Chapter 2.5: Family History

At some point in the night, after spending time celebrating with the party and the rivals and the townsfolk and anyone else who happened to be there to have a good time, Faelen finds himself at the Temple of the Luxon. It had only been since this very day's sunrise that the party helped clear this shrine's catacombs of a skeleton problem, and where most of the party first met each other.

The walls of this three-story temple are crafted from semitranslucent glass that seems to glow with its own faint light even as the night blankets the sky above in darkness. The building, which is shaped like a dodecahedron, is dedicated to the Luxon, the First Radiance and patron deity of the Kryn Dynasty.

The same tall drow woman you met earlier today with deep black skin and stark white hair seems to be performing some nighttime rituals. She wears long black and purple robes and a silver ornamental chest piece that covers her chest, shoulders, and upper back. She is alone in the quiet, shadowy temple, currently leaning over a table of offerings lighting a row of candles perched on a high ledge using a long, skinny stick with a faintly glowing tip.

Without turning, she senses your presence in the doorway and blows out her torch. She places her hands on the table and lets out a long sigh. "I knew earlier today would not be the last I saw of you, Hythenos. I am appreciative of your help, but I know how to read the stars and the signs around me, and I've seen too many members of your Den lately for it to be a coincidence."

Belana turns to face Faelen in the doorway and places a hand on a holy symbol of the Luxon dangling around her neck. Her face is stone, full of conviction and anticipation. "I thought you and your den wanted nothing to do with me, so let's just be honest with each other: are you here to kill me?"

Faelan smiles a brittle smile while observing the woman, before swaying his head and looking a moment to the side "Not this time." he replies ending the eye contact. Then he noble shows his empty hands as a sign of non-violence and even peace, before starting with: "I came to obtain information. This may be the reason for the frequent visits." Pausing for a heartbeat he continues: "Who came before me?" in a matter of factly tone, used to be obeyed.

After the half drow got an answer, the fighter comes to the point of this visit:"Can you tell me more, about my uncle Zhurr. As I was told, you were in an adventuring company with him for some time. He died, and you didn't show up to this funeral. Why? No sympathy for the old bugbear?" Still standing in the doorway, Faelan eyes narrow a bit in an inquisitive way as he asks his questions, but his small silhouette remains still and non-threatening.

At Faelen's first words, Belana exhales a relieved breath and removes her hand from her holy symbol, but the focus does not leave her face. She considers your words for a moment, and speaks evenly, still testing the waters of your intentions. It's at this point Faelen notices that her eyes are just barely bloodshot and puffy, as if she's been crying. But she continues on steadfast, "As I'm sure you are aware, I am a devout follower of the Luxon, and I have been all 250 years of my life. Consecution is one of our holiest sacraments, and one of the Luxon's greatest gifts. However, it is unpredictable. It can be a fickle and messy process. Zhurr did not recognize me when he walked in to this Temple yesterday, he likely doesn't have the of me memories yet, but I could recognize him in any body his spirit takes on."

Then, for the first time in the conversation, a new look overcomes her face: one of offense. "I wanted nothing more than to be there at your uncle's funeral rites. I was there on his first adventure and I was there for his last breath. I was there standing at your den's front doorsteps just hours before the ceremony. It was your denmother who demanded that I leave. ... Oh, did you not know this, did your denmother forget to mention that?", she ends bitterly. She turns away from Faelen and puts a hand to her eyes.

Astonished Faelan keeps quiet for a long moment. As his thoughts start to calm, he asks curiously: "What shape posseses Zhurr now?" And after a few more moments: "It seems that our Den Mother recalls this day differently." the fighter replies, but continues "I believe you. A deception is not beneath her, in my experience."

Then, much quieter: "You seem distressed, what ailes you Belena? Is there something you want to share? My discretion is yours in this matter. My word on it."

She sniffles, then answers, "I don't personally know the form he inhabits now, and he didn't say his name. But he was a young human man with shaggy hair. He came to the temple yesterday and retrieved one of his friends who was praying here, a goblin boy in a full suit of armor."

She takes a long moment to respond to Faelen's second question. She looks around the room, contemplating an immense weight on her shoulders. "What still bothers me is how close we were, to each other, and to reaching our goal."

"We were delving into the Betrayer's Rise in Bazzoxan, that terrible place, at the behest of your den. That cursed ruin has been there since the Calamity, but the Den was sure it could be the ones to finally find a way to destroy it. We thought we had finally found something, but it was a trap. All we found inside was pain, and death. Zhurr didn't survive, and the Den blamed me for his death and the loss of his sword, which I didn't even know was an heirloom from the times of the Calamity."

"The Hythenos Den was my home when I ran away from mine as a young child. Zhurr and I had been best friends since the moment we met, and then I was shunned by the den because I made it out, and he didn't. They made it crystal clear they would have preferred it the other way around.

Maintaining an unfaced expression, Faelan is reasonably sure who his uncle presently is in this life. At least he is with a priest of the Luxon. They would have to talk. Soon. But for now, the half drow wants to know something different. Felling actual compassion for Belana, he closes his fist and holds it to his heart before he answers: "This sounds more than tragic if you words are true and accurate. A grave injustice has been done to you." Looking the drow straight in the eye he continues: "We live long enough to see these events turned. Don't despair. If my journey is a success, I will wash your name clean of these old burdens and you will have a place in the Den Hythenos. If this is something you still want."

Letting his hand open again and sink to a nondescript position, the warrior asks the question he had came for at last: "What can you tell me about the sword?" And not too timid to ask for details, Faelan wants to know every singular thing she has to offer on this subject. Where is the Betrayer's Rise in Bazzoxan, what powers did it show in Zhurr's lifetime? Where did his uncle loose the blade? How long ago was this exactly? Had she heard from it again? And so on, and so on.

Belana looks shocked at Faelen's offer, like she had been wanting this for so long, but now that she is faced with the opportunity, she is unsure of her true desires. She takes a long breath in, soaking in Faelen's words, "I cannot express how much it means to me to hear you say that." Finally, emotion filters through onto her face as she smiles, "Thank you. Come, let's sit and I will explain everything."

Belana leads Faelen deeper into the temple, into a room with a tiny fireplace. With a flick of her wrist, the fireplace ignites into a magical fire that quickly catches the wood and then remains steady. She solemnly fills a kettle with water and herbs and spices of all kinds, then places the kettle over the fire. She takes a seat next to the fireplace and gestures for Faelen to sit opposite of her.

Gradually and through much pain, she explains to Faelen everything she knows about the sword and such. Apparently, the sword has been in your family since the Calamity. According to Zhurr, during those chaotic days of old, the sword was wielded by one of your ancestors during many fights against Lolth, the Spider Queen, as She tried to regain control over the drow who had broken from her influence. Your ancestor survived any a battle, but eventually fell. But from their dying hands, the next Hythenos warrior picked it up and wielded it in the next battle. It was then passed down through the generations as an heirloom.

The Betrayer's Rise in Bazzoxan is an ancient temple dedicated to the Betrayer Gods, the gods who fought against the Prime Deities during the Calamity in an effort to destroy life on Exandria and start anew. Ancient magic and curses keep the magics of their seat of power alive, and Bazzoxan the town exists purely as a means to prevent the horrors within from spilling out and engulfing the Kryn Dynasty in chaos and war once again. Many scholars believe this is one of, if not the, location where the Betrayer Gods' influence on Exandria remains the strongest in all the Prime Material Plane.

About 20 years ago, the Den Hythenos thought, in typical noble hubris, that they could be the ones to finally find a way to destroy the place and elevate their house's power. The insides of the Betrayer's Rise shift and change for all those who enter, so that each new delve is a brand new, never before seen path of pain and suffering. It was in one of Lolth's rooms that they thought they found some kind of clue to destroy the place, but it was false. A trap. Zhurr fell, and Belana and their companions had to flee before they could rescue him or his sword.

The sword has not been seen or heard from since, and Belana assumes it is still somewhere in the depths of Betrayer's Rise. Zhurr claimed that it still had not yet climbed to its zenith of power, but the sword granted Zhurr some spellcasting, made him quicker, and made each hit deadlier.

Listening very carefully, the fighter takes notes and indeed show them to Belana to get everything right. If possible he produces a map or a sketch where the sword was seen last. The half drow even inquires if there are people known who have ventured a bit further then just the first areas into the ruins of Bazzoxan and have returned. It is possible this is a question for later, when they arrive there.

At the end, the noble lowers his head in appreciation for all the information he had just received. "Thank you, Belana. I'll remember you and what you have done for me, when this quest is a success and I am in the position to change minds in my house."

Getting ready to leave, the Rosohnian strolls to the door, before turning in the doorframe one last time. Maybe to give the Luxon priestess a last chance to add something, maybe he wants to say something himself and decides against it.

At that point in time he leaves into the night.

It seems that finally letting go of this deep well of information and emotions she has been bottling up for two decades now has taken a great weight off the shoulders of this Luxon priestess, and she looks eternally grateful for it.

Belana verifies the location of Bazzoxan, and subsequently the Betrayer's Rise, on Faelen's map with a sorrowful face. She explains that she has mostly been holed up here in Jigow since Zhurr's death and being cast out from the Den Hythenos, so she does not know much about the current state and makeup of Bazzoxan. Though, she does emphasize, "When we arrived in Bazzoxan, there were all sorts of factions and scholars funding and preparing expeditions into the Betrayer's Rise, though I do think that has slowed in recent years. That Temple is such an ancient, unique, and... morbidly fascinating location in Exandria that academics and adventurers of all kinds just flock to that city like souls to the outer planes. We did."

She hesitates, now fully understanding what Faelen intends to do with all the information he has gathered in their meeting, "I highly suggest that you fully understand and prepare for what you are up against. Seek out those who know more about the Temple's current status. Do not venture into the Rise alone or at the very least without aid. Even we did not go in alone, we had funding and support from a scholar from the Cobalt Soul I believe, though I do not recall their name." She takes a long moment and a doubly long sip from her tea, "I think it is unlikely, but if you find the old Zhurr in there, please, put his old self to rest. I do not know the answer to the riddle of what this might mean to his current incarnation, but offer his old self what I could not."

When Faelen turns to leave, she simply gives him a respectful and grateful nod, turning to stare into the fireplace and sip her tea.