Chapter 2 - Goddess, Oath, and Bloodbath

4 Duskar 499 CE

Dear diary.

Today I saw a bloodbath.

Kyrah, the Goddess of Music and trickery. She knows of my secrets. I obliged her to not reveal anything. A spoiled story is not a satisfying story after all. She told us of the Ayota village. Somewhere in the Heartlands. About northeast from here. Of the summoned beast there. An apparent rampage.

She made us swore an oath to be together and stay as heroes, to protect the inhabitants of Ayota, and to sacrifice the beast. Of course, Magna, eager to serve the pantheon, accepted immediately. Lody, a bit more cautious, yet still believes in divinity, accepted second after a bit of convincing. Li Wei didn't quite hear what was happening, but after she heard the whole story, she accepted third. Fauna, wary of the Five Gods, was quite cautious. She tried to skirt around the oath and trying to maintain a neutral but still helpful stance, but alas, who can trick the Goddess of trickery herself, Fauna accepted fourth. Of course, I begrudgingly had to accept whatever shit she had to make for me, due to some . . . undisclosed reasons. I accepted last.

After some more talks with the trickster, we five discussed where to go next. Most of us, I think, preferred to go to Ayota village, but Fauna digressed. She searched for her friend Mumei, and her vision leads her towards the Sour Vintage, that's where the Oracle said where she was. I'd argued with Fauna, over how many will die for it to worth her worthwhile. I'd feigned my argument, about how I preferred rest at the Sour Vintage, but I cannot escape the thought. How many must die to save one person? How important is one life in comparison to the many?

The thought clouds my mind so much that a lot of logical conclusions escapes my judgement. In hindsight, we should've grabbed whatever we could from the caravan stop, tents and all.

The thought even forced me to smoke again, after I swore to myself to put them off. I had to keep feigning my cool, at least for the while.

Anyhow, after a full 12 hours of walking, we weren't met with a welcoming place. Instead, we saw the aftermath of a massacre. Corpses and bodies. Arrows as far as the eyes can see. The stench of iron is heavy. The initial shock seems to have flipped a switch that I cannot seem to turn off.

Magna rushes inward. Finding anyone he could've known. He and I went upstairs to secure the perimeters, while the others searches ground zero. We both hear whimpers from one of the rooms. Someone he knew. The keeper of this establishment. Aetala, a dwarven woman. She was bound, tied, unmoving on the bedframe.

Not long after, everyone had cleared the establishment, and went to check. This was the works of the natives. Fauna's people. Centaurs and satyrs. Dryads and forestfolks. Prints of big and small hooves. Arrows made of sharp rocks. Vines around corpses. They were not just killed, they were brutalized. Twisted, wrung, beheaded, chopped, suffocated, all kinds of kills. As if a child is angry at their pet for biting.

Magna untied Aetala, and confirmed our suspicions. The natives did this. And they were angered by the sudden appearance of the dragon. They said the humans summoned it, and this is payback, whatever that means. They knew of us, the five heroes. They laughed at the thought of saviors. I do not understand. None of these made any sense. Wouldn't everyone want peace? Why is peace shunned? Why would they want war? Why would anyone want bloodbath?

Before I could get any meaningful answer out of myself, Magna had screamed at Fauna for trying to defend herself. That woke me up good. One thing led to another, and doubts and promises started throwing themselves out. Aetala broke down when she learns that there was a beast nearby Ayota village, for her parents and family was there.

Sigh