pc: euphausia

[sacredpath]

Comments

[sacredpath]

[it's the perfect dress for a lil dip. anyway, she will nod.]

By all means.

[the cub pokes his head up and shrieks a little.]

In a sense. The little troublemaker appeared here along with my belongings. I could not tell you why. He is no pet, but I suppose it's not bad to have very feathery company.

[trifocal]

[ She removes her sandals and dips her toes in, then starts easing herself into the bath. ]

What sort of animal is he? I've never seen anything like him.

[sacredpath]

Hmm? An owlbear. This one is merely a cub. They can grow quite large.

[trifocal]

How large?

[sacredpath]

Like... very large. Even larger than an ordinary bear might be.

[trifocal]

Amazing...

[ Gazing at the owlbear cub with awe and respect. ]

Perhaps you have been blessed, to have such an incredible creature follow you here.

[sacredpath]

Have I?

[she laughs a little.]

They're fairly intimidating in the wild, but this one...we fed it a few too many times, that's all. I don't know why it came here with me.

[trifocal]

How interesting...

Er, I don't suppose you might have died in a way where the owlbear was... taken out with you?

[sacredpath]

I did consider that.

[or rather, bas brought it up.]

But he wasn't anywhere near - he would have been back at our camp. Maybe the foolish little thing just wandered off coincidentally, and fell to the shadow curse.

[trifocal]

Oh...

... What is this shadow curse you speak of?

[sacredpath]

[she stretches out her arms on the side of the pool, taking her drink.]

The lands I was recently travelling in were inflicted with a curse. A veil of darkness, so thick no life can survive in it without succumbing. Even animals wander off into the darkness and fall, afflicted, and are raised again as malevolent shadows.

[trifocal]

What? How terrifying...

[ The thought of it might give her a chill, if not for the cozy warmth of the spring. ]

Why risk such peril?

[sacredpath]

Most fled, rather than try. Unfortunately, it was quite imperative we make our way through those lands. I was lucky to have my lady Shar's protection. The curse was less hard on me than on some.

[trifocal]

Your "lady Shar"?

[sacredpath]

The goddess I am sworn to. The Nightsinger. Darkness and the shadows are her domain.

[trifocal]

A goddess of darkness? I've not heard of such a thing before.

[ she looks uncertain for a moment, but then her expression brightens. ]

Ah! So that is why she can protect you from the shadows!

[sacredpath]

Precisely.

[also because she caused the curse. but that doesn't need to be mentioned.]

There's no need to fear the dark. Sometimes the illusion of safety in the daylight is nothing more than an illusion.

[trifocal]

I see...

I've always been interested in learning more about faiths other than my own. I've not had many opportunities before now. Yours sounds quite different from both mine and Sanctism.

[sacredpath]

I've encountered a fair few. What is yours, then?

[trifocal]

I am a priestess of the Dragon God Eht, the guardian deity of my homeland.

[sacredpath]

A dragon?

[as a god?]

That's unusual, though I have heard stories.

[trifocal]

What kind of stories?

[sacredpath]

There's an old legend about a dragon that once protected the city I'm from. But it's little more than a fairy tale.

[trifocal]

How can you be sure it is mere fairy tale?

[sacredpath]

I don't know that there was never any truth to it, but Baldur's Gate has been imperiled many times and no dragon has appeared. So if he exists, he is a bit lazy about his duties.