much like a hammer on a blade being forged.” “That’s barmy!” I screamed at the construct, pulling on strands to elevate my voice and letting my fury fill the space. “I don’t need it! I don’t WANT it. I want to forget it! I want a decent night sleep without the nightmares. I don’t want to relive each and every one, over and over. And now you are telling me that you won’t let this madness end? Or me end for that matter? I’m so important that everyone else close to me should perish instead. To the blazes with that! Just let me die and save the rest the suffering!” “That is not your destiny.” I crossed my arms and thrashed around helplessly, trying to find a target for my glare, “Destiny? So now I have a destiny? So, what possible destiny requires me to suffer the loss of everything I hold dear! I want to ease other’s perception of death, not be the cause of it!” “It is precisely your ability to feel it, that is important,” my father continued. “It allows you to find empathy.” “What? My normal sense of what’s fair and right isn’t enough? A good story from a bard could do the same thing.” The voice disagreed, “Perhaps, but it is not as powerful as personal investment and experience. And my investment in you is as great if not greater. For the good of all.” “Investment?” I said my fury rising again. “What possible need is there to have me watch other people suffer. For [B][I]ME[/I][/B] to suffer? I’m not some petitioner paying for their sins. What are you possibly expecting to teach me? What gain is there to suffer all the way you can be hurt, whether by torture or having your heart and hopes crushed? Isn’t it enough?” “It is not.” The voice disagreed again. My mouth hung open in shock. The meaning there was plain and simple; I was going to hurt more; to see more, to experience more. Like the greedy inner masochist of a Sensate in me was had to devour every pain I could suffer, just because they wanted to. No, because I supposedly needed to. ‘For your own good,’ was how it felt like my…father…was trying to put it. I was frustrated so I changed my line of questions then hoping to get answer to something, anything. I grit my teeth and forced my voice to be calmer, “Then why are you investing all of this into me? What are you trying to accomplish? What are you forging me into?” “That is not for—” I growled as the anger welled up in me. I wasn’t even thinking about it, but I was starting to pull on strands even here to elevate my voice. All so I could shout this proxy of the powers that seemed to want to twist fate in the worst way for me, “—[B][I]Enough[/I][/B]! If you aren’t going to answer questions, why are you here?!? Why should I even listen to you? Why should I allow you forge me into anything?” The voice commanded me “You will be strong and endur—” “—I don’t want to hear you give me another screed! Sodding Baator…” I exhaled and let the anger simmer back down as I glared around me, emotionally drained. I then glared at the darkness, “I am done being the marionette here. I will control my own destiny! Not the fiends who are interested in me! And not [B][I]you[/I][/B]!” I could only hear my own heart thumping in my ears and my lungs laboring for air. I pulled my legs up and rested my head on my knees and wrapped my arms around my calves. My anger spent; it left me shaking as tears rolled down my cheeks. As the silence continued, I felt that all I had accomplished was nothing. I was simply to be treated how all immortals treated mortals. As tools. As a resource. And now for the first time really understood why Sigilites avoided celestials and their kin even more than fiends. Celestials did not desire worship; they were instruments of the powers, and they themselves were the epitome of power. They were perfect in action and thought. And so, when flawed mortals called upon them for help, they would find themselves at the celestials’ beck and call. For angels only answered the most desperate prayers, and they did not come to help, but to be obeyed. They would demand everything to be sacrificed to defeat the greatest sins or most foul evils. The myths of them offering mercy were just that, myths. Or so I had been told. I never had spoke to any of the celestials, and so here it was, the first one just happens to be my father. But as an angel’s daughter, no matter how important, regardless of my ‘destiny,’ I was still a mere mortal. I felt I like a child at the Gatehouse’s orphanage unworthy at sitting at the elder’s table. So, I had no idea what to expect next. So, I was surprised to hear a quiet, soft and respectful voice now in my head, “Myrai. Please.” He said softly, with a gentled and tender tone that compelled me to listen. I closed my eyes and sighed. I wanted to ignore him, but I couldn’t, “What?” I whispered. “You [B][I]are[/I][/B] important. And not just to myself. Your importance to others is even greater. That is why I am talking with you now; because you are no longer hidden.” I was expecting something else, so I asked, “Hidden? I don’t understand.” “I arranged for the conditions to let you fall to Toril. But as you fell, I made it challenging for others to follow you. Eyes from afar could not see you. But arriving here has undone my protections. Your existence could not be hidden any longer.” “Others? Do they know what I am?” I muttered still simmering. “Will[B][I] they [/I][/B]tell me?” My jibe seemed to miss its mark as he continued, “They only see you as leverage, not as something important. I am their prize. Only one other truly suspects your importance; and she watches and waits for…an error.” “Only one. Jade.” I said grimly. I could see that green halo and that knowing wicked smile in my mind, and it still twisted my stomachs into knots. “The one that knows, is not Jade,” he said, taking me aback. “But Jade too wishes to uncover the truth and learn my secrets. This is why I cannot tell you more; you are a prize beyond counting in comparison to I; and that is saying too much. But I can tell you, while she is but a single concern among many.” “What good does this do me?” I asked completely out of sorts. “Fiends are trying to get to me to get to you. I can’t do anything about it! I can’t run out their reach, even if I had forever and a day! There isn’t anything I can do!” “Not correct. There are two things that must happen to ensure your safety. The first is the easiest; you must reach the end of this journey. The overlord should not be freed on principle. But at the end, there you will find what you are currently lacking.” I nodded slowly, “Alright; finish this. Got it. What else?” “You were found by the Webbing of Cauldrons. You must hide yourself from its sight.” I rolled my eyes afraid of yet another distraction, “And where is this trinket?” “It is not a device you can use. It is the name of the network used to communicate across distances and planes. A way of making deals between fiends that barely can tolerate their own kind’s presence. It was through this you were found. It was through this web that Teiazaam made a bargain from afar.” “Bargain?” I said confused. “Who could Teiazaam made a deal with? I mean this prime is really, really off the beaten path! So, who would know…obscure…arcana…” the words drifted off into silence as I realized what she bargained with. Another hag. “Twisted Mirth gave me up to another hag.” I said grimly. “She barked where I was to Teiazaam.” “And there is your opportunity.” My fathers’ voice sounded nonchalant at my revelation. “All you need to do, is bargain to your advantage.” My eyes must have just popped out of my sockets as I hung there, my mouth agape. “Outwit a Great Auntie? You’re mad. I don’t have anything of value!” “Great Aunties are not as simple as the lesser member of their sorority. They look beyond the misery they cause for greater goals. So, she might yet…bargain again.” “Like Ravel…” I whispered. “She had a question she wanted answered. And got mazed for it.” “All to her design. And she got what she wanted.” I thought on that; she wanted to get mazed? She put herself in a prison…to keep herself hidden and safe. She probably could have left anytime. An interesting notion, but not the most important thought though. I shook my head, trying to clear away the mblix from my father, “But all you are doing is manipulating [B][I]me[/I][/B]. Telling me partial nibblets of the past, all to hide the future. Find another. Ask someone else. Leave me alone,” I said my head hanging and my eyes closed and watering. “That…is no longer an option. Your brother already has perished before reaching his full potential, and the time left only leaves…you.” “A last hope. A last stab at…something,” I rued. “Focus child. Twisted Mirth does not yet have what [B][I]she[/I][/B] wants. The gems you possess are part of it. But she needs a soul to bind it all together. One with strong…planar connections.” I gulped. She needed [B][I]my[/I][/B] soul to finish the key. This tidy detail was never mentioned, and why would she? I couldn’t imagine the others just simply handing me over the to the hag. It wasn’t like them. But…I could see myself guilting myself into doing it. But before I could pursue this thought much further, he spoke again. “So…you will give her one; Teiazaam’s.” I blinked. “What?” I whispered mostly to myself. “Teiazaam is new to her role, but she herself is an old creature of chaos and seduction. So, summoning her and using her as the binding is only appropriate to the pain she has caused you.” I hung there in the air confused, my mind racing. I had thought that this mysterious Teiazaam was a faceless antagonist; one of many immortal fiends in the multiverse. But that I somehow knew her…I wracked my mind trying to think where when it dawned on me. “She had to have been in the [I]Tenth Pit[/I] with me.” “In her prior form of a succubus. Now, she is more powerful, a Lilitu. More than enough to create the binding you need, although you may to sweeten the deal for your Great Auntie for it. But the key to this, is something simple, her true name. Yrrthacius.” My jaw dropped open. A true name? I had of course heard stories of their power, how a fiend couldn’t resist a calling using it. How it could force submission of any fiend. And to a hag, true names had value. But I had my doubts. “This is…something I can use to trade with but…do I have the right? I mean, Jade and her friends watched me suffer in humiliation. Is that crime enough to use her as a binding?” There was silence for a moment. “This is a moment of pride for me; that you would care for your opponent’s soul as much as a friend. But in my judgement, she has done enough damage to so many, that some time as a dweomer is suitable punishment. I am certain of this.” Within the construct I head only hear my breathing as I considered. What choices did I really have? Do I play the fool, to curry favor to get to some real answers, and not this stupid miniature version of the Kriegstanz. “I guess it is a solution,” I muttered. My father now felt as distant as could be. “Once the matter of the fiends hounding you is resolved, I can talk more openly. But for now, I will expand your abilities further.” I opened my eyes, suddenly afraid. I saw that there were more strands floating around me, and as I watched, four of them lashed out and struck me in the torso. I threw my head back in pain and screamed as I felt the strands worming their way into me. It felt like they were tearing into my humbles and knotting themselves inside of me, and wrapping and knitting to the strands that already permeated my being. They snaked past each other, creating a crucible of flame within my soul, welding the strands to me. And as sudden as it started, it ceased. I breathed easier as I felt the sensation die down a bit. I hung there limply in the silence, feeling the strands empowering me. As I regained my strength, I summoned the effort to ask a last question. Something that had always nagged at the back of my mind. Something selfish. “I…understand why we can’t talk about you or I. But…my mother? Can you?...” my voice trailed off into silence as I hoped. And the silence carried on for a while, before I heard my father’s voice again, “Your mother shares much of your passion, and is a remarkable woman.” My heart skipped a beat. ‘Is.’ I looked up into the roof of the construct and was about to ask more when he spoke again “I cannot divulge more, for both of your safety. Go!” ---- My eyes opened, and there I was back into the ice world I had left behind. bundled in my bedroll. Beside me Adrissa was still asleep next to me breathing softly. The others were asleep, all but the warforged, and perhaps The Blade, who leaned on a rock underneath our dome of protection. In the distant east of the Iron Root mountains, the barest hint of color put them into a red silhouette against the sky. I stood up and stretched, and the warforged both turned their heads to look at me, when Bookshelf spoke. “You are up early. Did you…sleep well?” it said awkwardly. “You appear to have shed…tears.” I rubbed my hand under my eyes, and indeed there were the moisture of tears. I nodded and smiled. “I didn’t sleep. But I had a…meaningful conversation. And I guess that is best outcome I could have hoped for.” [B]Session Notes:[/B] I believe someone asked if there would be more questions than answers. Well...of course there would. :) [/QUOTE]
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The Thorns of Winter -(updated 8/1/2023)
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