#nosiam

[medieval-simagrees]

TW: Infant death

The Grim Reaper stood over the crib for a moment. The little infant perked up, too innocent to be afraid yet. The Wraith let out a sigh from his faceless hood. He did not enjoy reaping babies, but orders from his Master were never to be questioned.

Suddenly, two Sims bolted into the room. The parents, judging by their red hair, and the fact that they started yelling and crying. He should have been quicker, more discreet.

– No! the woman exclaimed. She's only a baby. You can't take her!

– Orders from my Master, the Reaper replied quietly. A soul for a soul.

He gently picked up the baby and evaporated away.

Sorry guys 🥲

To give you a little insight on what happened, when a Sim pleads with the Grim Reaper there a 3 possible outcomes:

The saved Sim comes back as a zombie

The Sim who pleaded must do a favor for the Lord of Shadows

A random Sim is killed instead

I rolled the third option, so I randomized which Sim would be killed and unfortunately it landed on Mari 🥲 It was the scariest thing I've ever done in my game, it could have been ANYONE.

This gave me war flashbacks from that one scene in Dragon Quest XI

[medieval-simagrees]

Isobel had never worked a day in her life before. But seeing her friend Lori being so sad that she could not take care of her precious inn made her want to do something. Seeing the rooms messy and dirty was too jarring, too cruel of a reminder of the tragedy that just hit them. So she rolled up her sleeves and started cleaning.

There was something cathartic about it too. It was something she could fix, with her own two hands, even though she couldn't scrub away her friend's grief.

[medieval-simagrees]

Zelda wondered if holding her tongue was truly be the best option. Lori was already going through so much, and learning the truth might crush her. How would she even break the news to her?

– Zelda, Lori said, thank you so much for coming.

– Don't be silly, of course I'd be there. How are you doing?

– Honestly, I don't know. I keep thinking that I did something wrong. I should have been more careful.

Zelda pull Lori into a hug. She loved her too much to let her live in a lie. She was her dearest friend and she deserved all the happiness in the world. Knowing the truth would not bring her baby back, but it might bring her peace of mind at least.

So apparently Zelda finds Lori attractive now.

I swear when they were all living together she had no chemistry with everyone. I guess she could be demi-sexual.

Also, what would you do in her place? Would you spill the secret?

[medieval-simagrees]

Elias was furious. At least, Maes had the decency to admit the truth right away. He did plead with the Grim Reaper, bargained with him to save his wife's live, knowing that it would bring terrible misfortune.

– But I didn't know the thing would come for a baby! Maes argued. I was willing to bear the punishment myself.

– You broke my trust Maes. Everyone's trust! This land was granted to us by the Goddess and you seek help from the Shadows? Do you want us all to be cursed?

Carlisle soon joined them on the balcony, much to Maes' dismay.

– You sent for me, Elias? she asked.

– Keep my wife out of this! Maes fumed.

– She deserves to know what you did.

– Carlisle, I am assuming that you had no say in this, but Zelda told me about the night your son was born.

Carlisle remained speechless as Elias told her everything. Too shocked to even say a word, she immediately broke down in tears. Maes' worst fear was coming true; would she ever forgive him for this?

– I swear, I was only trying to save your life. For our son, for our family!

– What did you do Maes? Lori is my best friend! she cried. How can I face her after this?

[medieval-simagrees]

Zelda approached Elias a placed a hand on his shoulder to get his attention.

– I need to tell you something, she said. There is a traitor among us.

Elias cocked his head, intrigued.

– A traitor? What do you mean by that?

Zelda pulled Elias aside and told him everything that happened the night Cedric Civen was born. Elias was at loss for words. He understood what Zelda was trying to imply, but he could not wrap his mind around this. Trading a soul for another was a awful bargain. Everyone knew never to trust the Lord of Shadows. Wasn't it the main reason why everyone rallied behind him, the chosen hero of Light?

But if the witch was right, the implications were terrible. It was murder, albeit unintentional. Worse than that, the peace between the founders would be destroyed now. This discord was precisely what could feed the Shadows' power, by filling the heart of men with fear and anger. All this time, Elias thought he had to protect them from outside dangers, like bears, maybe bandits, but he failed to realized that the threat could also rise from within.

[medieval-simagrees]

Having heard the terrible news of Mari's passing, the Civen and van Orfen came to pay their respect to Nuz and Lori.

Carlisle felt awfully sorry. Lori was her best friend, and out of everyone she did not deserve to suffer like this. Now that she had a son of her own, she could not fathom what it would feel like to lose him. And Mari was her niece too, through her husband, and she regretted deeply not having time to meet her.

Zelda also came to pay a visit. As she feared, the worst had happen and an innocent soul was taken. It was not mere bad luck, it was foul play.

She dragged Maes to the balcony, making sure to shut the door behind them before she started going at him.

– Have you seen what you've done!? You have to tell them the truth!

– Why would I do that? Babies die all the time, there is no way to know for sure that I had something to do with it.

– Don't act a fool. It's because you bargained with death that her soul was ripped away. What happened to taking full responsibility?

– And what good would it be to tell them? Isn't it just twisting the knife in the wound? They're my family Zelda, you know damn well I never meant to harm my niece.

– So you would have been fine if it was someone else?

– Do not twist my words.

– Don't you have any conscience?

– Leave it alone, witch. Keep your mouth shut and no one will be hurt.