Ryvec Longstride
Out of Darkness
Ven, 20th of Ardorus
As soon as we exited those blasted sewers, it seemed that maybe things would improve. Fortune led a stray wizard to our encampment, who swears to have a friend proficient in necromancy. Providence, I suppose, is what led him to us. Perhaps it's from the Gods, their guiding hands leading us out of the dark for some greater purpose. That would be odd, given that Deimos has sworn an oath to slay the Gods.
It's strange, I was raised to believe in them, but lost my faith after seeing the war. I had convinced myself it was all stories to keep us from the cold darkness, and then Deimos comes along, swears that it is all real, and that he has a vendetta against them. I have so many conflicted feelings about that; on one hand I want to renew my faith, believe that if they are real then they must be good like the stories say. On the other hand, I trust Deimos. He reminds me of Pygmy - blunt, bold, and honest. Gods I miss all of them. I want to go home, but I can't. I'm on this damn fool crusade trying to prepare for a fight that may never come. And even if I could do it, I'm never getting my titles back. Perhaps I should just focus on the present, start a new life here. I could try and convince the gang to come and join me here; but that would be horribly unfair. They have families to take care of, and I... Do not.
But now we have to find a way to get these damn deathbands off of us; luckily Deimos and I found a way to get us all to Pentarae. Hopefully the rest of the group doesn't do anything stupid on the way and we can all move past this nonsense.
Waning Moons
19th of Ardorus, 774
Children, the lot of them. Though it's odd, they all claim to be children but with some there is a, I suppose kinship is the correct word. Evangeline and Deimos stand out among the rest, which is odd as they seem to hate each other. Polar opposites, it seems; so what does that say of me? Conflicted, I suppose. Gods, what am I even doing here? Power, influence, the means to create change, that was the goal. But now I'm having to protect these 6 kids; at least they claim to all be kids.
I think they remind me of my family, both my blood and the dear friends I left behind. Perhaps that's why I'm feeling so damn protective. Crawling into the line of fire to keep them out of it, bloody stupid of me. I don't know these people, why am I so willing to risk my life for them? Maybe it's because they've not yet had a life to live, the kid Xurek especially, he's barely old enough to shave, and came damn close to dying multiple times these past two days. Liara isn't much past that either, she's an elf and practically an infant. Powerful though, I've seen magic like hers before and it's not to be underestimated. If she can survive this, she'll grow to be quite formidable. Hell, I'd have recruited a kid like that in a heartbeat, given the right circumstances.
For the rest of them, it seems Cas has her share of secrets, something to do with her hands, or perhaps her magic. She's either scared of herself, or scared of us knowing who she is, and I'm not sure which is worse. I'm also not too sure what to make of Armen. He's perhaps the only rational person among them, more rational than me to be certain. The boy is afraid, but I can't say I blame him based off what he went through. I also fear that his abilities may be of a strange nature, as there is little other reason for Calyrion to have kept him alive. I would hazard to guess that it was his magic that sustained him in that cell, and if that is true, perhaps Calyrion was just watching, observing. Blast it, who the fuck cares why Calyrion wanted him? The affairs of mages have little to do with me, I'm just postulating to try and make sense of something that may be senseless. He may just be bloody insane, and that's a perfectly reasonable explanation. So why, why am I so hung up on this? The answer is obvious, of course - Evangeline.
Evangeline and Deimos, they look at each other with such hatred, such fear. Feelings that don't form over 20 odd years of life. Deimos I think is perhaps the most straightforward, he's some sort of fallen Celestial, poorly attempting to conceal his nature. It makes sense, why would a vaguely human looking man claim to be hundreds of years old if trying to stay hidden. But Evangeline has evoked such ire from him. It's as if she's expecting that he's going to kill her at any moment, and as if he is waiting for a reason to. What am I missing? What twisted Calyrion experiment is she? Her history doesn't make sense, and Deimos' reactions further add to the puzzle. She hides behind a mask of charm, flirtation, and what is either insanity or an extremely grim sense of humor. I can see the mask, hell I've worn that mask, but I can't see what's behind it.
I really hope this job doesn't come back to haunt me.
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