[Alliance] Chapter Five: Session Thirty-Three
Appearing Characters: Annibeth Lansing, Arator Windrunner, Arthas Menethil, Darion Mograine, Aileen Paletress, Gilveradin Windrunner, Hedanis Poisonbloom, Jack Harper, Jessica Redpath, Liadrin Everpost, Maraad, Maxwell Tyrosus, Motah Tallhorn, Remnii, Salandria Everpost, Sally Mograine, Seria, Sigilith Avernicious, Teemo Manabrake, Tehd Shoemaker, Thal'ena Dawnseeker, Uther Menethil, Vaelastrasz, Velameestra Windrunner, Zabra Hexx
October 5th
The group had gathered to discuss their next steps concerning the revelations that were brought forth by the questioning of the spirit of Lance Beckett. Vel had said that their best course of action was likely to divide and conquer, and she had suggested a series of suggestions for where other people in the group could focus their expertise.
Liadrin suggested the Torchbearers could reach out to some of their allies and get them to hedge off some of the shipments, and they would leave first thing the next morning to try and catch them and stop the distributions. Vaelastrasz said that his group of the Scales could coordinate with the prior group that had left and try to do the same.
Vel nodded and said that once the situation was contained, they could try to locate Heigan in Venetia. Darion said that if they could finish with their end, the Torchbearers could try to rendezvous with them. Liadrin said that regardless, they could stay in contact and find some place to meet when everything was finished, whether that’s in Capital City, the Bulwark, or somewhere else.
Vel then directed conversation to another concern. Ultimately, the goal was to contain and remove as much of the threat as possible, but there was still the question of what they were going to do with those who were infected, and if people started to turn.
The group got very silent for a long moment.
Vel said that once they were undead, she didn’t think there was any way to bring them back as a living person without the use of magics that were both extremely powerful and extremely expensive. But she did have theories concerning the possibility of being able to regift their lucidity, which were the basis of some of the magic she was actively researching.
Maxwell Tyrosus furrowed his brow.
The Torchbearers exchanged glances with each other.
Vel explained that it was also not a solution that would need to be explored immediately, as the nature of the magic meant the timeline on it was functionally indefinite. As long as the situation was contained, those that fell to the plague could be addressed later, but it would be easier if the bodies weren’t destroyed.
Aileen Paletress regarded Vel curiously and asked what her hope for the people would be if they chose to take a new form of existence.
Tyrosus furrowed his brow.
Teemo spoke up and said that Vel had a hypothesis, and it was a risky one, but it was an important one all the same. She said that if Vel could figure something out, it was probably worth looking into. Vaelastrasz said the situation didn’t sit right with him, but nor did the purported loss of thousands of innocents because of the deranged experiments of a single man. He said he couldn’t make any promises that he wouldn’t ensure any walking dead they encountered were returned to the land, but he also said it wasn’t his right to stop people from doing what they thought was right.
He looked over at Motah, Teemo, and Thal’ena.
He then looked at Seria.
Liadrin said that the Torchbearers were going to leave at first light the next day, and they would keep and contact and inform the group whenever they were able to track down and stop one of the shipments.
He smirked over at Tyrosus.
Vel glanced over at her brother, and he was pointedly not looking at her.
Vel had gone to speak with Vaelastrasz following the conversation, and she caught him outside the manor speaking to a small squirrel as he used the [Animal Messenger] spell. As he stood up, he noted her presence, and she said that she had wanted to speak with him. Specifically about Gil.
Vaelastrasz furrowed his brow and asked her what she wanted to know.
Vaelastrasz thought for a long moment, and he admitted he could not speak to how Gil was before they met. But he admitted the responsibility had been weighing on Gil, and even amongst the Scales, Gil had a tendency to take a disproportionate amount of the burden on his own shoulders.
Vel asked if Gil had mentioned any strange feelings or hallucinations to Vaelastrasz, and Vaelastrasz said he knew that Gil was experiencing the bleed of the Demon Soul. He said that Gil was keeping the Scales apprised of the ramifications of its use, and they seemed more severe than any of the bleed the rest of the Scales had been experiencing whenever they held the artifact.
Vel nodded.
She trailed off, debating her words and clearly trying to figure out how best to explain what she had noticed.
Vel thanked Vaelastrasz for speaking with her, and she expressed that if she was unable to see them off, she wanted to wish him good luck. Vaelastrasz returned the sentiment.
Vel nodded and headed back into the manor, but Vaelastrasz remained outside to send out a few more animal messengers to a few other people.
Vel also went to find her brother, and she noted that his bedroom in the manor was closed. She knocked, and there was a notable pause before the door opened. Vel asked him if they could talk, and Gil relinquished to let her inside.
Gil rubbed his face with his hands.
Vel hesitated for a long moment.
He trailed off, struggling to find words.
Zabra looked over at Seria as she entered the study and warmly greeted her. He said he was looking forward to speaking more when he returned and for the opportunity to meet her son. Seria asked him about the revelations he had about the loa, and he explained he spent a lot of time pouring over texts and coming to forms of enlightenment.
Vel and Remnii, who were also in the study, tuned in to listen.
Zabra explained that he had spent many years as a teacher, and in the process, he learned a great deal about himself and the world. However, after the war, he traveled for a long time. When he was Zandalar, he had been able to read histories from other tribes and the various loa. At the time, he thought it was simply more to learn and piece together, but in time he realized it might go deeper.
He read tales of Saint Mereldar and her experiences with the Light and the shadow it cast. He read records of other ancient beliefs that were held by the humans of eld, and he couldn’t help but try to see the connections between the loa and the way Mereldar spoke of the Light. In many ways, it was similar. The radiant beings were ones of great power that reached out to her similar to the loa. Their priests were similar to their own.
He believed they were another aspect of a greater dance that played throughout all the cosmos. He thought it was an ebb and flow of light and darkness and life and death, and he believed the Light Mereldar saw was very similar. He had to wonder how they played into the tale of how the world and life came to be.
He said that Liadrin spoke to him of a radiant being–a naaru, one that he understood as loa to Remnii’s people. Remnii confirmed, and explained that her people had journeyed alongside them for about 13,000 years.
Zabra blinked at the year.
Remnii said they were celestial beings from the plane of light, and she said she knew of the loa as natural spirits of the world. She explained that the naaru had a lightened and darkened state, which they switched between.
Zabra said that, to understand the loa is to understand a deeper belief of the zandali approach. He said that the nature spirits were only one branch of the loa: Zanymo. They primarily took the form of great beasts of the wilds, but there were ghede loa who did not take the form of animals.
Zabra conjured an illusion of a shark and a bat, but then he made another of two troll figures. One was Bwonsamdi, and another who looked like a blue-skinned troll with a tall black hat and skulls around it. He had long, deep purple locs and no shirt.
Zabra explained the ghede loa were ancient spirits, and many were believed to have been zandali at one point. There were thousands, and to know all was impossible, but some are considered to be among the strongest and most ancient among them. Bwonsamdi, the loa of graves, was sacred to the Darkspear, but there were others, such as Legba, father of the crossroads, and others. However, ghede loa resided in the Other Side, where the zandali went when they died, and a place watched over by Bwonsamdi.
He further explained that the shadow hunters were the mediators of the Other Side, who could speak to the ghede as equals. Though they were living once, they now resided in the Other Side. Vel asked if they were then more affiliated with the realm of death, and Zabra confirmed, and he explained he had found ancient texts that referred to various heavens that were different from the depictions of the Other Side, such as Valhallas the Halls of Valor, and the Shadowlands.
But between each realm, there were lines, and he believed the picture of truth could be found in the points of connection. It was a tapestry unfolded, and a truth beyond truths.
Vel asked him if he had ever heard of a realm known as Bastion. Zabra furrowed his brow but said he had not, and asked what she knew of it. Vel explained they had summoned the spirit of Uther’s namesake, and he had materialized as an angelic figure at first and claimed he was a servant of Bastion. The situation had been unprecedented, and she said she had observed similar-but-different angelic figures in the Ethereal Plane that appeared to help spirits pass on.
Zabra said that angels were a phenomenon that he had tried to understand for many years. Many claims from early sightings were discredited as hallucinations or simply spirits, but he was amazed that Vel had seen one and spoken to one. Vel clarified that it seemed they did not like their presence to be known, as their first encounter with one had resulted in an attempt to purge the memory, though it had not been successful. During the second encounter, Vel believed they had not realized she saw them.
Zabra had to wonder if such entities were what ancient scholars of the Light had seen.
Remnii said she had a running theory about angelic beings. She explained the naaru had Prime Naaru, who represented virtues worshiped in the Light. She theorized that the beings Mereldar may have seen were the seven Prime Naaru, or at least servants of them. Zabra asked her if she had ever met a Prime Naaru, and Remnii said she had met naaru intimately, but she had never met any Prime Naaru.
Zabra said that the scriptures pointed to five beings having approached Mereldar, but if there were actually seven, there were ancient scriptures referring to seven tenets that were later boiled down to five, and then three. Seven, five, and three were numbers that appeared frequently. He asked about the naaru’s darkened state, and Remnii explained it was a state they achieved when they underwent an amount of severe trauma.
Remnii handed T’uure over to Zabra to look, and he said it was fascinating, and he was wondering if the ancient tales of angels referred to many beings that were conflated to being one and the same.
He explained that there were spoken tales telling that the earliest members of the zandali were supposedly enslaved by a great shadow, but beings of light eventually arrived to fight back the shadow, which gave rise to the oldest ghede loa when the shadow was lifted from the world.
Zabra offered to tell more stories to the trio, and Vel asked about Legba, as he was a loa that she had never heard of before. He conjured an illusion again, and explained that Legba worked closely with Bwonsamdi and that he wandered the border world between the material plane and the Other Side. Mueh’zala was the loa of death, and Bwonsamdi the loa of the dead, Legba was the loa of travel. He was said to be there whenever a zandali entered the world, and whenever a zandali left the world. He held the key that opened the door to the Other Side. He knew every language and was also great with children. Many children would say they saw him when they were young, though it was hard to say if it was imagination or if it was true, but there were many stories about children finding their way back home due to the help of such a stranger.
Vel asked for confirmation that Legba was the one that effectively guided the souls to the Other Side instead of Bwonsamdi, and Zabra confirmed. He clarified that Bwonsamdi was the caretaker of the Other Side, and once a zandali soul passed over they entered his domain. Bwonsamdi was the one they had to acquire leave from to leave the Other Side, be it to visit a loved one, act as a guardian, or accomplish whatever goal they sought. Legba opened the gate for them. The Father of Sleep, however, was the loa of death specifically.
Vel mused on the similarities with the angelic entities she had seen, and Zabra agreed and suggested the angelic beings could potentially appear any way they wished and Legba simply chose to appear as he is, or he was possibly a different entity entirely and he had come to an understanding with the angelic beings. Or it was simply a matter that he watched over the spirits of the zandali, but the angelic beings ferried other peoples to their own afterlives.
Vel said she could understand why he had spent many years pondering such mysteries, and he confirmed he had lost much sleep doing so.
Zabra explained that some stories said that Legba had been a friend of Bwonsamdi’s, and the two of them snuck into the Other Side before they were loa. They supposedly reemerged as changed beings. Some believed they stole something from Mueh’zala and he wanted to take it back. Others believed he invited them to the Other Side as a test. And others simply believed he didn’t care and Bwonsamdi simply seized the Other Side for himself. However, none of them were likely completely true.
He then went into some of the other ghede loa. There was Lukou, who was a loa represented by four women of different ages. He explained she was the loa of healing, love, nature, and femininity, and she was prayed to by those who sought love or health. She was believed to bring the mind, spirit, and body into harmony, and she was favored among expectant mothers. She was said to have spoken to the mountains and seas during the time of shadow, and helped the spirits of them reach an accord in their mutual hatred of each other, and by doing so she earned their blessings.
There was also Ogoun, the loa of war. He was the greatest of all zandali warriors and waded into magma itself to face down the raging lava and steal its weapons and strength. He was said his prowess was the only thing the volcano feared, and the volcano’s hatred burns to this day. He was the loa of fire and iron, and he was respected and feared by all. There were many warriors that gave him offerings before battles, and he was also the patron loa of crafters.
He also said there was Shango, a loa of storms, freedom, and masculinity. He was the foil of Lukou and one of her many husbands. He abhorred slavery, and was the first to rise against the skittering horrors that imprisoned them. He was said to have wrestled with the storm itself and bent the hurricane, tornado, and typhoon to respect his strength. It was said the rumbling of distant thunder was his laughter at the endless celebrations he threw. He garnered respect and admiration, especially from young men seeking to prove themselves.
There was Zanza the Restless, first of the arcane users, and Zul’sen the Blue who was believed to have been Zanza’s teacher. He had great knowledge, but he was also a trickster that brought his lessons with a game or a trick. Zul’sen also had a close connection to the Darkspear. Vol’jin’s father, Sen’jin, was said to have been named after Zul’sen, and naming a child after a loa was a fairly common practice.
He said the skittering horrors that once enslaved them were servants of shadow and darkness, and they lived in a time that the sun did not reach through the clouds. He had to wonder how the naaru played into it as beings of light and shadow.
Zabra continued to go into more details as they all listened.
October 6th - October 11th
Thal’ena approached Vel before they left, and she asked for clarification about what Vel had said the day prior about people who died tragically sometimes would be unable to move on. Vel immediately correctly assumed that Thal’ena was worried about her father.
Thal’ena looked down and grabbed the bottom of her dress. She admitted she didn’t want her father to be suffering, and Vel said that they could check on him anytime she wanted, as Quel’delar would likely serve as enough of an anchor to reach out to him. Thal’ena said she wanted to try it, and together they went into the mansion’s study so that Vel could channel her magic.
Gil walked in as Vel explained how the spell worked to Thal’ena, and the other elf confirmed she was ready as Vel opened her spellbook and started to chant the incantation for [Commune with Dead].
The magic scintillated in the room as it reached out to the spirit of Thalorian Dawnseeker, but then the magic hit something. It was an impassable barrier. The magic receded, unable to reach the man’s soul.
Vel’s brow immediately furrowed as she realized something was quite wrong. It wasn’t the barrier she had met when she attempted to commune with Seria’s mother, only to find out her spirit was a ghost enslaved to Zalazane in the moment she had tried. It was something different. It wasn’t that he was undead, or that he was unwilling, and there were very few reasons that would otherwise prevent the magic from making contact: one of them was if he was stuck or imprisoned somewhere.
A dawning realization loomed in the back of her mind.
Thal’ena rounded in surprise, having not realized Gil was there.
Vel shook her head.
Thal’ena nodded stiffly.
Vel approached and put a comforting hand on Thal’ena’s shoulder.
Thal’ena hurried out of the room, clearly trying to keep herself from crying, and Gil looked back at his sister once she was out of earshot.
Remnii had the chance to see Salandria, as she was going with the Torchbearers. She gave Remnii a big hug. Her hair was short and choppy, and she had a dull practice sword on her hip. She was taller than she was before.
Remnii said it was good to see her, and Salandria said that she was so glad Remnii was alive and that she looked really well. Remnii commented on her getting taller, and Salandria said she was going to get taller than Liadrin someday, and maybe taller than Remnii too. Remnii chuckled.
Salandria said that she had faith they could all do what they were doing, and if they needed her help, to just let her know. She then asked Vel if it was true they had met Sig Nicious, and Vel confirmed he was in the city, and said that she could maybe meet him when they joined up again. Salandria was very excited by the notion, and she promised to do as much as she could.
Darion Mograine clasped Uther’s arm and said they’d keep kicking ass and saving lives, and Zabra told Seria to stay safe because he still wanted to see the rest of their tribe, and he was counting on her to get him back. Seria promised him she would, and Zabra said that he hoped Legba would guide their paths back together soon. Liadrin gave Remnii a fond farewell as well, and they touched foreheads as Remnii bent down to her accidentally a bit too hard. Remnii apologized about only one of them being built for headbutting, and Remnii gave her a quick healing forehead kiss to remedy the redness.
Liadrin also directed them to Jessica Redpath, who was the farmstead that they were staying at. She was going to be staying in Andorhal, as her aunt and uncle needed her, but her home was ultimately safe.
Teemo, Motah, Thal’ena, and Vaelastrasz also bid their farewells. Thal’ena was very quiet, but she offered a weak smile. Teemo told Gil they could take the soul for a bit if he needed the break, but he told them he would let them know if it got worse.
The group took a survey of Andorhal over the first few days. Lansing made a public announcement that there was a recall on the grain that was brought in, and it was of the utmost importance that people return the grain they received and burn any product they had made. However, it was difficult to enforce such a mandate without storming people’s homes, and rumors started to abound, some of which were dangerously close to the truth while others were talking about the incident with the Scarlet Crusade, and people were noting that, perhaps if the Scarlet Crusade hadn’t been chased out, this wouldn’t have been a problem.
Gil tried [Contact Other Plane] to attempt to contact an entity tied to life and growth to maybe get a read on the curse afflicting the grains. He reached deep into his power and reached out to anything that would listen. As he did, he felt a breeze that spoke with every color that he had ever heard of, and many he did not. His mind started to slip, but as Seria helped reaffirm his senses, he felt the presence turn its attention to him slightly. Gil asked if the entity was familiar with curses of undeath, and the voice said “curses, yes, undeath, yes” implying that it knew about them separately, but not together. Gil asked if anyone was turned out than Lance Beckett, and the voice said “not here, not yet”. Gil asked if there was a way to reverse the curse while a bearer was still alive and the voice said “not easily”. Gil asked if the creator had a cure, and the voice laughed in yellow in a way that implied “no”. Gil asked if they had the ability to undo the curse, and the voice was magenta as it said “not yet”. As Gil broke free of the contact, he giggled, but then his vision cleared and the strange euphoria passed.
Remnii and Gil headed into the town, while disguised, to try and sense the presence of disease while Gil offered food in exchange for possibly diseased grains and food. Remnii had been able to point out some places for Gil to slip into, and they did in fact find undead rats in regions, and it seems it had spread to some beasts that had gotten into grains. Later on, Remnii also started to sense disease in people as well. Gil, meanwhile, was able to exchange some food for diseased grains and loaves of bread.
Remnii tried to get herself into a position where she can maybe try to help those who were infected. She was able to talk her way in, and there were a few false alarms, but there were people that she did confirm had the disease and she was able to talk to people in order to ensure those who were infected were watched. However, her presence was noteworthy.
Vel was able to autopsy some of the dead rats and she was able to determine that the incubation period was between 1 and 4 days depending on the victim. Once it incubated, it started to infect the target and drain their vitality. Within a very short amount of time, they came back as undead as the disease caused rapid degeneration. The transition into undeath was also very rapid, and someone that died from it could come back as an undead almost instantaneously. However, if they were killed before the disease incubated, the undeath could be avoided.
Uther, in a different disguise, had gone to some of the taverns to try and sow rumors to counteract their notoriety. It caused Lansing to completely lose their trail.
Seria continued to track the plagued rats, but then she found plagued cats and plagued birds as well. But then she encountered a stray dog that was covered in lesions. It attacked her, and she was able to put it down, but then she saw a cat that appeared to not be diseased. It suddenly lurched at her, and she was able to narrowly avoid it, but there was the dawning realization of how the plague seemed to be progressing through the food chain.
On the third day, alarm bells awoke them. A crowd had rushed into the center of town, and they discovered the first undead human had turned. By the time they arrived, there were two bodies in the streets. One was the individual that had turned, and the other was the guard that had tried to stop him. The area was quarantined and watched carefully, but they all began to realize the hammer had dropped. Lansing was issuing no small amount of edicts and decrees, and a curfew was instated. She was managing the situation as well as she could.
In short order, Vel noticed Hedanis and Sig out and away from the city hall. She was able to espy them and made contact in her disguised humanoid form.
Sigilith didn’t recognize her and asked how he could help her. Vel revealed she was Zelda, and he expressed it was good to see her again.
Sigilith explained that they were let go sooner than anticipated, and they hadn’t even seen Lansing again.
He looked back at Vel.
Hedanis rolled his eyes dramatically.
Vel nodded at him and led the pair of them out of the city.
Seria, Remnii, and Maraad tried to see if they could undo the infection in still living people. They used restoration and curse removal magic to try and cleanse an infected man of the infection. However, as they did, they heard them begin to scream. The curse was ripped off them, but then their eyes rolled into the back of their head and they stopped moving.
Remnii hastily went back in and used [Revivify]. The person breathed again with a gasp, and as their eyes opened, they asked what happened. Remnii asked if they were okay, and the man said that he didn’t feel right. He didn’t have a pulse.
Remnii immediately contacted Vel, who arrived in short order. She was able to confirm that the man was undead, and specifically a wight. As Remnii and Vel discussed what happened, they came to a hypothesis that there was no way to remove the plague once it was in the body. Remnii was lucky they died, as it was likely they would have otherwise turned immediately. The fact he died from the trauma, and then was immediately revived, brought him back as undead.
But he had kept his mind.
Vel and Remnii immediately did what they could to calm the man and ultimately decided he needed to be removed from the city, because the Scarlet Crusade was likely going to come back.
Gil had gone around trying to find undead so they could be dealt with before they infected more. He found several, but he also found people that were infected and close to their end. Gil made the decision to kill them.
Uther, likewise, went on patrols to try and prevent undead attacks. He was similarly brought to people that were showing all the symptoms, but were not yet dead. Uther chose to take them to the quarantine zone, and he was lauded as a hero. However, he couldn’t help but wonder how much of a mercy it was.
He could only hope that his companions could find a solution.
As the situation evolved, it was getting worse. More and more people were complaining about illness, people were beginning to turn, and fear was on the rise.
Vel tried to triangulate how the disease was spreading, and she was able to determine that the disease spread didn’t seem to be by air, at the very least. However, consuming the plagued grain or flesh or coming into contact with infected body fluids of the undead seemed to be what was causing it. She also stumbled upon a suspicious figure dipping out of an alleyway. Vel shifted into her cat form and tailed the figure. He headed back to an inn, and she watched from the window. She could read lips, and she saw the man pull down his cloak. She didn’t recognize him, but he was speaking to another individual.
Man: Things are moving ahead according to expectations. I don’t believe that the city will be prepared… the master should be pleased with the results either way.
The two drank for a while, but eventually he retired to his room. She looked into his bedroom and noted that he had been there for a while. In his room, she saw the symbol of Capless Feather Grains on a piece of parchment, and the barest hint of a curved sickle-like blade amongst his personal effects. It looked to be a magical item. The man turned and noticed her, and Vel blinked at him, pretending to be a normal cat. The man carefully approached the window, mouthing “here kitty kitty” at her. He reached his hand out toward her, but then he scruffed her and slammed the window shut. He pinned Vel down and pulled out a syringe full of green liquid.
He tried to jab the syringe into her, but with a hiss, Vel kicked out with her claws and managed to wiggle away from him. She scrambled to her feet and leaped onto his desk near the half-hidden scythe, and then rounded on the man again. Her icy blue eyes flashed a bright magenta color. The man staggered back, and Vel reached out to him telepathically using [Message] as she flicked her tail.
The man looked back at her, then back at the syringe in his hand. He immediately dropped it.
Vel’s eyes narrowed at him.
Vel told him to gather up his things, as they would be leaving, and the man confirmed he would and would check out immediately. She also told him to leave the inn a good tip, and he again confirmed he would.
As the man gathered up his belongings, she got a better look at the scythe, which was within a sheath that had three actual human skulls upon it. Each of the skulls had a steel spike impaled through them, and they had runes etched in quietish upon them: Death, Strength, and Rebirth.
The man put the scythe fully in his bag, and he asked Vel if she wanted him to get the others. She told him that she would take care of them, and it wasn’t something he should worry himself over. He followed her out of the city, toward the hidden mansion.
On the 6th day, some of the quarantine zones became compromised. The small, quartered off sections became pens of walking dead. Things were getting grim. And then the Scarlet Crusade returned. It was a sizable force on the outskirts of the town. It wasn’t just the Ashbringer who had returned. The Grand Inquisitor of the Crusade, Sally Mograine, had also arrived, and she demanded the gates be opened.
