Today’s snippet, titled “Aimsley’s Fall”, is a piece I wrote about my PC in Mark’s new (Good) Pathfinder Campaign.
      Be forewarned, there may be mature themes and naughty language below.
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      We are so fucked.
      The vulgarity of her own thoughts would have shocked her mere months ago, but now she scarcely registered the curse. Higher still she flew, getting a bird’s eye view of Aimsley’s bloodless corpse and the battlefield at large. One swarm was scuttling down the wall and she frowned, realizing that there would be no relief on the bottom of the gorge either.
      Guys! Miranda’s voice was hoarse inside her mind. Watch out, I’m going to try something different!
      The slender woman sent a magnificient geyser of air and wind up beneath one of the swarms, scattering the swarm. Rhiallis’ heart leapt in relief; Sadie cheered via their silent message spell.
      A heartbeat later, the ticks reformed into their impenetrable cloud of biting, gnawing, disease-spreading evil and she wanted to cry out in rage.
      “DAMN IT!” Someone cried from a distance. She was not sure who it was, but she empathized with the frustration.
      Tom Parris whirled past Sadie, his cloak billowing. The halfling leapt into the air as if she were a bird herself, and caught a ride on the flying cleric. She waved her blade in the air as if spurring a horse to giddyap!
      Spitting out a string of esoteric words, ‘fly’ being the only one Rhiallis caught, Tom Parris cast a spell upon Ezekiel and in seconds, her fellow paladin too was in the air.
      Rhiallis closed her eyes for a moment, trying to remember every spell or tactic she had ever been taught that might even remotely affect a swarm. That was all the time Randa needed to decimate one of the clouds.
      “They flee!” Ezekiel bellowed, pointing with the six-feet of steel he carried as if it were a mere dagger. “They flee!”
      Randa stood at the edge of the cliff, watching for them to return. After a moment, she gathered her energies and cast a spell over the side. A thick, viscous cloud of poison wafted down slowly and she let her lips curl into a feral little smile.
      “That’ll kill every living thing in that crevasse.”
      Though it was unlikely that there was anything innocent lurking down there, particularly this deep into the Worldwound, Rhiallis silently said a prayer that only the things which deserve death would find it in Miranda’s spell.
      “Aimsley?” Sadie knelt beside the elven woman’s corpse and poked her gently. “Aimsley?”
      “She’s gone.”
      Tom Parris was not being callous, merely speaking the truth. Still, it hurt. She looked upon the body of her friend and felt tears well in her eyes again. Rhiallis blinked them away angrily. No more, she told herself, we can lose no more.
      “Look, this is gonna sound bad, but- we should divide up what we can carry and move on. It is nearly midnight and we have a whole lot of ground left to cover. We can cram her into her sack for now. I mean, she’d understand, that’s how it goes out here.”
      “They’ve drained her almost-” Rhiallis paused. “The death is like the one Graves and Mytra suffered. It is beyond my capabilities – beyond Tom Parris’ as well, I believe. One day, we’ll bring her back. We’ll bring them all back.” And Viggo too, she added silently.
      There was a matter-of-factness to their methods as they split up Aimsley’s belongings, sharing the extra weight, and set off once more. Rhiallis knew it was necessary, knew it was right, knew it was all as it must be, but she did not like it and as Sadie closed the sack over the elf’s blonde head, she had to look away.
      We must close this rift. We must. And then, when it is safe, we’ll bring them all back.
      But her vow was spoken only within her own mind, for she was certain that the others were more than a little tired of her harping on the issue. They deserved to live again, all of them. They deserved to come back to this world, once it was secure again, to laugh and love and take in the beauty of it all.
      First, we seal the Wound. Then, we bring them back. She nodded once, vehemently. All of them.

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Note: Image is “King Jagiello Statue Central” by (Mulligand) from SXC.hu; edited by me