Confessions of a Doubting Arbiter IV

JP with Omni and Winteroak

The man with the red eyes and pale complexion heard her tale on the Cult of Slivikhi. As he had imagined the Duke had left much out of his own accounts. Of course, the Lord Commander Stoneshade was not beholden to the Inquisition like Arbiter Voah was, but her tale could prove useful. It was good to know that his grasp on power was not as strong as he wanted to show. Still they had first claim on these new lands, not that it matter much to the Shrine-Cities of Mizar. Concessions had already been made back in Helias for the Inquisition support in Arcadia, but still, some of this information would assist him in his future dealings with the man and for his true goal here.

His eyes never left Voah's eyes and face, noting her breathing, enunciation and demure. She was being honest in recounting what had happened so far. But he would soon dig deeper.
"Continue sister..." He said with a slight nod at her.

Outside his tent the sound of lashes cut through the air followed by screaming...

Voah immediately turned to the sound of flogging and just as immediately understood what she was hearing. She turned back, wincing a little every time she heard a smack. She spoke slightly louder to shield herself from the screams and allow the Purger to better hear her confessions.

“My investigation led me to Aquilo, where the trail went cold for a time.

The locals had a problem with the mineshaft initiated by the city. Some sort of superstition kept them from continuing. With no other leads, I decided to investigate the alleged curse. With a few of the other folk from Ostiarium, we descended into the tunnels to find an ancient network of ruins and tunnels. Myself and another found the source of the clansmen’s fears and were lost for days in the dark with an affliction of pure madness…”

She took a moment, remembering the everdark.

“A mould grows down there... that infects and twists the mind… strange creatures and people dwell in a place of endless darkness… but after days, we were saved by the others who did not give up the search for us…

Recovering above ground, our group had little time to rest as we were soon run off by a traitorous offshoot of the Odonine mountain clan. We reached Aquilo again and a battle ensued involving our pursuers. All was nearly lost… but Sir Zane arrived… And now I am here.

After all of these encounters… if I am not blessed by the Pillars, I know not why I have survived this long.”

She trailed off and spaced out at the end, until another scream brought her back to reality.