Topic: The Cure for a Curse

Tarna DVelle

Date: 2008-01-10 18:16 EST
The words of Agarithil still gave her chills, making Tarna uneasy about her choice to board at the inn. She was still a little worried about returning to her room, not knowing who would be watching or what type of character they might be. In answer to this growing concern Tarna decided to take a walk about the town, thinking about trying to find herself a different living arrangement. True, she could bunk down with the May Queen crew. But she was unsure how long the crew would stay in RhyDin and she was even less sure that, should they leave, she'd go with them. A place of her own? It was the first time she considered such a thing. Tarna gave a sad smile, it was a foolish thought. As a child her father had traveled with her from place to place... and after that... there was the curse.

The curse had been placed on Tarna as a seven-year-old child. It was punishment for her father's betrayal to a village. He had promised to get them a medicine that would cure a sleeping sickness that had taken a large number of the villagers already. But once the medicine was procured, he sold it to a man who offered him more than the villagers could. When they learned of his actions the village sent out three men to hunt him down. Tarna was with her father when the men found him and they took them both back to the village for retribution. It was late night, Tarna and her father were brought forth before a gathering of those that were left. The Chief and Dark Priest headed the group.

The Chief wanted her father?s death as payment for those that died without the medicine, but the Dark Priest saw something that gave him pause. Tarna had the Gift, untapped and untried. He whispered in the ear of the Chief and with a nod it was decided. The girl would pay for the father?s sin and her gift would be her chains. The curse was laid, for Tarna could not ignore those who asked for ?help.? And then they asked her for help, to find the cure for the sickness that was killing their people.

It was a cruel price to ask of a young girl and foolish. For as Tarna traveled to find a cure and learn what she could of her powers, the curse kept her constantly bound to the pleas of others. It was six years later before Tarna could return to the people who had curse her for a cure. When she came upon their land nothing remained but memories, no people to cure, no one to lift the curse from her. It had been a hard life for her. The hardest when she was unable to heal or cure a sickness and the person in its grasp merely begged to be released from the pain. By the time Tarna came to RhyDin she had never kissed a man, but she had killed many at their behest.
Her father was gone, dead the past three years after his heart gave out. But her estranged mother was somewhere out in the world? one of them. Tarna had gone everywhere she could, finding people who knew her mother and trying to find some trail that would lead to Trifter. Tarna was determined to make the woman help her, but every time she felt close the curse would pull her off the trail. Finally she found her way to RhyDin but even the dark woman Raven DeNamar, a caregiver to Trifter as a child, could not help. It was with these thoughts on her mind that Tarna approached the RhyDin bulletin board.

?Seek and you shall find??

(http://rdi.dragonsmark.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8793)

Tarna DVelle

Date: 2008-01-10 20:09 EST
The note on the bulletin had caught her attention, though doubt prevailed in her mind. It wasn?t until after speaking to another, very convinced, woman at Red Dragon Inn that Tarna decided to try and find Brennora for herself. Perhaps this woman could help her find a cure or, at the very least, her mother? She though luck must have been on her side for only a few hours after setting out did Tarna find Brennora near the docks? then she inhaled.

The scent of Brennora is not easily forgotten. Nor is it easily ignored. She was surrounded by the pungent aroma of excrement, liquors, body odor, urine and general filth. The sight of the old woman was not much better than the smell. An aged hag, her skin sulked away from her form. Black greasy hair fell in thinned out long strings from her speckled scalp. One dark brow eye started out at you as a clear-blue glass eye gazed off in whatever direction it pleased. Her withered form was hidden under ragged clothing, leaving her boned and veined hands to beckon you closer. Long, sharp, yellowed nails tipped each finger.

?You seek, do you not child??

Tarna approached the woman, doing her best keep her stomach from turning. She nodded and then pulled from the bag that sat at her side a bottle of brandy. ?It was my hope that you could help me with a problem that I have.?

?Innocence? Go sleep with a man!? Brennora snapped, reaching out a hand to grab the bottle of brandy that had been offered. While the girl blushed, Brennora motioned to her. ?Sit, sit. And ask Brennora your question.?

Tarna sat as requested. Though, after getting the bottle snatched from her, her left some distance between herself and the other woman.

?I wanted??

?Spit it out! Spit it out!?

?I need to know how to have a cursed removed. O-or how to find my mother.?

?No curse, no mother.?

?Excuse me??

?No. Curse. No. Mother.?

?You?re mistaken. I have both.? Tarna?s brow furrowed as she started to rise.

Brennora snorted at the young woman. ?You think my eyes see false? Bah! Never! I see. Once curse. No more. No more curse. Mother yes. But not find her. This I know.?

?N-no. I am cursed. I?ve been most of my life.? Tarna?s voice filled with hesitant conviction.

Again Brennora snorted at the young girl. ?No more curse. And I can see something else you lack,? holding up four fingers, ?Four years.?

?Four years? Four years of what??

?Four years of nothing! Hahaha! NOTHING!?

It was enough for Tarna, she came to her feet and started off. Misery clouded her thoughts. It was to her back that the old woman called, ?Seek out the raven again if you dare.?

Tarna paused, turning her face back to Brennora. The old woman simply gave her a near toothless smile with a nod.

?You?ll see. My words are true.? Brennora spoke, moving her attentions to the brandy as Tarna turned and made her way off.

Tarna DVelle

Date: 2008-01-10 21:47 EST
Tarna had left the old Seer, full of confusion and doubt. She didn?t understand how the curse could be gone. It couldn?t be. But what if it was? And what of Brennora?s comment about four years of nothing? Tarna could remember the last eighteen years of her life so clearly. Every lesson, every cost, every lost. She couldn?t understand. The woman?s words echoed in her mind? seek the raven. Raven? Raven DeNamar? Tarna was busy trying to keep false hope at bay when someone asked her for help.

The man stood at the break into the ally. He was a little taller than Tarna, dark hair and eyes. His skin was tan and rough looking. One of his hands held on to the smaller hand of a little blonde girl, her blue eyes watery and red.

?Can you help me?? The man said. His eyes unsteady, checking the road this way and that as he continued, ?My little girl and I are locked out. Can you help me??

?Where?s your home, sir?? Tarna asked of the man. As his eyes were elsewhere, she looked towards the little girl. She had red marks around both her wrists. And several scratched over her pale fair skin.

?Back this way.? He replied, eagerly removing himself from view of the main road and moving back into the alley, stopping at a wooden door. ?Here it is. This one, miss.?

Tarna never liked reading people without their permission, but reading a building was a bit different. As she tired the handle, her mind searched the memory of the room beyond. This was not that man?s home. But it did belong to the child. Her hand tightened on the doorknob. Did she truly have to help this man? This lowlife?

Somehow? she found her answer.

?No.?

Tarna sensed the man about to strike her, but her power came to her faster than he did. Her assailant frozen in time, Tarna turned her attention to the child. ?Where are your parents??

The child?s wide eye went to the man, watching him as if afraid he might come to life again and hurt her. Tarna patted the girl?s hair, comforting her? assuring her that everything would be all right. It was a while before the child was ready to talk, sensing she was safe enough to do so.

?Marma and Pa went to the country to see Ganny. I couldn?t go cause Ganny is sick and I might get it, but they left me with Auntie Rachel. We were at Market when the man grabbed me. He said he knew Pa. He said he was going to her Marma and Pa! Don?t let him!!?

?I won?t. It?s alright now.?

Indeed, it was. Tarna left the man bound with her magic, willing to let him sit there in wait until the authorities could come to deal with him. Child in her arms, Tarna moved back into the main road and headed back towards the market. First she would find the girl?s aunt. Then she would go speak with Raven. One question had been answered? now she wanted more.

Tarna DVelle

Date: 2008-01-10 22:32 EST
Raven was not hard to find. She hated most people and therefore rarely bothered to leave the confines of her lair. The woman was not cozy enough to have a ?home.? Even after foiling an attempted bombing at the Red Dragon Inn and having her name printed in the most recent copy of the Oracle, her mood towards the general population of RhyDin had not changed. She answered the muted knock at her door by barely opening the door, her violet eyes narrowed as she glared out. ?What.?

?Raven, may I come in??

?Why.?

?I need to talk to you about finding my mother.?

If possible, Raven?s eyes narrowed more so. ?You decided to leave it be.?

?I?ve changed my mind.?

There was a pause before Raven opened the door. However, rather than allowing Tarna to enter her abode, she stepped out, crossing her arms before her. ?Have you now??

?Yes.?

?Who have you been talking to Little? Someone?s putting bad ideas in you pretty little head. Maybe that captain of yours??

?Captain Alexander has nothing to do with it.? Tarna stood her ground, not allowing the older woman to scare her off.

Unimpressed by Tarna?s show, Raven took a step forward. ?You have been talking to someone. Who??

Tarna shook her head, all too aware of what Raven might do if given some other target.

Raven went silent, watching Tarna with a hard stare.

Suddenly Tarna blurted out, ?What would four years of nothing have to do with my curse being cured??

Raven didn?t even have the decency to look shocked. She simply turned her back to Tarna and walked into her lair? leaving the door open behind her.

?Do you want your answer or not.?

After a moment of hesitation, Tarna followed.

The interior was much as she remembered, dark and not very cozy. The various rooms filled with minimal furniture. Raven stood with a blank expression at the door to the cellar. Tarna had been forbidden to go beyond that door during her stay with the other woman. In silence Raven turned and made her way down the cellar stairs leaving Tarna to follow her into darkness.

Tarna was halfway down the stairs, using her hands to guide her rather than her power within Raven?s lair, when lights flickered on at the base of the stairway. Blue lights casting a ghostly glow from the room beyond. As she stepped through the doorway Tarna was greeted with what look like the mixture of a science lab and torture chamber. The metal slab resting in the middle of the room pulled her eye to it.

?Why so afraid to use your power here, Little? Afraid of what you might see??

Goaded on, Tarna closed her eyes and used her power to read the room?

Tarna DVelle

Date: 2008-01-10 23:41 EST
Tarna saw?

Her still body, wearing the same clothing she wore the first day she came to RhyDin, was laid out on the metal slab in the middle of the room. The shadows of two women constantly moved about her. One was obviously Raven, dark of dress and aura. The other? the other? was her mother, Trifter.

Having looked in a mirror often enough, Tarna was shocked at the resemblance she had to her mother. They had the same red hair and green eyes, same bone structure. Trifter looked like an older, colder Tarna.

The women came and went as Tarna?s body remained unmoved. There were spells and potions attempted by her mother. Raven more often the silent assistant. Tarna watched the various attempts upon her prone form, felt the time stretch between visits. Heard the echoes of conversations between the two, though there was no complete understanding of what was said? only snatches.

?Kill her??

?I owe her this much??

?None of my business??

?Stupid creature??

?How much longer??

?There.?

?Get her out of here...?

She watched as Raven lifted her body, her mother watching the woman carry her out of the room and up the stairs. The last thing Tarna read from the room was the ghost of her mother?s memory turning and looking at her with cold green eyes.

Tarna?s mouth was dry when she opened her eyes, looking at the empty slab of metal and being haunted by the feeling of it at her back.

?How long?? She asked softly.

Raven replied with a cold smirk. ?You know that answer now, Little.?

?Four years? FOUR YEARS?! Of my life??

?Eh. You still got your looks.?

?I just turned eighteen!?

?Twenty-two. Yes.?

?I came to you for help! You betrayed me!?

Raven snorted, pushing off from the wall she had been leaning against. ?Betrayed you when? I found you before you found me, Pet. I heard that you were looking for me, and I found you? in that cave outside the city. So close? and yet? so far.? The woman?s smirk was coldness to perfection.

?T-the cave?. I remember?? Thinking back the night she was too tired to go on and fell asleep in a cave, recalling waking up in a completely different location. That was before she got to RhyDin, before she tracked Raven down. Before Raven and Trifter found her first?

?So hard to trap the mind forever, isn?t it??

Two tears trickled down Tarna?s cheeks, ?My mother??

?Did what she did for her own reasons. Leave it at that.?

?What am I supposed to do now? What am I supposed to do with four year missing from my life!??

?Something for yourself. For once.? With that Raven turned, heading back up the stairs. ?You can show yourself out.?

Tarna remained but for a moment before making her way out of Raven?s lair. Her thoughts running circles in her mind as she made her way to the Red Dragon Inn.

Seven years given to childhood.
Eleven years given to helping others and mastering her powers.
Four years of nothing? but a cure?

And now what?

The rest of your life, love.

For the first time in? ever? Tarna really wanted a drink.