"Huh... you put it together fast," he says. "Yes, she did. I can tell her that you're safe, that you left on your own, but I want to tell her as much truth as possible. So I'll need you to fill in some of the blanks if you can. Enough that she won't come out here herself. Best if you talk to her instead of leaving her to wonder what happened, but I understand if you feel you can't do it yet. I'll need some token to prove I actually met you, though."
He pauses, then glances at Tethis.
"Also... I want to get Tethis out of here. She doesn't deserve to be a prisoner. Can you help with that?"
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"Truth?" Mival doesn't seem to understand "Truth!?" Mival repeats, this time disgusted "What should we say to my mother... should we perhaps tell her that the son she always thought was human, that she always loved... has always been a monster, a deception, a living lie!? We'd break her heart! She always loved me... She never let me go without anything... She... I don't even know how to describe what she was to me! How could we, tell her the truth!? No, help me invent a merciful lie... Maybe we could tell her that you didn't find me? That you found out that I went to a far away country to make my fortune?"
"Um... Blossom..." Tethis tries to remind him "and what about me?"
The young man turns to the girl in the skimpy shell dress: "You're a monster too, Tethis; just live with it" then turns his green eyes back to Rash. "You know Tethis is not a girl, right? She's a monster. One kiss from her could kill you. Adventurers usually kill monsters, don't they? They don't free them... Why so much consideration for Tethis... and for me?"
"A comforting lie?" Rash asks. "Mival... she needs to know the truth, but maybe not all the details. She needs to know that you left of your own will and that you're safe now."
He looks at Tethis.
"As for her... I don't care that she's a monster. A lot of people think orcs are monsters to. If she really is as dangerous as you say I need to know exactly what she really is and what she's done to judge for myself."
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"I have not done anything wrong to you!" Tethis exclaims, indignantly, to Rash.
"Tethis is a nereid, a fey of the sea..." Mival informs the half-orc wizard. "She can exert magical control over water, at least to a certain extent. Or speak to fish. Most importantly, her kiss can drown anyone who receives it."
"Bytwoeff has never drowned, if I well remember!" Tethis points out, piqued.
"I said 'can,' in fact," the young man retorts. "Bytwoeff, the Lord from Below who seduced and deceived Tethis, was obviously spared by her... since she was having fun with him."
"I was in love!" the girl protests.
"Listen, Tethis..." Mival sighs "Who do you take me for? A hero like Rassalantar, whose exploits my mother always told me about? Heroes save damsels in distress... not monsters! And, go figure, I'm a monster! A Lord from Below!"
"So... what you're saying is she hasn't hurt anyone, but theoretically could,"Rash summarizes. "Same could be said for anyone. I don't think it's right to keep her prisoner for what she 'might' do, so I do intend to get her out."
He sighs
"But... let's deal with that in a moment. Just give me some token, something your mother will know is yours, so I can tell her truthfully that I met you and that you explained that you are safe but, of your own will, you will not return."
After another moment, he has another question.
"So... what exactly are the Lords from Below, and how did your mother raise one without knowing it?"
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Roxana had been listening to the conversation and by the time Mival revealed he had always been a 'Lord from Below' she had been expecting as much. "Mival, first, I think you overestimate the truth of what does and does not truly make a monster. As Rash already said, many would consider him to be a monster merely due to his heritage. But he's proven to be a good person that fights for others. There is no reason you could not do the same." She pauses to collect her thoughts before continuing. "More immediately though, you seem to have a great deal of genuine care for the woman that raised you as her son. Perhaps you are right that it would hurt her more to know fully about what you are. But at the very least you could tell her in person that you are not dead and that you intend to leave of your own accord. That too will hurt her in a way, but it is a pain that I think all parents feel at some point." It is something she's all too familiar with her own parents going through with her. And likely soon to be followed by her sister."And it is countered with the pride she will have in knowing you are able to go off on her own."
A question suddenly occurs to her. "What is it you hope to accomplish here anyhow? Why come here, just outside the town where you grew up, and hide underground? It seems you have a unique heritage. The story of how you got to this point could be quite an interesting one. But you truly do have the ability to choose whatever path you now wish to take. It need not be to truly become a monster - not if you choose not to."
She glances at Tethis. "I think you know already that you are not a monster."
"Of course I'm not a monster!" Tethis points out, approaching Roxana as if seeking protection, while sulkingly eyeing Rash and, above all, Mival.
Meanwhile, MIval ponders the words of Rash and Roxana (who is greeted, along with Gaer and Anita, who at that point also show themselves, with a not too surprised nod from the Lord from Below): "Go and talk to her in person? But how would I explain my disappearance, to her and everyone else? I'm so afraid that they might understand... That the truth might emerge... Seeing the horror in those eyes whose love I've only known in all these years would be too much for me... and especially too much for her!"
"But..." Mival ponders, his green eyes fixed on Roxana's. "Do you really say that I have the ability to choose whatever path I wish to take? Yes, yes, you don't have to answer," he continues immediately. "You really think so! Maybe then..." his face lights up. "...I've got it! Then everything would be explained! We will explore this dungeon together! You and me! This was the Keep of Rassalantar... My mother loves Rassalantar! When I return, explaining to her that I have decided to become an adventurer and that I left to explore the Keep, perhaps I will be able to hide from her that... that I am not what she has always believed! And from the keep I could bring her something... either something precious or that simply reminds her of Rassalantar, her hero... And maybe then she will be able to accept the fact that I will leave afterwards - and become an adventurer! And I could even become an adventurer for real! I don't have to be a Lord from Below, after all. And, as a hero, together with you I could search for a way to free Tethis!"
Tethis' eyes widen in wonder... staring first at Mival, then at Roxana and whispering to her: "You really convinced him!"
"Roxana is very persuasive..." Gaer winks at Tethis "She even convinced me to fall in love with her!"
"What do you think?" Mival, galvanized by the new perspective, searches for the eyes of the party members present "Shall we do it?"
"If you give me your support and we become partners in this quest" the former 'monster' offers "I'll also explain to you what we Lords from Below are and how it's possible that Kara is my mother all the same".
"Sounds good to me," Rash says with a crooked smile. "If we can... let's maybe find Tethis' mantle first... from what she said, I really don't want it to be out of her possession a moment longer."
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Mival looks dubious: "The Mantle is almost always in Bytwoeff's possession - and when he's not around, another of the Lords from Below keeps it in custody... The Lords from Below know how dangerous Tethis can be, and it won't be easy to get the Mantle from them. Perhaps we could buy it from them, with some of the riches we find? Trying to steal it by force or deception would seem very risky to me - especially for Tethis."
"Truth?" Mival doesn't seem to understand "Truth!?" Mival repeats, this time disgusted "What should we say to my mother... should we perhaps tell her that the son she always thought was human, that she always loved... has always been a monster, a deception, a living lie!? We'd break her heart! She always loved me... She never let me go without anything... She... I don't even know how to describe what she was to me! How could we, tell her the truth!? No, help me invent a merciful lie... Maybe we could tell her that you didn't find me? That you found out that I went to a far away country to make my fortune?"
"Um... Blossom..." Tethis tries to remind him "and what about me?"
The young man turns to the girl in the skimpy shell dress: "You're a monster too, Tethis; just live with it" then turns his green eyes back to Rash. "You know Tethis is not a girl, right? She's a monster. One kiss from her could kill you. Adventurers usually kill monsters, don't they? They don't free them... Why so much consideration for Tethis... and for me?"
"Of course I'm not a monster!" Tethis points out, approaching Roxana as if seeking protection, while sulkingly eyeing Rash and, above all, Mival.
Meanwhile, MIval ponders the words of Rash and Roxana (who is greeted, along with Gaer and Anita, who at that point also show themselves, with a not too surprised nod from the Lord from Below): "Go and talk to her in person? But how would I explain my disappearance, to her and everyone else? I'm so afraid that they might understand... That the truth might emerge... Seeing the horror in those eyes whose love I've only known in all these years would be too much for me... and especially too much for her!"
"But..." Mival ponders, his green eyes fixed on Roxana's. "Do you really say that I have the ability to choose whatever path I wish to take? Yes, yes, you don't have to answer," he continues immediately. "You really think so! Maybe then..." his face lights up. "...I've got it! Then everything would be explained! We will explore this dungeon together! You and me! This was the Keep of Rassalantar... My mother loves Rassalantar! When I return, explaining to her that I have decided to become an adventurer and that I left to explore the Keep, perhaps I will be able to hide from her that... that I am not what she has always believed! And from the keep I could bring her something... either something precious or that simply reminds her of Rassalantar, her hero... And maybe then she will be able to accept the fact that I will leave afterwards - and become an adventurer! And I could even become an adventurer for real! I don't have to be a Lord from Below, after all. And, as a hero, together with you I could search for a way to free Tethis!"
Tethis' eyes widen in wonder... staring first at Mival, then at Roxana and whispering to her: "You really convinced him!"
"Roxana is very persuasive..." Gaer winks at Tethis "She even convinced me to fall in love with her!"
"What do you think?" Mival, galvanized by the new perspective, searches for the eyes of the party members present "Shall we do it?"
"If you give me your support and we become partners in this quest" the former 'monster' offers "I'll also explain to you what we Lords from Below are and how it's possible that Kara is my mother all the same".
"You're not a monster.," a dryly clinical voice observes as Spira and Darvin also descend from the shadows above to join the growing consensus. Little Aedion is not visible at the moment, but those who know that particular family can guess where he is nestled until and unless needed.
"Unless, as Roxana says, you really want to be one. But if that was the case you wouldn't care whether your mother knew it or not. And since you aren't a monster, I'm not going to preach what you ought to do at you. Just offered as an opinion though: if I was your mother and found out all of this, I think it would hurt me personally more to think that you didn't trust me enough to know I'd love you anyway. AND, I can also understand and admire your wish to do deeds that are worthy of her before you talk again. Together, then, to free Tethis!" If Mival / Blossom accepts her sudden appearance calmly, Spira goes on. "We are very curious about the Lords from Below, also. In particular, since it might affect our adventure, we're wondering if there is any connection with certain 'swamp monsters' a priest in the village was trying to distract us with."
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Famh Thrawn Fiadhaich - 'half elven' sorcerer (wild magic) 2, Sleeping Gods - A Dragon Warriors campaign in the Lands of Legend
Quspira Inirali - tiefling cleric (Life domain) 4, Painted's "He'll be the father of my child"
---RETIRED HEROES' REST HOME---
Sae Ivui Nailo - wood elf rogue (inquisitive) 5 , Sea of Death: Captain Hailstorm's Lost Treasure
Ryshraxea "Shra" Naranthi - tabaxi artificer 1, Nyx's Tomb of Annihilation - Group 1
Mival welcomes Spira and her family with the same corpse with which he had welcomed the appearance of all the others - and at the words that present him with the possibility that his mother might even accept his non-human nature, his green eyes widen in disbelief: "Really? Do you really think that...? Could she really...?"
At which point, Anita supports Spira's argument: "Any mother could assure you beyond any reasonable doubt that it is so, Mival! Trust me and Spira, for we are both mothers!" approaching, the ex-Zhemntarim takes the arm of the Sergeant of Arvandor to better emphasize their 'closeness' - it is clear that she considers Spira in every way the 'mother' of Aedion, no less than she is the mother of Rash's son "I know what we are talking about! It does not matter the shape or nature of our children - they remain everything, for us! Everything, Mival! Only the love that unites us, matters! And from how I have known Kara, this also applies to her! Tell her the truth, without fear... and she will love you no less than before - indeed, she will love you more than before, to embrace with her love this supposed 'difference' between you two. You will always be everything to her, Mival!"
"Oh... then..." the supposed 'monster' is moved "Once I have explored this dungeon, I will return to her with something to give her. And even if I really decide to become an adventurer, it will be a pleasure to return to visit her regularly!"
"A priest in the village?" Mival finally focuses on the last question "Ah, yes, it must be Heltor... he usually takes on the roles of a cleric, spiritual guide, or in any case a person with religious authority, because he believes that the moral power of such figures is of great help in gaining the trust of others or inducing them to do what he wants. Over time, he has gained a certain experience in matters of religion, in fact specializing and making himself very credible in the interpretation of his favorite roles! If he mentioned the 'swamp monsters', he probably just wanted to direct attention and research in the opposite direction to the ruins, where our lair is. Nothing personal. There are monsters in the Stump Bog, everyone knows that... but, fortunately, for now they are content to infest the Stump Bog! We have no connection with them - we practically don't even know exactly what lives down there".
"Yes, it seems that way," Roxana agrees with Rash. "Surprised that priest didn't press us more to avoid this area." She then glances over to the young man. "Sounds like you will be coming with us," she tells him. "Do we call you Blossom then? And you said you would tell us more of the Lords Below?"
"Heltor must have avoided insisting because he had read in your thoughts that you were already strongly determined to come here" Mival explains. "We Doppelgangers can not only change shape as easily as changing clothes..." he momentarily becomes a duplicate of Roxana - making Gaer's eyes pop out in surprise "...we can also see the superficial thoughts of people with the same clarity with which you see a painting. Heltor must have avoided insisting so as not to arouse your suspicions unnecessarily," Mival in the meantime returns to himself "if he had realized that insisting would have been useless".
"The Lords form Below are nothing more than this... Doppelgangers... who have gathered in a group, under the leadership of Mekkunod, the most... organized of us" the Doppelganger explains. "We don't necessarily have to consider them all enemies. We Doppelgangers generally have little regard for those who are different from us, I'll give you that... to the point that we do not hesitate to hurt others, when it suits us. But we do not do harm needlessly, just for the sake of it."
"And as for me..." the creature in the form of a young man reflects "no, as long as I have hope of being able to return to my mother and be accepted for who I am... I still want to be called Mival. After all, when choosing my Doppelganger name, I chose 'Blossom' precisely because I wanted to never forget that I was born from a 'Flower'..."
"I came here to look for people like me... The Doppelgangers..." Mival recalls "Following my instinct. A Doppelganger is born when another Doppelganger deceives a woman and convinces her to... have a child with him. A Doppelganger is the result of this union - and initially the newborn is indistinguishable from a common human. But a Doppelganger, when it comes of age, undergoes a drastic transformation. It suddenly becomes aware of many things... Of its nature... Of its powers... And of the fact that it can no longer live with the one who raised it. A Doppelganger must leave, find others like it, live its life... rely only on itself. A Doppelganger is not like other people - it never will be. A Doppelganger can, however, pretend to be like other people - and manipulate them like puppets. This is what instinct tells a Doppelganger, over and over again, as he comes of age. I... I probably wouldn't have given my mother a second thought, if it weren't for the fact that she was so incredibly loving to me. In fact, I think any other Doppelganger who knew what I was thinking or feeling would think I am a little crazy. But then, no other Doppelganger has had a mother like Kara. There was never a woman like Kara."
Spira smiles and nods sadly. "I understand all too well. It might be interesting to have a conversation, some time after all this is over, whether it's harder to grow up thinking you're like everyone else ... as you did ... and then suddenly discover your nature; or to grow up always looking different as we tieflings do. Be that as it may though, I'm glad to hear we won't necessarily have to fight the other doppelgangers as we'd feel obliged to if they - you - were born with a taste for doing harm just for the fun of it. At the same time -- ," she sighs, and her face grows even more sad and troubled as she thinks of Fonkin. If Mival asks, she tells him honestly what occurred above.
"That will weigh on my heart for some time to come. Given what I know now, I wish bitterly I hadn't confronted him so harshly ... but at that point all we knew was that you'd disappeared somewhere very near here, and that what we were being told by first Heltor and then Fonkin just wasn't adding up. I truly thought he was a gnome who was just involved in some shady dealings in counterfeit magical items and had gotten caught up in something too big for him; and when I threatened him with the penalties of the law if he didn't tell us what was going on I expected him to TELL US WHAT WAS GOING ON! Not call a pair of winged fiends and set them on us in a fight to the death! And we would have spared him at any moment if he'd called off his 'security' and just answered our questions with the truth. Or something close enough to be believable -- that he'd seen you pass by three days ago but thought he'd seen you leaving when he came to set up shop today though he wasn't sure, for instance. Instead of trying to pretend he'd been there the WHOLE TIME and yet HADN'T SEEN YOU AT ALL when a quick glance over his wares showed they hadn't been set up more than an hour or two." She sighs again. remembering sadly that the suspects who weighed her heart down the most in Berdusk (aside from her brother) hadn't been so much the truly evil criminals as the ones -- not always criminals either, as the present case shows -- who were either stupid or just didn't think. And the fact that there seemed to be SO MANY of the latter group among the population of, apparently, every town city village or thorp the length and breath of Toril. A moment later she smiles again, and a look of studied innocence crosses her face as she murmurs, "But as Anita mentioned, I AM a mother too, and I'm teaching my son the polite way to ... ah, introduce himself ... to new people when he sees they're good souls inside. Which I'm also teaching him to judge ... hopefully a little better than his mom sometimes had, though it's never for malice in my case, only that we're all mortal and make mistakes sometimes. Anyway --- Would you like to meet him?" Her smile and glance blend together nicely in a friendly blandness as she seemingly waits in silence for Mival's reply ... while of course in her mind ...
(SPOILER: AEDION)
... she whispers telepathically to her 'son', "This Mival seems to me like he's a decent person who's telling the truth; and I think he'd have enough of a sense of humor that our little practical joke might actually cheer him up. If he says he does want to meet you, I'll tell him okay, I'll call you. Then count three and come out all of a sudden the way we've practiced."
"Oh, you killed Fonkin 'Good Dealer'!?" Mival looks shocked. "It was Setopur's preferred identity. Setopur was one of the Lords from Below with a penchant for trade. From what you tell me, he must have panicked..." he shrugs "I don't blame you - but maybe if we meet the other Lords from Below, it's best not to mention this - or rather, given our powers, it's best not to think about it at all... I'm not telling you to forget about it, but, if you can, focus on something else."
At Spira's words about 'meeting' her son, Mival looks at her... then opens his green eyes wide in wonder: "Of course! It will be a pleasure! I can't wait to see him!"
... and a moment later he doesn't have to wait any longer, as the little couatl rockets up from his cozy nest in Spira's bosom with an energetic greeting that he lets everyone 'hear' in his excitement:
"Hi! Mom says you're really a nice person who just thought you weren't, just like Aunt Dawnborn is, so I'm really happy to meet you. My name's Aedion!
Meanwhile his 'mom' nods solemnly over his back to indicate she heard and entirely agrees with Mival's assessment as to the wisdom of silence -- of both voice and mind -- on the fate of Setopur. Her face sufficiently indicates that she wishes she could truly forget it.
"Then we will call you Mival," Roxana replies. "And yes, you are probably right about not mentioning killing Fonkin. Whatever the case of his situation, he was the one that sent those devil-like creatures after us. We merely fought back." She shakes her head. "It is unfortunate, but what happened is the consequence of his own actions."
"I do wonder though about the mind reading," she continues. "We will have to be very careful to not reveal anything we don't wish to. A shame we don't have a way to counter that ability."
Mival smiles at the young couatl, reaching out to slowly bring her hand closer to him and caress his back: "The pleasure is all mine, Aedion! Now... my mother is not the only one to have a child that is not of her own species! There is indeed hope for me too!"
He turns to Spira: "I thank you for what you just wanted to show me."
To Roxana's concerns, the Doppelganger responds: "You are right, you need to be careful when talking to us... But fortunately we can only access your surface thoughts - what is on your mind at that moment. So if you actively force yourself to focus your thoughts on one thing... for example, your desire to explore the ruins... no other compromising information should come out. Unless a direct question subconsciously leads you to think of something else... but since no one has noticed Setopur's absence yet, no one should ask us about him."
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Rash nods.
"Huh... you put it together fast," he says. "Yes, she did. I can tell her that you're safe, that you left on your own, but I want to tell her as much truth as possible. So I'll need you to fill in some of the blanks if you can. Enough that she won't come out here herself. Best if you talk to her instead of leaving her to wonder what happened, but I understand if you feel you can't do it yet. I'll need some token to prove I actually met you, though."
He pauses, then glances at Tethis.
"Also... I want to get Tethis out of here. She doesn't deserve to be a prisoner. Can you help with that?"
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"Truth?" Mival doesn't seem to understand "Truth!?" Mival repeats, this time disgusted "What should we say to my mother... should we perhaps tell her that the son she always thought was human, that she always loved... has always been a monster, a deception, a living lie!? We'd break her heart! She always loved me... She never let me go without anything... She... I don't even know how to describe what she was to me! How could we, tell her the truth!? No, help me invent a merciful lie... Maybe we could tell her that you didn't find me? That you found out that I went to a far away country to make my fortune?"
"Um... Blossom..." Tethis tries to remind him "and what about me?"
The young man turns to the girl in the skimpy shell dress: "You're a monster too, Tethis; just live with it" then turns his green eyes back to Rash. "You know Tethis is not a girl, right? She's a monster. One kiss from her could kill you. Adventurers usually kill monsters, don't they? They don't free them... Why so much consideration for Tethis... and for me?"
Rash pauses... that... is concerning.
"A comforting lie?" Rash asks. "Mival... she needs to know the truth, but maybe not all the details. She needs to know that you left of your own will and that you're safe now."
He looks at Tethis.
"As for her... I don't care that she's a monster. A lot of people think orcs are monsters to. If she really is as dangerous as you say I need to know exactly what she really is and what she's done to judge for myself."
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"I have not done anything wrong to you!" Tethis exclaims, indignantly, to Rash.
"Tethis is a nereid, a fey of the sea..." Mival informs the half-orc wizard. "She can exert magical control over water, at least to a certain extent. Or speak to fish. Most importantly, her kiss can drown anyone who receives it."
"Bytwoeff has never drowned, if I well remember!" Tethis points out, piqued.
"I said 'can,' in fact," the young man retorts. "Bytwoeff, the Lord from Below who seduced and deceived Tethis, was obviously spared by her... since she was having fun with him."
"I was in love!" the girl protests.
"Listen, Tethis..." Mival sighs "Who do you take me for? A hero like Rassalantar, whose exploits my mother always told me about? Heroes save damsels in distress... not monsters! And, go figure, I'm a monster! A Lord from Below!"
"So... what you're saying is she hasn't hurt anyone, but theoretically could," Rash summarizes. "Same could be said for anyone. I don't think it's right to keep her prisoner for what she 'might' do, so I do intend to get her out."
He sighs
"But... let's deal with that in a moment. Just give me some token, something your mother will know is yours, so I can tell her truthfully that I met you and that you explained that you are safe but, of your own will, you will not return."
After another moment, he has another question.
"So... what exactly are the Lords from Below, and how did your mother raise one without knowing it?"
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Roxana had been listening to the conversation and by the time Mival revealed he had always been a 'Lord from Below' she had been expecting as much. "Mival, first, I think you overestimate the truth of what does and does not truly make a monster. As Rash already said, many would consider him to be a monster merely due to his heritage. But he's proven to be a good person that fights for others. There is no reason you could not do the same." She pauses to collect her thoughts before continuing. "More immediately though, you seem to have a great deal of genuine care for the woman that raised you as her son. Perhaps you are right that it would hurt her more to know fully about what you are. But at the very least you could tell her in person that you are not dead and that you intend to leave of your own accord. That too will hurt her in a way, but it is a pain that I think all parents feel at some point." It is something she's all too familiar with her own parents going through with her. And likely soon to be followed by her sister. "And it is countered with the pride she will have in knowing you are able to go off on her own."
A question suddenly occurs to her. "What is it you hope to accomplish here anyhow? Why come here, just outside the town where you grew up, and hide underground? It seems you have a unique heritage. The story of how you got to this point could be quite an interesting one. But you truly do have the ability to choose whatever path you now wish to take. It need not be to truly become a monster - not if you choose not to."
She glances at Tethis. "I think you know already that you are not a monster."
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Liivi Orav, Barbarian || Vanizi, Warlock || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi || Neital Rhessil, Wizard
Iromae Quinaea, Cleric || Roxana Raincrest, Rogue || Satina Cindermark, Fighter || Meira Dheran, Rogue || Qirynna Thadri, Wizard || Crisaryn Melkial, Sorcerer
"Of course I'm not a monster!" Tethis points out, approaching Roxana as if seeking protection, while sulkingly eyeing Rash and, above all, Mival.
Meanwhile, MIval ponders the words of Rash and Roxana (who is greeted, along with Gaer and Anita, who at that point also show themselves, with a not too surprised nod from the Lord from Below): "Go and talk to her in person? But how would I explain my disappearance, to her and everyone else? I'm so afraid that they might understand... That the truth might emerge... Seeing the horror in those eyes whose love I've only known in all these years would be too much for me... and especially too much for her!"
"But..." Mival ponders, his green eyes fixed on Roxana's. "Do you really say that I have the ability to choose whatever path I wish to take? Yes, yes, you don't have to answer," he continues immediately. "You really think so! Maybe then..." his face lights up. "...I've got it! Then everything would be explained! We will explore this dungeon together! You and me! This was the Keep of Rassalantar... My mother loves Rassalantar! When I return, explaining to her that I have decided to become an adventurer and that I left to explore the Keep, perhaps I will be able to hide from her that... that I am not what she has always believed! And from the keep I could bring her something... either something precious or that simply reminds her of Rassalantar, her hero... And maybe then she will be able to accept the fact that I will leave afterwards - and become an adventurer! And I could even become an adventurer for real! I don't have to be a Lord from Below, after all. And, as a hero, together with you I could search for a way to free Tethis!"
Tethis' eyes widen in wonder... staring first at Mival, then at Roxana and whispering to her: "You really convinced him!"
"Roxana is very persuasive..." Gaer winks at Tethis "She even convinced me to fall in love with her!"
"What do you think?" Mival, galvanized by the new perspective, searches for the eyes of the party members present "Shall we do it?"
"If you give me your support and we become partners in this quest" the former 'monster' offers "I'll also explain to you what we Lords from Below are and how it's possible that Kara is my mother all the same".
"Sounds good to me," Rash says with a crooked smile. "If we can... let's maybe find Tethis' mantle first... from what she said, I really don't want it to be out of her possession a moment longer."
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Mival looks dubious: "The Mantle is almost always in Bytwoeff's possession - and when he's not around, another of the Lords from Below keeps it in custody... The Lords from Below know how dangerous Tethis can be, and it won't be easy to get the Mantle from them. Perhaps we could buy it from them, with some of the riches we find? Trying to steal it by force or deception would seem very risky to me - especially for Tethis."
"You're not a monster.," a dryly clinical voice observes as Spira and Darvin also descend from the shadows above to join the growing consensus. Little Aedion is not visible at the moment, but those who know that particular family can guess where he is nestled until and unless needed.
"Unless, as Roxana says, you really want to be one. But if that was the case you wouldn't care whether your mother knew it or not. And since you aren't a monster, I'm not going to preach what you ought to do at you. Just offered as an opinion though: if I was your mother and found out all of this, I think it would hurt me personally more to think that you didn't trust me enough to know I'd love you anyway. AND, I can also understand and admire your wish to do deeds that are worthy of her before you talk again. Together, then, to free Tethis!" If Mival / Blossom accepts her sudden appearance calmly, Spira goes on. "We are very curious about the Lords from Below, also. In particular, since it might affect our adventure, we're wondering if there is any connection with certain 'swamp monsters' a priest in the village was trying to distract us with."
Famh Thrawn Fiadhaich - 'half elven' sorcerer (wild magic) 2, Sleeping Gods - A Dragon Warriors campaign in the Lands of Legend
Quspira Inirali - tiefling cleric (Life domain) 4, Painted's "He'll be the father of my child"
---RETIRED HEROES' REST HOME---
Sae Ivui Nailo - wood elf rogue (inquisitive) 5 , Sea of Death: Captain Hailstorm's Lost Treasure
Ryshraxea "Shra" Naranthi - tabaxi artificer 1, Nyx's Tomb of Annihilation - Group 1
Mival welcomes Spira and her family with the same corpse with which he had welcomed the appearance of all the others - and at the words that present him with the possibility that his mother might even accept his non-human nature, his green eyes widen in disbelief: "Really? Do you really think that...? Could she really...?"
At which point, Anita supports Spira's argument: "Any mother could assure you beyond any reasonable doubt that it is so, Mival! Trust me and Spira, for we are both mothers!" approaching, the ex-Zhemntarim takes the arm of the Sergeant of Arvandor to better emphasize their 'closeness' - it is clear that she considers Spira in every way the 'mother' of Aedion, no less than she is the mother of Rash's son "I know what we are talking about! It does not matter the shape or nature of our children - they remain everything, for us! Everything, Mival! Only the love that unites us, matters! And from how I have known Kara, this also applies to her! Tell her the truth, without fear... and she will love you no less than before - indeed, she will love you more than before, to embrace with her love this supposed 'difference' between you two. You will always be everything to her, Mival!"
"Oh... then..." the supposed 'monster' is moved "Once I have explored this dungeon, I will return to her with something to give her. And even if I really decide to become an adventurer, it will be a pleasure to return to visit her regularly!"
"A priest in the village?" Mival finally focuses on the last question "Ah, yes, it must be Heltor... he usually takes on the roles of a cleric, spiritual guide, or in any case a person with religious authority, because he believes that the moral power of such figures is of great help in gaining the trust of others or inducing them to do what he wants. Over time, he has gained a certain experience in matters of religion, in fact specializing and making himself very credible in the interpretation of his favorite roles! If he mentioned the 'swamp monsters', he probably just wanted to direct attention and research in the opposite direction to the ruins, where our lair is. Nothing personal. There are monsters in the Stump Bog, everyone knows that... but, fortunately, for now they are content to infest the Stump Bog! We have no connection with them - we practically don't even know exactly what lives down there".
"So... the preacher is a Lord from Below," Rash mutters, scratching his head. "That's... something... makes sense, I guess."
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"Yes, it seems that way," Roxana agrees with Rash. "Surprised that priest didn't press us more to avoid this area." She then glances over to the young man. "Sounds like you will be coming with us," she tells him. "Do we call you Blossom then? And you said you would tell us more of the Lords Below?"
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Liivi Orav, Barbarian || Vanizi, Warlock || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi || Neital Rhessil, Wizard
Iromae Quinaea, Cleric || Roxana Raincrest, Rogue || Satina Cindermark, Fighter || Meira Dheran, Rogue || Qirynna Thadri, Wizard || Crisaryn Melkial, Sorcerer
"Heltor must have avoided insisting because he had read in your thoughts that you were already strongly determined to come here" Mival explains. "We Doppelgangers can not only change shape as easily as changing clothes..." he momentarily becomes a duplicate of Roxana - making Gaer's eyes pop out in surprise "...we can also see the superficial thoughts of people with the same clarity with which you see a painting. Heltor must have avoided insisting so as not to arouse your suspicions unnecessarily," Mival in the meantime returns to himself "if he had realized that insisting would have been useless".
"The Lords form Below are nothing more than this... Doppelgangers... who have gathered in a group, under the leadership of Mekkunod, the most... organized of us" the Doppelganger explains. "We don't necessarily have to consider them all enemies. We Doppelgangers generally have little regard for those who are different from us, I'll give you that... to the point that we do not hesitate to hurt others, when it suits us. But we do not do harm needlessly, just for the sake of it."
"And as for me..." the creature in the form of a young man reflects "no, as long as I have hope of being able to return to my mother and be accepted for who I am... I still want to be called Mival. After all, when choosing my Doppelganger name, I chose 'Blossom' precisely because I wanted to never forget that I was born from a 'Flower'..."
"I came here to look for people like me... The Doppelgangers..." Mival recalls "Following my instinct. A Doppelganger is born when another Doppelganger deceives a woman and convinces her to... have a child with him. A Doppelganger is the result of this union - and initially the newborn is indistinguishable from a common human. But a Doppelganger, when it comes of age, undergoes a drastic transformation. It suddenly becomes aware of many things... Of its nature... Of its powers... And of the fact that it can no longer live with the one who raised it. A Doppelganger must leave, find others like it, live its life... rely only on itself. A Doppelganger is not like other people - it never will be. A Doppelganger can, however, pretend to be like other people - and manipulate them like puppets. This is what instinct tells a Doppelganger, over and over again, as he comes of age. I... I probably wouldn't have given my mother a second thought, if it weren't for the fact that she was so incredibly loving to me. In fact, I think any other Doppelganger who knew what I was thinking or feeling would think I am a little crazy. But then, no other Doppelganger has had a mother like Kara. There was never a woman like Kara."
Spira smiles and nods sadly. "I understand all too well. It might be interesting to have a conversation, some time after all this is over, whether it's harder to grow up thinking you're like everyone else ... as you did ... and then suddenly discover your nature; or to grow up always looking different as we tieflings do. Be that as it may though, I'm glad to hear we won't necessarily have to fight the other doppelgangers as we'd feel obliged to if they - you - were born with a taste for doing harm just for the fun of it. At the same time -- ," she sighs, and her face grows even more sad and troubled as she thinks of Fonkin. If Mival asks, she tells him honestly what occurred above.
"That will weigh on my heart for some time to come. Given what I know now, I wish bitterly I hadn't confronted him so harshly ... but at that point all we knew was that you'd disappeared somewhere very near here, and that what we were being told by first Heltor and then Fonkin just wasn't adding up. I truly thought he was a gnome who was just involved in some shady dealings in counterfeit magical items and had gotten caught up in something too big for him; and when I threatened him with the penalties of the law if he didn't tell us what was going on I expected him to TELL US WHAT WAS GOING ON! Not call a pair of winged fiends and set them on us in a fight to the death! And we would have spared him at any moment if he'd called off his 'security' and just answered our questions with the truth. Or something close enough to be believable -- that he'd seen you pass by three days ago but thought he'd seen you leaving when he came to set up shop today though he wasn't sure, for instance. Instead of trying to pretend he'd been there the WHOLE TIME and yet HADN'T SEEN YOU AT ALL when a quick glance over his wares showed they hadn't been set up more than an hour or two." She sighs again. remembering sadly that the suspects who weighed her heart down the most in Berdusk (aside from her brother) hadn't been so much the truly evil criminals as the ones -- not always criminals either, as the present case shows -- who were either stupid or just didn't think. And the fact that there seemed to be SO MANY of the latter group among the population of, apparently, every town city village or thorp the length and breath of Toril. A moment later she smiles again, and a look of studied innocence crosses her face as she murmurs, "But as Anita mentioned, I AM a mother too, and I'm teaching my son the polite way to ... ah, introduce himself ... to new people when he sees they're good souls inside. Which I'm also teaching him to judge ... hopefully a little better than his mom sometimes had, though it's never for malice in my case, only that we're all mortal and make mistakes sometimes. Anyway --- Would you like to meet him?" Her smile and glance blend together nicely in a friendly blandness as she seemingly waits in silence for Mival's reply ... while of course in her mind ...
(SPOILER: AEDION)
... she whispers telepathically to her 'son', "This Mival seems to me like he's a decent person who's telling the truth; and I think he'd have enough of a sense of humor that our little practical joke might actually cheer him up. If he says he does want to meet you, I'll tell him okay, I'll call you. Then count three and come out all of a sudden the way we've practiced."
Famh Thrawn Fiadhaich - 'half elven' sorcerer (wild magic) 2, Sleeping Gods - A Dragon Warriors campaign in the Lands of Legend
Quspira Inirali - tiefling cleric (Life domain) 4, Painted's "He'll be the father of my child"
---RETIRED HEROES' REST HOME---
Sae Ivui Nailo - wood elf rogue (inquisitive) 5 , Sea of Death: Captain Hailstorm's Lost Treasure
Ryshraxea "Shra" Naranthi - tabaxi artificer 1, Nyx's Tomb of Annihilation - Group 1
"Oh, you killed Fonkin 'Good Dealer'!?" Mival looks shocked. "It was Setopur's preferred identity. Setopur was one of the Lords from Below with a penchant for trade. From what you tell me, he must have panicked..." he shrugs "I don't blame you - but maybe if we meet the other Lords from Below, it's best not to mention this - or rather, given our powers, it's best not to think about it at all... I'm not telling you to forget about it, but, if you can, focus on something else."
At Spira's words about 'meeting' her son, Mival looks at her... then opens his green eyes wide in wonder: "Of course! It will be a pleasure! I can't wait to see him!"
... and a moment later he doesn't have to wait any longer, as the little couatl rockets up from his cozy nest in Spira's bosom with an energetic greeting that he lets everyone 'hear' in his excitement:
Meanwhile his 'mom' nods solemnly over his back to indicate she heard and entirely agrees with Mival's assessment as to the wisdom of silence -- of both voice and mind -- on the fate of Setopur. Her face sufficiently indicates that she wishes she could truly forget it.
Famh Thrawn Fiadhaich - 'half elven' sorcerer (wild magic) 2, Sleeping Gods - A Dragon Warriors campaign in the Lands of Legend
Quspira Inirali - tiefling cleric (Life domain) 4, Painted's "He'll be the father of my child"
---RETIRED HEROES' REST HOME---
Sae Ivui Nailo - wood elf rogue (inquisitive) 5 , Sea of Death: Captain Hailstorm's Lost Treasure
Ryshraxea "Shra" Naranthi - tabaxi artificer 1, Nyx's Tomb of Annihilation - Group 1
"Then we will call you Mival," Roxana replies. "And yes, you are probably right about not mentioning killing Fonkin. Whatever the case of his situation, he was the one that sent those devil-like creatures after us. We merely fought back." She shakes her head. "It is unfortunate, but what happened is the consequence of his own actions."
"I do wonder though about the mind reading," she continues. "We will have to be very careful to not reveal anything we don't wish to. A shame we don't have a way to counter that ability."
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Liivi Orav, Barbarian || Vanizi, Warlock || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi || Neital Rhessil, Wizard
Iromae Quinaea, Cleric || Roxana Raincrest, Rogue || Satina Cindermark, Fighter || Meira Dheran, Rogue || Qirynna Thadri, Wizard || Crisaryn Melkial, Sorcerer
Mival smiles at the young couatl, reaching out to slowly bring her hand closer to him and caress his back: "The pleasure is all mine, Aedion! Now... my mother is not the only one to have a child that is not of her own species! There is indeed hope for me too!"
He turns to Spira: "I thank you for what you just wanted to show me."
To Roxana's concerns, the Doppelganger responds: "You are right, you need to be careful when talking to us... But fortunately we can only access your surface thoughts - what is on your mind at that moment. So if you actively force yourself to focus your thoughts on one thing... for example, your desire to explore the ruins... no other compromising information should come out. Unless a direct question subconsciously leads you to think of something else... but since no one has noticed Setopur's absence yet, no one should ask us about him."