D&D Journals [Cynde] Plague and Penitence

Year 5 Day 152

I have made a grave mistake in following that Aja woman. Or perhaps my mistake was staying at the bathhouse in the first place, instead of remaining in the safety of the forests. All I wanted was to clean myself before returning to see my parents, and now here I am, sitting in a tree and keeping watch over a group of strangers while they sleep.

And on top of it all, half my supplies were left at the bathhouse when the monk woman whisked me away!

She took me to a tavern where we met with a group of others—an Elf, another Halfling, a Dwarf, and a Dragonborn—and before I could ask what was going on, a pair of thieves attacked the Dwarf! We tried to fight them, but in the chaos I nearly struck the Dwarf with an arrow. It was obvious that none of the others were familiar with each other either, as they tripped over each other in the ensuing struggle atop the stairs. The Elf managed to knock one of the thieves over a railing, his body landing with a heavy thud, leaving him unconscious.

With so many bodies surrounding the remaining thief—even though the Dragonborn had drunkenly fallen on his face—my arrows were useless, so I joined the Halfling woman to rifle through the thieve's pockets. I was hoping to get some information from her, about why we were all beckoned and why these thieves were attacking the Dwarf, but all that came from my lips was a feeble greeting.

We hadn't searched long when I heard a loud bang and crunch from above. Apparently, Aja misjudged her strength and sent the final thief crashing into the wall, splintering the wood and subsequently destroying the man's body. The Elf seemed most concerned with saving his life, so the Dwarf did was he could and mended the man so his body wasn't completely broken.

We'll never know if he survived, as we soon tried to flee, but a plague doctor blocked our hasty exit, rambling about some spreading disease. We wrestled him to the ground and bound his legs in rope, hoping to get some sense from him. I wanted nothing to do with him and his sickness—his face showed the disease clearly, once we removed his mask—so the Dragonborn and I fled the building. Eventually the others followed, leaving the Dwarf behind. I suppose he wished to help the man, but I was done with other people and the chaos of civilization. I wanted to return to the forest.

It seemed the others wished to find refuge in the forest as well...

During our trek, I kept my distance and listened to their talk, learning their names and why they had all gathered at the tavern. It seems they had all been approached by a man offering them some object that could reveal or grant (it was unclear) their greatest desire. As much as I wish to return to my solitary life, the allure of such an object has grasped me tightly. I cannot change the past, but perhaps I can erase the memory of my failure, the scar upon my mind that drives me to avoid all others. Perhaps then I might return home and not have to suffer the sorrow in my mother's eyes when I say that I do not know when next I will return.