• Graded • The River's Daughter

[Pig Boy]

The River's Daughter

"There is only one thing. Guidance, it's not enough to wander the wood blindly and search out one of these children. They would surely overcome you and treat you as they do any other outlander. No." The darkness breathed in and exhaled at once, and then more information came clear to Azrael. "You should wait, travel if you will, but return for the Valhalea celebration on the first of Zi'Da. Make your way to a tavern on the southern wall of Raelia, tended by three sisters. They will bring you into their family, and give witness of your worthiness to the circle, thus rendering you no longer an Outlander if that is your wish. Infiltrating the Children will be difficult for you if you do not accept this land into your heart."

The darkness revealed to him an image of a woman, dark-complected, but bearing the mantle of an arctic fox. He knew her to be important among the Children of Myrkvior. A leader or shaman of sorts. She was a huntress, and a steward of the forest, a well known and respected Ydalir. "This is Valira, also known among the children by the title of Myrkurkona. The Dark Woman. She alone has the ear of Myrkvior. "

The vision of the Dark Woman was gone almost as soon as it appeared, and in its place, he was back in the headwaters of the River's Daughter. "The sisters regardless of your choice to become Melrathi for true, will give you further guidance to find this woman. You should use what gifts you are able to unlock, in order to win her trust."

So saying, the River's Daughter had said all she would, and in his mind's eye, he could feel the golden key turning. As it turned, it pierced his soul, unlocking the potential that had been previously hidden to him. He learned then, of his mortalborn heritage (though not his parentage), and the workings of his domain of Pact was entirely unveiled to him. The other two were yet unlocked, by the keys that had been offered as a 'gift'. Now a part of the Pact, he would have difficulty unlocking those abilities without fulfilling the conditions set forth by the River's Daughter.

Before he could object to the clarity of the Pact that was now formed, he was dragged under the waters of the fountain.

Within a few moments, after traveling along the trench of dark water, he was ejected unceremoniously onto the banks of the River where he'd been only a half a break or so before. Hart was there on the bank, waiting for him to emerge. Svell had departed from Hart with a callous hiss after he refused her wish and none of the other sisters were to be seen. Light was breaking on morning in the land of Melrath, the sky just beginning to dispel the dark of night.

[Azrael]

121 Ashan 720 | Azrael Blackfire | A Brighter Place

As Azrael felt the key 'turn' a strange sensation like drowning washed over his body. He felt a immense weight pushing down on his chest with every fractional shift of the key until finally it had opened that which was locked and it felt like Azrael had surfaced from the oppressive water... and then he really did surface from the water. Only the Azrael that emerged from the water was not like the Azrael who went into it. He'd been a human when he went in and now he knew he was something more- but that was not all that had changed him. Discovering you were the child of an Immortal was one thing, discovering you had a hidden ability to make binding Pacts was another, but it was the vast knowledge the darkness revealed that had changed Azrael. He knew more about the land now than he had before and he knew what to be wary of and he knew the path he had to follow to get what he wanted... but he had time to work on other things first. He had time to improve and prepare for the journey- time he would need to find the one known as Hart and unlock the second key.

Azrael emerged from the river and immediately shielded his eyes which had grown so used to the darkness. The trial was just beginning to break but even that peaking light shocked the mortalborn's senses for a few trills before he blinked away the irritation and looked towards the man who'd been searching for him. "See, that wasn't so bad." Azrael said to his half-brother on the shore casually as his mind slowly set upon the story he would tell. He could feel the terms of his Pact binding him when he thought about telling Hart- or perhaps it was something else... but Azrael didn't want to tell anyone what had happened. So long as he hadn't told the Dark Mother's Children, he felt it would violate the deal he made to tell another of the journey. But after he told them... well... then it became information, not a secret. "That was an... interesting experience." Azrael said to Hart, the only one left waiting for him. He could hide the truth behind other things he'd discovered in there. He just couldn't tell Hart about the places he'd seen in the water... and maybe not the water either. So how did he know about the keys then? He needed to tell the man about that for certain. "Probably not worth the swim though." Azrael lied. The first real lie. "All I saw was an empty cave and I heard some whispers about keys and someone named Hart. It was all very cryptic and somewhat irritating." The more he did it, the easier the lying seemed to become.

"What happened up here? What did I miss? Any other spirits show up? Any keys?" Azrael looked around a few times and walked the rest of the way out of the water. He had doubts that the spirits would have made it that easy for him. The first key had not been a literal one so why would any of the others? All the same Azrael looked around for trill before looking at the other mortalborn again and awaiting his answer.

[Hart]

The blade turned to water the moment Hart removed his hand from it, and Hart stared at his hands, shivering where he sat on the bank of the river. The blade was gone.

For a moment Hart asked himself if the blade had even been real. He had come back to life and he thought he was okay. He thought he was sane. But. He had died. And when he had died, he had not been sane.

He was okay.

Hart sat with his knees up and his arms resting on his knees. He rested his head on his arms and shut his eyes.



He wasn't sure how long it had been since the mortalborn went under the water. It had been long enough that the mortalborn should have drowned. But suddenly the man was there, on the bank. Hart hadn't been expecting the man to just- come back.

"Are you alright?" Hart asked.

The man seemed alright. He didn't seem hurt. He didn't seem as if any water had gotten into his lungs. He wasn't hypothermic. Hart got up from the riverbank, tired from his swim, his clothes and hair still wet. He grabbed up his things, lingering for a moment on the empty sheath of the eating knife. Then he put it in the bag.

When the mortalborn spoke, Hart was silent. He watched the other man, his eyes searching the man's expression.

He let him say what he wanted to say. Then Hart looked him in the eyes and said, "You're lying." He said it like someone might say the sun was coming up- it was simple fact. He didn't seem angry about it- he just seemed tired. "But you're alright," he said again.

"That's what matters," Hart sighed.

"Up here," Hart said, "I tried to go after you, in the river, but you were gone. I offered to make a deal to the spirit Svel, to bring me under the water. But she needed something I just- am not willing to give."

"There have been no more spirits," Hart said. "And I haven't seen any keys-"

But he stopped speaking.

Hart twisted his hand, his fingers closed like he was holding a key. Suddenly there was a key in his hand, red, like the metal was rusted from water. He looked at the key for a long moment, silent. Then he looked at the mortalborn.

"Why do you know my name?" he asked. "You didn't know my name before you went under the water." He had never said his name, except to the spirit Vitria. Perhaps she had spoken of him when the man was beneath the river. But why should she? Why should the man lie to him, but ask about a man named Hart, like he didn't know who Vitria had been speaking of?

"And why do I have this?" He held up the key.

Notes: Permission from Az's player for Hart to detect that Az was lying.

[Azrael]

121 Ashan 720 | Azrael Blackfire | A Brighter Place

Well that didn't go over quite exactly how Azrael planned. Hart saw through his lie far too easily and Azrael realized he was going to have to practice at it a bit more. He couldn't afford to be a bad liar with the things he planned to do. Fortunately the other mortal born didn't seem to care that Azrael was lying, he was just relieved to see the treasure hunter alive. Azrael smiled, glad he didn't have to answer many more probing questions before the next bomb was dropped. This man was the Hart he was looking for. Hart told Azrael of his efforts to find the man and Azrael listened with interest at how much effort this stranger had put into saving him. This man was quite the oddity, provoking more questions for Azrael than answers... but he had what Azrael needed.

"You seem a decent fellow. If I could explain what happened down there, I would but I'm still trying to make sense of it. I heard the name Hart in a cave." That much was true though it still masked the reality of the situation. As for how he was going to explain the key that had appeared in Hart's hand... well he had to be more creative about that. "I'm not sure where it came from." True, it had just materialized after all. How was Azrael to know where it had been before then. "But there was a golden key in the cave that-." Azrael paused, gesturing to his chest as he tried to think of how to explain what had happened.

He realized now that he was squinting quite a bit and it must have made him seem like he was trying to think of a lie but he was simply trying to adapt to the strangely obscuring light in his vision. "If you are Hart, I believe you're supposed to turn that key and it is meant to help me discover something about my heritage." That was true, not all the information but true. "Just... uh... prod me in the chest and turn it or something?"

[Hart]

The man was right- it didn't make sense. Hart had been trying to make sense of what was going on, but he just couldn't.

He didn't know why the three spirits had lured them here with dreams. He didn't know why the spirits had pretended to be the river's daughters. He didn't know why the River's Daughter had let them pretend to be her. He didn't know why the mortalborn had needed to go beneath the river. He didn't know why the man was lying about what had happened beneath the river's waters. He didn't know what the keys had to do with anything. And he didn't know why he himself, Hart, had the red key.

What he did know was that he was unlikely to get any answers. And really, he wasn't sure he needed them.

The man wanted the red key. Hart didn't know why the man wanted it- but he himself didn't want the key. He might as well let the man have it.

Hart's feeling was to be cautious about these sorts of things. But the man didn't feel the same. He wanted the key. And he wanted Hart to turn it against his chest.

"Alright," Hart sighed. He stepped nearer to the man and placed a hand on his shoulder. His other hand had the key, and he glanced at the man's face before he put the key against the man's chest and turned it.

[Pig Boy]

The River's Daughter

When Hart turned the key, they might've been underwhelmed by the result. Instead of exploding in a blast of light, the key stuck itself beneath Azrael's skin, and sank in, unable to be extricated by any method. Hart would feel something then, that the person in front of him was Mortalborn, although his parentage was uncertain.

Azrael would feel his domains opening, from the moment he emerged from the river, he discovered his Pacts Domain ability. When Hart turned the red key, and it sank into his flesh, he discovered his Desire Domain ability, knowing it from top to bottom. In the back of his mind, the words of the River's Daughter would echo the pact they'd made. He would be held to it, and if he deviated in any way, or leveraged any sort of deceit or excuse, he would rue the consequences.

But for now, he had two of his mortalborn abilities unlocked, ready to explore the wider world with more than half of his heritage unlocked.

Meanwhile, Mykrvior awaited...

Azrael

Experience: 20 xp no magic.

Knowledge: 5 x stealth
5 x deception
5 x detection
1 x swimming

Renown: 10

Skill Usage: Appropriate to level.

Loot/Losses: Ability: Darksight: The way Azrael perceives light and darkness has changed. Shadows and patches where light is absent are perfectly visible to him. Whereas sources of light will make it more difficult to see where he's going. Essentially light/dark are turned on their head when it comes to the sense of sight.

Unlocked knowledge of his Pact and Desire domains and abilities.

Injuries/Conditions: none

Consequences: You will be held to the pact you made with the River's Daughter. She will expect you to share the secret with none other than the Dark Mother.

Comments: Azrael is quite the daring and reckless character. But I already knew to expect that. He stuck it out to the end, found the River's Daughter, and in the end got a just reward for going along with the three spirit sisters.

I hope to see more of him playing around Idalos next season. And let me know if you follow-up with the plot in Vhalar.

If you have any concerns about this review, please PM me about them.

Brent

Experience: 15 xp no magic

Knowledge: 3 x navigation
3 x detection
3 x intimidation

Renown: 10

Skill Usage: Appropriate to level

Loot/Losses: Brent's Blade of Honesty: The knife that Brent took which struck Vitria has retained a coat of blackened ephemeral ichor. It is a poor-quality weapon, but can be used to cut bread and do basic culinary tasks. When it is used to cut meat/bread or anything that is ingested, those eating the food will be prompted to share a secret if only they are asked. They can resist the urge with meditation and discipline skill.

Injuries/Conditions: none

Consequences: none

Comments: Brent had an interesting revelation during this story, I think. He went from more or less blind devotion to the spirits, to a more open skepticism that I think was well played. In the end, you stayed very true to his character through it all, and the writing was of course marvelous as always.

If you have any concerns about this review, please PM me about them.

Hart

Experience: 20 xp no magic xp

Knowledge: 5 x Detection
5 x Endurance
5 x Swimming

Renown: 10

Skill Usage: Appropriate to level

Loot/Losses: Ability: Hart's Blade of Deceit: Hart has acquired an ability to draw a blade from any source of fluid containing water. Once a trial he can pull a blade of this description from the first drop of water from any source, even a rain droplet would be enough. It is deadly to tunawa and spirit beings, tearing apart their ephemera by generating the diametric opposite to their concept when it strikes them.

It creates a short blade of average quality otherwise. It cannot harm any other being than a spirit. The blade lasts until he lets it out of his hand. While looking at the blade, he'll find he can communicate with an entity that resembles his lost ego-death self, Eihr.

Injuries/Conditions: none

Consequences: Brent will tell the authorities that Hart/Eihr harmed a spirit, and he will find himself with a bounty of 6 wp if taken alive. He's only wanted alive.

Comments: Wow, what a twist! I was so pleased that you decided to have Eihr join the thread, and it resulted in an interesting shift for your character, that I hope you explore. You played your character (both versions of them) to perfection in my opinion. A little exasperated at the end perhaps, but that's to be expected with the secrecy of these spirits.

If you have any concerns about this review, please PM me about them.

Praetorum

Experience: 15 attunement xp

Knowledge: 3 x Discipline
3 x Detection
3 x Meditation

Renown: 10

Skill Usage: Appropriate to level

Loot/Losses: Ability: Framilia's Fearful Gaze: Praetorum can inflict a sense of intense dread and loss of morale on a dozen enemies within close proximity with a mere gaze. He can call upon this ability once a season. It can be resisted by those with a significant level of discipline skill.

Injuries/Conditions: none

Consequences: none

Comments: Prae is such a doughty lizard. For all the stuff he's seen, though, he's still very much seeming like an idealist, and a great warrior of course. He might've felt out of his element here, dealing with tricksy spirits that were not entirely forthright, but he made a good showing nevertheless, and satisfied the objective that effectively unlocked access to the River's Daughter (by going with the constriction attack method in the dream). Well done!

If you have any concerns about this review, please PM me about them.