Back Story

"Some do not respond to empathy. I doubt that power no matter how divine could affect the Spider Queen.

Your warlock power still come from me. But we are all related to Kiltzi. Did I not tell you that Dukalu and I shared the same story? His mother is the High Priestess of Kiltzi. I have a similar connection, so the powers you draw from our pact also come from Kiltzi."

Groaning, "Oh don’t tell me that his mother and I need to talk?! I didn’t plan to tell her about being Kiltzi if I didn’t have to... If she won’t respond to empathy then, I’ll create illusions and scare her off, no reason I can’t be me too... right? This is insane, I’m talking to myself! It’s almost like having different people inside my head!"

"Perhaps you have it wrong and you are the voice in my head. I've been certainly accused of those delusions. My grandest delusion is that I am Kiltzi herself. You would be wise to use that power, just not on an evil creature such as Loliath. You already do. You cannot help yourself."

"I’m only confused... I don’t know what to do..."

With an attitude of telling something to someone who already knows what she says, Uhti tells Kitsune, "You show empathy to your friends, and most of all to your husband. This is not new or different than you have always expressed to those that you love. Recently, you have even shown Kiltzi's powers to bless or prophesize to Dukalu. You are divine. You are able to do these things beyond the warlock powers that I have told you you have. You love them. You show empathy to them and teach them to be empathetic. They appreciate your love. Go forth and love them, Kiltzi. Look inside to find your true worth."

Winded from the run, I lay you on the grass before the Inn of the Faun. Your eyes come to and you see your husband fretting over you and kissing you. "You disappeared on me for the longest time! I was worried!"

I kiss you back before responding, "I’m sorry my love. It’s okay, I’m okay. We have a goddess to attempt to expel, yes? Come love, let’s go help our friends."

Staring into this shocked being with too many legs, covered in too much hair, resembling a bigger version of the creature that scares me more than any other, I feel a shiver go up my spine. But I know the fear I feel isn't nearly as strong as your own. Standing there, staring at the woman you rescued just the day before, the woman you mated, the woman you swore an oath to protect, the woman who you impregnated and now carries your daughter inside her, is now the woman that's encased along with the Black Widow Faerunian Goddess. Your heart stops, breath leaves your body without returning, and every muscle is screaming to break that barrier and get to me, get in between us. I feel all of this too. Quite often, I pick up on your feelings. Possibly due to a divine link between us, the same one that brought us together twice. I still suspect you're an unrealized Qotal, and if you are, I have no doubt you'll discover the ability to feel my emotions too if you haven't already.

Realistically, I know you well. I've gone against everything that makes you my Knight in shining armor. I've put myself and our child in harms way, intentionally no less. You have to save me. If not for your oath, then at least for your heart. Losing us would be too much for you to handle, breaking you into ash and creating a husk that roamed the lands. You can't let this happen, you have to prevent this, you have to protect me! You start to move out of the melee of the orc you're assisting with fighting when you hear me in your head, causing you to stop. "No my love. Don't come break me out. If this works like I hope it will, she will have no other target than myself." I hear your protests, but I continue, "Yes, I know that means I'll be hurt. I planned for such. That is how I will be free of this trap and she will be stuck! This will work! If it makes you feel better, prepare to lay your hands on me, I'll most likely need it. I love you so!" You hear the triumphant, positive confidence rings through your head as the smile you can't see shines bright, proud of my own ingenuity.

It takes everything in you to listen to me, fearing that I might be taken away from you again, or worse. But you send your love back to me, reorienting yourself to be able to see me from where you are, prepared to take off to me in case I'm seriously injured, or worse. The villainous goddess has recovered from the shock of her encasement in a winter wonderland and is now roaring in anger. She raises her hands and I know whatever spell she's priming isn't going to be gentle, yet I stand my ground. I place a hand over my stomach in my best attempt to protect the small bean inside me, refusing to let the choice I've already made start to seem grim as I know that I'm no match for her strength. Every instinct is crying out to try to break out, cast magic circle, counterspell, anything to protect myself and Ana, but I know if I do, it'll be counter productive to my escape. Darkness starts to form between her hands and as I steel myself for the impending pain, I think to myself and to Ana, "This has to work..."

I hear your words of comfort, but the fact that you imprisoned yourself in their with a goddess of such evil scares me to no end. You are so brave to act even when I know you do not like spiders. When the water flows out and you are not there anymore, panic possesses me. Only later do I find out that you can misty escape. At this moment all I see is my world ending. I do not see you anywhere and you do not answer my telepathic call of "Love?" Lost in my loss, I attack the goddess regardless of what evil powers she may have on me. If I can no longer be your Paladin of protection, I shall be your avenger!

When I see you snark to Jacob, I know there is sunlight in the world! My love, I live for your smile and your humor. I would die to lose that. My know that you are Kiltzi to me, because you must be a goddess! Even if you do not know how to express your empathic power, I see how you feel for every member of the party and your support of them. Even as Loliath does not seem to attack anyone directly, your empathy cannot harm any one even the queen of spiders. I love this about you. As much as you may snark or spit at those less deserving of your love, you cannot harm them. You I love, even as you love everyone. I bask in your love! You are my Kitty! my love of loves! I am so glad to know. Will kiss and hug you tonight and be yours forever.

Another day has past that was supposed to be for rest and healing, has turned to be the fight of our lives against the dark goddess of Faurun. After returning the gold and re-provisioning the party, we found pastimes to ease our troubles. As nice as the beds in the Inn of the Faun, we still enjoyed out rope trick more. At what point would we be forced to stay on the ground when you cannot climb the rope. Surely the day will come when that will happen with Ana, and we will have to abandon our pocket dimension until after you give birth to our child. I have often wondered why we could not use it for birth, but I am sure no midwife would allow it. Tis sad, I think.

Until that day, we shall revel in it. It is still a honeymoon cottage to us. My love still leaps out of my chest for you. It is a thrill that I do not relish ever being without. Still, I know how marriages go. The flush of love does not sustain you. It is a falsehood perpetuated by the gods to procreate more worshipers and to fill armies with soldiers to defend the borders. If two shall meet and fall in love, it is said, their better judgement will be overthrown and they will make a family and grow the nation. What a horrible thought! That love is a disease or drug. That cannot be, yet I know love grows cold and relationships must needs outlast the first blush. We had that first blush in Aum. It was magical, but it was untested as well. I do not remember well why, but fate split us and we only found ourselves on another continent. How miraculous! How could I not believe that our love was true, that we fell in love again without first remembering that we had already given our hearts to each other before! Surely this is a testament to love! and you are a goddess of love! How could Kiltzi not have divine power over all, with love eternal. Yet still, in my study at the temple of Kiltzi, I have seen the reality of relationships that cannot sustain love for all the hours and minutes of every day for the term of years a couple must endure. Even my mother Mistress Margharita, High Priestess of Kiltzi instructed me in the ways of love. She told me that a marriage is not based on love. I was quite shocked at the lesson, coming from her. Otherwise, the two would seek only love and eventually break their vows and find cheat in another. No, marriage is based on respect, she told me. It is a lesson that I have fought against, with me being an idealistic romantic. I have fought it, until I met you, love. Kitty, I still love you with all the passion that I have the moment I first saw you. Also, I have learned that my love is seasoned with respect. Maybe you do not see this yet. I have a few years on you and have tried relationships for longer term to no avail. I find that my respect for you outweighs even my love! You and I are quite the individuals. Yours is a way of trickery, caring and charismatic speech, whereas mine is of devotion, protection and absolutes. Despite our differences, I enjoy our time together beyond measure. I would not change a single thing about you, nor you of me. We know the other needs to have their space and their pursuits and friendly relationships. I would begrudge you none of that. I only want to be yours forever. I will stand on my own two feet as well and be my own man. I do not look to you to make me whole or fix me. I am not alone without you, for I have my own self. On the contrary, I am more with you. I laugh and I plan our future with you. With respect, we plan and have children. Even when love wears thin, we respect each other and hold onto a life together. I would never break that trust out of respect to you. It is not a monogamous relationship if we indulge ourselves elsewhere. Instead of needing love as a drug that fills a void in ourselves, we are respectful to each other and keep the light of love alive between us, so that love can flare up and burn brighter still. It pains me that before you came aboard the Skulker, you had loved ones who loved you perhaps, but did not respect you and give you the space and freedom to make your own decisions and have your own friends, such that you ran away to find that respect. Evil men like your Sir never loved you and showed you no more respect than the situation that you had left. I pledge to show you that respect, that you need and ask the same in return. It may just outlast this blush of love, though I would hope that even that would not fail us, at least in the whole. My love is yours, but more importantly my respect. You are a whole being, that I would not change it in the least. You are the woman I most want to be with. You are kind and emotional. You are outraged at injustice. You care for me but do not hold me up without my standing on my own two feet. And most of all, you show me the respect of allowing me to be myself, the silly and protective clutz that I am. We will beat the standards that they, our parents have shown us and that society has dictated to us as a normal relationship. We are tiloni mates and the avatars of gods. There is no power on Maztica that is more divine than our own self worth and we will share that, you with me, and I with you. I love you. I will always love you. And being human as well as divine, even when I fail, I will respect you and fall in love with you over and over again, Kitty.

Once the situation with the aftermath of pushing Loliath out is under control and calm, I come over and grab your wrist, pulling you as I say to our party that we're going to leave them to it and do some shopping. With a wide, excited smile on my face, I pull you into the city. I relish the moments we get to be Duke and Kit outside of our dimension. We pass by a restaurant that has a really strong smell that fills the air around it. While pleasant, the odor kickstarts the sickness I'd been successfully holding back. Once done, I look at you and say, "I was hoping to start off with some dress browsing, but why don't we find an apothecary first."

After asking around, we find a small shop with a potion sign above it. Entering, we see stands filling the tiny space, displaying all kinds of herbs and ingredients. At the back of the shop is a Taxabi standing behind the counter with a wall full of potions behind her. She looks to us and with a friendly smile, greets us. "Welcome to my potions sturrrrrrre. Is there something I can help you find?"

I play with the balls on display, stuffed with catnip and a pole with a feather on a string. I don’t see a red light pointer but I swear there has to be one somewhere. I look to you with a knowing glance at the feather, but you roll your eyes. Ok. Fine. "My lovely wife has morning sickness. Do you have herbs that will comfort her? And some Greater Healing Potions to start with. And maybe you might have an interest in buying rare components? We do come across interesting items and have a bag of colding to keep them fresh. Do you have need of something we might find for you?"

"Oh yes. And these four potions. I believe the first three are some type of healing. What is the charge for identifying these four and determining their potency?"

I search until I find the root. Picking it up and sniffing it, my nose wrinkles up. Quietly, I say, "This smells awful! Do I have to drink a tea of this every day for ten months?!" The look on my face shows how unexcited I am about this idea.

I put on an apron and play the part of a clerk. One scoop of anachuite, two scoops of azucar in a separate pouch. I know my wife. Too bad they haven't figure out how to make milk into a powder too. *Reminds myself to ask an alchemist for that* I I weigh the herbs and adds a little bit more as if I know what I'm doing, though I can't really do the math well. I write down the numbers, but I see it is all in Tabaxi and is base 13. Weirdos. I put the bags on the counter and start smelling the other components in the sturrrrrr. I hold up jars for you to smell, but I quickly realize that you are getting noxious at the smells, so I find a hot stone and kettle and start a brew. This potion identification is taking forever! The tea is making you feel better and I stop opening unknown jars. We start a tickle fight and then try to make puns out of all the herbal names. I try to put them into ionic pentameter, but give up when I can't rhyme anything in Taxaxi, except everything that ends in urrrrrr, which thankfully is almost everything. Finally, the shopkeep returns and we hide the half eaten biscuits we found behind our backs.

I bow, give her the 7gp and tell her, "Thank yurr..." I can't finish my word, before you slap me upside the head in back. I turn and nod thank you for stopping me. I mark the vials with a thieves cant mark that you have taught me. "Shall we love?. Oh apothecary, dost thou know a fine clothier? My wife may need a change of wardrobe.... uh for the season."

Kit smiles at the Taxabi, "Thank you, I will have to find them once we go to Nexal. We appreciate everything you've done for us!"