sacredpath | pc: uruha

From:

[by saturday evening, shadowheart can be found at the outdoor hotspring. she's sitting in one of the shallower pools in the water, still wearing her sexy angel costume white dress, but sitting hunched so she's sinking in the shallow water up to her neck. she has a glass of mixed drink from the bar here with her.

also, the owlbear cub is playing in the foliage nearby, doing cute things like hunting the lack of animals that are here.

shadowheart waves.]

Oh, hello. It's not quite scalding enough to distract, but it's pleasant.

From:

sacredpath

[post goose? post goose. she's been chomped. i don't actually know what that means.]

...Well, you've gone up in the rankings.

From:

sacredpath

[voids you voids you voids you.]

I wish I could say I wasn't expecting this.

[but she still looks troubled and a bit frustrated, purplish black smoke starting to gather under her skin in response.]

From:

sacredpath

[sitting outside the church after trial is over, curled up a little. she's exhausted enough that she doesn't look very well, and she has her hand balled in a fist and pressed against her chest as she catches her breath.]

Well! That was fun, wasn't it?

From:

sacredpath

[SORRY THIS IS LATE

anyway have baby. if he's in the dark forest, which i don't know why he would be but for purposes of this tag he is, there is the sound of someone crying!]

From:

sacredpath

[okay well she's a little bit hungover looking but sorry to everyone who doubted her and told her drinking on thursday is a bad idea, i lived, bitch.

where are we, the void? she's here in the void.]

A room to myself at last.

[wait...]

Um, awful joke. I find it hard to believe anyone would have hurt her.

From:

sacredpath

[i'm throwing us right into it, we're opening a door and are yeeted into the funhouse.

The mirrors lead you and Shadowheart down a path that shows a similar descent into a dark underground temple. The twisting path heads further into the dark, until the reflections that show back to you are only lit by the dim glow of purple lamps.

Shadowheart and three of her traveling companions - Gale, Karlach, Astarion - stand before an altar made of stone, glowing purple. On the altar, an inscription reads, “Brave the Gauntlet of Lady Shar, Surmount Her Trials and Rise a Dark Justiciar.”

The mirrors on the opposite sides of the room reflect other memories, other moments. They’re hazy and dark, you can’t even quite make out what’s down that way, as though parts of the mirrors are hidden from view. But you see reflected in them the story of the Gauntlet of Shar, a legendary place - a secret temple to the goddess buried deep underground in a massive cavern. There, her truest servants will prove their devotion to her by undergoing trials and will be rewarded. You see reflections of Shadowheart asking a woman, whose face is wreathed in shadow, for permission to prove herself, to show that she’s worthy of being made a Dark Justiciar, and being rejected again and again. But the rest of the memories you find that way are dark, and hidden, and there’s a feeling of dread if you even think to approach that particular hallway. There is something quite bad down there.

The better lit path ahead shows the four adventurers still at the ledge overlooking the temple, discussing their options. Shadowheart tries to explain to them what you just saw reflected on other mirrors.

“In order to join Lady Shar’s elite, you had to pass her trials, and then make a sacrifice in her innermost sanctum when you’ve proven yourself. Very few make it that far.”

But all of them are clearly uneasy, not knowing what the sacrifice will be or what it would even mean for Shadowheart to be a Dark Justiciar, other than that she professes it is her innermost desire to do so.

“I’ve dreamed of this place,” she insists, harsh. “This is my destiny.” And then she softens slightly, looking all of them over. Karlach worried, Gale suspicious, Astarion interested in something else that can be found here and skeptical of whatever it is she’s asking. “You know me better than most,” she admits to them, more vulnerably. “But I need to find out whether I’m worthy.”

The skepticism is still there, so she adds - “If I prove myself to Lady Shar, she’ll bless me with power we can use to fight the Absolute, and rid ourselves of these parasites once and for all. Please.”

Other flashes on the walls of other mirrors. A relic buried at the bottom of the temple. The Nightsong, the key to Ketheric Thorne’s immortality. A directive, from a stern, no-nonsense woman with two swords. Find it and destroy it, so Ketheric can be stopped. An image of a fortress, Moonrise Towers, ruled over by a cruel man who cannot die and an army he has absolute control over. Whatever Shadowheart is after, it’s not the only reason to continue. There’s something else important here.

You follow more twisting paths. Despite the reluctance, Shadowheart’s friends help her pass the trials. Puzzles, tests of wit and skill. And at the end of the gauntlet, there is another altar, made a stone, where Shadowheart insists she be the one to cut her hand with a knife and let blood drip down. The altar reveals the prize inside.

From the altar, Shadowheart collects a spear. She’s distracted, and the other side of the mirror reflects back the feelings. Lady Shar herself, encircling, embracing, a presence felt only by Shadowheart, which she does not mention to the others, even as her obvious awe and fear both grow. “I just feel we’re on the right track,” she says, her voice shaky. “I’m right where I need to be, under Lady Shar’s gaze.”

(Video of this part until 2:45)

And despite her misgivings, she goes deeper into the temple. Once they reach the bottom of the temple, arriving at a statue of Lady Shar and a deep pool of water with stairs descending down below, words suddenly are spoken, ones that only Shadowheart can hear. One more test before you. Descend to the Nightsong. Make a sacrifice. Rise a Dark Justiciar..

She kneels before the statue and begins to pray.

The final threshold. You made it, Shadowheart, just as I knew you would. Despite these words also echoing all around, once again only Shadowheart appears to hear this.. Now all you must do is step forwards, and the rest will prove simple.

What do you need of me? Shadowheart’s prayer.

Nothing you are not capable of. The punishing of a wicked Selûnite. All you must do is use my spear to end her light. And then you will become a Dark Justiciar, blessed with my power. You will become my voice to those embrace me, and my sword arm against those who would do me harm.

I will. I will not fail you.

The others ask if she heard something, but she lies, says she was just communing with her goddess, paying respect.

The four descend into the pool and arrive iin another realm entirely, a void of dark shadows, clouds, rocks from some ruin in swirling nothingness, dark purple lightning occasionally lighting up the otherwise murky sky. The Shadowfell, the realm of Lady Shar.

“See my actions, Lady Shar,” Shadowheart prays, speaking out loud now. It seems almost like something she’s doing to calm her nerves, focus her thoughts. “Hear my words of faith. Blessed Nightsinger, witness my adoration. I have emptied my heart of falsehoods. I have vanquished your foes. Lady Shar’s will shall be done, as sure as night shall fall.”

In the platform down below, in the center of it, is a woman. A circle of light surrounds her, and you know that is her prison as much as the chains she is held by. She is a beautiful woman, tall and strong, with pale skin with cracks of gold flecked through it and white hair. But captivity has not been kind to her. She is in rags, dirty, wounded and broken.

More images again on other walls. This woman, called the “Nightsong,” has been kept prisoner here for a century by a necromancer who has sapped the strength and power she was born with for that long to transfer it to the man who rules Moonrise Towers, Ketheric Thorne. But the necromancer is dead now. No one is holding her anymore, except for the spell he cast which has not dissipated.

(Video of this part is here to 2:44, though some stuff is different with dialogue choices and this being an origin playthrough)

“I have felt you come, Sharran” she says, her voice hoarse. “The first in a century.” She looks at Shadowheart directly, expression on her face defiant despite how weak she is. “You, who have come to seek the praise of your wicked goddess. You, who have come to drive a dagger through my heart. Go on, show it to me. Your sword, your knife.” She lunges at you, and she’s held back by her prison.

My spear, child. Shar’s voice also echoes, something only Shadowheart can hear. Pierce her heart with it and become my sword hand, my Dark Justiciar.

“Not a dagger,” Shadowheart spits back, defiant. “A spear. My Lady Shar’s spear.”

“Well, well, well,” she says. “A spear empowered by your goddess to kill the child of a God?” Her voice is furious, dripping with contempt. “But there is much your mistress does not tell you. My death will come at a terrible price, one you will not grasp until it is too late.”

Shadowheart is not alone in this memory. Her companions have stayed silent, maybe surprised by what Shadowheart is doing, but they are looking as though they’re planning to interfere. At least Gale and Karlach are probably not willing to see her murder a woman in cold blood who is currently in chains.

“Her fate is mine to seal alone,” Shadowheart snaps at them.

“The fate you seal is your own,” the woman says. Her voice has lost some of its temper, trying to persuade now. “To be a Dark Justiciar is to turn your heart from everything but loss. You will know no love, no joy, only servitude. Until, of course, your mistress inevitably discards you.”

Shadowheart is still fierce, looking at the woman like she plans to kill her, but if you know her well, if you’re familiar enough to pick up on smaller changes, there’s hesitation, too. What she’s being told is breaking through to her in some way, she’s just resisting it.

“Do you know what I am, little assassin?” the woman, anger back in her voice. “I am Dame Aylin. Out of this hellish realm, I carry my sword for my mother, Selûne. The very sight of me would disgust you if you were a true Sharran. But perhaps you are something more.”

And then Shar’s voice. Shadowheart, do not listen. She seeks to distract, to confuse, to prolong her unholy existence and deny you your destiny. Shut out her words.

There’s another hallway through the house of mirrors that opens at these two conflicting messages. A path through the mirrors, dark, but lit by moonlight; Shadowheart looks down that way, but does not move to travel there. The mirrors in that direction reflect something much older than she is, an ancient war between the goddess of darkness and her sister, the moon goddess. The battles fought in that war, the pieces used, the way one goddess might seek to gain the upper hand against another.

But Shadowheart is focused on Dame Aylin, who is watching her as though she suddenly recognizes her. “Yes, I know you,” she says, as though she’s seen something suddenly. “A lost child, frightened by wolves in the dark.”

Another hallway through the house of mirrors opens in the other direction. And there’s a sense of terror about what lies down that direction. It’s too dark to see that way, but there’s a sound of snarling, howling. There’s pain in that direction. There might be more that way than only pain, but the way is too dark and there’s no way to tell.

Aylin is still speaking. “Much has been promised to you, hasn’t it?” she asks. “But what has been taken from you? What do you know of your own heart, your own life?”

Shadowheart looks down that direction, almost as though she intends to travel that way. There’s a part of her that wants to, wants to see it, and there’s a part of her that’s very, very afraid. She changes her mind, turns away from it. Gathers her resolve.

“Whatever you think you know of me won’t matter,” she says, but she’s faltering a little. “Once I become who I’m meant to be.”

“If you lay your hand on me in friendship, free me,” Aylin says, “I will lay another path before you. But you must decide whether to walk it.”

Enough. Close your heart to her craven words. Strike! Shar’s voice, brokering no more argument, no more hesitation.

“There she is again, isn’t she?” she says, looking directly back at Shadowheart. “Why does she fear truth more than I fear death?”

Reflections on the other mirrors - memories, only half formed, of fear, of duty, of the need to obey. Of kneeling on a stone floor, body growing weak, reciting prayers until they’re right. Of pain. Of growing strong enough to endure it, and the pride in that. Of being told lies and learning to always believe them anyway.

Shadowheart calls the spear to her hands.

There are two directions to take out of the memory, one where Shadowheart plunges the spear into the woman's heart and another where she takes the spear and tosses it off the side of the platform, lets it fall into the abyss. You can decide which one seems like the right path, or else you can explore somewhere else, one of the other avenues that opened up while exploring the memory.

From:

kumeyuri

Unwilling physical affection, from the looks of it. Someone kissed me on the cheek and was immediately confused by it.

So my guess is the punishment relates to the initial demand.

From:

sacredpath

[after the mini cyoa, she can be found at the tavern and bar, having a meal and a drink. if she sees him, she will hold up a drink for a toast.]

To surviving another week.

[her mood is sad, still, but she's doing better, honestly. it was a rough weekend, and seeing the other side of it hasn't dispelled her worries, but she's trying to make the best of it.

anyway she thinks this is the drink honoring elysia but it's not, it's hanaki. so taking a sip and immediately coughing.]

Sorry? What is that?

From:

sacredpath

[she's not going far with her injuries what they are, so she'll probably be found in the mansion. someone would have helped her get here, since she's limping very badly on both legs.]

Hello, Uruha.

[waving to see him. the mood is very bad, paranoid and miserable and a little closed off, but she will give him a smile anyway.]

I missed you last night, but I heard you were with Lucas and the others.

From:

sacredpath

[well she is at the corgi train god damn it. the owlbear cub is here too. you would think having a cub that is as big as a large dog but burly with bear claws and a beak would be a bad fit for a bunch of cute dogs, but the cub seems used to dogs; he basically plays with them like he's in a precious documentary about a baby lion cub who was socialized by a domestic dog, like he has dog behaviors and stuff. it's very cute.

shadowheart is also here, petting a couple little corgis.]

Well, slow down, slow down. Don't be jealous, there is enough petting to go around for everyone.

[she seems like, despite everything, she's in a much lighter mood. she will wave to him.]

Help me, brave sir! I've been set upon by these very dangerous creatures.

From:

sacredpath

[walks by covered in pasta sauce.]

Five, Three, Five.

[fingerguns and winks and walks away.]

From:

kumeyuri

[uruha is not exactly seeking people out, for the most part, but he's not actively trying to avoid anyone or hide, so. just very tiredly and depressively going about his way when he runs into shadowheart. where are you.]

From:

sacredpath

[shadowheart can be found at the cat cafe, petting some cats. as she pets them, and you can see the image of a little memory (this is about 15 seconds long) of her petting another cat. she seems to be able to speak to him in this memory, but he is quite a demanding and rude fellow.]

...Hello, Uruha. Would you like to sit? There are plenty of cats to go around.

From:

kumeyuri

[in candy land... though it's more like he walks out of the train station, sees the residents, thinks about this for a second, and walks back into the station. fuck this.]

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