Chapter I: The Spirit Barrow
- part one -
Meet Ladonna Lesifoere. Obviously, she isn't feeling very well right now.
Pain. It surges through bone and blood. It tears at your heart, in the place where the shard once was.
You struggle to raise your head. A hole has been carved into your flesh, just above your heart... and raggedly stitched by an unskilled hand.
Something stirs inside you... a presence, a hunger. It is bound, angry... and it cannot escape.
Ladonna: Who... are you?
Safiya: My name is Safiya. The binding spell is wearing off. Your arms and legs will be stiff, but you'll be able to walk. I know you have questions, but we must leave. Now. Before the spirits wake.
Ladonna: These tattoos and your red robes... they mark you for a Red Wizard if Thay.
Safiya: I'm that and more. But I'm no threat. Not to you, at least. I am here to assist you, and I will do just that.
(Ladonna is, without a doubt, one mean fucking bitch).
Safiya: But you don't know - do you? I can understand your confusion... I - it must be very disorienting.
Ladonna: You said something about spirits. What kind of place is this?
Safiya: We're in a barrow deep beneath the soil of Rashemen. The locals say that powerful spirits dwell here - hostile to those trying to enter... and those trying to leave.
Ladonna: Rashemen? That's hundreds of miles from the Sword Coast.
Safiya: I don't know how you got here. But I'll take you to someone who might. I'll take you to her and make certain that she gives us both some answers. But that's after we get out. For the moment, haste is all that matters.
Ladonna: I don't trust wizards in red who appear from nowhere, but let's move.
Safiya: I could have worn robes of a different color... and you'd have never known what I am. I chose to wear these robes, instead. Remember that, before you doubt me.
You gaze upon one of the pillars surrounding you. Runes glitter on the dark stone... seeming to twist and blur before your eyes. You reach out and touch the runes.
Safiya: Wait! No!
As your fingers brush the stone, a thrill of wild energy surges through your body. The runes grow larger, brighter... they fill your world... Figures sweep past you in a torrent of sound and light. The presence withing you twists, seethes... as if you are peering into its depths... More pictures emerge from the runes, cavorting through your fevered mind. A laughing boy, trailing in your wake. A woman with golden skin, eyes alight with love. A wall of screaming souls.
And then, the vision passes. The runes seem dimmed, and your eyes are clear once more.
Safiya: What was that? What did you see?
Ladonna: Some sort of vision. Are you sure you dispelled these runes?
Safiya: I destroyed the binding spell. But the runes... they're not described in any books. The Rashemi claim these runes can trap dreams... or set them loose. This place is... not right. Everything echoes so strongly. I will be glad to leave this barrow behind.
Dramatic pose:
To be continued?