Tales of the Bard 009

53/1st/51be

Walk a mile in another mans shoes

Sometimes in times of great peril and chaos the lines of morality are blurred in the name of the greater good. And yet sometimes you have to deal with a man like Dex. Dex having every ounce of his being consumed by the hunger that haunts his new un-life, still manages to make a case to leave the unconscious elf alive and able to follow his own path. This is a man that hates Dex and his kind, would kill him 20 times over if given the opportunity, he could be used as food, he could be a thorn in the parties side in the future, and yet Dex makes his case. Sometimes its the swing of an axe, sometimes sacrifice in battle, but today its words and leadership that mark a hero. Though they may be bereft of their old lives, these few and strong still have light in their souls.

And then Varaxis takes his boots....

Gathering up supplies of elvish rope and a few weapons, arrows and trinkets, the party makes way towards their map waypoint to find a suitable place to rest for the day.

Crises of faith

Madness, rage, hunger, cruelty, hunger, evil, hunger, hunger, hunger, hunger, how do I stave off the hunger? How can i still be myself? Has Avandra forsaken me? TALK TO ME! We are all tested by the gods, some more obvious than others, and poor Seig is at a crossroads in his belief. Seig takes time, trying to connect with Avandra, but will his god listen? A glimmer, the faintest feeling that he is being watched. Seig holds onto this feeling, bundling it up, shielding it from his hunger. Will this glimmer be enough....

Did you see that?

With a few roaming mindless blight after Varaxis very little happens in the encampment. The party gathers their things and begins their march anew. The road has a funny way of allowing strangers to bond, and these strangers are no different. Dex and Aranel talk at length of their former selves as the landscape changes from dead blight forest to rolling blight plains. Aranel describes how these lands used to be vast and colourful with the prominence of red and orange flowers giving the burning plains its namesake.

After hours of travelling the party spies a line of torches off in the distances of their vision. Aranel is sent closer to investigate. A strange scene lies ahead of him, weary and worn men and women of many races walk, bound by chains in single file. Who are these people, or more importantly who are their captors?

Meanwhile Varaxis is concentrating on some infernal tome of his as the party waits for Aranel to report back. Just then, out of nowhere a beautiful voice says to him “I should like to meet you” as a cold hand caresses his chest, pulling tendrils of life essence from the Tieflings very core. Pain! The party is alight in action as they try to make sense of what is happening. A woman cloaked in crimson and a pale featureless mask is set upon Varaxis, seemingly floating with toes barely touching blight, she is engorging herself with his essence. 2 More appear as the shift around calling each other 'sister' and pull more and more life from Varaxis. Jaspyr, Dex and Seig attack with varied results as the 3 sisters seem almost intangible at times. One of the women moves right through Dex, saying “what are you doing brother” to him as she phases in and out of existence. Varaxis pulls upon his infernal knowledge and begins playing a tug of war with his life essence, pulling it back from his attackers as they deftly take it back again. One sister through a series of a kind of beautiful and elegant movements phases in and out leaving a dagger inside of Dex.

Aranel rushing back to the party after hearing the commotion, takes aim and lets loose 2 quick and deadly arrows. Noticing their pattern of incorporeal shifting, Aranel places the 2 arrows perfectly into the brain pans of 2 sisters as they slump to the ground. Varaxis pulls life from the third as Aranel lets loose another arrow to separate the witch from her consciousness.