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Art & Stories / A Candle in the Storm

Last post by legiondraconis - Today at 11:43 PM

Lightning flashed outside the hallowed halls of the Temple of the Triad in Thundarlunn. Sheets of rain came down in droves against the window panes and cast a gentle chorus of pitter-patters throughout the stone carved temple as Thayne knelt at the foot of the altar to Torm in his chambers. His hands clasped together so tight the knuckles would show white, were they not covered in simple black gloves, inscribed on the inside with holy runes pressed against his skin. He didn't walk around without them anymore. He couldn't bear the shame that he now bore.

His head bowed, his eyes closed, Thayne silently rocked back and forth in quiet, mental prayer. His hair was disheveled and his eyes underlined with deep dark pits that marked his sleepless nights. He took a deep breath, feeling the blood pumping freely in his veins, where once it had been infected with The Black, and for a moment he could smell sulphur once more. Could taste the blood and smoke in the air. Could feel the heat of Avernus on his skin and his eyes snapped open like a man who had just seen a specter.

Sweat dripped from his forehead and he had to remember where he was. Take a moment to steady himself, to remember that he was alive. To remind himself that he had been saved by his allies. After casting both Brennus and Telamont Tanthul down into the pit of Avernus, Thayne had thought he finally met his end. That by sacrificing himself, the others would complete the objective and victory could be achieved.

Instead, they, along with Nalavarauthatoryl, risked everything to save him. Followed him down into hell. Where his greatest shame was born.

It had been months since the rescue. The assault on Everska had already passed, and Thayne had not participated because he could not trust his own arms to act in accordance with his wishes. For they weren't his. They were hers. And yet, he read the reports of what came through. How so many sacrificed themselves and died to see the mission through. How bravely they fought, their sacrifices honored.

Why me? Why am I still alive, and the others are gone? He let out a cold breath through his nose in frustration and scattered those papers across the chamber.

Why, when I had given up everything, am I not allowed to die with my honor, my ideals, my -soul- intact? Why do I have to bear this burden, this impossible task? Thayne knocked over a bowl on the nightstand, snarling with cold vapor leaking from between gritted teeth.

WHY WAS I CHOSEN!? WHY MUST I CONTINUE TO SUFFER?! HAVE I NOT DONE ENOUGH!?!? SERVED WELL ENOUGH?! IS THIS MY REWARD?!?! He kicked the bed and it smashed against the wall, standing on its side with covers and bed frame askew.

"TELL ME TORM, LOYAL FURY, RIGHTEOUS LION!!! WHY AM I CURSED TO BEAR THIS MUCH PAIN?!!? Have I-" his voice broke and tears streamed down his face, freely falling to the cold, unforgiving stone floor as the dragonborn paladin fell to his knees. "Have I not been a good son?"

***

For a long moment, silence met the paladin. He looked at himself in the mirror on the dresser in his chamber. He barely recognized what stared back at him, yet the hollow-eyed, desperate for answers man stared back at him, damning him. The reflection then smiled and a sultry, familiarly femme-fatale voice echoed from his mouth. "You've done this to yourself." The image in the mirror shifted, to that of the bracchinae, the otherworldly beauty of Marsinae, "You wanted to save Lilya, Metapharos, and myself so badly that you couldn't help but throw yourself at the feet of the Lord of Avernus and beg to continue living."

The image of Marsinae reached out and the glass parted around her like liquid silver, her slender finger reaching out to touch his face and bring it back to her sinful red lips, savoring the flavor of the paladin's sorrow. She shuddered and cupped his chin in her hand, "Soon dearest, you'll be ours. Soon, we'll all be together, just as you wanted." She smiled and the chamber vanished around Thayne and instead he found himself within a dark, voluminous space that only the barest torchlight revealed to be a throne. There he could see the three angels of Tyr'intor. Marsinae, Metapharos...and Lilya. All kneeling towards him. All with their gazes bowed, yet Thayne could feel that their holy radiance was gone, replaced with something more cruel and malevolent. He turned around and once more was looking into a mirror.

But it wasn't. It couldn't be. He didn't wear dark, spiked armor. He didn't have skin that was ashen and cracked with chunks missing to show how hollow on the inside he was. His wings weren't skeletal shadows of their former glory, blackened with sin. He didn't wield a blade that was cruel and jagged greensteel, sparked with the flames of the hells. His face didn't bear a wicked smile that was so devoid of humanity and happiness so as to appear malicious.

His own voice, cold and absent of life echoed through his dark mirror, "You aren't allowed to die a hero, so you must live to see yourself Fall. And Fall you will." The oathbreaker and the redeemer paced around each other. "You could've accepted your death and trusted the others to find a way out, but you hide behind your justifications that you had to take the deal to protect them. In truth you wanted to live. You would give anything for it. Your love, your faith, your life. This is who you are, Thayne D'rasko, and you cannot run from it."

Thayne immediately turned to run, but felt chains wrap around his arms, his legs, his neck. Mocking laughter echoed around him as invisible hands tore him apart, teeth ripping into his skin, peeling his flesh from his bones. The chains pulled at him, threatening to tear the limbs from their sockets, and claws raked at his belly, spilling his innards across the ground. Hands pulled at his wings and tore them from his back in a shower of viscera and blood.

"PLEASE!!! SOMEONE!!! ANYONE!!! SAVE ME!!!!" He screamed as unfathomable pain racked across every nerve of his body, as his foundation was torn apart. He felt the earth crumble under him and watched as the symbol of Torm fell from his neck to fall into the pit that lay at his feet, disappearing into the dark, out of sight.

And out of that darkness arose something so ancient, so evil, that Thayne couldn't even muster a scream of fear. An impossibly large serpent, with ancient, ever flowing wounds inflicted by radiant light. A timeless beast that knew only hatred, betrayal, and darkness, where it had once known love, law, and light. In that moment, he gazed into the eyes of the Hateful Serpent. The Great Betrayer. The Lord of the Hells.

And in those eyes...Thayne saw himself.

And he was terrified.

And then all was darkness.

***

Weeping, fetal on the ground, the storm of laughter continued to rage around him, Thayne hugged his knees tight to his chest and felt truly cold. Not the cold that comes from the absence of heat, but the cold of loneliness, the cold of true despair, and fear. Of being abandoned. How stupid he felt. No one was going to save him. Why would they? He couldn't save anyone. He couldn't even save himself.

And yet in that storm, Thayne could feel...warmth. Gentle. Loving. Yet fiercely defiant. He opened his eyes and a single candle flickered in the darkness that swirled around him. Flickered, yet remained lit. He could hear voices from it. Familiar ones. The voices of his friends, the litany of the church, and the song of Torm. Draped around that candle was his holy symbol, yet it lay so precariously, as if one gust of wind might knock it back into the pit where it would never be seen again.

He remembered all the good his hands had done. He remembered saving the child from the burning barn in the Battle of the Crimson Prairie. He remembered slaying demon after demon in order to save even one of the souls trapped within Androlynne and away from Pale Night's clutches. He remembered the hands that healed wounded soldiers during the fighting to stop Vezzil from enacting his plans on Cormyr. Those memories, and the memories of the people he fought for, the people of the realms, the people of the church, his friends gave Thayne enough strength to steel his resolve for but a moment that had eluded him for the past months plagued with nightmares such as this one.

And in that moment, Thayne reached out and touched the candle and feeling the candle's warmth suffuse itself into his body spreading like a blanket to cover him. As Thayne closed his eyes and gave in to the warmth, he could swear a mailed hand reached up to pull the blanket over the dragonborn's form and the voice of his father whispered to him, "Rest, o' dutiful son. Hope is not lost yet."

***

Thayne awoke hours later on the cold stone floor, the sun shining once more upon his face from the window. The mirror remained shattered from where he had punched it out months ago, the bed askew along the wall, and the documents all over the floor, soaking wet from the water bowl that splashed everywhere. Yet someone had come in and draped a blanket over him as he lay on the stone floor.

He stood up and looked in the shattered remains of the mirror. He ran his fingers through his hair, his unkempt beard, and proceeded to pull a razor out of the drawer, dried with old blood from when he had desperately tried to remove the markings on his hands. He washed it clean and lifted it to his face.

"I am done hiding." He said to himself as he shaved. "I am done letting fear rule my heart and faith. I will stand, a candle in the storm to come, meager though I might be, I will not falter."

He then turned and looked to the sword that lay at the door of his chambers. He had not lifted the blade since taking the deal that Zariel had given him. He remembered being reborn through fire to prove his faith not once, but twice, and each time he emerged stronger, more convinced his purpose was here, in Cormyr, to serve as he was needed.

"Different fire, but I suppose third time's the charm." He picked up the blade and drew it from its scabbard, the silver fire flaring to life and illuminating him in its radiance. He let out a sigh of relief at the sight, and then sheathed the blade as Maximus, the once leader of the Knights of the Eternal Flame reached out to ask Thayne what is going to come next. He only had one response.

"There's still work to be done."

Warlock Relevel/Rebuilds / Re: Warlock Relevel - Dirk

Last post by Nokteronoth - Dec 14, 2024, 09:26 PM

This is approved, see any DM to complete, or aDM with supervision.
~BR

Warlock Relevel/Rebuilds / Re: Warlock Relevel - Juniper ...

Last post by Nokteronoth - Dec 14, 2024, 09:21 PM

This is approved. See any full DM or aDM with supervision to finish.

~BR

Ask the Staff Anything / Re: Build mistake fix?

Last post by capybara - Dec 13, 2024, 12:33 AM

Quote from: Fire Wraith on Dec 13, 2024, 12:30 AMYes - if you're just starting out it may be easier to just remake, and then use the Archiver NPC in the OOC/AFK room to remove the old version.

For more established PCs, you can submit a relevel or rebuild request, and then ping the DMs on discord in the Support channel.

Would I lose my items and exp if I just remake? If there is a way, I'd like to keep her instead of deleting.

Ask the Staff Anything / Re: Build mistake fix?

Last post by Fire Wraith - Dec 13, 2024, 12:30 AM

Yes - if you're just starting out it may be easier to just remake, and then use the Archiver NPC in the OOC/AFK room to remove the old version.

For more established PCs, you can submit a relevel or rebuild request, and then ping the DMs on discord in the Support channel.

Ask the Staff Anything / Build mistake fix?

Last post by capybara - Dec 13, 2024, 12:21 AM

Hello, is there a way I can fix my cleric's build in the game? I didn't realize I needed 13 Dex for Dodge, and that I needed an extra feat to be able to wield a whip. Is there a way to go back and fix these things in my build? I'm level 6 right now.

Updates and Roadmap / Re: CD Hak Changelog

Last post by SpacePope - Dec 12, 2024, 11:53 AM

CD4 Hak Update v4.04a3
.tlk
- Walk Unseen description updated
- Caster's Lament description updated
- Warlock essence descriptions updated
- Battle Caster description updated
- Warlock abilities now correctly refer to Caster Level
- Unyielding Defender and Defensive Stance description updated

.2da
- (Hide in Plain Sight) Cooldown increased to 5 seconds, as 3 seconds was so low as to never, ever, matter
- Wands can now be wielded in the main hand. Yes, this means you can also dual wield them.

Updates and Roadmap / Re: CD Module Changelog v2

Last post by SpacePope - Dec 12, 2024, 11:53 AM

CD Module v4.12a4
- Updated Lunar Light dungeon (Lady)
- Updated lighting in Arabel Sewers B2 (Vince)
- Updated armor appearance for Selunite Temple Guards in the Selunite Temple (Vince)
- Updated armor appearance for Claire and Jo in Arabel Central (Vince)
- Fixed the AC value and appearance of Torwalder's Stand armor (only for newly acquired ones)
- Fixed a typo in Ring of Fortitude [Eldritch] name (only for newly acquired ones)
- Swapped the Cold and Electric pieces of the Witchlord's Keep elemental puzzle so the colors match the correct element, and added more VFX to it to make it noticeable

Scripts
- Fixed a potential source of rare-but-not-rare-enough crashes tied to NUI events (Spell Widget and Essence chooser to be precise)

Spells, Feats & Class Abilities
- (Devour Magic) Fixed the math on Eldritch Master increasing the CL cap
- (Caster's Lament) Added a VFX if it removes an hostile enchantment on a friendly target, and fixed some script logic
- (Battle Caster) Fixed the Arcane Failure reduction being too low
- (Eldritch Essence) There is now a feat to open up the /essence NUI menu instead of having to type the command. Warlocks will automatically get it on login (Thanks to Vince for the icon!)
- (Eldritch Chain) Cleaned up script logic and fixed it not being able to critical hit
- (Defensive Stance) Can now be toggled on/off at will, but doesn't provide Temporary HP anymore

Warlock Relevel/Rebuilds / Alvarelle Eilirnis rebuild

Last post by Zireael - Dec 10, 2024, 02:05 PM

Server login: Zireael
Character Name: Alvarelle Eilirnis
Type of Request: Rebuild
Reasoning for Request / Requested Changes: Rebuild into warlock

Details are send in personal message.

#10

Warlock Relevel/Rebuilds / Warlock Relevel - Dirk

Last post by goodapollo - Dec 08, 2024, 10:33 AM

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