Day 05 (S4)

(start in vorovni, end at coven camp)

Rina was still fully awake. She spent the evening after the party nervously looking out her window and pacing around her room in the inn of Vorovni. Her thoughts were racing: was this devil actually threatening her or her son, or was he actually trying to help? Can anything a devil says he trusted, or was he lying to her to get her to do what he wanted?
Right at midnight, a familiar cold entered her room. She turned around to see Enoch sitting on her bed.
"Hello, Rina."
"Hello... Enoch," she responded, "What do you want from me?"
"I need you to sign a contract with me." he said.
"Don't you already have my contract?" she asked, "You did kill my previous devil, and I already have your magic."
"That's true..." he started, "But those things mean nothing without your signature."
Rina paused, "You know, you could have caused a lot of problems for me during that fight."
He looked at her inquisitively.
"You ripped away my magic - which hurt a lot, by the way."
"I already apologized for-"
she cut him off, "My friend could have died, Alice was down."
"Rina, I understand you're upset." Enoch said. Rina didn't even realize, but she had raised her voice quite a bit. Not enough to wake anyone on other rooms, but enough that she was noticeably angry.
"Believe it or not," Enoch continued, "I was actually trying to help you. Any other devil wouldn't have given you any magic without a signature."
"So like you're doing me a favor?" Rina said sarcastically. "Then you come in here and threaten my son?"
"Now hold on" Enoch responded, "I am not the one threatening your son."
"You said if I didn't sign with you that bad things would happen to him" she responded.
"That is correct, but it isn't me who is doing those things." he said, "Those things are already happening to his people, I want to stop them."
Rina paused a moment, "So, you need me."
Enoch's eyes narrowed, "I need help, yes. And you need help for your son, too."
Rina thought for a moment. "I think I need you more than you need me." she said.
Enoch got up off the bed and approached her, stopping a few feet away, "We need each other, Rina." he responded.
She tried to retain her angry approach, but softened a little. "I'll sign with you under one condition" she said, "I want to be treated like an equal."
Enoch looked surprised and scoffed, "You want to be treated equal... to a Devil Lord? What else do you want?" he asked.
"I want to be able to keep the magic forever" she said, "it doesn't help me if I only have access to it as long as I'm helpful to you only. I want to know I can count on it for life."
He smiled, "Ok. And?" he asked.
"And..." Rina continued, "You can't just show up without my permission. I can't just have you appearing out of nowhere whenever you want."
Enoch smirked and paused for a moment.
"Fine," he said as he snapped his fingers. An ethereal paper appeared between him and Rina. It looked ancient, the long page curled around itself at the top and bottom, like it had been rolled for centuries.
Enoch took a quill pen and started to write the caveats that Rina mentioned near the bottom.
"There, now, read this and sign" he said, "and my magic will be yours."

It read as follows:
"I Rina Afrisa-Michaelis submit my soul to create a bargain of Agronoch, Prince of Hell, and Lord of the Beast Plains, In exchange for power (magical, practical, ever-present, readily available, and scaling with the strength of my mortal flesh) I will complete the task required of me, assassinating the Right hand man of the true king of Bolgroth. This task has no time limit, but if strides are not made within 30 mortal days to further this goal, the magic is forfeit. Agronoch reserves the right to rescind from this deal at the expense of 30 days worth of power if he deems the subject unable to accomplish the task. Inability to accomplish the task is based on his own discretion but must follow a period of 30 days of inactivity. Weekly check-ins are expected to report on Rina's goal-furthering activities. Finally, Agronoch will not visit Rina without first asking permission. The contract acknowledges that Rina wishes to see herself legally equal to Agronoch, Prince of Hell, Ruler of the Beast Plains, and Wielder of the Frost-Flame. The contract does not affirm this position, as it is merely speculative that a mortal could consider themselves equal to a Devil-Lord. The contract acknowledges that Agronoch finds the idea… fun, and has personal opinions of Rina and her feisty attitude that have no bearing on the legality of this contract."

"You need me to kill someone?" she asked, "If you're so powerful, why don't you just do it yourself?"
He sighed, "If I go into The Kingdom of Bolgroth I will... die. I can't do it on my own."
"So, is it Bolgroth that threatens the Therianthropes and Basta'Thrope'?" she asked.
"Among others, yes." he answered, "I need you be my eyes and ears on this mission - and assassinate the Right hand man of the true king of Bolgroth."
"Why will you die if you go?" she asked.
He began to look a bit frustrated by her questions, but answered kindly, "The reason isn't relevant, but you will not be the only one working for this." He paused a moment, "You should know that my contracting with you is costing me a great deal." Just then Rina felt a pull on her soul from his, a connection that was strong, but clearly draining him more than she expected. "I am also not making this decision lightly, Rina."

Without reading the contract over any further, Rina pulls out her own scribe's pen to sign.
"Enoch..." she said, "there's one more thing I want from you."
He looked at her inquisitively.
"I want your friendship" She said, "and - in turn - your respect as such."
"...why?" he asked.
"Because," she started, "It's a lot easier to work with someone long-term if you can be friends." She smiled as she signed on the dotted line.
He signed as well. Their signatures read:
Agronoch, Prince of Hell, Ruler of the Beast Plains, and Wielder of the Frost-Flame.
&
Rina Afrisa-Michaelis

"Thank you, Rina" Enoch started, "I will be seeing you around."
"I'll see you in a week." she said just before he disappeared without a trace.
There was now enough time for Rina to get some rest, though with her mind racing, it wouldn't be that peaceful.

The rest of the party slept in a bit, Alice was hung over a little after the drinks from the night before.

Kin and Rina were both up at the normal time and Kin greeted the sun as it rose.
Rina noticed, but didn't disturb him. As a Cleric of nature, he often used time in the morning to pray.

When Aurelius woke up he approached Rina, "So I saw some guy in your bed last night." he said.
"What?" she exclaimed, "Who? Why were you looking in my room? And how?"
"I stayed up late last night and went for a walk outside," he said, "I saw in your window and saw that guy from the dance in your bed."
Rina was suddenly livid, "Do you know how inappropriate it is to look into someone's bedroom? What the hell is wrong with you?"
"So, who is the guy?" he asked.
"Who he is is none of your business!" she yelled, "What else did you see?"
"Uh, nothing else, really." he said "I just decided to keep walking - I didn't want to see what happened next."
"Well, good. That's the least you could have done" she responded.
"Stop arguing, you two," Alice said, holding her head, "I have too much of a headache for all that."
"We should head to the Sprite Light coven's outpost in the woods by Mistbrook" Kin said, "We need to get this contract to them."

As they left for Mistbrook, the Salt Slayers were also leaving.
"Ahh, the Sprite's Lights!" Alejandro exclaimed, "we are off on the Monster in the East mission, are you headed out, too?"
"Yeah," Rina responded, "we need to get something to the Sprite Light coven. Then... Well, then we intend to go look for your friends."
"You plan to look for the Fearsome 5?" he asked "Thank you, we are forever grateful. So much so, I feel I owe you a little more... transparency."
Just then, the human they knew as Alejandro dropped his disguise self spell to reveal a tall Tiefling man, with red skin, yellow eyes, tall horns, and a whipping tail.
"You... You're a tiefling?" Rina asked, "I have never met a tiefling before."
"Ahh, and I had never met an Elf before!" he said, "So I guess we are even."
"That's why you were ducking under stuff that was really high up!" Alice exclaimed, "You're taller than you looked!"
"Yes, indeed, my small beauty."
"I heard a rumor that the quest you're goin on is related to a Devil" Rina started, "Just be careful - you never know what trouble a devil may be."
"Not all devils are so bad!" Alejandro winked, "My father was also quite the devil, and quite a guy!"
Rina smiled.
"If you do find our friends, please let us know" he said as he tossed a small stone to Rina. "There are three sending spells on there, I hope to hear from you soon!" They all got on horses and started heading east.
"See you soon, Salt lickers!" Rina yelled.
"See you soon, Elf Bitch!" he yelled back.
Rina used Prestidigitation to manifest the smell of a fart in his face, "Ugh, Gronk what the hell? What did you eat?"
Gronk the orc just laughed, happily taking the blame for the smell.

It was afternoon when the Sprite's Lights got to Mistbrook. There were no townspeople in the town, however. Everything seemed empty, but a crowd could be heard on the north side of the town.
The party rode up to see all of the townspeople across from dozens of Witches from the Sprite Light coven, all yelling at each other.
"It's your fault that these monsters are harassing us!" yelled one of the townspeople.
"You were not attacked!" one of the witches responded, "It was minding its business when you attacked it!"
"But it wouldn't be here at all if you witches had not summoned it!"
They continued to yell back and forth, getting more and more heated.
Rina rode her horse right in between the groups, "There's no reason for there to be a fight here!" she yelled, "The witches aren't hurting anyone, there's been a monster around here for a while, and they're trying to protect you!" she yelled in the direction of the townspeople.
"We don't need some Elf bitch telling us what to do!" the townspeople yelled.
Suddenly there was a large cracking sound in the woods, then the clear sound of a tree falling. Then large footsteps thud the ground, one after the other. Another tree was heard falling.
The witches and townspeople all went silent as the footsteps got closer. A loud screech was heard, something akin to a giant rooster crowing. Then from behind the thin veil of trees, a Jabberwock appeared into the clearing.
The townspeople screamed and most of them ran, the witches got into formation to attack the beast. "You know your training!" one of the witches yelled, she seemed to be a leader among them, "Everyone get ready!"
The Sprite's Lights also got prepared. Rina sent some eldritch blasts its way, and Aurelius hit it a few times with his greatsword.
Kin stood back to be ready to heal us, and put some protection around himself and Alice.
Alice used moonbeam, but the monster swiftly moved away from it toward Rina - who had hurt it the most so far. A few of the witches cast spells at it, and it used its long tail to smash two of them into the ground - killing them immediately.
Rina stopped a moment to realize that the witches were all children - all around Aurelius's age. Aurelius had training from his father who was in the army of Luminus, but these witches were relatively untrained.
In her distraction, the Jabberwock swung its tail at her, hitting her hard. To avoid the tail, she ran underneath it to where Aurelius was hitting it. It then stomped down on them, downing them both.
Kin tried to get close enough to heal them, but couldn't. Alice tried to cast another spell, but there's not much that a druid could do in this situation.
Suddenly, a wall of fire appeared between the Jabberwock and the party members on the ground.
Behind the monster appeared a tall woman with a staff, "Enough people have died here today, get your people up and finish this!" she yelled at Kin.
The wall lasted long enough for Kin to get Rina and Aurelius up. Rina using this time to polymorph it into a small chicken. She picked it up, and handed it to the woman, "You deal with this thing" she said, "I know enough to know it's fey, which is your expertise, right?"
"...yes." the woman said hesitantly, "I am Valentine. The other leader here," she gestured to the woman calling the shots during the battle, "that's Abagail."
"Nice to meet you," said Rina, "So you're the one we got the contract for?"
"You were able to secure a contract?" she asked excitedly, "Yes, yes that's me. Please, come back to the outpost camp with us. We will get you food and drink, and I would like to speak with you all privately."

"We have been working so we can Bring back the Fey for a while" Abagail said on the trip back to the outpost, "now that we have the contract, we can actually start legally removing the iron."
"Legally?" Aurelius asked, "You mean you've been doing it illegally?"
"We don't need to talk about that" she replied as they entered a large, purple tent.
Inside was a small library's worth of books on shelves, and a large desk in the center of the area with Valentine sitting there.
"Welcome" Valentine started, "Please hand me the contract."
Kin handed it to her and she began to read. "Good" she said, "You all did very good."
"Oh, one more thing" Kin started, "Rizvic of the Daybreak coven wants you to vote with them on a political matter at some point in the future. They helped us convince Mayor Highwater of Vorovni to grant you the land."
"A Daybreak witch helped you?" she asked, as she began to stand from her desk. Upon closer inspection, Valentine was no normal human. Her arms and legs were long and lanky, very similar to the hag we had met before. "I will definitely contact them as soon as possible." Valentine said.
"Are you a hag?" Alice asked, "We met one of the Sunblight witches the other day, you look like her."
Valentine smiled, "My mother is of the Sunblights," she said, "I am, indeed, half hag."
She read over the contract and smiled, "This is perfect," she said, "the two of you have earned your place in the coven." She then looked at Rina and Aurelius, "And the two of you, as well. If you wish."
Abagail brought over a large book titled "Coven Members" for Valentine to write names in.
"Ok, I have Alice Moondance, Kin Ray and... what are your names?"
"Aurelius Ravenwood."
Rina remained silent.
"And you?" Valentine asked Rina.
"I would rather not, if that's ok." Rina responded.
Valentine and Abagail looked at each other, Valentine spoke up, "It would be an honor to have you, you really did save everyone from the Jabberwock."
"I just don't want my name on anything" Rina responded.
"Her name's Rina" Alice started, "Rina Michaelis."
"Not Michaelis." Rina said as Abagail began writing her name. "If my name's going to be in there, make it my maiden name - Afrisa. Not my married name, please."
"Ok then," Abagail began to write, "Rina... Afrisa... Michaelis - ok bye now!" Abagail said as she put the book back on the shelf and disguised the shelf so that no one knew which book it was.
Valentine ushered them all out, "Please, stay the rest of the night - have a drink with me, attend the wedding we have plan for tonight. And... the funerals for our fallen sisters."
They began with the funerals of the 3 witches who had fallen in the battle with the Jabberwock. Though one of them was a man, everyone in a witches coven is referred to as "sister" regardless of gender.
Rina spent that part of the evening angry. Angry that Valentine would send such young people into battle, angry that Valentine and Abagail would not take no for an answer to her not wanting to join, and angry that they didn't respect her name.
After the funerals, they buried the three next to each other, and began changing up the area for the wedding.
"We thought it would be better for morale to end the evening with something pleasant." Abagail said, "Though, I admit it's hard to switch emotional gears so fast." Rina cried 3 tears for the fallen, but didn't answer Abagail.
The wedding was held and went off without a hitch: two young women swearing the rest of their lives to each other.
"By the power of the Mother Witch, I now pronounce you spouses!" Valentine proclaimed, as the two kissed and everyone applauded.
"Please join us and the new couple for drinks and dancing after the ceremony!"

After the ceremony, the Sprite's Lights were sat at a table having some drinks. Alice had taken a few shots with Valentine, who was sitting there with them.
"Now that I'm too drunk to keep it in anymore" Valentine started, "I have to... apologize."
"For which thing?" Rina asked, "Forcing me to join the coven, or putting me at risk by using a name I asked you not to?"
Valentine laughed, "No no... for the Jabberwock."
Rina looked confused.
"I was the one who summoned it." Valentine said.
Rina looked shocked for a moment, then laughed out loud. "Of course... of course you did. I have never been so close to death, you know that? You killed those girls, do you understand that, too?" Rina said.
"I know, and I'm sorry about that." Valentine said, "I never intended for anyone to get hurt."
"Well, for that I forgive you. But it's not only me to whom you owe an apology."
"Yes, I know, I'm sorry to the rest of you also. I'm just glad you can forgive me." responded Valentine.
Rina got up without a word and went to the graves of the three girls, without another word to Valentine.
"Well, so much for that" Valentine paused, "I will atone for the problems I've caused here" she said to Kin.
"Death is a part of life" Kin said, "You don't need to justify yourself to me."
"Or me" said Aurelius.
"Me either" slurred Alice.
"Well, thank you. I hope Rina comes around." Valentine responded.

Rina looked around the woods for three saplings. She found an Oak, a Birch, and a Pine. She carefully dug them out of the ground, and planted one on each of the graves of the girls. "You all deserved better" she whispered to them. "You all deserved more time."
She then turned in to her tent that she was sharing with Alice, who had passed out in her cot at that point.