Author's Note: I own nothing except the PC, the main plot points and all the characters belong to Bioware. Reviews and ratings always welcome.
Prologue
She regained consciousness face down on the floor of a cavernous chamber, her left cheek was pressing down on the cool stone beneath her and her body felt numb. She opened her eyes to find her vision was blurred, she could barely make out the shapes of the flickering torches ensconced on the surrounding walls. She thought she heard tinkling of chimes somewhere, though her pulse was pounding so hard inside her head that for a time all she could hear was the frantic beating of her heart. She didn't know where she was yet nor did she remember her name but those memories would come to her shortly.
She propped herself up off the floor, still weak, and rolled over on her back. The room started to spin. She tried blinking the motion away but it only made things worse. Finally she closed her eyes and concentrated on leveling her ragged breathing instead. Slowly, she felt the nausea ebb back and the loud drumming of her pulse slow down, the delicate chiming was echoing through the chamber more clearly, she could think now. My name is Tristin Falke, she affirmed to herself, and I seem to have died.
"Welcome back Sojourner." a sonorous, yet familiar voice greeted her.
Tris snapped her head to the location of the speaker, a foolish move, for it sent her vision spinning again. She felt the acid taste of bile in her mouth again and just in time rolled on her side to expel the contents of her stomach onto the floor beneath her. Surprisingly she felt better and after wiping the last of the spittle from the corners of her mouth, she finally pushed herself off the floor to sit up and turned her gaze on the speaker.
The Reaper - that was the name she had given to the creature the first time she met it, but after learning what its purpose was she admitted the moniker didn't fit. The Keeper-of-Doors would have been a more appropriate title, though her misplaced perception of that first encounter forever cemented Tris's title for the keeper of this plane.
"Sorry about the mess," she said with a slur to her speech as she had not yet regained the full faculties of her motor skills "I take it I have died."
The Reaper nodded his hooded head in agreement. He always wore a long and unadorned robe that covered his entire being save for the pair of large leathery wings protruding from his back. A pair of pale yellow glowing orbs that were its eyes were visible beyond the hood that covered his face, offering a hint to his ancestry. The Reaper stood silently, as he always did, waiting on Tris, his robes gently swaying on the currents of air that circulated around the chamber.
"I need to get back to where I died." she said after a moment of consideration.
There was a moment of hesitation as the Reaper considered what to say. "I'm afraid I cannot do that Sojourner." he finally replied. There was no malice in his denial but his refusal stunned her nonetheless for the Reaper never before refused.
Tris furrowed her brow in confusion "I have the rogue stones required to power the spell," she began to protest, but the reaper raised his arm to quiet her.
"Mephistopheles forbade it." was all the explanation he offered.
She remembered then; the siege of Lith My'athar, her meeting with the Valsharess and the final confrontation with Mephistopheles that landed her here. She remembered now the devil's admission that the Relic she carried belonged to him and that his servitude to the foolishly ambitious drow was all a ruse, part his elaborate plan to conquer Toril.
Suddenly angry at having been played the fool she lashed out at the Reaper, "You work for him!"
"Not by choice," was the Reaper's reply, "he sealed his command by the power of my true name."
True Name. Tris understood then what it meant and how impossible her request sounded to the Reaper. She knew that the true name had power far greater than a geas, for it bound you to your duty even beyond death. She sat on the dais that acted as the summoning circle to the Reaper's realm and looked at her host. She felt a sudden kinship and understanding with this creature for she still remembered the unbearable pull and tug of Halaster's geas. She examined her inner being and cautiously conjured up a rebellious thought that went against the mage's wishes. She felt nothing then and closed her eyes, releasing a barely audible sigh of relief. Halaster's geas was gone with the Valsharess's passing.
She opened her eyes and looked at the Reaper again, suddenly regaining a measure of determination. "How do I get back to Toril?"
The Reaper studied the girl in front of him and the range of emotions that passed through her face as she learned the truth about his servitude to Mephistopheles: betrayal, pity, relief and finally determination, peppered by an underlying hint of fury. For the first time in the long centuries of his existence he felt - if creatures of his kind could feel - that perhaps this tiny human had power enough to defeat the Archduke of Cania. Why else would Mephistopheles banish her to his domain other than to ensure that she could not interfere with him on Toril? Even the Reaper knew that Mephistopheles' powers were greatly diminished outside his realm. The Reaper longed to rid his own existence of Mephistopheles' meddlesome presence and in this girl in front of him he saw enough rebellious determination that could finally unravel the Archduke's machinations. A plan formulated in the Reaper's mind to set the girl on the path back to Toril even if he himself could not directly help her. After all, there was nothing in Mephistopheles' command that forbade him to talk.
"There is a way for you to return to the prime plane Sojourner," he admitted, "but the path lies through Cania."
Some measure of hope returned to Tris and she looked to the Reaper to explain further.
"There is a being that resides in the frozen wastes, far older than you or me, or even Mephistopheles: The Knower-of-Names. Find her and learn from her my true name. Return to me with this knowledge and your command will have the power to break Mephistopheles' hold over me."
Tris shook her head in frustration; she had no time to embark on another fool's errand while her friends and countless other innocents were in danger. She was sure that finding the Knower-of-Names would prove to be a quest of needle in a haystack proportions and she has had enough being everyone's errand girl.
"Can't you just tell me your true name yourself?" There was a hint of anger in her desperate plea and something in her insolent tone greatly offended the Reaper. In one sweeping motion he stooped down to look directly in her eyes and for the first time Tris could glimpse the ugly outline of the visage that hid behind the hood.
"A true name is a gift, Sojourner, not to be given lightly!" He roared with sudden emotion. "What can you offer me in return for this endowment that would remotely compare to its value!"
They stared at each other for a long moment, neither one of them wanting to take their gaze off, finally the Reaper rose up again and looked off into the distance, remembering a time when he was free of his servitude to the Archdevil. His voice became hollow and distant, he almost sounded tired.
"Mephistopheles stole my true name in the same manner that I offer you now for the sole promise that you would return here and undo his curse with a curse of your own. So no I will not tell you my true name, when it was stolen from me so was my will broken to give it freely."
Finally convinced of the girl's compliance with his plan he moved to one of the dormant portals in the room. "Come Sojourner," he said at length "Cania awaits and Mephistopheles will not put his plans of conquest on hold just to await your return."
Tris suddenly remembered Mephistopheles' earlier promise before he sent her here and an involuntary shudder left her spine, she fished out a rogue stone from the pouch hanging off her belt and tossed it to the Reaper. He deftly caught it in his hand and held it in front of the portal. He spoke the arcane words to activate it and a burst of light filled the place, momentarily chasing the perpetual shadows away. It dimmed just as fast to reveal a vast snowy wasteland beyond the now open doorway.
Tris rose to her feet and approached the portal, her tired feet shuffling along the stone. A wicked blizzard was brewing beyond the light and the winds kept sweeping in the snow into the chamber. She felt a chill she hasn't felt before, a cold so desperate that it chilled her beyond her bones and grabbed a hold of her core being. A feeling of great defeat suddenly threatened to overwhelm her and she sunk to her knees at the base of the doorway. She sat there with shoulders slumped, one hand gripping the frame for support and she wondered why the fates kept toying with her and throwing her in the path of unyielding destiny. She felt tired and helpless in the face of the odds that always seemed to stack against her.
She stared out at the frozen wasteland and considered the recent events that led her to this moment, hoping to find some memory that would help her regain some measure of strength to continue her arduous journey.