Liahn Shadowborne - Tales of The Blue Lady

[ViperMYS]

Chapter 1
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The warm breeze of hot midsummer's eve blew against her face with a soothing feeling of comfort. Liahn closed her eyes and inhaled the warm air. Her hand traced the outline of her metallic armor and with a graceful ease released the buckles, one by one. The heavy armor dropped to the wooden floor with a soft exhale of renewed comfort. She dropped her metallic gauntlets and with her armored pants and boots still on, collapsed onto her bed. She felt the strain of the long track back to the Regal Griffon Inn on every corner of her body.

She stretched out her arms to the cracking sounds of aching shoulder bones and crossed her hands behind her head. With her eyes still closed, she murmured a silent prayer.

While her body was softly embraced by the clean linen sheets of the bed, her mind wandered as it always had this time of day, to her memories of days past.

Her past was always a vague memory. She was the adopted daughter of a farmer and his wife, off the town of Silverymoon. Her adopted parents took and embraced her as their own, mostly because of her mother. Her father never showed any interest in her, at least not until she was able to use a pitch-fork or carry loads of hay from one place to the other.

Her young life, though a blur at best, was remembered as a time of hard menial work at the farm, under a constantly judging gaze of her father and the carrying love of her mother. Life was hard but fulfilling for the young girl, at least most of the time.

The cawing of a nearby raven awoke her from her musings. Her eyes stared through the window above her bed at the Cormyrian night sky. Summer must be a beautiful season here she thought to herself and cozied herself deeper into the sheets.

While she stared out side, her mind drifted back to the pent up memories of her youth. Liahn's chores grew in numbers with her age. By the time she passed her 14th summer she was already an independent young girl, with muscles born out hard labor. On the eve of a winter's day that year, her mother was taken ill by a serious ailment. It seems that not even Lathander's priests could mend her body, and her soul passed on several days after. Both Liahn and her step father were devastated by this. Her father slowly regressed to alcohol and with each passing year worked less on the farm. This was the day her life became truly hard and unbearable.

Her father became abusive and blamed her for most of the trouble their small farm gradually gathered. By the time she was almost 20 years old, she could count the years from the passing of her mother by the numbers of the incurable wounds her step father lashed constantly.

A hard knock against a wooden door woke her up again. She picked herself up from the bed and looked down the window. Apparently, several adventurers were left outside the Inn after closing hours and were desperately trying to win the Innkeeper's favor with their loud knocks. The coming of one of the town's militia caused the group of adventurers to rethink their ways and value a night under the stars better than one spent in the town's barracks.

With a wry smile Liahn moved back and sat down on her bed. With much effort she managed to loosen her metallic boots and pants off her and slipped into a nightgown that lay on a nearby chair.

Suddenly a tiny amulet fell from a pocket in her armor down to the floor. The amulet was silvery made and had the symbol of Mystra etched into it. As she gazed into the symbol, her mind remembered how she had found it.

Her life under her father grew more unbearable every year, until she was 24 years of age. On a cold autumn night, she ran away from there and fled southwards as far as her legs could take her with nothing but a tiny bag and the clothes she wore. She traveled the Faerunian roads for about 2 years before she reached the borders of Cormyr. It was a long travel, most of it with the company of a traveling caravan. During that time she did her best to keep to herself and remained as silent and insignificant as possible, shunning the slightest chance for any sort of a relationship.

About a week before she was scheduled to reach the town of Isinhold, the caravan was attacked by bands of orcs that roamed around the Bramblewoods. Most of the people were slaughtered that night, save several few that managed to flee to the woods. All she remembered from that time was the chaos that rained around her until she passed out. During her unconscious state, she was met by an avatar dressed in blue that claimed to be Mystra herself. The avatar took her from the burning caravan and embraced her under its protection.

Liahn woke up the next day on the footsteps of Isinhold, with no memory of how she got there save for the strange dream about the avatar she had. In her hand, was clutched the small amulet, a symbol of the goddess whom she serves to this day.

With a painful ache of her shoulders again, she was reminded of the meeting she had scheduled with Tannessa Vajir, a good friend of hers the following day. Liahn lay back on her bed and fell to a deep slumber while the small amulet was strongly clutched in her hands.

To be continued…<br>

[ViperMYS]

Chapter 2
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Liahn swung open the door to the Regal Griffon Inn with ease. Her nose was immediately comforted with the smell of one of Saman's delicious meals being served. She closed the door behind her and sheathed her sword back in its scabbard.

- "Hail Kale." Said Liahn and waved at Isinhold's famous Innkeeper with a warm smile. Though quite busy, the Innkeeper gave her a welcoming nod was quick to return to a paying customer by the bar.

Liahn took a moment and looked around the room. The Regal Griffon Inn was a comforting place of song, laughter and a good meal. The main hall of the Regal Griffon was a large rectangular room that housed every thing a traveling adventurer might entail. Across from the entrance was Kale's domain, as she called it. It was a long bar with a barrel that lay behind it that offered the weary traveler "with the finest brew this side of Cormyr" as Kale used to say. Behind was a door that led to Kale's private chambers. Next to her on the left was a small fire place with two stools that stood equidistantly from the fire. Next to the fireplace was the Inn's resident bard hanging with his lute against the wall.

-" Fare you well, my good lady." Biedello smiled at her as she passed along him. "May I play you a tune from days of old?" he asked offering his lute in the air. Liahn smiled and shook her head politely as she continued across the Inn. She passed a few tables seated with drunk adventurers and found an empty stool by the bar.

-" A cup of your finest ale, please" she asked with a smile and leaned against the bar. Kale was quick reply and offered her a pint. "Make it a double, Kale" she asked while her smile faded. She was usually content with a quarter of that amount, but today her mind was troubled and she needed something to drown in. Liahn dropped a few gold coins on the bar and took the pint in hand. She walked across the room, further into the inn.

Before her were two stairways. One led upwards towards the Inn's rooms. The other led downward towards Saman's Kitchen. She thought about it with a smile and remembered the many delicacies that Saman cooked in there. He had a rat infested storehouse that he constantly asked the nearby adventurer to cleanout for him. She swore Saman was probably refilling that storehouse with rats every day just to keep the adventurers coming. Between the two stairways stood Rolly, a giant of a man whose brain was as small as his muscles were large. His eyes usually gawked forward with an expressionless face who usually repeated the words "I'm with Stupid" to the nearby adventurer, unless the pay was big enough. To her left was another fireplace, slightly larger with several chairs in front of it.

This was her favorite spot at the Inn, for it was usually quieter. Most adventurers were mostly over by the restaurant side of the Inn. She sat down in one of the chairs and leaned back while she stared intently at the fire. She took a sip from the pint and swallowed the cold brew with ease.

Her mind was taken by the fire. Her eyes admired the leaping flames with a certain awe and desire. It was an infatuation of hers ever since that day she first discovered her heritage. She remembered that day as if it was yesterday.

Back then, she was living in a farm off the city of Silverymoon with her stepfather. She was 20 years of age and was already the established farmer, after she took the role from her stepfather due to her mother's untimely death 6 years past. It was on an evening similar to this one that the tattoos first appeared. At start, she though they were a rash she gathered from tending to the livestock, but with each day the rash grew and took shape. The rash changed to a tattoo of two dragons on her chest and their tails on her back. Her father was furious. To him, she looked worse than the town's Jester and he lashed her hard for it. Should that have been all, she might have had an easy life with it save for the next manifestation of her heritage. A few weeks from the night of the tattoos she accidentally bit her tongue while she slept in the barn. She woke up bleeding like a stuck pig on midsummer's with a terrible ache in her mouth, as if a knife cut slashes in her tongue. She ran to a nearby pool and was horrified to learn that her canines were as sharp as tiny daggers. She cried frantically that night and spent most of it in the northern reaches of the Silverwoods, a small forest to the south of Silverymoon.

Liahn shook herself from her musings and with her tongue caressed the canines in her mouth. It took her a while to learn to cope with them, learning how to carefully open her mouth, eat or drink without causing her harm. Even speech was something to maintain with constant vigilance. She learned how to cover them as best she could with her upper lip while she spoke, and her smiles were usually close-mouthed. She rarely laughed out loud and on the rare occasions she did, her hand usually covered her face in the process.

A jolly voice whistled behind her as it passed towards a door that stood by the fireplace she sat against. She glanced to her side and saw a small man walked passed dressed in green. The small man played with what seemed to her as two short swords that were flung through the air as he walked. He stopped by the door and leaned against the wall. Both he and Rolly were a couple of goons for hire, should the nearby adventurer feel that his quest is too difficult to accomplish by himself. The small man, Perarry by his name, gave her an unsettling glance followed by a mischievous grin. Liahn immediately averted her eyes and stared back into the flames. He was a terrible sort that she tried her best to keep away from.

Before he could word her with a sordid request, a nearby adventurer came along and asked him for hire.
-" I'm a popular one – best get in line" said Perarry with a condescending tone, which usually meant that he did not want to be disturbed.

Liahn looked at the half filled pint in her hand and swirled the brew around with her hand. She glanced at the small whirlwind almost hypnotically as her mind evoked her pent up memories of the last night she had in Silverymoon.

Liahn was already 24 years of age and by then her transformation was widely known among the villagers who mostly regarded her as possessed with a demonic soul. That horrible night she celebrated her 24th birthday by serving her drunk stepfather and his farmer friends on a usually drinking night. One of the drunk members made a pass at her that made her drop the tray of drinks from her hand.

-"You foul beast of the nine hells" shouted her stepfather and removed his belt with a certain skill gained only by the constant practice her back entailed. He lashed at her twice with the buckle of his belt and added another few slices to the collection she had on her back to the rising laughter of the surrounding men.

When some of her stepfather's drinking buddies decided they would never return to a forsaken house while she stayed in it, her angered stepfather pulled her outside and tied her hands with a farm rope. She was then hoisted over a branch of a nearby tree and was hung from her hands for the duration of the night.

Though her wounds healed completely since then, the wounds in her mind were still freshly open as the day she received them. Her other hand made a reach for her shoulder and rubbed it out of memory of the pain.

She broke both her arms that night and by mere chance that she later attributed to her goddess the branch which she hung from was broken and her bonds released. She did as best as she could to gather her small pack from the barn and ran off from there through the Silverwoods, as far away from Silverymoon as was possible.

Liahn kept sitting in that chair for the better part of the night, and stared unmoving at the leaping flames until she fell asleep on the chair.

To be Continued…..

[ViperMYS]

Chapter 3
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Liahn did her best to tend to Elric's wounds under the leaping golden halo of firelight. Her hands moved about frantically, almost as if they had a mind of their own. She knew to treat such wounds. She had received them herself many times in the past. She tied another catgut cord with a piece of her shirt's sleeve and applied some more healing salve to the wound. Elric winced a couple of times from the pain, but she smiled and answered: "Better in pain than bleeding like a stuck pig on midsummers".

Liahn drew back and wiped the sweat off her forehead with a bloodied hand. She gazed at her patched-up companion. Elric was a masterpiece of bandages and salves. Those minotaurs were merciless beasts, and fought with a sense of crazed bloodlust. She was glad he was alive. Too much death in such a short time would drive her mad.

She was starting to think perhaps stepping into the ruins at the edge of the Bramblewoods was not the smartest of ideas, at their level of skill. That last minotaur berserker proved nearly overwhelming, especially when backed by 3 minotaur companions and a couple of huge viper snakes. She attributed their survival more to the will of her goddess rather then to either of their skills.

While she tried to catch her frantic breath, she remembered she was once at a similar state herself. It was months ago, prior to her first landing at Isinhold's gates. She was traveling with a caravan of merchants from the Silver Marches when they were brutally attacked in the southern parts of the Bramblewoods, by a band of merciless orcs. Most did not survive that encounter, as would have she but for a strange entity that appeared to her that night. Amidst the battle, an avatar dressed in blue appeared before her and delivered her from certain death. As she was transported to a safer location, the avatar shed a comforting light that embraced both her heart and soul. She never felt so protected and loved at the same time and the feelings overwhelmed her. She woke up at Isinhold's gates with little memory of how she got there save for a small amulet clutched in her hands. The amulet that carried the emblem of Mystra became her symbol of faith and she has taken to her the nickname of "The Blue Lady", after the avatar that saved her so nobly.

Elric was beginning to regain consciousness to the sounds of several more hooves in the distance. He woke up caressing his right hand which had received the harshest damage in the last battle. He could barely move it, let alone hold his shield. Liahn got up and tied his shield to his back. She aided him in standing up and the too looked about with worried faces.

-"Those sounds." Elric said and winced from the pain. "It appears that our horned friends here have more companions on the way." He said and pointed at the bodies of the four towering minotaurs. Liahn nodded and placed one of his hands across her neck.

-"I will help you. We must try our best to leave this cursed place as quickly as humanly possible… err… you know what I mean" she said with half a smile and looked at Elric's pointed ears. Elric smiled and nodded in return as the two started their way back through the maze.

It took them a few minutes to find the exit, especially at their state, but they managed to do so. Several steps away from the maze's exit, a giant hoof slammed its way into Liahn's armored back and the two were flung forward and landed on their stomachs. She turned around on the floor and noticed a towering minotaur that was dressed in an attire similar to the berserker's.

Liahn drew her sword with skill and rolled on the ground to evade a slash by the minotaur's great axe. Elric was still mostly paralyzed by the pain and did his best to keep clear of the battle. With a few murmured words in a strange language her sword swung forcefully with its blade magically ablaze at the minotaur's stomach.

The magical sword cut through the minotaur's skin with ease and added a scorching burn to the slash. The minotaur roared in agony and swung his axe in a frantic attempt to hit his assailant. Though she was a strong fighter, her reflexive skills were lacking somewhat and the axe's blunt side hit her with such a force that threw her body backwards several feet. With a soft cry of pain she spat out some of her blood and caressed the wound in her stomach with her other hand.

The minotaur limped forward, his own side gushing a river of blood, and raised his giant axe in the air above her. Liahn did her best to move her sword to and fro in defense. The minotaur gave her hand a strong kick with one of its hooves and flung her sword to the side.

Though the pain in her stomach was great, she closed her eyes and with a bloodied hand clung to her amulet tightly. She began to murmur with near silence a prayer to her goddess.

-" Blessed be the Mistress of Stars
Blessed be her comings and goings
Blessed be the Lady of Light
Blessed be her Divine Will
Should this be the day of my passing, I welcome it with pride
All that I pray for is that I was strong enough to serve you proudly in life
All I wish for is to serve you better in death
My soul is yours
Thy will is done "

She kept her eyes closed, and waited patiently for the minotaur's killing blow, when suddenly a slight sounds of agony came from up above, followed by a loud crashing sound.

Liahn opened her eyes and they glared with wonder to the sight of the minotaur's corpse next to her. Its axe was still clutched strongly in one of its hands. The minotaur seemed unhurt save for an arrow that skewered his neck.

-"Blessed be the Lady!!!" she spoke and kissed her amulet with soft tears coming to her eyes.
Liahn got up as best she did and approached the bleeding corpse of the minotaur. She picked up her flaming sword and gave the minotaur several nudges to test for death. Satisfied that the giant beast did not even flinch by the touch of the flames, she kneeled down and checked the arrow. Its tip was silvered and had special designs on it she recognized was elven. This was one of Elric's arrows, it seems and as she rose back up, she saw his body lying on the ground, exhausted with his composite longbow in hand. She limped over to him and picked him up as best she could. She placed the bow over her shoulder to lighten Elric's weight and placed his hand once more over her shoulder.

* * *

It was not long before the two were picked up by several adventurers in the Bramblewoods and were aided in returning to town. After a long visit at Merriss' temple, Liahn retired back to her room at the Regal Griffon Inn, still limping from the pain.

After carefully removing her armor she slipped back into her nightgown and did her best to change few of the bandages she had applied earlier. She would have to be more careful in the future about where she chooses to travel, she smiled to herself and caressed her stomach with her hands.

Liahn collapsed back to her bed and looked outside at the night stars. She repeated a silent prayer in her mind and closed her eyes.

That night her dreams were especially soothing, comforted by the wondrous Lady of the Stars. While she slept peacefully through the night, little did she know that outside her door a cloaked figure hid in the shadows and listened carefully at the door.

-"Sleep well this night, dragonborn." Whispered the figure with near silence. "You may be safe with your mistress this night, but your fate is already sealed, disciple." The dark figure gave a sinister grin, hidden under his hood, and with one of its hands made a telltale gesture on the door. Its finger traced the letter "Z" on the cold wood, and the figure disappeared.

(to be continued…)

[ViperMYS]

Please send me Pms or make a reply if this story is to your liking. I welcome any advice and would appreciate any coment.


Thank you

Alice (a.k.a Liahn)