Fantasy Terrorchild: Awakening

[asphodelus]

3

 

[bat_hacker]

1

 

[hardcore.munchkin]

1

 

[K0mori]

1. Talk to Nytha - Out of the three sisters in your presence, only Nytha seems to have her mind and emotions fully in check, aside from the argument she had with Embryx yesterday. Maybe she could help you with retaining your conscience while casting magic.

You wait for an opportune moment to speak to her in private, but none seems to come before you all saddle up. You decide to make one on the road. "Nytha, can we talk in private?" you ask. "It won't take long."

"Once we're on the move, sure," she replies, tiredly. "We lost a fair bit of time on yesterday's escapades, and now we have a walker slowing us down."

An undertone of annoyance hangs in her words, one you were deaf to yesterday. Undeterred, you press on, your troubled mind grasping for whatever reassurances it can find. Once the party is moving again, you ask Embryx to take the lead and watch for trouble - a job she eagerly accepts, while Corrinth, meanwhile, uses wildshape to watch the road behind you from the air.

Now alone with the elf and the mercenary you "hired," you clear your throat. "Nytha... I'm afraid that I might be losing myself. Yesterday, I allowed my worst instincts to take control of me," you say. "I said and I did things that I wouldn't have ever considered if not for the magic I tapped into-" you begin, but Nytha sharply dismisses it.

"You know, people always say that dark magic rots the soul and changes personalities, but if that were really true, then none of us would have any agency, any freedom to decide when and how we inflict ourselves on other people. And that's what this whole coven is supposed to be about - freedom. Agranne, I don't know much about where you came from, but I've heard it wasn't good."

You nod, cautiously. "My family is barely surviving," you admit.

"And you harbor a lot of resentment inside over that."

"I-"

"You killed a merchant, and you robbed another, and then a baroness, because you hate the rich, for all the things they hoard while your family suffers. You've raved against the church not sharing kindness the way they preach it; I heard about your arguments with Lucyk. He had it out for you - that's true - but you saw him as an outlet for that anger and you eventually got what you wanted: vengeance for yourself and your family."

You don't like this. Is she suggesting that being poor made you evil?

No. You take a breath and realize that she's merely trying to suggest that forgiveness is a pathway to peacefully living with your magic. Let go of the anger inside, and the temptation to remediate it with violence will go with it. But that's a very, very hard thing to do, after all you've seen and experienced. Nytha's past is as shrouded in mystery for you as yours is for her, but you suspect that she's faced far less hardship. And nonetheless, as an elf, she's had a lot more time to process any past injustices. On the other hand, you're destined to live a shorter life, and so arises a great impatience for justice - and an overwhelming temptation to enact it yourself.

"I- I understand what you're saying, but... How do you choose to back down, when you're on the edge of doing something... regrettable?" you ask, nervously.

Nytha shrugs. "I just don't allow myself to reach that edge. If I seem like I'm better put-together than the other sisters, it's probably because I don't let anyone become the object of any hateful obsessions," she explains, a bit pointedly. But her expression quickly relaxes, as she's said all she needed to say, and you definitely get her point. "Honestly, I'm probably the wrong one to ask. I'd tell you to ask Corrinth what she does in that situation, but she's kind of, well, a bird right now."

A moment passes before the two of you share a laugh, helping to break the tension surrounding the conversation. Nytha doesn't seem to fully understand or appreciate the sheer power of the temptations you experience, and perhaps the one who understands best isn't accessible right now. You sigh - Corrinth probably would have twisted the truth, anyway.

---

After another few hours of riding, you begin to see a dark shape on the horizon ahead of you: buildings, with numerous small towers and spires jutting into the cold, gray sky above. Over time, as you approach, it begins to dawn on you just how massive the city is. Tashlaan was a town of only 500 or so, but Mardenaal is probably home to tens of thousands... It will definitely be the most crowded place you've ever been to.

At the outskirts, The trail gives way to a cobblestone road, and the familiar, humble cottages are quickly replaced with sprawling, two-story affairs which seem to stretch on endlessly toward the city center. Off in the distance, you see the walls and towers of the city's castle looming, and you realize it must be built upon a hill to reach such a height. It isn't long before the narrowness of the streets and the presence of pedestrians necessitates the stabling of your horses.

You honor your word, paying for Halton's horse and also giving him a large sum of coin on the agreement that he would not speak of you or your fellow witches from the circle. To your deep annoyance, Corrinth makes sure to take him aside and warn him of what happened to the last "brave soul" to utter your name amidst a witch hunt. Then, once he's hurriedly departed from town, you and your sisters are left with the uncomfortable question: What now?

Corrinth smiles darkly. "I suppose I should seek out Diala," she says, sadly. She calls down a crow as you stand in a secluded courtyard behind several buildings and gives it a command. "Tell Faran of Tashlaan: we're safe in Mardenaal. Going to see Diala now. Thank you, and farewell, sister." The crow tilts its head back and forth, shimmies around in a circle, and then flutters off into the air. Corrinth stands and watches it depart into the gray haze above, and despite the heaviness of her tone, you don't see any trace of fear in her eyes.

"Corrinth," Embryx speaks up. "I want to come with you, if you don't mind."

A1. Volunteer to Join - You have no other place to be right now, and you begin to wonder what will happen without these sisters at your side anymore. You've barely gotten to know them, and barely scratched the surface of what you might learn. It feels too soon to let it go.

A2. Witness her Downfall - "I'll come too," you say. After everything Corrinth has put you through, you want to be sure that this isn't another trick of hers. You're ready to see whatever consequence she's incurred, both so that you can be certain she'll never interfere with your life again, and also because it will offer you insight as to what can go wrong if you cross the coven from within.

B3. Abandon Corrinth - "Good luck to you, sister," you say. You turn away from Corrinth and instead look to Nytha, who already seems to be ready to go her own way, and offer to join her in her future endeavors.

B4. Abandon the Circle - Perhaps here, you will finally know peace. Without saying a word, you find yourself inching away from the other three, until finally they collectively notice the distance you've created. Somehow, they know that you're choosing to move on, and you linger only a moment to hear their reaction.

 

[hardcore.munchkin]

A2

 

[dikdik]

A1

 

[Breadman]

A2

 

[Infab]

A2

 

[turtwigwins]

A1

 

[joshuadim]

A1

 

[bat_hacker]

A1

 

[asphodelus]

A2

 

[K0mori]

The vote is tied - DEALER'S CHOICE:

A1. Volunteer to Join - You have no other place to be right now, and you begin to wonder what will happen without these sisters at your side anymore. You've barely gotten to know them, and barely scratched the surface of what you might learn. It feels too soon to let it go.

You glance over to Nytha, who seems hesitant to join the other two for reasons that aren't clear to you yet, but when she sees the conflict in your eyes, her expression settles into a more dutiful one. You remember what she told you this morning about hanging on to grudges and hatred. Corrinth has been trying to twist you into a vengeful, wicked creature since you met, and you're not going to let her win. You'll prove that you have the strength to accompany her without a dagger behind your back.

"I'm with you both," you say, and pause as Corrinth looks back at you in true shock and gratitude. Embryx seems excited as well to have you. "...I have this artifact, maybe it would make a good apology for the mess up north. And maybe if Diala forgives you, you can repay me by teaching me more than just compulsion," you say, imagining the ability to fly about as a crow, like Corrinth does.

You hear Nytha give a sigh as she steps up next to you. "Yes, I suppose we'll all go," she says. "Perhaps the elder sister would like to hear from all of us about these past few weeks' events."

---
​

The witches lead you through the city, deeper and deeper into the labyrinthine network of streets until you can't even remember which direction you're traveling anymore. The buildings graduate from two stories to three, hulking structures which literally hang out over the road, and whose eaves nearly touch from opposite sides of the road. In these dark and twisting corridors, the inviting, bustling nature of the city eventually becomes more threatening, as people move about seemingly consumed with their business; chatter turns to angry barter, and neighbors who live next door to one another look at each other like strangers.

Then, you reach it: just outside of the castle walls, a stone building which was once a temple and religious school before the city outgrew it. The empty spaces on the walls and in the gardens where statues once stood, before the new occupants *graciously* allowed them to be donated to the church's new properties elsewhere in Mardenaal, serve as chilling reminders of Lythrefang's isolation from the outside world. Where once was charity, nature, and great works of the mind are now just empty voids, just as in the spirits of the coven's members.

Of course, the noblemen and women who control the city are unaware of the great evil which resides in these old halls. You would later learn that Diala's circle, a massive alliance of witches numbering in the hundreds, in all walks of life across the city (and more than a few within the castle walls), had funded the purchase of the crumbling, abandoned structure to turn it into a sanitorium, where those with failing minds and bodies might find respite and gentle care, which, admittedly, the witches provided with the help of hired hands. One annex of the building, of course, was restricted. It was the highest level of the school, reserved as offices and living quarters for the sanitorium's masters.

As you enter through the doors, you're greeted by a foul stench from those suffering from all sorts of maladies, and quickly, an attendant in a frightening, scent-deadening mask arrives with lye-soaked rags with which to guard your noses. You glance up to a balcony in the rear of the main hall and see a shadowy figure looking down at you four over the railing, who straightens up and walks back through the archway behind her.

"We're here to see the headmistress," Corrinth says to the attendant, "all four of us."

"Names?"

"Corrinth of Tashlaan."

"Nytha of Elyadene."

"Embryx of Aelesh-Yna."

"Agranne of Ryggander," you answer, when it's your turn to do so.

The attendant nods and departs, leaving you standing in this miserable place in silence. You begin to regret volunteering for this task, as you hadn't been able to ask any questions about the coven's operations here on your way to the sanitorium, seeing as you were in public the entire time. At last, the attendant returns and beckons you all to follow, and you're led through a doorway and up a flight of stairs, down a hall, and up a second flight of stairs to the restricted third floor. She knocks heavily on the thick wooden bulwark before turning about and leaving without a word, and at last you and the circle members remove the rags from your faces and breathe the stale, dusty air at this landing.

The door opens, and a very large and brutish-looking guardsman studies you all for a moment before nodding. "Enter," he instructs. You all file in, heads down, feeling smaller by the moment as you move through a windowless hall past one closed door after another. Finally, after one more heavy door and a heavy knock to accompany it, the doorway opens, and a lone, hooded half-elf woman with red gloves stands at the opposite side. The shade of her cloak conceals her eyes, but you can nonetheless sense the authority radiating from her gaze.

Diala.

"Elder sister," Corrinth says with barely a whisper, bowing her head.

"Corrinth," she replies disdainfully. "All of you, come in."

It's less of an invitation and more of a command. You find your legs almost frozen to the spot, and only after the other three have entered and not spontaneously burst into flames or faced some other form of instant death can you will yourself to move after them. Once inside, you find yourself surrounded by books and strange artifacts of all shapes and sorts, including ones which you're afraid to lay eyes on for too long, as you're convinced they're constructed of grave-robbed body parts. The smell from the bottom floor seems to have leeched into this room as well, and you recall the figure on the balcony from before. An archway at the rear of the room must lead to that balcony, you figure.

"You've created a mess, fae," Diala says, moving over to a large oak desk at the corner. "I would hope you'd have a very good explanation as to why we've lost our position in Tashlaan to the Hunters, why you chose to make chaos in Zuklanar for the sake of - I'm assuming - her," she says, gesturing to you, "and why you now have the gall to approach me, rather than doing us all a favor and arguing your case before the Eldest."

Corrinth remains stone-faced throughout it all. "I bring the coven a hexblood," she says. Diala does not react at first, but you subtly notice her stance change - loosening, and perhaps a bit of curiosity emerging. Corrinth continues: "she had a violent awakening in her home village, and was taken to Turadal for her own safety. She initially resisted induction, escaping by jumping into the Turus en route to Yan's Find before washing up near Tashlaan. I located her and was the first to discover her magic comes from within."

"...Show me," Diala commands. She draws her wand from her cloak and points it at you, and you feel a simultaneous compulsion settle over you to remain still, but also to act and show the elder sister what she wishes to see. The other witches back away - not from her, but from you - as they know what you've shown yourself capable of. Diala clearly wishes to see you struggle and break free.

1. Compulsion - You remember Corrinth's explanation of how you defeated her compulsive order, and so you bring out your magic in a similar matter, demanding that it press its will against Diala's and drive her back.

2. Telekinesis - All about the room are objects made of glass - jars for samples of one thing or another, windows, drinking glasses... You imagine it would be easy to break a few of them without moving a muscle and prove your point without a struggle.

 

[hardcore.munchkin]

1

 

[Infab]

1

 

[joshuadim]

1

 

[dikdik]

1

 

[bat_hacker]

1

 

[turtwigwins]

1

 

[asphodelus]

1

 

[K0mori]

1. Compulsion - You remember Corrinth's explanation of how you defeated her compulsive order, and so you bring out your magic in a similar matter, demanding that it press its will against Diala's and drive her back.

You remember how hard it was, the first time you were in this position, to call upon your magic without first tapping into a hatred so deep that you were willing to end Corrinth's life, then and there. Since then, using your magic has become second-nature; it's always there, waiting at your fingertips, ready to impose your will on your surroundings. The room is silent as Diala keeps her eyes locked on yours, waiting for your response, and soon, you begin to push. The half-elf's head tilts to one side as she senses the presence of your pneuma. Like Corrinth, she pushes further, unwilling to be overpowered.

Now, it's only a matter of reaching her limit, as you push harder and harder to break free. For a moment, you even sense your limbs begin to move of your own volition - a sign of her fading grasp - but your breathing becomes heavier as you pull more and more of your power into the effort. You begin to feel like you did last night, trying to overcome Nytha's slippery defenses with raw power alone. Is that what's happening here? Is your defense against compulsion simply too raw and unpracticed? You grit your teeth, arms feeling like stone under Diala's pressure. You need to fight harder.

All at once, you open the channels like a flood gate and pour everything you have into a single compulsion: MOVE.

The magnitude of the effort is so intense that you feel as if your body will rip itself in two: the one which will move and the one which will remain. The shadow smoke which emanates from your form erupts into a cloak which covers you from head to toe, and for a brief instant, Diala's mouth hangs open from awe. But that brief moment is unsustainable. It soon fades, and your magic begins to weaken and dim. The elder sister's expression hardens - is it satisfaction? Or disappointment?

And then it finally occurs to you, in a nightmarish sort of way, that throughout your body's engulfment in that shadowy cloak, only a thin wisp has risen from Diala's wand. She was hardly trying to control you at all, and had barely tapped into her own pneuma in the process. As the dregs of your magic deplete, she finally releases you, and you collapse instantly, feeling as if you had just climbed a mountain. There can be no anger now; fear is all you can comprehend.

"Get up, Agranne of Ryggander," Diala commands, but you don't have the strength to stand. As you will quickly realize, she will not wait for your complaint, and instead switches to telekinesis - you are lifted off the ground, as you did to Lucyk, until your body is hanging in mid-air, legs dangling below you. And to your utter amazement, Diala ceases looking at you the moment you reach her desired height, and focuses on your companions instead.

"You weren't lying," she states blandly to Corrinth. "So, your actions in Zuklanar were meant to...?"

"They were meant to allow Agranne a chance to remain in Tashlaan without the locals connecting her to her awakening in Zuklanar. We... We had them believing that there was a case of mistaken identity, and that she was just an unfortunate lookalike from Rychten."

Diala then turns her wand on the changeling. "And why didn't you alert us to this rarity? Speak no lies."

Corrinth gasps, and for a brief moment, you witness terror in her eyes as she's forced to speak the whole truth: "Agranne had no trust in the Eldest and anger with the coven for the loss of her blood sister Rigatte who was burned at the stake by hunters only a year ago and I wanted her to embrace Syrith of her own desire and so I surrounded her with kindness and comfort to the best of my ability to make her feel safe but I promise you elder sister that if she did not offer herself to the Eldest upon my return that I had arranged for the Ryggander circle to kill her father unless I sent word by crow that she had been inducted before dawn...!"

Diala had lifted the tip of her wand away from Corrinth, who cried out and clutched her face in shame, hiding herself from you. Your shock at the revelation is quickly replaced by a hatred so deep, that if you hadn't expended all of your magic in an attempt to break Diala's compulsion, you would have torn Corrinth limb from limb. "Pull yourself together, fae," Diala simply says. "You're forgiven for your secrecy. The Eldest has her; that's all that matters."

You want to scream, to kick, and to fight, but there's no energy left in your body to do much of anything except make noise, and you know that if you cry out, Diala will simply take your voice from you as well. At this point, your anger at Corrinth can't be equaled by anything in this world, but Diala's unwillingness to destroy her comes quite near it.

The elder sister turns her attention to Embryx, who is now plainly, obviously horrified herself at all which has just transpired. "Or does she? Tell me," Diala instructs, "and speak no lies: what is your honest evaluation of Agranne? Will she be faithful to Syrith and do well by her sisters?"

Now, it's the drow's turn to squirm. "Agranne is suspicious of everyone but is still easily tricked and I don't know if she really embraced Syrith or if she simply believed that the Eldest was something other than what she is and while I don't know exactly what happened on the night she was inducted I do know that she walked among the dead and returned when her soul was branded after speaking to that blood sister Corrinth just mentioned but regardless of that fact the more she uses her magic the more I see her behaving as a sister ought to and I hope that she does embrace it all because I think she's cool and strong and I just really want her to like me...!"

Diala releases Embryx, shaking her head at the drow's pitiful confessions and the dubiousness of Corrinth's work. "Sister Nytha," she begins, but the elf snaps and interrupts her, not willing to be compelled like the other two.

"She's not one of us," Nytha hisses. "She's just a confused kid. Everything she's done, she's done to survive, because that's all she knows. Her family in Ryggander has nothing, and you ought to have seen her when she first turned up in Tashlaan. It's a wonder she even lived to sixteen! But she's willing to do whatever she has to do to make sure food stays on her plate and she stays on this side of the ground." Angrily, she rounds on Corrinth. "Have you heard her speak of Syrith in reverence at all? Does she seem at all interested in furthering the goals of the coven, or just herself?" She turns her attention to you. "I don't blame you. Everyone and everything in your life has let you down. But you-"

"Enough, sister," Diala says, and the elf falls silent, looking sad and bitter in a way that you had never seen her. "I believe I understand the situation, then: Agranne will serve Lythrefang for the sake of her own comfort and survival, but nothing more - unless, as Embryx says, her soul is the midst of a transformation, and she will emerge as a true sister, yet."

As the others speak, you suddenly remember the artifact in your bag - the one you had planned to offer up as an apology on Corrinth's behalf when you decided to come here. That, you've decided, is off the table. Instead, you reach into the bag as you float in the air limply and simply run your fingers over the pyramid, and feel the magic flow back into you, reversing the exhaustion of your pneuma in an instant.

1. Kill Corrinth - You couldn't care any less about what happens next, as long as Corrinth dies by your hand.

2. Wait - If you act now, you might have your vengeance, but who knows what you might accomplish if you wait for the exact moment to... do something. You aren't sure how, but there must be a way to escape, just like when you dove into the Turus...

 

[Breadman]

1

 

[Damian0358]

2

 

[asphodelus]

1

 

[turtwigwins]

2