Role

Chapter 11

She has decided to join the cabal known as the Scions of Eternal Night.
Throughout her travels, this cabal's mysterious connections have appeared
in diverse places, and always as a show of unknown, powerful, magical
force. She has seen their presence in the crypts below Arkham, in the
ruins of Azuremain, in the grand, sinister, luxurious ship of Cantydine at
the Hamsah Seaport, at the entrance to the Scions' chasm, and even at the
gates to the Ruins of Maethien itself.

Viera is no magical theoretician, being a fire giant anti-paladin more
attuned to magic by instinct and brute force. But she is canny enough to
notice the common links between these disparate places, and notice also
that some mortals are able to harness this shadowy power itself.

As an anti-paladin, she is definitely familiar with the concept of magical
patronage. It is the underpinning of her guild. The guild excels through
devilish and demonic patrons who empower its dark magic. So the very idea
of channeling the powers of the Nightwalkers, or the Ccul'gra as a tome in
Azuremain named them, fit very easily into Viera's mental framework.

Another event which drove her towards this decision, was a death she
suffered from the ranger Marbacal, when she was attacked in Eil Shaeria.
The ranger had intelligently used a scroll to curse Viera, thus preventing
her magical escape, since Eil Shaeria was warded against teleportation. So
she ran into the veil of dreams, Organia, and the predatory ranger tracked
her successfully into the dream world and slew her there.

In that dream scape somewhat detached from the Prime plane, she felt her
soul flicker in that place between the Prime and the Shadow, and she sensed
that deep yearning hunger from the shades in that plane, along with malice
and power. This instilled in the back of her mind, that affinity for the
Shadow, the Negative plane. As happens with all Adventurers, her soul was
yanked back into the Prime by the blessing of the Gods, and she was
resurrected back at the altar in Galadon. She felt perhaps only a moment of
that in-between-ness, the connection to Shadow, but that moment was enough.