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Leafiara (prime)/Tales/Cleric of Life, Angel of Death

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Original Story: Jastatos 4, 5119

Easy Battles and Hard Questions

Jastatos 2, 5119 - Leafiara's Sanctuary, Present Day

[Inspiration's Sanctuary]

Bright blue walls are covered with pictures of inspiring landscapes, stunning flowers, vibrant festivals, and beautiful faces; each is tacked in place by golden musical note-shaped stickpins.  Resting beside the oak door is a worn traveler's cloak, threadbare and patched, a rustic carryall, and a weather-friendly instrument.  A writing table with musical sheets, inkpots, and quills stored upon it is set beneath a sunlit window.  Music fills the air with its sweet lively cadence.

You see Maiden Leafiara Autumnwind the Champion of the Fallen.

She is moderately tall and has a well-toned frame.  She appears to be very young.  She has sparkling green eyes and pristine fair skin.  She has shoulder length, tousled cherry red hair pulled into a loose ponytail, leaving a pure white circlet with a leaf-framed polished bleakstone centerpiece pushed high across the crown.  She has a well-defined, heart-shaped face and slightly pointed ears.  She has alternating malachite and azure gloss brushed onto her smooth rounded fingernails.

A tiny iridescent fairy hovers above her left shoulder, flittering its silvered wings as it twirls around.

Miniature yellow treble clefs spiral outward from her before fading away.

She is wearing an asymmetrical cherry red cape painted with vanilla and chocolate sprinkles, some shiny red zelnorn chain mail emblazoned with a large white leaf, a cherry-tinged vanilla cream sundress draped from a chocolate silk collar, an etched militia badge, a pure white silk instrument case with a bold red leaf-shaped latch, a pure white silk gem pouch embroidered with a bold red musical note, and a pair of cherry-tinged vanilla sandals beaded with cookie-shaped pearls.

Her body wore whimsy, but her face wore resignation. She leaned forward in resting position, her cheek pressed flat against the wood of her writing table and her eyes staring vacantly out the window. Until Chrysamber Epoch's compass could be fixed, Leafiara had run out of purpose on the battlefield--and in the meantime she was getting nowhere fast on the puzzles that plagued her far more than the blight.

What was Raznel's goal?

Why had defeating the paragons been so easy so far?

How and why was Raznel choosing the targets for her scarabs?

Leafi reflected on the first night the witch had mystified her. Taken captive on the witch's ship along with seven others, she thought it would be her last night...

Jastatos 15, 5116 - Darkstone Bay, Prelate Chaston Griffin's Ship

Revenge Unpursued

At the time her survival baffled her, but it made enough sense now. At risk of undoing herself, Raznel couldn't kill anyone she'd remembered influencing her life while she was Naimorai--and Leafi was certain she remembered her.

That vial of poison Naimorai had given to Deacon Irar for safekeeping during a confessional... he'd given it to Leafi and she in turn to Kayse, but Naimorai must have learned at some point that the vial slipped through the half-sylvan cleric's hands on its way back to her.

Jastatos 31, 5117 - Wehnimer's Landing, Small Park

Irar and Kayse were far from the Landing now and safe from the witch, but no revenge was coming Leafi's way? Naimorai had relished the thought with the Deacon... how coldly she'd threatened him, then later made good on it and wrote proudly of it in her journal.

Eoantos 15, 5117 - Wehnimer's Landing, Outside Moot Hall
Eorgaen 16, 5117 - Moot Hall, Mayor Cruxophim's Office

A Matter of Purpose

Sporadic. Erratic. Nonsensical. Leafi couldn't make sense of the present day witch's targets.

Raznel had targeted Balley, Bernadette, Chaoswynd, Darcena, Lylia, Shinann, and Stormyrain with scarabs. For that matter, she'd targeted Pukk to feed maggots. Half of them had no previous run-ins with the witch--maybe didn't even know her at all. Leafiara couldn't identify the connection, couldn't see the through lines, couldn't hear the countermelody.

Targeting the militia? But Balley, Lylia, and Pukk weren't, nor did they have close connections to militia members like Cay.

Targeting those with rare talents? Balley's abilities as a seer, Darcena's heightened senses, Stormyrain's abilities as a seer and blood mage... but what did the others have that Raznel could want?

Targeting the strongest? No... she'd left Roblar alone--and Hoy, Yakushi, Warclaidh, and many others.

Targeting randomly? Maybe... but hoping in the witch's inefficiency was too optimistic a thought.

Too optimistic a thought.

Too optimistic...

Leafi's head snapped up suddenly.

Too optimistic!

Leafiara flew to her feet, her mind reeling, her chair crashing to the floor. It was natural that she couldn't figure Raznel out in the cheery surroundings of her sanctuary, but she'd expected to understand the witch better when she surrounded herself with death.

For over a month she'd [[::Leafiara/Tales/In_Noise,_Melody;_in_Chaos,_Choreography|searched for answers]] in battle, in chaos, in the endless slaughter of bandits and the [[::Category:Sanctum_creatures|Sanctum]]'s fanatics and monstrosities. One after another fell to the many ways she'd trained herself to kill--a spine ripped out by the force of her song, a bolt of plasma through the chest, a kunai into the eye and brain, a head torched to cinders, a torso vaporized, a neck snapped in two between her arms.

It had seemed the perfect plan to gain understanding.

But there was a problem, glaring and incredible and in hindsight so clear:

Even in violence and death, she and Raznel were nothing alike.

Leafi thrived in the excitement, the danger, the adrenaline, the challenge, the growth, the pay. Battling the way she always battled, even if she did it longer than ever before, there'd been no hope to grasp the witch. At best she could have understood the witch's earlier self--could have understood Naimorai, who was only just developing her abilities, who did at least relish some of what Leafiara did. Naimorai, who admired the creativity of her work.

Eorgaen 16, 5117 - Moot Hall, Mayor Cruxophim's Office

Naimorai's motives had been different from Leafiara's, but Raznel's were alien. Raznel did with her enemies the one thing Leafi would never with hers: leave the battling to someone else.

The fire and the smoke. Thadston had brought it up in [[::Witchful_Thinking_-_5119-09-28_-_Stonewall_Svala#Raznel_Questions|the context of the blight]], but it worked here just as well. For Leafi the battle was always the fire; for Raznel never the fire.

Puzzle pieces began to fit. Raznel would be incomprehensible even to her own younger self; how could it be otherwise? Not after she'd been displaced in time, never belonging, her very body and essence foreign to everything around her.

To have a chance--yes, even so much as a chance--of understanding and anticipating the witch, Leafi had to slip out of her element and make herself feel like she didn't belong.

A Place Out of Place

Jastatos 3, 5119 - Landing Militia Barracks, Reading Alcove, The Next Day
  
Decorated with little fanfare, this small room holds two round wooden tables and a handful of carved oak chairs.  A wide bookcase is guarded on both sides by two stuffed otter statues, and a few steel-incased lanterns for ample light when needed.  A large, tawny brindlecat hide rug is sprawled across the floor.

You see Maiden Leafiara Autumnwind the Champion of the Fallen.
 
She is moderately tall and has a well-toned frame.  She appears to be very young.  She has sparkling green eyes and pristine fair skin.  She has shoulder length, tousled cherry red hair pulled into a loose ponytail, leaving a pure white circlet with a leaf-framed polished bleakstone centerpiece pushed high across the crown.  She has a well-defined, heart-shaped face and slightly pointed ears.  She has alternating malachite and azure gloss brushed onto her smooth rounded fingernails.

She is holding a box filled with sizable stacks of paper bearing TownCrier seals.

She is wearing a dark silk mantle woven with gold braiding, a tailored raw silk shirt of deep rolaren hue, some square-cut honey beryl cufflinks, a gold-trimmed leather belt, some gold-edged black pants, and a pair of distinguished jet black silk boots buckled with gold.

The half-sylvan's clothes felt just as awkward to her now as they had at Silvergate Inn's 5117 Winter Gala as she carefully took in her surroundings. Small. Stuffy. No sunlight. Dead animals. Books.

A great spot to think, if there were none better, but not perfect. Uncomfortable as the alcove was, Leafiara had [[::Leafiara/Tales/Morning_Musings|against all odds]] somehow both applied and [[::Leafiara/Tales/Militia_Surprise|been accepted]] as a militia member. She did, in some sense, belong.

Leafi turned on her boot heel and marched southward, large box of reports in hand.

Hendoran Outpost, Library

The room is small, but filled with a number of book-laden shelves.  Several simple wooden chairs, which fill the room with the scent of fresh construction, offer sitting spaces for those wishing to partake in the library's offering.  A writing desk is set to one side with a stack of clean papers, inkwells, and quills, a station for soldiers wishing to write home to loved ones.  You also see a wooden door.

Leafiara grinned slowly. Imperial, book-filled, and stuffy. A room fit for the only being even more alien than Raznel: Raelee Svala.

"...though she probably spends more time in that tome gallery I passed."

The cleric set her box down with a thud and began to settle into a seat, then thought better of it, arranged four chairs next to each other near the box, and lay across them with her legs dangling. The chairs jabbed awkwardly against her back and she wanted to be most anywhere else, but she'd convinced herself she had to be here, had to suffer, or she'd never understand the witch.

The clanking of nearby metal sounded the approach of two soldiers and Leafi willed herself not to bolt up and off the chairs, only keeping a watch at the open doorway from her prone position. As the soldiers passed by, they glanced askance at her and she gave them a shrug. One of them stared, mouth half-agape, nodded slowly, and pulled the wooden door closed.

"Must be a Landing type," she heard him whisper loudly the moment they were out of sight.

"Figures. Even when they look normal they're still strange."

Leafi smirked. This was good, though... now she was isolated too. An even better environment.

Cleric of Life, Angel of Death

Leafiara reached into the box and pulled out a stack of her TownCrier reports to begin flipping through them. One question at a time--and the first on her mind was why it all seemed so easy. The Ithzir boy Rodnay warned that it wouldn't be. Pylasar too said it would be ugly.

Koaratos 6, 5119 - Melgorehn's Reach, Planar Nexus
Koaratos 30, 5119 - Wehnimer's Landing, Outside Moot Hall

So he said. Maybe even so he thought. But the Landing had defeated four of the seven paragons and hadn't faced a difficult choice yet.

...at least... not for me.

Leafiara set the reports aside and narrowed her eyes, staring at the ceiling. Are others truly struggling with this? I'm sure Falvicar did with his father, but anyone else?

Leafi instinctively sat up before forcing herself back down, awkwardly prone against the chairs. The paragons were already dead long ago... sending them beyond the gate would be the right thing to do even if we didn't have to. Leafi shrugged.

"Besides... between [[::Witchful_Thinking_-_5119-09-07_-_Blood_Reign#Feed_the_Vale:_Olgretien_vs._Ruffelin|bloodsport tournaments]] and [[::Witchful_Thinking_-_5119-09-21_-_Worlds_Collide#Into_the_Southron_Wastes|illusionary imperials]], I'm having the time of my life out there."

Leafiara smirked. "What a way to go..." She shook her head.

The blight, then? Are these hard choices to others because it's a battle on two fronts?

But she was a cleric and her very work was life and death. Every year there were thousands she could save and thousands she couldn't, and to dwell paralyzed over the latter only meant she'd surely fail the former. Leafiara had her times of mourning, especially over those she could've saved if she'd acted differently, but the rest of the death didn't touch her; Gosaena's angels came when they came.

One day they'd come for her, possibly even before this war with Raznel was over--but until then Leafiara would force herself forward as long as she could muster the will, doing what she could, a hero by the mandate of necessity, personality, and her own childhood promises.

Leafi batted no eye at the many deaths of a blight beyond her understanding, but focused only on the fight that she knew well. Those who still lived had a greater duty to serve the living than mourn the dead.

Maybe the choices are difficult for others... I'll put aside that question for now.

Call of Revenge

Next, then... why isn't she targeting me? Maybe she doesn't have endless scarabs, but I'm not catching the blight, leprosy, moulis, nothing. Six weeks since I took [[::Witchful_Thinking_-_5119-08-21_-_Instantiation_of_Imagination#Parting|Mynalari's gown]] and even that hasn't cursed me or exploded. She's not after me at all?

Not that I haven't had close calls while I was alone... She dug through the reports anew.

Imaerasta 11, 5119 - Wehnimer's Landing, Cheridin Ave.
Imaerasta 13, 5119 - Wehnimer's Landing, Rooftop
Imaerasta 27, 5119 - Oronthal's Time Pocket, Demonwall

In the month since paranoia had taken hold of her, Leafiara had to admit to several fleeting moments when it almost seemed she was attracting the witch's attention--but only almost. Battling a giant, battling an arachnid, battling Disean himself... But it's not the same as being singled out. Each of those times, I attacked first. Why is it... why is it they'll retaliate, but they won't initiate?'

Over and over she'd asked her brother Chaoswynd, but he had said maybe there was no answer.

Imaerasta 11, 5119 - Wehnimer's Landing, Town Square Central

I refused to believe then. I refuse now. If there's any chance of an explanation, I have to look for it. In 5116 Raznel cursed me before I even knew who she was, much less had any thought of ending her existence... Maybe she had to curse me if she remembered that as Naimorai, but still, now she's not attacking me when I am coming for her head? And if she does remember me from her time as Naimorai, why no lingering anger over anything I did?

Leafiara banged her fist against the back of the chair. "Why? Why isn't she out for revenge--"

The half-sylvan stopped short and took a deep breath, then let it out.

Remember, we're opposites. So revenge can't fascinate Raznel. ...since it fascinates me.

Leafi dug through older papers of prior years.

The 5117 mayoral debates. Rowmi asks the candidates about their greatest weaknesses; Leafi speaks on her fear of becoming consumed by vengeance.

Charlatos 18, 5117 - Moot Hall, Chamber of Justice

I wonder if others took that seriously or if they were all like Ariond. But it's one of the few things I always take seriously...

Next report. 5118. The first Rone has just been captured. I helped make that happen... but I was never sure it was the right thing to do.

Charlatos 30, 5117 - Moot Hall, Rooftop

Not like Crux was the only one who's warned me...

Even though the bandits Leafi patrolled for struck first, the speed and eagerness with which she slew them had haunted her--[[::Leafiara/Tales/A_Very_Bloodriven_Vacation|always wondering]] if she was destined to one day surrender to the call of The Huntress, to walk the path of vengeance, to become the next Rone or Rysus.

Everyone warned her. Chaoswynd, Cruxophim, Khylynnia, Lyrna, Marijka, Saranja, Shinann... one after another, over the years, they all told her no one could turn back.

Yet still Leafi couldn't cease watching those who walked the path of vengeance, equally curious and nervous, equally hopeful and terrified at the prospect of someone proving they--and in turn she--could give in without losing themselves.

Next reports. 5117. Cruxophim was considering pardoning Stephos DeArchon. I thought... no, I hoped it was all a ploy to lure him in.

Ivastaen 30, 5117 - Moot Hall, Mayor Cruxophim's Office
Imaerasta 19, 5117 - Moot Hall, Mayor Cruxophim's Office

Next report. 5118. The second Rone seeks to pursue Stephos. I wanted to undo the Rone treatment, but if we couldn't catch him to get that sorted out, I hoped at least his mission succeeded...

Imaerasta 23, 5118 - Temporal Rift

Do I surrender to vengeance? Do I keep resisting? Can I keep resisting? How long?

Never an easy answer, always a challenging question. Leafi rapped her knuckles lightly against her cheek. Every week that question of vengeance consumes me... so if I'm right and we're opposites, the witch doesn't think on it at all. Either she doesn't care about it or, at the least, she's committed to it without hesitation.

The Unthinkable

What would I never do? That's where I'll find my answer to what Raznel's up to.

Leafiara rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

I wouldn't lie. At least I'm pretty sure I wouldn't lie... mmm. What am I absolutely sure I'd never do?

I wouldn't take prisoners. If I wanted to seek revenge, it would be in the most direct way. Take no prisoners. Kill 'em all unless they surrender.

Imaerasta 30, 5119 - Silverwood Manor, Quiet Garden

...but she hasn't been taking prisoners or even hostages. I kept planning for that, but it's not how she operates.

Leafi withdrew a notebook from her mantle and flipped through it.

Scenario 13: A prominent Landing political figure is taken hostage
Scenario 14: A prominent militia member is taken hostage
Scenario 15: Several less prominent militia members are taken hostage
Scenario 16: Civilians are taken hostage
Scenario 70: I'm taken hostage
Scenario 84: Taladorian refugees are hostages
Scenario 85: Raznel has control over Taladorian hostages

I'd never work with Ta'Vaalor since they hate my kind. But I hate Raznel and she's not working with me...

The half-sylvan stared blankly at the ceiling, then snapped her fingers.

...unless she is.

Leafi flipped again through her notebook.

Scenario 20: Raznel has already had control of the mayor for some time
Scenario 21: Raznel has aready had control of Thadston for some time
Scenario 23: Raznel or Quinshon somehow uses my vow to Reannah against me to make me a liability

I'd already considered the possibility she's using me, but I could never peg how exactly it would work... it seemed unlikely, but so did some of these others that have come true or might be on the verge of it.

Scenario 47: Grishom Stone offers aid conditionally
Scenario 48: Quinshon betrays Raznel
Scenario 54: The Hall of Mages offers aid unconditionally

And the most unlikely one of all was...

Scenario 1: We'll be fighting uninhibited against Raznel and her forces

On the surface, a best case scenario--but underneath, I always considered it the worst. Part of me was relieved when Raznel started her attacks...

Scenario 3: Raznel blocks someone else's ability to access the mana flows
Scenario 4: Anti-magic areas
Scenario 12: Raznel unleashes a widespread plague
Scenario 14: A prominent milita member is taken hostage
Scenario 18: Raznel takes control of Hapenlok (again)
Scenario 27: Confrontation with Disean
Scenario 71: Combat with demons
Scenario 72: Combat with the undead
Scenario 82: Other adventurers join forces with Raznel
Scenario 88: Raznel's improved her scarabs

...because it meant she at least considers us threat enough to bother. Ignoring us would mean either we're beneath her concern or she needs us alive.

Trouble is: she's ignored me. It's Scenario 1, but on a small scale. She isn't letting the Landing fight unimpeded, but she is letting me fight unimpeded. Does she need me alive? Scenario 23. Using my vow against me. I told Reannah I'd protect her children. But what did I say exactly...

Leafiara dug again through her old reports.

Imaerasta 19, 5117 - Stone Baths, Hearth

Leafiara let out a sigh of relief. ...only if they weren't harming anyone. Raznel can't get me on this one unless she twists my words or Quinshon would have to rewrite my memories. Or she'd have to make use of what I said that other night... mmm, what did I say that time? A shame I didn't record that one...

She shook her head.

Either way, it would only be possible if Raznel's a mentalist now, has a mentalist with her, or Scenario 48 is actually 49.

Scenario 48: Quinshon betrays Raznel
Scenario 49: Quinshon pretends to betray Raznel

Does Raznel have another way to get to me? The black blood curse? Dennet did ask if it lingered...

Charlatos 10, 5117 - Wehnimer's Landing, Town Square Central

No. That was misunderstanding... or misdirection. Sowing doubt. Dennet didn't know anything--or he wouldn't have risked letting me near his wife two months later.

Ivastaen 21, 5117 - Hendoran Outpost, Outer Courtyard

...but that doesn't mean I'm not a "silent danger" or that something horrible wasn't done to me. It only means Dennet wouldn't be in a position to know--at least not in Charlatos or Ivastaen. Later on he might have learned something...

Leafi retrieved one of the reports she'd set aside earlier.

Three possible bodies to move Reannah's soul into. Shinann, Sareyna, and me. Sareyna's human. Shinann, just looking at her, has to be more sylvan than I am. Even if we were all viable options, of course the best choice for Reannah's soul would be the body with the longest lifespan.

But we weren't all viable.

Eorgaen 16, 5117 - Moot Hall, Mayor Cruxophim's Office

Shinann wasn't chosen just for her lifespan. Sareyna and I were "ruled out." I'd wondered why... I thought it might be that the black blood curse affected Shinann and me differently. Others had different ideas.

Eorgaen 18, 5117 - The Shadow of Melgorehn's Reach

Back then I liked Madmountan's idea. Feisty soul! He had a good enough explanation, a reasonable guess--of course he did. It's Mad... gives [[::Xorus_Kul'shin|Xorus]] and Owly a run for their money as the smartest guys in the Landing. Might even beat out Pukk.

It's an easy answer, maybe even a true one, but I can't take the risk that it's wrong. What if I was right from the beginning about the lingering black blood? Shinann and I had opposite reactions when we were being cured...

Eoantos 11, 5116 - Hendoran Outpost, Alchemy Lab

Shinann was the first to test the cure; I was the second. In the heat of the moment, having the opposite sensations, I hadn't felt that scared since the first time I died when I was a little girl...

But later that night Gavrien and Kippe volunteered, and later that week Bekke. When they were cured, it was swift but ugly--body parts turning into maggots, worms, even fire elementals. It all seemed so random and I was relieved it hadn't happened to me. I was all too eager to write it off as "unpredictable" and think nothing more of it...

Even now, it's tempting to write off the witch's actions as random--but just because I can't see her reasons doesn't mean she doesn't have them. Raznel herself said we half-elves are fortunate...

Jastatos 15, 5116 - Darkstone Bay, Prelate Chaston Griffin's Ship

At the time we thought maybe she was talking about our longer lifespans, since the crone had once been human. Who could have ever guessed how she became so old if we hadn't seen it in Pylasar's memories?

She took our blood on that ship--used it for her blood marble sphere and later on for the obelisk that destroyed Talador. We saw where that blood went...

But that was only the second time my blood was taken in that war.

Jastatos 8, 5116 - Wehnimer's Landing, Cleansing Camp

Chaston's acolytes took me and bled me, then Disean freed me--even though he'd been one of the Blameless himself.

Surprise. Confusion. Relief. I thought that would night be the end of me, so I considered Disean a rescuer. I didn't understand why, so I took the first explanation others gave: Disean had been showing signs of breaking free of Chaston's mind control. Simple rebellion.

But the next week on the ship we confirmed that Chaston himself was manipulated by Raznel. Disean might well have been breaking free from Chaston--and right into the clutches of the witch.

Leafi shook her head and withdrew a quill from her mantle, then wrote in her notebook:

Scenario 98: Disean was always under Raznel's control

It's only a possibility, not necessarily true. But where did those acolytes go with my blood? I've brought it up to Shinann and she thinks all of the blood from the cleansing camps was used for the obelisk, but maybe that's too obvious when we're talking about Raznel. She doesn't always relish the kill--she goes for suffering and torment.

I never asked further why Disean came to my aid--no, more accurately, why only to my aid. A simple explanation would be like I thought yesterday about why Raznel let us all go from the ship... she needed me alive because she remembered me as Naimorai.

Leafi paused. That might even be why Sareyna and I were ruled out... Raznel herself might have ruled us out to ensure her own creation--making sure Naimorai was in position to get trapped in time. Thadston keeps saying there are spies for the witch among us. She could have passed information to her spies, who'd then pass it along to her own younger self.

The half-sylvan let out a slow breath as she stared into space.

The question would be... even if that's why I was "saved" those two times, does that mean there wasn't more to it? Maybe the acolytes didn't go where the rest of the acolytes went. And maybe Raznel needs me alive for more than one reason.

But to what end?

Leafi flipped a few sheets ahead to a blank page and jotted down more notes.

Black blood curse: Opposite reaction to Shinann. She felt heat. I felt cold.
Reannah selection: Shinann was chosen. I was ruled out.
A difference in our blood.
5116: Raznel targeted us both, but me more than her.
5119: Raznel targets Shinann repeatedly and ignores me.

I don't think Shinann was a captain yet back then--and as for me, I wasn't even a militia member or anyone of prominence at all. Not yet an officer of any organization, not yet a noteworthy upstart mayoral candidate, nothing.

Wait... is that why she's not targeting me? Does she need me in place for something I can influence now that I couldn't then--

Oh no.

Leafi turned pale, flippin back through her notebook.

Scenario 33: Raznel takes control of Mother
Scenario 34: Raznel has already *had* control of Mother for some time
Scenario 35: Raznel *is* Mother
Scenario 38: Reannah is alive
Scenario 39: Reannah is Mother

Farfetched at best. Impossible at worst. ...but so was Quinshon betraying Raznel. And I wouldn't put it past that Fortney filth to have been working with the witch, eliminating Rysus to get Mother into power. Some of the people who seem happiest with me for my role in getting rid of Rysus are the very same ones I'd suspect of working with Raznel...

Leafiara clenched her jaw. The hour was late, but there was much, much more to think on. She wrote a last note for the night:

Scenario 99: Raznel's already been manipulating me for some time