{"id":1653,"date":"2016-04-07T07:42:58","date_gmt":"2016-04-07T11:42:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jeezjosie.com\/blog\/?p=1653"},"modified":"2016-03-09T01:47:16","modified_gmt":"2016-03-09T05:47:16","slug":"rhiallis-the-stag-kings-bride","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/jeezjosie.com\/blog\/2016\/04\/rhiallis-the-stag-kings-bride\/","title":{"rendered":"Rhiallis: The Stag King’s Bride"},"content":{"rendered":"

      Today\u2019s snippet, titled \u201cThe Stag King’s Bride\u201d, is a piece I wrote about my PC in Mark’s new (Good) Pathfinder Campaign.
\n      Be forewarned, there may be mature themes and naughty language below.
\n– \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 –
\n      \t\u201c…and this is not the first of such stories we\u2019ve heard.\u201d
\n      \t\u201cI\u2019d like to go with you guys, I would, but-\u201d Mira held her hands up helplessly. \u201cI\u2019ve just got so much on my plate today. Irabeth and Anevia are coming and if they recommend it – I\u2019m golden!\u201d
\n      \tSadie harrumphed a bit, but did not plead any further. Rhiallis nodded, understanding. The Appletree Inn was of as much importance to Mira as The Inheritor\u2019s Heart and the Keevy-Corweir House were to her and she knew that if she had an opportunity to get the Governor\u2019s Seal of Approval for them, she would want to do so.
\n      \t\u201cIf you hear us screaming-\u201d
\n      \t\u201cI\u2019ll come running,\u201d Mira grinned.
\n      \t\u201cNo way,\u201d Sadie said, pulling a face. \u201cIf you can hear us screaming all the way up here, evacuate the whole city! It probably means The Storm Lord is on us!\u201d
\n      \t\u201cNot really something to joke about, Sadie.\u201d
\n      \t\u201cBah. Relax, Rhi. It\u2019s probably nothing. Just some jerk.\u201d
\n      \tThe pair headed out; a teenaged halfling with more skill than professionals thrice her age and a young aasimar who had seen sixty winters, but still felt half a child at times. They had been hearing strange things for days, all about the priest who had come to re-open and restore the shrine of Erastil. Lately, the rumors had turned darker and when one of the housekeepers mentioned that he had been harassing and abusing his female congregants, they had decided that something must be done.
\n      \tOf course, by that time, the others had already headed out to seek another nest in the southern section of the city, and only Mira, Sadie and Rhiallis remained at the table. Once their fasts had been broken, the pair set off toward the half-rebuilt chapel dedicated to Old Deadeye.
\n      \t\u201cUgh!\u201d Sadie grimaced, holding her forearm to her nose. \u201cWhat\u2019s that smell?\u201d
\n      \t\u201cEvil,\u201d Rhiallis said. \u201cOr at least – something rotten.\u201d
\n      \tThe building was a humble, wooden structure that seemed to consist of just three rooms; a bedroom, a small meeting or commons room, and a chamber to worship in. The place had been ransacked and the odor grew stronger as they approached the ritual room.
\n      \t\u201cSick!\u201d
\n      \tRhiallis had to agree. Cryptic letters, painted in blood gone dark, spelled out something she could not read. Entrails were splayed across the shattered statue of Erastil and as Sadie moved closer, murmuring a translation under her breath, an uneasy feeling grew in the pit of her stomach.
\n      \t\u201cIt is like a warning, or maybe a spell? A hex? Something like that.\u201d
\n      \t\u201cWhat does it say?\u201d
\n      \tThe hin wet her perfectly shaped little lips, pushing her dark red locks over her shoulder. \u201cIt says: just as Delamere now weeps tears of fire, so shall those who follow, go to the pyre. Are you familiar?\u201d
\n      \tRhiallis shook her head, nudging aside some rubble with her toe. \u201cNo, no I don\u2019t think I know of a Delamere. Strange that it rhymes in common – does it rhyme in Abyssal too? And what- what is that?\u201d
\n      \tCrouching, Sadie used a piece of wood to pull the object nearer. Unscathed by the damage done to everything else in the room was a heavy book, bound in a dark-green leather, which bore the title \u201cThe Stag King\u2019s Bride\u201d.
\n      \t\u201cA book.\u201d
\n      \tIt sounds rather\u2026 naughty. Like something I\u2019d find tucked away on James\u2019 bookshelf. The Stag King\u2019s Bride or The Virgin and the Vengeful God or Bedtime for Baby G. That last one – I shudder to think.<\/em> She chuckled to herself. I wonder what he would make of this desecration. Perhaps I should have stopped at his workshop to-<\/em>
\n      \t\u201cRhi?\u201d Sadie was poking her knee rather insistently. Rhiallis wondered how long she had been daydreaming about her next rendezvous with James while her friend tried to get her attention. \u201cShould we take this back to Aimsley? Or Athy?\u201d
\n      \u201cOr both,\u201d she nodded.
\n      \u201cThe cleric here, his name was Jesker Helton, apparently. He\u2019s no where to be found.\u201d
\n      \u201cWell, we\u2019ll see what Aimsley and Athynacoius have to say about the book, and go from there. We ought not make any decisions without the rest of the Order.\u201d
\n      \u201cGuess so.\u201d<\/p>\n

* * * * *<\/center><\/p>\n

      \t\u201cIt is just – ugh – brimming with heretical beliefs. I\u2019ve never read anything quite like it,\u201d Athynacious was saying, flipping through The Stag King\u2019s Bride, as they all gathered around a table at The Appletree Inn. \u201cDelamere was an old priestess, a heretic – who believed that any settlement bigger than fifty-three people was inherently evil and if there was a fifty-fourth person, they would be a betrayer. And you see here – after all his weird notes in the margins, this is the notation that matters.\u201d
\n      \tHe turned the book around, holding the page open to the very end. Scrawled in a heavy hand were the words:
\n

that Delamere\u2026 she was RIGHT!!!<\/i><\/B><\/center>
\n      \t\u201cWe have to find him, and stop him,\u201d Sadie said, curling up her tiny fist.
\n      \tCuiliwen slid an arm around the hin, agreeing silently and adding her support to Sadie\u2019s resolve.
\n      \tRhiallis looked at the others in turn: Sadie and Cuiliwen were emphatic, and Athynacious seemed to be nodding in agreement. Only Lady Penance, her friend Lenore, seemed reluctant.
\n      \t\u201cWhere would he be headed, do you think?:
\n      \tAthynacious did not miss a beat. \u201cThe Weeping Hills. That\u2019s where Delamere\u2019s tomb is rumored to be.\u201d
\n      \tRhiallis nodded.
\n      \t\u201cWhat do you think, Lenore?\u201d
\n      \tThe laconic paladin paused, tilting her head to the side. \u201cHe has to be found and the truth of it discovered. If he can be saved, so he shall, but if not – the evil must be cleansed. That is true. Yet – perhaps it is not right of the five of us to make that choice without the others.\u201d
\n      \t\u201cThey\u2019ll agree with us though,\u201d Sadie said.
\n      \t\u201cKorael will want to track him, Niro will want to bash him – he\u2019s feeling all peacocky after meeting his idol, Aimsley will want to study him and Celeste will want to smite him. And Mira – she\u2019ll be fine with whatever we decide.\u201d
\n      \tRhiallis gave the elf a long, pensive look. She had nailed down the possible motivations of each member of the Valorous Order of the Golden Sword relatively quickly – considering she had known most of them just a few days.
\n      \t\u201cWell, that\u2019s settled then. In the morning, if everyone is in agreement and we\u2019re all prepared. We\u2019ll head into the \u2018Wound to track Jesker.\u201d<\/p>\n

– \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 –
\n\"Signed,
\nNote: Image is “King Jagiello Statue Central” by (Mulligand) from SXC.hu; edited by me<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Today\u2019s snippet, titled \u201cThe Stag King’s Bride\u201d, 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. – \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 –       \u201c…and this is… <\/p>\n

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