Embers of Desire

The early mid-spring sun shone over the fields and groves that surrounded the bustling urbanscape of Baldur's Gate. The songbird's call echoed through the nearby forest, surrounding the landscape with symphonies of springtime. In a clearing in the woods stood a peaceful chapel, a calm holy place with clean, white walls and a neat garden surrounding the building. The chapel's worshippers, laden in nothing but thin cotton sheets that wrapped loosely around their chaste frames, tended to the garden's flowers calmly, and paid no attention to the chapel door as it slowly opened to reveal Ariadne, a purple Twilight Tiefling with dark indigo skin, a feminine frame, and horns that curl around the sides of her head. She wore a tight-fitting navy dress; one that fell over her shoulders and had a slit in the skirt, revealing her small, thin legs and silver chain anklets. Her black hair was shabby and shoulder length, styled in a layered cut with soft dark violet highlights. Her tail, long and thin, swayed calmly behind her as she walked into the chapel garden.

Ariadne gracefully walked up to a worshipper, who was holding a bouquet of fresh white tulips, and knelt down to help her plant a flower in the soft dirt below.

"Thank you, Ari," The worshipper hummed, her voice sweet and gentle. She continued planting the flowers, continuing to talk with Ariadne, "Are you going somewhere?"

Ariadne hummed in response, her voice airy and feather-light, "I am. Not anywhere in particular, but I'm leaving the chapel for a few days."

"I see, interesting… please, take care of yourself."

"I will… thank you, Desira."

"Of course. May Selȗne guide you."

Ariadne smiled, pecking the worshipper on the cheek in an act of farewell before standing up, wandering towards the garden gates. The sunrise was still beaming across the lush woodland, stretching far over the rolling hills and vibrant fields, the golden-pink light illuminating the surroundings and giving the land an ethereal glow. Ariadne took a deep breath, her senses filled with the scents of fresh spring blossoms and the cool breeze of the morning, her hand tracing the garden gates as she pushed them open. She'd gone past the gates plenty of times - having been assigned to forage for the worshippers every so often - but this time felt different. This time felt new. This time felt exhilarating.

She sauntered past the gates, the plush, dewy grass soft under her bare feet. Turning around, she took one last look at the chapel - her home - and went back on her way to Baldur's Gate.

The journey was tiresome, taking a day or so to reach the border of the grand urban landscape. Once Ariadne had passed the walls of the place, she was greeted with the sound of bustling excitement and distant, meaningless fanfare. She would stroll the busy streets to see unique vendors selling armour, food, potions, and even scrolls. Every now and then she'd stumble upon a performer or a group of people chattering about their next adventure with a joyous buzz. 

It was everything Ariadne had never seen before. The array of unique individuals going about their lives in seemingly perfect harmony was strange, but a welcome change to the tranquil life she'd been living prior.

As she was admiring the views around her, she accidentally stumbled into a druid woman, who was holding a mass of herbs in her woven basket.

"Oh my gods, I am so sorry," Ariadne muttered desperately, her cheeks darkening with an embarrassed blush. Though, the druid woman only smiled, waving off the apology with the simple brush of her hand.

"It's ok, dear, accidents happen… you're not from around here, are you?"

"No…? How did you-?"

"Your clothing isn't typical of the people here, and it's known that Twilight Tieflings don't tend to fare well in cities and urban towns…"

Ariadne nodded slowly, taking in the druid woman's words.

"Oh… I come from the Selȗnite chapel near west, this is my first time here."

The druid smiled wider, patting her free hand on ariadne's bare shoulder.

"I see. Well, I think you'll find it nice here, dear. The vendors are lovely, and the atmosphere is unlike any other… y'know what, here."

The druid reached into the vastness of her jacket pocket, pulling out a small pouch of coins, "Have it. I've got plenty anyway."

Ariadne took the pouch in her hands, gazing down at it for a moment before smiling softly, "Thank you… thank you so much."

"It's no problem. That should be enough to treat yourself to some proper good food, you'll find a brilliant variety here."

"I will, thank you."

The druid patted Araidne's shoulder again before wandering off with her basket of herbs, leaving the tiefling staring dumbfoundedly at the bag of coins. Ariadne sighed, holding onto the pouch tightly as she continued to walk past the bustling stalls and lively streets.

Ariadne had spent a few hours in the city, enjoying the different performers and forms of entertainment. Her pouch was still full with coins, as Ariadne was reluctant to spend them on anything she might regret later. As she sat admiring the beautiful voice of a drow street singer, she suddenly began to hear the chattering of a nearby party, one member talking about how they 'ought to buy some food soon before they starved to death' - and another member following up with an annoyed uttering of 'you ate this morning, dumbass.'

Ariadne got up from her seat to walk towards the party, which consisted of a tall human wizard, a half-elf cleric, and a pale elf rogue. As she approached them, the half-elf was first to notice her, her eyes narrowing at the sight of the short tiefling.

"Who are you? I've never seen your kind before." She hummed, crossing her arms.

Before Ariadne could respond, the elf and wizard turned to look at Ariadne with curious glances, but the elf seemed quite relieved at Ariadne's presence.

"Ah, finally, someone who looks like they have money. You wouldn't mind helping a poor elf out, would you?"

Ariadne raised a soft eyebrow, looking at the three of them in confusion.

"Well, I-"

"Thank you, thank you!-"

"Woah, hold on, we don't even know the woman," the wizard hummed before turning to Ariadne with a calm look, "What's your name, at least?"

"Ariadne. I come from the chapel west of here."

"The Selȗnite chapel?" the half-elf spoke, her eyes lightening slightly. With Ariadne's nod of confirmation, the half-elf sighed with relief.

"She's a worshipper of Selȗne, we can trust her somewhat."

"I see… my name's Gale, by the way. This is Shadowheart, and the elf is Astarion. We've got another in our party, but she's disappeared somewhere…"

Ariadne hummed softly, greeting Shadowheart and Astarion quietly before speaking again.

"You needed money, right?"

"Well, Astarion does-"

"Of course I do!" Astarion scoffed, crossing his arms dramatically, "I'm bloody starving over here!"

Ariadne nodded, unsure of how to respond to this. She was about to speak before Shadowheart interrupted her.

"We still have to find the scrolls we need before we do anything else, Astarion. Just wait…"

"Fine, whatever."

The group fell silent for a short while, before Ariadne broke the silence yet again.

"You said there was someone else, right?"

Gale nodded, placing his hands on his hips.

"Yeah, she's… somewhere. She went off to get some things-"

"I'm back!" A voice suddenly spoke behind Ariadne, causing her to turn around.

Behind Ariadne stood a tall, red tiefling woman, with a muscular build and a fiery infernal heart. She stood proudly, a soft smile on her face. Ariadne froze, staring up at the woman with wide eyes and darkened cheeks as she took in her stunning appearance.

"Hey, soldier, you alright there?" The tiefling hummed a chuckle. Ariadne took a quick breath, trying to reconcentrate.

"Y-Yeah, yeah… who are you?-"

"I'm Karlach, I'm part of this group here. Who are you?"

"I'm Ariadne, I was just talking with your friends here."

The other members nodded, and Karlach hummed in response.

"Ok, ok. You need a travelling party?"

The other's looked at Karlach in surprise as she asked Ariadne to join them, but none of them spoke up, deciding to watch and wait to see what Ariadne would say.

Ariadne took a deep breath. She'd just met these people, yet the allure of joining the group was stronger than the nagging feeling of danger in the back of her mind.

"I'll join."