Lydia E'chance's Journal and Fate

[TAP123]

[This thread holds the pages written from Lydia about her accounts in the mists, which are accessible should one find the journal, and a detail of events as they transpire that can only be known OOC, unless she discloses said events.]

-Lydia's Journal has a crimson leather cover, with the name 'E'chance' engraved on the front. Turning to the first open page, one can read a simple sentence along with a signature from the author.-

To those who read these pages,  no matter what fate befalls me, let it be known that I have escaped the mists and this journal shall be the testament to my achievements! /signed/ Lydia E'chance

-Turning to the second page now brings the Journal's first full entry-

Damned be the Mists. This Demiplane of Dread has done me ill. Comrades I knew and loved have all come and gone, taken from me by... bastards. Foul, dumb, unjustful bastards that would rather see the lot of new outlanders gone. These are people who would never acknowledge those who fight werewolves to keep danger from their doorsteps... no.. the Barovian people, and especially those in Vallaki, never seem to hesitate purging anything different than them, even if they could be beneficial to keeping the darkness away.

Sedrik Benthur
William Blackwood
Agios Quoia
Mathieu Laurier
...
Abethe Bowe...

More come to mind.. but these friends are lost and gone... the Mists have taken their bodies.... the Dark Powers have captured their souls.

The only sanctuary I have now is with the Vistani, and the hope to leave these lands for good. One lass has a plan to sail on a big ship. Not a terribly unsightly plan, but one with so many challenges, and there's no real solid account of people escaping this way successfully.

Shira, the woman heading this boat plan, has helped me plenty of times. But I've been having my doubts. Knowing how the mists work, we could meet failure and untimely deaths. I have endeavored instead for the time being to... reincarnate a companion of mind who I had to slay with a paladin, for the sake of keeping my head and my reputation intact.

I hope I can reach my goal and attain better miracles soon. I learned from William Blackwood himself that our miracles must come not only from the gods, but from our willpower too.

[TAP123]

[The third page entry in the journal reads-]

Murky be the Mists...

Hazy is my mind when time alters it. I remember once I had someone I loved fondly... it wasn't just a lover I met on the road, but a handsome man who sought to protect me. I can barely recall warm memories, of Port A Lucine... of a ballroom and ball gown. Dancing the night away with fine wine and food. Finding myself in his embrace... but there was coldness, all the same.

I was going to be of child, or so I thought... was I? I was told so. Another powerful ally... I can see his beard and hat, but not his face... He led me through to the Arcane Tower once, helped me when my miracles attracted unwanted attention...

Their names escape my lips, their faces gone. Two figures, shadows in the fog. All I have is a letter, unsigned, but I know it's from.. him.

The more I reflect... the more I peer into the darkness of my mind, and see -that- place... the dark cave, the unspoken truce... No... it's fleeting and gone now.

-Attached to the page is a single paper titled "Dear Lydia", and it has a simple written message about Lydia has brought the author happiness in life.-

[TAP123]

[The fourth page of the journal reads as follows-]

Silent be the Mists...

I have found progress where others would normally sit and wait in silence and loathing....

Multiple trips to the desert lands have aided me greatly in experience and fortune. So much fortune in fact, that I've been able to procure many devices... including.. a pistol! Yes! One of those great gunpowder contraptions! I've practiced how to use it to some degree, and it shall come in handy when I need it.

Also the whispers... they come more and more the more powerful my miracles grow... I know not if I should trust these whispers, but I know my faith in my kin is strong. I will learn how to bring her back, my sister kin.

[TAP123]

[The fifth page of the journal reads as followed-]

Cursed be the Mists!

Today's the day! I believe I've found the puzzle to bringing my kin back to fulsome glory! Upon my travels I've acquired another of those Stygian Contracts, and I've been studying it daily. All it took though was a trip to the Curst cave.... there with a team of companions, we cut through those accursed swordsmen and assassins... and the altar hall they held had symbols which were strikingly similar in nature to what was held on the contract. A proper spell circle, translated runes and incantations, the name of the demon you wish to summon, and a contract prepared for the summoning. Hopefully my faith and will is strong enough to perform this, I believe it is... and I have an amended contract prepared... no longer will this kin of mine only appear for a short time, but I will bind her to me... until we can leave the mists for good. I know of my studies.... by the knowledge of man, having a demon bound to you opens the doors to temptation... but I know well enough. Surely we of same kin will be able to coexist better than any man...

I will perform it tonight, and my findings will come after.

[TAP123]

[The sixth page in the journal reads as follows-]
Lovely be the Mists!

Oh by divine intuition, I have done godly work! She, my sister of lust, is oh so delightful... whispers, all the whispers are now an embodied voice. I have spent... hours... no... days? Locked away, we've been conversing. Well more than conversing, of language, of body.... but enough on that. I've learned more than I can hope to learn... my birthright, my hellish childhood wasn't all for nothing. My 'cursed taint' is but a strength I have.

There's more... talk of escape, talk of the powers that be.

I've always been curious of the Goddess Ezra, and how she came to be. All the stories point to her entering this realm and giving up her control on the outside... being forever trapped to aid her people... but also... forever a part of the mists. The Dark Powers... is it not far fetched to suggest that Ezra is one with the mist? Part of the grand scheme of it all? The powers that be, the energies that flow, light and dark, in a constant dreadful cycle, repeating forever, good slays evil, evil slays good, and those that fight against the tide drown.

Once I believed that fighting against the flow would have me pushed to the edges of the world, and hopefully forced from the core... but it has to be done in such a right way. Many have sat idly by a campfire, aging until their bodies grow weak... no no, there are other ways.

[TAP123]

[The seventh page of the journal reads as follows-]

Knowing is the Mists.

My demonic kin has taught me plenty as of late... but she also had names for me... names which bring back memories... and brings me back to what I must do.

Ashin Luoh was my fiance's name. The man who I was to be wedded and have a child with. He found me when I was but just another lost adventurer to this realm, making sense of the darkness. I believe he may have been a part of it all, possibly cold and undead himself, as so many were afraid of him. He was... by the gods, handsome, and even in coldness, warm, and kind, and loving, and protecting. Never had I ever had someone think of me in kind.

And Reinhart Rin... The grand old wizard. His level of humor and respect was something I admired. I remember the days when he'd sneak around invisible around the outskirts of Vallaki, and would confide in me, and I'd confide in him. He helped me to learn more on properly concealing miracles and magics... and reminded me of my father.

Though I came from nothing, damned to die and go to oblivion as a baby abandoned in the woods, as a woman cursed with horns, and these two helped me survive.

They even helped me with my transition. The key to my corruption... the sin I could not back down from.

It was in that cave. One right within the tombs under Vallaki's outskirts. I once found time to pray there quietly... and found not whispers, but a full voice. It called to me, as the cave shook and grew dark, demanding that I bring a sacrifice. When I consoled these two close friends of mine, they sought to support me, even though my request was a great sin....

And it happened. We found a woman lost in the mists like I have been... took her, tied her, and I... stabbed her. Her blood flowed onto me. warm, unforgiving, we could've been the same. She was so beautiful. But she didn't have horns like I... but that mattered not, did it? One life taking another.

And the voice never came. And the darkness grew darker, and my mind, heart and soul couldn't take it. I was the one who died that night... even if not by body, flesh and blood...

So the mists worked... I must not of taken kindly to it so much that I simply forgot. It was easy to forget. And my loved ones, Ashin, Rin, faded like many others, to death, to nothing.

Learning all this again, I could just take to wine and forget again. But I think this is my doing, and I have another step to take. If I am to leave these mists for good, then perhaps I must finish the job. The mists desire a sacrifice, so I'll give them one.

All those spirits lost and gone... the names I have written in this book, please guide me. My time draws near. I'll part with this book, as my last written proof of my time here, I'll find someone to inherit it, and hopefully it will last enough in the minds of others to lend their will to my own.

May the Mists be merciful, and the Gods be good. /Lydia E'chance/ Signing off.

[TAP123]

[This passage lies in neither book nor spoken word. The Event that transpires happens unknown to anyone other than Lydia herself. One could say it is her final moments on Ravenloft.]

The cavern was dark and wet, and the armor-clad Lydia entered quietly. She took to securing her surroundings a moment before preparing her ritual. After 30 minutes had passed, her spell circle was complete. Candles lit the room, piercing the darkness with a golden hue. One more step was in place. Lydia brought forth her succubus ally, to her call. With a demonic witness, Lydia was finally prepared to address the Mists, the Dark Powers, or whatever entity could hear her.

"Ages ago I was led astray to this realm. Ages ago I prayed out of fear. Ages ago I was told to bring a sacrifice, and in the silence to come from my sin, I have grown a multitude and learned plenty."

*A moment of silence accompanied her*

"I call on Ezra, Goddess divine, and dark powers alight. For so long I have fought against the path and cycle of constant destruction, only to be met with despair, as my friends and allies have fallen."

*She'd take out a sacrificial knife*

"You wish for a sacrifice, you have taken many already! Mathieu, Sedrik, Agios, Ashin, Rin, William.... these are not mere names, but spirits. Please friends, loved ones, guide my soul on the right path, and send me home! You wanted a sacrifice, well you can have of my body, release my spirit with this demoness, and do what you will with my body, for it is yours!"

*With a quick swell motion, she'd plunge the sacrificial knife into her chest which she had exposed, and she yelled in pain sinking to her knees....*

-The Dagger glowed a bright hue and jutted out from her chest, as blood flowed out. A cone of light illuminated her and the succubi companion who was standing by finally moved in close, reaching out to her, and hugging her in an embrace, until finally.... the succubus rose with the light and disappeared.-

-The bloodied body partially clad in armor finally rose... the body was pale now, and with a quick moment the armored figure would place over her chest piece. Her aura was different, dark, and a red glow came from within her helm.-

[What became of Lydia, her person, her soul, is unknown. Perhaps her soul was set free, and she was set to return to her homeland. Perhaps the mists trapped her soul for good and led her body to be possessed. One can speculate, but all that is left behind is a dark husk, armored and horned figure that is now setting it's gaze on Vallaki.]

[So Lydia's time in Ravenloft has come to an end.]