DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: Dawn of Revolution
The Initiate
Eight months before the coalition war began...
The carriage ride from the Midnight Keep to Cheshire had been a pleasant one so far, especially with lively conversation along the way. The Verhamaine autumn countryside simply breezed by as Dagri Marshmoor got to know his new friend and fellow cultist Jacklett, a water genasi rogue who seemed to know everything about Verhamaine's shady underworld.
One of Jacklett's first questions on the one-day carriage ride was how Dagri, a handsome young half-orc fellow, ended up joining the Cult of Bones. "I was left all alone by age ten," Dagri had explained once the carriage set off for this initiation mission. "I was desperate for anyone to take me in. I ran with orc gangs and thief guilds until I met a Cult of Bones recruiter. I think this is where I truly belong now." Or at least, he kept telling himself so.
"That's totally understandable. I feel you," Jacklett had told him. "The boss is gonna take down the king this year and remake the Kingdom of Verhamaine into a place where even misfits like us can feel like they belong. Too many folks like us have to live hard lives in the shadows, scorned and forgotten. No more!"
The two of them had high-fived over that sentiment, and now, their horse-drawn carriage had reached Cheshire's city limits. Dagri felt his gut squirm with excitement and nerves, knowing that today, he'd prove himself worthy to serve under Bog'Shaic the lich, the undead master who would give Dagri another new chance at the good life. The mission was simple: infiltrate the Eaglemore Estate and assassinate the owner, Edra Willow, and bring back her head as proof. Easy, right?
"We're not goin' into the city. No need," Jacklett explained as Chesire's huge, curved stone wall drew closer. "The Cult of Bones, and the proximity of the Midnight Keep, is why Cheshire has such a thick wall and so many guards. Fortunately for us, our target lives in one of the rural estates."
As he spoke, Jacklett tugged on the two horses' reins, and the whinnying animals broke off the smooth dirt road and toward the expansive countryside, a place of rolling hills, colorful autumn-touched trees, and plenty of farmland and pastures. Already, Jacklett's and Dagri's carriage was rolling through someone else's estate, the Peacock Estate, according to the wooden sign by the road. And sure enough, the Eaglemore Estate was just ahead... there!
"Ah, there it is," Jacklett said smugly, pointing ahead. Dagri nodded and beheld the huge, fancy mansion sitting in the middle of apple orchards and fenced-off pastures, with a few storage sheds and other auxiliary buildings clustered around the mansion. It was go time! Do or die!
Jacklett stopped the carriage behind a cluster of trees and hopped down. "On your feet, initiate," he said cheerily, raising his navy blue robe's hood. "Show me what you can do."
"Lead the way." Dagri joined his friend and raised his hood as well, sneaking through an apple orchard to covertly approach Edra Willow's mansion. Plenty of workers were out and about on this lively estate, but a stealth amulet that hung around Jacklett's neck kept the two cultists hidden from the naked eye. Dagri had snuck in and out of houses and businesses before, but this felt different. And totally better.
"Let's try this one," Jacklett said after he peeked through a ground-floor window. Dagri, as the stronger of the two, produced a simple crowbar and pried open the window, the wood creaking as Dagri applied bone-crushing pressure to it. He heard the window's lock break right off, and the window slid up, allowing both cultists to climb into a small study. The room had a pair of cozy reading chairs with violet padding, a few bookshelves filled with tomes and models of ships, a fireplace, and other odds and ends. Rich people stuff.
"Right. Follow me."Jacklett half-crouched and carefully opened the door. "This amulet's stealth isn't perfect; up close, we're kinda easy to see. And I bet Edra Willow has anti-stealth enchantments around here. Be prepared for anything."
"You got it." Dagri had two daggers and a scroll of monster-holding on his belt under his robes, just in case. And, of course, his razor-sharp instincts as a half-orc who fought to survive in this unfair kingdom. He and Jacklett crept through the Eaglemore Estate, alert for any guards and servants who might cross them. So far, so good, but where was Edra? Perhaps upstairs in another study, or having tea in a, uh... tea-drinking room? Dagri didn't know the aristocratic term for rooms like that.
Along the way, Dagri felt himself start to relax in spite of himself, admiring how cozy and friendly this mansion felt. It matched what Dagri had heard about Edra Willow, a human widow in her 60s who worked hard to support local communities and provide relief to people in need. Even Dagri had to admit, Edra sounded like a fine person, but she also helped the Order of the Star routinely find and kill Cult of Bones squads without mercy. That, even more than Edra's vocal support of Lorelai's revolutionary army, made her a wanted woman in Bog'Shaic's undead eyes.
"Hey. Don't fall behind, rookie," Jacklett hissed as he and Dagri skulked around in the Eaglemore Estate's second-floor hallways. "You got a problem?"
Dagri blinked and shook his head. "N-no, I'm fine." But he didn't really feel fine after all. What was this? Why hesitate now? He had even met Bog'Shaic in person during his initiation ritual in the Midnight Keep, swearing his fealty to Verhamaine's future king!
"Hey! Who are you?!" a man's voice shouted.
"We're busted! Combat mode, rookie! I'll back you up!" Jacklett barked. He drew his shortsword and held it at the ready as a pair of armored guards jogged down the hallway, having just emerged from around the corner.
Dagri drew his twin daggers, clenching their handles tightly as his heart raced harder than ever. Here was his chance to spill blood for his master!
Jacklett went first.
With a shout, Jacklett whirled around, slashing at the guards with all his might, droplets of water spraying from his curly dark hair. Jacklett stabbed his sword straight through the gaps in one guard's steel breastplates, and the man staggered back, wailing in pain.
"GO, DAGRI!" Jacklett hollered as he withdrew his sword to fight the other guard. "I'll hold 'em! Find Edra and finish her!"
"Y-yeah!" Dagri snapped himself out of it and sprinted the other way, frantically rushing from one room to another to find his target. Curses, how big was this mansion? How much room did one lonely rich woman need?! And Dagri wasn't alone, either. Servants and maids ran screaming from the knife-wielding half-orc who barged his way into each room, one of whom dropped a pile of fresh laundry along the way.
Maybe in here? Dagri threw open another door and stumbled into a huge library, much bigger than the small study downstairs. Towering bookshelves divided the room into narrow aisles, with a few tables and chairs set up for studying. This mansion had to have enchanted supports to hold up a room like this, with the weight of all these books! Who even needed this many books, anyway?
Maybe her?
"What the..." A teenage wood elf girl in plain but well-tailored green and brown clothes stood right in Dagri's way in one of those aisles, a heavy book in her hands. She had braided, light brown hair and bright green eyes. And no fear in those eyes whatsoever.
Dagri hesitated. "Hey, uh... move aside, or you'll get it!" He motioned with his twin daggers.
The servant girl appraised the half-orc standing before her. "Are you going to kill me?"
"I'm here for your mistress. My boss needs her dead," Dagri explained. "Get outta my way, or you'll be first!"
The elf just stared at him, holding the book up to cher chest. "You don't actually mean that, do you?"
"Of course I do! The Cult of Bones doesn't play games," Dagri told her. "Don't try me."
The elf girl didn't budge, physically or mentally. "So, my mistress deserves to die? For the crime of helping others? Or... the crime of protecting Verhamaine's people from your cult?"
"Exactly!"
"You're new, aren't you?"
"Huh?"
The girl nodded at Dagri's weapons. "Twin daggers for initiates. And you don't have that look in your eyes yet."
Dagri actually felt himself lowering his daggers, and thus lowering his guard. He gasped and raised his weapons again. "That's enough! Who are you, anyway? Take me to your mistress, and I'll let you live."
"I'm Rena. Just Rena," the teenage elf declared. "I won't betray Mistress Willow for you, cultist. I'd die for her. She took me in when no one else would. Me, a poor, half-starved elf girl from the Illaran Kingdom border."
Dagri lowered his daggers again. "Say what?" This sounded eerily familiar...
"Mistress Willow gave me another chance at life, right here at the Eaglemore Estate!" Rena cried. "She gave me everything, cultist. In exchange for work, I was allowed to study in this library, and save up my earnings. Soon, I'll buy my freedom and put my knowledge to work somehow. But not if you kill me."
"I won't kill you if you cooperate. Promise." Dagri felt himself hesitating once again, however, and he realized Rena was right; he wasn't going to kill her, no matter what happened. This girl... she...
Rena sighed. "I guess this is how it ends."
"Well... no..."
"Or this is how it ends for Mistress Willow. I'm not strong enough to stop you and your mission."
"You see..."
"I found a place where I belong, cultist. You found one, too. I hoped you'd understand my position."
Dagri looked down. Rena was right! He saw himself in her, the pain and fear of being hungry and alone, not knowing what tomorrow would bring... and the greedy, corrupt Verhamaine king and aristocrats would never help someone like him. Or like Rena.
Wait a minute! Bog'Shaic promised to overthrow King Belwin Rhoda XVIII to create a new kingdom where forgotten wretches like him could live in the open, never afraid of anything ever again. Dagri had to help make that happen! But... if he killed Edra Willow, what would Rena think of that? What if someone killed the people who had accepted Dagri Marshmoor the lonely half-orc vagabond?
"I... I can't." Dagri couldn't believe what he was doing as he shifted his robes to sheath his daggers. "This isn't right."
Rena brightened. "I knew you'd see reason. Abandon the Cult of Bones. They're just using you; you're a tool for evil in their eyes, nothing more. Don't give up hope on someone better taking you in."
Dagri's mind was racing. Had his oath of fealty to Bog'Shaic been a delusion on his part? Dagri had been so sure that he had committed his life to his new lich lord, but what he had really sworn was to find his life's purpose with people who would truly accept him. The Cult of Bones' members were not those people.
He didn't need them. He didn't need any of this. Dagri had known it all along deep down, and Rena had shown him that fact in just five minutes.
"I'm Dagri Marshmoor. An initiate of the Cult of Bones," Dagri introduced himself. "Or, I was. I have to get out of here."
"I'll show you the way. Stay close to me," Rena told him. "First, we -"
"Dagri! You in here?" Jacklett hollered, panting and out of breath. He rushed into the library, his bloodstained shortsword held at his side. "I've been lookin' all over for you! There are lots of guards. Let's finish this together!"
Rena looked over at the other cultist. "Your friend?" she asked Dagri.
"Can you deal with him?"
Rena cracked a smile. "Watch this. I'm something of a wizard." She subtly motioned with a hand, and pearly white and blue magic glowed on her fingers.
Four guards stomped into the library from the other side, weapons drawn, fanning out to surround Jacklett. They swung their swords, and Jacklett slashed back, his sword passing right through the man.
Dagri stared in awe. An illusion!
"Go!" Rena hissed.
Dagri complied, and five more phantom guards stormed into the library. "Dagri! Back me up! Find the wizard and kill 'em!" Jacklett hollered. "Where are you?"
Dagri was already moving, hurrying out another door with Rena guiding him, the book still held to her chest. They scrambled down a staircase and back onto the ground floor, all while guards and servants ran this way and that.
"I've got you disguised as a servant," Rena explained hastily when a maid inexplicably ran right past Dagri, paying him no mind. "Now, this way, to the kitchen! It's got a back door!"
Sure enough, the cluttered, spacious kitchen had a wooden door at the back, and Dagri threw it open, stumbling into the open autumn afternoon air. His illusion vanished, flowing off of him like ethereal water.
"You have my thanks, Rena," Dagri panted, lowering his hood. "Truly. I am sorry I threatened you. We are more alike than I first realized."
Rena gave him a stern look. "Just promise me you'll find your destiny walking a new path, Dagri Marshmoor. Don't surrender to the darkness. Don't let monsters like Bog'Shaic tell you what your life should be."
Dagri bowed his head. "I give you my word, Rena. And I promise it to myself, too. Good-bye." He jogged away, not stopping until he reached a light forest, hidden from view. There, he ripped off his navy blue Cult of Bones robes and threw them onto the forest floor, staring at the white, jawless skull logo on the robe's chest. Without that robe, Dagri simply wore his simple black tunic and brown pants and shoes, his shirt's sleeves rolled up to the elbow.
Right then and there, Dagri renounced his allegiance to the Cult, and with that, set off once again on his confusing but exciting journey to who knows where.
Along the way, Dagri vaguely wondered if the city of Cheshire would welcome him, and what the city was like, if he could earn passage into that metropolis. Why not get a fresh start there? Yeah, that sounded like a fine idea.
Anything was better than killing an innocent servant girl who had everything to gain. A "mere" servant girl who had a certain fire in her eyes, once that put Dagri's former devotion to the Cult of Bones to shame. He wished her the best. She deserved it... and maybe, so did he.