Saving Il Aluk
In reply to DMJW (msg # 3):
Panian thanks her, his noble upbringing spewing forth in his mannerisms and speech in a way that seems out of place, yet familiar when you sink back into your old memories of him. Never predictable and always quite surprising, somehow it simply fits.
Once they leave the room, Panian, seated next to Nymeria, leans forward, his hand clutching his longbow, he rocks it softly and it pivots from a fixed point on the wood floor. He looks down at that point on the floor for a moment, then addresses the others in the room...
"I will express my opinion, on this matter for what it might be worth. I might be the least spiritually inclined of everyone here, even still. And I would say that up until the restoration of my life due to the sacrifice of Nymeria and the death of that strange bastard, I would have immediately dismissed all this as the superstitious rantings of the simple minded. A poor woman who looks to the tea leaves and ox blood to guide her. Or some kind of trap. Much like what you all fell into just recently with that Halfling...
But that was me quite some time ago. I don't think I am so quick to dismiss such things. Not anymore. And that is why I must say that I believe her. I truly do. Just in the same way that I believed in Charani's readings for the first time, back when we were in Lord Soth's chamber. I think that some people have a gift. I think Charani has it. I know Nymeria has it, and I believe that this woman has it. Their sources may all be different, but I buy into it. I truly do. I believe what she says will happen is going to happen.
As you know, Nymeria and I communed as soon as we could. It was the most overwhelming and intense communion session I have ever experienced. I learned so much and I am truly, wholeheartedly indebted to my cousin. If I said I would die to protect her before, that philosophy is even more true now than ever. Without hesitation or question. And what she says is true, about how she communicates and what she sees. She has been given gifts I cannot comprehend, but I respect. She is without question the most powerful one of our group.
In this communion, I felt the fear she felt as you were trapped in some temple of some accursed cult in this hellscape. As Death ran rampant through it's hallways, and you hid in a hut, blinded and scared and unsure. A religious ritual gone horribly awry. Soon, the forces of evil meet in another ceremony focused upon the corruption of flesh joined with dark magic.
And here we are, confronted with a choice that for some of us will not be a choice. Hallid will go regardless, and my words fall upon deaf ears there. Krysnys will follow. And your child, if he survives, will grow up without his true parents. Azalin will be his new father. And he will not question it. Whatever ritual is about to take place, our gracious host has pointed out that the vision shows nothing but death. Charani's cards speak of a looming darkness.
We may be strong and brave, we may trust in the light of Ba'al Hallid or Obai Hai. We may follow Lelothot, or the broken heart of our kidnapped child, or a pack of cards that allow us to see the murky visions of the future. But in the end, I don't believe we can hope to overcome the dark forces at work here. Here, on their home soil, in their home city, with the Kargat looming and ordinary citizens so degenerate, they would hand me a glowing coin knowing full well what would happen. Vanquishing the darkness is all well and good Theodoric, but if you're dead, the darkness wins by default.
If we are doing something democratic here, my vote is for us to take this woman, her child, and leave to fight Azalin another day. Find Jander. Find someone else who can help us. But if we stay and we die, who stands against his evil? Maybe we don't die, maybe we could win this fight. But the odds are the longest they have ever been for us.
I've been dead before. I'm not looking forward to going through it again."
