Prelude - Graceful Oaks: Portents and Omens

[Wayloss]

OOC

I love good RP opportunity.

Syrronas shows no visible reaction to Suli's reaction. He speaks quickly and softly sliding into Celestial. "I can understand your fear friend Suli. I appreciate your skill at hunting and your caution. These are unusual times and I cannot change the past I did not ask for. I serve the Elohim to fight my taint, or use it against evil where I may. Be at peace my friend."

[Muskrat]

Not speaking Celestial, Dreams watches the exchange with some curiosity and puzzlement. She can sense the tension in the air though--it's obvious that Suli doesn't trust Syrronas. But only a fool would trust a sorcerer they didn't know, even one without an infernal taint. The Elohim have always regarded sorcery with some suspicion, given its wild and undisciplined nature.

She waits until she senses the tension has eased somewhat, then says, "I am sorry to hear of the corruption in Falcon's Hollow, both for the sake of its inhabitants who are of good heart and because it may make our task more difficult. Though it is hardly surprising that a people not guided by the Traditions of the Elders should fall into such evil. Blue Eyes, perhaps you can tell us more about this fungus--Blackscourge is it called?--and how it has progressed, who it has affected, that manner of thing." She pauses with a thoughtful look on her face, then asks, "Have the rulers of Falcon's Hollow been affected by this blight? Would they have anything to gain by propogating it?"

[Trogdor]

"Blackscourge is known to the people of Falcon's Hollow," Celevan replies. "But it's known as a winter problem - and usually it is. I've never seen it appear this early before." He shakes his head. "I found a large patch in Darkmoon Vale. And if there's that much in the Vale, there's bound to be more in the area. There are precautions that the townsfolk can take, but they very inconvenient. I managed to convince some of the farmers in outlying steads to be careful. And I might have even convinced some of the more level heads in town. But most of them didn't listen to me."

"It was early yet when I left," he continues. "No serious signs of infection. But if the mold gets into the water supply, it can spread rapidly. They need to take this seriously. But most of the people in town can't see farther than the coins they'll make in the next week."

As for it being planned by the leaders of the town?" Celevan shakes his head. "I doubt it. I fear it's more a matter of them being short-sighted and incompetent rather than diabolical."

[Muskrat]

"Well, that's something of a relief. If they are simply short-sighted, perhaps they can be persuaded." She pauses, her reading of history making her realize that that statement probably sounds incredibly naive. "Or perhaps not.

"We are seeing all manner of things connected with winter come earlier in the year than they once were wont. To be sure, the malevolent hand of Mulcarn lies behind this blight, in the sense that his hand lies behind all the evils that come from the slow death of summer and the lengthening of winters. But have you reason to believe that there is some evil at work here beyond the simple growth of winter? That someone of evil intent--mortal or outsider--is at work here? In short, do you suspect there is some foe we must fight?" As she asks this, her usual smile falls from her face and it takes on a dark, brooding aspect.

[Trogdor]

Paladins, Celavan thinks. Always looking for evil influence. He shakes his head at the thought. But the gesture also applies to his next comment. "I don't have any reason to suspect a dark intelligence behind the blossoming of Blackscour," Celevan replies, "except inasmuch as Mulcarn's malevolent desire is behind the death of Summer." He looks around at a world descending early into winter.

"As best I can tell," he continues, "the cause of the Blackscour outbreak is that it's been cold earlier and longer than it should be. Normally, there would have been weeks more of warm weather to burn out what Blackscour had grown the previous year. But it turned cold so quickly. And we never did get the hot summer weather we used to. Last year's Blackscour didn't die out like it should have. And this year's Blackscour got a large head start in growing. The coming cold weather is going to bring a lot of changes in our lives. And those that don't face that reality are going to suffer."

[Vardaen]

OOC

Its Blackscour, not Blackscourge. Simply mistake, but just wanted to note it.

The worg's hair remains bristled even after being calmed for many minutes until it finally relents hearing Syrronas' speak. The heavenly animal prowls the came uneasily for a bit leaving the three to speak in realative safety as it watches the edges of the darkness. The evening is turning to night, and dinner should be put on the fire as you speak.

The cold is setting in.

OOC

You guys are just rocking it here so once you choose to sleep/watch, then I'll worry about moving us on, keep up the RP as long as you like. Its looking good.

[Muskrat]

Dreams looks slightly puzzled. "So, if you suspect no malign intent behind the blight, what is it you would have us do? Take on the task of destroying the Blackscour ourselves because the leaders of Falcon's Hollow are too foolish and greedy to do it themselves?"

[Trogdor]

"I came to Graceful Oaks looking for a druid or a healer who could help me with what I fear will be a disease outbreak," Celevan says with a note of frustration in his voice. "They were the ones who decided it would be best to send a paladin and a sorcerer instead." He sighs. "I don't suppose you have the power to cure disease yet?" His voice does not sound hopeful.

Shaking his head, the summoner continues. "Mostly I think they sent you to observe. If we're lucky, you can report that I'm a mother hen who overreacted terribly. If we're not, you'll have to send word back that we really do need healers. And then we have to hope its not too late - or that the Elohim don't write off Falcon's Hollow as being not important enough to waste resources on."

"As for condemning the town," he adds. "Would you have us abandon them all, good and evil with a wave of your hand? Or do we abandon just the evil ones? I'm afraid for most of us it's not that easy to tell who's who. We don't have any gods-given ability to tell the good from the bad. We just have to do the best we can. And for the most part, I try and treat them all well. Certainly there are a lot of people in town that don't give a rats ass about me, and who'll try and take advantage of my kindness. But I have to hope that there are at least a few people on the edges that take heart from my example; a few people who are teetering on the edge of despair or greed who will see that it's possible to be kind and still get by. It's a bad town, by and large. And if we abandon it to its fate, that's all it'll ever be. But if we take care of it, maybe there's a chance it'll change; maybe there's a chance it can be saved. We won't know unless we try."

"In any case," he adds, "have you ever seen what Blackscour does to a person? I can assure you, it's not pretty. Good or bad, I don't intend to just turn my back on people who are suffering - certainly not when I can do something to help them."

[Muskrat]

Dreams shakes her head. "I do not yet have the power to magically heal diseases--I have but recently completed my training as a holy warrior. I do, however, have some training in more mundane ways of treating disease, so I may be of some help there. And I did not mean to suggest that we abandon the poor people of Falcon's Hollow to their fates, simply because their rulers are, for the most part, a corrupt lot. Rather, I was reflecting on the sadness that they must rely on a group of outsiders in their time of need and that those who should, by right, protect them are too short-sighted and selfish to do so."

"Tell me, if you do not mind, how did you come to leave the Elohim havens and dwell in Falcon's Hollow? Were you moved to do so by pity for its inhabitants? For, from what you have told us, they would be few other reasons to settle there."

[Trogdor]

"Well, I suppose you know about my time in Graceful Oaks," he begins. "Growing up I was more skilled than most in the wild lands. My mother was a druid, and my father a ranger. I was raised in the forest; the first home I remember was a hollow in an ancient oak tree. Oh, we visited the havens, of course. And I stayed with relatives for a couple of decades to get proper schooling. But I've lived most of my life in the wild. Such an upbringing taught me a great deal about not just the details of flora and fauna, but also the respect due to nature in general."

It's hard to tell with his blue eyes, but Celevan seems to get a faraway look. "I remember when Bhaal fell; and that was a blow to us all. It was that calamity that got me thinking seriously about my vocation. I trained more seriously with my mother and was in time accepted for druidical training at Graceful Oaks. I was there when Sucellus died." His voice breaks a bit. "I'm sure it was hard for all Elohim," he continues after a pause. But it was particularly bad among the druidical initiates. We had the piety that make us vulnerable, but not the years of experience that would make us strong." He takes a deep breath. "Our training was disrupted," Celevan continues. "Everything was disrupted, really, though we didn't know then just how much. In time, our apprenticeship resumed. But I wasn't destined to finish it."

"About five years ago, near the point I was to take my final vows, I entered my evening trance in the forest following an afternoon of meditation. That night, I experienced a very powerful vision. I was at the edge of one of the Elohim havens - it wasn't clear which one - and some fellow druids were leading animals inside towards a circle of stones. There was snow coming down, and the temperature was dropping. But the start in the sky were summer stars. I looked and saw that there was a bier in the circle on which lay a man wearing the robes of a high druid. The bier had been lit, and both the druids and animals were warming themselves by it.

I moved to help my brothers and sisters with the animals when I heard a voice call my name. I turned and saw a woman in mage's robes. She was beautiful, but it was clear from her red eyes that she had been crying. With the most musical voice I've ever heard, she asked me to come over to her by the edge of the haven. The other druids were right there, but no one seemed to notice her. I walked over and she took me by the elbow, urging me onward, and turning me to face the cold outside the haven. She pointed in the distance and I saw a griffin at the bottom of a nearby cliff picking at a very small rabbit it had caught. The poor creature was so thin it's ribs were showing. Then she turned me and I saw a pseudodragon burrowing into some leaves for warmth, it's wings covered in a film of snow. I started looking around and saw that what had at first seemed an empty forest was filled with creatures in distress. A shivering satyr over here; a shaggy unicorn, going gray over there. And it wasn't just friendly creatures. There was a dying cockatrice, a mangy worg, and even an owlbear too weak to be much of a threat. All around were magical creatures - what the men often call monsters."

The mage turned me to face her and asked, "who will save them?" She gave me a sad look and pointed towards the distant funeral. "They were His children as well," she said in a sad voice. "Perhaps not as loved by the Elohim as others, but His children nonetheless. Who will care for them now that He is dead?" I looked back at the line of druids leading wolves and deer and lions to safety, and I had no answer. When I turned to face the woman again, she was holding her hand up to my face. She rested her fingers on my eyes and I saw a flash of blue light and felt a warmth flow through me. "I've opened your eyes to the truth," she said. "Don't let that truth be forgotten."

Then she gestured with her other hand and it became clear that the robes she wore were not just for show. Magical power gathered and there was another blue light, only this one stayed - and grew. Soon it was almost the size of a man. It disappeared in a flash, leaving a creature behind. I say a creature because its form wasn't fixed. When I first looked at it, I saw a unicorn. But when I looked again it seemed to be an ankheg. It didn't shift as I watched. But every time I'd look away it seemed to change into something new. A gorgon, a phoenix, a wyvern, an ogre, a giant spider. Every glance showed me something different.

"This is Sulëtar," the woman said. "He will be your friend and guide in this task. Each day you may call him and he will come. Keep him close, and he will help you." And when I looked back as Sulëtar, I knew that to be true. "Find His forgotten children," she continued, "and help them as you can. Don't let them be lost. For each loss diminishes His memory."

I nodded my acceptance and turned to find Sulëtar, a worg now, nuzzling my hand. And when I looked up again, the woman was gone. I spun around to see where she had gone, but instead I found the forest spinning around me. My trance had ended and it was morning. I knew that something important had happened, though I didn't realize quite how much it would change my life. I went to find one of the elder druids and it was he who told me of my transformation. I know it'll sound strange, but I hadn't noticed that my eyes were different. My vision is slightly different now, but hardly noticeable in daylight.

Well, it was months before we fully understood what had happened. Given all that was going on in the world, there were some who thought this was an evil influence. Thankfully for me, cooler heads prevailed. They examined me in great detail." He smiles at Syrronas. "I expect it was some of the same elders who examined you. They determined that my transformation was of celestial origin, not an infernal one. As best they could tell, I was no longer entirely Elohim, but part celestial - an aasimar."

"The vision was relatively straightforward as well. Sucellus created the animals himself. But the magical beasts are the children of both Sucellus and his lover Nantosuelta, Goddess of Enchantment. It was clear, to me as well as others, that my calling was to protect magical creatures in the troubled times ahead. The elders were supportive of this, but were concerned first about the safety of the Elohim people. They agreed to release me from my training and allow me to pursue the vision. And they offered to give me what help they could when I asked, though they promised nothing. I don't think they knew what do do with me. I wasn't one of their druids, but I'd clearly been granted a vision. And I was blessed in other ways too."

"In time I developed certain abilities. I wasn't blessed with the talents normally granted to a druid. But I found that I had others. As I was promised, I soon learned that I could summon Sulëtar. He's an eidolon - a celstial spirit who is almost a representative of magical beasts. His form can change over time, as can his abilities to suit our needs. I can also call other creatures for shorter times as well. And though I haven't the breadth of a druid's magic, I have been granted some power. I'm not sure if it's because of my celestial blood or if its been granted me by Nantosuelta. But it's undeniably there."

"And that leads me to at long last answer your question." Calevar smiles. "I apologize for taking so long. But it's often just me and Suli. And he's heard all of my stories too many times already." He rubs the fur on Suli's head. "I came to an out-of-the-way place on the edge of civilization where the dregs of society live because that's also the sort of place I can find the creatures I hope to aid. I know I may have years before I'm capable of doing what needs to be done. But I want to learn as much as I can in the meanwhile. I've been working as a hunter and trapper these past few years and have been in Falcon's Hollow for about a year. As I've said, in that time I've meet a lot of bad people. But I've also met some good people too. And I find that I have a soft spot for the people like me who are trying to find the good in what the rest of the world has turned their back on."

OOC

Sorry for the treatise. But as anyone on the site who knows me will tell you, I tend to get long-winded at times.