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A few hours go by before we come to Lake Town (where the druidess had instructed us to go). Cloudbreaker was friendly and called out to some of the guards. He inquired about any jobs that we could do (considering that we were in need of money) and if we could speak with someone in charge. The guards told us that we could inquire in town from the Captain of the Guards. They did note that they were impressed that we weren’t destroyed by the Wood Elves considering we came from the North. Cloudbreaker suggested it was because of his size.
I noticed the guards were beginning to hold back some laughter as Cloudbreaker continud to converse with them. They eventually bid us farewell and pointed us in the direction of where we could find the Guard Captain. As they walked away one of them broke into laughter, saying, “Did you see the markings on his chest!?” Laughter was all around. Immediately I did not like them. Cloudbreaker had disclosed with the group the first day that the dark blue markings on his pale blue body were the markings of his God. At first I thought them odd, but after seeing how he revered his God, it seemed more endearing. I found it rude and pretty much discriminating when the guards made fun of them.
Cloudbreaker silenced them as he boldly informed the men what his markings represented, though they still had that look of amusement in their eyes. Grendel and Bal Vyr tried calming Cloudbreaker down since it looked he was on the verge of doing harm to them. As the guards scampered off, Cloudbreaker mentioned to Grendel that he wasn’t going to hurt them. Grendel and Bal Vyr were convinced otherwise. Bal Vyr mentioned how Cloudbreaker threw him up against a wall shortly after he made his introduction that first day. Grendel also noted that his kind are prone to rage and violence. I gently said to Cloudbreaker that he did come off fairly intimidating at times. The Goliath’s eyes grew deep with thought.
“You think little of me, Grendel,” he said, Bal Vyr commenting on how was it anyone could think little of him.
“I do.” Grendel said firmly.
“Is there anyway I could change that?”
“I doubt it.”
It was strange seeing these two strong men suddenly pitted against each other. That first day, they looked to have a strong friendship developing. However, that town we spared seemed to have brought out everyone’s true character. Grendel, whom I suspect is good still, is a hard and stubborn man. Worse yet, Cloudbreaker was trying to get validation from him? Why would Grendel’s opinion of him mean anything? Grendel is the one who needs to change else he might end up getting himself killed.
We continued on through town, the mood dampered after our run in with the guards. Cloudbreaker and I continued to draw some stares with our appearances, the Goliath waving and being friendly with the townsfolk. I tugged at my frayed hood, hoping to keep a low profile.
Bal Vyr joked about how by the time we left town, two buildings would be on fire. I joked back and said, “Just two buildings? Why not the whole town?” I then added, “Preferably I’d like hope this town will go unscathed by our hands.” The Drow gave a full hearted laugh at that notion. I chuckled a little myself considering my track record. Podunk destroyed, Sardik and Hommlet in some sort of disarray, and Lake Town could very well follow suite.
We came to a gate that had a set of guards stopping us.
“Who might you be?” one of them asked, particularly toward me and Cloudbreaker.
“I am A’aluke Cloudbreaker. I’m here looking for work and your Guard Captain.”
“And I’m with him,” I quickly stated. I didn’t want to give my name to the guards. If they knew who I was, then that could be a complication.
One of the guards went off to fetch their Lieutenant who knew of some jobs we could do. Shortly the guard returned, the Lieutenant with him and introduced himself as Mathison. He looked at us appraisingly and noted a few tasks that they were in need of assistance. The first was their graveyard. He pointed toward it. It was on the raised hillside on the east side of the lake. Large head stones and mausoleums were easy to spot from our side of the lake.
“Tell me more!” Lash demanded, her eyes wide with excitement. The guard suspected that the Elves had used some dark magic and cursed their dead to rise again. People have stopped going to the graveyard due to the undead that was now roaming about.
He then went on to the other task. Apparently they have some vampires roaming about too. They paid by the head and asked if we had anything else we needed to know.
“Where’s the Captain of the Guards?” Bal Vyr asked.
“You’ll find him at the southeast entrance,” Mathison commented.
As we walked through the busier section of the city, Cloudbreaker brought up something important that lead to me realizing the kind of gear I actually had.
“We’ll need better equipment if we’re going to fight a bunch of undead. Lash, what would you suspect we’ll need?”
“If we could obtain silvered weapons, that’ll be most helpful against the undead,” Lash explained. For a moment I felt somewhat smug. That was one thing I noticed among these folk I traveled with; they weren’t nearly as well equipped as I was, or so I thought.
“My halberd’s silvered, so I’m good,” I announced. There was some looks of surprise as everyone quickly looked to my halberd in hand.
“If you say so,” Lash mentioned.
“No way that that is a silvered weapon,” Bal Vyr responded, Trickfoot murmuring in agreement.
“This halberd,” I said bringing my weapon up between me and Bal Vyr, “has slain a couple werewolves,” I said matter of factly.
“Then that is quite impressive. I still stand by what I said,” the Drow stated. It wasn’t so much that I doubted my weapon, but I quickly looked at it anyways. What? I thought. I pulled my halberd to my face and examined it closely. It looked different. I searched for it’s magical aura and saw nothing. Even more disturbing was there was no auras about me except that of my haversack and the mark on my back. Anger boiled under my skin as I realized I had been tricked.
“No! Where are my things?” I ended up blurting aloud.
“Okay Araja. You do realize your skin’s white and you have black wings too?” Bal Vyr added. I could feel myself begin to shake ever so slightly as rage filled me.
“Might I add that you’re a woman too,” Cloudbreaker said.
“Yes I know!” I responded curtly, “It’s just... nevermind. None of you would understand,” I said defeated like. My anger hardened me toward my party members. I had no reason to try and make them understand. We were forced to be together. I would have gone off on my own, but seeing how I shared the mark with them, I knew the greater our numbers were, the better chance we’d have fairing this world. If only I was able to figure out where I was.
I needed a moment to slip away. My escape wasn’t as difficult as I thought it’d be. Grendel, Trickfoot, and Lash each wanted to go scout around while Bal Vyr and Cloudbreaker went and talk to the Captain of the Guard about our jobs. We agreed to meet at the cemetery gates by sunset, a good 3 hours out.
As I wandered the streets, I couldn’t help but wonder how much time had elapsed before I woke up in the bowl. If my party was right about Heironious being dead, then I’ve been out of existence for 40 or more years. I took some comfort in knowing at least during that time I wasn’t tortured, or if I was, that I had no recollection of it. Memories from Hell still haunt my dreams.
From the size of the city, I was certain I could find some Court of the Gods at which I could try to find out about the God Wars. I also wanted to locate a map to find my location. First I found the Cour. Pelor’s temple was a glowing beacon around the lake. As I walked up the steps to the glorious temple, a Cleric walked out to greet me. He was warm and friendly at first, but once I began to ask him about the God wars, my words failed me. Soon familiar words fell out of my mouth as I tried to explain why I was Fallen (yes, the conversation quickly went there). After that and pointing out the mark I bore, the Cleric very curtly said I’d best leave the Court and get out of town.
Shame overtook me. I knew I was marked, but it hurt to be hated. I walked to the docks on the lake and sat down on a lone pier to think. I also examined my weapons again. How feeble my halberd looked. The blade was dull and worn, the handle looking warped with age. How rough it was to hold. And the dagger. I gripped it with my right hand, my face contorting with anger. The plain dagger and old halberd that managed to fool me for the past few days. Breaking something was desirable. Instead I tossed the dagger with all my might into the lake. I then squeezed the rock in my hand. Actually, it's nothing more than a stupid dot now. There wasn’t anything magical about it. I bit my lip as a small cry escaped me. How was it Gemmel was taken from me? How would I find him?
I pondered about how Erythnul and Heironeous had won. Here I was, marked, lost, and weak. I had to hand it to them, their choice in not killing me had really added to my torment. What was I to do about it? I couldn’t remove it. When I was checking the magical auras about myself earlier, the magic that came from the mark was so strong yet so unfamiliar. How do I even describe it. I sensed every type of magic in it, but it still rang unfamiliar. Truly a mark of the Gods.
It was going to take me some time to acquire enough gold to get the strong items I once had. The only thing I could do at the moment was search for a map. With a heavy heart, I got up. I was still impressed with how I was fooled by the chain shirt I wore. It was much heavier than my mithril. I had to wonder why the person who kidnapped me decided to replace my items and give me back some of the things I once had. Whom ever it was clearly knew me well enough.
As I thought about that, it seemed obvious who had done it to me. Isaac! No, not him, surely... but perhaps, I thought to myself. It was quite the accusation... but his time as a ghost hadn’t always been predictable. The times he would use Erythnul’s cry to terrify me and when he attacked me as an owl bear. As those thoughts rushed into my head, I knew it had to be him behind this. He was out to get me all along!
As I thought about that, it seemed obvious who had done it to me. Isaac! No, not him, surely... but perhaps, I thought to myself. It was quite the accusation... but his time as a ghost hadn’t always been predictable. The times he would use Erythnul’s cry to terrify me and when he attacked me as an owl bear. As those thoughts rushed into my head, I knew it had to be him behind this. He was out to get me all along!
Yet on top of that thought, Gemmel was the one who gave Isaac to me. Gemmel saved my life twice! So had Isaac... I kicked at the ground as I realized the circle my thoughts had made. I wish I knew who had placed me in Athvala. Already my whole being was committed to end the person who had set me in this new land. Hopefully by then I’ll be strong enough to do such a task.
I looked around for a map for a short amount of time before realizing it was getting late and I needed to meet up with everyone at the graveyard. So I postponed my search for another day.
Everyone, except Trickfoot, was waiting at the gates of the cemetery. Lash looked wide eyed and greatly excited. With the sun setting, I could only hope the task at hand with the undead would go smoothly enough. I figured as long as they aren’t the soul trapped beings, like Billy was, we’d fare just fine. Yet part of me couldn’t help but dread what was to come.
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