Zira Townsend's Journal - a DnD story

by slvrbird5

Zira an aasimar and Grave Cleric of Kelemvor expected to devote herself to helping her community grieve the loss of their loved ones. But Kelemvor and her Deva, Marat, have other plans. Undead roam the land and Kelemvorites consider them an abomination to be destroyed. Zira must heed the call. And she'll need companions to help her rid the land of these monstrosities.

8. Ches 27

Updated 1/16/24

27th of Ches

Is it bad when the most exciting part of the day was waking up to find out some impish squirrels got into all our stuff and completely ravaged the camp? I guess I shouldn't complain, the past two days have been more than exciting enough. So much so that we're behind schedule and Wilavor had us up and out early. I guess it wasn't too bad, seeing as everyone turned in early last night from exhaustion. But I don't know how we did it, the squirrels' shenanigans made packing up feel ten times harder than usual. And the worst part was all the damage they did to Wilavor's merchandise. She lost a lot between the fire and the pests, and she is NOT happy about it.

I didn't see Val when I woke this morning, he was up and off with his company before I ever opened my eyes. He left a note, though, so I would know. "Duty calls me away from you." Always such a gentleman.

Wilavor pushed us just fast and far enough to not be completely exhausted but to still make up almost half a day's travel. I'll admit she does know her stuff. I can respect that.

The evening went as usual; set up camp, dinner, after dinner socializing, and bed. Val found me for dinner. He even talked me into pushing my hood down, promising to protect me. And despite the short amount of time I've known Val, I already feel a bond and trust similar to the one I have with Envon.

It's not till now, as I write this, that I fully realize it's because of Marat's visions. My dreams of Valentiano Peacetalon, seeing our life together to his life's end. My dreams from Marat have created this bond because, in a way, I've already lived part of our lives together. I know we will always protect each other. What I don't know is, does Val feel this bond too? My dreams from Marat are rarely wrong, so unless I somehow royally screw this up, in time he will.

We joined Val's friends from his company, Hunter, Gilra, and Czorn, for dinner around one of the communal fires. None of them said a thing about my face or even gave it more than a second look. I guess the kind of people who would be drawn to a man as kindhearted as Val would be kind souls themselves. We enjoyed plenty of drinks and laughter while they shared stories of their adventures. I even shared a story about Envon and me growing up!

Hunter launched into a wild tale about a time they had to fight off bandits attempting to plunder the caravan they were protecting. Hunter quickly attacked the enemies with his rapier while Val stabbed at foes with his sword. A slashing sword came at Hunter and Val couldn't get his blade around fast enough to parry! Hunter staggered dramatically as he mimed taking a gash to his torso.

Hunter interrupted his own story to tell me, "Don't worry I got her in the end!"

The conflict raged on, with greater hijinx and valiantly, until their group was inevitably victorious!

As Hunter finished the tale Val added, "And that is the day I swore I would learn to fight with two swords. So, I would never leave a friend unguarded again." He looked around and smiled affectionately at each of his friends.

It was a wonderful night. I even stumbled a bit on the way back to my tent. It's been a long time since I allowed myself to let loose and have a bit of fun!

Z