Eternal
Something doesn’t quite add up about all this. Cyrus’ position isn’t looking too good right now, but he’s right in that he certainly would’ve come up with a better plan than something like this. You’re willing to at least hear him out.
“Cyrus, you convinced me once before that I should trust you. Convince me again.” You say.
“I can’t, you’ll have to make that decision yourself. All I can do is explain what I think might’ve caused Draven to behave in the manner that he did. (Sniffle) Okay first of all I didn’t send any of the Blades to Nalin secretly…Dravin did. I didn’t even know until a couple months after he did and he confessed everything to me. Naturally I got mad about it, but what was done was done and I just told him to keep his mouth shut about it to anyone else. This didn’t come out again until our earlier council meeting where I claimed I sent them because I didn’t want Draven to get into trouble for it.”
“Right Cyrus, you expect any of us to believe that? Draven’s dead so you’re just using him as a scapegoat right now in a miserable excuse to escape Dendrin’s justice!” Yvette exclaims, but Cyrus just ignores her and continues with her story.
“After the meeting, Draven got very upset and was worried that you were going to have me executed. I told him that, that wasn’t likely, but he just kept claiming it was all his fault. I tried to calm him down, we argued and he eventually left the room. That was the last I saw of him…I knew he was distressed, but I just never thought that he’d…(sob).”
At this point Cyrus breaks down into tears. There is an awkward silence followed by some whispering and then your own decision.
“Let him go. He’s innocent. Well innocent of attempting to kill me anyway.”
This judgment comes to a bit of a surprise to everyone, even Cyrus. A few shadows obviously don’t agree and Yvette makes her voice the loudest.
“Have you left all your senses? This…traitor just tried to kill you and you’re letting him off the hook?”
“You would be wise to watch and remember who you are speaking to!” you snap. “I believe Cyrus. You know why? Because he was so damn in love with Draven that’s why. I believe that he would’ve covered up for his mistakes and I also believe he wouldn’t have willingly set up Draven on a suicidal assassination mission. His grief is proof of that.”
“It’s all an act! He’s faking those tears!” Yvette exclaims.
“So I should believe that your tears for your lost husband Theo are also fake then?”
“That’s different! My husband Theo is a loyal shadow! Draven AND Cyrus are obviously both traitors and have no loyalty to anyone save themselves! I cannot believe that you would show this much leniency, but I suppose even a treacherous one of your kind is better to have around to keep us humans in line huh?”
“Yvette, we’re all shadows, whether we’re human or eternal. Nobody here has been shown preferential treatment.” Talia says.
And now it all comes out.
“SHUT UP! I won’t listen to your lies any longer! I had to listen to your rationales for YEARS when I helped you in that freak lab where they grew those eternal monsters you misguidedly call your children. You don’t think I knew about all the messed up shit you allowed to happen within your own kind? Theo knew it and I know and I can’t stay silent anymore! You Eternals have twisted this order into your own caste system! The Empire may be dead, but its obvious its creations are still around to carry out its will!” Yvette turns to the crowd around and makes the rest of her point. “A true shadow is human and all are equal in the eyes of Dendrin, but these Eternals can’t see that, so they always seek to be tyrants no matter how benevolent! We must not let this go on! We must appeal to Dendrin’s sense of justice and change the way things are!”
Yvette has gone beyond the usual disagreements now and is basically declaring open rebellion you can’t help but notice the pattern. Also makes you realize that Theo most likely isn’t dead, but rather attempting to get reinforcements in Quala to bring back to attack you. Didn’t see that one either, but even at this point it isn’t too late to curb the damage. It’s not going to be easy though.
In the meantime you’ll have to do damage control right here at home. You just hope that it doesn’t involve killing your entire human population.
You don’t bother arguing with Yvette, instead you just perform the same spell that Master Ebon once did to stop Brother Shade from killing him. Her ranting turns into groans of pain as she clutches her head. She begins bleeding from the ears and gasps.
“You…will…not…w…win…” she manages to utter before her brain explodes inside her head. Yvette’s body lies motionless on the floor and you address the crowd.
“I’m going to make this quick. I am Shadow Master, the chosen one of Dendrin, for good or ill, you ALL will follow my orders. This is how it has always been for centuries. Now I’m giving a moment of leniency as of right now…anyone who has problems with that for whatever reason, should leave this temple now and never return. I cannot stop you from continuing to worship Dendrin, but you will no longer be a member of this order.
At this point a few shadows do indeed start to leave.
“Very well, for those that are leaving, you will have until dawn to gather your belongings and take whatever families you may have out of this temple. Any attempt to approach us in the future will result in death.”
As the disgruntled shadows leave, you continue your speech.
“As for the rest of you, I expect NO disloyalty from any of you lest you suffer the same fate at Sister Yvette AND Brother Draven. Which brings me to you Cyrus, what am I supposed to do with you? While I do believe you didn’t have anything to do with what Draven did, you basically covered for someone who disobeyed orders regardless of their intentions and then later attempted to assassinate me.”
“I have no words Shadow Master…the last few moments have been…interesting. All I can do is put my life in your hands and hope Dendrin will find mercy on me.”
Cyrus looks even more defeated than the last time you spared his life. Besides being a shadow, Draven was one of his main reasons for living. He’d probably consider it a mercy if you did kill him at this point. You do consider it, but ultimately you decide living is a more fitting punishment.
“Cyrus, you are also banished from this temple. You have until dawn to gather your belongings. Never return or the punishment will be death.” You say.
“Very well. I shall obey your decision and I will take my leave now as I will have no use of anything where I’m going.” He says. You almost ask him where he intends to go, but given his grim remark you can take a guess that he seek out death via combat.
Just as Cyrus gets up off the floor to leave, Talia speaks out.
“Cyrus! Don’t you want to see Draven’s body before you leave?”
“No. The man I loved is long gone; it’s just an empty shell now. Dispose of it as such.” He says and leaves.
And that’s that. Draven dead, Yvette dead, Cyrus exiled and Theo is still hiding in Quala somewhere. It’s just you and Talia now…just like you wanted, though perhaps not quite like this.
You spend the rest of the night with Talia talking about how to go about finding Theo and also tracking down any and all other shadows currently stationed out in Quala. You’re going to have to determine just how many people he’s turned against you and anyone “new” is going to be under the most suspicion. Even the people in this temple who stayed aren’t completely out of clear, but you can easily perform a ritual that will allow you to root out any potential traitors still in hiding here.
About the only ones you can trust completely are…well the eternal members.
After the last of the disgruntled shadows leaves the temple, you contact one of the Blades that Cyrus or rather Dravin sent to Nalin. Glen is his name. He probably wonders if he’s in trouble, but you dispel those concerns immediately when you say that you know he was just following orders of a superior and meant no subterfuge.
“Shadow Master, how may I serve?” he asks.
“I want you to take some of the Blades and follow the exiled shadows for a while. See where they go and what they’re doing. Now if you see any of them making contact with other shadows in Quala, I want you to find out all you can, then I want you to kill anyone and everyone there that is plotting against us.”
“Yes Master, it will be done.”
“Good. Oh and for this mission pick your ranks from other eternals. Let’s just say that after all that has gone on today, some of our human members might be slightly uncomfortable about killing other human shadows even if they are exiles.”
“Very well, but what if the exiles do not contact other potential traitors?”
“Continue to have them followed for a few more miles, then find a quiet spot to kill them as well. Can’t have them potentially starting a new sect of Dendrin worship after all. We have to remain united if we’re going to continue to survive this set back.”
“Understood Master.”
It is at this moment you appreciate having these new eternals with you now. Their dedication to you (and Dendrin) is so certain now that you could tell them to massacre the entire town of Sinkhole and they’d do it without any arguing. You never concerned yourself about it before but you’re beginning to sympathize a bit with Talia on the fact that they can’t breed, because you sure could use a few more of them.
Glen asks one more question before carrying out the order.
“Shadow Master, are we to follow the exile Cyrus as well?”
“No, he’s probably long gone by now and despite his crime, he was still ultimately loyal. Don’t bother.”
You’re fully aware that with these last couple of orders, you’ve probably just supported Yvette’s argument. The irony is though; you weren’t trying to create any sort of caste system initially, and it’s only due to current events that you’re having to resort to a bit more preferential treatment because you don’t know who to trust right now. Eternals are naturally better warriors so you made them all part of the elite fighting group and let the less skilled human shadows tend to their families. Theo, Yvette and Dravin were all human and made up half the council, they all had a voice that could be heard. Yes, it’s true that an Eternal is in charge, but that’s hardly your fault when at nearly every turn you’ve been the one to rescue the shadows from destruction whether it’s from external or internal forces.
“And Dendrin chose me to lead, so it must be right.” you laugh to yourself, though you imagine Dendrin’s probably having the biggest laugh of all as usual.
“Cyrus, you convinced me once before that I should trust you. Convince me again.” You say.
“I can’t, you’ll have to make that decision yourself. All I can do is explain what I think might’ve caused Draven to behave in the manner that he did. (Sniffle) Okay first of all I didn’t send any of the Blades to Nalin secretly…Dravin did. I didn’t even know until a couple months after he did and he confessed everything to me. Naturally I got mad about it, but what was done was done and I just told him to keep his mouth shut about it to anyone else. This didn’t come out again until our earlier council meeting where I claimed I sent them because I didn’t want Draven to get into trouble for it.”
“Right Cyrus, you expect any of us to believe that? Draven’s dead so you’re just using him as a scapegoat right now in a miserable excuse to escape Dendrin’s justice!” Yvette exclaims, but Cyrus just ignores her and continues with her story.
“After the meeting, Draven got very upset and was worried that you were going to have me executed. I told him that, that wasn’t likely, but he just kept claiming it was all his fault. I tried to calm him down, we argued and he eventually left the room. That was the last I saw of him…I knew he was distressed, but I just never thought that he’d…(sob).”
At this point Cyrus breaks down into tears. There is an awkward silence followed by some whispering and then your own decision.
“Let him go. He’s innocent. Well innocent of attempting to kill me anyway.”
This judgment comes to a bit of a surprise to everyone, even Cyrus. A few shadows obviously don’t agree and Yvette makes her voice the loudest.
“Have you left all your senses? This…traitor just tried to kill you and you’re letting him off the hook?”
“You would be wise to watch and remember who you are speaking to!” you snap. “I believe Cyrus. You know why? Because he was so damn in love with Draven that’s why. I believe that he would’ve covered up for his mistakes and I also believe he wouldn’t have willingly set up Draven on a suicidal assassination mission. His grief is proof of that.”
“It’s all an act! He’s faking those tears!” Yvette exclaims.
“So I should believe that your tears for your lost husband Theo are also fake then?”
“That’s different! My husband Theo is a loyal shadow! Draven AND Cyrus are obviously both traitors and have no loyalty to anyone save themselves! I cannot believe that you would show this much leniency, but I suppose even a treacherous one of your kind is better to have around to keep us humans in line huh?”
“Yvette, we’re all shadows, whether we’re human or eternal. Nobody here has been shown preferential treatment.” Talia says.
And now it all comes out.
“SHUT UP! I won’t listen to your lies any longer! I had to listen to your rationales for YEARS when I helped you in that freak lab where they grew those eternal monsters you misguidedly call your children. You don’t think I knew about all the messed up shit you allowed to happen within your own kind? Theo knew it and I know and I can’t stay silent anymore! You Eternals have twisted this order into your own caste system! The Empire may be dead, but its obvious its creations are still around to carry out its will!” Yvette turns to the crowd around and makes the rest of her point. “A true shadow is human and all are equal in the eyes of Dendrin, but these Eternals can’t see that, so they always seek to be tyrants no matter how benevolent! We must not let this go on! We must appeal to Dendrin’s sense of justice and change the way things are!”
Yvette has gone beyond the usual disagreements now and is basically declaring open rebellion you can’t help but notice the pattern. Also makes you realize that Theo most likely isn’t dead, but rather attempting to get reinforcements in Quala to bring back to attack you. Didn’t see that one either, but even at this point it isn’t too late to curb the damage. It’s not going to be easy though.
In the meantime you’ll have to do damage control right here at home. You just hope that it doesn’t involve killing your entire human population.
You don’t bother arguing with Yvette, instead you just perform the same spell that Master Ebon once did to stop Brother Shade from killing him. Her ranting turns into groans of pain as she clutches her head. She begins bleeding from the ears and gasps.
“You…will…not…w…win…” she manages to utter before her brain explodes inside her head. Yvette’s body lies motionless on the floor and you address the crowd.
“I’m going to make this quick. I am Shadow Master, the chosen one of Dendrin, for good or ill, you ALL will follow my orders. This is how it has always been for centuries. Now I’m giving a moment of leniency as of right now…anyone who has problems with that for whatever reason, should leave this temple now and never return. I cannot stop you from continuing to worship Dendrin, but you will no longer be a member of this order.
At this point a few shadows do indeed start to leave.
“Very well, for those that are leaving, you will have until dawn to gather your belongings and take whatever families you may have out of this temple. Any attempt to approach us in the future will result in death.”
As the disgruntled shadows leave, you continue your speech.
“As for the rest of you, I expect NO disloyalty from any of you lest you suffer the same fate at Sister Yvette AND Brother Draven. Which brings me to you Cyrus, what am I supposed to do with you? While I do believe you didn’t have anything to do with what Draven did, you basically covered for someone who disobeyed orders regardless of their intentions and then later attempted to assassinate me.”
“I have no words Shadow Master…the last few moments have been…interesting. All I can do is put my life in your hands and hope Dendrin will find mercy on me.”
Cyrus looks even more defeated than the last time you spared his life. Besides being a shadow, Draven was one of his main reasons for living. He’d probably consider it a mercy if you did kill him at this point. You do consider it, but ultimately you decide living is a more fitting punishment.
“Cyrus, you are also banished from this temple. You have until dawn to gather your belongings. Never return or the punishment will be death.” You say.
“Very well. I shall obey your decision and I will take my leave now as I will have no use of anything where I’m going.” He says. You almost ask him where he intends to go, but given his grim remark you can take a guess that he seek out death via combat.
Just as Cyrus gets up off the floor to leave, Talia speaks out.
“Cyrus! Don’t you want to see Draven’s body before you leave?”
“No. The man I loved is long gone; it’s just an empty shell now. Dispose of it as such.” He says and leaves.
And that’s that. Draven dead, Yvette dead, Cyrus exiled and Theo is still hiding in Quala somewhere. It’s just you and Talia now…just like you wanted, though perhaps not quite like this.
You spend the rest of the night with Talia talking about how to go about finding Theo and also tracking down any and all other shadows currently stationed out in Quala. You’re going to have to determine just how many people he’s turned against you and anyone “new” is going to be under the most suspicion. Even the people in this temple who stayed aren’t completely out of clear, but you can easily perform a ritual that will allow you to root out any potential traitors still in hiding here.
About the only ones you can trust completely are…well the eternal members.
After the last of the disgruntled shadows leaves the temple, you contact one of the Blades that Cyrus or rather Dravin sent to Nalin. Glen is his name. He probably wonders if he’s in trouble, but you dispel those concerns immediately when you say that you know he was just following orders of a superior and meant no subterfuge.
“Shadow Master, how may I serve?” he asks.
“I want you to take some of the Blades and follow the exiled shadows for a while. See where they go and what they’re doing. Now if you see any of them making contact with other shadows in Quala, I want you to find out all you can, then I want you to kill anyone and everyone there that is plotting against us.”
“Yes Master, it will be done.”
“Good. Oh and for this mission pick your ranks from other eternals. Let’s just say that after all that has gone on today, some of our human members might be slightly uncomfortable about killing other human shadows even if they are exiles.”
“Very well, but what if the exiles do not contact other potential traitors?”
“Continue to have them followed for a few more miles, then find a quiet spot to kill them as well. Can’t have them potentially starting a new sect of Dendrin worship after all. We have to remain united if we’re going to continue to survive this set back.”
“Understood Master.”
It is at this moment you appreciate having these new eternals with you now. Their dedication to you (and Dendrin) is so certain now that you could tell them to massacre the entire town of Sinkhole and they’d do it without any arguing. You never concerned yourself about it before but you’re beginning to sympathize a bit with Talia on the fact that they can’t breed, because you sure could use a few more of them.
Glen asks one more question before carrying out the order.
“Shadow Master, are we to follow the exile Cyrus as well?”
“No, he’s probably long gone by now and despite his crime, he was still ultimately loyal. Don’t bother.”
You’re fully aware that with these last couple of orders, you’ve probably just supported Yvette’s argument. The irony is though; you weren’t trying to create any sort of caste system initially, and it’s only due to current events that you’re having to resort to a bit more preferential treatment because you don’t know who to trust right now. Eternals are naturally better warriors so you made them all part of the elite fighting group and let the less skilled human shadows tend to their families. Theo, Yvette and Dravin were all human and made up half the council, they all had a voice that could be heard. Yes, it’s true that an Eternal is in charge, but that’s hardly your fault when at nearly every turn you’ve been the one to rescue the shadows from destruction whether it’s from external or internal forces.
“And Dendrin chose me to lead, so it must be right.” you laugh to yourself, though you imagine Dendrin’s probably having the biggest laugh of all as usual.