Danari

We returned to the surface to find that Mari and Bree had made quick work of the dragon, with the help of Lily’s Green Warden, Malachite. We arrived back at the town to find them cutting up the dragon for parts. Mari was thrilled that she got to kill a dragon. Her second, apparently. She kept going on about how proud her father will be of her and claimed the head as her prize. I left the others to their fun and headed back to the mayor’s house to plan the ritual to cleanse the fields. The mayor offered us beds for the night in thanks for taking down the dragon.   In the morning, we prepared for the ritual. I explained that I would need to go to the fields alone. I asked the others to keep the villagers away while I work, and to come retrieve me when the ritual is finished. Bree asked how they would know it was time. I told them it should be obvious. After as hearty a breakfast as the town can muster, I walked out to the fields alone. I focused on my connection to Danu, letting Her light and warmth fill me. I could feel the blight in the ground pushing at me, a darkness trying to eat away at the golden power filling me up. I traced that darkness to its heart, just north of the center of the blighted land. I set my pack down and began setting up. When my ritual space was ready, I placed my hand over my Triskelian, tracing my fingers over the sign of Danu. I opened myself to Her power, felt Her respond to the sickness in the ground beneath me. An instinct that came from deep within my soul told me to take off my shoes. I did so quickly. Then, I followed a path through the fields, drawing in Danu’s power and pushing it out through my hands and feet. I guided the Healing energy through the earth. It pushed at the darkness, surrounded it, smothered it like a blanket over a flame. When the last of the blight had been eradicated, there was a brief pause. I felt exhaustion try to take hold of me. But a moment later, it was pushed back by another wave of power coursed through my veins. I walked back the way I came, pushing that power into the fields, bringing them back to life. It would still take time before they were healthy enough for anything to grow. But Danu provided the spark that would bring these fields back to life. I arrived back at my starting point and turned to see the whole field glowing as if gilded by the morning sun, but from the inside. The power pulsed once, then faded away, leaving the field and me at the same time. A moment of blackness covered my eyes. But I shook it off and cleaned up my ritual tools, barely staying on my feet long enough to finish. The others found me curled into a ball around my pack, using every ounce of my willpower to keep my eyes open. Malachite knelt by my side, told me I was safe and I could sleep, then lifted me in his arms. I don’t remember getting back to town.   I woke the next day to a grateful town raining blessings on me. I was allowed to rest for the remainder of that day. Word had gotten out to the other towns nearby that had been threatened by the dragon, ones whose fields had not yet been affected by its blight. They arrived en masse with as much food as they could spare, and the townsfolk hosted a feast for us. We celebrated, and the mayor allowed us to use his house for one more night to rest before we left town in the morning to hunt some goblins.

Claudia and I followed Lily and Willow underground. The dark halls rang with the sound of a fight, but neither of us could see anything. Claudia cast a light spell, which revealed the continuation of the wires from the dragon’s cage. Neither of our friends were in sight. Claudia used a location spell, which showed that the girls had separated upon arrival. As much as I wanted to follow the wires to find out where the led, Claudia was concerned about Lily. The dark elves used magic and silver weapons capable of hurting Lily badly. We agreed to help the werewolf. It turned out to be a good call. We found Lily bleeding and struggling to gain an advantage against a dark elf male. Claudia’s light spell blinded the elf as we came around the corner, giving Claudia the chance to use lightning against him. The was almost able to dodge, but the spell knocked him to the ground, allowing me to get to Lily. The elf tried to run, but in his blindness, ran straight into Claudia. He tried to cast Shocking Grasp, but she countered it and used it against him. By the time he had dropped, Willow found us. She told us there were miners in the tunnels, and at least some of them were unarmed dark elves. As much as she hated to kill an unarmed creature, the one she ran into had tried to run off to inform his superiors. She had to take him out. Honestly, it was no great loss. The dark elves had proved time and time again that the only culture the care about is their own and anyone else is considered an enemy or a slave. Usually a slave. We traveled further into the tunnels and found a large room with a strange machine. There are two slaves and an overseer. The overseer has a whip that can hit three times for every attack. Claudia instantly coveted the whip. The overseer threatened to enslave us. Claudia countered by threatening to take her whip. As the fight begins, I tell the human slave to hide around the corner. He can’t go far because he is wearing a collar that she can use to kill him from a distance. The overseer summoned a displacer beast to confront everyone but Claudia. I called on Valkyng to de-summon the creature. Valkyng responded in spares and the creature vanished. Claudia cast a spell to grab the whip out of the elf’s hand. After a short struggle of wills, Claudia won. The whip appeared in her hand, but she had to dominate the spell on it before she could use it. In the meantime, Lily attacked the overseer, throwing her across the room. The overseer ordered the other slave to defend her. We all watched in horror as the poor thing moved to put herself between the overseer and Lily. Before she could try to attack the werewolf, another voice called out, telling the overseer not to torture the girl. The overseer’s sister came out of another room. She looked over the group and realized we were all women. She got very excited. Especially when she realized that Lily was something special. She challenged Lily to a one-on-one duel, insisting that her sister and the slave stay out of it. In my concern, I used Prayer of Protection on the rest of us, including the slave that we had hidden. Since Lily was outside my reach, it didn’t violate the terms of the duel. The overseer tried to get to me and Willow, but the sister asked her to wait until after the duel. She cast a spell that revealed Lily’s nature. She seemed to regret challenging Lily, but at that point, she couldn’t back out without losing face with her sister. A short fight ensues. Lily quickly gains the upper hand, but also looses control and nearly kills the woman. Since we still needed information from her, I called on Valkyng, using my Divine Voice to call her down. She backed off, allowing the rest of us to negotiate with the sisters. The overseer still refused to give us information, but offered to free the slaves in exchange for exile to the surface. The sister, on the other hand, was willing to tell us everything she knew about their operation if Claudia and Lily would have sex with her. We learned that they had been gathering the essence of the dragon and distilling it down into a powder that is highly addictive. They planned to release it on the surface. We decided to leave the evidence alone and send for the Queens’ Daggers. After “paying” the sister, Claudia went back to the surface to send an imp back to the palace. We wait for the Daggers to arrive before going back to town.

Bree called us all to a meeting at the Cracked Cauldron. When I arrived, I found Claudia there with her new "friend", Lily. Mari has also brought a new companion, another Arcane Blade named Willow. Bree shocked us all with her newest crazy idea. She'd been feeling the pressure to get married and start making babies, and she wanted to go on one last, epic quest before she's forced to settle down. And it turned out she'd found herself another Epic Quest. As if destroying the Mad Tower, cracking the sky, and bringing back the gryphons wasn't enough, now she had the idea to break the curse on Eagle's Keep. She thinks she'd found a way to do it, too.   It was well known that the Curse was an unfortunate combination of spells that resulted in the stonification of every keltori and elisorri present at the battle. To break it, we're going to need to gather a few things. The first being a magical item called the Wyrd's Bane. We'll need to collect it from the witches in Candlewick. They are normally a pretty friendly bunch, but none of us know if they will be willing to give up something so powerful. Next, we'll need to find dragon cultists who worship an ancient dragon and collect some blood. No big deal, right? Bree also warned us that there are many folks out there who might not be thrilled that we're trying to do this, including a different coven of witches.   Just minutes after she said that, a group of witches attacked us! We took them out pretty quickly, but the severity of what we are about to do set in. We gathered out supplies, picked up a few missions from the Adventurer's Guild, and headed out of town.  

I am a child of the Trinity. I carry within me Danu’s loving Grace, Valkyng’s Strength, and the Morrigan’s peace. The Church of the Trinity is all I have ever known, and all that I will ever need.   No one knows who my parents were. I was found, abandoned, on the steps of a church in Lowtown in Starlium. The only father I have ever known was Chesed Aldain. He took me in, placing me with the other orphans from the area. But he took a special interest in me, especially after I started to show a talent with herbs and an inherent understanding of the body. As I grew older, and developed a strong connection to the gods, he offered me training as an acolyte. It wasn’t long before he realized I had a special talent in the Healing Arts.   As much as it pained him to let me go, for he had started to think of me as a daughter, he eventually appealed to the High Church to accept me for training as a Healer Priestess. My affinity for the goddess Danu could not be denied. They assessed my skills, even at the young age of 10 years, and quickly accepted me into their ranks. As I took my place among their students, I chose for myself the name Danari, in honor of the goddess who I felt had led me to Chesed Aldain and the church.   The High Church mainly served the palace and the Queen’s needs. I oft found myself in the presence of Princess Bree and her friend and guardian, Mari. Those two quickly became friends with a young mage named Claudia, daughter of the Arcane Dragon of Vostoria. I’m not sure exactly when or how it happened, but they started to include me in their play and conversations, and soon I found myself to be their friend as well. When the day came that I was inducted into the ranks of the priesthood, all three were there to cheer me on.   And when they decided to start going out on adventures, they asked me to join them. The High Priest, Chesher Greer granted their wish, not wanting to disappoint the young princess. Which is how I found myself the sole person responsible for keeping three high-ranked idiots alive as they found every conceivable way to get themselves killed!   As much as they frustrate me, I love those three idiots.