“Who reigns over the Feywild?” Razvahn had realized that the lush green land he had seen must have been the Feywild. If the Feywild was under the same attack, and is still at risk like the Material Plane and Shadowfell, then Razvahn needs information. He believes that by gaining more information about the Fey, that he will be able to gain the support of powerful patrons in the Fey to help stop the The Broker and an impending war. If the Broker’s first major play was the Second Catastrophe, there is no telling what he plans next.
Sandier cracks an evil spider filled grin, and tells him that an answer for such a question will have a heavy price. When she tells him the cost will be a precious memory, he declines at first. However, he is intrigued when she asks him if he knew that the Raven Queen was once mortal. He thinks hard. If he is to protect his home, then he must sacrifice. But what is worth sacrificing?
“You may take the Clan, but not my Queen.”
Sandier licks her lips with a long snake-like tongue, and coos hungrily. She spasms and with a raspy cough as large slimy rat wriggling out of her mouth, lands on the floor and scurries away. “That is indeed quite a memory, shadow child. And you will have your answers.”
Sandier shuffles back over to the cauldron and offers another cup of the simmering concoction to Razvahn. He drinks it down without hesitation. “She was once mortal. And like many mortals, she had kin. A sister named Ehlonna. Not many Fey even know she exists, let alone knows that she controls the Feywild. Sister Queens, sister thrones, sister crowns, sister Kingdoms….” Once again, Razvahn’s vision fades to black.
His vision returns woth a flash of light and he finds himself back in the Lighted Place. He has come so far in his journey. Worked so hard to prove to the Raven Queen that he is worthy of her recognition. That he is destined to become a Raven Knight. He takes one more look at his surroundings. The only noise of this place is the soft humming from the rift before him, and the breath of the lone Shadar Kai. His journey to this place has been hard, but he is unafraid. He steps forward…
The young Shadar Kai is standing before a smoke blackened stone wall. On it is the visage of the Raven Queen, and scripture of her tenants and stories. Surrounding this place is an abandoned village. Razvahn has found the remnants of the Shadar Kai clan that had lived there until recently. But as always, he is too late. He cannot find his elusive shadowy kin. The loss of his own clan has been a weight on him since his childhood. His survival has always depended on his own strength. He follows the texts of the wall, and traces the diagrams of the scrolls he has found. He begins the rituals of scarification, of piercings, of the tattoos. He has no kin to do it for him, and so cannot partake in the herbs and wines the rituals call for. He must stay sharp. Every blade, needle, and every ink drip, makes his nerves sing. But it is a small price to pay in service of his Queen…
Razvahn stands amongst the ruins of his village. The attacked that destroyed his clan was sudden. But he will not give up. His sword has been broken, and he refuses to take another of his dead kin. He is now reborn without kin, and so his weapon will be too. The chains among the crumbled remains of the smiths hut catch his young eye. The child pulls them, still warm from the smouldering fire of the hut, and begins his work….
Razvahn Once again wakes up lying on the floor of the shack. His first thought are of his friends. He must tell them what he has learned. As he sits up, Sandier tells him that he has his answers, and that she is “full”. She promises to give him answers about the “Wire Man” too, but that she is too tired to tell him any more stories. She scoops him another cup of the brew and caps it while shoving it into his chest. With her final movement she collapses in on herself as if hollow. A swarm of vermin and bugs disperses from out of her rags and through the cracks in the walls and floors. Razvahn stands to leave and something aches in the pit of his stomach for just an instant… something hollow. But he must find his friends quickly and get their interpretations of what he has learned. As he makes his way back to the tavern, he chuckles to himself. His clan. What an odd thing to accept. He had lost them years ago….
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