Akand's loss.
I wrote some fanart after my Dragonborn monk lost Laeāzel. He had not a lot of charisma, no matter how many times I reloaded I couldn't change her turning on him. So I wrote this. -*-
Down below the halls of the Rosymon monastery, muffled by layers of earth and ancient stone walls, a scream of sorrow and pain echoed through the darkness. The cry, filled with anguish, spoke of a broken heart and a shattered chance for love, all consequences of his love's unyielding stubbornness and rigid worldview. The dimly lit chamber was strewn with the lifeless bodies of gith, their innards painting the floor a gruesome red. In the midst of the carnage, Akand, a copper-scaled dragonborn, cradled Laeāzel in his arms. She was a gith like the others, yet she was the one who had captured his heart. Her angry words, declaring their time together a mistake, had cut him deeply, filling him with both sorrow and rage.
Akand felt a hand on his shoulder, pressing down gently on the fabric of his robes. He heard Shadowheart take in a breath but refrained from speaking.
"Friend, we canāt stay. We need to leave or that queen of theirs will surely send more of her followers than we can handle down here," Gale said, a tint of worry in his voice.
"Every single gith in here will pay for her death. By my hands, I will send them to meet their god, their undead queen. Why didnāt she listen to me? Why did she side with them? Why did she raise and aim her blade at us?"
Akand hugged the unmoving body of Laeāzel. He had tried to bring her back to life unsuccessfully without the spell working. Anger filled his body for having lost her. Without a word, Akand stood up with Laeāzel in his arms, giving her to Karlach.
"I appreciate you coming here. Without you following us, getting out of here would be harder."
"We soldiers stick together. I had a feeling I was needed."
Akand looked at his party of friends, took a step up the stairs to lead them out of here alive, and every remaining gith dead. This place wasnāt theirs; it had been taken over, turned into a CrĆØche. It was up to him as a fellow monk to cleanse the halls of Lathanderās believers. Perhaps Rosymon monastery would be rebuilt without the stinking gith.
Gale stood in silence weaving a spell to shield him from a crossbow bolt. He looked at Akand, both in awe and fear, as his dragonborn ally ran around the hallways, pummeling heads down into the stone, shoving them closer to Shadowheartās circle of spiritual guardians to burn in radiant light. Karlach swung her blade nearby where Gale stood, trying to keep out of the majority of the battle chaos.
"He will regret this course of action!"
"Steady on, soldier. Better his rage is aimed at them than on us."
Before Gale could reply to Karlach, another bolt flew towards him but missed. Gale retorted by sending over a globe of acid, splashing the gith as well as the floor around them.
"Above you, Karlach!"
"On it!"
As the sun began to set around the monastery, Akand gently lifted Laeāzel in his blood-covered hands and arms. His rage was subdued for the moment, tears threatening to pour out at any moment. His emotions were in turmoil, unbalanced.
"Wait here."
Out on an empty patch of ground overlooking the monastery with a grand view of the open sky, Akand placed his love down. In silence, he kissed her once warm lips before placing stones around her, carefully covering her body with earth, vines, and flowers. He sat down at her feet, silently praying as tears streamed down his face in sorrow.
"I never thought of us as a mistake. You will never be a mistake. I will always love you, Laeāzel."
Akand sat still, meditating to calm his mind, turning the turmoil in his body to a calm ocean breeze instead of the raging storm. Perhaps he could return after they found out about what was happening at the Moonrise Tower, rebuild the temple to its former glory along with the worshipers of Lathander.
"We need to head to camp."
Akand heard Shadowheartās voice; it was soft and calm. He nodded in reply, taking a deep breath of the mountain air before standing up. Akand's view from the monastery was breathtaking.Ā
The monastery itself seemed to blend seamlessly with its surroundings, painting a picture of serene beauty and tranquility. He was not looking forward to descending into the Underdark after witnessing this magical scenery. The thought of leaving this haven of natural splendor for the dark, foreboding depths below filled him with a sense of dread and reluctance.
