Soul Bound

1          Soul Bound

1.1        Finding her Feet

1.1.3      An Eventful Journey

1.1.3.10   Sinners

Wellington insisted upon disarming the bandits and checking their pouches, but they’d little of worth. Kafana felt so sorry for them, that she insisted upon cooking them some boar steaks, which she fed to them with a little beer. One of them, a short round spearman, wept at the taste and said it had been months since he’d had anything that wasn’t either too burnt or too raw. She sat down next to him as he ate, and asked him his name and how he’d ended up a bandit.

“I’m Dino. I used to be a sailor until I got into debt, down at the Fiorio. A friendly guy who’d been buying me drinks and asking about my voyages lent me some money. He was very understanding when I couldn’t pay it back, but asked if I could slip him a copy of the ships manifest the moment we docked, the next time we came to this port. Well, I said sure. He was a friend, after all, and there didn’t seem to be any harm in it. Unfortunately, when I tried doing it the following month, the purser found out and disagreed that it was harmless. Turns out the paranoid bastard was a mage. I survived the flogging, but they banned me from the city. After that, I didn’t have much choice. I fell in with Berard. He still had some contacts in the city, and they rendezvoused with him every two weeks, to swap loot for provisions, and give us suggestions on where there might be targets, or warn us about crackdowns. I wish I could start over, earn Cov’s forgiveness. It’s a miserable life out here, among the wolves and ghosts.”

Alderney came over with a map, and asked him to point out their camp and any other points of interest he knew about, then headed off to scout.

Tomsk asked details about the size of wolf packs, and what worked when dealing with ghosts.

Bungo wanted to know what happened when a bandit died. Dino said he’d only died twice. Once when he was on a ship that was attacked by pirates. That time, he’d respawned back at the most recent port he’d visited the Sanctum of. The second time was after he’d had his pendant stripped from him by the court. He floated near the place he’d died for several weeks, before a passing holy man had resurrected him. That was when he’d started hoping to find a way back into Cov’s good graces, he said.

Wellington took Kafana aside:

“What do you think we should do with these captives? Leave them free to carry on hurting people? Try to hand them into the city and ask that they be imprisoned? Flog them? Kill them?”

“Ugh, I don’t like any of those options. What I’d really like is a way to reform those who can be reformed, and deter any of the remainder from repeating their behaviour. You spoke the most with Camillo and Fra Mattheus. Can magic have lasting effects? Can it be used to communicate with Cov directly? If not, could I try coming up with a truth spell, and see if at least Dino can be trusted?”

“Yes, magic can have long term effects. For example, if someone is ready to make a decision anyway, it can force them to realise something, and affect their mind while they make the decision. Curses are possible, though there’s a price to be paid. As to direct communication with deities or their agents, I believe high level priests can do something along those lines. I don’t know your chances of success. And the answer might be ambiguous.”

“You said I drew upon your mana when you joined in the chorus to aid my singing earlier. Any idea how strength of spell varies with number of people contributing to it?”

“Given participants having equal skill levels, and the group being well coordinated, I think it scales linearly, or possibly a bit better than that. Brusco mentioned that that’s how they take down big boss monsters, though the standard way of casting magic around here is wands, runes, potions, sacrifices, and chanted verbals. Your singing is pretty unusual, though some priests have been known to use it for certain rituals, and it may be more common around Lilleheim and Savada.”

“How about we stage an argument? You threaten to dig a big pit, kill them at the bottom of the pit and then fill it in so they never get resurrected. Throw in some spiel about summoning a demon to gnaw upon them for eternity. Have Bungo plead their case, say they are fundamentally good fellows who made mistakes, who should be given a last chance to truly repent. Then I bring out a glowing gemstone, which Alderney describes as the ‘Stone of Truth’. Bring them forward one by one to swear that, if I perform a ritual to let them apologise to Cov, that they’ll strive with all their heart to mean their words and muster every last bit of determination in their body that this time they will change and never go back to their bad ways. Warn them that, after the ritual, we will use the Stone of Truth again on each of them, so only true determination to cease all banditry forever will regain them Cov’s mercy and see them spared.”

“Ruthless. And who knows, maybe your magic will contact Cov, or at least create a working Stone of Truth. If it doesn’t work, we’ll be no worse off than we are now, and at least we’ll have tried. If that happens, will you be willing to go along with a majority decision on what we do with them?”

Kafana thought carefully about it. Would she really stand by, if they voted to flog Dino? She wouldn’t like it, but if the others agreed that was best, she did respect them and wasn’t sure enough of her own stance to make this a line she’d quit the game over. She sighed.

“Yes. If I can’t redeem them, I’ll abide by the majority decision. But let’s give it the best try we can. Can you explain the plan to them in chat, while I experiment a bit?”

“Sure. And thank you. I came to you, because we rely upon your heart. It guides you well, Kafana. I trust you.”

Alderney spoke in chat: {Scouting report on the bandit base. 2 people present, both women, one of them badly treated and very glad that Berard, their chief, is dead. I’ve put everything here in my inventory box, and am heading back with them in your direction. There is a ghost here who wants something, but I’m leaving that to you experts. My province is making stuff.}

Kafana went downstream a couple of minutes, until she was sure nobody back in camp could hear her singing, then stopped and took out a diadem she’d been gifted that had a trillion-cut citrine in the center. She took it out and then, acting on some instinct, touched Cov’s pendant to it. Keeping them in contact she paged through songs in her mind, but couldn’t find any that fit properly. She started playing around with words, trying out variations.

She concentrated on making a chorus that would be simple enough for the bandits to join in on, and ended up with a short hymn. They could rehearse the captives to sing it at an arm signal. Hmm, she’d drawn in light earlier. Perhaps that would be better? She wanted a test subject. She broke into the chat.

{Tomsk, can you escort Dino downstream to meet with me. Bring your drum, I want to try something.}

They turned up shortly, and she had Tomsk set a steady heart beat going:

“Thud-thud… thud-thud… thud-thud…”

She brought up the orglife overlay and got System to display her lyrics hanging in the air the way she wanted them, together with shape notes for the melody she’d devised and a score for the drum. Then she started humming, traced the lyrics physically with her finger in the air, and focused upon having them shine as golden lines of holy light, visible to all. It didn’t work, so she tried again while holding Cov’s pendant in her off hand, and feeding in her emotion of wanting to save Dino. This time, the lines appeared.

[Skill “Holy Inscription” acquired.]

Looking at the lines with her magnifying glass icon showed a duration “As Cov wills”. Intimidating. But hopeful.

“Dino, I’m going to sing you a line of song, and I want you to try to sing it back to me in time to the drum, will you try that?”

“Yes Donna”

“Save me, oh Cov, save me“ she willed the words to flare as she sang each one.

“Save me, oh Cov, save me”

It wasn’t great, but it was good enough. And the look of hope as he read the lyrics displayed were more than enough to compensate for any musical failures.

“Ok Dino. Take a deep breath. If you meant what you said, about earning Cov’s forgiveness, this is your big chance. But before you agree, please be aware of three things:”

“Firstly, I’ve never done this before. I’ll try my best, but if it doesn’t work, I don’t know what will happen to you. A lot is going to depend upon how strongly and sincerely you mean the words. If you are truly determined to forever change your ways, even if that means serving time in a prison or otherwise making amends. That may take your whole life.”

“Secondly, even if it works for you, I don’t know how well it will work for your fellows. I want your full cooperation in helping persuade them and making it work for them.”

“Thirdly, I hear Cov is just but not always kind. It may hurt, he may test you. There may be danger involved. There will certainly be danger if you try to lie or deceive Cov.”

“Still willing to go ahead?”

“With all my heart. Thank you Donna, even if this fails, thank you for trying, thank you for caring.”

“Then put your hands in mine, focus upon what you want to happen, and put all that feeling into your words each time you sing your line.”

He put his hands into hers, grasping her pendant and stone of truth like they were a lifeline thrown to a drowning man. She waited a few beats and imagined herself back in Cov’s Sanctum, imagined this being a Sanctum, and sang:

Let Holy light from Cov be sent,

Into this yellow heart of stone,

That it may show the true intent

Save me, oh Cov, save me

The citrine blazed in golden glory, illuminating the trees all around.

Of those who say “I will Atone!”

But do not of their sins repent.

Save me, oh Cov, save me

Now Dino’s head was also bathed in light, but he seemed to be taking no harm from it. In fact he was smiling. Tomsk kept the heart beat rhythm going steadily.

Let Holy grace from Cov be sent,

Upon the hearts that burn with fire

Of change in what they do desire

Save me, oh Cov, save me.

Now the light drew in about his chest, the pendant, stone and head no longer illuminated. The light had flickering tongues shading to blue like a bunsen flame, and a foul smell arose. Dino threw back his head in agony, his hit points and mana points dropping fast.

Mend the bond and keep them strong

That none relent when we are gone.

Save me, oh Cov, save me.

He screamed his line, but he said it. And, as he did, the light flashed, dazzling them. When her eyes cleared, Dino was on his knees, still clutching her hands.

And, around his neck, there hung a new pendant, identical to her own.

[Skill “singer” has reached level 3. You write original lyrics, quality “apprentice”]

[Skill “singer” has reached level 4. You write original melodies, quality “apprentice”]