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Author Topic: Poison is Medicine ~ Erzsebet Varga ~ Medicine is Poison  (Read 17473 times)

ladylena

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[A page in Erzsebets Journal]
« Reply #75 on: August 01, 2018, 01:12:09 PM »
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[This is written in a shaky hand; the letters written hard and compact]

Oh Lord the hell do I do? I have tried over and over to do right...
Oh Lord what do I do? Do I become the villain that they make me out to be? Or do I continue to fight for clearing my name, which I believe is likely impossible. Hubchev is not the first garda to cause me to lose a child. He is the first one, however, to kill me.
Have I really repressed so much trauma. I lost a few when I was uncertain I was with child... I lost two with Teodor... One due to complications and one due to a garda beating my abdomen. I never had any children with Fane, I still miss that man... I just lost Serghei's baby-

 
[Tears stain this part and the hand is even less steady]

I was told a man saw the baby's soul... A daughter. I lost a daughter, knowing it makes it all the more painful.
I do not trust that the man can do what he claims he can anyway. He's naive like I was. Believing that the truth matters. Let's see how it would look for the garda... They lured, tricked and arrested outside of Vallaki lands, an innocent woman, who it turns out after she was beaten to death in her cell lost a child.
No matter the way it gets spun a Corporal of the garda, or even a garda murdered a pregnant innocent gundarakite. He will want to save himself. The man is not a good-hearted man.
Makes me want to poison their food and water with ergot. Harmless minus vivid and terrifying hallucinations.
« Last Edit: August 19, 2018, 02:08:06 PM by ladylena »
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Re: Poison is Medicine ~ Erzsebet Varga ~ Medicine is Poison
« Reply #76 on: August 06, 2018, 06:29:53 PM »
Death was never a kind thing, the body was disgusting when death occurred. Death and defilement were an entirely different thing to overcome. She had been cut and stabbed to shreds by the curst, but she had been whole. Upon her resurrection she was not.

The man stood over her corpse, a wicked grin on his face as he, like a dog, marked where he had been. The thick black elixer of life was smeared on her lips when his appetites had been satisfied. As life filled her body once again, the poor woman let out a cry of pain and terror. She could feel every stab wound, every bite that had been taken, everything he had done to her.

"Here's the coins for payment for your services." He said as he tossed a hefty bag on the floor near her and dropped her crossbow.
"Services? What?" Erzsebet muttered, her mind was still cloudy from her death and it took her a few minutes to piece together what had been done. Her face and voice emptied of emotion and she spoke in a cold, monotone voice, "You will pay for everything you have done to me." She began dousing herself in over a dozen regenerative potions to restore the chunks of missing flesh. Tears flooded her eyes as the tonics worked their magic.

She must have fallen asleep as she woke up alone. Seeking to cleanse herself she ventured out into the woods, to a footspring and sat beneath a spout of water letting it gush over her naked body. It did not matter the amount of water of scrubbing, she could not get herself to feel clean. Erzsebet had even put on her merman bracers and sat deep beneath the water's surface for a long time.

To be consumed by another while dead... There was something about that which terrified and chilled her to her core. That night a new nightmare began to plague her...

It was right in front of her, her corpse. Her bloodied body laying lifeless on the floor. A dark figure hunched over her and ripped into her body like an animal. A sickening crunch as a bone was gnawed on. The wet sound of skin being torn. The blood-soaked the carpet. Witness to all the horrors done to her, she could feel his teeth mashing her skin, feel them caress the bone, feel him swallow her lifeblood.

Erzsebet awoke in a cold sweat, her bedding and clothing soaked. She struck a match and lit the candle beside her bed and walked over to the washbasin. For the second time that night she washed away sweat only this time when she returned to bed, she slept in her armour as if it could protect her from her dreams.
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ladylena

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[A page in Erzsebets Journal]
« Reply #77 on: August 13, 2018, 08:32:48 AM »

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Oh for the love of everything holy and unholy. I am so fed up with this shit. Hubchev wants to make me into a villain, well he's succeeded.

Thankfully I knew this was going to go wrong. Everytime I attempt to confront these issues, it ends the same way: Shackled and jailed. Not this time, no this time I was ready. Bottled darkness to hide in, wore my best stealthing clothes, and had a few potions on my belt ready. Turns out trying to drink a potion with shackles is a bit awkward, but not as awkward as picking your own damned things.

I have two options, maybe a third. If peace and attempts to resolve this without bloodshed have not worked, then the path I had hoped to avoid is what I will have to take.

Sure I could flee from this all. Change my name, move somewhere unknown, live out in hiding. Or I could fake my death and take a new identity. I am a hunter, we do not flee from challenges. Never did I intend to draw weapon and blood but they are pushing my hands. I never wanted any violence any of this damned chaos. All I ever wanted was peace. No more war with the barovians, no more attempts to get back land that is never going to be returned... No one having to suffer the horrors of war and rebellion. I wanted a better life for all under the Counts rule.

But now I see. They don't want peace, they don't want an end to the brutality. They want war, and if it is war they want, so be it.
« Last Edit: August 19, 2018, 02:08:24 PM by ladylena »
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[A page in Erzsebets Journal]
« Reply #78 on: August 19, 2018, 11:13:04 PM »
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Wow. They truly have nothing on me. Just slander and words from over a year ago... I was partially right, Istvan was one of the sources, but the other.. I did not expect that. If what I was given is indeed all of it... This is proof that I committed no crime. At most, they have an accusation of planning to murder someone that never happened. None of these charges, save the rebel warrant death. I mean even the rebel bit is a lie, and was previously stated that I intend peace. I wonder why she betrayed me? Only rebellion I ever lead was to live peacefully with Barovians. As to Leon and Miuo? Where the hell did they get that idea? Did they suspect it just because I spoke to them? So they have words from two people who have not been seen in a long time. Well having this is helpful at least I can know what to defend myself from.

I won't become a monster, but I will become chaos. I'll expose every secret of his that I know. Litter his town with them, send a letter to the Burgomaster and Strahd, if they choose to do anything with the information, they can. If not, it doesn't matter. I will make him rue the day he tricked and murdered me. While I think he deserves a long life of living with his actions, I don't think that will come to be. If he was sorry or regretted them he would not behave this way. I've been so concerned with not becoming a monster that I neglected to see the monsters in-front of me.
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« Reply #79 on: August 23, 2018, 11:26:31 AM »
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A joke. He called me a joke and said I should go vanish into the mists. I suppose, Erzsebet, you have two options now. Hope that Verent can manage what he has said... Or give in to that inner demon. The one that is thrilled with dissecting, wild with bloodlust, burning with hatred. The dark me. My shadow self. If I finally give in to that darkness, I will cross a line that I won't be able to uncross. I could just wait for Him to mess up and get caught... I have so desperately wanted to prove that there does not need to be violence between Barovian and Gundarakite... Maybe I have lost sight of the truth myself. Living in a nightmarish dreamland.

Delusional maybe? I've not heard or seen Serghei in a while now... Starting to think this curse is real...

I'm a hunter, I am not used to being hunted. It has put me out of sorts. Especially with my desire not to spill blood and make it worse. Hell, maybe I should just descend into that darkness. Trying to do good has gotten me nothing at all, only troubles.

Alright, so I kind of knew, sort of did not know I was with child... I had hoped but assumed it was just stress since that's happened before... It wasn't this time though. I learned that afterward.  Maybe I will just wait and see what happens in Dementlieu. If I get a job there, great. I'll expect to end up wanted there eventually too. In Vallaki... They have me on propaganda. I spread fliers supporting an end to the rebellion, pointing out that outlanders were more of a threat than Gundarakites. I never ever wanted the Barovians to weaken themselves fighting the outlanders. I certainly did not want any form of war. I was stupid, I wanted the roles reversed. Gundarakites having the freedom the outlanders enjoy, and them having the restrictions of my kin. Not a god damned war. Never a war. I have been a victim of the atrocities of war. I remember when I told Istvan that I wanted a peaceful end so that no one had to suffer those vile things. He slammed his fist on the table in anger.

I am fairly sure that what I spread was not illegal. Maybe I will ask someone to get me a copy of the laws of the land and the laws of Vallaki. I really wonder why people turned on me. I have this seed too... A part of me wants to plant this little bastard in the citadel courtyard. But that is that dark version of myself. The one I am trying to ignore.

I did purchase myself a gun. I need to practice with it.

What will happen to me if I give in to that darkness, to that evil inside?

Have I lost sight of who I am? Have I let myself become prey when I should be predator?   
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ladylena

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[A page in Erzsebet's Journal]
« Reply #80 on: August 30, 2018, 04:16:28 PM »
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I have always seen myself as a hunter, a predator, yet this fear that I feel... This growing feeling inside. However, there is something weird about this. I'm not used to being prey. I have become a joke to at least one man, however, that may also include myself. Why? Is it because I have tried to fit into this world of "civilized people''.
I have been trying to do the right thing ever since that stupid choice of mine. I could use a guide right now. There are things I never planned on. Has God used these lies to direct me in some way? Or am I just a fool?
This growing feeling, I don't understand what it is. It is not like my morbid fascination with anatomy and chirurgy, poisons, herbs. To be honest that feeling terrifies me, but not entirely. I . I need to remember my roots. I can't let fear control me. Hell, I walked across a void to the man in the yellow robes. I have survived a dog eating my eye from my face. I have survived loss after loss. I have lived through invasion, hostility. I have been jailed, even murdered. I have been eaten, my body defiled. I have still managed to survive.
There are so many things that I have faced, but nothing causes me more fear than that feeling inside. Could it be the darkness that I have suppressed has begun to overflow? My dreams are getting weird. They are the normal nightmares, reliving what happened to my mother and I, the dog eating my eye from my face. Being beaten, jail. But lately, there is this elusive shadow that I always see but can never truly see it. It watches me, just as I watch what is occurring to my body. It is seen yet unseen. I've never had dreams like this before.
I wish I could understand them. Or get some damned divine guidance. At this point, I'm even ready to ask that faceless mist being for help.
I stand ready at the edge of the cliff. Do I jump? Do I turn back? Or is there a third option that I am not seeing. I know that I would rather kill myself than become a monster. Sure I may not be the best of person. I am not evil. Wicked, vile... A monster?
I would love to know the rumours that are around about me. They must be some vile. I don't understand. Everyone seems to view me as this murderous merciless woman. I can not possibly be that horrible. Could that be this feeling? Have I ignored what I am? Or what I have become?
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Re: Poison is Medicine ~ Erzsebet Varga ~ Medicine is Poison
« Reply #81 on: October 10, 2018, 09:27:04 AM »

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I am wasting my life prowling these forests alone like I once did before. I suppose the time comes close that I make my move. I have discovered a poison I think will suit the matter perfectly well. I require more research into this poisonous item. I first need to find out if they eat rye bread commonly. If they do that will make this easier, if not... Well I may have to look at a different option.
I have tried the polite, civilized way. The way of words, and pleas. Hardly resulted in anything beyond further trouble. Oh I hate those damned fools who believe that by speaking to one person I can be freed. They do not understand how it works. They have all been men. Well except for Jadis, but it's my understanding now that that attempt resulted in nothing changing.
I have to embrace this new place for myself. I have allowed myself to become prey, where I was always the hunter. I have stared at my reflection for a long time; a lonely, hollow woman, a shell containing little more than a spark. I have snuffed that flame to an ember, but now I must feed it. I can not allow myself to continue to be this joke they think me as. I tried to play by their rules. I tried the "human" way. I need to embrace the darkness.
I have to embrace that darkness. I am a god damned huntress!  A HUNTRESS. I am not prey. I will ascend from this pit of misery and exact righteous judgement on that wretched citadel full of corruption. I want them to feel the terror they put me through. I want them to feel the agony of that loss, and I am going to make them all pay for that horrible sin they all partook in. Every last one of them.
I know where to begin, but now I have to actually take the steps. Darkness grows inside of me as I have tried so desperately to suppress it. I have tried to be the good girl, the good figure, a shining example of how things could be. I was stupidly naive. That doesn't matter as long as corruption exists in that establishment. I need to find those who share the same mindset.
I will make the plans and exact them. I will take the punishment if they catch me. I can not allow them to continue to make me the prey. I will embrace the darkness of the hunter inside and become the beast they fear. I will haunt their shadows.
I can no longer remain the victim, Erzsebet Varga you can not remain the victim. It is time once again to pick up your weapons and hunt. Embrace the darkness you tried to mask and shy away. The light has brought you nothing but pain
.
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Re: Poison is Medicine ~ Erzsebet Varga ~ Medicine is Poison
« Reply #82 on: October 15, 2018, 05:05:56 PM »
Darkness encased the world of the Village of Barovia. An owl hooted in the darkness of the cool night. Ravens lifted from their perch at the evading sound. She had mastered walking with the land and so she felt little fear of being seen as she slipped into the doorway of the cottage. Eyes darted frantically towards this new figure in his home. Erzsebet gave the man lying in bed a brief nod before heading deeper into his home.

Creeeeaaaak. The hatch door slammed shut behind her as she stood in a dark basement. She had been told the way and found the lever to open the door. She had read about the previous failings and so the extreme precaution was understood. Each door she locked behind her. Each lever was hidden before moving on. She could smell the musty earthen dirt, she put her key into the lock and opened a stone door.

Click, click, click, click.

Down the stone steps she trod, the sound of the heel of her boot echoing throughout the chasm beyond. Across the stone path stood the church. A ghastly skeletal figure presiding over the doorway into the sanctuary. Candles lit the underground cavern, and the sound of a river gushed beneath. Erzsebet passed into the inner temple and strode directly up to the altar and figure of the Gundarakite trickster god Nerull. She kneeled before it, her head bowed in reverence and respect.

The candles gave a faint illumination to the room, blood dripped from a blade above the central altar. Shadows swayed in the candlelight as other devotees moved around. Erzsebet removed her gloves and slit her palms placing her hands together in prayer. Blood trickled down her wrists as she prayed and begged for guidance.

"Nerull, I need your guidance. How do I progress with this? How can I make them all pay and earn your favour? Show me oh lord and I will obey."
Erzsebet put her gloves back on, leaving a small pool of blood where she knelt. Deeper in the innermost sanctum, Erzsebet placed a crystalline rose upon a grave. A grave that once served her mother as safe passage. . . Back through the darkness of the tunnels and stairs she slowly ascended into the world of the living. A quick look through the windowpane before she slipped out in the form of an owl. She would leave no trace that she had ever been in that holy place, as all others did.

The woods were alive with sounds, the howling of wolves, cries of birds, and screams of dying prey. Erzsebet smiled to herself as she stopped and listened to the nature sounds. She followed the wind west, back to Vallaki with a better grasp of herself than before. She would have her revenge and make every last one pay. The desire for revenge had begun to take her in its arms tightly, pulling her deeper and deeper into dark thoughts. The temptation of the kill. Could she do it though? Was Erzsebet Varga ready to do what she had to?
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Re: Poison is Medicine ~ Erzsebet Varga ~ Medicine is Poison
« Reply #83 on: December 27, 2018, 08:47:50 AM »
Months had passed and in that time she had only grown colder inside. The losses she had suffered had hardened her. Yet those final moments of her last loss haunted her dreams nightly. It filled her with a rage she had not felt since the Black Wolf of Teufeldorf. She had learned that the man responsible had gone missing. She felt no relief in that, they all had to pay for the sin they allowed to happen. This was not just her own desire for revenge, this was enacting judgement divine. No one should get away with the murder of a pregnant woman.

When Erzsebet had told a few others about her pregnancy after the event they refused to believe her. Even the one who had shot her down as she fled. Erzsebet did not display the child she carried in her womb. She did not appear pregnant, and so that single fact caused disbelief. What if she had been fat with child? Surely they would of let her flee. She could of told them and fled. She would not use a child to escape some simple minded men. Erzsebet had done what she thought was right, and her naivety left her another child gone.

Those moments prevaded her mind constantly. Even if Hubchev was no longer in the citadel, the rest of those men and women who were there, who could of stopped it, they had to face judgement.

Judgement would be delivered and she would be the herald. No longer did she care about her life, no, now she knew that she had a purpose. A divine purpose. Judgement would fall on all those who had wronged the women of Barovia. All those who had harmed a single mother, or child. The guards who killed her, the guards who let blame fall on Gundarakites rather than finding the real criminal.

Erzsebet sat in the woods surrounded by thick trees and closed her eyes. She pushed past the visual reminders of the beating, the loss of her eye, the miscarriage in the outskirts. She pushed deeper into her mind, past the last moment with her vampiric mother, past the man in yellow and the night mother. She pushed past all the memories and pain, finding herself still and alone in her mind.

Blackness, with a dying ember of a flame that cast a red glow around. She walked towards it and the fire burned brighter, flames flicking up in the air, reaching for the heavens. Erzsebet sat before that fire in the darkest depths of her mind and watched the flames lick the logs that burnt bright. She watched as the flames danced and twisted into images of rituals and words. She watched as they began to burn faster, brighter until the entire area was illuminated in the red glow of the fire. She looked around at the wooden area she was in and looked up to the sky above. She watched the moon and stars. Darkness took over once again as she felt herself drawn away from that serenity.

The pain and memories rushed back. They flooded over her with the drowning power of the ocean. Every painful memory flashed before her as she returned to her concious present body with a deep, gutteral wail of pain and sorrow that turned into rage and passion. She would do what she had to. Nerull take them all. She thought.
« Last Edit: December 31, 2018, 02:14:45 PM by ladylena »
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[A letter delivered to an estate somewhere in Borca]
« Reply #84 on: January 09, 2019, 02:07:46 PM »
Just outside of the city of Levkarest, through a set of iron gates, along a pathway lined with beautiful flowers and creeping vines that crawled around several light posts was the home of Erzsebets grandparents. The flowers that Nezetta tended to were a garden of poisonous flowers. Nightshade, Silphium, Foxglove and others with medicinal purposes. This was where she had her first taste of medicine and poisons. A young man approached the door and knocked gingerly.

A spry old woman in her sixties answered the door and stared down at the young man with steely eyes that sent shivers along his spine.

"L-l-let-letter f-for you Ma'am." He stuttered over his words as he handed off the letter bearing a wax seal with Erzsebets initials on it. Nezetta dropped a single Foxglove into the young mans hands and took the letter, shutting the door swiftly. Once inside, she sat near the fireplace and opened the letter with a smile on her face, a smile that would not last.

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Grandmother Nezetta Da Riva,

I know my last letter to you was a happy one. Engagement and potentially a family, well that's changed. I am going to tell you everything that has befallen me, and I hope you can reach out to some of your old friends in the criminal underworld. Assuming they are still alive that is. I need to procure a large amount of a hallucinogen and your knowledge and theirs in poisons, toxins and the rest will be helpful.

So in short form I was engaged twice. Two good Barovian men Teodor Dragomir/Ursu and Stefan Albescu. Teodor turned out to be the son of that scum man who was behind my mothers death and why I fled to Borca. He vanished for a long time before reappearing and by then it was too late. Since he had not sent me any word. So I ended up falling in love with Fane, the love of my life, my heart still aches. He was slain on duty defending Vallaki from a vampire. I could of prevented that if I'd been there. Grandfather would be proud of him, he didn't want any harm coming to me. After that I did meet another, Serghei Ureche. But like the others he has vanished too. Probably dead in one of the cave collapses in Krofburg.

They found silver in the mountains there. What I will really need the help with is exacting justice. This is the part I don't like thinking about, but here it is...

At the hands of someone high ranking in the guards, in the citadel, with no real reason... I was . I had been with child. I've had several miscarriages, this time was nearing the end of the third month. It was too early for it to be showing and I was trying to not get my hopes up. I was convincing myself it was stress, but I knew deep down it wasn't stress. I did not even show, but that doesn't change the fact that I was. I was beaten to death all because I knew that bastards secret and who he was involved in. Dreadfully Borcan, the entire situation. I lost everything and was brought back by a divine miracle. I have to bring justice for what they did.

I had never broken laws and had even helped and served alongside the guards when the Invidians attacked. But that man, that lawgiver lackey performed a sin that can not go unpunished. Not a single man or woman in there tried to step up and stop it. Not a single one checked on me as I lay bleeding out from a crack in my head. So Grandmother, please help me.

Erzsebet Varga.
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[A page in her journal]
« Reply #85 on: February 27, 2019, 03:24:50 PM »
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I have decided to set my path to Krofburg. Maybe I can achieve my dream there. A lady can dream.

I have not had word back from Hazlan, I do wish they would reply. As sad as it is, the Za'am family almost felt like family to me. No instead that silver tongued walking pile of manuer went and - just like any good old Barovian- tore me away from a family. Have I allowed myself to be blinded to that? Probably.

Krofburg shall be interesting. Serghei has family there. Perhaps I will let him decide if he wants to face me after this long. I hope I can at least sell off some of this stuff and potions.

Think Erzsebet when has a Barovian not caused you pain? N E V E R
Teodor, my rapists son
Fane, broke my heart when he died
Serghei, no word from him, another heart string severed.
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Re: Poison is Medicine ~ Erzsebet Varga ~ Medicine is Poison
« Reply #86 on: June 05, 2019, 05:18:30 PM »
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This is the... Second day I think, that I've been wandering around the mists. I've encountered Perfidus and that ooze town. Yet not a way to somewhere habitable. I've not been able to get a good rest while here. I swear I keeping hearing my name being whispered... This area has trees, I think I will sit and give myself a break in their shadow...


Day 4 (?)

I keep finding those stupid places. I've seen lots of vampires and mist things. Still not a single sign of a way out. On the bright side I am able to collect some of the rarer herbs here like mist weed, misty willow.

Day 5

At least I'm going to assume it is. Feels like forever, I'll shit myself if it turns out this has only been one day. My feet are sore, and my nerves are frayed. Either I'm going to get out, or take the risk of sleeping here.

Addendum: Been walking for a while and I just found a tent. A damned tent in the mists. I looked inside but it was unoccupied. But this could maybe mean I'm close to somewhere with people.

Bless the Old God! The tent DID mean I was near people! The mist camp. What a relief. I can finally get back to things.
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Re: Poison is Medicine ~ Erzsebet Varga ~ Medicine is Poison
« Reply #87 on: July 09, 2019, 06:11:22 PM »
They forgot what they did.

It infuriated Erzsebet, so much so that she could no longer resist her urges. Not wanting to become the monster some had seen her as. Doing as she does, she left to hunt. So she did. Worgs, deer, wolves, spiders, bears, crag cats, bandits. The hunt did little to settle the boiling blood in her veins. The thought and the images from that night kept flashing in her mind. It resulted in many bad moments and choices during her absence.

The hunt was not enough. She turned her attention to study once again. She read all the books she could find on herbs, poisons, and medicines. She even sent a letter to the Lamordian who had taught her for a while...

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[writen in Lamordian]
Doctor Ludwig Gisler,

I hope this finds you well. I know it has been years and that I left without saying anything. I would explain in person if you ever find yourself in Barovia. I recall you had several tomes on hallucinogenic drugs and plants. I could use your expertise on the matter, as it pertains to an... Experiment, shall we say? As well as another experiment that is better left spoken of in person and privately. I suppose if this letter fails, I'll continue studying the matters on my own.

Erzsebet Varga

It was a new area of study for her; hallucinogens were never of interest to the hate-driven woman. Yet the best she could find on her own was Ergot of Rye. She had only read of its properties and not seen or tested it as she had with most others. That was where she began, it would surely lead her down the road of illicit drugs, and she knew just the place to ask. It was high time she returned to that walled up city. She had already confirmed that she was not officially wanted, and allies had returned from leave. This time Erzsebet would not make the same mistakes. There would be no more chances for those who cross her.

With her mind set, letter sent, and knowledge gained, she began the journey back to Barovia. Back to Vallaki, and the Drain and all the filthy outlanders who roamed about so freely there. She had experienced betrayal, rats, manipulation, and trickery. She had come to know death well, vowing to give respect where it belongs. That night, camped by the side of a river with the crescent moon above, she dreamed. She dreamed a dream beside a nightmare or a memory. She witnessed a trial, an invitation.

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Word of mouth circulated in the Gundarakite heavy areas of Vallaki, traveled to Krofburg and even Berez. A General sought men and women brave enough to risk their lives for the cause. For their rights. The rumour said they'd find a cave deep in the forest with a candle in front. Those willing to take the risk need only enter the cave, and all would be revealed.

The woods were dark, as the moon hid away by clouds as if wanting to cover up the very events of that night. Mist rose up from the river bank, covering the forest floor in a thick blanket. Several people hurried along in the woods, huddled together in fear of the wolves that howled. Hushed whispers questioned if they should light a torch, while others quickly shushed them back to silence. They would find the place after much searching and cowering from the creatures of the Barovia night. It was impossible to tell how long it took, but there, shrouded and dimmed by the fog, was a single candle.

As they entered the cave, the candle went out leaving them in temporary darkness. Candles began to light up to guide them through the twisting tunnel. The sound of running water could be heard as they entered the end of the pathway. There was darkness, no light, but from it emerged a shadow, the attire to loose fitting to determine the gender, further the face was covered with a red mask. The being reached out, hands open to receive the guests. As they gathered nearer, it spoke.

'Freedom, equality, treatment equal to outlanders. If these things you seek and will die for, come forward and kneel.'

The voice was gruff, but not deep, it was perhaps a woman who spoke to them with arms outstretched. A few approached and kneeled before the figure. Gasping and second-guessing their choice when several lethal items were set out.

'Prove your commitment, pick one.'

A dagger seeping venom. A deadly serpent in a box. A chalice of liquid. These were chosen. The figure picked up the chalice and bid the Gundarakite follow her to a secret room. Once the room lit by one candle only, a voice spoke out, motioning for them to kneel.

'If you would commit to this cause, drink the chalice containing Digitalis, a poison.'

The young woman trembled and stared at the masked figure, then around the room. Hesitation replaced with understanding, she drank from the chalice and clenched her fists, waiting for death from the sweet beverage.

'You have passed. Speak not of the trial.'

Away she was sent, and the young man who chose the spider followed her into the room.

'If you would commit to this cause let the black viper bite you.'

The young man showed no hesitation and allowed the spider to bite him. Wincing at its bite. Before he could speak the figure answered.

'You have passed. Speak not of the trail.'

He left the room and watched the final person enter. An old man, hunched over walking with a cane. He entered the room and kneeled, a cracking sound of old bones moving echoed in the tiny stone room.

'If you would commit to this cause let the dagger coated in venom cut your flesh.'

The old man took the dagger in his hand and studied it first. He doused the blade with alcohol and swiftly cut his hand with the briefly clean dagger.

'You have passed. Speak not of the trial.'

They left the room together, the figure supporting the elderly man as he stood up. In the tunnel end, they all stood gathered, other figures emerged from the darkness around them and the masked figure spoke up.

'There was no venom in the blade. The viper had its venom glands removed. The chalice contained a medicinal amount of digitalis. Welcome.'

Darkness filled the room and the vision vanished.
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Erzsebet was alerted by a ward, and woke up prepared to fight what it turns was merely a curious mink. With a small, yet nervous laugh she packed up her tiny camp and continued on her way back to Vallaki.
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ladylena

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Re: Poison is Medicine ~ Erzsebet Varga ~ Medicine is Poison
« Reply #88 on: October 27, 2019, 08:02:08 AM »
She had just reached the outskirts of Vallaki when a familiar man came into her view. Gaunt, pale, shrivelled and near death, but it was him. It was Serghei. She rushed to open the door for the woman who had found her lover on the side of the road. Once inside the lady's rest they made their way upstairs and into Mikhails room and lowered Serghei onto the bed.

Erzsebet kneeled beside the bed and stared at the husk of the man she loved. She barked at the young girl to get some fresh water, but was met instead with insistance to use the clay jar in the room. With a sigh, she tested the water and wet a cloth, pressing it to his cracked lips before giving him some water to drink. Mikhail and Erzsebet argued over how to care for the man and what was real.

"The Children?! Anca? I have to find the children."

Something had happened to him, in his mind several years had passed and Erzsebet had left him. Serghei had found a new woman, married and had children. Whatever delusion he had experienced was so real to him that it robbed Erzsebet, once again, of her dream of a family, of having children. To Serghei, it had been near a decade, he had remarried, helped his wife through childbirth and raised his babies, he was in love with his new wife and cherished his precious children, but that was suddenly ripped away from him as he now lay in the bed listening to the two women arguing. His head hurt, and he could not make sense of anything, Erzsebet had left him for a Hazlani man, why was she suddenly so concerned?

Sick of the arguing, Erzsebet gave in to Mikhails desire that she leave the room. Full of sorrow and bitterness she sat in the hallway outside their room, but it was too much. Her heart hurt at the thought that he may no longer love her. This was a fact that was confirmed a day later as they spoke in the inn near the fire.

". . . Go live your life, you never know when the rug will get pulled from under you."

"It just did."

With those words said in an icy breath she walked outside and set down her wares to sell. She would get rid of the things she did not value. Erl Queens Lace, it was a poison that rendered the victim unconcious, after her items were sold it was her plan to find a nice mossy spot in the woods and drink that plant from Forlorn. She was ready to let the green vines creep up her skin and into her brain, she did not want to be aware, the delusion her lover had suffered was so real to him that whatever they had shared was long departed. It broke her heart, and so she would let nature take its course.

Standing there in the rainy spring day the only that kept her from falling to pieces was the simple crystal on its leather string that she wore around her neck. The Heart of Ice, just as it strengthened the mind, it chilled the heart. It numbed her emotions enough to maintain herself, she knew it wouldn't last. How could it? When the source of her agony sat inside with a young Barovian woman. She turned her focus to conversations around her, listening to the Garda speak about going to the blood brawl, to outlanders babbling about adventure, and the other merchant selling their wares from a box. She was soaked from head to toe from the cool rain, and she was cold, but truly she did not care. Erzsebet had decided she would test that poison on herself in hopes that she would not awaken. All she wanted was a family. A husband, children. Yet each time she got close to that, it was ripped away from her.

Perhaps things would change with the meeting of Orzsolya.

The minute, tiny, Gundarakite woman approached Erzsebet a few hours before night and asked to meet with her at Anglers Dive. Why not? She agreed to meet her there, although it did take her a while to find the place. Once there the two women spoke throughout the night, Erzsebet learned of the trials and hardship she had gone through, and of her success within the Red Vardo Traders. She gave Erzsebet some hope, a tiny spark to relight a fire that was almost out. She was proud to know that her original gain of the permit had continued on through other Gundarakites, that there were others who shared her goal, her dream. But all those accounts of betrayal had added up and built a thick wall around her trust, but maybe Orzsolya could break through enough to learn all of Erzsebets plans and goals.

"Don't let your dreams die."

Those parting words held more weight and meaning to Erzsebet than the other woman could ever know. A spark was there again, and a small fire began to grow. Tonight she would not test that poison, tonight she would let those words sink in, come the morning she would begin again.
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ladylena

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[A page in Erzsebet's Journal]
« Reply #89 on: October 27, 2019, 12:25:33 PM »
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He vanished and I thought he was dead. This is worse than death. To him I left him, there is nothing left for him to feel for me. This is so much worse than loosing him to death. I've lost him to a god damned delusion. He no longer loves me. Why does this keep happening?

I wish for death now. My heart is aching..

I guess all I do is carry with me a curse. All the men I've loved have died, or vanished and came back without love for me. Seeing him so withered, so frail... These tears will keep flowing for him. I want to feel no pain. God why have you cursed me so?

Maybe it's the fact they all have been Barovian. Fane... I love you still, just as I love Serghei. But the pain all you Barovian men have caused me is now beyond measure. I wish that you were still alive Fane, things would of been much better.
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Re: Poison is Medicine ~ Erzsebet Varga ~ Medicine is Poison
« Reply #90 on: March 19, 2020, 02:03:56 PM »
Erzsebet sat deep in the woods as tears freely flowed down her face. She dropped to her knees and let out a deep, soulful howl of pain for the loss of Andras. A man she had not known for long, but whom she cared for. Composing herself for a moment, she removed the Heart of Ice that she usually wore. As it was removed, she could feel the warmth flow back into her heart, along with many suppressed emotions. Deep in the southern woods, she cried.
She cried and cried until the pain and sorrow was too much for any vocalization. From her knees, she leaned back and let out a silent scream of pain. She could feel everything, all the emotions and losses, all the worries, the fears. She curled up in a ball on the pile of moss and leaves she had made for a bed. She wanted desperately to be held by another. She wanted to be told it would be alright. Her stomach ached, her head hurt. It was as though all the emotional pain was taking toll on her body. She let it. It was punishment for her lack of action. Punishment she felt she deserved.
The pain was exquisite. She had not felt such agony since the death of Stefan Albescu. Hours passed as she sobbed and shook in a mixture of silence and wails. Eventually, she sat up and put the necklace back on. She took a deep breath, held it and let it go. She did this several times until she was no longer shaking. Men... She thought to herself with a shake of her head. I won't repeat the mistakes of the men. We won't strike alone anymore.

As she exhaled that last breath her eyes filled with a steely resolve. There was no way she was going to allow them to kill another of her kin. Erzsebet dried her eyes, shouldered her crossbow and began the march back to Vallaki.

I am ready to die this time.
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