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The Improbable Adventures of Corvella Greyrose: Day Six


(continued from part five, upthread!)




DAY SIX:

When I laid down to try to sleep last evening, I expected to toss and turn feverishly all night long, to get very little actual rest, and to wake up in a great deal of pain. To my surprise, that's not what happened. I'm not sure what is going on with me, but I slept quite deeply, and though I felt like I'd had significant dreams, I could not remember any of them. This morning found me feeling quite refreshed, and to my amazement, the arrow wound in my chest was miraculously healed! Pressing on the area revealed a slight soreness, and the skin there was a bit red, but there was no longer a puncture at all. The interminable headache that has been plaguing me was muted as well, though not entirely gone.

I believe that this power that I'm connected with now, whatever it may be, is affecting my body in strange ways. I can't help but notice that I'm quite a bit stronger than my scattered half-memories tell me I ought to be. Certainly more so, significantly more so, than my slight build and lack of muscle tone would suggest. And then there is the matter of my incredibly accelerated healing. I have a deep, underlying sense of myself as being of mixed human and green elven blood, I can remember knowing that much at least. Is it possible that I am wrong, and I am instead a member of some other exotic species? Or did whatever happened to me aboard that terrible nautiloid change my physical structure somehow? I don't have the answers, but I intend to find out.

Oh, I didn't write anything yet about the two artifact necklaces I've acquired. But I've Identified them both. The skull-shaped one that I found in the ruined crypt is called The Amulet of Lost Voices, a holy relic dedicated to some ancient death god. It will allow me to speak with the traces of spirit lingering in the dead bodies of intelligent beings, asking them a few questions. Could be useful! The rusty one with the Harper symbology has no special name, but allows me to call upon the Guidance of the divine to advise me in how to best accomplish something. And I can use it as often as I like! This is an incredible find, and should make my entire journey easier.

I was resolved to continue heading west, following the barely-understood urgings of my earlier dreams. As I made my way along the trail, I found both a backpack and a pouch abandoned beside the path, each with a few useful bits in them. I don't know whose things these were, originally, but it is clear that they no longer wished to possess them. I was merely de-cluttering the wilderness. Unfortunately, as I walked, the brief partial reprieve I'd had upon waking from the ever-present headache came to an end, as the pounding in my skull seemed to grow with every step.

Once again, I heard voices from up ahead. Stalking closer, I saw two nervous-looking humans in commoner's attire standing over the supine form of what looked like a dwarf. At first I thought the latter was dead, but as I looked closer, I could see him moving slightly. Listening in to the man and woman's conversation, it soon became obvious that they were worried about the dwarf on the ground, and not up to any brigandry. I found myself curious once again. After performing a quick Friends cantrip, I stood and approached.

The man was trying to talk to the dwarf, calling him "Ed", while the woman looked alarmed at my presence and warned me to come no closer. It was then that I saw that both humans were marked by a mysterious symbol, both of which began suddenly to glow brightly. My headache spiked in intensity in response to this glow, and I pressed fingertips to forehead in an attempt to calm the throbbing veins just under my skin. An idea blossomed in my mind in that moment, a sense of power, of AUTHORITY. I could command these weak-minded peasants. I could make them bow, just as in my dream...






My voice unnaturally deepened by whatever power I was channeling, I spoke a few simple words, but with all the air of a queen making a pronouncement. "I WILL GO WHERE I WISH." Immediately they adopted a submissive demeanor, the woman apologizing to me and mentioning that the dwarf on his back was called "True Soul Edowin", and that he was injured. As the humans abased themselves before me, this Edowin stared at me intensely, and I heard his voice in my head telling me to protect these two recruits. Aloud, with his last breath, he told the two humans to obey me, calling ME a "True Soul", and then he unceremoniously expired. The humans were speaking, but I didn't catch what they said at first because I was busy noticing something unexpected: my headache, every trace of it, had instantly vanished.

The subsequent conversation with the two subservient humans felt strange, as though I was once again in a dream. They told me odd things, and all of it was tinged with this constant sense of surreality. They spoke of some goddess, the Absolute, who is going to tear down the world order and grant power to her followers. The True Souls, as they claimed, are the chosen ones of this Absolute, and apparently speak with her voice. And they believed ME to be one of these chosen, these speakers for their goddess. I played along, squeezing what information I could out of them. Then they said that True Soul Edowin had been mortally injured by a creature called an owlbear (I wondered: is it an owl the size of a bear, or a bear the size of an owl?) in a nearby cave, and for no reason that I can comprehend, I just . . . ordered them to go back into that cave and face the monster. I knew it would be their deaths, but I said it anyway. As they ran off to heed my command, I was left wondering why I'd done that, and what was happening to me.






As I began mechanically checking the dead dwarf for valuables, a hideous sight shocked me into jumping back and falling right on my behind. I quickly returned to my feet, watching the corpse's face warily. A disgusting little worm-horror literally crawled out of his eye socket and slithered across his face. I'd seen one of these before. On the mind flayer ship. Where I'd imagined them putting one of these into MY eye. All this time, I'd been telling myself that was just a delusion or hallucination of some kind, that surely there was NOT, actually, a grotesque brain-slug living inside my real physical head. But watching that thing undulate along, right here in front of me in broad daylight, I began to wonder. And to fear. Prayers to half a dozen divinities tumbled out of my lips, begging whatever deity would listen to please, please not let there be one of those nightmares burrowed into my skull.

I picked it up, wanting to crush it into slimy goo. I needed to see it die. But then, all of the sudden, a foreign feeling arose within me, the alien belief that this abomination was beautiful and pure, and that I couldn't let myself harm it. I fought as hard as I could, angrily willing my hand to close and reduce the tadpole (isn't that what Gale had called them?) to filthy paste. But I could not. I tried my best to make myself do it, but I simply couldn't. I dropped the creature into the grass and watched it crawl away. A massive shiver passed through my body, and I felt sick to my stomach. I wasn't having fun on this adventure any more. I wanted to wake up from all of it, and find myself at home somewhere safe, in Baldur's Gate. For a time, I sat there in stunned silence on the side of the trail, not sure what to do.






Finally, as I stared at the deceased form of the True Soul, I remembered my artifact, the Amulet of Lost Voices. Not having any better ideas, I fished it out of the Haversack, put it on, and called upon its power. Speaking with the dead was chilling and uncomfortable, but I felt so numbed by the preceding events that it hardly affected me. Edowin's spirit mostly just repeated the things that the two humans had, except for the addition that there was some "weapon" belonging to the Absolute that they were looking for. A weapon that had crashed from the sky, and which was carried off by "infidels". I doubted that more than one thing had fallen from the firmament lately, which meant that the Absolute's weapon must have been on the betentacled vessel that had conveyed me to these lands. I'll admit feeling quite curious about that, some divine relic sought by a goddess? Maybe I'd stumble across this powerful item myself...

Taken by a morbid curiosity, I decided to follow those two witless humans and find out what befell them. I also wanted to catch a glimpse of this "owlbear" thing. From a safe distance, of course. Finding the cave was simple, and as I drew close to the entrance I saw the man and woman hesitantly venturing within. I trailed them, silently crouching in the shadows. They approached the largest cavern, and I did see within an absolutely massive creature. Much larger than any bear I'd ever heard of, and with a beak that looked like it could snap me in two with little effort. I had seen enough. Quickly I went back the way I'd come from, and noticed another cave off to the side, lit by a bright beam of sunlight from outside.

The smaller cavern held what seemed to be an old shrine. I gathered that it was dedicated to the goddess Selune, with a striking statue of her watching over this sacred place. With what I'd like to think is proper reverence and respect, I began to loot the cave. There were some magical potions, some expensive-looking incense, and a few religious tomes, which I skimmed. Long story short, Shar and Selune don't like each other. There was also an odd prayer sheet of some kind, which felt important to me, but I couldn't make heads or tails of it. And finally, there was the gilded chest. It looked VERY promising. I couldn't locate any traps on or around it, but I could feel some kind of enchantment about it. My archaeologist's danger sense was tingling.

Before attempting to open the beautiful, ornate box, I took some time to study my spellbook and then bolster my flesh with a False Life spell. So girded, I carefully began to lift the lid. I don't know if it came from the coffer itself, or directly from the heavens, hurled by the hand of the Moonmaiden, but a blinding flash of searing light enveloped me in an instant. My face and hands were severely scorched by the pure, white heat of the divine punishment, as pain erupted across my skin. I shrieked altogether too loudly, flailing about as I fell into the nearby pool that partially filled the cavern. I was in such agony that I forgot to hold my breath, and damn near drowned in four feet of water, coughing and choking as I dragged myself back onto solid rock. For a long time, I just laid there, wracked by my burned flesh, crying and shivering and apologizing over and over to Selune, as though that would save me from this torment.






Everything had been going so well, and now, twice in as many days, I had come alarmingly close to dying from nearly-lethal injuries. I regretted deeply, in that moment, having locked away ALL of the healing potions I'd found so far in the magic chest back at my main camp. I am loathe to expend ANY enchanted items of a consumable nature, so I'd stashed all of the potions so that I "wouldn't be tempted to waste one". What a foolish thing to do! Now I was burned most of the way to death, mostly blind, and shaking uncontrollably from merciless pain. I realized that if I hadn't prepared myself with that little spell of necromancy before hand, I would now be a charred corpse forever standing testament to the fearsome power of the goddess whose statue loomed majestically above.

It took me two hours, two agonizing hours, to shamble back to the nearest rune circle, every moment of it a trial of endurance and raw will to live. If not for this strange power inhabiting my body, I know that I would have succumbed to my wounds and died. But eventually I did make it back, and was profoundly relieved when I saw the familiar camp again, and found it still unoccupied. Once back in the comforting safety of the closest thing I currently have to a "home", I felt better. I'm resisting the strong desire to gulp down one of those healing potions, for now.

"I will heal overnight, just like before," I told myself. Then I gingerly laid down on my bedroll and weakly cast a simple Mage Hand cantrip, using the floating, disembodied hand to write all of this in my journal. I'm so glad I don't have a mirror, as I don't think I could handle seeing how ruined my face is right now. Not a chance I'm taking inventory tonight. I just need to sleep. I'll be better in the morning . . . I hope.




OOC Part:

DEATH COUNT: 2

Another close call! I knew that chest was gonna wallop Corvella, but I had to try to open it for the sake of RP. And once again, it was just ONE hit point away from being a death.

The only reason she lived is because, after speaking with the two initiates, I leveled up. Got 3 more hit points, and picked up False Life and Longstrider spells. One more level and I can get the much coveted Invisibility.

It's been tough not save scumming any rolls. Failing the Religion check needed to figure out how to safely get that chest open was painful. Really should have used my new Guidance amulet before reading the prayer sheet. Ah well.

Got a bit distracted this session. Next time I'm really gonna try to get into that goblin camp and see about a merchant!




Stay tuned for the next part, coming further down the thread soon!