The Dark Crusade

by Late to the Party

Candlekeep, font of knowledge. Charname, inquisitive, curious; Gorion, evasive. What happens when Charname puts two and two together (with the help of Imoen)? He comes to one, undeniable, conclusion: he has the power to save everyone from the Wall of the Faithless. The catch? He has to murder them all to do it. Thus begins the darkest crusade.

11. Part 3, I

Part III

By now, we had gained many followers but lost over a third to brigands, war, rivalries and petty jealousy. Only a handful had forsaken us, but those that remained grew strong. Although we could not gather everyone into the plane often, we took in members of each commune when needed, especially for the sick who could not afford to go to the temples. Through belief and my own power, I healed many. Those who were steadfast remained healed upon their return, but some wavered and perished. There were a few I was unable to mend, and these we consigned to tending the plane itself. There, they were sustained, and gradually, they built the houses of Gullykin, a great circle of stone, the centre of which became hearth and home.

We knew there would be reprisals, that the followers of other gods would soon strike, as would our siblings, if they ever caught wind of us, and so we did our best to prepare. We made contact with some of our rivals; Imoen did not murder them, but instead we offered non-aggression pacts. When these were turned down, as we expected, we used our plane to strike at them, insidious, swift, silent assaults where we simply opened a doorway and loosed barrels of oil and lanterns. No grand gestures, no flashy statements, just 'accidents'. We did not know our rivals' headquarters, but we did not need to. With the magic of Gorion's spellbook to guide her, Imoen had learnt to shroud herself most aptly, mask the doorway as a wall, and the barrels simply rolled through. We could have opened up a portal to the elemental plane of fire or flooded the city with water but that would lead back to us. It was our intention to free everyone not turn the realms against us.

While this was happening, Skie, daughter of Duke Entar Silvershield, one of the four Grand Dukes of the Gate, instructed us on etiquette. With her connections as a socialite, we gained entry with ease and it was not long before we met with Grand Duchess Cythandria, wife of Rieltar Anchev, rumoured former lover of Sarevok Anchev, who we later learnt wore another name: Koveras.