Disclaimer: I do not own any of the races, classes, lore, spells, or mechanics of Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition from Wizards of the Coast. This is a fanfiction story based in a personal world with original characters. No money is being made from this work. This is for pure amusement due to my fascination with D&D mechanics.

Missteps

Chapter 26 – Memories

"Well, that puts a dampener on that plan." Carric chuckled as the three of them stared at the notice pinned to the locked outer gates of the Entertainer's Guild.

"'All non-Guild members are banished from the premises until the mess of the Lirathan Welcome Party is contained. Notable exceptions are of course the Town Guard and Sylph Heart Circle Mages (with proper identification).'" Elaine said aloud. "What do you think happened?"

"Judging by the smell, nothing good." Maron's voice was muffled as he'd covered the lower half of his face. A pungent odor was wafting out from the other side of the door. They could all hear a flurry of activity on the other side. Muffled yells, shrieks of surprise, and suspicious booms.

"I don't think we're going to get to talk with Kerri today." Carric remarked as the trio headed off down the street.

Maron sighed. "Looks that way. What did the two of you have planned? Mind if I tag along? I don't feel like playing 'The Prince' today."

"We just planned on doing some shopping." Carric gave a shrug. "I don't mind if you tag along, in fact Elaine had mentioned that she needed to get you a gift."

"Really?" Maron turned to Elaine. "Why?"

"Not for you specifically, for the delegation." Elaine explained as she petted Shomma who had found herself around Elaine's neck. "Deacon Masundle suggested it as I'm attending your Welcome Party as a representative of the Church of Pelor."

"He's sending a Lirathan Cleric of Pelor as the rep?" Maron gave a chuckle. "And I thought my brother was the only playing politics."

"What do you mean, 'playing politics'?"

"Come on Elaine, you can't be that dense." Maron stopped for a moment. "The Church of Pelor is the only religious order that was invited to the Welcome Party. It's just another gesture from the Royal Family to try to re-establish good standing with the Church. It's like the Temple you guys were gifted last year."

"Great, so you're saying I'm just a political pawn?"

Maron nodded. Elaine groaned.

"Well, fine then. I'll play the part." They started walking again. "What kind of gift would the delegation enjoy? Something neutral like a shiny piece of artwork, or something of significance?"

"Up to you." Maron looked back towards the road. "So, an adventuring group. Really? You never really seemed the type."

"What kind of type did I seem?" Elaine reached up and scratched Shomma under the chin, a response to the latter's small squeaks.

"The homebody type, if I'm honest. You never seemed to want to leave the Temple."

"I didn't want to leave." Elaine grimaced. "Just walking down the street seemed to be an excuse for those loyal to the Royal Family to accost me. If I tried to shop on the wrong side of town, there were many who tried to cheat me on prices, or who just refused to sell to me."

"Really? It's always seemed like the Church of Pelor had supporters everywhere."

"We do, but since it's a literal crime to be an open follower, there are many who are afraid to come forward and help. Believe or not, there are some people who don't want to risk leaving their families for jail or the work houses. Not with all the food shortages."

"Trust me Elaine, the guards of Liratha have more to worry about then a follower or some Cleric getting in a tussle." Maron pursed his lips into a straight line. Uncomfortable silence lingered in the air for a few minutes following this. To be honest, this was already more time Elaine had ever spent with Maron, without Kerri around.

The first time Elaine had met the Prince, outside of him being an honored guest at some event, was at a party.

Back then, the Lirathan Entertainer's Guild had held a huge party celebrating the success of a new show. They'd rented out the full town square, and had spent months getting the permits to shoot fireworks off. The whole thing was a very large and noisy affair. It was also a ruse.

In actuality the Guild was steering attention away from their Guild house, where they were allowing the ranking Pelorian clergy members to meet in secret. Elaine was still an Acolyte back then. Her job was to mingle with the party goers and to keep an eye on the Guards.

By this point, Kerri and Elaine had known each other for a few months. Since they were similar in age the two of them were paired up a lot. The Entertainer's Guild was a large supporter of the Church and frequently helped smuggle Clergy members around the city. The two of them worked together often. Kerri would provide distractions for Elaine as she passed messages to followers, made deliveries, or picked up items. More than once they'd been a part of mad dashes through town trying to lose the Guards.

That night, Kerri had brought a date to the party. This in itself wasn't unusual, Kerri had a lot of dates. Her date kept his face covered the whole time, and when she introduced him, she only referred to him as 'her date'. All Kerri had told Elaine up to then about this latest fling, was that he worked with the local Thieves' Guild. Elaine figured that the less she knew about him the better.

The three of them had fun that night. The food was good, the music amazing, and the secret meeting had come and gone with no issues. When it was time for the fireworks, they climbed onto the roof of the Guild house. They weren't the only ones with the same idea, but Kerri steered them close to the chimney, shielding their group from view.

That's when 'her date' took off his scarf and hood, revealing his face. At first Elaine hadn't noticed, the fireworks had started and she'd been entranced by the show. It was when she looked over to make a comment to Kerri that she saw. The two of them were cuddled together, each taking a turn to whisper in the other's ear as they carried on a conversation. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but she saw her friend laughing and smiling.

Elaine didn't say anything that night, or the next day, or over the next few months. She figured that like all of Kerri's dates, this would only last for a few weeks. But it didn't. Months went by, and the two of them started see less and less of each other as Kerri spent more time by Maron's side.

By the time Elaine received Maron's note, she hadn't seen or spoken to Kerri in almost two months. A lingering thought that Elaine couldn't shake, is if she could have helped prevent Kerri from getting hurt? If she'd spoken up at the beginning, instead of after a few months, would they still have fought like they did? By that point, Kerri was head over heels in love, and Elaine could tell that she was letting her feelings guide her, and not her head. Maron became a point of contention for the two friends.

The two of them had made up a lot on the boat ride to Marblebrooke, but Kerri still refused to talk about Maron with Elaine.

Carric wordlessly steered the group into a General Store. For the next couple of hours the three of them were able to fill the air with discussions on what supplies to bring. The first thing Carric insisted they buy were tents.

Maron wasn't much help. From his questions it was obvious that he had not spent much time away from the city. Carric answered his questions distractedly as they perused the items. All in all there wasn't much they had to buy, a lot of the more basic supplies the Church had already agreed to provide.

Next door to the General Store, was a dressmaker.

"Hey Elaine, is the Church going to provide a party dress?" Carric asked as the three of them watched a young redhead dress a mannequin in the window.

Elaine gave a shrug. "I don't know, it hasn't really come up."

"Do you own any party clothes?" Maron looked down at the Cleric.

"I have my vestments. I figure if nothing else I'll wear those and really look like a Church pawn."

Maron groaned. He grabbed Elaine's hand and dragged her into the store.

"This woman needs a dress." Maron announced to the middle-aged woman standing behind a small counter.

"What kind of dress?" The woman asked as she rushed forward, already unfurling a roll of measuring tape. The young woman from the window hurried over.

"One appropriate for a party at the Governor's Mansion in Silverbank." Maron explained as he grabbed Elaine's pack and crossbow and passed them over to Carric. "We're leaving tomorrow, so I'm hoping you have something already made."

Carric settled himself on the floor against the wall, Shomma in his lap. Elaine sent him a pleading look as the seamstresses began measuring every inch of her, but all he did was grin and shake his head.

"You're in luck, we do have a few dresses. They were ordered by the Entertainer's Guild, but unfortunately circumstances changed and the orders had to be cancelled. Cynthia, take this woman into the back and get her undressed. I'll collect the dresses and we'll see what we can do." The middle-aged woman clicked her tongue and rushed out of the room. The young girl pulled Elaine through the other door and into a good-sized dressing room. Elaine was ushered onto a stool and disrobed.

The woman, who introduced herself as Diana, rushed into the room with four dresses in her arms. As the two of them dressed and re-dressed Elaine, she was reminded of the last time she was used as someone's doll.

Just like now, she was being dressed for a party. Unlike now, she wasn't a guest at that one, but the Guest of Honor.

Elaine had been eighteen at the time, and still living in Osthom. It'd been two years since the Orc attack, and the death of her older sister. She still lived in her grandparents' home with her three younger siblings. Her grandparents, who were ship-builders, were the only parents she knew, but she knew that her parents were still alive. Every time they had another child, they would send it to be raised by her mother's parents. All her grandparents ever said about the arrangement, was that it was for the best of the children.

Two year prior, Elaine's sister, Gennifer, turned eighteen. She was going to be the first of them to travel to see their parents. She'd been so excited, and everyone had worked for months to save up the money for her trip. Two days before her departure date, the Orcs had attacked.

Ever since that day, Elaine had pulled away from her family. Tristan blamed her for their sister's death, and Elaine couldn't blame him. She knew she wasn't responsible for her death, but she was the reason Gennifer had died alone.

A couple of weeks after she turned eighteen, her grandmother presented Elaine with a sack of gold, and papers. In the papers were multiple ship tickets, destination instructions, and a letter. It was up to Elaine to take the trip meant for Gennifer. Elaine was already on her way by the time the sun had set in Osthom.

The journey took three weeks. Wherever she was going, it wasn't a straight shot. She was shuffled between multiple ships, all captained by friends of her grandparents. Finally she was thrown into a dingy early one afternoon and told to paddle due east towards an island in the distance.

As the dingy was being lowered into the water, Elaine didn't understand why she was suddenly being thrown out on her own. As she paddled though, the reason became clear. The water under her boat was crystal clear, and below her she could see large spires of stone jutting out from the bottom of the ocean floor. Shipwrecks were scattered here and there, some still impaled on the spires that had brought them down. Even the bottom of her dingy scrapped some of the spires that were the closest to the surface. The most dangerous part, none of the spires breached the surface.

As she got closer to the island, the first thing she saw was the large cliff-face. Later she learned that it was actually the outside of a once active volcano. The second were the handful of boats, its passengers casting out nets and reeling in catches of fish. A man in the closet boat was the first to notice her. She heard him yell out something to his companions, before he jumped in the water and swam out to meet her.

"Are you lost?" Were the first words out of the man's mouth once he'd breached the surface next to her dingy.

"I don't think so." Elaine explained how she'd ended up there while the man climbed aboard. She dug out the letter to her parents from her pack, showing him the names written on the front of the envelope. The man read the names, and his eyes narrowed.

"I will take you to them." Was all he said before he took the paddles from her, and steered the small vessel closer to the island. The fisherman formed a kind of guard around the dingy, surrounding the craft and leading the way around the cliff-face. After an hour they came upon a large opening in the side, large enough for a large sea vessel to pass through easily. Torches were lit on every vessel. One of the fisherman handed a lit one to Elaine as they entered the cave.

Inside, messages of warning and despair were scrawled on the walls. Skeletons dangled in nets hung from the ceiling, or shackled against the wall like an art project. Elaine's hand shook as she held the torch, and fear took hold of her mind. No one around Elaine had a friendly smile to offer. They all seemed to be suspicious and skeptical of her, at least that's what she thought but even she had to admit the intermittent scowls and glares that were sent her way might have been misleading.

After ten minutes or so, they passed through another opening, and came out in the interior of the dormant volcano. Inside, a large tropical forest had formed, and within that forest stood a civilization.

Elaine forgot about the pit in the bottom of her stomach as she stared open-mouthed at the structures around her. Waterways acted as streets, with sidewalks and bridges connecting the different landmasses. Stones lined the canals, protecting the earth from being eroded away. Structures build into the trunks of large tress, in their branches, or just under their leaves were everywhere.

The group pulled their boats into a small marina and disembarked. The man who'd taken control of Elaine's dingy grabbed her bags and helped her out. A small crowd of people had begun to gather, gawking at Elaine. She had the distinct impression that they didn't get many visitors here. She was also aware of how warm it was inside the cone.

Many of the people now surrounding her were dressed in thin clothing. The women were clothed in vibrantly colored wrapped dresses and skirts, the men similarly clothed. Both men and women wore pants that were loose fitting and flowing. On their feet were sandals, usually with laces that wound up their calves. Around her they all seemed to be human, but she saw pointed ears on some of them. Everyone, even some of the children, were tattooed and dark skinned. Elaine was too distracted to feel embarrassed.

Elaine was led towards the cliff wall, where stairs had been carved and wound up. Glancing up, she was shocked to discover a whole network of staircases. Dwellings had been carved into the cliff-face, whole neighborhoods. In fact, as the sun began to sink beneath the cliff, lights began to flicker out of the carved windows. It was as if a thousand lightning bugs were glittering all around the circumference of this island.

Finally, her group descended back to the ground and approached a white stone building that strongly reminded Elaine of the government houses back home. This was easily the largest building on the island, and they got closer she could see brightly colored stones imbedded into the walls.

The large double doors were already ajar and she was handed over to a stern, bald man with two swords strapped to his waist. He was shirtless, but his chest was so heavily tattooed it looked like he was wearing a shirt.

The doors were shut behind them with a heavy thud as Elaine, now carrying her own bags, was led deeper into the building. Torches lined the halls, the fire glinting off the large windows they passed. The walls that didn't have windows were brightly painted in prints of different plants and animals.

The man led her into a courtyard full of vibrant flowers and trees. A large fountain sat in the middle. Sitting on the lip of the fountain was a dark-haired girl, her hair closely braided and pulled into a ponytail. She wore the same style of clothing as the other islanders, only her clothes were trimmed in gold.

"You may leave us Marcus." A deep voice said from Elaine's left. Looking over, she saw a man and a woman in lounge chairs. The man had his hair closely shaved to his scalp, and wore a golden coronet around his head. The woman next to him was wearing a silver coronet, though it was almost lost in her dark blown out hair. In the torchlight, Elaine could have sworn she was seeing her grandmother. They were also dressed in gold-trimmed clothing.

"I hope your journey wasn't too awful." The woman said as she stood up and approached Elaine.

"No, just long. Who are you?" Even as the words left Elaine's mouth, she knew. These people were her family, and they were island royalty.

Elaine stayed on the island for three months. Her stay turned out to be a sorely needed vacation.

She learned how a storm had blown her mother's ship into the spire field. She along with a few others had managed to swim to the island, where they'd been welcomed. The islanders were used to taking in strays, and more often than not those strays stayed.

However, the islanders had to be careful. Their resources weren't limitless, so to ensure that they wouldn't starve several measures had been put in place.

Dwellings were confined to the cliff walls so as to conserve farmland in the center of the landmasses. Capital punishment and exile were common punishments to ensure peace. Families were restricted to only one or two children. Excess children were either adopted out to childless couples, or sent away from the island. Euthanasia for long-standing withering diseases or disabilities was common.

Due to the scarcity of paper and parchment, family history and great events were carved upon the cliffs, and tattooed onto the skin of family members. It was not uncommon for several generations of family members to have the same tattoo inked upon them.

Not even the King and Queen of the island were exempt from these laws, hence the sending away of Elaine and her siblings. Queen Rowan tearfully told Elaine how hard it was every time, but she'd rather her children live away from her than to never have been born. She and King Tristan II cried for several days upon hearing of Gennifer's death.

Elaine bonded with her new sister, Alicia, the eldest taking it upon herself to introduce the island to Elaine. It was Alicia who showed Elaine the first carvings ever etched into the cliffs. She showed Elaine how the island took its name from the dormant volcano it sat upon, and where the first inhabitants originally came from.

Her parents threw her a week-long celebration to welcome her to the island.

The hardest thing Elaine faced while on the island, was overcoming her own self of modesty. Even she had to admit that it was too warm on the island to stay as covered as she liked. Alicia told Elaine to imagine the tattoos as just another piece of clothing, while Elaine herself was covered in a sheer shawl that at least offered some cover.

Back in the present, the group left the dressmaker's.

"Please, let me pay you back for this." Elaine rushed after Maron, clutching her new dress that was wrapped in brown paper, to her chest.

"Elaine, it is a gift from the Royal Family of Liratha, to a Cleric of Pelor." Maron grinned. "Why can't you just accept it?"

"Because the last time you gave a dress to someone, she ended up exiled." Elaine narrowed her eyes, scanning Maron's face.

Maron sighed. "It's not an 'exile', Elaine." He smiled and held out a hand towards her. "Thank you for letting me escape for a while, but I should be heading back."

Elaine glowered for a second before she shook his hand. "Find out exactly what Kerri is, will you?"

"Will do." Maron turned and offered the hand to Carric. "It was nice to meet you."

"You too," Carric shook the hand.

"I look forward to seeing you both in Silverbank." Maron gave a small bow, then turned and headed up the street.

"I think the dress looks nice." Carric commented as him and Elaine turned down a side street and headed back towards the Church. "Also, he's a lot nicer than the stories you told me."

"That's just his charm oozing off."

"No, I think you're just biased."

Elaine scoffed.

That night Elaine packed her pack. The caravan to Silverbank was leaving the next morning. Even Carric had agreed to spend the night in the Church so as not to be late.

She carefully laid out her vestments: a white robe with yellow embroidery along the cuffs, a plain yellow stole with Pelor's symbol stitched upon it, and a yellow sash that went around her waist. She took a small black bag off her bed and opened it.

Inside the bag were two items. The first was a collared choker made of gold, with white outlined suns etched onto it. This piece of jewelry marked her as a Cleric.

The second item was a gray diamond carved into a perfect rectangle. Imprinted upon it were blue colored runes. It was big enough to fit comfortably in her hand, and it was cold to the touch.

When Elaine had left the island, Alicia had secretly passed Elaine a black box. Inside the box was the diamond block, and a note. According to family lore, the diamond had been under their protection since before they'd settled the island. She couldn't explain it, but Alicia knew that the key, her words, belonged with Elaine now.

At the first opportunity, Elaine had written to Alicia, asking her more about the diamond key, but Alicia only wrote back that it was better for no one to know the key had left the island, or that it existed.

The only person who knew about the diamond key besides the two of them, was Kerri. Kerri only knew about it because she'd come across it while snooping in Elaine's belongings early on in their relationship. Elaine had sworn Kerri to secrecy about it, and as far as she knew Kerri had kept her word.

Elaine stowed the key back with her choker, and then wrapped the bag in with her vestments, that were then stowed in their own cloth bag. She placed the bag on top of the brown paper package that contained her new dress within her pack.

Before she climbed into bed, she lit a candle and sent a prayer to Pelor to watch over the soul of the boy that had died that day. The thought crossed her mind that it was unfair for a young life such as his to end so early. Her conversation with Lia back in the Settlement, in which Lia spoke of spells that could revive the dead came to the forefront of her mind.

It wasn't the first time those spells had come up. It was impossible to follow a religion that was based in fighting the undead without those questions arising. If there was indeed magic out there that could breathe real life back into those who had died needlessly, why couldn't they use it?

Priest Antodin always answered with a simple question: what gave them the right? Unlike the Gods, those on the material plane don't have the ability to look into a person's soul and judge it. The person could have a greater mission waiting for them in the afterlife, or they could have a punishment. Bringing the person back to life, might also upset the course of someone else's destiny.

Antodin had stressed to all of her pupils and followers that death was a natural consequence of living. It was not something to live in fear of, but nor was it something to yearn for. They are to spend their time under Pelor's light performing good deeds and actions. To work on creating a world centered on freedom and justice, a world in which the followers of evil could no longer thrive.

To that end, perhaps it was time for her to let go of her grudge against Maron. As Carric had pointed out, he hadn't given her any reason to truly doubt him today.

However, she couldn't shake the nagging feeling that he was still connected to whatever had happened to Kerri. She also couldn't forget that it was his family that was keeping her Cardinal in prison simply for his beliefs. No, she wasn't ready to bury the proverbial hatchet just yet.

A/N: And now we know more about Elaine, and a bit more Elaine. Haven't decided yet whether next chapter is Kerri or Carric. You'll just have to tune in to find out!

Name: Elaine (Morgan) Archer
Class/Level: Cleric 3 - Light Domain
Race: Human
Age: 23
STR: 16
DEX: 16
CON: 17
INT: 10
WIS: 19
CHA: 16
HP: 27
AC: 18 (with armor and a shield)

Originally Elaine wasn't a part of the group. She is the only character that was created with a specific class in mind. After the first couple of fights when a lot of the characters were on the verge of dying, I realized that a healer was needed to keep them alive. Like Lia, Elaine technically has access to the full list of clerical spells, but I went through and narrowed it down a smaller list that she's pulling from when she prepares each day. There are some spells that she wouldn't have had access to, or that Pelor wouldn't have allowed. The way I see it, Elaine might have started with the potential for magic, but ultimately her power comes from the deity she serves (similar to have Warlocks receive power from their Patrons).

Elaine is also the only character to have a background pulled from the Sword Coast Adventurer's supplement book.