{"id":1657,"date":"2016-04-11T11:47:55","date_gmt":"2016-04-11T15:47:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jeezjosie.com\/blog\/?p=1657"},"modified":"2016-03-09T01:51:28","modified_gmt":"2016-03-09T05:51:28","slug":"rhiallis-the-thorned-whip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/jeezjosie.com\/blog\/2016\/04\/rhiallis-the-thorned-whip\/","title":{"rendered":"Rhiallis: The Thorned Whip"},"content":{"rendered":"

      Today\u2019s snippet, titled \u201cThe Thorned Whip\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      \tThe sun was gaining its apex rapidly and the temperature seemed to fluctuate between dry as dust, but sweltering, and dry as dust, but freezing. Rhiallis squinted into the horizon. Drezen was a black speck at the furthest reach of her sight, well behind them, and ahead lay only an arid wasteland. Scrub grass and hardy brown weeds abounded, but no water or foliage.
\n      \tNot that you\u2019d want to drink the water or eat anything that grew here <\/em>anyway, Rhiallis thought, tossing her hair from her eyes. Will closing the \u2018Wound be enough to restore Mendev\u2019s bounty, one day? Or will this land always lie fallow, a casualty of the Abyssal energies that leeched in?<\/em>
\n      \t\u201cSo, we\u2019ve got at least a day\u2019s hard ride until here,\u201d Celeste was saying to Korael, pointing to some landmark on her map. \u201cAnd then-\u201d
\n      \t\u201cHey – what\u2019s that?\u201d
\n      They all halted, mesmerized by the strange crystalline growth of brilliant, azure that lay ahead. It was directly in their path, and would take but minutes to bypass, yet something drew them near to it instead.
\n      \u201cWho\u2019s going up there – to see what it is?\u201d
\n      \tRhiallis frowned. No one volunteered at first, then Aimsley – her big, beautiful mind ever curious, every analysing – raised her hand.
\n      \t\u201cI\u2019ll go.\u201d
\n      \tShe swallowed hard, then urged Emerald forward. \u201cI\u2019m with you, Aimsley.\u201d
\n      \tTogether they moved slowly forward, vigilant for movement or any sign of aggression from the queer patch of crystal. It stood no more than three feet high and was such a pure, exquisite shade of blue that it brought to mind the summer skies over her childhood home. She smiled.
\n      \t\u201cIs it\u2026?\u201d Aimsley whispered, still ahorse. \u201cEvil?:
\n      \tRhiallis raised her hand, presenting her holy symbol to it, and concentrated. After a moment, she shook her head.
\n      \t\u201cMaybe we should just leave it al-\u201d
\n      \tAimsley\u2019s words were cut short as a sudden, ear-shattering sound emanated from the crystalline structure. It was not a scream, but something low and deep. It seemed to interfere with the beat of her heart and shook her bones to the very marrow.
\n      \tA heartbeat later, she blinked.
\n      \tHalf of their group, at least, seemed stunned by the sound. They were unable to move, unable to ride, unable to even defend themselves.
\n      \tThose who were not, including Rhiallis herself, dismounted to engage in melee.
\n      \tFor some reason, the thing seemed to focus on Niro, for it lashed out at him time and time again with pseudopods of transparent stone. It wailed on him as if he were a child\u2019s plaything, yet somehow, they could do little damage to it.
\n      \t\u201cLook out!\u201d
\n      \tNiro ducked – but the warning came too late. He became ensnared in the queer, stony goo. With a mighty slam, it nearly knocked him to his back (CRITICAL! OUCH!).
\n      \t\u201cHe\u2019s going to bleed out! Someone, help him! Heal him!\u201d
\n      \tRhiallis nearly dropped her sword.
\n      \tWhat? He- what? No. I- no! I didn\u2019t know! I wasn\u2019t watching! I- Oh Iomedae, forgive me! <\/em>Anguish flooded her as she broke off to move close to Niro. Encased in blue crystal, she was loathe to touch him, or risk the creature\u2019s wrath, but she summoned the healing energy of her Goddess and burst it forth, to heal him.
\n      \tIt was not enough.
\n      \tWhen at last the beast was dead, Rhiallis dropped to her knees. Radiance clattered to the ground, forgotten in her despair.
\n      \t\u201cWhy?\u201d she whispered, clutching herself around the waist. \u201cWhy did you let him die?\u201d
\n      \tAimsley lay a hand on her shoulder, silent reassurance. No blame was placed upon her, no harsh words spoken, yet she lashed her own heart with a thorned whip over and over. You had but one sacred duty, Rhiallis. ONE thing, above all others, that you have sworn to do! Heal your allies\u2026 heal them, keep them alive, help them to fight by not fighting yourself, but healing them with Iomedae\u2019s blessings and you fucking failed – you failed him utterly!<\/em>
\n      \t\u201cWe can\u2019t take him with us, he\u2019ll be too heavy, soon.\u201d
\n      \tSadie glanced over at Korael and nodded. \u201cShe\u2019s right. He\u2019s turning to stone, or crystal, or whatever.\u201d
\n      \t\u201cI can\u2019t teleport back with him,\u201d Aimsley frowned, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. \u201cBut I suppose, I could teleport back to Drezen and find James or someone, and tell them to come out and retrieve him. His- corpse? Niro, I mean, his er- body? Because I will be able to help him – one day, there\u2019s a spell to reverse this condition – but it is beyond my capabilities now.\u201d
\n      \t\u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019ll do then,\u201d Celeste said.
\n      \t\u201cLet\u2019s take the things we need to preserve,\u201d Korael said, plucking the enchanted sack from his belt. \u201cBefore we go.\u201d
\n      \tWe\u2019re so mercenary<\/em>, Rhiallis thought, standing up and sliding Radiance back into her scabbard. But what choice have we? There is evil yet to vanquish and our lives do not matter much against the big picture.<\/em>
\n      \t\u201cThey\u2019ll take him home,\u201d Aimsley said, as if she had heard Rhiallis\u2019 thoughts. \u201cDo not worry, Rhiallis. One day, we\u2019ll restore Niro and resurrect Graves and all our fallen friends will live again. The Worldwound will close and everything will be as it should be. It will.\u201d
\n      \tRhiallis smiled weakly. \u201cIt will.\u201d
\n      \t…if I fall before our final victory, will I meet Viggo in paradise, or will they bring me back to life – back to James?<\/em><\/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 Thorned Whip\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 –       The sun was gaining… <\/p>\n

Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":926,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,14,1],"tags":[4,121,147],"class_list":["post-1657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gaming-2","category-snippet","category-uncategorized","tag-gaming","tag-pathfinder","tag-rhiallis","xfolkentry","clearfix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/jeezjosie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/jeezjosie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/jeezjosie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jeezjosie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jeezjosie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1657"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/jeezjosie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1657\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1658,"href":"http:\/\/jeezjosie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1657\/revisions\/1658"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jeezjosie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/jeezjosie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jeezjosie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jeezjosie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}