Qil'nafae: Memories of a Darksong Knight

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Kalopsia
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Qil'nafae: Memories of a Darksong Knight

Post by Kalopsia » Mon Nov 06, 2017 10:52 am

Ched Nasad,
the City of Shimmering Webs.

A construct of hundreds of layers of calcified spider webs with a characteristic structure: The greater the social rank, the higher the layer of residence. The same held true for the opposite, turning the lower levels into a home of the poor, the disgraced - and the Ssin d’Aerth.

My Mother was one of them: An artist. A musician. A courtesan.

When I was old enough, I was meant to learn her craft and pick up her business alongside my sister Ulviiriina. Yet unlike her, I lacked the artistic talent. The sensibility. And, honestly, the will.
As a result, I was sent to the Temple of Lolth instead, to become a Yath’abban and make up for the family’s disreputable business.

My memories of this time are ambiguous: I lived among nobles in the acolyte quarters and enjoyed luxury I’d never seen before. But this luxury came at a price: I was forced to please the Spider Queen to retain her arbitrary favor, as losing it would have resulted in bleeding dry on a Lolthite altar, sooner than later.

I had to do horrible things to avoid that.

The pained screams of the scourged. I can still hear them today, in my moments of weakness. Then, when I close my eyes, I see my victims staring at me as if silently condemning me for what gruesome deeds I had to commit in order to survive.
Their blood is still staining my hands - and I doubt I will ever be able to wash it off.

I cannot change the past.

But I can do better in future.
Last edited by Kalopsia on Tue Nov 07, 2017 11:00 am, edited 1 time in total.

Kalopsia
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Re: Qil'nafae: Memories of a Darksong Knight

Post by Kalopsia » Tue Nov 07, 2017 7:08 am

At the temple, I thought my sole purpose was to serve the Spider Queen and do what her fanatic priestesses expected me to. I thought my own wishes and feelings, my hopes and dreams did not matter.

How wrong I was.

Today I know that every Drow can decide to escape this life of expectations and injustice. Decide to replace hatred and distrust with joy and respect, and to embrace beauty and art instead of living in strife and fear of betrayal. All it takes is an opportunity to let go, as only few would dare to abandon Lolth’s teachings on their own.

Ironically, this opportunity presented itself to me in the shape of a poisoned throwing knife aimed at my back. A knife that rendered me unable to move, let alone defend myself as its thrower closed in to secure the kill.

If it were up to the Spider Queen, I’d have died that day.

All too clear is the memory of the cold blade at my throat. I’d accepted what was to come: Having failed to convince Lolth of my power and determination, I was unworthy to survive.

I closed my eyes, waited for the inevitable to come. Yet what I perceived was not the unbearable pain that would precede my last gargling breaths. It was the squelching sound of a blade striking true. The dagger that’d been pressed against my throat escaped limp fingers. The assassin’s body fell down on me. Dead.

When I opened my eyes, I saw a drowess looming above me, shrouded in robes blue as the surface sky at night. Gloved fingers curled around the handle of a blood-stained longsword. At last, I spotted the pendant that dangled at her neck: a tiny sword of silver.

The symbol of a Moondancer.

A priestess of Eilistraee, a heretic I’d have persecuted and slain remorselessly, had saved my life without hesitation.

Her lips moved as she chanted a prayer. Her voice was crystal clear and more beautiful than everything I’d heard before. A tear of joy ran down my cheek. Instinctively, I blinked it away - and realized her divine magic must have purged the paralyzing venom from my veins.

Finally able to move, I would have been able to follow the Spider Queen’s laws and invoke Lolth’s wrath upon her.
Despite that, she sheathed her blade and extended a hand to help me up.

I have learnt that “trust” is how such behavior is called. A word that, in our society, has faded into oblivion over the millennia and has no Drowish translation anymore.

And yet it was this trust that convinced me to turn my back to Ched Nasad, my mother, sister and my past.

I accepted her hand and rose to my feet.

This was my opportunity to let go.

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Re: Qil'nafae: Memories of a Darksong Knight

Post by Kalopsia » Sun Dec 24, 2017 8:08 pm

Against my expectations, we encountered little to no resistance on our way out of the city. The Moondancer - Chil’triss, as she’d introduced herself - had shrouded me in an old, weathered cloak to hide the acolyte gown that signified me as a member of the temple. A hood, pulled deep into my face, concealed my features from suspicious gazes.

As we walked the webs of Ched Nasad for what would be my last time in one decade, an unsettling question crept into my mind: Would anyone remember me?

Murder was rarely investigated in our society. Dying to an unforeseen blade was considered a result of weakness, and thus Lolth’s disfavor. If the temple authorities saw any need for punishment, it was because an assassin had failed to finish their task without witnesses. This failure marked them as a disappointment for the Spider Queen and thus destined for a death on the altar.

However, in this regard the assassin had been successful. The assault had taken place at an unfrequented location, far away from prying eyes. Most Drow would not have second thoughts about my disappearance.
For them, I was gone - and that’s it.

I knew our society and its traditions too well to even consider being missed – but would I be forgotten like the assassin’s previous victims? Would even Ulviiriina, my sister, never wonder what’d happened to me?

These thoughts burned in my mind, and soon enough I decided to return eventually, if only to let her know I survived. To tell her that a meaningless Slave piece on Lolth’s sava board had fallen that day, and that her sister had survived and chosen to abandon Lolth’s Laws in favor of a life in freedom.

Pondering over my past and future, I left behind Ched Nasad at Chil’triss’ side. Eventually the two of us arrived at a secluded face of the seemingly bottomless chasm that supported the city’s webs. My gaze, familiar with magic auras as it’d become during my education at the temple, fell upon a few runes on the rocky surface. While I did not recognize the symbols, the magic that enveloped them was palpable.

My companion approached to place her palm on the stone, whispering a word of power. The combination of both, her voice and touch, caused the runes to emit an iridescent shimmer of growing intensity. I had to fight the urge to step back as my eyes were all but used to what’d soon become an almost searing brightness.

Coarse rocks melded and transformed into a what appeared to be a smooth silvery surface. Chil’triss must have become aware of my unbelieving stare at our reflections. As my quizzical gaze met hers, she explained that a Moonspring portal had been opened ahead of us: Eilistraee’s gift to unite her faithful, no matter how scattered they were - and frequently used to rescue Drow that sought to break free from Lolth’s invisible shackles. Drow like me.

Cautiously I approached the portal, step by step, and flinched as my body effortlessly passed this reflecting wall of liquid silver. A wall that used to be solid stone. I had never entered a portal before, wondered where it would take me. The Promenade, perhaps? It was a known sanctuary of the ...

My thoughts were interrupted by a pale light from above. Brighter than any faerie fires I’d ever seen in the Underdark, and yet not blinding. I felt a soft breeze caress my skin.

It felt like home.

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