Shaped by Tragedy

«The Man with Too Many Scars

071341.png74Defined by LossFeaturequest1 Icon.png Defined by Loss»

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All set to embark on our great hunt, Forename?

Then let us be about it!


Before you ask, I've no intention of leading us out into the wilds without even an inkling of Dikaiosyne's whereabouts. Norvrandt may not be a particularly large realm─even before the Flood─but it'd take us a dozen lifetimes to scour every nook and cranny.


So we'll start by asking around a place I know for a fact Dikaiosyne has attacked before. The village of Wright, on Kholusia.


While I don't have reason to believe he will return, I'd like to think that the survivors might know something of value. After all, you can be sure that they haven't forgotten the day the bastard came through...


So let us be off, then!
Welcome to Wright. I reckon it might not seem like much to you, but to me...

Never mind. We'll save that conversation for after. Tracking down Dikaiosyne is what matters right now.


Let's split up and ask after the bastard. Better odds of turning up useful information that way, I'd wager.


Come and find me after you've finished your inquiries. It's not a big village, so you shouldn't have any trouble.
Despondent Villager
Huh? Where did you come from? And what do you want with me?

Dikaiosyne? That thrice-damned eater that's the spitting image of a Galdjent knight? That Dikaiosyne?


I...I can't help you. All I know is that when he came, he... Wicked white, if you had seen the carnage, you would... I'm sorry. I can't talk about this.


I said I can't talk about this! What's wrong with you, thinking you can just waltz into people's lives and poke at their scars? It's not right!
Skittish Villager
Ahh! What, what, what? What do you want with me!?

The sin eater? The one that came and killed everyone!? Oh gods, is he here!?


Then why are you talking about him? Ohh, I knew I should've stayed inside. There's nothing but death out here now. Death and horror and eaters and... Gaaah! Gaaaaaah!


I thought I could do it. I thought it had been long enough, that I could go out and not see him lurking in every shadow, waiting to turn me like he did everyone else. Gods, I'm such a fool...
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Well? Learn anything worth sharing?
I wish I could say I'm surprised, but I'm not. What we saw that day...what he did to us... <sigh> There's no moving on from that.
What will you say?
What exactly happened here? What's your connection to this village?
Well, I was planning to tell you the whole story eventually, but I suppose now is as good a time as any...

I was born and raised in Wright. Lacking any real prospects, I eked out a living as a hunter. Might've tried my hand at something more exciting had I not also been trying to provide for the love of my life, Milinda...


Was about a year ago that she accepted a commission from this Eulmoran trader─bloke dealt mostly in antiques, and he had this bracelet in need of restoration.


Bloody old with a questionable provenance, but supposedly it once belonged to royalty or some such. The Fangs of Orthus, he called it.


Me and her'd been talking about tying the proverbial knot─buying land, building a home, that sort of thing. Around here that might not take much, but it was still a lot more than we had, so when the trader made his offer, she didn't hesitate to say yes.


I'd gone down to the shipyards to pick up extra tools and materials she needed for the work. Quality stuff, but it'd pay for itself ten times over. But when I got back to Wright...


Dikaiosyne had been busy. I spied at least a dozen newborn eaters fluttering about, trying to make sense of their new lot.


The grandmother who lived next door and shared the fruits of her orchard with us. The gruff woodsman who'd brought firewood to our doorstep in the dead of winter. Both of them reduced to mindless fiends, just like that.


There wasn't time to mourn or to think. I started looking for Milinda...


And then there she was─alive and well. Our eyes met, and we knew it was going to be all right. We ran for each other, and...


...Even now, a year later, it doesn't feel real. One moment she was there─right there, in front of me, and the next, she was...


Dikaiosyne knelt and took the Fangs of Orthus, then left, leading a host of sin eaters out of Wright.


But Milinda─I still couldn't see her as anything else─she wouldn't budge. She just hovered there and stared, waiting for me to...to...


...To end it.


Well. I could never say no to her. Not once in the years we'd been together.


For all the times she'd welcomed me home with a bowl of hot stew... All the times she laughed at my crude jokes and gave me counsel when I was losing my way...


For all that and more...I killed her.


I swore then and there I'd have my vengeance. Dikaiosyne would die by my hand!


I carved the scars in my flesh to mirror the ones he left on my soul. An enduring reminder of the vow that I never dare stray from the path.


...There. All done. No need to wallow in it. Wouldn't want my tragic yet trite tale to put you off our hunt. Still with me to the end, sinner?


That's the spirit. Still, I've some unfinished business here, so if you could give me a moment before we resume, I would be most grateful.
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