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lettersfrombel2 Mirtul, 1492 DR
Somewhere near Last Light Inn
Dear River:
Well, we have the protections we need to move freely, but I can already tell this place will wear on me in a very different way than the Underdark does. That, for all its hostility, is home and has its own beauty and wonder. This place feels cursed and oppressive, even with the protections.
The good news is that Karlach is feeling better, as Master Dammon managed to insulate her engine enough that she can touch people without burning them. The bad news is that he’s clear that Karlach’s engine was not designed to operate outside the Hells, and she is laboring under a deadline to find a better option. I don’t suppose some messenger from another god would be willing to show up to stabilize it? We can’t be that lucky twice, and if anyone told Karlach it was her job to blow up for the good of us all, I hope she punches them.
The Absolute is aware that the Harpers have set up this area as a base, and that a cleric of Selune is the one maintaining the barrier. Right after we got our blessing that allows us to not have to carry torches everywhere, an agent of the Absolute showed up. With wings grafted to his back, which is more than a bit disturbing if you ask me. His minions grabbed Mol, but we managed to keep the cleric, Isobel, from being taken. It turns out that divine magic is very useful against anything in the area.
The Harpers decided to lead a raid on an Absolutist caravan, to capture the means to get to Moonrise Tower for us — even Selune’s blessing is not enough. We didn’t have much of a chance to see the sights, yet, before we set up an ambush. No one on our side died, but… well, I was not prepared for a fucking drider to be the one leading people into the dark. I may have had an emotional reaction there.
I assume you know about driders, River. Beyond just that they look like the unholy combination of a drow and a giant spider, I mean. They aren’t born, they are created when a drow is tested by Lolth and fails, or when one has pissed off a particularly powerful priestess. They tend to have lost any mental stability they once had, and are driven out from our settlements but not killed, as Lolth prefers they be alive to suffer for failing her. Needless to say, they give me the creeps, because they are intended as a reminder for the rest of us. Elisund was not important enough to Lolth for the creation of a drider to be anything that happened in my lifetime, but I’m told groups of them can be found around larger drow cities, trying to scavenge what they can, and pick off reminders of what they once were. But just because it never happened, didn’t mean it wasn’t the sort of thing that hung over our heads as possible. Seeing one is… well, a visceral reminder of my own past and things I’d rather not remember.
I probably could have talked my way past this one. Like I said, driders are intelligent and cunning, but Lolth breaks their minds in ways that mean they aren’t what anyone would call sane. I assume this one latched onto the Absolute as a better alternative to a god that made her contempt clear. I decided the motherless wretch was probably better off dying to us than to be chased into the shadows to die, but I don’t know that it really makes a difference. His lantern was apparently powered by a pixie or sprite or some type of tiny fae creature that was very good at going from ‘adorably twee’ to ‘angry at everyone’ once I let her out. Which, given that being trapped in the lantern was apparently not pleasant, fair enough. Asking nicely meant that we got the blessing to move through the curse without any pixie torture, so that’s nice.
Wyll continues to be surprised I chose him over Astarion. Frankly, I should tell him that if he wants Astarion as well, I don’t mind and he should go see if Astarion is interested, but somehow I don’t think he’d go for it. I am not going to explain why I ‘broke up’ with Astarion, if you can call ‘we occasionally had sex’ a relationship, because too much of that is Astarion’s past for him to disclose or not. I don’t know how to explain why I chose Wyll. If it were just lust, it would have faded since Wyll… well, he’s interested in bedding me, but not yet, and he knows at this point that he need only ask me. Maybe… it’s nice to feel like he wants me for something other than my good looks and bedroom skills, but I’m also afraid that the person he thinks I am isn’t the person I actually am, and eventually the mask will fall off. How the hells do other people deal with the mix of wanting to be known but finding it utterly terrifying?
(I wonder sometimes if we were’t all bound together by our shared mission and predicament if this is when I’d suddenly find a reason to be elsewhere rather than deal with this. I’m used to having much smaller and simpler desires.)
Onward to Moonrise. We’ll see what horrors we find there.
Your friend,
Bel
From the Player:
Somewhere near Last Light Inn
Dear River:
Well, we have the protections we need to move freely, but I can already tell this place will wear on me in a very different way than the Underdark does. That, for all its hostility, is home and has its own beauty and wonder. This place feels cursed and oppressive, even with the protections.
The good news is that Karlach is feeling better, as Master Dammon managed to insulate her engine enough that she can touch people without burning them. The bad news is that he’s clear that Karlach’s engine was not designed to operate outside the Hells, and she is laboring under a deadline to find a better option. I don’t suppose some messenger from another god would be willing to show up to stabilize it? We can’t be that lucky twice, and if anyone told Karlach it was her job to blow up for the good of us all, I hope she punches them.
The Absolute is aware that the Harpers have set up this area as a base, and that a cleric of Selune is the one maintaining the barrier. Right after we got our blessing that allows us to not have to carry torches everywhere, an agent of the Absolute showed up. With wings grafted to his back, which is more than a bit disturbing if you ask me. His minions grabbed Mol, but we managed to keep the cleric, Isobel, from being taken. It turns out that divine magic is very useful against anything in the area.
The Harpers decided to lead a raid on an Absolutist caravan, to capture the means to get to Moonrise Tower for us — even Selune’s blessing is not enough. We didn’t have much of a chance to see the sights, yet, before we set up an ambush. No one on our side died, but… well, I was not prepared for a fucking drider to be the one leading people into the dark. I may have had an emotional reaction there.
I assume you know about driders, River. Beyond just that they look like the unholy combination of a drow and a giant spider, I mean. They aren’t born, they are created when a drow is tested by Lolth and fails, or when one has pissed off a particularly powerful priestess. They tend to have lost any mental stability they once had, and are driven out from our settlements but not killed, as Lolth prefers they be alive to suffer for failing her. Needless to say, they give me the creeps, because they are intended as a reminder for the rest of us. Elisund was not important enough to Lolth for the creation of a drider to be anything that happened in my lifetime, but I’m told groups of them can be found around larger drow cities, trying to scavenge what they can, and pick off reminders of what they once were. But just because it never happened, didn’t mean it wasn’t the sort of thing that hung over our heads as possible. Seeing one is… well, a visceral reminder of my own past and things I’d rather not remember.
I probably could have talked my way past this one. Like I said, driders are intelligent and cunning, but Lolth breaks their minds in ways that mean they aren’t what anyone would call sane. I assume this one latched onto the Absolute as a better alternative to a god that made her contempt clear. I decided the motherless wretch was probably better off dying to us than to be chased into the shadows to die, but I don’t know that it really makes a difference. His lantern was apparently powered by a pixie or sprite or some type of tiny fae creature that was very good at going from ‘adorably twee’ to ‘angry at everyone’ once I let her out. Which, given that being trapped in the lantern was apparently not pleasant, fair enough. Asking nicely meant that we got the blessing to move through the curse without any pixie torture, so that’s nice.
Wyll continues to be surprised I chose him over Astarion. Frankly, I should tell him that if he wants Astarion as well, I don’t mind and he should go see if Astarion is interested, but somehow I don’t think he’d go for it. I am not going to explain why I ‘broke up’ with Astarion, if you can call ‘we occasionally had sex’ a relationship, because too much of that is Astarion’s past for him to disclose or not. I don’t know how to explain why I chose Wyll. If it were just lust, it would have faded since Wyll… well, he’s interested in bedding me, but not yet, and he knows at this point that he need only ask me. Maybe… it’s nice to feel like he wants me for something other than my good looks and bedroom skills, but I’m also afraid that the person he thinks I am isn’t the person I actually am, and eventually the mask will fall off. How the hells do other people deal with the mix of wanting to be known but finding it utterly terrifying?
(I wonder sometimes if we were’t all bound together by our shared mission and predicament if this is when I’d suddenly find a reason to be elsewhere rather than deal with this. I’m used to having much smaller and simpler desires.)
Onward to Moonrise. We’ll see what horrors we find there.
Your friend,
Bel
From the Player:
I had to redo the Marcus fight because I failed it and was moving into the ‘fight everyone else in the inn’ when I realized I was late for my D&D game in real life, and needed to finish things later.
Bel does have a visceral reaction to seeing a drider. Logically, he should have talked Kar’niss into handing over the lantern and fleeing into the darkness, but Bel was unsettled enough that he just ordered the Harpers to attack.
Bel might well be correct that he can’t self-sabotage with his relationships as much because he’s stuck with people and has to use his words. I also suspect Wyll is aware that whatever reason Bel gives for being kind is not always Bel’s actual motivation, and that some of the things he likes about Bel is that Bel is the way he is despite of his upbringing. I also think both of them are bad at being selfish for different reasons; for Bel at least, that is due to an upbringing that reinforced that he wasn’t as valued as other people, and he has internalized that a lot, even if his goals have changed. Thankfully, Bel sees no reason to take on giant causes, unless they are something his friends care about, and then he is there to stop them from doing anything rash. Unfortunately, he just started dating the Blade of the Frontiers.
