Friday, February 1, 2013

Uwain the Betrayed: Speechification

Why, yes, I'm the kind of crazy SOB who'd write up a speech for his D&D character to deliver... I've been waiting for months to have Uwain give this speech, and finally, tomorrow, I shall have that chance...  The game left off last time with my former PC, the now NPC, Sid (referenced below as "That Abomination", sending abominations to kill the PCs, this would be the speech Uwain would give immediately after the fight.

That Abomination spoke of the the Stairway to the Stars before it attacked, didn't it? The Stairway to the Stars was opened once before, I know not how many years ago, because for centuries the fallen and false priests of this monastery have kept me locked in cells, but when it first opened many of the priests and worshipers fled, afraid to do what was right and to fight against the Far Realms. Of the more than a thousand who lived here then, barely a hundred stayed. We named a new Abbess to lead us, and girded ourselves for battle. We were woefully unprepared for the numbers of aberrations the Mind Flayer overlords of the Far Realms were able to push through the portal, wave after wave, and after the first day’s battle, many had died and many had fled.
We fought on for three more days before the portal was closed and the Stairway to the Stars was constructed, when we finally could rest, there were only seven of us who had stayed to fight and had survived. As the others slowly filtered back, in shameful pairs and small bands, we became known as heroes, as the Seven Who Stood Their Ground.
There was the Human Cleric, Mikkeline Gira, the Armored Abbess, clad in her holy chain-mail, the Invulnerable Coat of Arnd, who led the defense of the Monastery, despite the Seeress prophesying that doing so would cause her to suffer painful and crippling disfigurement and a premature death once the Aberrations had been driven back. The Minotaur Invoker, Grozdan Infractus, Bearer of the Golden Rod of Law, whose mighty blessings and mightier curses strengthened and shielded his allies and weakened and blasted his enemies. The Human Avenger, Amaia Umezurtz, Bringer of the Queen's Vengeance, wrapped in her enchanted leather armor Shadowskin, whose daring reconnaissance at the cost of her left arm brought Abbess Gira the information she needed to turn the tide and who stayed on the front line besides her comrades despite her lost limb. The Dwarven Wizard, Thunar Paperbeard, Saint Edarmirrik's Locksmith, with his staff, Doorbreaker, who turned the gaping and ever expanding portal to the Far Realm into the narrow, defensible and close-able Stairway to the Stars. The Half-Elven siblings, the Psion, Theodosia Lekapenos, the Iron-Minded, wielding the potent orb known as the Crystal of Abomination Annihilation, who used her telepathy and telekinesis to great effect against the physical and mental onslaught of the Mind Flayers and their twisted soldiers, and her brother, the Monk, Venijamin Lekapenos, he of Seventy-five Hands, who focused his Ki through the Righteous Silver Coin, blessed by Erathis, he stood in front of his sister and Thunar Paperbeard, the radiant coin in his fist flashing as he struck out at any abomination that dared draw near him. And lastly, myself, Uwain Flamesbane, once known as Ghassan el Hariq, before I was brought out of the City of Brass and Reborn into the Light and Out of the Blistering Flame, given the falchion Flamequencher as recognition of the evil I conquered inside myself and the evil I vanquished without, who was honored with a place among the Abbess' personal guard, the only one of her guards who did not abandon her in the fight, who stood with my six comrades, willing to give my live with theirs to protect the monastery and the world from the abominations that spilled out of that portal to the Far Realms before Thunar closed it and we found ourselves standing alone, seven among the hundreds of fallen and fled.
Mere months after we fought back the invasion, Abbess Gira died from her lingering wounds and the other six of us allowed a new Abbot to be named from those who had fled. None of us wanted political power, and in this moment, we faltered, for when the Devils arrived the Abbot was unwilling to hold fast and instead saw a chance to make the Monastery strong at the price of its purity. One by one the corrupt Abbot marginalized and discredited the remaining Seven Who Stood Their Ground, as we spoke against him and the devils. Claiming that we had slain our own comrades in order to increase our share of the glory, that we had become tainted by the Far Realms as we fought to protect the Monastery. The Devils wove subtle magics, too, that turned us from heroes into suspect villains, and one by one we were imprisoned, tortured and killed. I was the last captured, Amaia dove into a chasm, embracing a quick death to avoid capture by the Duergar. The devils disinterred Abbess Gira, defiling her bones. They drove Grozdan mad and reduced him to a beast who they made slaves and criminals fight for sport. They flayed Thunar alive, using his skin to bind a foul tome and his blood as the ink to write in it. I only heard the screams of Theodosia and Venijamin as they were tortured together, I was fortunate to never see how the Devils mistreated them.
When the Devils had finally tired of torturing me and they allowed me to die, I expected to awake in Erathis' Bright City, but she had abandoned us. Instead I awoke in a melancholic land of shadows, in exchange for my service the Raven Queen offered me a chance to enact Justice, after the betrayals I suffered, after the corruption visited upon this monastery and knowing that the threat of the Far Realms was ever present, I accepted her offer.
That abomination that was responsible for our attack spoke to the group of you as though you had been comrades, friends and family. It spoke as though you had helped it reach the Stairway in the Stars. If that is true, you should join with me. Whatever corruption the Devils have brought to this monastery, to this world, it pales in comparison to the destruction and devastation that would visit this world should the Stairway to the Stars be opened fully. Here is where you make a choice, if you helped that abomination to this place you can show your courage and join with me in fighting against the abominations from the Far Realms until the Stairway to the Stars is closed forever or you can show your cowardice by only securing your temporary safety and then going off on your own selfish pursuits. But know this, that thing knows you, and in its mind you are either with it or against it, there is no neutral path for you to take. If you abandon your duty and decide not to join me in the fight against the Far Realm that thing will seek your destruction rather than leave you alone. It may not strike immediately but some day it will decide your existence and knowledge of it is a threat. If you are not with me at that time, I shall not be there to stand with you against the abomination and it will surely destroy you. What say you, will you show true integrity and dedicate yourselves to a righteous cause?

1 comment:

  1. I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again, I really dig this speech. I cannot WAIT to see how it goes over in the game tomorrow!

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