Greetings. This story is the prologue to the current homebrew campaign my husband and friends are playing. I created the world and began the story before circumstances required my husband to take over DMing. He changed a lot of the world, and I made a Fathomless Warlock to join the campaign. This chapter is a snapshot of her origin. I will continue to chronicle here. We are quite a way through the campaign at this point so it might take a while. I've gotten very emotionally invested in this story and my character, so this is as much to have a record of the story as it is for others to enjoy. I hope you enjoy.

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I don't know what it was that woke me. I was suspended in a world of warmth where every movement felt effortless. The muscles in my hands twitched as I flexed my fingers. My ears focused on the sound of the waves sloshing against the rocks and slowly I eased my eyes open. The beach stretched out before me before opening out into a sea of shimmering crystal. I observed the crashing waves and some part of me ached with sorrow for something that I could not quite place. I gingerly sat up. The sodden material of my skirts was heavy with salt water and my pale skin was covered in dried sand.

Rubbing a hand down my calf to remove the sand, I noticed the pallor of the skin. It was cool to the touch despite having been laying in the sun and there was a waxiness that I knew wasn't right. I lifted my hands closer to my face and saw that they too bore a similar hue. Confusion turned to panic as I looked about the beach for signs of life.

It was then that I heard a gentle voice like a mother's caress. My body immediately relaxed as though by instinct, and I watched on in silent awe as a figure emerged from the waves. The figure stopped at the edge of the waves and extended a hand to me.

'Scylla Drakos,' she spoke my name, and I felt a tug in my chest.

I rose to my feet and stumbled a little in the sand as I made my way to her. I reached out and took the hand without hesitation. Cool water touched my palm as I felt something hard fall into my hand. I opened my hand to find a small pendant of greenish gold. Inside the metal frame was what appeared to be a miniature rock pool. Tiny sprigs of coral and seagrass adorned it, and the surface of the pool swirled prettily.

'You belong to the sea now,' the kindly voice continued. 'I found you before you could be lost to the abyss and pulled you back. You know me'.

I did know her. Whether or not I fully understood how did not matter. Flashes of days spent drifting at sea and the warmth of her embrace flickered across my mind. Something else also surfaced then. A panic like none I had ever known before. I absentmindedly moved my right hand to touch my left and the memory hit me. Wryyn.

My stomach lurched and I clapped my hands to it, coughing and heaving as I found that there was nothing to bring up. How long had it been since I'd eaten? Elhara looked at me with pitying eyes as I slowly ran my hand down my stomach.

'She's gone, Scylla,' the calm voice spoke before I could ask. 'I could not save her'.

'What do you mean?' my voice sounded hollow and nothing like I remembered it.

The woman in the water stayed silent for a moment and the waves around her churned more rapidly with her unease.

'I could not bring you back as you were,' she murmured. 'The magic that damned you was too powerful'.

'What am I?' I demanded.

Elhara's eyes softened. 'You are neither dead, nor living. Whilst you dwell on the sea you are whole, but on the land, I cannot reach you'.

Unsure of what to say I took a tentative step forward, placing my bare feet into the tide. I looked at my hands again and could not help the small gasp that left my lips as I saw my skin. It was pale as it always was, but it was alive. I turned my head back to the sand and the tree line beyond. Curiously, I noticed tracks leading up and down the beach from where I had awoken.

Elhara met my eyes with a sad smile as I focused back on the water. 'I have been waiting for you for so long, Scylla'.

I hesitated before asking the question that burned in my throat. 'How long have I been here?'

'Almost twenty years'.

I wanted to die. What could I possibly have done to deserve this? My mind swam and the sickening truth shattered through my denial. I'd been here before. This had all happened for me a thousand times before. Twenty years of remembering and breaking was reflected back at me as I looked at Elhara. Why was I still here? What was I doing? I had a life waiting for me. I had…Wrynn.

I screamed. The agony in my chest felt as though it might split me in two. Twenty years I'd been gone. What was I to him now? A sad story lost at sea. It was too much. I couldn't bear it any longer. I wanted this awful feeling to end.

'Why didn't I go home?' I asked hoarsely. 'Why aren't I with Wrynn?'

Elhara gave me a sympathetic smile. 'You couldn't. Losing your life, losing the baby, it broke you completely. It destroyed your mind until you begged me to help you forget'.

'But I remember'.

'Some things are too powerful for magic to fix,' Elhara shifted somewhat in the water and the resulting spray was tingly against my skin. 'I tried to protect you from the truth, but you always broke though'.

I nodded, knowing this to be true as she spoke it. How many times had I forgotten? How many days had I spent laying on this beach without purpose?

'I think that you're ready this time,' Elhara continued softly. 'I need you to be ready'.

I met her eyes and felt that same calmness spread through my chest. I took a step forward and she raised her arms to welcome me in. Despite the water soaking through my clothing, I felt warm and safe.

'Please tell me one thing,' I whispered as she held me.

'Of course,' her response washed over me.

'Is he happy?'

I felt a surge of warmth from her, and I knew that he was. I let myself be taken out to sea, unsure of what awaited me. The water was gentle against my skin and the current caused my hair to dance around us as we moved. The last thing I noticed before I closed my eyes was that my once platinum hair was now various shades of seafoam green.

xxx

So, for a bit of background information if anyone would care to know: Scylla is a Hollow one and is undead. Due to the nature of her curse, her patron Elhara was able to bring her back from the dead, but as Scylla's life is still tied to the fate of another, she could not be freed. So basically, she can be herself at sea, but on land where Elhara has less power, she cannot and appears as an undead.