Rimaia Algol
Rimaia Algol (a.k.a. Guidance Bot)
Tiefling Cleric devoted to Sekhmet. She didn't want to be here, but she'll be damned if she lets any of her companions die on her watch.
Physical Description
Body Features
Like most tieflings, Rimaia has curling rams' horns, goat hooves, and a tail.
Apparel & Accessories
Grey hooded robes trimmed in red, messily cut above the knees after a run-in with a thornbush. Underneath, she has dark brown pants and leather boots, shaped to fit her hooves. Recently Iltiari gave her a pale blue cloak that they had found.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Rimaia's earliest memories are of being raised in the Temple of Sekhmet, the place she has called home all her life. According to the temple priests, she was found as a baby outside of the temple, abandoned, with no clues as to who might have left her there.
Despite her origins, she grew up happily within the temple, and was often looked after by one of the priests, Lehvn, who she came to view as a father figure. Fascinated by the divine magic of the clerics and given mythology and religious instruction as her bedtime stories, there was never any question in her mind about what she would devote her life to. Over time, she came to learn that inside the temple was the one place where she could escape the stares that came with being a tiefling on the Holy Plains, and became even more convinced that she never wanted to leave.
It wasn't until Lehvn, then an old man, passed, that she began to recognize the strain even between herself and the rest of the clerics within the temple, and her opinion of the higher members of the clergy began to sour. Leaving, however, was out of the question - the temple was still the only place she wanted to be, and she soon found a friend in a recently-joined cleric, Risf.
Nine years later, Sekhmet's priests passed down a quest from their goddess, sending out several clerics in search of a sacred aegis missing for decades, and reluctantly, Rimaia left the Holy Plains for the first time in her life.
Education
Though taught to read, write, and do basic maths, most of her education was religious in nature.
Outside of her basic cleric training, she took an interest in field medicine and first aid, and learned to stitch wounds, cool fevers, and set broken bones even without the use of healing magic.
She's beginning to pick up some alchemy from Damiel's lessons, but her understanding of it is shaky at best.
Mental Trauma
She expects hatred or mistrust wherever she goes, and is extremely sensitive to comments about her race or demonic features. Even a mention of her horns or red skin will make her defensive, and she tries to draw as little notice to them as she can.
Morality & Philosophy
The priests who raised her did their best to instill strong morals in her, but how strongly those lessons took is questionable. While she would never condone hurting innocent people, she wants to keep her companions safe, and is more than willing to kill their enemies if talking is out of the question.
Above all, she believes that everyone should have a place where they belong, whatever it might be.
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
She wants to return to the Temple of Sekhmet more than anything, and seeks the aegis so that she can do so.
Despite the trouble she's gotten into with her companions, she finds traveling with them preferable to being lost and alone in unfamiliar territory, and has realized that besides being helpless in the wilderness, she also wants to travel with them to keep them from getting hurt.
Savvies & Ineptitudes
Well-practiced at field medicine.
Has little to no ability to look after herself in the wilderness.
Likes & Dislikes
Likes berry pie, all shades of blue, keeping things neat and orderly, and the comforts of civilization.
Dislikes the forest, sleeping on the ground, and difficult books.
Vices & Personality flaws
She gets angry with people who make her worried, and usually reacts by scolding that person.
She often assumes the worst of anyone mentioning any of her demonic features, even in harmless contexts.
Social
Family Ties
Raised by the temple priests since she was barely a year old, Rimaia has no memory of her parents and no desire to ever meet them, hating them for abandoning her.
Though not related to her by blood, she viewed Lehvn, the priest who raised her, as her father figure and her only family member. He passed away over a decade ago, and so Rimaia considers herself an orphan.
Religious Views
Very devoted to her god, Sekhmet. She views those who worship other pantheons as heathens and those who follow evil-aligned Egyptian gods as heretics. Her opinions have only recently begun to soften after meeting the colorful characters she now travels with, most notably in relation to Iltiari, who she considers a friend "when we're not working".
Hobbies & Pets
Recently adopted a bunny named Moppet.
Relationships
History
Rimaia is descended from a line of tieflings sired by Xilmithaz when it was on Aerenal during the Incursion.
Alignment
Chaotic Good
Date of Birth
1st of Great Tree Moon (adoption date), 31 of Lone Moon (birthdate)
Spouses
Siblings
Children
Gender
Female
Eyes
Black
Hair
Black
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Red
Height
5 ft 8 in
Quotes & Catchphrases
“Damiel no.”
“Guidance!”
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After midnight, in Wright
Summer Moon
(there is a scorch mark across the top half of the page)
So I might maybe be a little bit more drunk than I thought. I figured just using my own fire would be safer than trying to find a candle without knocking into something in the dark, but that... didn't really go that well. Nothing actually caught on fire though! Which is good, because I don't want to have to explain to Radiance why something in her house caught fire. And I don't think Damiel noticed the near miss either - he's still trancing and out of it as far as I can tell.
Instead of setting out right away, we decided to spend yesterday too in Wright to make sure that we're ready to face Tazra and Margoth. It might give them a head start, but... I think the time to gather more allies and supplies will be worth it in the end. I hope it's worth it. At the very least, the healing potions we got will probably help keep someone alive without forcing most of us to devote our magic to healing spells. And Margoth hopefully doesn't shrug off lightning magic like she does fire.
We met the king, too! Which is... a strange thought. Half because I never expected to be able to say that, but also, I don't really know whether he's my king. I never bothered to learn about whether the Mortal Kingdom's sovereignty extends to the plains. Come to think of it, I think more of us would question whether we're considered subjects of the Mortal Kingdom than not.
Either way, he offered us soldiers to help, and at this point, we'll take whatever we can get. The elven ambassador, a woman named Ave Lo, is coming with us too - she seems to know what she's doing. Radiance started off that arrangement by going off without us to meet them, but then she ended up needing us all to come anyway to corroborate her story...
Later on, Iltiari also recruited Pliskin, Risf's adventuring friend. Truthfully, we don't know much of anything about him - but we barely know anything about a lot of our allies, other than having someone else vouch for them. And I trust Risf's endorsement a hell of a lot more than I trust Radiance's vouching for her allies. At least most of them have Navy connections, though. Seems more reliable to me than Dagon. He's.... weird. Kinda wanna know what's up with him, also kinda don't.
He’s coming with us when we fight Tazra and Margoth, though, so I hope he’s as competent as he claims he is. We’ve got a plan that I think is good - split the bad guys up, have us take out the real dangerous ones while the others keep the minions from overwhelming us, hope we can actually beat Tazra and Margoth at the same time because there’s no way that fate won’t decide to make things hard for us, profit??? Hopefully without kickstarting the apocalypse in the process because I doubt we can handle a large number of demons after fighting those two.
Something I found out earlier tonight - Damiel thinks he's managed to alchemize true immortality? Honestly, coming out of anyone else's mouth, I'd be certain they were out of their mind, but from him I'm only half sure. Everything dies, eventually, except perhaps the gods - the idea of that suddenly changing is insane. But he seems certain that he's gotten it, or at least that he's gotten very close. And I can't help but believe him, and want to know how it would work.
Does that count as heresy? It sounds like it should, but either I can't remember or there's no explicit rule against it - probably because no one ever thought it would be possible, honestly.
He thinks that if he's right, this will be enough for him to be able to go back to the Elven Kingdom, which is... it's everything he's wanted the whole time, so I want it to work for him, and I'll figure everything else out later. I don't even really know what I want to do after this. We're going to win; I have to believe that. But afterwards - what do you do after saving the world, when nowhere feels right to go home to? I can't just wander around forever after I figure out what happened to my parents. but the plains wouldn't be an option outside of the temple... maybe Wright? It seems nice enough? I should ask the others about what they're going to do.
I feel like I should be more worried than I am right now, and I probably will be in the morning, but for now? I still don’t want anyone to die, but... I guess getting drunk was good for something. I think I’ll be able to fall asleep even knowing what’s coming tomorrow.
Late evening, in Radiance's family home in Wright
Summer Moon
Sailing to Wright went without incident - it's astonishing how much less stressful a trip is when you don't invite shady people who are probably cultists along.
Everyone is still here, which - truthfully, I half expected that at least one or two people would decide they didn't want to risk their lives trying to deal with all of this. Not Radiance, certainly, or Nabith or Hail or Damiel, but Glow, Iltiari, and Zsoana... they don't have any personal stake in this, other than whatever friendship they feel about the group and not wanting the world to be destroyed. Which I suppose is a pretty large personal stake now that I think about it.
We split up into groups to cover as much ground as we could while we prepared, but I don't think that we did nearly enough to be ready to go after Tazra. Radiance and Damiel went to the Navy, to use her connections to them to convince them to join us, Hail, Zsoana, Glow, and Nabith went to buy supplies, and Iltiari and I went to find Risf, who was supposedly somewhere in the city. We had varying levels of success - the Navy is joining us, as is Risf, but we could definitely use more supplies than what they brought back. Some better weapons would be ideal, and some healing potions; no matter how many we've got stored away, a few more couldn't hurt. And if we all die, it's not like we can use the money for something else.
Iltiari and I found Risf in the magical district, which is a step up from where I expected to find him given his penchant for getting into trouble, but it turns out that the trouble he found this time is worse. Much worse. Apparently, he took up adventuring after we last saw him, which... is mostly my fault. He assumed I was dead after the Cthuhlu portal incident, which, again, fair. I kind of expected that to kill me too. But while Risf was adventuring, he got killed... kind of. Anubis spoke to him and asked him to become his acolyte, and Risf refused him. Which is immensely brave of him and exactly what I would expect, but he's lucky that it turned out as almost okay as it did. He's half-undead now, or something? I don't understand it completely yet, but he's still here, which is more important.
Also, I'm going to have to fight Anubis now. I never thought I would have to consider that, but he cursed Risf so he'll have to face the consequences.
We have a few new allies along with Risf - specifically Dagon Huxley, an aasimar that Glow's group picked up in the market, who's immensely shady, and three people Radiance knows; a relative or family friend of hers, Lt. Gore, a woman named Arundhati, and someone named Troy Hultch. Aside from Dagon, they seem like valuable allies. Dagon might be too, but I know almost nothing about him and like I said, he's shady.
I'm concerned about Radiance, and how her relationship to Tazra could compromise our goals. She's made it clear that she wants to reason with her and try to convince her to stop all of this and come home, which - fine. I don't think it will happen, not with every terrible thing she's done to get this far, but it can't hurt to have Radiance ask her to give up when we confront her. The problem is when that fails. Radiance will protect her sister no matter what, even if we have to fight or kill her to stop this.
I get that it's hard to consider. If Risf committed the same sort of atrocities Tazra has, I would be reluctant to kill him. But the fate of the world and the survival of every living thing is at stake! Most of the others underestimate the horrors of the Incursion, but I suspect that the stories the temples have preserved are only a part of what really happened, and even those are nightmarish. It can't happen again.
Tazra has to die, and if Radiance has to be killed to ensure that... I don't want to have to do it, but I will.
Late afternoon, uncomfortably close to a cultist camp
Summer Moon
We've been camped out here for over an hour, just waiting for it to be dark enough that we can get into the camp without being immediately spotted, and I've been trying to work out exactly how to write all this down, but thinking back on what happened in that other place feels strange. As far as I can tell, I remember everything that happened there, but we kept blacking out and... starting from the beginning? We could have done that another dozen times and we would never be able to know. Maybe that's why I keep feeling like I've forgotten about something.
The Fey Queen's realm, though, even if I forgot part of it - it was incredible, and terrifying. I don't think places were working like they were supposed to in there - distances between spaces didn't seem to be the right lengths, and we ended up going in circles more than once. Time was definitely different in there too; we came out to find that it wasn't much later than when we'd accidentally wandered in, even though it feels like we were there for hours. We heard voices too, which I guess we can assume now were the other fey? Damiel and Glow said they were speaking Sylvan - they both listened to the voices, but Damiel answered them, and then followed the voices into the trees. Nothing bad happened - they seemed to like him, really - but it still scared the hell out of me. Almost as terrifying as when someone would suddenly freeze up and not have a face anymore, which, what the fuck. In general, not really a good time, even after we got past the outright scary parts and met the queen.
She sent us to find her son, who went missing and we think is being held somewhere in this camp. We're definitely going to rescue him; one of Tazra's allies is here and the kid doesn't deserve to be exploited by them for whatever they want him for. I just hope he's still here and alright, because I think his mother might decide to kill us if this goes wrong. So once it gets dark enough that the Yuan-Ti won't immediately be able to identify that we don't belong, we're going to sneak into the camp, set some fires to keep them busy, and then break into the temple that we think the most important members of this cult are camped out in. If we're lucky, Tazra's ally and the kid will both be there, and we can kick ass and bring him home without any problems.
On a side note - it could have just been an illusion, I guess, but apparently snow is real! The queen's realm was absolutely covered in it. It's cold, but kind of pretty. It'd be nice if it got cold enough to snow here, sometimes.
I've spent some more time thinking about what I'm going to do, if I can really keep following Sekhmet knowing what I know... I wish there was someone to ask about this. But the only other member of the temple that I know of outside of the Plains is Risf, and he's not really devoted in the same way.
I suppose... in the end, I can't bring myself to throw away something that's been so important for so long, not without more thought. I don't know enough about what happened to be able to say if my parents were guilty or not, as much as I hope they aren't, and... even if the priests were wrong, I still keep wanting to put my faith in Her. Is that ridiculous? I feel like it might be, but... there's no time to figure this kind of thing out now. After this is over, when we stop Tazra and my having a crisis isn't going to probably get someone killed - I'll figure out what happened to my parents and why, and see what comes of it.
Tabaxi Outpost
Summer Moon
I spoke with Sekhmet about what we learned. What She said.... She condoned the hunting of demons and things allied with demons. She must have supported the priests in hunting my parents. Then why did She take me as a cleric? Was it something about being raised in Her temple that made me acceptable, despite who I am? Or were my parents guilty of worse crimes than just being who they were?
If they weren’t evil, if the only thing they had ever done was exist...
I will be of so little use to everyone without the powers Sekhmet grants me that I’ll probably be a burden to them. But... I don’t know if I can continue to worship Her anymore, even if it’s all I’ve known.
fucking FINALLY
Garland Moon
I killed that bitch with big hurty lightning.
Fucker
On the way to Wright
Summer Moon
Our attempt at sneaking into the Yuan-Ti camp was much easier than I expected it would be, but as usual, unforeseen complications ruined what had been shaping up to be a pretty easy success. Lighting fires around the camp to distract them so everyone could sneak into the ruin and we could get into a fight if we needed to without immediately being swarmed by guards worked, and although there was a puzzle with riddles and stones that confused all of us for a few minutes, we solved it without too much trouble.
Behind the puzzle door, we encountered the boy we were looking for, and someone who I believe we've seen mentioned in papers we've taken before - Margoth. She's a tiefling spellcaster of some kind, with similar eldritch magic to Iltiari, and she's going to keep being a problem for us. Fighting her was rough - she did have allies with her, but the two Yuan-Ti went down in seconds and as intimidating as facing a demon still is, it wasn't nearly as threatening as she was. Everyone was still standing, somehow, by the time she decided to make her escape, but it was a close thing; if I wasn't less affected by fire magic, she would have killed me, and judging by the amount of healing spells we threw around after the fight, other people were in danger of that too. Margoth shrugged off damage that I know should have hurt a lot more than it seemed to, too... her not minding fire magic is probably a tiefling trait, but holy magic? I would have assumed that someone like her would be more susceptible to it...
We returned the boy to his mother, who answered some questions for us, and gave us an idea of where to go next. It's almost certain now that Tazra and Margoth are trying to do something with the reality scar; Margoth took Hyrsam because of his abilities with portals and the two of them have gathered an army and are bringing it to Dread Isle. I don't know what it is about wanting to take over the world that makes them think that summoning demons is a good idea, but they need to cut that shit out before something terrible happens. And since they don't seem inclined to do that, we'll just have to kick their asses. So to do that, we're traveling to Wright now, to gather allies to help us confront them. Radiance thinks she can get the Navy involved, with her connections, which would be a relief. The Fey Queen suggested that we need Risf with us to succeed, and that we'll find him there - while I'll be glad to see him, getting him involved in all this might get him hurt. But I suppose if we didn't, and we did need him, the world ending would get him hurt too.
The Queen did tell me, though, that the odds of my relation to the Demon Lord causing my blood to have any kind of magical impact was unlikely, with how distant the relationship is, and... that's a relief. I didn't want to have to worry about whether or not my getting a paper cut could be dangerous.
P.S.: I tried to hit Damiel with a snowball and he dodged it. Rude. Iltiari betrayed me by hitting me with a snowball when I suggested they throw one at someone - I will have my revenge for this. I don't know how, yet, but when I do, they'll rue the day they turned against me.
Docked near Necropolis-on-sea
Garland Moon
What in all the hells am I supposed to do?
I thought Necropolis-on-sea would just try to kill us with ghosts or necromancers or liches, not tear my life apart. Some kind of warning would have been nice. I keep hoping to wake up and find that this was all some strange nightmare I'd dreamt up, but I've tried jabbing myself with my cloakpin and nothing changes.
We left the manor after breaking the curse, which I thought would make things a little easier to think through - make it seem more distant, if nothing else. I didn't want anything to do with the place; my first thought after learning that it was my inheritance was that I could burn it to ash and forget about it. It's an empty manor that's been abandoned for years, the curse on it tried to kill me and my friends, and the only connection I have to it is that it belonged to someone who was probably my great-grandfather. But destroying it wouldn't make me forget anything... and at this point, it might be the closest thing I've got to a place to live, even if it's not much of a home.
I took as many of the journals that Guadius Algol wrote in the years that he lived in the manor with me when we left. It'll take me a while to get through translating all the Infernal, but I want to do it myself, not have Damiel or Glow and her Comprehend Languages spell do it. The thought of having someone else read them for the sake of a quicker translation makes my stomach twist. The journals feel too personal to share them, which really doesn’t make sense. I didn’t know Guadius, and he’s long dead. There shouldn’t be a problem with someone else reading them. But... I want to keep them to myself.
I suppose, despite being his descendant, Algol might not actually be my name, if my mother took my father's surname, but it's all I have to go on now. And despite the nasty curse Guadius put on the manor, he didn't seem like a bad person when we talked to his ghost. I'm going to use Algol, I think. And I know the name of his granddaughter that he thinks was my mother: Velphi.
I've hated her, and my father, for years, for a crime they didn't commit. They didn't leave me, the priests killed them. They stole that from me, and - I feel like I was cheated out of knowing them. I want to know them, now, if there's anyone who would remember them well enough to tell me something; what were they like? What was my father's name? How did they meet?
Half of me wants to go back to the manor, or to find their graves, if they have one, and ask them directly. But... I spent so long saying that I was glad I didn't know them. Would they hate me in return, for that? Or would I be a disappointment to them? I'm afraid of knowing the answer to that.
My family, though... according to Guadius, our family isn't just descended from a demon, like I already knew, but from the demon lord itself. I hate knowing that. I don't want any association with the thing that tried to destroy the world, and now I can't get away from it. And knowing this, at a time when demons are reappearing in the world? The temple didn't teach me much lore about blood magic, but I know enough to know blood has power. Maybe that thing's ancestry is so far distant that it doesn't matter, but the thought that there could be any more importance or connection beyond shared ancestry... it's terrifying. If I know anything, it's that the Incursion, or anything like it, can never be allowed to happen again. And I don't know enough about demons or blood magic or anything that could make sense of whatever's going on with the demons to feel certain that it won't happen.
Radiance and Iltiari weren't with us throughout that night in the manor. The others heard everything, know everything... but at least they don't seem to care? They haven't really talked to me about it much yet, and I think I prefer that. Hail's hug was really comforting, but talking about it with her would probably be harder. Glow and Nabith... we're not that close, I think, and Nabith being a paladin makes this complicated. Radiance, too, if she finds out. Nabith at least has been here from the beginning, but Radiance? I have no idea how she'd react and with how devout she is it could be bad. But she might have some more concrete answers about demons than what the priests taught me. Damiel definitely does, with what he's told us so far.
He tried to help, in his own confused way, which was... more comforting than it should have been, probably. Asking him for advice would be a different perspective, or at least a less emotional one, but most of what I need help figuring out is emotional. Zsoana, though, or Iltiari... From what we learned about Zsoana and her cultist family, she understands issues with shitty family members. I know less about Iltiari, but they're a fallen aasimar who turned to Cthulhu, so there's got to be some similar issue there with unwanted heritage, even if theirs is divine instead of demonic. I'll talk to them, maybe, after I explain everything,; that said, I'm not following their example and making bargains with eldritch beings, no matter how much they insist it helps.
Thinking about Lehvn is... hard. Even though I should hate him knowing what he did, hearing him admit it, my first thoughts of him are still good ones. He raised me. Was it all just to see if they could make a tiefling into a proper gods-worshipping priest, or did he actually care? I can't even figure out where to start untangling that knot of emotions - confusion, hurt, anger? Trying to think through it feels like chasing my tail in circles, and considering unpacking what I feel about the temple and my faith is even worse. If I went back... would the temple still feel like home? Part of me thinks that it wouldn't, with memories of Lehvn everywhere, knowing what he did, but there isn't anywhere else that I belong. I still get homesick remembering my room, or the garden, or that sunny corner hidden away in the archives...
All of my plans involved going back home after this was all over and done with and the aegis was found, even if I didn't stay there forever, but now - do I even want to find it? And if not the temple, where would I go, when the group disbands? Just having enough money to get a place somewhere isn't the same as being able to go home.
Somewhere in the ocean, aboard the Joyful Damnation
Garland Moon
No one ever listens to me when I tell them we shouldn't trust shady people who are probably cultists, and yet.
I was absolutely right about them being dangerous, and although nothing went terribly wrong for us in the end, I still wish we hadn't agreed to take them on in the first place. Or that we had dumped them overboard after the first night of weird chanting and summoning.
It's.... a really long story, and I don't want to recount all five of those strange as hell days, but in essence, we hosted a bachelor party. With food, entertainment, drinks... and an accidental god summoning ritual. Apparently, what we did was exactly what the cultists, who kept calling themselves the Lads, needed to summon their undead deer god. They did a lot of late-night chanting and we spent a long time trying to figure out what that was about, only to suddenly get confronted with their ritual.
Aside from everything being really strange and also having to be hosts on our new ship, which went... decently well? The food was pretty good, and I got to cook in an actual kitchen again - not quite the same as being on land, but so much closer than a campfire! Glow cooked quite a bit as well, which isn't something I knew she could do, but she's good at it, even if her dishes the first night weren't much of a success.
There was a lot of drinking to go with it. We drank quite a bit to celebrate, we got the Lads really drunk on mimosas to try (and mostly fail) to pry information out of them, and everyone had a lot of coffee on those nights that we were all taking extra watches so there was always two people up in case the chanting and the creepy eyeball thing started happening again.
Radiance gave Iltiari the apology baguettes, which Iltiari accepted, and she hasn't called them an it since. So hopefully that enmity is over. They did bond over the sea shanties, which are extremely catchy. I keep hearing those two humming it.
On the subject of our new ship, I don't like it as much as I hoped I would. Radiance and Zsoana adore the sea and the ship, and Nabith's apparently a very quick learner - she picked it up like she's been doing it all her life. Iltiari.... went from totally hopeless to competent, which is weird, but also not, for them? Hail and Damiel and I? We all learned we get horribly seasick.
It was terrible. Why do people insist on making boats and going out to sea so badly? Why do they want to have unsteady footing and choppy waves and constantly feel like they're sloshing around in a wooden container? The sea is worse than the forest, and I thought I would never hate any environment more than I hate the forest. I want to go back to the plains, where the land isn't covered in fucking trees and there's actual dirt.
Damiel made some potion that made the seasickness go away, thankfully, which made it bearable even if I still wish we could be somewhere else. I don't know how he managed to figure it out while also being seasick.... being docked was better than being out on the ocean, but the rocking motion still reminded me of how bad it was out there. I'm glad he was able to figure it out, though.
Hail's luckier than the rest of us - she was fine the next day, without any potion to help. She's not bad at sailing either, now that she's able to take a few steps from the rail.
Also, apparently I've given Damiel a petname now? I was just trying to tease him about having to be awake for the early morning watch, but I think the joke went over his head. He thought me calling him 'sunshine' was some kind of nickname, so then I had to explain that it was more of a petname, and then apparently he didn't understand what that meant until I explained it, though Elvish has a close enough word that he got the idea.
As weird as that interaction was, he didn't have any objections to me using it? He's definitely not sunny in his demeanor, but that makes it better, honestly. And he does have blonde hair.
...I think I might just keep calling him sunshine. It's kind of cute.
The Lads, who Iltiari threw into the void, wanted us to take them south, which was conveniently where the Cult of Daimos told us we could find Tazra. The nearest port to us is a very ominously named Necropolis-on-sea, so I'm more than a little worried about what we're going to find there when we stop to resupply. It's might just be a perfectly normal little town aside from a necromancer problem that we'll need to clean up, but... I've been feeling unsettled about it ever since we interrupted the Lads' ritual. If they wanted to go there, something dangerous must be going on.
The Chipper Squirrel, Caster Falls
Garland Moon
There was a very minimal amount of people getting hurt this time, which is both a really depressing achievement but also really good for us? I mean, there were some minor injuries, but it turned out fine. Nobody got seriously injured or died, even our 'enemies?' They were pretty shitty pirates and if they hadn't known any useful information we could've just completely avoided them without any consequences, so they weren't really enemies. More like roadblocks. Except only blocking half of the road so you can just walk right past.
Our first order of business was to deal with the mess M. Channail left us - Glow and Damiel seemed to have a good time looking at the blueprints Glow found on him, even though as far as I'm aware, that's neither of their specialties. Nerds.
I think if Damiel knew I said that about him I would die, but it's true and I regret nothing.
M. Channail's giant metal spider... thing... had some magical storage devices that were powering it, and that we think is what he was using the magic he stole from us and all those other people for. We decided to turn my bag into a bag of holding and collect them, in case we found some opportunity to unleash a giant amount of magical power (and with the problems we find, when won't we need huge amounts of magic?) But it's a little eerie, knowing I'm carrying around the stolen magic of a lot of people who died because of it. I suppose it's not that much different from using an enchanted item after the enchanter is dead, but somehow it being their magic directly is worse. Practically, it's better to keep them... but I almost want to get rid of them just on principle. What made them is definitely evil - would it be wrong of us to use it, even for good? I'm going to have to think on that a lot more.
We tried convincing M. Channail's spirit to tell us where we could find Tazra, but Radiance wasted two of our five questions and then he refused to answer anything else. Like an asshole. Even dead he's a dick.
Speaking of Radiance, it seems like finding Tazra is more personal for her than we knew. She was generally upset by all of the siblings we were running into, and... I guess I kind of get it. I would have liked to have a brother or sister, I think. But Radiance... she wasn't all that excited about talking about it, but I think Tazra did something to her sibling, and that's why she wants to find her and get revenge. Was Radiance's sibling one of the people who died in those magic-draining cells? Or did Tazra do something else that hurt them?
Sekhmet finally responded to me! It was only for a moment, and nothing more than an acknowledgement, but that's more than enough after wondering if something's wrong, if I'm doing something wrong.
We learned from Damiel that demons can be killed by combining silver weapons and enough holy magic, so we went to a weapons shop and, thanks to Damiel (where does he get so much money? We're all doing well enough, especially Glow because she's stingy as hell, but he hasn't been taking a share of treasure from most of our finds and doesn't seem to care...) we're all equipped with silver knives. I hope we're able to turn M. Channail's demon into a pincushion soon.
Zsoana and Radiance also picked up new weapons at the same time, which are really weird but also really cool - they turn on! And explode! It should be concerning, but I think those two will use it fairly responsibly. More so than Bell would, at any rate. Zsoana's usually careful, and Radiance doesn't seem like the type to hurt someone who hasn't earned it. Damiel got something too, but if it does anything interesting, I don't know - he did spend a long time nerding out with the brothers over the weapons, though.
Aside from weapons shopping, we stopped in at a bakery - they had a delicious berry pie, which I haven't had in far too long - it's a shame campfires aren't very useful for baking, or I would have made one for everyone by now. Damiel thought it was too sweet, which is the point of it? But I'm wondering if he might like a version made with just the fruit, instead of adding more sugar... Radiance bought Ilitari apology baguettes, for when they come back from sulking in the void. If anything's going to convince Iltiari to like her, baguettes will. As long as she starts calling them by their name or pronouns instead of 'it'. We also went to a magic shop - Truthful Terence's, which seems like a cheap knockoff of Legitimate Larry's - or is Larry's the knockoff? Anyway. I bought a blanket that can glow! It's very soft, and almost as nice as the one I already have.
Our shopping was, unfortunately, interrupted by Zsoana being given a note which is apparently a threat between pirates. We went to find out who had sent it to her, and encountered a bunch of drunk and stupid pirates who we tricked into telling us who wanted her dead. Although I wasn't party to the whole thing, since she, Nabith, and Glow were the ones who first went to investigate the ship of the Yuan Ti who sent it to her, it turned out that it had been sent by her younger brother! Which Zsoana did not seem happy about. There was a lot of not-swearing insults. Turns out he was being used by his father, a cult leader, to hunt Zsoana down because she left the cult and he blames her for others leaving to join a new demonic cult - joy - and he was being tracked.
After Glow almost froze the poor boy's arm off, we finally got rid of the bracelet that was tracking him, and he decided to stay in Caster Falls and work for the old woman running Truthful Terence's. Changing careers from a cultist slash pirate to a magic shop apprentice is a little drastic, but if it works for him...
So we decided to take the ship! Currently it's called the Lonely Maiden III, which is a monumentally stupid name and needs to be changed immediately, but we haven't managed to agree on a good one yet.
While talking to Damiel, the night that Radiance told me about her sibling, I learned that apparently Bell hadn't given me all of the information - elves don't just initiate a courtship with a gift, the initiator keeps giving them! For over five years! That would have been embarrassing if I hadn't asked... he probably would have been wondering what the hell I was doing ignoring him, and I wouldn't have had any idea anything was off.
Five years.... that's a pretty long time, by mortal standards, but... I think he might just be worth waiting that long, even if that's short by his standards.
Honestly, I'm more worried about if I can think of enough good gifts for five years' worth.
Since all of our shopping and pirate-intimidating and brother-rescuing brought us no closer to finding Tazra, our next try is to seek out the Cult of Daimos and see if they know where she is. There are... quite a few things I want to ask them about, but I don't know if I have any secrets valuable enough to trade, let alone one to contribute for Tazra's location. I haven't discovered anything revolutionary or learned any forgotten knowledge, nor do I have any interesting personal secrets... the only thing I can think of is that I'm supposed to be seeking Sekhmet's aegis, since that quest is probably still secret... but I want to ask them where it is.
A number of days from Damerel
Garland Moon
I'm glad we're free of dealing with M. Channail. He's been a thorn in our side for far too long - we still haven't figured out exactly why he's doing all this potion-making and magic-stealing and environment-destroying, but everything he's had his hands in has been causing people harm, and he's working with a demon, so I'm satisfied that things will be safer with him gone.
Unfortunately, we didn't manage to take care of Tazra and the demon, despite Iltiari's best efforts to feed them to Cthulhu. What really concerns me is that the demon must have escaped from the ruins of the laboratory that we trapped it in before the Navy got there... or it was able to kill or get past whoever the Navy sent to deal with it. Either way, it seems like it's going to be harder to kill, or banish, or whatever we do to get rid of it than just tossing it into a void or stabbing it. Someone has to know the best way to get rid of a demon... the Incursion was stopped by the gods, but people were still fighting the demons off before that. Something about how to kill them has to have been passed down somewhere. As hard as I've tried, I don't remember being told any specifics by the priests, but it's possible that that information is kept more secret, or that another god's followers might know it... I'll keep an ear out for it.
We also picked up a new ally, right before taking on M. Channail. Radiance, as she introduced herself, is... strange. As far as I can tell, she's a paladin of Isis, but she's got some kind of strange power that involves radiating light, which didn't seem like anything I'm used to paladins doing? She looks human, but I've got some doubts about that.
Iltiari hates her. Usually I'd be biased towards anything Iltiari can't stand, but she kept referring to them as a thing instead of a person. Regardless of the ideological differences between us, Iltiari is a friend - a frustrating one, but a friend nonetheless - and if she doesn't start treating them with at least some respect, we're not going to get along well.
As if to remind me of why they're a frustrating friend, Iltiari threw up. All over me. They cleaned it up, but that's fucking disgusting and I'm not going to be able to feel clean, Prestidigitation or no, until I can soak everything I'm wearing in hot water and soap.
On a much cuter note, I have a pet rabbit now, I think! Part of ruining M. Channail's plans this time was freeing all of the animals he had caught to power his machinery, and while we shooed off most of the animals before we blew it up and then went to fight him, one of the bunnies stuck around with me! Her name is Moppet and she and Willow seem to like each other and she's very cute and I love her.
There was also a weird comment Radiance made to Damiel that keeps nudging at me? Something about him being nice looking... which, she's not wrong, but the attitude that comes with it... we're all used to him by now, but she isn't. I don't think she knows that about him yet. But I... don't really have any moral high ground to judge her from.
Yet, despite being rude to Iltiari, being generally defensive (although, I suppose that's fair - there are a lot of us, and obviously more willing to protect each other than trust her), and so far not getting along well with most of the group, Radiance still took the full force of M. Channail's lightning bolt to protect Zsoana. Glow healed her up quickly, but nearly dying to protect someone who's barely more than a stranger to her? It was reckless, and brave. I have to respect her for that.
So far, we share the same goals. Radiance wants to find Tazra, as do we - and if she's willing to help me keep everyone alive, she's not all bad.
Radiance seems to have some kind of connection with Isis, and Nabith's god gifted her an admittedly really badass weapon in a dream. I'm happy for her - it seems really powerful, and it'll make her even stronger in a fight - but what is it about them that causes their gods to answer them? Or what am I doing wrong, that Sekhmet hasn't spoken to me in such a long time? I still have my magic, so She hasn't revoked Her favor yet, but it makes me worry that I'm doing something wrong, or that I'm not on the right path.
I'll admit I haven't been searching as hard as I could, but nowhere we've gone so far has offered even the slightest lead and I don't know what else to try. Or should I be looking elsewhere entirely? But I can't just leave everyone.
note to future rimaia: Radiance keeps coughing. Might just be a cold, but ask her about it just in case!
The Flappy Stingray, Damerel
Garland Moon
...I think I'm done covering pages with stress scribbling. I would almost be bothered with the amount of paper wasted, but it's better than accidentally starting fires, I suppose. But I might need to buy a new journal sooner than I planned.
Bell's not with us anymore. I understand why she wanted to leave, I think - she found her friend again, and she's been having trouble getting along with the group since the mirror punching incident. She seemed happy enough to leave with Clikx? As much trouble as she could be, I'll miss her. I've gotten used to checking to make sure she's not getting into trouble, or hearing her cooing over CJ in the background. It's strange not having her around - I keep expecting her to wander back in from the forest and complain about being indoors.
We've been spending a lot more time indoors than usual and actually sleeping in real beds. By now I think it's been a week since we dealt with the magical rabies issue? I lost track of the date after the first of Garland Moon.
On that note, I convinced Hail to come out with me to collect flowers on the first, since she's a druid and I was sure she would know where to find plenty. Gathering flowers.... doesn't seem like something Hail would enjoy, really, but she got really into it! It was pretty cute. Maybe the holiday is important to her and her family too? We got more than enough for the both of us, even after she forgot about her claws and shredded her first few attempts at making garlands, and everyone kept the flower crowns I made on for the rest of the day, even Damiel! Which is... probably the only reason I had the guts to actually go through with asking if we could date. Or "court"? Apparently that's what the elves call it.... that makes me suspect that there's more to it than just adding a gift to the question like Bell said, because she didn't call it that. Fuck. I'm going to have to research this to do it right, aren't I? Gods, I hope asking Damiel isn't the only option, because that might kill me. It was already awkward enough saying anything, or after he agreed, or after Hail apparently overheard, or....
Anyway, we were trying to figure out how we would locate Clikx's weasel when we had no idea where to find it or M. Channail, and through an extremely convoluted series of events, learned that people were being turned into animals by drinking some "Miracle Elixir", which we pretty much immediately blamed on M. Channail because of course it would be his fault. And to be fair, we were right about that.
We decided to divide and conquer to try to solve the issue after failing to locate the cart that had been selling the elixir - Zsoana, Glow, and Nabith went around looking for more people that might have been affected, while Iltiari staked out the place where the elixir was usually sold and Damiel and I went back to the inn to wait for people who had bottles of the elixir so he could figure out what was in it. I was just there to keep him from scaring them all off. Apparently he used to be part of a Potioneers' Guild? Which is entirely unsurprising.
Once we'd found out where M. Channail was up to no good from one of his employees, we left Damiel behind at the inn to try to figure out an antidote for the elixir while we dealt with the production (and hopefully kicked that bastard's ass). We did manage the first part... but the second was a lot harder. First Bell fell into the cauldron of elixir, which apparently doesn't need to be ingested to turn you into an animal. She became some kind of giant tailless rat that kept barking and tried to bite M. Channail's crotch, which is exactly what I expected of her.
That fight was... rough. I've never needed to cast more than one healing spell in a fight, and it's just about always been enough to heal whatever damage's been done, but M. Channail's lightning spell was so strong and hit so many of us that I needed two of them just to get everyone out of danger, including myself. For as many of us as there are, and as good as we all are, we're outmatched. We're going to need to get stronger to give him the asskicking he's earned.
There was one terrifying moment, right before he escaped, that he made Zsoana vanish, and we had no idea what to do, but she thankfully reappeared a minute later - and knocked herself and Iltiari straight into the elixir. She turned into a snake, they turned into an octopus... and with three animals in tow and still half-charred from lightning, we went back to the inn. It was a mess and Damiel still doesn't know that Zsoana temporarily vanished and I'm not going to be the one to tell him.
I did help more with whatever he's trying to make. I'm still mostly following his directions without really understanding why I'm doing them, but I'm doing it correctly most of the time! Alchemy is still interesting, for its potential; I do want to work out what medical uses his potions could have. It's... also a really good excuse to spend time with him without everyone getting too weird, and it's... enjoyable, to work together. The teamwork is the nicest part.
(there are a lot more scribbles here)
Fuck
aaaahhhhHHHHHHH
Garland Moon
(the page is covered in several frantic scribbles. there are no discernible words)
Some tavern, at a town near the forest
Fawn Moon
I'm fairly sure that cleaning up a potential environmental disaster shouldn't be considered an easy day, but compared to last time, it definitely was. I'm still not even sure what day it is.
We left the smoking ruin of the tavern behind us after Zsoana got us directions to a road from a group of friendly snakes, one of whom was named (she named?) Alfred. Apparently Yuan-Ti can talk with actual snakes by hissing at them.
The road the snakes directed us to eventually led us to a town, and we all split up temporarily to run some different errands. It took... a lot more work than it should have been to get that asshole who drugged us thrown in jail, but Zone of Truthing him plus reminding him that we could always just go back to Iltiari eventually got him to confess. While I was doing that, Damiel sent my letter and apparently one of his own - with any luck the Navy will show up soon and deal with the demon, if it's still there. I hope it hasn't gone anywhere else.
Everyone else went to the market, which was.... chaotic. Bell wanted live chickens for some reason - I'm not certain why they had to be live, specifically, since she just killed one to make dinner for Hail by that evening, but at this point I've given up on questioning what Bell does so long as she's not hurting anyone.
After the market, we found a tavern and stopped in - this one thankfully wasn't an attempt to kidnap people - and ended up taking a job from a dwarf who didn't want to give us the details at first. As shady as it sounded, it turned out to be legitimate enough. Something was making animals go crazy in the forest, and a scientist wanted us to capture an infected animal so she could study it and figure out what was happening. There were some... issues.... with some rabbits and squirrels, but Iltiari and Damiel managed to catch a hummingbird in Iltiari's cloak so we didn't have to go fight a boar and try to capture it.
Of course, because nothing ends simply, the scientist then hired us to go find the source of whatever was happening, so we followed a contaminated river upstream until we found the cave that the water was coming from. Some goblins and kobolds had set up shop there making some kind of gunk, and the runoff was getting into the water. One of those goblins turned out to be Bell's friend, the one she's mentioned wanting to find once or twice.
Bell's friend told us that he was being forced to work for M. Channail, and that they were holding his weasel hostage so he would comply. I don't know why Bell's friend was so important to them to have, or what they were doing with what they were making, but Damiel got a sample, so we should be able to find that out soon.
Between Iltiari being their usual terrifying self and Damiel's explosives, cleaning up the remaining goblins and kobolds, along with their still, was simple. We went back to the tavern afterwards, and from talking to Bell and her friend, it seems like we're going to try to get her friend's weasel back.
On that note, her friend is kind of an asshole. I get that Bell can be troublesome, but she talks about him like he's her favorite person in the world. I expected him to be at least a little more fond of her... Despite that, she's hinted that after we get his weasel back, she might be leaving with him. I'm.... not sure how I feel about that. We haven't always been on the best terms, and somehow she worries me more than anyone else in the party, but that doesn't mean I'll be glad to see her go. She is our friend.
At the market, I paid Iltiari off with another baguette to keep Damiel distracted long enough for me to talk to Bell without him eavesdropping - I never can tell when he's listening in or not and there was no chance I was going to risk him overhearing us. According to Bell, elves will give the other something as a way to show how they feel, so I slipped by and bought him some tea before we left since he's so fond of it.
Gods, I hope she's actually right and not mistaken, or making this up, or I'm going to look like the world's biggest idiot... I already feel like it. Damiel tolerates all of us, at best. This is absolutely going to fail, and badly, and then it's just going to be uncomfortable.
If I hadn't already promised myself I was going to say something, I think I would've just tossed the tea out now and given up on the idea entirely. I feel like I'm ramming my head into a brick wall while also trying not to throw up every time I think about it. I can't even look at him without my stomach flipping.
The month should be changing soon, right? Maybe that's the key! I can give flowers to everyone then, and if Damiel doesn't outright reject the idea of us being friends I'll give him the tea and stop being a coward. The worst that can happen is that he rejects it and then kills me in my sleep, right? At least then it won't be awkward.
I don't know where we are and at this point i'm too afraid to ask
Fawn Moon
With how long the day(?) has been, I really should be asleep now that we're finally out of that nightmare, but I can't manage it. Everything's too tangled up - everyone's alive, but some of the damage that's been done is likely going to be permanent, and that thing we met...
After Bumble, we wanted to get as far away as we could, and it took a few days of walking before we managed to find another sign of civilization. There was this tavern, out in the woods, but it was along a road - I suppose I must have assumed it catered to travelers, but there weren't any there at the time, and the road didn't seem well-traveled. At least one of us should have realized how suspicious that was, in hindsight.
At first it was nice, to sit down and relax for a bit, and I did get to introduce Zsoana to something better than that slime she was drinking the last time we were at a tavern. We also learned Glow is actually quite a bit younger than we thought she was! She's not even an adult yet, which is concerning in itself. Why is she traveling with a group of adventurers so young? Does she not have a family or home to go back to? Is it connected to her silence? Or is that unrelated? I would rather not push it, since she seems to be fine... but I'll be keeping a closer eye on her from now on. Especially since Iltiari had no issue trying to slip her a drink anyway.
The landlord-dodging bartender, though, turned out to be evil, or at least morally bankrupt and willing to work for someone worse. Our food and drinks were drugged, but I can't remember anything past Damiel realizing that - the next thing I remember is waking up in a cell with Damiel, with all of our things gone. The back of his head was bloodied, but whoever took us from the tavern didn't bother to do anything about it, and finding him not moving... it was frightening, for a moment. Luckily, we must not have been unconscious for long; the injury hadn't clotted much, but he didn't seem to be in imminent danger of bleeding to death, and he woke up after I patched him up with what little supplies were on hand. Even after we broke out, though, he was out of it for most of our escape attempt. Bell gave him a healing potion after we regained our things, but he didn't trust it to be effective and I don't know enough about how potions interact with a concussion. I need to remember to check him for any sign that he's still concussed before we set off tomorrow.
Zsoana and Nabith weren't so lucky, when they woke up. Nothing fatal - but they woke up with stitched cuts, and we suspect that they had an organ stolen, probably a kidney? Maiming someone like that is foul. The mastermind behind this - Tazra? - should be put down for that crime alone, even without considering the deaths that we can blame her for. Runes in the cells blocked us from using our magic, even my little flames, and from the state of the poor souls we found in other cells, they likely drain away life force as well. It even turned Iltiari's strange arm back into nonliving stone - how does their arm work? I had assumed it was some sort of gift from their patron, but never questioned it.
The entire place was... evil, that's the only way I can describe it. The only regret I have about getting away is that Damiel wasn't able to blow it up like we did the tavern. A place designed to drain away magic, and steal it to be used for evil, without regard for what damage it might do to the people it was taken from? That shouldn't be allowed to exist. When the Navy finds it, I hope they're able to destroy whatever mechanism was powering those runes.
The guards were far less evil than the cells, however. Despite keeping people captive, they were much less threatening than I thought they would be, and most of them folded under Iltiari's intimidation without much trouble. That said, if they didn't survive our sudden escape, I don't know if I can say that it wasn't deserved.
If only one good thing comes out of this, it's that we were able to rescue a few people from that place. One of them was a Tabaxi named Inks, who, though we had no idea before, is Hail's father. He wasn't well when we found him, but he should recover with enough rest and time. What Hail will do next is still the question - her father is apparently an archaeologist, and doesn't seem well-suited for adventuring. Hail might want to leave and take him back to wherever she calls home.
here, the writing switches to another language
I do not want to think in Infernal, not after that demon, but I hate the thought of this being read. Damiel can read it, but I do not think he will. I want to stop Bell more than anyone else. She seems curious enough to open this, if I ever left it lying around.
When we escaped from our cells, we found a lab. Damiel's things, including Willow, were there, and the vessel that was being used to steal magic. The demon was there, guarding it. It shifted to mimic the person it was talking to, and although I asked it questions... it was sickening, seeing something like that wear my face, and the faces of people I can... rely on.
Damn Infernal! There is no word for friendship, or even companions in this disgusting language.
The only relief was that the demon took no more interest in me than the others, and that they said nothing about my potential relation to it. But when they spoke to it, none of them feared it like they should have. Have none of them heard the stories of the Incursion? Do they not know that the demons should be gone - and the danger of having someone out there in the world who is both willing and capable of summoning them?
I... don't want to think about it any longer. I wrote a message for the Navy, and I'll send it as soon as I can. They will handle it.
There's more weighing on my mind, though, and it's even worse to put to paper. I thought I was just interested in Damiel's knowledge, of the potential that his skills could have if applied properly. But those few moments before I knew he was alive, in the cells.... It was frightening. Not because I was afraid for myself, or for the others, though I was, but because I was afraid for him. He matters to me, in a different way from the others.
The constraints of Infernal are even more infuriating when I realize there's no good way to write what I'm feeling, but if I wrote it out in Common, someone might read it, and that's even worse.
I do not know what I am going to do about it. He does not seem to understand emotion well - if I said nothing, would he ever notice? But I do not want him to never realize - and yet part of me is so ill when I think about saying something that I almost want him to remain ignorant. But that part is smaller, and quieter, now.
Damiel will likely hate it, or take no real notice, like he does most other feelings people have, but I am going to say something, eventually. If only to give him the chance to turn me down before it becomes a burden. I cannot help thinking that I might be wrong about that, though. That... would be a much better outcome. I should ask Bell - she might know something about any traditions or taboos the elves have. He seems to miss his homeland, so maybe I can recreate a little of it for him. If I am going to do it, I will do this right.
....Gods, this is frightening.
Redcastle, after All Crims' Eve
It was... a fucking day and a half.
As concerning as Iltiari's new cult is, we did rescue the people from Tanners' Folly and close the door on that whole mess. Hopefully that isn't going to come back to bite us. If it does I blame Iltiari.
Later that night, we all decided to spend the night in one of the houses we emptied out - except Bell, again. And that's not even the most concerning thing she did this time. She spent a lot of time talking to her cat... it is cute though. I'm still surprised Damiel decided to hand it to her.
On the subject of Damiel, that was.... interesting? He's been odd recently too, but considering how strange he is I can't be sure if that's normal for him or it's actually odd. I was really more concerned last night that he was going to cause some kind of property damage with his alchemy, but checking up on him was surprisingly intriguing interesting enjoya informative. His alchemy is more practised than I would have guessed - he definitely knows what he's doing. Somehow I don't think his claim that he's the best alchemist we'll ever meet is an exaggeration.
That said, the way he looked when I got him started talking about his experimentation and his project was.... really strange. It's the first time I've seen him smile, but that wasn't an excited smile. It was almost like Risf when he learns something new about the gods, but worse somehow. More obsessive. I feel like I should try to figure out what that's about... but I don't know if I want to dive that deep into whatever it is that put that eerie look in his eyes.
He was back to his usual self after that, though? I almost would have thought I imagined it if I hadn't known better. He showed me how Willow works, which is neat! She's still the cutest thing ever; sorry, Bell's cat. And the lesson he gave me later? I still felt like I'd missed a lot of background information, but I think I have a handle on how his potion against rabies works, which is more than I can say about what I knew beforehand. Even if other elves aren't as good as he is, imagine the sorts of medical miracles we could work through alchemy! There's probably thousands of potential applications for alchemy that could solve the issues of illnesses and injuries that even clerics and herbalists struggle to deal with - imagine a better disinfectant, or a cure for plagues! I'm not certain I can get a strong enough grasp on alchemy to do it myself, but maybe if we combined my medical training and his brewing skills?
I suppose that would require Damiel to actually want to cooperate, though. And to talk to a mortal. Besides, if all goes well, I'll be able to return to the Holy Plains soon enough, and that's more important than messing around.
After Tanners' Folly, we went to Redcastle, where we got caught up in some strange festival called All Crims' Eve? Zsoana was so excited by the idea of breaking into some duke's house for a competition... it ended up being much more than we bargained for. Near-misses with guards and other thieves, traps on every inch of the place, arrows being shot around everywhere, Iltiari's apparent inability to be stealthy.... it was bad. Poor Glow and Nabith were tackled by guards, too, although everyone made it out okay in the end. I probably used up all of my bandages patching up arrow wounds, too, and I just bought them.
Speaking of patching up wounds, there's an even bigger issue - Bell. She's been avoiding me since we had a talk about not doing things that will probably kill you for no good reason - which, okay, I suppose she can sulk if she wants to, but really? Come the fuck on. Worse, she decided for some gods-be-damned reason to punch a mirror in the duke's home. While we were trying to be stealthy and not be noticed by the multiple guards around. Somehow they didn't catch any of us even though Iltiari had to stuff themself under a bed and Hail got stepped on. I do feel bad about that guard being poisoned, though. Hopefully he won't suffer any lasting effects and gets decent hazard pay.
Bell, though... I almost had to hold her down to fix up her hand; is she not aware of how much damage she could have done? She's a monk, she needs working hands! At least she let me do it eventually. Whatever's going on with her... she needs to talk, soon. Zsoana seems bothered by it too, and Hail was ready to strangle her earlier. I get why - that's fucking dangerous! It almost got us caught! But Hail choking her out won't help anything and I don't really want to test if Revivify actually works.
I will Zone of Truth her if I have to.
Early morning, outside of Bumble
Fawn Moon
Sleeping turned out to be even harder than I thought it would be last night. It's probably the same for some of the others - Iltiati's probably writing too, judging from the scratching noises coming from their bedroll, and Bell's not in her tree. Maybe the potion Damiel gave them doesn't keep you asleep. He's not where he set up last night, but I suppose he doesn't really sleep like we do. As far as I can tell, everyone else is still asleep, or at least trying to be. The sun's still barely above the horizon - I doubt anyone's willingly awake now.
Last night's writing was a poor record, and with all that happened, I suspect I'll need to remember it.
I did get to talk to Bell about her sudden outburst during All Crims' Eve, along with some of the others. Whatever's going on with her runs deeper than I thought at first, and I have to admit it's concerning. What little I was able to get out of her was that she punched the mirror because her reflection reminded her of her father, who she clearly hates judging by how hesitant she is to talk about it. I think she's told more to Damiel, but it's all in Elvish and I can't understand a word. There was something about a basement mentioned, though, and that's not a good sign. If her father did her any harm... he had better hope he never meets us.
Zsoana seemed concerned as well, but she wasn't able to learn much more from Bell. Whatever it is that happened with her father, she doesn't want to share. Nor does she seem all that thrilled to talk to me, still - can she not see that I'm trying to fucking keep her from getting hurt? I'd get if she didn't want me to pry, but when she isn't able to cope with whatever's troubling her....
Whatever's going on with her will have to wait for now. There's Damiel to figure out too. He's.... confusing. He's got little patience for most of us and even less for Bell, and what he said to her before Iltiari coaxed her into coming back to the group was downright cruel. And yet he didn't seem to mean it to be insulting? He left a gem for the townspeople before we left, too, and although he was excited about having Iltiari as a test subject for his potion, he offered it to them when they mentioned their nightmares. It was kind of him, even if it wasn't meant to be. And when he talked about a mountain in the Elven Kingdom, and explained to me what snow was, he was almost wistful.
Ilitari and I compared notes on what we've learned about him so far after we left the town. They seem mistrustful of his motives, and I can't say I blame them. With what we pieced together, we came up with the idea that Damiel's here not by choice, but because he was banished. When I asked him.... we've seen him fight, and he's always annoyed, but that's the first time he's ever been really angry. There's more emotion in there than he lets on. It's... intriguing. I think. I'm not sure what else to call it.
Bell will probably come back and start making breakfast soon. I'm going to try to help her, to see how she's holding up, if nothing else. So long as she doesn't revert to refusing to speak to me at all.
After midnight, outside of Bumble
Fawn Moon
We fucked up.
Children are dead. I knew nothing good could come of necromancy - but we didn't realize what it was until it was too late. I should have seen the curse sooner, or at least realized that skeletons couldn't be trusted.
As much as I wish there was something we could do to fix it, none of us have that kind of power. Leaving like we did was probably the best we could do - the townspeople seemed to want us gone.
We set up camp a ways outside of the town a few hours ago. The fire's died, but I think everyone else is asleep, or at least trying to be. I have the feeling there will be more than a few nightmares going around tonight. Damiel's not moving around either. I almost wish I'd taken his potion like Bell and Iltiari. At least I'd be able to sleep.
Writing isn't making it any easier. I hope those children are judged kindly, whatever afterlife they go to.
