DJ for Bae'ynrae -- A Moonlit Reflection

Hello again, stranger,

        Oh my gosh!!! Tonight was amazing! Together with K, S and D we tracked down one of the hags and laid her to rest. But I'm getting ahead of myself -- and that's not the best part!

        This morning we woke up and began gathering our things, when suddenly D looked up and growled out... 'you're gonna die!' Down dropped the tiny hut. K asked me if it was normal behavior for D, and while I haven't known him long D isn't like that, so I used one of my See Invisibility scrolls... suddenly there was one of the hags! D kept whispering horrible things to the hag but she was on the Ethereal plane... she escaped before we could really do anything.

        Sidenote: I can accidentally make people fly. [Bae has drawn here a little exasperated little bunny.]

        We made our way to what was, I think, once Sour Mary's home, but now it's just crumbling ruins buried in snow. There were elk grazing by the wayside. They were wary at our approach and kept abreast of us but didn't run away. (I imagine when you're that big, you're not scared of much...) S explored the only thing that was really left there, a well, and fell -- thankfully he didn't hurt himself beyond a scrape -- onto a bunch of dead bodies. They'd been left there for months and had begun bloating, though the winter's chill had stopped it: three men. The paladin we'd heard of yesterday, Thornton, had been thrown in along with a two Elk tribesman. We found on his corpse a love letter to Mary... I almost cried when I saw the only words. Everyone Mary loved had died; no wonder she'd killed herself. We buried the bodies and I prayed over them before night fell, then waited.

        As the elks dispersed and the whip-poor-wills began to call I felt a shivver creeping up my spine... then I felt cold hands on my legs. It. Was. Horrible. Mary tried to possess me, I think, but she didn't, thank the Dark Maiden! But she did crawl up me. It was a bit of a blur after that, trying to talk to a half-insane dead woman whose grief was the only thing keeping her mind clear. The poor woman had seen a hag eat her daughter. Gods above, she showed us the scene; I don't think I'll be sleeping anytime soon, the visage was so horrible, so grotesque, a disgusting hag ripping flesh off a child bit by bit with her mouth. I don't know how other creatures can live with nightmares.

        But -- but -- back to the point! -- Sour Mary's ghost felt the hag's presence, and pointed us the way to the ancient stone monuments. We traveled through misty moors, fought off a hound with a man's face... I lost all my hair for a few minutes (it grew back, but what the fuck, magic?!)... then... finally... we found the ancient circle. Shrouded in fog, the stones stood ten feet tall -- taller than men, taller even than gods who walk on earth -- carved with swirls and ancient runes that you couldn't read right away because they were overtaken by moss. (It was beautiful...) In the standing stones little will-o-whisps faded in and out. D warned me to keep away from them just as they attacked! I was swarmed by them as they tried to seep the very life out of me, but I dodged them good. [There's a little drawing of a smiling rabbit making a peace sign here. Underneath this paragraph is a crude drawing of the standing stones.]

        Together we took them down easily (D is terrifying on his horse, incidentally enough... maybe someday I should get a warhorse too?) ... and just as S cut the last one in half and it faded away for good the night hag blinked out of the ethereal plane! She was a night hag, like I thought, and worse... she was what was left of little Thelma. Drake did most of the damage to her, but I called upon the moonlight's blessing... and suddenly... I was me, but I wasn't me. I was as tall as D (maybe taller?)... I've never felt more connected to Eilistraee. Just, in that moment, I felt like her... [There's a few tear stains on the page and smudged ink.] I saved Thelma the only way I could: I used the moonlight to destroy the monster she became.

        The magic faded when I'd used up all the moonlight, but we weren't done yet. The boys searched Thelma's corpse and I looked over the moors... they're beautiful, really beautiful. I hope I never forget what they look like.

        Me and K noticed there was writing on the standing stones. When we stepped inside the circle we felt it. This once holy place had been desecrated with the blood of innocents. We read on the stones a riddle (K said it was an ancient children's rhyme, but it's more of a riddle, I think) "when one sees the reflection of the moon in the pond, is it still the light of the sun?"

        I think I entered a bit of a fugue state when I stepped in the blood. I remember digging, and finding the little skulls wrapped in black hair and red string, and snapping that... and then I was cursed. I'll have to ask mama to help me out with it (hopefully she's alright about it, I don't want another lecture) but... what I did, it destroy the hold the hag on the place, and where once blood had welled up pure water began to flow until it was a pond. It was the portal to the Feywilds I wrote about yesterday! The water was beautiful -- I could peer into the Feywilds from its reflection and saw motes of light and strange fey creatures flitting about as music from some ancient time and place filled the air -- and under the light of the full moon I danced with joy for Eilistraee.

        But, stranger, I've not gotten to the best part...

        D said ... he really said... I could build a temple to Eilistraee in Jolkoun! I need to talk with him, I have to know what all I can do, but by the Dark Maiden, I think I've actually done something right for once in my life! [Again the ink of the words and the drawing below are stained with teardrops, but the drawing below is no less joyful; Eilistraee dances on a crescent moon surrounded by stars.]