by Bri "Margaret" Meisser
While the rest of Chimeron was off dealing with paperwork and other boring bureaucratic matters, one Margaret August decided to answer the call for help in Stonewood and traveled with her trusty but cowardly pigeon to try and help. Some cultists were worshipping a comet in the sky, using blood magic, a practice banned in Stonewood, to empower it. The following account comes from the stories and memories of one scared, and very in-over-her-head newbie. There are many stories that will unfortunately be missed in this retelling, as my memory sucks and my ability to remember names and details sucks even more. I encourage you to learn these stories from their source if granted the opportunity. But back to Stonewood.
Without my usual group of friends to travel with, my annoying and very overprotective Knight asked Voraniss to look out for me. Luckily for him, they’re all pretty cool, and worthy people to fight beside. Even if a few of them did kill me while under the cultist’s mind control. But back to the beginning. After meeting with Voraniss outside of Stonewood, we entered together. Upon crossing the border, I was delivered a dagger by a guard, saying it was from James Swift, who unfortunately was unable to be there himself. This dagger would allow me to burn off blood which it touched, something that became far too relevant as the cultists' use of blood magic grew.
Upon entering the tavern, the doors closed, and we heard chanting as the cultists empowered the comet. Kindrianna had a vision of a clock, and when it reached its destination death would follow, so we knew we had limited time to get this right. Which is why the many failed attempts at making a magical power line were so frustrating. But that came later. Magic kept flickering in and out, as reality began to warp and become unstable. Objects were found scattered throughout the tavern and could be used to perform a ritual. I am not aware of all the details this entailed, as that is a bit outside my pay grade, (speaking of pay grades, insert joke about militia union here) but many with minds sharper than myself were able to solve ciphers and use material components to allow us to pass, even as the chanting of the cultists grew louder giving me a massive headache.
Once the door to the outside was opened, it was time to fight. Cultists began to come and attack us, many using blood magic to carry out their deeds. I quickly put my dagger to use, burning off the blood attached to a lightning bolt that allowed cultists to grapple onto us and drag us in. As we fought, when we were downed the cultists tried to steal some of our own blood for their heinous acts. I unfortunately had some of mine taken in the process of destroying blood from a weapon. Eventually, we managed to push through the enemy lines where we found a cultist with a cauldron full of blood. I tried to get in close enough to burn it, but my armour was low and it was guarded well. Tulkhan and I swapped weapons, and he was able to push through and burn the blood in the cauldron away.
Back in the tavern, I felt my blood begin to recoil as the cultists used it to empower the comet. Especially as a worshipper of Aurora, such corruption and impurities in my own blood felt extremely uncomfortable and made me wince in disgust. But I knew we had to carry on.
The fighting grew more intense as reality continued to warp. There was a cauldron being filled with blood every time we fell in battle, and the cultists just kept coming back stronger than ever. This cauldron was protected by 3 protective circles, and nothing we seemed to do could get through them.
During this battle, myself and two others heard digging. We went to investigate, and found someone digging themselves out of their own grave. They seemed very lost, confused, and unsure of themselves. They said they did not know their name, and I said we could give them a new name. Ged sounds nice. But they kept demanding our honor, hoping to steal it for themselves. We pointed out that honor cannot be stolen, only earned, and that the act of stealing one's honor is in itself dishonorable. We then challenged them to honorable combat one by one, where Ged was able to earn their own honor, as well as be given some of our own freely. For Ged was a hero and had earned their honor. They then said that they hoped they could find who took their memories and life, and if they could not seek revenge, maybe they could teach them what we taught Ged. I don’t know where Ged is now, but I hope they find themselves and are able to reclaim their honor and identity, and maybe teach others along the way.
Back to the main battle, we found 3 balls of pure magic which we had to retrieve. One of them was kept inside of a cavern, and we had to collect both the orb and our fallen friend from inside. Eventually we retrieved all 3, but they were unstable, and attempts to stabilize them got many of us killed. The fighting continued. At one point, Azurewrath showed up after his sword was stolen by a cultist. He was fairly intimidating, nearly killing me for the high crime of holding my weapons. Azurewrath and Vesper made a deal, for Azurewrath to empty and then refill Vesper with his own magic, but this deal would end in tragedy once the Star Child arrived.
When the orbs finished being purified, a blinding light shot up to the comet, and we were teleported back inside the Tavern. The world shook, the comet fell, and our heroes went out into battle one last time.
Upon defeating some of the strongest cultists yet, 3 small dragons were retrieved. Identifying them told us that they each had to be given to the strongest among us. Kindrianna suggested that we divide the 3 into mind, body, and spirit. King K was deemed the strongest in body, Aelias in mind, and Kindrianna in spirit. Though I am an Auroran, I struggle to put my faith into others. It is a weakness of mine. Yet here in Stonewood, far from my goddess, I put my faith into Kindrianna for her strength of spirit, and she did not disappoint. The 3 with the dragons were able to bypass the protective circles. I gave them the dagger with blood burn in order to burn the blood away from the cauldron. Right before the blade struck, the blood was absorbed and the Star Child came down to earth.
The heroes and the Star Child were sizing each other up, waiting for the other to strike. However, before our heroes could defeat them, the Star Child (which sounds like a great nickname for the militia if we want to annoy Orion :) absorbed Vesper’s power, emptying him. We tried to interfere, to stop it, but were unable to.
Now, standing in stunned silence, the Star Child turned to me. They looked me in the eyes and said “do you fight gods? Or just Champions?”. I was absolutely flabbergasted. Who did this kid think they were? After staring at them in stunned silence, the Star Child called me pathetic. As they walked away, something inside of me snapped, and I did what I swore I would not do. I challenged this Star Kid to honorable combat in the name of Aurora. For I do not care what title one wears, if they work in the name of evil then I will not back down, regardless of how much power they think they wield. I don’t know if Aurora could hear me, so far from home and under the wards of Stonewood, but it mattered not. Even if she was listening, Aurora could not have saved me from what happened next. My weapons were shattered, my soul severed from my body, and my body thrown to the ground. I have no memory of what happened for some time, but when my soul was returned I was furious. This Star Child and their cultists took my very blood and used it against me, for evil. They absorbed my friend and sought destruction, and I was not going to let that stand.
We went to war against the Star Child. Blow after blow, well over a thousand of them of all stripes and they kept going. I struck in the name of my friends who could not be here with me. I taunted them, exclaiming how Rexan was scarier. I do not know if they even felt my blows, for I was not deemed the strongest among us, but eventually, after a relentless onslaught, the Star Child fell.
Vesper and the Star Child were connected and ended up inside of a crystal together. With the help of Azurewrath we were able to separate the two, but they are currently in the Land of Lost souls. We were told trying to save Vesper as we were would be a death sentence. At least half of us would not return. So we bide our time, working for a way to get Vesper back. But this will be a story for another day.
I hope you enjoy hearing tales of my first time in Stonewood. It was a memorable experience, and I hope I can one day return under happier circumstances.
((OOC note, I want to give a shout-out to the AMAZING event staff for all they did. The NPCs were crushing it, and really put their all into this event to make it exciting for us all. I also want to thank Voraniss for taking in this stupid newbie and bringing her back to her friends and family alive.))