One Night More
It's been a while again, and I'm starting to forget things or details what has been going on. Let's write it down.
The truth is that I have been again struggling with "evil". To many of those I travel with, even those who are closest to me... evil people should be removed, so they can't do any more evil. I see the logic in that but... there have to be many scales of evil, right? I've known evil guardsmen, evil druids, evil senators, evil adventurers I've travelled with. When it is evil enough to kill them on sight? Or is it "vampire" the kill on sight trigger? Is it "bandit"? I struggle, and I feel most others don't. And that's fine. I trust my friends, and I know they want to keep everyone safe, so how can I blame them? How can I even be mad at them for wanting to keep -me- safe?
Still, it's difficult for me to think that killing someone because they are evil is nothing but the laziest way to remove the fleeting threat in front of me while really solving nothing. And even then, I constantly participate in these slayings, so am I even trying hard enough, beyond whining about someone being about to be killed without really doing anything about it? In the end, I'm still being part of it, and then I'm just as bloodthirsty as we've all been trained to be by the world we live in, but on top of that, I'm also being hypocritic, trying to convince myself that I believe that there is a better way, just to feel better about myself. And that saddens me a lot. I feel if I really want things to change for the better I must try harder. If I can't change the world to be a better place, at least I can change myself.
Anyway... vampires. In a way, I find them deeply fascinating, unique, sometimes colourful. Each has their own character, approach to problems and situations, their own dreams and ambitions... not much different than anyone alive. But they are "evil".
A big part of me wants to sit with each of them, pick their minds out over a moonlit walk through the forest, to try to understand what they think, try to get a glimpse of how they feel, what moves each of them, what scares them. What does the touch of a loved one feels like or how compelling is it to follow an alluring scent. How is it to deal with their craving for blood, how they cope, and how they deal with it. How pleasant it is to satisfy that thirst. I am sure I could understand and relate somehow, having my own monster quietly growling in slumber within myself.
But the ones I have seen lately have been less than willing to talk, let alone share a peaceful moonlit walk with me. It is also true that I wasn't alone, and they were generally trying to capture or sacrifice someone my friends and I cared about, so it wasn't the best setup for a lovely, friendly conversation.
First of all, Isolde received a tip from an acquaintance of hers, a devil-turned-nice of sorts that is on good terms with her and seems to be helping around now and then (if that doesn't prove that evil people can be helped, what does?!). George and I were with her, so the three of us decided to follow the lead. We slipped through the blockade at the residential district and made it down a secret passage that led underground, a tunnel system across the Icelace, and there, our informant explained that the suspicious activity was happening just ahead. She could not risk further involvement, so she waited out while the three of us pushed forward.
Through good stealth, we made it into a cave opening where we spotted a large number of human mercenaries, but the perimeter was really tight, and we couldn't slip through safely. To make it worse, one of the patrolling guardsmen was coming our way, and we decided that I would attempt to capture his mind, so I could use him to infiltrate them.
That worked like a charm! (I'm glad Aoth can't read my journal) and I could use my new best friend to walk into the thick of it and learn everything I could through him. We could find out that there were three outstanding entities in the scene amongst a large number of human guardsmen. One was Amelia, the vampire that had been to my treehouse not long ago, demanding that we deliver the branches to her. The second was another vampire, we learned later as he was addressed by Amelia, by the name of Silas. His back was turned, though, so I couldn't get a good look at him. The third was a strong-looking devil shrouded in chains and spikes that stood within a summoning circle.
These three were discussing dealings in which a faction of devils would set up and provide a blood farm in the Icelace for the vampires, and in exchange, the vampires would supply mortal souls to the devils. That sounded terrible on all accounts, so we were ready to leave with the information, but just then, we got a bit greedy and decided to have our befriended mercenary approach Silas to take a good look at him, so we could have a good idea of how he looks. Still, the vampire did not hesitate to behead the mercenary the moment he stepped within his reach. I was a bit worried we could have been found, but at least we did learn that this Silas is a martial type of vampire, considering how swiftly and cleanly he killed the veteran mercenary.
At that time, the vampires prepared a teleportation spell and moved to another location, but using the magical signature left by the spell, and with the help of a scroll from the ever-resourceful Isolde and my magical scrying mirror, we managed to follow the trail, which showed us an image of a tunnel that led to a rocky beach in the Icelace where a ship was mooring with a coffin on it. We suspected this was Silas' coffin, and he was moving in to carry out these "farming" operations. Still, just as I was trying to get a clearer view of it all, maddening laughter began to echo in my thoughts, so oppressingly and disrupting that even as I tried my hardest to ignore it and keep focused, I had to give in, and we lost the scrying sensor.
We did know that place is not far from Peltarch. And as we learned, we are having another powerful martial vampire moving in, probably one of A's children, considering the mental assault we all received. The vampires are setting up a blood farm with the help of devils, which will receive souls in return. We should prepare an expedition to visit this location as soon as possible.
The plague goes on just as well, and even as I feel it in my flesh, so do other Selunites, in different ways. As an example, not many moons ago, we barely managed to keep Asha from being snatched by a retriever that appeared in the middle of Peltarch through a gateway to the Abyss, we think. Thankfully a good bunch of the ablest people in Peltarch, including Isolde, Nate, Meadow and Roslyn, appeared in the scene, amongst others, to keep the horrible thing from taking my daughter away. After the Retriever, a very beautiful, angelic being manifested, offering us rewards for defeating the Retriever... Asha and I felt extremely compelled to approach and throw ourselves into the gate; had not Isolde and Nate intervened with magics to make our sight true and clear our mind, we both would have fallen to this trap... I have both of them to thank for keeping us steered. And I have Parnell to thank for tipping us off and allowing us to be ready, though I would love to know what she has to gain from it.
I suppose as we dealt with the Retriever with relative ease, they began to target less resilient Selunites, and not long after that, Mildy once again let us know that two other priests had vanished. By scrying at the Lighthouse temple, we learned that they were still alive at the ruins of Mintas Rhelgor. George guessed very cleverly that they were probably waiting for the Full Moon to sacrifice them, so we had to make haste to the place, as we were just two moons short for that happening. One of the priests was a cousin of Mildy, the other was a woman called Shona, I believe, and it turns out that a vampire hunter named Rayla works for her, and we precisely found this vampire hunter in Mintas. She had found that Shona was in a different location from the Dunderstone, and she agreed to take care of rescuing Shona at the tower by the north of the ruins where she was being held. Meanwhile, we headed to the main building, where Mildy's cousin had been taken.
At the bottom, we found a steamy throne that looked pretty suspicious, but before we had time to examine it well, some members in the group were already rushing upstairs, so afraid that they might get in trouble we had to follow to catch up with them. At the top roof, there was a figure sitting on a throne, with the Dunderstone girl suspended in the air, escorted by several magical wards. There was a lot of hesitation, and the figure wasn't speaking either, so I stepped up to ask her who she was and if she would let us take the girl with us. She introduced herself as Jubal the Incandescent, and she would not let go of her hostage. She considered her an asset that she would only trade and not give up freely. She warned us that there were potent wards around her, and at best, she would allow me to change places with her.
It seemed like a good deal to me since I know a few tricks that can get me out of a sticky situation, and even if they managed to kill me, I'm not a priest, so if what we believe is true, the plague would not get worse. And anyway, Isolde was there, and I know she wouldn't allow anything to happen to me. So much is that true that she flat out refused for me to trade places with the priestess, even at the risk of the priestess dying. Since we had to act fast as the moon was beginning to rise, I agreed to Isolde's own plan to try to blast the wards and hope for the best.
Our dispelling hexes were launched with coordinated efforts, and their combined powers managed to disable the wards! But the young Dunderstone was still floating mid-air, and we didn't know how to get her out, as Jubal was unhappy about our course of action, and everything escalated. Everything was a bit chaotic as Isolde stepped up to use her belt to send Mildy's cousin to the Ethereal, thinking that would keep her safe while we dealt with Jubal, but Jubal followed into the Ethereal Plane with her own spells. I recognised the divine wordings and traces in her incantations, meaning Jubal is a powerful priestess... of Shar? Remains to be seen.
As we all tried to figure out how to rescue the Dunderstone girl, an elf that travelled with us called Myrcella realised that the braziers around the roof were some kind of focal point. If we destroyed them, we would undo the hostage priestess' bindings, so we did just that, as Jubal and the Dunderstone girl herself materialised back into the prime. As it happened, everyone was so ready for it, and most in our group targetted Jubal with their strongest spells and strikes, which forced the vampire priestess to withdraw in her mist form. And so Mildy's cousin was safe! Phew.
Afterwards, we went to check for Rayla and Shona too, but the tower was in shambles, so we guessed she had managed to get away with her own plan as well, despite the shadow creatures that tried to stop us from even trying to get in.
So, a victory, you'd think, as we all made our way back to the city through the dangerous Mintas Forest. I still feel as if we gained nothing from that other than delaying their plans. I still feel sick, and it's not getting any better. The plague is still a thing, and it's not getting any better.
And just last night, they tried again. After we were assaulted by a whispering vampire that I think Isolde called "Grundle", Isolde, myself and a shifty stranger I can't recall the name of were snatched in plain sight when reading a signpost in the Residential District... it must have been some sort of triggered magic. Sebrienne and Aoth were with us, but they didn't get snatched, so they must have been able to see through it... either way, it was Jubal, again, and this time she demanded that I give her the branches of the Negative Energy Plane tree. What is more troubling is that she could tell right away that threatening me would get nowhere, and so she had three innocents chained, ready for execution if I would not meet her demands.
It's challenging to think of a more terrible situation, knowing that she would kill three innocents if I didn't tell her what she wanted. If I did, it's hard to tell how many people would suffer and die for it. Isolde reminded me of this as I began to crumble, giving Jubal snippets of information, hoping to gain some time, to find an out... but she ordered one of the innocents to be executed by her loyal minion. Right in front of me, the person turned into dust, and one of those rot soldiers rose in his place to do their bidding. That was only because Isolde was fidgeting with the lock of her cage while Jubal was interrogating me.
Luckily the out presented itself in the beautiful shape of Nate, that with Sebrienne, had found their way to us and created a distraction for us all together to turn the tables on the situation. Sadly Jubal and her minion vanished, not before killing the two remaining innocent victims and leaving us a bunch of those terrifyingly strong rot-soldiers to deal with. After we managed that, we had to excavate our way out as we were first blockaded in with that dangerous looking water and then barely survived through a wave of more of those strong rotten soldiers.
Finally, we made it to the surface, just after dusk. Not the best time to emerge in the middle of the old Jiyyd plains when vampires are what you are dealing with, so we hurried to safety - which we wouldn't find without being assaulted, once again, by a bunch of rot soldiers. That was a fight we could not take anymore, so we had to run for it, hurrying across the lake to put as much earth and water as possible between them and us.
So we made it, and we survived, this time thanks to the timely intervention of Nate and Sebrienne, but I feel if we don't do something about all of this soon, it won't be long before they eventually succeed. I think we need to be proactive and, for once, take the initiative and force them to react to us instead.
This feeling gained even more emphasis after yet another vampire named Quintus visited us at the legion camp, this one very polite in his approach and manners... inviting us to give the branches over to one of the vampire factions. His reasoning is that in choosing which one of them would be most powerful, we can tip the balance and, in a way, "pick our poison". Unappealing as that sounded, I felt Nate and Isolde were giving it real consideration. Is it possible that we may have have no choice but to accept a lesser evil? I surely hope not.
Nate suggested that we destroy it all. The branches, the leaves, the tree, all of it. I think that would be a good idea, but if father and Leena didn't do it, there must be a reason. Probably it's not as simple as just putting those things to the torch and hoping they vanish in ashes... there was mention of taking these items to the positive energy plane, hoping that they will cancel out or just cause the tree and its branches to cease to be, but so many things are uncertain.
For now, I return to the forest, to rest, to lick my wounds, to hope, and to survive; one night more.
