Ilobe Dupree the Affirmation of Life, Acolyte of the Golden Sun

Role

Chapter 24

The dreams of five year old Ilobe were interrupted by heated shouting
from the next room. She was distraught to hear her mother's voice so
sad, but didn't try to get up because the other, deeper voice frightened
her terribly. Ilobe didn't fully understand the conversation, but the
tone, nevertheless, did not bode well in her five-year-old mind.

"If you want me to take care of you, you're gonna get rid of everything
from that FILTHY old life of yours! That includes that CREATURE!"

"But she's my baby!"

"She's not MINE. And I am your husband! If you won't do as I say, you
can go back to whoring!"

"Please...I love you both..." There was a sharp snap, skin hitting skin,
and the woman's voice broke into sobs.

The next morning, Ilobe pulled on her new brown boots, having forgotten
the noise of last night. Nothing in the world could have bothered her
anyway because this day was her sixth birthday, and her mama had gotten
her a fine pair of the newest, best, brownest boots. Ilobe stomped
around the floor of her tiny bedroom, testing the boots out on the boards.

"Ilobe! Let's get going!"

Ilobe followed the voice. The owner, a petite and lovely blonde woman, was
busy wrapping herself up in a tattered coat. Ilobe beamed bright and said,
"Look at me, Mama! I look good in my boots!" Her mother smiled tenderly
and beckoned Ilobe to follow. They left the house.

"Where are we going, Mama?" Asked Ilobe, having trouble keeping up the pace.

Her mother looked over her shoulder and said, "We're taking a ride in a
carriage for your birthday, and we're going out into the countryside to
see where all the animals live."

"YAY!" Ilobe yelled, startling an elderly couple passing by.

Role

Chapter 15

Ilobe wandered deep into the Araile, no longer perturbed by having to tread
through the Thri-Kreen village. She had much she wanted to share with her
goddess, the Lady Padwei. She paused by the pool and said hello to Sinjy,
and before Ilobe even had a moment to utter her prayer, the snow wolf padded
up to her.

Ilobe told the goddess of what she had seen and the friends she had made,
and for a while they discussed her path. Ilobe told the snow wolf she would
like someday to ally herself with the Fortress. The conversation turned to
Ilobe's path, and Ilobe realized she might be missing something. The snow
wolf told Ilobe of her priest Lornkanamas, and advised Ilobe to seek him out.

Ilobe did just that, and asked the priest to speak with her face-to-face
anywhere under the sun. They met on a beach near the Sea of Despair. The
Elven man's words enraptured her. He spoke with such passion and eloquence!
Nothing like the nuns of Arkham who placed such importance on tedium and
uniformity! Ilobe knew instantly he would dispense good advice.

They talked a for a moment, Ilobe telling Lornkanamas of her encounters with
the snow wolf and the blessing she received.

"And, so you have her blessing, what brings you to this beach with me?" asked
Lornkanamas.

"I know I want to do good, but I think what I'm supposed to understand more
of is... what drives me to want that!"

The priest asked Ilobe what she saw when she looked within herself, what lay
below the surface and was truly her. Feelings, memories. Ilobe told him of
her time in the woods, and the joy it brought her.

"But it's different now acause I know how to be a priestess," Ilobe said of
her newfound sense of duty. She told him how she could not stand seeing
good people suffer. Ilobe knew she could prevent it. Lornkanamas asked
Ilobe about her passion. It was perhaps the hardest question to answer that
Ilobe had ever been presented with.

"Passionate," thought Ilobe, "must be how I feel about every single endeavor
I take on! There's nothing I want to miss about life, or about the people I
meet! Everything under the Light has so much possibility and I'd just be
WRONG if I didn't open my arms to all of it, and do everything in my power
to defend it!"

As though reading her mind, Lornkanamas asked, "Will you one day seek
affiliations? Or, will you stay under the sun?"

"I told the Lady I wanted to ally myself with the Fortress someday."

"Aye, and what did she say?"

"She said she didn't care for the walls. And I said me neither."

"Aye, she was a part of the great Fortress, as am I, but never stayed within
the confines much."

"I really don't think I would either," Ilobe said, "Life doesn't happen in
one place."

Role

Chapter 8

"Cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck," said the nuns, and Ilobe answered
their inquiries with inhuman patience and explained to them that she really
was grateful for everything they'd done for her and so on and so forth.

Finally, when everyone was at a loss for words, Sister Sophia said, "I think
there is someone you should talk to, Ilobe."

Sister Sophia gestured to where Thomas McAlommy was still praying.

"I know him," Ilobe said, and strode over. "Hello! They said I should talk
to you! Do you remember me? I remember you! You drove the carrage when
these old hens dragged me back here!" Ilobe chuckled, reminiscing. "And
I was so mad at you back then for letting them catch me!"

Thomas stared incredulously at Ilobe and grabbed her hand, "Oh lass, can ye
e'er forgive me!? I did ye ill, I did, an' damn me I'm sorry!"

"I wasn't...that mad..." Ilobe stammered in surprise.

"Nay lass, nay, that ain't it at all," Thomas said, standing up. "Will ye
walk wit' me?"

Walk with him she did, to the graveyard outside, where Thomas showed Ilobe
the graves of Muriel Fesby and Lucas Carmbin (who was Ilobe's stepfather),
and he told her every bit of what he knew.

After a long, long silence, Ilobe said, "I don't think knowing that would
have stopped me from running away. Please don't be sad any longer! The
Light resonates most heartily when joy abounds, and you did not do anything
wrong anyway! All the same, thank you for telling me this... It is good
to know the truth."

Thomas smiled, his first genuine smile in perhaps ten years, and gave Ilobe
a big hug. If Ilobe was troubled by the news, she did not let him see it.
The man had lived with guilt for far too long, and Ilobe could tell. This
is what her Lady had wanted of her in any case, to help others see the Light
more fully and be glad of it.

She eventually bid the nuns farewell and sneaked away from the city, aware
of an odd change in herself.

"If I had stayed in Arkham that night...the fate of my mother...be my own."
Ilobe's thoughts were jumbled. Still, she felt a renewed appreciation for
all the Light had gifted her and knew she could never dare to be at a loss
for words again.

Role

Chapter 9

It took considerable effort for Ilobe to make her way to Arkham and avoid
the Tribunal and other local guards who might have noticed the warrant out
for her arrest. She hadn't ever felt a particular disdain for the law, but
it had proved what an effective agent it was for preventing her from giving
her allies aid in the cities. Ilobe decided she'd be flippant about her
criminal status.

"The Tribunal and I simply don't see eye-to-eye," Ilobe thought as she crept
quietly around Hamsah Mu'Tazz on her way to Arkham. "And I suppose, if it
is crime to aid the Light, then I may be a criminal for life."

She put such thoughts away when she reached Arkham, and began to summon her
courage instead. It had been a good ten years, at least, since she talked
to any of the cathedral's nuns, and Ilobe felt certain she was in for a long
lecture. Still, she found her way beyond the cathedral's front doors and
down its old, familiar corridors to the nuns' quarters. It was there she
recognized some old, familiar faces.

Sisters Blanche and Dorothy didn't recognize Ilobe at first.

All too audibly, Sister Blanche drawled, "Sister Dorothy, there is a confused
looking and very dirty little blonde woman standing in our hallway."

"Well Sister Blanche hasn't changed at all," thought Ilobe.

"It's me, Ilobe. I came back to see you all."

Ilobe offered the two nuns a slight smile and they were upon her in half a
second.

"Oh goodness, girl, you've come back to us! And how you've grown! Bless
my eyes! Look at all of the armaments she's collected, how funny! Where
did you think you were going, you silly thing? It's a wonder you're even
still alive! Light above, she's got a look to her, don't you think? A bit
more worldly than when she left us!"

"And blessed," Ilobe interrupted.

"Certainly you are to have made it across the sea and back! Light sakes,
the things you must have seen! I knew, Sister, I knew she would have made
a dreadful nun, and now look at her! Oh bless! We'll have to take her to
see Sisters Sophia and Rose!"

Sister Dorothy took Ilobe by the hand and very nearly dragged her to the
chapel so all four nuns could cluck over her in unison.

Role

Chapter 10

"He's back again, Sister Rose," said one elderly nun to another. She ges-
tured to the somber man, who looked to be in his early forties, as he took to
his knees and began to pray.

"Bless his bones, Sister Sophia. Is that Tommy McAlommy?" asked the second
nun, squinting toward the altar. "One of us ought to go and have words with
that boy."

"I'll do it. Tommy's prayed like that for ten years and the burden on his
soul only seems to gain weight. It's about time he shared it."

Sister Sophia hobbled over to the praying man and put a hand on his shoulder.
He looked up at her, startled. "Oh! Pardon me ma'am, I's just sayin' me
prayers! If ye need me t'go, I'll be off!"

"Tommy, Tommy, Tommy, Tommy... No, lad, no. I've just come to talk," Sister
Sophia reassured. "We see a lot of you around here, Tommy. Why do you
always seem so sad?"

Thomas McAlommy sighed and rose to stand beside the nun.

"Well, ye see ma'am, I think I've did ill t'somebody."

"How do you mean, Tommy?"

"Ye 'member the wee girl ye an' me an' Sister Blanche found an' took back
here in my carriage all them years ago, ma'am? Well, I knew somethin' 'bout
her, but I dinnae wanna say for fear of hurtin' the wee girl."

Sister Sophia took Thomas' hand in hers, gently urging him to continue.
Thomas frowned, staring at his feet.

"I knowed who was her Mam an' Pap. I knowed it, an' I knowed what happened
to 'em, an' I dinnae say nothin' 'cause the girl dinnae 'member me, but I
'membered her. Oh an' the poor wee thing said her Mam got ate by a bear,
but it weren't true, nay it weren't true."

Thomas McAlommy buried his face in his hands.

"There there, lad," said Sister Sophia. "Tell me all about it. You know
the Light is with you, Tommy, and her still, too, I think. Everything is
all right."

"Nay it ain't, ma'am. The wee girl's Mam just left her in them woods, lied
an' said she'd tooken her to her grandmam's house! An' I know 'cause I was
the one what drove the carriage with them in it! I dunno why the mam dumped
her kid, I dunno, but maybe if the wee lass had'a knowed what happened she
wouldnae have runned off from ye all! An' who knows what's become of her
now!"

"Now, Tommy," scolded Sister Sophia, "this is by no fault of your own! I
won't see you despairing--" Sophia was cut off by the sharp creak of one
of the chapel's inner doors. She and Thomas turned, and there, led by the
hand by yet another elderly nun, was Ilobe.

Role

Chapter 11

It had been several days since Ilobe went into the desert to pray, several
days busy with warfare and little else. Ilobe came to realize that, when
there was a lull in battle, she found herself at a loss for actions and
words, something quite unusual for her indeed. Of course it was pleasant to
recieve gifts and kisses from Dupmasione, but there was no point in getting
too attached to the Paladin.

"He is what he is," Ilobe thought, "And it's not on me to alter that."

And so, there came a quiet moment, and Ilobe stole away to speak to her Lady.
She and Padwei talked on small things and heres and theres, and finally Ilobe
got to the point.

"Is there anything you would like me to do?"

"Be a beacon, Ilobe," said the Lady Padwei. "Be the light. Remind us what
we fight for, and why we do it so doggedly. Find those within the Fortress
and without who need you most, not only for bandaging and physical care, but
for spiritual renewal and relief as well."

Nodding, Ilobe confessed, "I do too often find myself healing and...not
speaking."

"Our bodies come and go," Padwei told Ilobe, "but the soul is what makes or
breaks our resolve. Sending a soldier to the front lines whose body is
rested and fed, but whose mind is plagued by shadow and doubt can be detri-
mental to everything around him. More often than not, those who are tired
but still believe wholeheartedly will win the battle in the end. For they
will find strength in themselves, their beliefs, and in the Light."

"I have not felt my spirit breaking," Ilobe said, "but the battles have been
tough! I've known to keep my spirits up for the sake of others!"

The Lady nodded and continued, saying, "Too often there is little time to
stop and appreciate why we fight. Make them stop and look around, appreciate
the world as it changes."

And like that the lull was over, the Fortress at war again, but the Lady's
words hit home with Ilobe, and she realized perhaps she had not appreciated
her own changes. Bridges that were burned might just need to be rebuilt.

Role

Chapter 12

"I can't stand being contained in one place," Ilobe whispered. "For me,
to remain in touch with my own hope and joy, I have to be allowed to see
the world and experience it, and I can't do that from a nun's cell. But
I do not worry because I know the Fortress is not a jail. It is a gather-
ing place, a haven."

Nodding, Lornkanamas told Ilobe she was indeed free to come and go and
visit her other beloved places. Then, he spoke of failure, telling Ilobe
at times it would be impossible to avoid. He asked her to take him to a
place that reminded her of this. Ilobe brought him to Hamsah Mu'Tazz, the
last place she could ever remember truly feeling lost, years ago, before
she found the Lady Padwei. She told Lornkanamas of the altar boy Onuran
and his advice, and how everything seemed to turn out well after that.

Then, they went before the Fortress of Light. Ilobe explained that she
understood her duties as a Scribe. Lornkanamas asked her, "I have your
oath to always uphold the tenets of the Light, that every action and word
from you will shine fully in the Light?"

"I vow that I'll never lose sight of what brought me here in the beginning,
to reflect the Light in my every action," Ilobe promised in reply.

"And you will see that oath through to the end, until the last breath leaves
your lips?"

"I'm not fickle," Ilobe assured. "If I'm not living true to my word, I'm
not living."

Lornkanamas smiled tenderly then, and ushered Ilobe beyond the guardian
Maran Tara'bal and into the snowy but welcoming courtyard of the Fortress
of Light.

Role

Chapter 13

Ilobe thought long and hard, carefully choosing her words in a letter to
the Fortress. Her talk with Lornkanamas had given her both insight and
confidence, and Ilobe felt ready to serve the Light in the companionship
of others who felt the same way. In her letter Ilobe expressed three
vows she would strive to uphold as an Scribe and Acolyte. The first,
that she would never cease to learn and grow in the Light. The second,
that she would always use the blessing Lady Padwei had granted her to
benefit the Light and those true to it. The third, that she would defend
the freedom of anyone who walked with goodness in their hearts.

She spoke, first to the Scribe Elghinn, and then to Balten the Acolyte.
To Ilobe's delight, both of them were earger to offer their recommendation,
and before long, Ilobe found herself speaking again to Lornkanamas.

They discussed a young, strange Imperial, and the ways in which Ilobe might
help him turn his heart from the dark illness that consumed it. They
talked of compassion, and of not allowing it to waver in the face of
adversity. Then, the Elf asked Ilobe to take him somewhere that reminded
her of her duty.

"I will show you my forest," Ilobe said, and they went. Ilobe showed
Lornkanamas the river she had followed down to the beach, and told him that
this place, above all others, reminded her of her duty because without a
sense of duty, without a heart and soul steeped in the Light's teachings,
Ilobe felt certain she would return there and live as a hermit--and never
serve the light nor help anyone.

Next, Lornkanamas asked to see a place that gave her hope and inspired in
Ilobe the idea that one day, peace and Light would shine for all to see.
Ilobe brought them to Arkham's cathedral.

"This cathedral, like the Fortress," Ilobe told him, "stands solid as dark
dangers swirl all around outside it. It gives hope to the people of Arkham
that someday they'll overcome the infestation that plagues this place!"

"And yet you left it," said Lornkanamas. "Can you tell me those reasons
once more?

***Continued in chapter 13***

Role

Chapter 14

They assaulted Thar-Acacia as quietly as they could, ridding the magic hide-
away of its necromancers and other practitioners of darker magics. Ilobe,
Dupmasione and some inconsequential gnome shapeshifter bantered the whole
while, with particular emphasis on the paladin's canoodling conquests.

Somehow the gnome, Nemid, must have gotten it into his head that Dupmasione
and Ilobe were an item; the paladin's incessant flirtations were probably
to blame.

"You two...when you get married I want to be your best man," suggested the
shapeshifter.

"Why on this blessed-by-Iunna world would I want to get *married*?!?" asked
Dupmasione, clearly stunned by such presumption. Meanwhile, the gnome
continued, likening Ilobe to snow and jewels and so on and so forth. Ilobe
hid her face, embarrassed. Then, to punctuate his point, the gnome stood
tiptoe and, before she could even react, kissed Ilobe full on the lips!
Dupmasione's sword was out in an instant.

"Back away, gnome," he said, as Ilobe wiped her mouth in consternation.

"That was -not- how I expected my first kiss!" Ilobe wailed.

Nemid continued to push his bizarre matchmaker's point, telling the paladin
that Ilobe was the loving, not frisking, sort and that the sloppy surprise
kiss he'd smacked her with wasn't a kiss at all, since it didn't come from
the heart.

"Words are one thing," said Dupmasione, getting right into the gnome's tiny
face, "but you'll notice I do not touch. You remember what I say."

Nemid tore his gaze away from the paladin to look at Ilobe and said, "I saw
your hand upon her neck when I awoke." This was true. Ilobe had removed
the hand promptly, however.

Suddenly sensing the situation's imminent collapse into what might be
violence, Ilobe nearly shouted, "Now now, fellows! I'm quite all right!
Let's not be at each other's throats!"

"I say many things, but I would never kiss a woman without her permission.
Ever. By Iunna, if I saw you do that to any damsel, Nemid, I would react
the same," said the paladin, seeming to relax somewhat.

They continued their fights then, and Ilobe stole the occasional glance
to the nearby knight in shining armor and chuckled to herself.

"He may be an utter lothario," thought Ilobe, "but I think, if he tried
to kiss me--with or without permission, I would not protest too much."

Role

Chapter 16

"Quite the runner, you are."

Ilobe stammered for a moment before finally realizing it was the snow wolf
speaking to her.

"You swim across oceans, run fast from desert. Forest your home?"

Ilobe explained she didn't really have a home, not since the Arkham nuns had
their way with her camp on the beach.

"You seek desert-born, stormkin though. If not know home, what know?"

Ilobe found her words quickly, pouring out her heart to the snow wolf about
how she prized freedom, and how she knew she could use her knowledge of being
a priestess to help good people. Ilobe told the snow wolf the battle that
good people often had to fight was important, and that they should not have
to fight it alone.

"Think they not do without help," the wolf reassured, "Think they have Ilobe-
girl."

Ilobe felt herself blessed with divine power, and the wolf, as suddenly as
she had arrived, bounded into the brush, chasing after a curious squirrel.
Ilobe stared after the snow wolf in amazement and offered a prayer, giving
thanks for her blessing

Later, Ilobe returned to the Great Temple in Hamsah Mu'Tazz. The altar boy
Onuran was there, waiting for her on the steps. He greeted Ilobe with a hug.

"Did you find Her?" asked Onuran, "The great spirit Padwei?"

Ilobe smiled at him, thinking of the snow wolf.

"Padwei..." she whispered, "Yes. She found me."

Role

Chapter 17

Ilobe found the Araile's dense heat oddly welcoming. The wide, dry expanse
reminded her of the sense of vastness she experienced while she lived alone
on a beach adjacent to the Dragon Sea. Still, she had something, someone
very specific to look for.

While Ilobe walked, she thought more intently on what she might say in her
prayers to come.

"I think what the nuns were doing really was good," though Ilobe, "but their
way, all stuck up in that cathedral really wasn't for me! I want to take
care of good people as a priestess, but I have to be allowed to go wherever
I want to. There's too much in the world I have to see for me to just stand
around in a temple all day!"

And as Ilobe walked and thought, she wandered unintentionally into the Thri-
Kreen village. Upon seeing the mantis folk, she would've turned back and
wandered elsewhere in the Araile, but a strange feeling gave her pause. She
continued through the village, giving the Thri-Kreen a wide berth, until she
found herself in the dunes once more. There she found a strange, deep pool
and decided to pray before it.

Her surroundings, though unmistakeably filled with life, remained quiet save
for Ilobe's inquiries. Ilobe felt certain this was where she was meant to
pray, so she promised herself, and the quiet young man nearby, and whoever
else she hoped might be listening, that she would return soon to pray more.
Then, Ilobe left, eager to explore elsewhere.

While visiting Galadon, a wolf's howl came to Ilobe's ears. Puzzled as to
why she might hear a wolf in the city, Ilobe took off into the nearby Silver-
wood forest to listen. She meandered a while, hearing nothing, and began a
climb up the mountains. As she balanced herself precariously on the mountain
ledge, a snow wolf eased up quietly to her and sat down. Ilobe stared at it
in amazement. Then, there was a voice.

Role

Chapter 18

The Screaming Hawk docked in Hamsah Mu'Tazz. Ilobe, muddled from days of
contemplating her beliefs, disembarked and wandered into the city, alone.
She meandered through the huge, bustling city, and finally came to the
Great Temple. She sat down on the steps outside, her chin resting in her
palm. Ilobe was so deep in thought that she didn't even notice the young
altar boy who had plopped down entirely too close to her until he spoke.

"You look like you need some advice."

Ilobe jumped about three feet in the air and stared incredulously at the
boy.

"My name is Onuran, and I am very good at advice," the boy said, smiling
proudly.

"Well, I'm Ilobe, and I have to find a god to pray to," Ilobe said, "but
I don't know who."

Onuran eyed Ilobe up and down for a few minutes, looking thoughtful.

"You look like you are a nice girl. You should try going South, into the
desert. Maybe you will find someone there that you can believe in."

The boy stood, dusting off his robes, and shook Ilobe's hand.

"Good luck," he said and disappeared into the churning crowd.

Ilobe stared forward as a battle between skepticism and delight raged
within her. Then, after skepticism's bloody defeat, she slowly rose
from the Great Temple's steps and strode confidently into the Araile.

Role

Chapter 19

"Wayll muh gel, wattah ye gwanna do now't ye've hopped de sea?" drawled the
dark skinned first mate of the Screaming Hawk.

Ilobe put a finger to her bottom lip, thinking for a minute, then answered,
"Those old ladies were teaching me how to be a priestess, so I'm gonna do
that, but I don't wanna do it their way, nuh uh. They were ALWAYS watching
and telling me I was wrong and I didn't like it!"

"Wayll who arr ye gwan te pray te, den, wee praystess?" the sailor drawled,
a playfulness apparent in his nigh-indecipherable accent.

"I dunno," said Ilobe, frowning, "Who do you pray to?"

"Aye, aye, wee praystess. Ah call 'pon de Cap'ain Neltouda te bless me
course, Ah does. Any sailah wort' ees salt know te do dat," the first mate
drawled, nodding.

He continued, "But gel, ye ain't much'n de way of a sailah. Ye know wot Ah
tink, gel?"

Ilobe shook her head, "No. What do you think?"

"Ah tink ye shed pray te summin ye believe in, dat is wot Ah tink."

Role

Chapter 20

The coachman had seen this girl somewhere before. He hit her with a barrage
of questions.

"What's yer name?"

"How long have ye been out here all by yerself?"

"Where's yer mammy an' pappy?"

Though she was frustrated that she didn't get to first ask the coachman for
help, Ilobe answered each question in as much detail as possible.

"Ilobe Muriel Fesby."

"I dunno."

"Bear ate her. He's not my daddy and he's real mean so I'm not going home,"
she barely let a breath go by before continuing, "But I need help acause
two old ladies are trying to get me!"

The coachman told Ilobe he'd help her and she hopped into the carriage.
inside were two women, both older priestesses of a sort. The mere sight of
them was enough to send Ilobe running in the other direction, but before she
could escape, one of them had her by the wrist. Of COURSE they'd take this
poor thing in and mold her into a nun. Of COURSE she would be grateful. And
of course the coachman knew exactly who Ilobe's parents were, and was quite
glad to see her go to a loving home.

The four Arkham nuns all had quite a laugh at Ilobe's expense when everyone
finally returned to the cathedral. When the clucking stopped, the studies
began. Ilobe was a reluctant pupil.

The nuns would not let Ilobe out on her own. They'd seen how wild she was,
so someone went everywhere with Ilobe, and this only hurt more. Every day
a nun would take Ilobe by the docks, where her mother used to work, where
she could see the beckoning expanse of the sea.

One day, Ilobe decided she'd had enough and ducked away from her chaperone
nun, stripping off her clothes and shoes as she ran, and dove headfirst off
the docks and into the sea. She swam out a ways, looked at the nun calling
frantically behind her and turned around to make a beeline for the nearest
boat. The Screaming Hawk was filled with whooping and cackling sailors
who had been watching the entire daring escape from their ship. They
helped her onboard and spent a few minutes laughing at her knickers before
spiriting her away, across the open sea and away from the dull, stuffy nuns
of Arkham. Ilobe had never been happier.

Role

Chapter 21

Ilobe did well out on her own in the woods, perhaps because the outdoors had
always been her favorite place. When she was almost too young to remember it,
she and her mama had lived very near to the docks in Arkham, and Ilobe was
taken to visit the sea every day. She played in the shallows while her mama
went to work, and Ilobe remembered her favorite days were always the rainy
ones because she could stand under the docks and pretend the pellets of water
were playing hopscotch on the sea as they jumped about its surface.

She followed a freshwater stream for a while, and even learned how to catch a
fish, before she finally followed it to the Dragon Sea. The beach Ilobe found
made the sea seem much prettier than it ever had in Arkham, and she spent most
of that day collecting the biggest and most colorful shells she could find.

Ilobe was very satisfied with her new surroundings, and she managed to live on
the beach for several years without being spotted. Always adventurous, Ilobe
eventually got brave enough to put together a raft and try to sail upon the
sea. Her raft wasn't very good, but was worthy enough to float, and Ilobe
felt the wind through her dirty blonde locks and the salt spray on her face.
It was completely exhilerating.

Of course, her excursion gave up her position, and she was spotted by two nuns
from the cathedral in Arkham. They had spent their day away from their church
happily beachcombing, but upon seeing Ilobe out sailing, they made their way
up the beach to her camp--and ransacked it. Their delight at finding and
helping a lost child was overwhelming, and when Ilobe finally returned to the
shore, they ran up to her, clucking like hens.

Ilobe was frightened beyond measure and ran away from them, back up the stream
and toward the road. She saw a carriage being drawn along it and ran up to
speak to the coachman.

Role

Chapter 22

The coachman was puzzled to see the petite blonde woman return without her
equally petite, blonde, and charming little daughter.

"Whar's yer bebbe, ma'am?" he asked as she prepared to get back into the
carriage. Ilobe's mother paused for a moment, looking thoughtful, then made
a vague gesture toward the trail she and Ilobe had gone down together not
long ago.

"Her grandmama lives down that trail. She's a kook for living so far out in
in the woods, but she's a sweet old lady. She's going to watch my little one
for a while."

"Well how 'bout dat, ma'am. 'S good to see old folks ain't gettin' forgot by
dere families," the coachman said, smiling. "My ol' gran'mam knits, she do,"
he said, holding up a pair of warm gloves. Ilobe's mother gave the coachman
a sweet smile as she stepped into the carriage.

Later that evening, in Arkham, a woman's terrified screams were heard ringing
from a house along a residential street, punctuated finally by a dull and
heavy crack.

Guards were called, much too late, and a man was found on the floor of the
house sleeping off a great deal of drink. In his hand he held the leg of a
heavy chair, the rest of which lay broken nearby. And nearer still was the
dead-eyed body of a pretty, petite blonde woman, though her hair was much
more gore than blonde by then.

"Aye, what a damn shame," the coachman said at the hanging; then, as an after
thought, "Wunner who's gonna tell the gran'mam an' kid?"

Days later, upon following the trail (which wasn't hard for him to reach), he
found it led nowhere. The puzzled coachman returned to Arkham, having given
news to no one.

Role

Chapter 23

They soon reached the carriage, which was attached to a worn, weak looking
horse. Her mother proffered a few copper coins to the young man who was
seated at the reins, and within a matter of minutes, he had jumped down
from his seat and begun to help Ilobe's mother up into it. Ilobe clapped
her hands with delight as the young man helped her up as well and seated
her next to her mother. They sped along the road through the woods, further
and further away from Arkham.

The ride lasted a few hours. Her mother hopped out of her seat and helped
Ilobe down.

"Here we go, hon," she said. They walked briskly into the woods. After a
while, Ilobe's mother turned to face her, brows knitted with concern. She
knelt before the little girl and said, "Ilobe! Your silly mama forgot to
bring the picnic! Will you wait here while I go get it?" Ilobe, who was
a rather independant little girl, nodded stoicly and sat down on the ground
to watch her mother disappear between the trees.

Ilobe twiddled her thumbs and drew little pictures in the dirt. She lay on
her back and watched the bits of sky she could see through the trees above.
Before long it became hard to see the sky and eventually impossible to see
the leaves of the trees above her head. She fell asleep on the ground there,
still waiting.

Ilobe cried for three days after she realized her mother was lost or eaten
by a bear, before her own hunger moved her into action. Unwilling to return
home and have to live with her horrible stepfather, the little girl made her
home in the woods and along the road's edge. By sheer luck, nothing Ilobe
ever picked up to eat had any poison in it, and eventually her wanderings
took her further south and west, toward the Dragon Sea.

Role

Chapter 4

It had been days and days since Elghinn had sung her ballads within the Fort-
ress. Ilobe was glad to see her sister in the Light again, and she was even
happier for Lornkanmas. Ilobe knew he had missed his wife terribly. But
Lornkanamas was nowhere to be found at the moment, so Ilobe and Dupmasione
entertained Elghinn instead. The bardess found it mind-achingly difficult to
comprehend that Dupmasione--of all people--could have possibly fallen in love
with only ONE woman. Ilobe found Elghinn's dismay distasteful.

When Dupmasione rushed off to do paladinly things, Ilobe decided to share.
"None of you have shared the moments Dupmasione and I have, many of them...
and relatively secretly..."

"No... No details..." Elghinn interrupted, "Please... Morning sickness was
enough for the last few weeks..."

It very nearly shut Ilobe up, but no. "MORNING SICKNESS!?" The effect was
instantaneous, and Ilobe eyed Elghinn in an entirely different light, and a
mirthful smile slowly worked its way over her features.

"You're not..." Ilobe questioned, hovering over the bardess with the sort of
glee only people who find babies delightful can muster.

"Not anymore," Elghinn whispered despondently, and Ilobe's glee faded in an
instant.

Elghinn explained where she had been and what she had lost. The details were
horrifying. Stabbed! By her own mother! How could Elghinn's mother do such
a thing to her own child, and her grandchild? There were things about the dark
ills of Thera that pained Ilobe, motives she felt certain she could never com-
prehend. Elghinn, in spite of it all, still managed to seem resolute.

She is so strong, Ilobe thought, feeling equal parts pity and admiration for
the bardess.

Kegren called for Ilobe's aid, drawing her reluctantly away from Elghinn's
side and into the familiar fray. When Ilobe returned, she found Elghinn
speaking again to Dupmasione.

***Continued in chapter 22***

Role

Chapter 7

They were together again, as they often had been, since Ilobe consented to
accept Dupmasione's vagabond affections. She found it funny, since he was
otherwise so chaste* (or at least claimed to be--and really, either truth was
fine with Ilobe), that Dupmasione would say so many things that insinuated
the precise opposite of chastity. Of course, the Paladin made no secret of
his desire to see much, much more of Ilobe's flesh. So perhaps it was to put
them on equal ground that he asked her to think of some part of him she had
never seen and would like to. Dupmasione continued to vex her on this point
for days until, finally:

"Do you have any birthmarks?" Ilobe knew this question could get her in
trouble. Of course, being female and near the Paladin was trouble enough
already. Dupmasione seemed to think this was an interesting question in any
case, and with Ilobe in tow, he ventured to the nearest wet and scenic place
(which was becoming a bit of a theme with him) so they could be alone.

"Now then. It so happens that I do, indeed, have a birthmark. Though they
are not called such by my people, typically."

"Do you, now?" asked Ilobe, and, "What do you call it?"

"It is a soulmark," came his reply.

"A soulmark," Ilobe murmered pensively, "That's quite a bit more meaningful
isn't it?"

"Much the same definition," said the Paladin, "but the elfkind are more about
eternal souls than birth and death. Once again, though, if I show you,
you're going to have to trust me. Do you think you can trust me, this time?"

The last time Dupmasione had asked for Ilobe's trust, they had been swimming
in Babblebrook and he wanted her robe off. She had adamantly refused to un-
dress. Only later did he reveal his less forthright reason for asking: He
thought Ilobe was dirty. With dirt. He wanted to bathe her. Ilobe con-
templated the question for a moment.

"I -suppose- I'll trust you, and mean it this time."

While Ilobe stared politely at a cloud passing overhead, the Paladin shimmied
out of his greaves and belt and tugged down his underclothes to reveal the
mark (but nothing else!) on his upper thigh. Ilobe glanced back downward at
the soulmark. It was shaped a bit like a flame and bluish in color.

"Are you glad you trusted me?" he asked. "Nothing rude, here. Though you're
seeing more of me than most ever would. Would you like to touch it? It
won't bite."

Ilobe couldn't resist and reached her hand out, brushing her fingertips
gently across the Paladin's skin.

"Is there...anything else you'd like to see?" Dupmasione asked mischievously.

Ilobe smiled, lifting her head back up to meet the Paladin's gaze.

"I think that will do."



* Canoodling, according to Dupmasione, involves no exchange of bodily
fluids, with the obvious exception of saliva.

Role

Chapter 6

That devil, that fiend! How he had her fixated! His words, his touch, his
shamelessly long blonde hair! And those eyes of his, oh, how they pierced
her down to her very core every time he let them roam boldly across her
shape. It was enough to give a girl the fits! But Ilobe thought herself
far too wise a woman to ever say so. In any case, if she did love Dupmasione
it was as he was, as he himself wanted to be, and Ilobe feared too much that
to love him could mean she'd try to change him, and that wouldn't do at all.

It came as a surprise, then, to find the Paladin not his usual incorrigible
self, and when he tried to talk to Ilobe about the weather, she knew there
was something amiss. She called him on it. And in response, he recalled
something she had asked him weeks earlier. How did he manage to gird his
heart so well? It was innocent enough, but it dredged up memories Dupmasione
had kept at bay for ages.

He told Ilobe of his first love, the maiden Elmorniah, and of losing her. He
spoke also of the promise he made for her. Give love a chance again.

"And I have. Repeatedly. With countless damsels," the Paladin said, and
Ilobe made a noise somewhere between a choke and a chuckle. This was clearly
going somewhere, and it set Ilobe's heart aflutter. He continued, telling
Ilobe about his nightmares and guilt surrounding Elmorniah's death and the
village he -could- have saved...had he not chosen love. Dupmasione wept as
he spoke. Ilobe gently wiped his tears away but remained nearly silent.

"Perhaps you begin to understand why I am the way I am. Why I play the fool,
the charmer. Letting someone in becomes dangerous. However, it seems some-
one has gotten in."

"I suppose..." answered Ilobe, speaking slowly. "Keeping them at bay has its
dangers, too, but... I told you before, I would not try and tie you down."

"And with those words, and countless others, you've secured a hold on me that
I did not believe possible," said the Paladin as he took Ilobe in his arms.
"I'm very much afraid that I love you."

Ilobe sighed, holding him silently.

"I'm...I'm looking for a reaction, here."

"If you do, that is quite all right with me," said Ilobe, having a hard time
breaking her habit of being coy with him. "I've girded my own heart...for
far different reasons. I feared, if I loved you, I might want to change you.
But it's funny... I don't want to change a thing."

"Surely you want one thing to change," said Dupmasione, obviously referring
to his proclivity for canoodling, "And even if you don't, it will. Or rather
already has."

"That's precisely what I mean," said Ilobe, as she reached up to toy with a
lock of the Paladin's long, blonde hair.

She was silent for a moment. "Being coy won't do any longer, I think. I'm
rather afraid I love you too."

Role

Chapter 5

Ilobe had taken to having baths regularly, and it was all his fault. But
why? Why bother with such a thing if she had no intention of letting him
get her out of her clothes? He told her his Lady had mentioned something
about Ilobe posing for a nude portrait by Zalenne, the famous High Herald
painter. He told her of feeling a twinge of jealousy, for perhaps the first
time he could remember, at the thought of any other man laying eyes on such
a portrait. It was all completely out of the question, of course, but she
was still in her bath, and it was still all his fault. He seemed to have
no qualms about stripping down under thin pretense in her presence. And,
of course, her eyes mopped up the sight of him. She sunk nearly to her nose
in her bath and blew bubbles in the water, trying desperately, and failing,
to think of anything in the world besides the sleek, fair-skinned, and
lithely-muscled upper half of the man she loved. Even a Dwarven loincloth
to the face could not arrest such daydreams. She glanced down at herself
below the water. What he wouldn't give to see her now, she thought. Feh.

She knew without a shadow of doubt what mutual nudity led to. And wasn't
that sort of thing reserved for married couples? The nuns had thoroughly
beaten Ilobe over the head with wait-until-marriage, which was something
they happily translated into wait-forever in their own lives. Dupmasione
did not want to be married. In fact, it seemed to Ilobe he was as stead-
fast in his opposition of the notion of marriage as he was in his oppos-
ition to the evils of the world. So much so, one might even think the
Paladin equated them.

Ilobe sunk even lower in her bath and opened her eyes when the water was
fully over her head. Her goddess Lady Padwei had teased her about marriage
when Ilobe gave the goddess the good news. At the time, being wed was
about the furthest thing from Ilobe's mind. She told the Lady she was
content to enjoy the novelty of love, and she was. Each day spent with
Dupmasione brought new and exciting feelings, and their love continued to
blossom. Ilobe sat up and sucked in a breath of new air as the bathwater
dripped down her face. She stared absently at nothing while her mind
continued to mercilessly tantalize her with visions of Elven what-have-you.

Sister Sophia jolted Ilobe from her reverie by dropping a towel on her head.
"Do you come here just to hog the bath now, girl? We used to have a devil
of a time getting you to take one, and now we can't get you out. There are
at least a dozen very stinky nuns waiting on this tub. I know, I can smell
them."

Ilobe toweled off and dressed. She made sure to apologize profusely to the
queue of dismayed (smelly) nuns outside the lavatory before she made her way
back to the Fortress.

Role

Chapter 3

"Maybe I'll get lucky and can convince Ilobe to cut me open to remove the tip
of the knife," Elghinn said to Dupmasione as Ilobe entered the Fortress'
altar room.

Ilobe was puzzled for a moment. "Knife?!"

"As I told Mason," Elghinn said, "Mithril tip weakly bonded to steel."

Oh, it just got worse and worse! Elghinn was half-drow! This could very well
kill her! "Show me," Ilobe said, and it was not a question.

After blessing and passing a dagger to Ilobe, Dupmasione politely excused
himself from the premises. Elghinn lifted up her armors to show Ilobe a cruel,
jagged scar over her womb. Gently, Ilobe ran her fingers over the scar, under-
standing and inspecting the wound.

"I will put you in a sleep," Ilobe told Elghinn, "And while you are in it..."
Ilobe held up the dagger Dupmasione had given her and nodded purposefully, "I
will remove the tip."

Elghinn gave her consent and Ilobe washed her hands and the dagger in a holy
spring. She put Elghinn into a healing sleep and worked quickly and carefully,
freeing the sliver of silvery metal that had been cruelly trapped inside the
bardess' flesh.

Elghinn woke, the healing sleep having run its course, and Ilobe pulled back
the bandages she held over the wound. The scar was barely a rumor of its
former repugnance. These miracles never failed to awe Ilobe, even though she
had accomplished their ilk for years.

"How'd it go," coughed Elghinn.

"Well! You are a good patient," said Ilobe, then she opened one bloody hand to
show Elghinn the tiny piece of mithril in her palm. "I wouldn't dare let you
hurt like that... You are like a sister!" Ilobe nodded to the offending piece
of metal, "What would you like me to do with this?"

"Destroy it," Elghinn said.

"I will do so, with my Lady watching on...And pray for your future," said Ilobe
gesturing toward Elghinn's belly with a smile.

Elghinn told Ilobe, when it happened, she wanted to see the deed done, "I want
to be sure."

Ilobe nodded and tucked the piece of mithril safely away, for the future.

Role

Chapter 2

She was frustrated and far too old for this, really, but what could she do?
How could she get her point across without flat out telling the fiend she
wanted him to sleep with her and then some? This coy habit of hers had gotten
incredibly out of hand. There also loomed the pesky matter of marriage. It
insisted upon itself. And he just didn't want it. Ay me, thought Ilobe.

They were alone together, in Evermoon, recalling an earlier conversation in
which Dupmasione explained to Ilobe all about how she made him feel worth
loving. She'd never had a chance to respond due to a Dwarven loincloth
to the face--but now was as good a time as any for Dupmasione.

"I never knew love like this until you came along," said Ilobe, turning to
gaze at the nearby river. She continued, "Nothing can take that from me...
and, well... I want it to blossom and continue throughout the ages."

Ilobe was mentally kicking herself. "Say marriage," her mind shouted at her,
"Just say it!"

"So you feel as if our love is still blossoming?" asked the Paladin.

"Everything grows and changes," Ilobe said quietly, "that is something about
life that never ceases. I like nothing better than to revel in that growth
and every new surprise it brings us."

"That was a very romantic sentiment, love," the Paladin said playfully, "But
my mind works as it works. So I couldn't help but think that I've got some
surprising growth that I'd like to share with you."

He wasn't making this the slightest bit easy for her! Then again, perhaps
she was being the difficult one.

"So what, do you think, is next for us?" Dupmasione asked. Ilobe found this
a very curious question indeed.

"Light guide us as it will, my love," she said, trying to be mysterious. He
wasn't having any of it.

"Let me rephrase the question, then, love. What would you like to be next
for us? You can't avoid that one by saying Light will decide."

Damned if he wasn't onto her ploy. She gave up. "Certainly there's more you
and I could...experience...together...but..."

Panic!

"You aren't," she rushed the words, "the least bit interested in marriage.
There I said it."

Dupmasione looked flabbergasted. Several heartbeats passed before he spoke
again. "I'm not?"

"You said you weren't!" She proceeded to recall when and where he said this.

"Know this," said the Paladin, almost sternly, "There is nothing. Nothing! I
look forward to more, than the day we wed."

Role

Chapter 1

Ilobe sat quietly in her quarters, meditating on the advice her Lady Padwei
gave her in the moments before granting Ilobe the wonderful privilege of
becoming a full-fledged Acolyte of the Golden Sun. Many days before, the
Blessed Lady Padwei had asked Ilobe to better understand the spirits of the
Maran and squires. A simple task at first glance, and Ilobe earnestly
assured the Lady she would complete the undertaking with ease.

In truth, the task was a daunting one. The Maran, though always kind to
Ilobe, never seemed to have much need for her apart from her healing. There
were exceptions, of course. Dupmasione had always been an open book. Ilobe
loved him for that. And Shevree was one of the few squires Ilobe had ever
met who would allow themselves to receive a bit of guidance. Ilobe jumped
at the chance, finding in herself an almost motherly aspect as she reassured
Shevree, helping shadows of doubt flee the Storm Giant's mind. These same
shadows, however, never seemed to come to the forefront in Ilobe's dealings
with other Maran, like Liethkim or Frorania. If they were ever troubled, it
seemed they had better ways of coping with it than leaning on Ilobe.

And so, when Lady Padwei asked Ilobe what troubled the soul of her sister in
the Light, Frorania, Ilobe could not answer, though it was neither for lack
of want or trying. If ever, ever, her friends and allies felt the calm of
their hearts rocked by a storm of doubt or despair, Ilobe would be there,
whether they thought they needed her or not. That was simple, unavoidable
fact.

"Things change from day-to-day," the Lady Padwei said, "and there's always
new questions to ask, something new to learn about those here. What do you
believe it means to be an Acolyte, Ilobe?"

Ilobe thought for a moment, recalling her vows to the Fortress and the Light
from so long ago. "When I first came here, my promise was to care for those
under the Light in any way I could. That goal has not changed, but as I
grow, I understand there is more to it. I'm not here simply to heal those
around me. I need to know them, know what their fears and joys are. I need
to soothe those fears, and celebrate those joys -with- them."

"And what will happen, in doing so?" inquired the goddess.

"Not a one of us is an army unto ourselves," Ilobe replied. "What will
happen? That is hard to say, but as long as we remain united, our spirits
grow, our strength grows...the Light grows within and around us."

Referring to the dream that remained, for now, on the horizon for all of the
Acolytes and Maran, Lady Padwei told Ilobe, "The Maran may rest, but the
calling of the Acolytes is eternal. I hope you keep that close to your heart,
as always."

This is what Ilobe meditated upon, knowing more surely and feeling passion
more fiercely than ever that her journey under the Light, her duty to it and
to her brothers and sisters would never end.

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