Knute’s last quest

Knute joined a quest to find the sword of a great paladin. He succeeded in his quest, and (not knowing that what he held was a holy avenger) gave the sword to the guy who sent him on the mission (he did get paid 1,000 GP).

After the quest for the sword, he spent the night with Moran and Lysa, his adventuring friends (both women). In fact, he spent several nights with them, enjoying his new-found wealth (and spending a large handful of it). To each of these women, he gave a beautiful tiara (worth 15,000 GP each), and a ring very similar to his own (worth 20,000 GP each).

The Adventure Begins

It has been a friendly night, spending money on women, telling stories of valor, and other, endeavors. Last night, Knute deposited the extra cash in a bank, tonight he gave a few trinkets to the ladies. It seems they like the attention and Knute surely likes giving it! He feels the call of wanderlust coming and knows that he will be moving on again. But not before a little more rest. Knute wanders out of the Tavern late in the night... or early in the morning. It is hard to tell. He had maybe one too many drinks... maybe two too many drinks.

As he stumbles out into the darkness he see a multi-colored wagon. It sets his senses whirling... definitely too many colors. A beautiful woman steps out of the back with a man who looks kind of familiar. They are both laughing and seem to be having a good time. The man looks at Knute and with recognition says. "My friend! I owe you a hand of cards! It seems last time we played I was dealt poorly and you said I could have a rematch anytime! Come into the wagon, let us drink to your health and play some cards!"

Standing mesmerized for a moment before noticing the man talking to him, Knute shakes the cobwebs off and ambles towards the happy couple. " 'Cards,' you say? I would say you've caught me at a bad moment, friend." Stumbling ever so slightly, Knute's mind wanders back to the women inside. "But if you'd like, I can meet you tomorrow, when my mind isn't so fuzzy and hands are up to the task of holding some cards. What do you say?" This last part he says more than asks.

Knute makes no indication that he can't remember the man's name. In fact, he gives the man little time to reply as he turns back towards the inn and begins his return to the ladies. He definitely likes them more than he likes playing cards.

"No problem the man replies, we were actually going to be heading in ourselves. You see, my lady friend here", as he motions to the woman, "Is a bit of a psychic and will be doing readings for anybody interested at the tavern.

Knute looks at the lady. Given some of the events of his past, Knute inherently distrusts anyone claiming to be psychic, even if the claim is made by someone else. She didn't dispute it. However, he finds her extraordinarily beautiful. She is dark skinned, with raven's colored hair and brown almost black eyes, she wears a bright flowing skirt with a lose fitting almost translucent top. She smiles at Knute knowingly, like she can almost read his mind. For a second, Knute is transfixed by her gaze.

What she is probably reading from Knute's mind is something like, "(see wave file)."

"Well, I hope you might try your fortune! It must be good by the way you beat me last time," the man says as he breaks your revelry. He puts his arm around the girl’s shoulder... she seems to not like this though and shrugs it off. All in a smooth motion that belies an innate grace that dancers usually have. "See you inside," he says as he walks in the front door of the tavern.

Knute gets a twinge that he needs to do something, sensing that the woman is uncomfortable, but she handles herself well, so he abandons that notion.

Knute begins walking away from the tavern after they enter. He hesitates. Then, he turns around, thinking that he should go inside. "She was so pretty," he thinks to himself. "Nah!" he exclaims quietly as he again turns away from the inn. He takes a few confident steps away from the building before he again doubts himself and falters. "I've been pretty lucky lately," he says as he twists the ring on his finger. "Moran and Lysa were pretty incredible, and they wanted me, too. And the way she looked at me," he says, continuing to think about the mysterious woman. "But she's taken." Knute's mind wanders back to the encounter of a few moments before, remembering the way she shrugged him off.

Not wanting to face the man directly (especially since he can't pinpoint where he knows the guy from), Knute resolves himself to writing her a note. What to say? How to say it? He didn't know. Knute hunts around a bit for a piece of paper, and finds one, luckily. Then, for something to write with... hmm...

"Mud! I'll use mud!" he whispers, as he spies a small puddle on the ground. Squatting by the puddle, paper on his leg, Knute writes:

See me. Ime fun.

Not terribly original or compelling, but it gets the point across. What should he do with the note? Leave it at the carriage? No, the guy might find it. Knute shudders at the thought. Try to hand it to the woman? No, that wouldn't work. "How do you approach an unapproachable woman?" thinks Knute to himself as he kneels by the puddle.

Wadding up the paper, Knute thinks he hears a sound behind him. Having recently been adventuring, he rises, his hand on the hilt of his sword, turning towards the sound that could have been his nervous imagination.

"Do you always play in the mud?" The woman asks with a small smile, it is the dark skinned woman with the man who you don't quite remember. The man isn't here at present.

Knute's hand strays away from his weapon again as he sees the source of the sound.

"I needed a different set of cards for a reading that was asked." She says, looking into your eyes. "You have tempted fate, unwittingly, although I think you knew what you were doing. Would you tempt fate again?" She points towards the wagon. You feel the same transfixed feeling you felt before when she had looked at you. It takes you a second before you could even form a reply.

Knute turns and looks towards the wagon, then turns back to look again at the woman. His heart is pounding in his throat, and he has to swallow and breathe several times before he can reply.

A smile creeps slowly across his face as he reaches out his hand to the woman. "T'would be my honor to accompany you."

She hooks her arm under yours and starts leading you towards the wagon. You can feel the brush of her skirt as she walks next to you. Her step is light and graceful, and you touch is almost indistinct. Half way to the wagon you catch her looking at you with a look of puzzle on her face, when she realizes that you notice her look it disappears with a smile. "Tell me your name?" She asks.

"K-k-Knute." You respond. Wondering why you are so stupid sounding around this lady, you seemed to be much smoother with the others...

"Knute... that name is unfamiliar to my region. My name is Anastasia, my friends call me Anya." She says. When you hear her name it felt like heaven itself opened up with a full chorus of angels. Once again you feel the presence of puzzlement, or worry upon her. It passes quickly. you have also noticed that she speaks with a strong accent. You are not familiar with the accent, although that doesn't surprise you, you haven't been that many places.

She stops for a second, 10 feet from the wagon, she seems to think, glances at the tavern, and then with a look of purpose continues to the wagon. The wagon is predominantly yellow. The color of Daisies on a warm summer day. It is trimmed in red and blue. It is covered, no not covered, more built like a small house on wheels. The horses are large Clydesdale breed that usually pull iron wagons and the like. She steps up to the door and opens it for you to step in. A warm glow emanates from inside and an aroma of flowers and herbs filters out to you. You smell Jasmine and Roses, A scent of Thyme, and possibly Evergreen.

As you step into the wagon, your are startled by how large it looks from the inside. There is a bed across the front. You would imagine that it would be short for you, but to fit the girl it would be just right. There are no others beds. There is a table to on side, with room for two, and bookshelves of books lining the other side of the wagon. You see plants growing in the windowsills, some familiar some unfamiliar. On a shelf next to the table, there are three sets of cards, a circular thing with stars on it, and a few of gadgets that you don't recognize. The cards are weird also. They aren't sized like normal cards you play with, but are longer and have detailed art work on the back of them. She motions you to sit at one side of the table, and she sits at the other. She picks one of the decks of cards and starts to shuffle them. The cards spin and glide through her fingers in what looks almost like some ritualistic dance.

She finishes the shuffle.

She lays the deck down and concentrates for a second. All of a sudden the cards jump out of the pile and spread out over the table. She looks at you, a piercing gaze that you would swear looked to the depths of your soul and says "Pick 10 cards.... Please?" She almost sounded pleading on that last word.

Knute considers the situation for a moment, and begins to select cards. One, two, three... a pause. He looks at the woman, Anya, closely. Four, five, ... He again looks at her in contemplation (a really difficult trick for Knute to pull off!). Six... "Where does your friend sleep?" he asks.

"Friend?" she replies. She thinks for a moment not knowing what friend you are talking about. No, wait recognition. "Oh, the man is not a friend, he is an.... acquaintance. I do not know where he sleeps." She seems bothered by something.

When she says that the man is merely an acquaintance, Knute is not sure whether to believe her or not. He seems to have been rather controlling, overstepping the bounds of a simple acquaintance, even those of a friend. Knute notices her distraction, and sets the card down on the table. Reaching up, he looses the chain that he wears. Looking for, and not finding, a suitable tool, Knute bites the chain to mark it distinctly, and hands it to the woman. The bite is opposite the clasp, such that when she wears the chain, it will hang in front.

Seven... "Your accent... um, where do you come from?"

"I do not have a permanent home. I travel from region to region with others... with friends." She says. She seems to be off somewhere else for a moment, she shakes her head slightly, looks as you and smiles. "They are a magical people, full of songs and sadness."

Eight... "Teach me something special..." This last is not a command, but a request. Knute desperately wants something distinct to remember this woman by. Even if he will never forget her face, or her accent, or the way she felt almost immaterial when they walked together, he wants something.

She is truly surprised at this question. "Me? Special?" She pauses for a moment, a melancholy look on her face. "I have only one special talent, and that I give to you freely." She seems to sadden deeper with this, "My prophecies are never wrong. To the demise of my people. To the demise of myself. To the demise of... others. Only you can change your prophecy. You must know that a prophecy is only changeable by the person on which it is bestowed." She looks at Knute and he knows something broke inside of her; something deep, something a part of her,

has changed.

Knute hesitates, nearly ready to abandon the fortune-telling altogether. This is not welcome news to him, as he would rather not know anything about future, or fortune. 'Now' is when he lives. He tries to speak, but nothing comes out. He draws another card.

Nine... "Please... please, Anya, say your name again."

"My name? I shall not say my name." Knute's brow creases, mostly in confusion. His shoulders visibly sag. She continues, "I will say another name you should remember. The name Elitix. My name is no longer until you understand what the other name means. My name is no more. Until that time I shall be call Derili. A name I deserve."

Now it is Knute’s turn to be surprised. He doesn’t understand. He again tries to speak, but no words come out. He feels something, something inside him he has never felt. It's…

He draws another card.

Ten...

She takes the cards from Knute and carefully arranges the first six into a plus sign, with two cards at the center of the plus. The last four cards are laid in a column to the right (Knute’s left) of the plus sign.

She concentrates. Knute feels... enraptured. Reality has ceased to be. Time has stopped. His legs felt oaken and his mind is frozen on the events unfolding in front of him. He feels like events greater than he are happening and there is nothing he can do to stop or change them. The only things he could prove are real are Anya, or Derili, and the Cards.

She reaches for the first card...

It has a picture of a ruler on it. "This is the emperor. This is the self card. This shows that you are a man of strength and rulership. You live by actions and will continue to do so..., You will also be judged by your actions and responsibility will lie with you."

She reaches for the second card, the other card in the center of the plus.

It has a picture of a woman holding scales. "This is the crossroads. The card that decides which paths will affect you most. It is reversed. Justice will fall upon you. A dark justice, a... justice you don't deserve." Knute feels her breath brush across his face; she has sighed. A look of resignation is on her face. Knute knows something is wrong. ‘What Justice!’ yells his mind, ‘what fate,’ but he can't talk. He is as inextricably drawn to the next card as she turns it over.

She turns the card at the bottom of the plus, or cross. It has a wheel on it, with a devil spinning the wheel. "This is the foundation card. The past you come from. You have spent a life spinning the wheel of fate, tempting it to turn up wrong."

She turns the card on the left of the center of the cross. (Knute’s right). It has a Star on it, with a woman reaching towards the star. "You have had great fortune in the recent past. You gained wealth, prestige, honor, and experience. You became respected and liked. Because of an action that you took lightly.", she pauses "you take many things lightly, try to keep doing that..." this last part didn't sound like a prophecy, more like a request. Knute looks at her, but before he can speak, she has turned another card. Once again the magic forces of the prophecy pull you into the cards.

She turns the card at the top of the plus toward Knute. She looks disturbed. The card has a picture of a devil. "This card is the present. It means that fate has called a bargain... and you

lost. Your fate will turn inexplicably worse. The devil has you and he threw you to the dogs." She stops, there is disgust in her voice. "It seems the devil changes this year...."

Knute is dumbfounded. All he can do is watch as she turns the next card. Knute perks up. The card has a picture of two people entangle in the throes of love.

Derili blushes..."This is the ahhh... future." She smiles. She seems genuinely happy and surprised by this card. "You future is of hope. You will find a great love someday. A love to last a lifetime." She seems lost in a thought, a moment of reverie, then it is gone. She turns the next card.

It is the card in the column closest to her. It has the picture of a lion and a large man holding the world over his head. "This is your emotions, deeds, and motives. You are strength. You will win your battles not through wit or faith, but through might." She looks at him. "By the looks of you, you already knew this one." She laughs. She seems lighter after the last few cards. The laugh is musical, a melody to a tune that never ends. But it seems to have a sad edge, not complete mirth in the laugh, more... something to keep the sadness at bay.

Knute would have argued with her, but now is not the time. He briefly remembers the times he has used his mind rather than his body to defeat his foes, but in an instant, the memory is gone. He feels something... or a lack of something. He isn't sure what yet. She turns a card. Knute is drawn back into the cards… the cards... the cards.

It has a picture of scales again, but this time there is a man behind it pointing outward. Pointing at Knute. "This is other people's influence and actions towards you. The card is judgement. You have been judged by others and you will pay a price set by them." Her mirth is gone, her smile is gone. She knows. She knew this before the card became truth. It saddens her.

Knute feels lightheaded, a bit dizzy. He shakes his head, and it feels like it is moving in slow motion. He focuses on the cards. The cards are the only things there. Just the cards.

She turns the second to the last. "This is your desire." she says. It sounds like she is speaking from a distance. "It is the empress. You desire a woman of strength and nobility. You desire a woman of...equality. You desire.... "She seems to notice that Knute is having trouble focusing. He can't move his arms, they seems too heavy to lift. He can’t feel his legs; they seem dead. "I know what you desire," she says. "You shouldn't... you don't know the last card."

She turns the last card. A picture of a man hanged from a tree is on it. The picture leaps out and Knute loses his sight as the image spirals in his vision. He feels himself falling. In the distance, he hears the voice of Derili. "That is the outcome. The hanged man. This means you have been betrayed. Betrayed by a trusted one to the hands of the devil. Betrayed by me... My name is now Derili, until justice is reversed. Derili the Traitor of Hearts." Almost gone in the distance, he hears "Elitix! I curse you to the existence you have sent Knute Braveheart! You will spend forever in the land of dread! You will find no rest and you will meet Knute again! So be the curse of the Vistani." Knute hears the sound of weeping, and then hears no more.

Knute dreamt of nothing, punctuated by fits of consciousness. He tastes a vile liquid on his tongue, feels it flowing down his throat. "Please drink this." Knute thinks he recognizes the voice. "You will die if you don't." Knute wants to trust the voice, but it doesn’t matter. The liquid is in his throat already. He sleeps.

Knute awakens on the ground. It is cold. Looking around, he sees Derili’s… no, Anya’s wagon, disappearing into a mist. Knute stands and the wagon disappears. A single piece of paper falls to the ground. Ignoring the paper for a moment, Knute searches out the wagon, but the strange mists seem poisonous to his lungs. He hears dogs baying in the distance. Sensing the futility of following the wagon, Knute grabs the paper that had fallen. He reads the note.