Makings of a Monster

Candlekeep. A fortress on a high-away cliff, a safe haven for possibly the most valuable source of knowledge and wisdom found in Faerun, it emerged from a pine forest and towered over the sea. Sarevok had spent a long day studying the prophecies, and stopped for a while to examine his surroundings. The scholars scurried around in their robes, and a group of chanters incessantly droned Alaundo's prophecies. Good-natured guardsmen and civilians strolled around the beautiful, green grounds. It was a pleasant place.

Sarevok felt that he had learned from experience now what he didn't quite believe as an impatient boy as Winski patiently had taught him: knowledge is more important than anything. His studies confirmed that he, indeed, carried the blood of Bhaal in his veins. Bear the marks of chaos. Check. Power with no direction. Check. Feel the blood of a god within them. Check. Not that he had doubted it in a long time. The god usually talked to him as just a voice in the back of his head, or sometimes as a disembodied, animated skull. Also there was not mistaking what he wanted: deaths, lots of them. Murders. Slaughter.

But now Sarevok had found out something new. The babblings of the old mad priest started to make sense. He continued walking to the inn, anxious to tell Tamoko about his newest findings. As he entered their room, she leaned on the window sill and gazed the lush yard, eyes full of sadness. Sarevok joined her, leaned down and embraced her shoulders. He followed her gaze and saw two young girls fooling around in the yard.

The other was a redhead (actually her hair was almost pink, causing Sarevok shudder involuntarily) of such a cheerful disposition that the mere sight of her gave Sarevok a slight headache. She looked kind and playful, however, not unlike his poor mother had been on her best days, even if her demeanor was more calm and maternal. But the other girl... she was different. Her body was strong and muscular, and her hair was a brownish-red glossy veil reaching her waist. Her eyes darted around her surroundings like she was always very aware of danger, and never let her guard down. Sarevok couldn't quite see the shade of her eyes, but he could see that there was barely hidden darkness in them. Now she was laughing, however, high-fiving the pink-haired girl.

- "Do you miss your brother Yoshimo?" asked Sarevok gently. He had been about to tell Tamoko about what he had found out, but her sadness touched him so that he decided to delay that.
Tamoko nodded.
- "Those girls look like sisters to me, and they fool around and play like we used to do with Yoshi... I don't even know what happened to him. Or if I will ever see him again. Sarevok, don't take this wrong..." she turned to face him, tears welling in her eyes, which was an unusual display of emotion for her. "I love you with all my heart, but I miss Kara-Tur. I grew up there, proud of our ways, never knowing that I'd end up in disgrace and unable to return. This time of the year... the cherry trees blossom. It is a very short time, and very beautiful. And the mountains, where the dragons dwell... I'm sorry, the girls just looked so happy that I just got emotional."
- "You are allowed," said Sarevok only, still embracing her. Once everything was taken care of, once he was all that he could be, he'd give Tamoko everything she needed or wanted. No-one could prevent his beloved from going wherever she wanted. But that was the matter at the hand. He had to take the power.
- "I worry, Sarevok... if I die in our battles, I'll never be buried in our ancestral lands. And then my spirit will never get rest, but it will only wander around, not getting release from the place of my death," said Tamoko. She had been in a low mood since they had entered Candlekeep.
- "Why do you talk like that, Tamoko? What makes you think of death?" asked Sarevok anxiously. He didn't know how to react.
- "It is true. I am a warrior, and have been a long time. Death is always a possibility then. I guess it is just these prophecies you are researching. Which reminds me. What did you find out today?" Tamoko steered Sarevok away from her pain.

Sarevok was not completely happy with the end of the discussion, as the mere idea of Tamoko dying hurt him so that his brain simply refused from processing it. But he also felt that there was something else, something painful neither of them was prepared to handle so he was grateful for the opportunity to change the subject.
- "Well, what the priest babbled starts to make sense. Bhaal foresaw his demise, and spawned his seed all across the land. Some of his mates were willing, like the priestesses who tried to sacrifice me, others were raped. These children will bring death and chaos in their wake, and those deaths will awaken the father. The prophecy is ambiguous, but I think the meaning is that the most powerful of the children will fight on a god-like scale, and the worthiest of them shall rise," explained Sarevok, his eyes glowing. "If I do something worthy of Lord of Murder, it will ignite the divine essence in my blood. Then I will no more be subject to the fate like I have been to this day. I will be the one who makes the fate..." his eyes narrowed and he smiled dreamily.
- "But there must be many of those children. So far we have no idea where the others may be, or if they are aware of their inheritance," said Tamoko.
- "The prophecy says that they all bear the marks of chaos. It probably means they feel the same darkness I do. But perhaps the essence doesn't flow as strong in all of them..."
- "Some of them may seek your death and the power as well," said Tamoko quietly and faced Sarevok with worried eyes.
- "Let them come." Sarevok's eyes were like the eyes of a beast preparing for a hunt, his mouth a straight line, his jaw so strong. "I have no fear of any mortal man."
- "If that is your will, then it will be as you say, and Tamoko's blade fights by your side," said Tamoko, straightening her shoulders. Sarevok gave her a proud look.
- "It is this way, Tamoko. There are the pawns, and there are those who play with them, even tossing them off board if they so wish. And it is a question of which we want to be."

Tamoko looked at Sarevok. He was so proud, so beautiful. She still loved him so. She just worried. She knew what would chase that away for a while.
- "Come, Sarevok. Make love to me."
Happy to oblige, Sarevok carried her to the bed.