The Big Payback/Plot Details

< The Big Payback
The Big Payback - Part 1
Yayake: Only by embracing death can one honor life. Greetings, wanderer, and welcome to Arrzaneth Ossuary.

Yayake: What brings you to us? Do you wish to gain mastery over this realm of Nald, and thence cast your gaze across to the realm of Thal? Do you wish to know the limits of this mortal coil?

(No. I hear it involves doing things with dead people.)

Yayake: A wise decision, perhaps. Those unprepared to gaze inward may not like what they find when they do.

(Yes, more than anything)

Yayake: Then enter your name here in the Traders' ledger. Swear your flesh and blood to our Order─and your soul to our cause.

Yayake: It is done. I hereby proclaim you, <Name>, son of Arrzaneth Ossuary, servant and disciple of the Order of Nald'thal.

Yayake: Fear not, for no more are you lost. As one of us, you will not want for guidance in this plane.

Yayake: You must first know our ways. And to do that, you must read our scripture.

Yayake: I sense...reluctance in you. Falter not in your resolve, as many lesser adventurers have. To read is to grow! Still, perhaps I could offer you spoken words in place of written, that you might know who we are.

Yayake: Beyond life's horizons, beyond the realm of Nald and the waking, lies the realm of Thal, and death. At breath's end, Thal awaits all with his scales, yet unto his realm permits only those whose virtue is judged ample.

Yayake: Your virtue is a measure of your very existence─your birth and station, childhood and manhood, knowledge and wisdom, power and wealth.

Yayake: The pious man uses knowledge and wisdom to guide power, and with that power gains wealth, and greater power still. It is in this way that the soul becomes virtuous.

Yayake: Do not think wealth to be limited to the monetary. Wealth, to the Order, consists of all things a soul leaves behind when it departs this realm.

Yayake: Arrzaneth Ossuary guides its followers that they might leave as much in their wake as possible. And so shall we guide you, that you might make your fortune as well.

(Refuse)

Yayake: You would listen to all these truths and still deny them? Very well. But know that your decisions will bear grave consequences―in this life or the next.

(Accept)

Yayake: Go forth then, thaumaturge, and pledge yourself to your first master.

Yayake: Her name is Prelate I'llofii, and she awaits you even now, if I am not mistaken.

The Big Payback - Part 2
I'llofii: Do you honestly believe you have the makings of a true thaumaturge? Your veins must course with feverish hot blood that burns a deep crimson.

I'llofii: You must experience many a death to become master over it. Whether or not you return from your journeys to the other realm is decided by the potency and vigor of your lifeblood.

I'llofii: Many and more far greater than you have had their blood stained black as pitch by the trials they have undergone within these halls.

I'llofii: This is what it means to be a thaumaturge. To suffer great burdens that would crush ordinary men, and toil on.

I'llofii: I ask again, do you truly have what it takes to become one of us? And if so, is that truly what you desire?

I'llofii: Forgive me, I do not mean to deter you or give you cause to falter. I mean only to harden your resolve. Come, let us begin your training.

I'llofii: This document is a last will and testament.

I'llofii: It belonged to a man of the Merchants Ward who, by the age of one and fifty, had established himself as a reputable trader. Yet the gods have their plans, and his life was taken one day by a raging beast. Though many outside these walls would deem this fate tragic, the clouds of grief are not long upon us here, for we know that his soul's true journey has just begun.

I'llofii: As he was a loyal devotee of the Ossuary, it is our charge to execute his last will and testament. This is to be your training, <Name>.

I'llofii: “My last will and testament...

I'llofii: “I hereby leave one third of my total estate to the Order of Nald'thal of the Arrzaneth Ossuary.

I'llofii: “In return for this consideration, I humbly request that my death be avenged should my days be cut short by unnatural causes.”

I'llofii: Vengeance will be had for those whose breath is taken from them.

I'llofii: This pious and charitable soul was taken from us by a beast of the wild─a crazed billygoat, we have learned.

I'llofii: And so this billygoat has been marked for death. You must spill its lifeblood─as only life can pay for life.

The Big Payback - Part 3
I'llofii: You have done well. Now that the deed is done, surely this merchant's soul will find peace in Thal's realm, for you have taken its burden of hatred upon yourself.

I'llofii: Your own sins have grown in the doing, but so has your virtue with them. Here, I offer you this. You have more than earned it.

I'llofii: I should tell you, vengeance orders cannot be placed against one of our own. Now that you have taken up the thaumaturge's path, you need not fear being marked for death by the Order.

I'llofii: I daresay you are comforted by this thought, yes? Or is that...disappointment I see in your eyes?