I wrote the lines for Seriach, in bold. This RP took place during a genderbent game of Curse of Strahd.
A black figure stands in front of you. Youâre standing in a forest you know well. The clearing is the one you met Ireena in for the first time. Youâre standing in the middle, though for the first time, you look over head and see a bright and shining full moon. The figure stands on the edge of the clearing watching you. It is faceless. Though you can see wolf like ears, tails and claws on it.
âHello little one, it appears we meet again.â
"Seems so.. I.. didn't think it'd be this easy to reach you.. whoever you are."
She seems noticeably nervous. For the first time in quite some time, she feels small. As if its the same day she first entered this land.. the day she died.
âIt appears once the connection was forged it was easy enough to reach me. Itâs surprising to me as well. I have had so little contact with those outside. Itâs been centuries since Iâve had decent conversation. I do hope I made the right choice saving you all those years ago.â
They sit on the edge of the clearing, lounging back.
âSo tell me what has become of this land since we were locked away?â
"I.. hope I can provide it then.. gah.. I don't know how to respond to you.. I know I sought you out myself but I.. don't know if I should be thankful for my life.. or upset for my affliction."
She follows them, sitting on the edge as well.
"Many adventurers come. Many adventurers die. Some by my hand⊠most by hers. The land is still miserable as are the folks.. but I've made some friends.. the.. the newest group.. they seem to have potential. I think if I stick with them.. it might finally be the end of her reign of terror."
âA noble desire. Tell me what will you do if you do beat her? The woman my brother has gifted so? Become leader of the land yourself? Or mayhaps one of your friends? Or will you leave a power vacuum that will inevitably be filled by another tyrant? What is your plan little wolf.â
"I.. I don't know. I'm no leader, that's for sure. And I sure as shit don't trust this new blood to know how to run the land.. Maybe.. maybe Miss Kolyanna can take over? She might have experience with it from her time in the town."
She ponders a moment, then looks back up at the figure.
"I don't have an answer. I am.. of you. A hunter. A slayer. Most likely not a.. tactician. Politician."
âI suppose.â The muse a moment. âThere is something I wish to tryâŠwould you be willing to extend your hand to me? I wonder if I can gain more of my original shape with some contact.â They hold a clawed hand out to you
She reaches out, then hesitates and pulls her hand back.
"What's gonna happen to me if I do?"
âYou may just be a little bit more tired come morning. Nothing extreme I swear. If it feels like Iâm drawing too much Iâll pull back myself. You have my word.â
"And.. not to be rude.. what's in it for me? What do I gain for this?"
They sigh dramatically. âOne could make the argument that you owe me already a great deal for the gifts I gave you. Namely Your life but if you must gain somethingâŠhmmm. How about this. Iâm sure you have many questions. I will answer as many as I am able, Iâve had centuries to watch over your land. So I know quite a bit.â
"Very well. I accept the conditions."
She, still apprehensively, reaches her hand out to the figure, allowing them to take hold.
Grabbing your hand you feel as if something is being pulled from your naval. Suddenly the figure in front of you becomes a beautiful woman. With platinum blonde hair and red eyes. She still bears the wolven features, but she is radiant. She smiles gratefully at you.
âThank you little wolf, I feel so much more like myself now.â
The Wolf huffs hoarsely, attempting to steady and catch her breath.
"M..my pleasure.. hahâŠ"
She clears her throat, still slightly hunched over from the entire ordeal.
"S-so.. the big question I have.. who are you?"
Sheâs busy inspecting her newly reformed hands, âhmmm? Oh have I never given you my name?â She cocks her head to the side thinking for a moment. âHmm I suppose not. I am called Seriach. But you may call me big sister if youâd like.â
"This was our first communication in 14 years, Seriach. Names never came up before, I don't think."
The Wolf does a slight bow gesture.
"Pleasure to finally make proper acquaintance, I suppose."
âAnd yoursâ She looks a little disappointed that you didnât call her big sister.
âBut I digress. What questions do you have?â
"I know now who you are, Big Sister.. but what.. are you?"
âOh well that is a loooooong story. I think the term you all use for my family is the âdark powersâ? Iâm not exactly sure where that came from. Itâs twisted because of what my brother did. Me I am mostly considered one by association.â
"Dark Powers.. huh. Your brother⊠who is he? And by association,, what do you mean?"
âVampyr he is the one who gifted your lady with her gifts, namely immortality. And mostly I mean Iâm one because A) Iâm part of the same family and B) because I can bestow gifts and powers. My main gift I usually give the ability to summon hell hounds, but with you I made an exception.â
"I COULDVE BEEN SUMMONING HELL HOUNDS?!"
She laughs with a brilliant and bright chuckle. âIs that something you would like to know how to do? Because Iâve given you a part of me you probably still can?â
"I MEAN⊠It'd be pretty cool.. but I can barely take care of myself.. let alone another beingâŠ"
"So.. Vampyr is to.. Our Lady, as you are to me, then?"
âIn a way, My big brother wanted power. He wanted to rule alongside her. But unfortunately she locked him and the rest of us away shortly after their pact.â
She seems to have a question but is unsure if she should ask it.
Seriach looks at you and cocks her head. âYou are allowed to ask questions little wolf. I promise, I will never judge for a question you may have.â
She clears the phlegm from her throat once more.
âOh dear oneâŠâ She moves to touch your shoulder to provide comfort but pulls back on second thought. âI saved you for a few reasons, but the main was I saw an innocent who needed saving one who reminded me quite a bit of myself.â She looks at you with sad eyes.
âI got lost once from my family, and I remember how terrifying that was. I just wanted to give you a second chance.â
"You mean.. this.. was never a curse? You.. cared?"
She looks out into the distance, tears welling in her eyes.
"A second chance.. and I saw it as though I was.. a pawn. Afflicted.. I.."
She begins lightly crying, something she hasn't done for⊠years.
âI am sorry you felt as though it was a curse. It was never meant to be that way. That day I gave you a piece of me. Itâs why we are so similar.â She gestures to her ears and tail. âIâd hoped youâd use those gifts to make this land something better.â
"And instead I used it to scare off people.. close myself off from the world.. harm people.. You gave me a gift, and I called it Wolf. But it was meant to be Dog.."
âLittle one. Breathe please. You are still young, by both my standards and yours. You are allowed to make mistakes. I promise it will be okay. Youâre working on beating Vampyrâs gifted. I promise little wolf, you are doing everything Iâd hoped you would and more.â
"I.. I⊠I.. How!? How is earning the title 'Wild Woman of Barovia' something you'd desire?! How is tearing out the neck of someone something you'd hope for?! I took your gift.. and made a monster.. I've not only scorned you.. but made a bastardization of something you hoped would do good!"
You hear her mutter under her breath putain de putain, comment puis-je la faire se calmer âOkay Monari, little wolf look at meâ Her voice takes on a darker more commanding tone.
The Lost Woman looks up at Seriach, tears staining her face.
Seriach moves to squat in front of you, hands hovering just above your shoulders. There are tears in her eyes too, she looks a little lost, but mostly she looks concerned. âYou are allowed to fuck up. You could have literally become an evil overlord and I would not have been upset with you. The only thing I required for my gift was for you to continue to live. And live you have. You are making change, you are doing good. You deserve to live the life you wish. Please hear me when I say for that I am grateful.â
"snf.. snf.. I.. okayâŠ"
Monari sniffles loudly, wiping away tears with the palm of her hand to no avail.
"I snf⊠don't understand.. I don't understand how I'm doing well when I'm.. constantly doing wrong.. doing malice.."
âYou are living that all I asked of you of you back then. Itâs your choices now that matter. Now that weâve spoken, now that you know what I hoped for you.â She looks a little sad. âIf I could summon my boys in this state I would, they always make everything better.â
"B..boys? You mean the hellhounds?"
âYES! My boys Babtiste and Freminet, They are the sweetest little pups. Itâs been so long since Iâve seen them. Hmmmmâ She ponders for a moment. âI wonder if you can summon them?â
She sniffles once more, managing to calm herself a little by the distraction.
"Would.. I be able to summon them here, if it was possible? I have never really done.. magic.. adjacent.. things. I can grow flowers sometimes but that's all."
âProbably not, though I have a feeling you can reach this place whenever you like now. I feel your spirit here, this is your mind space. But out in the real world you should try I can teach you the basics.â
"Well that's.. good, I think. Weird to know I've got.. a mind.. space.. Uhm.. if you don't mind me asking.. is there anything else I should know? Just about.. me, you.. my abilities?"
She taps a finger on her chin thinking for a moment. âHmmm, Iâm not too sure, have you ever tried talking to a member of the lupine family? I could always communicate with them so you probably can. Wolves, dogs and the like.â
"Last time I encountered a wolf it tried eating one of us.. I didn't think to talk to it then. I'll see if I can next time I come across one, though.. Man.. it'll look so weird to the others when I just start casually talking to a dog.."
She chuckles weakly, still emotionally frail.
"What about you, big sister? Did you have any questions for me?"
You spoke of someone earlier, a Miss Kolyana? I believe I have seen her through you. What can you tell me about her?â
"She's the daughter of the late Burgomaster of Barovia who passed a few days ago. Sister to Ismark, the.. presumably current Burgomaster. Our Lady still seeks after her, just as she always has. Upon the death of her father, I was requested to accompany her to Vallaki where she might be safe when I met with the 4 others who I am.. learning to open to. Wait.. do you actually see through my eyes?"
She paces back and forth a moment thinking. âWhat? Oh yes sort of? In a way. You are of me so I can share your mind space as I am doing now. Tell me now do you know why my brotherâs gifted seeks her so?â
"That means you've seen all the times I've⊠n-nevermind! Uh⊠nnnoo. No, I don't know why she wants Ireena so badly."
She appears distracted "Hmmm, je me demande s'il est possible qu'ils soient pareils" She paces back and forth in front of you momentarily. âYou need to find out why that is, I believe it is of utmost importance.â
"How can I even find out? What, do you want me to just ask the bitch?"
"Ăloquent comme toujours je vois. She kept a journal, back before my brother and her made a pact, perhaps she still does. Perhaps you can find it.â
"And I imagine said journal would be deep in her castle hidden away.."
"Valde vellem si linguae communis haereres, soror."
She smiles at you and then cocks her head. âDo you not speak infernal little one? My apologies, my native tongue sometimes comes more naturally to meâ
"I'm afraid I do not, no. Did you.. understand me?"
âI speak many languages, including celestial yes. Some of my siblings learned celestial first, so I learned it to speak with them before they learned the common tongue.â
"Interesting.. good to know we share more than one tongue I suppose."
She ponders for a moment.
"So.. snf.. what now? We've made connection.. I know the source of my powers is my big sister watching over me.. now what?"
ââŠYou could come release me and my other siblings? Except for Vampyr, he can rot.â
She ponders a moment. âWe could forge a new pact.â Shrugging her shoulders. âItâs your life I donât really want to tell you what to do with it.â
"The two of us could forge a new pact? I.. I wouldn't even know what different to ask for.."
She shrugs again, âThink about it. You donât have to make a decision right now. For now how about I show you the basics of summoning my boys? Itâs fairly simple and they may come in handy in future fights.â
"By all means! If I can have some extra help in the future, I'll gladly welcome it."
She shows you how to shape your body physically first, in an almost dance like manner then, âOnce youâve got that part down youâll need to pull on your connection to me. To do that breathe deeply and reach into your mind to this place where I will be tethered. Pulling on that and with a little push of the Druidic magic you already have, you should be able to summon my baby boys.â She claps her hands and smiles at you.
âNow remember Babtiste is the golden colored one and he like belly rubs and Freminet is more of a ginger color and he likes behind the ear scritches.â Her ears twitch.
âYou should try to summon them before you actually need them, they will want to scent you and make sure they have the scents of your companions too.â
She follows the motions in this mini training session, managing to feel the tether to this place she is already inside, which causes a bit of dizziness. She sits back down and looking back up, asks:
"Am I able to summon both at once? And do I choose which to summon, or do I get one of the two at random? And I figured hellhounds would be like.. soot black.. y'know.. hellish..?"
âBecause youâre tied to me youâll get both of my boys each time. I donât recommend trying to only get one, they get lonely easily. Also itâs been so long since Iâve been able to summon them they may be a littleâŠclingy at first fair warning. And eh thatâs just a stereotype. Hellhounds are just big ole puppers. Itâs all in the training, but their wicked good in a fight, of that I can assure you.â
"Do I need to feed them or take care of them in any special way? If they die in battle are they.. dead?"
âWell first off, try to not let them die, Iâd rather not have to teach you a resurrection spell in your current state⊠as to feeding them, theyâre decent hunters and even better at cooking their own meals, theyâll be fine food wise.â
âJust take care of my boys, and if theyâre starting to look a bit rough, you can always dismiss them. By the time you can resummon them they should have healed up well enough.â
"I will⊠do my best.. I just hope I can handle them well enough. I've never dealt with.. pets.. before."
âThe good news is even if you canât understand them, they will definitely be able to understand you. Just make sure they know that mama loves them and that Iâll be back with them as soon as I can.â She air pats you on the head. âItâs almost morning time. You should return to the real world, Iâm sure youâre dying to tell your friends about our meeting. Remember Monari, the best thing you can do for me is to live your life to its fullestâ
Monari wipes the final tears from her eyes, locking gaze with the figure one more time as the scene begins to fade.
