Dwa 15th, 4288: 4 Days in the Mortal Realm
It has been 4 days since I’ve been cast out from the Golden City in the Sky. Despite the time from my God, I could still feel the anger course through me knowing how He had betrayed me. However, since being back in the mortal realm, the first thing I noticed were my wings; nothing but fleshy, molted stubs protruding from my exposed back. I let out a scream of pure frustration as the thought of Malfeiya being allowed back into the presence of Heironious. Her body was clearly marked for eternal damnation! She may have saved hundreds of souls from being tapped by the mark and had killed Erythnul, but she was marked! I don't care if she saved future generations from damnation.
Malfeiya should not have been exalted! My sister remains a slave to this realm, her soul unable to ascend to the Golden City. Her body rots in the ground because she was marked. A minute hadn’t even past with the mark branded on her skin! She, too, was good! She had done no wrong. Never had.
Why did that girl have to come around and upturn all this anger I thought I had buried so long ago!
And so it was, I spent the first day agonizing over the worldly emotions I hadn’t experienced for the past two centuries. After a few hours of fitful rage I finally came to my own conclusion of my new life: Heironeous had betrayed me and all of his followers. He who was all just and ‘merciful’ broke one of His ‘unbending’ rules for an overly privileged girl. Therefore I would no longer willfully trust any God to be just and merciful to my plight and those left to live through this mortal existence. Because of that, I would put my skills to work and help those who are in need of help. Especially those under unjust authority... though as I came to that conclusion, I wasn't sure what help I would be with no money, weapon, or the use of my wings...
It didn’t take long for me to find a decent walking stick. If needed, it would provide some defence of any predators that might find me. Shortly after finding the stick, I then found a path and followed it for a couple of days. I did happen upon a town and I probably would have found it sooner if the woods I landed in weren't so full of Griggs. Those little fae creatures were overly eager to have someone dance with them. It was fun until the 4th time of being forced to dance. It was rather annoying how many Griggs lived in those woods. I would have thought my less than Angelic appearance would disway them from asking me, but they seemed all the more eager to flag me down.
As I began the second day of travel along this path, I was just able to make out the small town at the end of the road. Thankfully as I drew closer to the village, the less Griggs I had to deal with. The woods opened up to a large clearing. I entered the town this morning, on my third day of travel.
The town seemed quite quaint. Simple buildings, just a few folk walking about, with a decent amount of guards milling about. However my attentions were quickly drawn to the Devil I saw. My heart skipped a beat at first, but I know better now that he is just a Hellbred. At the time I figured things were under control seeing the guards there. Just as I was thinking about walking over and seeing if quite possibly there was anything I could help them with, I saw them take this elderly woman by the arms and began to drag her away! Immediately I knew I had to intervene because clearly there was some injustice going on.
Forgetting my naked stubs on my back, I was quite the sight as I tried to insert myself into the situation. I kept getting shut down despite my attempts to intervene. As much as I wished I had the authority to override them, being an Angelic and all, I knew I was a newcomer and therefore really had no clue as to the whole situation. I lingered about hoping that what I was witnessing would have some light shed on it. It turned out the old lady’s name was Ms. Hill and she was missing her son, Billy. For some reason the Hellbred, Isaac, and the guards made it sound like it was just her being crazy. Amidst their banter, a girl, who's name I learned is Cortanna, rode up on a horse due to the commotion. She seemed to disagree with them about Ms. Hill being crazy..
They debated about whether this was a cause to investigate while considering that her son was 16 and probably was just out doing boy things. At this we learned he had been missing for 2-3 days. As we were told this bit of information, we were joined by another pair of guards who had a young girl with them. Her name is Rekka. I was confused by her presence let alone hearing them talk about how she ‘attempted’ to break into some building. She pleads to me, saying that she was told she’d be in prison for weeks, maybe even months. One of the guards knocked her in the back of her head for speaking. I then whacked him soundly with my stick in perfect imitation of him. He glared at me as I explained how he could do his job better. I thought it wasteful of their time and resources to imprison a teenage girl on the charges of attempted breaking and entering. The guard clearly didn't like my smart with him and to demonstrate his complacency looked me squarely in the eyes and took another swing at Rekka. Seeing him prep to hit I deflected his attack with my stick.
I was about ready take to go find higher authority to resolve the issue I felt was at hand. A guard abusing his authority was never a good sign. However Isaac stepped between us, trying to defuse the situation by pointing out that Ms. Hill was now holding a picture Billy had drawn. Interestingly enough it was of the very girl the guards happened to drag outside with them. Rekka explained that Billy was helping take care of her and they had a hide out in a mine just outside of town. This odd, makeshift group then determined to go investigate, with Rekka, the mines since that was the last place she had seen Billy. Interestingly enough, the guards were perfectly content with us babysitting their convict and scurried off to the tavern. Oh how I was beginning to loathe the guards.
Some of us were given a simple weapon. As we headed out, the party still seemed unsure of who I was and why I was there. I felt sharing my story would be best once we found a place to sit and rest. Since I wasn't sure what Isaac was at the time, I tried asking him what his race was. He glared at me as though I was a half wit asking what color the sky was. Then again, he seemed vaguely panicked as I tried to pester him about it. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t helping out a pure evil Deity. I suspected there was more to his appearance because the lack of revulsion to who I was (and the lack of interest into why I was roaming around the mortal plain) though I was in a fallen state. It clicked as I recalled how some folk are given a second chance in life if they did something monumentally galant before dying if their previous life was lived evily.
Also, I noticed what looked to be the bar wench going with us... odd.
As we approached the mine, there was nothing unusual about it. It was like any other mine, just the entrance was filled with... stuff. Items that would prove useful somewhere down the road. I was only interested in the items if there was a Halberd (a favored weapon of the Angelic race due to it’s versatility). Unfortunately there wasn’t a Halberd lying around.
The party dug through the things, taking what they felt was appropriate for their needs. Rekka seemed uneasy about the mine. We tried asking her if there was anything more to the mine she knew about, but the only answer we got was that she never explored any further than the entrance. Suddenly I heard whisperings. It sounded like a group of people. What they said I had no idea due to it being faint, but as I listened to those voices, Rekka suddenly exclaimed, “Not the voices again!” It was then explained that because of the strange voices she never ventured further into the cave.
However, since Billy had gone exploring in the cave, we all continued on, taking caution to the strange voices that ever so often could be heard. Isaac was less than convinced of what we were experiencing. He most likely was just in denial of anything mysterious happening to give him a false sense of security as he scouted out ahead of the group. The further we went, the more clearer the voices became until at one point I could hear the words distinctly.
A chill ran up my spine for the words were haunting. It wasn’t until the second time that I heard the words that I had a very uncomfortable feeling that somehow this chant, that was being repeated, had a heavy undertone meant for me alone. For a moment I felt maybe I had stumbled across a group of folk who were experiencing my same plight. I expressed that we should try to find those people to see if we could help them.
We came to a wall that had writing all over it. Isaac was able to read it and as he did, I, as well as the other three girls, knew it to be the chant. No sooner had Isaac read it, the chant was spoken again loud enough for all of us to hear. I still was interested in meeting this group, though I couldn’t deny how eerie the chant felt.
We didn’t venture much further down the cave. We actually had no choice for it had caved in. What was more alarming was the sight of moving legs. Someone was trapped and obviously struggling. There was a sinking feeling that this was Billy. We told the being we were there to help. They stopped moving and the sinking feeling only deepened as we began to remove the rocks and saw the amount of dried blood. Since the person was responsive, I asked for them to move their legs if they were Billy. Sure enough Billy wiggled his legs and our effort to dig Billy out increased. Once freed, Rekka confirmed that it was Billy... but something wasn’t right- not to mention how blood crusted he was. By this time the chant was heard once more loud and clear as though we were almost upon the source.
I looked to Isaac only to be shocked. He looked... withered, as though life was sucked from him! His appearance was similar to that of a skeleton. It was disturbing... but despite the shock of Isaac's dramatic change, we felt it was a good idea to leave the mine since we found Billy. However before leaving, Isaac decided to check beyond the fallen rocks in the direction of the chanting voices. Once in, he then got the idea to throw a torch to see what laid ahead. To our surprise the torch fell to a lower level, revealing a drop off... and an open cavern filled with various creatures. They were immobile, though standing but not looking at anything in particular.
Once more the chant was said by those creatures and Billy. I had a sinking feeling. I looked at Billy and for whatever reason decided to examine him over for a mark. The very thought was daunting, yet with how mindless the creatures chanted and unaware of us with the sudden burst of light, left me feeling sick that the evil I thought was dead, wasn't.
No sooner had I begun cleaning Billy’s face, it became evident that there were multiple marks. If I hated my God for denying my sister Exaltation, I was livid now. The symbol of Erythnul was infused with that of Heironeous in a way that it could only mean they were working together. I felt like screaming, but I kept my composure, letting my anger leave me numb. Through my internal turmoil I saw Billy staring into my eyes and caught him saying to me, “They are watching you.”
Everyone noticed the interchange and were curious as to what was going on. I asked if any of them happened to know of the mark of Erythnul and the possessions that had supposedly been ended days before. Everyone looked at me though I was daft, except the bar wench (Jessica being her name). In fact she seemed to know exactly what I was talking about. However... no one seemed to be as deeply afraid of their welfare concerning the mark. It was easy to become marked. The marked being only had to touch another folk with the mark for it to transfer. As I remembered that, a moment of panic swept through me. I had touched Billy's face! It was covered in marks! I quickly examined my hands.
They were clean...
Before I could linger on why it was I wasnt marked, the group seemed more eager to flee the mine and get back to town. We made quick time back (minus a small run in with a boar that Cortanna was able to ‘handle’) and came to the consensus on the way there that it would be best to tell Billy’s mother that he was dead. One of the perks about being new to town, I wasn't considered for delivering such news.
It was Cortanna who went to deliver the unfortunate news. The rest of us are staying at Isaac’s place for the night. I'm trying to pay attention to Rekka, for she seems to have wandering eyes. Part of me wonders, inspite of the ‘better’ treatment she's receiving, if she'll take advantage of it. But I shouldn't be so judgemental considering I only met her today. Never the less, in the morning we hope to hear back from Cortanna as to how Ms. Hill fared the news.
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