Session #25: The Fall

[istainion]

 ?? April, 2021  [8:00 PM - 11:30+ AM (GMT+2)]

 

 

Izek turned to a pile of ash, leaving only the odd axe behind. With the men retreating from their positions as guards and soldiers under Izek's command, we stood there on our own and looked down on the demon's remains. We learned nothing of him, he's just another man without much of a story to us and with his death, I felt odd. It was terrifying to fight against such a powerful force as him and nearly meeting my end and witnessing that of Naedithas, I got myself another helpful experience to teach me to be more careful but at the same time, I could just feel my confidence grow. We took him down ... We actually did it ... Relief got to me again when I saw Naedithas open up his eyes again and the rest in a reasonable condition. We have fought well ... Even if the enemy nearly overwhelmed us. Izek, who or what are you exactly ...

 

 

We took a closer eye on the axe, Shevat was the first to move toward it. It was from a dark metal and it appeared to be magical. When I examined it a little as well, I could sense that there is a curse of some kind resting on it. I wonder if that's what affected Izek or what he had left on it before he left. I didn't want to concern the others, so I left that little talk for when I speak to Naedithas in private. He will become the new owner of it, either he or Tibirin are the only ones that are actually capable of carrying this thing ...

 

 

Exhausted as we were, none of us were in any condition to do any more than to rest and recover but the pressing matter related to the supplies had me a little concerned. It IS the thing that we came for, abandoning it already is just foolish. What if a new fraction with similar standards as Izek were to take them before us?

 

 

Muriël assured us that we mustn't worry about it. She will notify Urwin and the others to transfer them to safety and suggested that all of us, including herself, head back to the Blue Water inn to get some reasonable amount of rest. She was the one who found the supplies as well, she said that they were located in the stables, which was such a relief after all the chaos. It wasn't for nothing ... Muriël was the first to fly off and left us behind with the axe and ash before me and the others decided to go after her and meet in the inn. Muriël, who arrived earlier, has already informed the innkeeper about the details. That left us some effort there ...

 

 

Then Ireena spoke up during the conversation. She said that she made up her mind. To all of us, it came rather sudden but I believe that the battle has opened up her eyes once more when she told us that she wants to stay in Vallaki to help out and rebuild what was lost. She isn't sure about ruling Vallaki yet but she sure wants to become something like a leading figure to the hopeless and I thought it was fantastic. However, I was sad about her decision. I know she is a tough woman but not having her with us feels odd, if not lonely. She always seemed to add that little bit of fun that I didn't realize I needed until that moment. The thought of having to let go of her after our time together as a team and not defending her from Strahd's grip. I didn't interfere but neither could I disrespect her decision and fell silent.

 

 

Yshvara seemed to be against it and tried to reason with her but without revealing too much information about her intentions. She is always so secretive and it truly did make me wonder what made her say the things she said. What does she know that we do not? If she will do that, Yshvara said to Ireena, then there will only be danger. Ireena was clearly irritated with the interference after she finally made up her mind but I truly was hoping that she would reconsider it, even by such mysterious words. Ireena needed Yshvara to be direct with her but it didn't come without a struggle until the sentence dropped that she would get in Strahd's hands. Ireena was extremely bothered with what she said and I truly did get why. She is a capable warrior in combat but her skill is questioned and she keeps needing our presence around her just to be able to stay and feel safe. It's not a nice feeling to be questioned all the time or being lectured for choices you make ... But I tried my best not to let it take me down. We are the heroes of the night! We should celebrate! Even in absolute despair ... No, especially in this hopeless mess, this chaos ...

 

 

Urwin was more than happy with her decision to join Vallaki's forces to rebuild and hell, I also wanted to be a part of it but if we don't keep moving ... Who is going to solve all the mysteries of Barovia, right?! The sooner we finish this, the better!

 

 

We all returned to our rooms. I shared one with Naedithas and Shevat, Ireena had her private room in which previously Rictavio had slept and Yshvara and Tibirin shared the other room. At this moment, I told Naedithas about the curse of the axe. I couldn't tell exactly what it does but I warned him to be very careful about using it. I'm not a guy who can dispel such a thing and neither was I really in the right mindset to figure out a place to release it from the curse. He was thankful but mildly confused and told me not to worry, it will be in capable hands. And of that, I was quite sure. Still in the good mood from the conversation, I used the earring for once, pressed that button as I was informed and then gave my report.

 

 

I called the unknown shadow lady "darling" just to tease her and said that nothing was going on. However, she hated it. She sounded so hateful about it! I didn't expect to hear a voice in my mind! I was hoping that I could just drop off a message and get away with it, I didn't imagine having a telepathic conversation! Hearing her voice terrified me and woke the fear inside of me, just like that one day in the room with only a tiny window to escape through. The thought of ending up in that place again spread fear inside of me. She has my blood, she has made a pact, one move and I could be dead! I was such an idiot! Why did I say that ...?! More and more fear rose inside of me when her creepy voice said that she demanded a meeting tomorrow in the evening! And guess where?! The Burgomeister's mansion? How am I supposed to get there, unseen?! Everyone is going to be suspicious of me and I'm probably going to die ... I'm not ready yet ... I have everything here ... Naedithas, the others ... I returned to the room and requested Naedithas to ... Be very close to me for the night. This could as well be my last night together with him until tomorrow ... What if I ... Skip out ... On meeting ... What will happen? Is this the end ... What will she want me to do?

 

 

Endless thoughts kept cycling through my mind as I held onto Naedithas like my life was depending on it. I can't tell him! I can't give him all the details ... I'm an idiot ...

 

 

. . .

 

 

That morning, a knock on the door sounded and Urwin's wife said that breakfast is ready. I, for a change, wasn't hungry at all but Shevat sure was when he left the room to head downstairs. Still restless from all the cycling thoughts, I was clinging onto Naedithas whom I refused to let go of. Terrified of what would come in the night, I wanted to absorb everything I could from the moment with him and chatted a little with him. Neither did he feel like he wanted to get out and we stayed in bed for a little.

 

 

When we got up and headed downstairs, we heard that the team had left us a message and left without us. Why didn't they say they were leaving?! With the note onto the table, I knew where they were headed. They visited the Wachter's mansion to check on Stella, the daughter we have heard from who was changed after she and Viktor met. A curse, we assume, that he put onto her but we have not once met her until Lady Fiona has died in the attack. Nobody is guarding it and I felt urged to explore. If this is going to be one of my last days, I could as well make most of it! Still terrified with the thoughts of tonight, I didn't catch myself unable to think clearly and pulled Naedithas along to head outside and catch up on the others. Motivated to learn about their basement! If they would have told me that they were going there, I could have at least told them to bring me a little souvenir from downstairs!

 

 

Though, I imagined that nothing but seeing it all with my own eyes could convince me. They wouldn't tell or take along all the fun stuff anyway! And these people from Vallaki have little interests, if not fear for what it holds. Come on, guys! They had a cult! Aren't you curious?!

 

 

As excited as I was from all the nerves, Naedithas and I made it to the building and saw Yshvara and Shevat walk out. They told us that Tibirin is with Stella and confirmed that she was indeed behaving odd. It's hard to imagine that a human would be convinced that she is a cat but I remember seeing those scratch marks on the guy who tried to carry her out. They told me that they plan to do some investigation in the Vallakovich mansion. I was interested in joining them but I was too excited to bother with it, with the thought of exploring the magical items of a cult in the basement. I did my best to convince them and Shevat did seem interested but Yshvara was clearly disinterested, again keen to save a helpless girl. But think of it! Think of what clues we might find! We can go investigating afterwards, right?!

 

 

No, the offer was turned down and the two seemed in a hurry. I recall seeing that mild shock in Yshvara's eyes and she was definitely determined to go and fast to relief the girl from her suffering. They walked past us and were on their way. I didn't let it discourage me when I pulled Naedithas along in the direction of the house and a guard who was poorly armored. I had to hold back my laughter at the sight but neither could I blame the guy after the attack that burned down a section of Vallaki in a single fight. Who knows what happened to all the equipment ... Maybe Izek's fraction was hoarding that, too. The guard seemed rather kind and didn't appear to question my intentions too much when I mentioned their basement. He warned us but didn't stop us from exploring and if he would, I would make sure to convince him that I have better intentions than merely my selfish interests in it all.

 

 

We went inside the house and I really did want to meet up with Tibirin to check on him and Stella but Naedithas was against it for unknown reasons. He said that we were there for the basement, nothing else and he pulled me along down the stairs. I did make sure that Tibirin knew that we were there and yelled up the stairs to greet him before we made it through the house. The guard told us how to reach it, we needed to head into the kitchen, find a secret room and then it would lead us to the basement. This woman sure is interesting ... Why would she go this far to hide a basement? Did she let her house be built this way to serve the count from the start? Strange ... But not any less exciting!

 

 

We walked down the stairs with excitement. It was dark and from my position up the stairs, I could see some beds positioned against the wall, another door and a lot of tracks of footprints going in fixed directions. One of them even went in the direction of the wall but the footprints didn't stop there, as if there was a hidden passage. Before I could do anything, I heard something down the stairs. Skeletons suddenly rose from the ground and pointed their weapons against us when they tried to attack us. What? Why are there monsters down here? I thought we were just going to check a regular basement and see their wares?!

 

 

Not any less excited as I was, Naedithas and I took them down. I recall that the ground was shaking and even Tibirin had heard us and joined us down the stairs to fight. I nervously tried to explain myself and apologize but he didn't make too much of a big deal of it. What a relief ... I didn't want to be scolded again ... When the enemies were down, we moved down the stairs and checked it out. Neither Tibirin or Naedithas seemed to mind it, when we discussed where to go next, until Tibirin found himself at the wall where we assumed a hidden passage to be. He forcefully opened it up and, indeed, there was a room where it led to. Naedithas and I curiously followed him inside. The room was fairly empty, except for the chairs positioned in a circle around the writing on the ground. Not just any writing, it was a pentagram but something is odd about it. Like this, it wouldn't function, it has no purpose. Five chairs, four beds ... A pentagram and on the ground and candles on each corner of the room, four in total. What did it mean?

 

 

I caught something glittering in the center of the non-functional magic circle, realizing that it is a trap of some sort. All of this looked like a trap. I reached for the quiver on my back and pulled out an arrow to gently move the gem out of the circle and grab a hold of it. Nothing happened at first ... Until it got extremely hot and I tossed it to the ground! Ouch ...

 

 

A voice reached out to us but there was no one in the room. I felt a shiver run down my spine as I looked from left to right. A male voice asked about the situation of Vallaki and that of his so-called mistress. Lady Fiona Wachter. I tried to avoid spitting out any information while getting something in return, to learn what this voice knows, but it wouldn't let me, not even when I tried to pry. He was slowly losing his patience by my attempts, so I gave him a rough outline to learn of his intentions. I had imagined him to give up, to be sad about the disappearance of his mistress, but it backfired when he spoke of being finally free from his shackles. He added that he would destroy Vallaki when he gets out and I felt the guilt wash over me once again.

 

 

I didn't even lock eyes with the others for a second there. Vallaki might be in danger because of my selfish urge to seek knowledge! I grew nervous, tense with even more pressure on my shoulder and was close to panicking when our enemy made his appearance in front of us. He looked like a demon of some sort, a very handsome one with wings on his back. One, I have never seen before, other than in books but I can't tell what it was exactly with the situation as it was. We did our best to cause a major amount of damage and victory seemed to be on our side until suddenly, the demon pointed at Naedithas. It was as if he charmed him when Naedithas suddenly started to move in his direction. He turned his back on the demon and held his axe in our direction as if he was about to charge at us for an attack. His eyes, they were blank and he didn't hear what I said! ... I didn't want to ... But if I manage to knock him out ... And take his potions from him to ... Get him back, I might just relieve him from the spell. The demon has disappeared and Naedithas was the only enemy in the room.

 

 

I was nervous, I was scared. I don't want to hurt him, not anymore ... Not again ... Just like that one time where he was taken inside that creepy flesh monster ... I still can't forgive myself and even now, I couldn't forgive myself for aiming my arrow at his legs. Hopefully, he would just fall, I thought, hopefully, he'll lose his motivation. With the tears almost flowing down my eyes, I shot his leg. In my head, I heard a prayer, a prayer I made that everything will be alright. That nothing will happen. But that was soon to end when the much larger half elf stood in front of me with different purposes than normally. He wouldn't just kick me, just hit me, like he did back then, not kiss me or hold me ... He had his weapon drawn to take me down. With a smile on my face, I watched him tear my coat, tear my flesh and make me bleed. I felt my body weaken and my vision grow blurry when I looked up to him and spoke the words. 

 

 

"I always wanted to be ... Killed by your hands ..."

 

 

My knees grew weak, my body started to shake, my breath grew heavy as I saw my end growing near. I quickly looked over to Tibirin and told him about the potions that Naedithas carries and prayed for him to use them to get him back when he makes a fall. All my faith, I put it on Tibirin in this moment, convinced that I might not make it. I blamed myself in this moment. I blamed myself for putting both of them in danger, to threaten both me and him with death again. Our last time was only yesterday and now, it happened again. I quickly moved past him, tried to recover myself a little but Naedithas came after me. I wish he'd be able to hear me, hear my thoughts when I said how much I love him. I pray for his safety, I wish that his time with me was of value to him even if all I do is to bring despair onto him and the others.

 

 

My vision turned dark as I hit the cold, stone floor . . .