Session 14: Rell's Log
General Summary
Saman and Robyn had already moved outside of the walls as I hurtled down the stairs, lucky not to fall on the bizarrely cut stone. Once I’d also left the confines of the keep, Liv and Elirith not far behind, my pace slowed as I took in the distant figure.
The stranger was like nothing I’d never seen, in fact, if I had to draw any resemblance, it would have been to the fiends that roamed the Wastelands. My hand clenched around my glaive at the thought as I approached, ready for anything.
They were as tall as an elf, but with skin far darker than any person I’d seen before, the ebony of charcoal. In stark contrast, eyes as gold and pupil-less as Otho cast a wary glare as they measured us. Silver hair ran almost to their shoulder, in between which spiralling horns emanated, sweeping back into formidable points. They were dressed in leathers and furs clearly scavenged from beasts, though no weapons were obvious or to hand.
As we moved cautiously closer, something akin to a tail swished out from behind the figure in an angry flick, almost as if warning us of its owners’ mood. Was it fear or anger?
The others had already reached our guest, though I’d lost the first exchanged words as I increased my pace to enter earshot. As I did so, I realised his features were most certainly male and his eyes darted between the five of us so rapidly that I thought he might turn and flee.
His defensive nature leaked into his tone as he introduced himself as Penitence, inexplicably requesting us not to laugh at it. Immediately I teased to try to break the tension around us and giggled in contrary to his request. His furrowed brow clearly indicated it hadn’t worked, but I was not deterred, bowing and introducing myself also. He threw my joke back at me, calling out my own name to be ridiculous and I wondered what had happened to make him so tense, so distrustful. I had only been trying to help.
Penitence glanced over his shoulder, jaw locked as he scanned the horizon. I couldn’t help but also look, though I saw no apparent threats. On returning his focus to us, he confirmed that we shouldn’t go north, insistence causing the muscles in his neck to jut out as he tensed. Now that I was close, I recognised the fatigue in his posture, his erratic words forming from exhaustion and desperation rather than hostility.
He explained that there were fiends north of here and though his details seemed vague and uninformed, his voice practically shook with fear. Smiling I winked at him, indicating to my glaive and confirming that we killed fiends for fun. Distrust radiated before his shoulders sagged a little as he muttered that he might actually like me. Laughing slightly once more, I confirmed that everyone did.
Elirith rummaged in her bag for a moment before drawing out some of the meat we’d obtained yesterday and offering it to the tried outsider. Penitence’s expression faltered slightly, lip curling in slight displeasure, and I wondered what had caused such disdain. Even still he cautiously retrieved the food, nibbling furiously while displaying flashes of sharp, pointed canines.
Penitence continued to request to stay and travel with us, that he wished to head west also. When we questioned him as to his reasons, he was once again apprehensive about sharing. I understood his trepidations, but he was asking to be trusted, to walk alongside us. We had to be sure we’d not be left with a dagger in the back. As I pondered, Liv stepped forward and stated that she wanted him to join us and that we should take him west.
My lips pursed of their own accord but if Liv was willing to trust, then I gladly would also. The others seemed happy to assist too, and the stranger almost sighed in relief. As he did so, I was drawn to the swishing tail once more and I waved towards it, asking if I could see it.
The grimace was back as he agreed, turning slightly I saw a long, smooth black tail ending in a triangular point. It twitched a little as I watched and I wondered just how much control he had over it. I didn’t find time to ask however as Robyn and Elirith questioned further, and I noticed once again that the replies to Elirith’s questions were shorted, more punctuated, as though the words were cards to be held close to the chest. Did he dislike elves? My heart sank a little at the prospect.
Someone gasped, and I immediately refocused on the route the stranger had taken. There, against the sky was a small swarm of shapes, their forms so disjointed and unfamiliar that I struggled to see how many there were. Rising above them, however, was a large humanoid creature, flapping towards us on bat-like wings. Penitence froze, hands clenched at his sides as he urged us to run, but I knew that if we ran now, we’d be running forever. I whirled my glaive upwards. It was far better to fight.
Retreating to the partial protection of the keep, Robyn and Elirith headed back up the staircase to elevate themselves, while Saman and I hovered near the most visible opening into the courtyard. Penitence and Liv chose to remain centred, and I wondered exactly how our new guest would aid us in battle.
They were upon us before we knew it. Fiends. Horrid four-legged creatures, whose flesh sagged from their bodies as they lurched and hurtled around us. There were ones that were almost one giant maw, rows of sharp teeth open wide as huge eyeballs stalked out their next prey. Most threatening of all was a demonic creature that stood far taller and formidable than the rest. It had purple skin and a beard of twisting barbed tentacles that flared as it snarled. In its hands was an extraordinary glaive and my stomach fluttered with anticipation.
We fought for what seemed like forever, but in reality, must have only been a few minutes. Saman taunted and attacked the bearded fiend, an odd eminence of passion and wrath prevalent at needing to vanquish his foe. I too swiped at the giant creature, before a loud belching noise erupted and a vile green haze settled around us both. Coughing and retching against the mist, I saw two forms approaching from the corner of my eye until a wintry storm crashed into them, lifting them into the air violently before casting them into lifeless lumps on the ground.
Elirth. My snowflake had saved me.
I tried to pick her out, but it was hard to see anything through this vile magic. Instead, I saw Penitence, arms outstretched to form a cross, lips moving in unformed words before fire burst forth from his palms. The fierce embers corkscrews violently towards unseen foes, leaving only smoke smouldering in its wake.
My mouth that I didn’t realise had fallen open was forced closed as a whirled to Saman charging into the purple fiend beside us and ramming him forcefully into the wall. He’d struck a blow so powerful that our foe was dead, body slumped into a blooded mess beside us. Raising an eyebrow at the Warforged’s skill, I turned to find one of the maw creatures lunging at me.
There was no time to scream or to raise my weapon; no time for anything.
My ribs cracked as razor-sharp teeth enclosed around me. There was a crunching noise, far too loud, followed by excruciating pain as I struggled against the enveloping hold. Saliva and who knows what covered me entirely in a horrific stench as I fought desperately to free myself. One more clamp against my shoulder and I was spat out, crashing hard against the floor before I lost all consciousness.
Liv. Her magic caused me to stir, just as it had done in the arena. That already seemed like so long ago. Blinking my eyes open, the first thing I saw was Saman, fallen on top of the purple skinned fiend he’d slain earlier. What had happened?
I stumbled to my feet, and as I did, one of the four-legged creatures raced passed me towards Liv. A snarl met my lips as I almost growled, swiping out with my glaive and slicing it nearly clean in two.
Heaving in long breaths, I hurriedly glanced around. Robyn was still perched high above, but Elirith was nowhere to be seen. Was she also down? As I searched, I realised another fiend was heading towards Liv. My hand twitched as I thought of the potion just inside my backpack, but there was no time. She was in danger.
A few long frantic strides and I assisted my friend in felling another of our enemies. As it died, I caught her eye, exchanging a smile that spoke louder than any words. I would always be there to protect her.
Penitence was very much still engaged in the fight, and as I moved towards him, I realised he was staring upwards. Following his gaze, I saw the winged fiend above us in the sky. Skin as red as fire, horns and pointed teeth. So much like our new companion, yet at the same time wholly abhorrent and evil.
I couldn’t look for long as another maw-like creature appeared, and I flipped my glaive into a spear, propelling the weapon into its gaping mouth until it writhed and stilled, before finally departing from this world.
Suddenly a loud noise reverberated from above. The winged fiend was speaking, but it was no dialect I could comprehend. It sounded harmonic and coarse all at once, as though someone were making music using chalk on slate. The intended recipient was obviously Penitence, as the creature gestured and waved at him. Then, it switched to Common and addressed Penitence as the ‘False Prophet’ before swooping down, hauling the bearded demonic into its grasp and conjuring a spell against the wall. A portal revealed itself, displaying just the hint of brimstone and ash, before they both disappeared within.
Once we had helped both Saman and Elirith, who had indeed been severely injured, we confronted Penitence. He was just as guarded as before, demanding that he didn’t know what he’d done or why they called him that title. That his powers had simply manifested themselves and he didn’t know exactly how they worked. We questioned, pushing him more than perhaps was necessary, but I felt it alongside the others. Something didn’t quite add up with his story. I just didn’t know what.
Realising we were getting nowhere, we decided to rest and recover. The fight had been hard on all of us, and I gingerly pushed against the half closed puncture wounds at my side. Quickly though I became bored, and I crouched down to retrieve a peddle from the ground, then another and another. From what I judged to be a challenging distance, I flicked the small rock inside the well, continuing until I heard an odd noise.
Thankful for any escape from the monotony of sitting around camp, I gladly descended into the well, feet sloshing into the shallow water. There was another skeleton down here, and although we almost broke it in the retrieval, it would hopefully make us more coin.
A quick search in the muck at my feet also exposed a necklace, and once I’d scaled the walls of the well and found myself back in the daylight, I discovered it to be an uncut gem of sorts. I undid the clasp, raising it upwards to loop around my neck before Saman shook his head, warning me that it could be potentially cursed or have magical properties.
Swearing in elven, I pursed my lip, letting my hand fall back to my side. He was right, of course. Did I really need someone here to advise me of something so obvious? I should know better. The look Saman had given me could have been Mesh’s. Concern and frustration rolled into one.
Sighing, I glanced instead to Penitence. What were we going to do about him? Take him west? To where? And what if he wanted to stay with us? What about when we returned to Bastion. Though I could potentially get him into the city via Haven, it would be a huge favour to ask.
He was an outcast, downtrodden, with nowhere to turn. We should help him. I should help him.
I gritted my teeth and offered a silent prayer to the Shepherd, requesting not only guidance, but reassurance that we were doing the right thing in trusting this intriguing, yet mysterious newcomer.
Previous: Session 13: Rell's Log
Next: Session 15: Rell's Log
3 Conditori
- Meet Penitence, who was tailed by fiends.
- Winged fiend calls Peni the False Prophet, takes the bearded fiend and goes through a portal into the Hells.
- Rest at the ruins.
- Rel finds a necklace with an uncut gem.
Report Date
23 May 2019
Original Disclaimer: Written from Rell’s PoV and any opinions on character’s or npcs are her own and may not be a true reflection of a character’s intended actions or intentions. Any missing content is due to Rell’s selective hearing or poor memory. Although I have attempted to keep information on Rell to a minimum, please note that you may read some content/opinions that aren’t common knowledge to your own characters and therefore it should not influence your interactions with her.
Additional Disclaimer: This article is ported frpm old blogspot articles for reference, and pertinent bullets and dates added to timelines.
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