Miscellaneous DnD Stories

Perching Bow

They spent an hour staring at it already. Barely moving the spot, barely shifting their gaze, one eye versus one golden statue proclaiming victory to the heavens, sword pierced through its foe like a sword through a... cabbage, the blindfold draped on its end the only hint of a struggle.

"C'mon teach me how to be a hero! Like you were!"

The statue depicts a planetar, given the similar statue in Nalivu it wasn't hard to expect one of these for every island, but this one was about a God that wasn't just a fact of reality. It was a message. A message few would get and only one was there for it to be sent to.

"... it's surprisingly simple in concept I'll admit. Learn everything you can, know what you can do to help people, and when the time comes it will all fall into place"

She did not feel welcome here. She saw the statue for what it was: a symbol of supremacy over that which destroyed them. The fact it was a lie should've given her strength, confidence in the fact that the story it told didn't mean anything. ... but that they told it at all was what embedded itself in her mind.

"But what happens if you don't know what to do? If you don't have all the ideas on how to help people?"

He knew he lost. He had to. Even with just their words to go by Mystra knew that he had failed. Good had triumphed, his forces were defeated.

"... you prove who you are when that happens. All I can offer on being a hero is that all the planning and foresight may help you, but what's in your heart will decide the kind of hero you are at the end of the day"

It didn't matter in the end though, did it? His forces recovered, his plans kept in motion, and the statue went up. You win the battle you lose the war. But they didn't even win that.

"Oh... so if I was in a tough spot I need to be who I am, stand by my values and do what's right!"

Lily climbed up on Mystra's lap. They barely felt it. Lily seemed concerned, hungry, tired... they weren't sure. It didn't matter enough to take the thought out of their mind. The statue and burned itself a home in their thoughts like a brand, claiming it as its own.

"That's the hard part of being a hero. It's why I'm not one myself, not really. My exercises are training you to avoid those situations for a reason. Because every battle you face unprepared shows you who you are, how you break under pressue. ... I want you to do better than I did, alright?"

She stared at the statue because she remembered those words like they were yesterday's. Her mentor failed to beat Oros didn't they? They won the victory but he still won the war of hearts didn't he? That's why they didn't talk about what happened, why they wanted her to be better than them. ... they killed him, didn't they? And now she was faced with the same battle and the same losing odds and without anything close to a plan. She was unprepared. She was scared. And here he was, telling her: "You're better than this, aren't you?"