Vlijerous the Chosen of Baerinika, Captain of the Brigade

Role

Chapter 9

Vlijerous gave a nod of understanding as pieces began to click in to place. He
had suspected something of the sort had happened a long time ago but he didn't
voice it now. Let his father finish the tale and unburden himself in his final
days, perhaps his final hours. And so the words continued.

'Names are powerful and may you never learn hers. Such shame I feel for the next
moments, the next years. I was not strong enough. I should have destroyed her
immediately before even before the sun could work its wonders upon her evil
flesh. Tears! Such powerful magic she controlled to be able to bring tears to
her dead eyes. And then there I was. Cutting her down. Covering her. Racing
through the forest as day broke. I rushed her to safety and into the darkness.
She told me her tragic tale of how she came to be. I fell in love. I told her my
tale. How amused she was. She wanted me to join her in undeath. She said she was
in love. I came so close! Ah to the brink of darkness I walked, I stared into
the abyss. She said she wasn't going to force it, that it had to be my own
decision. She convinced me she wasn't a creature of evil and neither would I
be.'

A long pause.

'I will spare you the details of the sins and failings that transpired during my
seduction. I crossed every line imaginable, but I never gave in to her desire to
turn me. I became what I hated, weak and vile. For months until she became bored
with the great game she was playing. Her eagerness and amusement turned to rage
fairly quickly. She put a curse on me that I couldn't ever break. She released
me to my own torment with the knowledge of the things I had done. Any time I
thought of her my entire being felt pure terror. I became a tortured man. So
distraught at the things I had done, yet unable to speak of it without being
overwhelmed by the curse of horrors and terror. I couldn't even explain what had
taken place to repent. So there I came back to you and simply tried to drink my
memories away to end the torment. Eventually I trained myself not to think of
it. And my years here working with the priests has taught me to pick apart the
curse enough that it does not impact me further. Or perhaps she is turned and
dead and it faded without me knowing. I don't know. I have found my redemption
and forgiveness in the light and am at peace. Fear not.'

His father took a deep breath and soon eased into sleep without further words.
Vlijerous sat peacefully staring into the fire for some time. Soon enough the
purification of Thera would continue, but for now he reflected on what his
father had shared.

Role

Chapter 8

'I still remember her like it all happened mere moments ago.'

Vlijerous sat quietly in the comfortable reading chair near his reclined father.
His fingers twitched slightly but that was the only indication of excitement or
responsiveness to the comment. After all these years of waiting and wondering,
it seemed his elderly inspiration was ready to divulge the tale of his breaking
and undoing.

'All the years of training and knowledge of their abilities. All the measures
and counter measures. Nothing prepared me for our first meeting. I didn't know
much about them other than there were three newly arrived to somewhere near
Aturi on the southern continent.'

His father reached out a hand shaking hand. Vlijerous placed a now warm cup of
herbal tea in it, observing the thin scars over the translucent paper-like
wrinkled skin. Whether age or excitement caused the trembling he wasn't sure. He
took the teacup back and placed it on a table before leaning back in to listen
further to the tale.

'Shtriga, Shtrigoi, Vampyre, however they are called. They leave tell tale signs
in the areas they inhabit and as you know are very territorial creatures of
great evil and powerful magics. I thought I was prepared for this hunt. The
locals had begun to suspect something evil was amiss and I was given the
contract in hopes of intercepting the small coven before it grew or caused a
mass panic in the area. I was ready and well armed, but woefully unprepared. I
saw her just before dawn. She was in a forest glade that itself looked fae in
nature. You could tell it was once a holy place to some woodland deity, but
nothing was holy about the sight before me. Directly in the center of the glade
a large crucifix had been erected. Her legs were bound at her thighs and her
ankles to the top. Her arms were tied to each side and her head hung below. She
was a pitiful creature in her current state. She had clearly been the on the
losing end of a great conflict amongst her own kind. Even in her torn and
defeated state I was caught off guard by her beauty. Looking back I should have
realized how powerful she was and even from such a distance she had begun to put
me in her thrall. This was the beginning of the end for me.'

Role

Chapter 7

At some point I need to come pick your brain about dealing with curses. One of
our Acolytes, a lizard person from Ysigrath, has some sort of curse that she
says has put vines in her heart that slowly choke love and life from her. At
first I thought she was just really depressed because of how she always seemed
to pull me down until I realized it was happening. But even Azorinne says there
is legitimacy to her curse. Azorinne seemed to imply the Fortress of Light was
the best place for her to receive help for it but other than lifting her spirits
with friendship and laughter I'm at an impass.

I feel like in many ways you carry the same burdens and curses in your heart and
once I figure out how to fix Ithy maybe I'll be able to investigate what
happened to you so that it's never repeated with anyone else. What did they do
to you? One day I'm going to hunt down every vampire in the world until I figure
out what happened.

I'm sorry this missive got so long, I guess I had more to say than I thought.
I'll stop here for now.

Until the next,


Vlijerous. CAPTAIN Vlijerous. The Silver Gremlin.

Role

Chapter 6

Greetings Novice Kisar,


So much has happened between my last visit and now that I can hardly put it all
to paper. I know you said you wanted to know 'everything', but I don't think
there is that much paper here in the Library. I was very happy to see that the
holy life agrees with you and has put you mostly at peace. Often times I think I
might need to escape to the garden as you do. I will confess to understanding
the nature of badgers and being able to shift into one. I use this burrowing
tactic to escape duty and burdens in general when they start to overwhelm me. I
don't know that when I was taught such things in the guild that it was exactly
any intended use for the form, but the peace granted by being several feet into
the dirt in a nice warm QUIET burrow is hard to compete with.

So much noise. You warned me once that some of the greatest battles you faced
were against the stubbornness of women. I didn't understand you then but I most
certainly do now. They are very prying and complicated. They take things out of
context all too often and when you feel like you are OVER answering their
questions they tell you you've told them nothing. I mentioned to you that I was
named Captain of the Fortress of Light but often times I feel pushed onto the
path of the Acolytes. I told Baerinika that I welcomed the growing pains a
strong Fortress would bring but I wasn't expecting dealing with emotional
problems to be just as much of a battle as destroying the darkness. Yet at the
same time I understand it is important that we all stay healthy and strong. I
wish I knew then what I knew now about helping others talk through things. I
feel like I failed you during your time of darkness. I wish I had gotten help
and not taken your burdens on my own. I hope I don't fall into the same trap
here, but at the same time I don't want to fail anyone.

The little Goddess Azorinne says I am fiercely independent, Baerinika says I
don't know how to say no. It's true I feel pulled in many directions at once,
but I feel truly blessed to be in the position I am. I am surrounded by friends
and family, we grow more powerful by the day. The darkness falters. Baerinika
has marked me as one of her chosen. Of all the things that have made my heart
swell with pride so far this is the greatest. In so many ways I come up short,
in so many ways I feel like I'm not enough, but in her eyes I am accepted and
enough.

Role

Chapter 5

He has been granted the title of Maran and does what he can to ensure the steady
growth of the Fortress. He supports those he can in whatever soldiering need
they have. He will continue to act as beacon to other soldiers of the light in
hopes the Fortress grows stronger. He will continue to walk with Baerinika on
this journey and he will keep others motivated to take the fight to darkness
without wasting their own blood in the process.

Role

Chapter 4

One of Thera's bulkiest killers gives an angry snort and shakes it's ivory horn
back and forth over the corpse for good measure. Blood is running over it's
stubby face hairs and makes it's horn glisten in the moonlight. Like his father
before him he has been stalking vampires. Though his silver weapon is ivory and
his stake is a long horn, he has exceled in the hunt in ways his father never
could.

He has drawn on the experiences and tales his father told him as he matured. His
father was always a reclusive hunter, finding strength in his ability to be
stealthy and alone. Vlijerous adopted this technique early on but it is in
conflict with how one fights with a group. The Fortress of Light has been very
good for Vlijerous' growth in that he has others to talk to, he has others to
scout for, and others to help him take down dangerous prey. Yet at the same time
it has caused him to hold back at times he would rather push forward because he
cannot risk getting others killed. This has put him in direct conflict with
Acolytes of the Fortress who see it as their duty to act as his shield and take
his pains. At times they take too much and fall to his maledictions. This angers
Vlijerous. How can he give combat his all when he has to constantly worry about
the others around him?

Another agitation he has is the realization that he has a lot of unsettled
issues from his childhood with regards to his father. These came out during a
candid discussion with Azorinne. Azorinne apparently has a way of utilizing the
innocence of youth to slip in bits of great wisdom and prompt one to question
themselves. Vlijerous was more troubled than not at letting his guard down
around the divine tween.

Baerinika has kept her word to him and he has felt her presence during every
flap of his wings and steps on his journey. She has challenged him to face his
issues more directly and he has attempted to do his best to be more open with
others of the Fortress, though he still prefers keeping his feelings to himself.
His talks with the Jaguar Goddess have been more profound than he anticipated.
When he went to her initially it was in the hopes of having someone wiser than
he in the ways of combat and war to guide him. As the years pass however he is
learning that being an initiate of the Jaguar is about much more than simply
being ready to fight and die for others.

He often stops and reflects on his actions to ensure he is acting within the
bounds of the Maran Code. He fearlessly puts himself in harms way, though uses
caution when necessary. He has found if he is patient, watches, and waits, his
enemies will often make themselves vulnerable.

In addition to his rhinoceros he has been granted the form of a Harpy. He feels
this is because he had so much exposure to darkness and various monsters while
being a Squire for his father.

Role

Chapter 3

A rolled up scroll with a sigil of a blazing sun is rolled before you.

Upon opening it you read the following letter:



Novice Kisar,


I hope you are continuing to find a well earned peace from the troubles of the
world and their impact on you directly. I have not visited you in some time as
my time is mostly spent training and serving the Fortress of Light. I know you
appreciate the effort and do not mind my absence given my dedication to the war
efforts.

You would be proud to know I am rising swiftly through the ranks of both my
guild and of the Squires of the Fortress. The life you gave me and the second
chance it represented has not been squandered. I still treasure the time you
spent preparing me for the world whether it was recounting your many adventures
and tales of heroism or preparing me in a more direct way for combat.

Although you fondly spoke of Shokai the Skyborn during my days of squiring for
you, I have found a goddess who strikes with all the speed and fire you so
fondly reflected upon. I walk a path of purity, combat, bravery, but mostly
dedication. Baerinika offered me guidance at the start of my path to victory and
I know without a doubt she will walk with me until such a day as the battle is
won, or I fall broken and lifeless at her feet. Hers is a path of sacrifice that
you know all too well.

She briefly offered me the chance to look further into what ended your elite
reign as vampire hunter and monster slayer. My heart still breaks that your
battles met such an unfortunate end. I will not ask you to speak of it or
reflect on it ever again, as far as I'm concerned you have served your duties,
earned your peace, and I will take the fight to our enemies in your stead.

I do need to write that your recounting of adventures and the dark monsters you
faced must have inspired me in unseen ways. The first and greatest form that
stirred within me when I was able to reflect so deeply was a vicious harpy. I
remember your experience with the creatures of nightmare in your brief travels
on the Dragon Sea as if they were my own. So they sang their beckoning yet
shrieking song at you, so to do I sing to my foes. Should you see a monstrous
harpy flying over your gardens at the Loch, fear not, I simply wish to watch
over you as you did me so long ago and keep you safe and comfortable during your
golden years.

Father, while I don't know what the future holds I do know this: I will make you
proud. The fight of the Maran is not one done for pride, but damned if I will
not make you proud.

Save me some carrots and a taste of rutabaga stew. I will visit in a more
personal capacity when time permits.


Yours in the Purity of the Radiant Light and the Fury of the Jaguar,

Vlijerous the Silver Gremlin

...I am sorry father, it made me chuckle. How far we have come and how the times
change eh?

Role

Chapter 2

Vlijerous dedicated himself to studies. Anything he could find. Books on
religion, on magic, on topography, it didn't matter. He was a boy possessed. He
was searching for something and he didn't know what. He eventually left the
Dappled Mare and took residence in Voralian City. He took a liking to the
shapeshifting guild, was tested, and found he was talented in the magic. He is
always up for a tale and would listen with fervor to the feats of the greater
shapeshifters of the guild in their battles against evil.

During this time something clicked and he found his calling. He would become a
great shapeshifter of the Light and he would hunt the darkness as his father
before him. His father the hunter, not his father the drunk, not his father the
monk. It was settled.

Role

Chapter 1

It was difficult at times being the adopted son of a drunken retired vampire
hunter. Vlijerous was found in the ruins of a small village by his father Kisar
and taken at a young age to a small inn between Voralian City and Loch Grynmear.
Mostly the inn's patronage consisted of traveling monks, small farming families,
and merchants. Kisar spent his early childhood in the inn, and his later
childhood on the road acting as a sort of squire to his father. He would polish
his swords and armor, pack up the tack for the horse, ration food for the trail,
set and clean camp, and various other duties as assigned.

For more dangerous adventures his father would leave him at the inn and be gone
for weeks, but Vlijerous' favorite moments were when he was with his father
sleeping under the stars camped by a small fire. His father would regale him
with tales of his heroic life thus far and the trials he had faced and overcome.
Vlijerous shivered with terror at some of the tales and descriptions. He learned
a great deal of good and evil during these times. During those days he wanted to
be a hero like his father.

One day his father returned to the Dappled Mare and hung his sword, daggers, and
stakes over the mantle. He went behind the bar and poured himself a glass of
brandy, and he never picked up his weapons again. He was a different person than
the stoic and stalwart knight that left the inn. He would not speak of what
transpired. When asked he would become visibly terrified and start shaking.
Vlijerous stopped asking what happened.

His father returned to the inn a broken creature from whatever misadventure
befell him, but a part of Vlijerous also broke with him. Gone was the hero who
rescued him as a tottling child from a burned out village. Gone was the hunter
of undead and evil. Gone was the greatest and most fearless adventurer Vlijerous
had ever met. Here instead was a fattened, fearful drunk who had given in
completely to whatever it was that ailed him and only attempted to fight it off
with strong drink. He got so drunk so often he began to wreak of urine and only
didn't smell when Vlijerous bathed him.

Eventually his father was taken in by the Acolytes of Loch Grynmear. He would go
on to sober up and peacefully meditate to alleviate his nightly terrors.

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