A Serpent in The Dyrwood

Prologue - Dreaming's End

The life of luxury and wine, of fabrics made of fine Vailian dyes, had made it all too hard to see how things sour when the cards were up.
A philosophical Tacan would say that this is the nature of things; especially to one so blinded by vanity.

Mother's vengeance from far Deadfire had brought them riches and titles in the island city of Spirento- a place far from her native plains in the north. In the island city she became a merchant of sorts; a trader in whispers and tales along with other wares.

He had asked her why they could not live in the plains once, and she could only reply with her small sad smile. Her's was a shade of grey, a haunting hollow that rose underneath the lines of red. To her she gave him wit and blade, had hired tutors for knowledge and court.

He could not say when exactly had his mind become as open as it was. He did not question it when he could so easily win at cards or when he could goad his bullies of their dirty secrets. To him their minds betrayed their silence, honeyed words could not cover the colours of envy and filth.

It is true that respect and the immunity from prejudice were things that cannot be bought, a lesson beaten early to the boy in bruises and cuts when their pride overrode reason.

Fortunate then that his mother's old friend had caught him red-handed at this- the wizened Calbandran's mind was a wall before him despite his hunched greying figure. Shiphunters or Ciphers were they, known in the Republics for their abilities to track people along with other useful mental abilities.

A boy's first lesson in psionics that would guide him through the maze like bickerings of the nobility's mercantile rabble.

But Vailian nobility is fickle. With sharpened mind he had learned to play the game well; with pride did he succeed and respect had been earned, be it grudgingly.

There were trades of shiny metal and curious stone. Invests of goods, of ideas; with the most controversial of them all being a study:

Animancy. That which sees the matters of essences and souls. Animancers had produced new marvels while altering the schools of thought in the engineering of essences, all the while spawning new tragedies and horrors among the desperate and the foolish.

All of these were played under the duc's watchful gaze it paved the way for progress that in turn, brought in more trade, gold, and adra.

Such is Vailian virtue.

And that very same greed would bring a Republic to its knees.

Across the sea he remembers the words of the crone, the Mistress of Hadret House. Her mind impressed upon him that of shadow and secrets. Yet to him imparted a kernel of truth, a compass to lead him on.

He felt the anger in him threatening to boil, of grief that marred the skies in dull hued shades, and of madness straining at the edge of reality.
It was hard to focus, hard to breathe.
A noose around his head.

A rival's seized galleon showed him a curious trinket; a glowing adra wrapped in rings of adra, copper and bronze. It broke as the ash fell that day, taking the souls of his mother, the nobles and the students of the college with it. And to his horror- brought it all to him.

Riots of the desperate and the mad, hunger in their eyes for food and copper. Guards firing from the walls, blood filling the streets. nouf...

A grey man in the stands that clapped his hands, as if congratulating a well written play. enou...

Abomination they had called him. He could hear it in their thoughts as he ran, pelting him with iron and magic. An orlan from Dunryd Row dragging him forward. enough

There were machines in the docks. It followed shadowed hallways that reeked in iron, shit, and blood. ENOUGH!

Whispers of the Exiled Goddess echoed within his hollowed mind as his blades found their throats. Her iron garrotte was a bit tighter around his neck the further his steel dug into flesh. Cipher's Fire burned then, purple fire illuminating faceless men in cowls and robes.

He did not care, the gnawing vengeance pushed the flaming steel blade a little bit further.

And the man woke up.

Notes-

I just finished playing the first of the Pillars of Eternity games and wow was I amazed at the lore and depth of this game! Being the completionist as I am, it took me an inordinate amount of time wandering around the map to finish every last side quest before finishing the game. At the end, it left me a story wanting to be told.

After rereading the prologues, I found that that my writing was lacking and meandering in some places. So after some deliberating, I decided to streamline the entire prologue into one- keeping it more succinct to give more focus into the main storyline.