That's probably the longest backstory I've written for an FGRP.
Aldeth killed for the first time when she was 11. The whispers were quiet for the first time that day.
Her mother was the local pastor in a small town, who controlled the town through fear and piety. In her own household, she ruled with an iron fist. Beatings were just part of life; if she messed up in the least, in piety, manners, or any other perceived slight, she was hit. This was before her mother realized that she heard T̴h͍̫̼̬̰͘i̗͚̮͍͖̥n͖̣̥̦̘̫g̘͠s̸͉͓̰.̡̼̜̲̻͇̗
Aldeth had heard the whispers for also long as she could remember, and had hidden it from her mother, at T̰͡h͕̹͉͙͟ͅͅȩ͉͕̠̠̼̤̬i̭r̛̰ insistance. T͈͇͉͇̟͞h̢̖͕e̬y̶̗ would lead her out into the forest when her mother ignored her, to a circle of standing stones, with carvings weathered by the ages and would show her how to create minor magical effects. She was so happy when she made her first pebble float, and went to go show her mother, against T̵̞̣̠͕̗h̵͎̝͈̞̤e̢i̤͠r counsel. However, she found herself unable to and her mother struck her for pretending to practice such witchcraft, decrying it a sin against her god, and that no child of hers should even play at such evil. Back in the forest, T͘h̀e̸̸͝y explained that she wasn't ready to "m͠a̢ke our̷ l͏ítt͢le t̕rick͝s̕ ͟in ̢yo͢ur͟ mot̡her͘'̢s t̛òwn̷ ̷ye̸t͞", and that it only worked within these stones.
For her entire childhood, she had no real playmates; the other children of the town were too terrified by her mother to play with her, unless an adult forced them to, and then, they were scared to death of her. So it was that her forest adventures were ignored. She was six when she got her first 'real' playmate.
It was a normal day; she scurried out of the house, and along the secret path under the great old oak tree, into the clearing with the old stones, but closed her eyes before she got there, because T̮̫̖̗́h͚̻̺e͏̠̗̱̭̳y̺̞̭ said they had a surprise for her. Giggling, she opened her eyes to see a small, winged, iguana-like creature (Lamp-Eft) sitting on one of the stones. She slowly approached it, not wanting to scare it away. It leapt onto her arm, and from there, they began to play as children do. Her and the creature became fast friends, despite not sharing a language.
About a year later, she had her first visitor. Sitting in the center of the standing stones was a rodent-like creature with at least a dozen tentacles coming out of its face (a Zoog for those following along). It was to teach , or so T̟̠͢h̩̣̙̱͙ȩ̩͇͎y͈̹̙͖̺ͅ whispered. She didn't really listen to them, already cuddling it in her arms and making the noises Dutchling probably makes when they see baby elephants. After a minute of this, it began to look uncomfortable and asked politely in perfect Common to be put back down. Surprised, she quickly placed the creature on the ground again.
She sat down in the dirt, looking at her new friend. "I'm Aldeth! What's your name?"
It scratched at its ear before responding. "I am called Fiver. Do you know what I do?" She shook her head. "I collect stories. Would you like to hear one, child?" She gave an excited nod. And so they told her a story, and another and another, until the sun was starting to sink into the eastern sky.
"Now, child, it's your turn to tell me a story."
"I don't know any stories like your stories. Your stories are so fun, tell me another one!"
"No, child, I wont tell another until I hear a story of yours. Tell me one of the stories your mother tells in church."
Aldeth made a face and recited the story her mother told last week in a monotone. When she was done, the whispers told her it was time go again.
"Bye, Fiver! Are you here tomorrow?"
"I don't know, child. We will see each other again, though."
He sat in the circle, head cocked to one side as she left.
Then, other, stranger creatures came to the stone circle. They and Tẖ̷͓̦̻ͅe̶̼̤͓̱m̼̫͈͟ whispered for many hours, while Aldeth tried to listen, but couldn't quite make out anything out. Eventually, T́h̪͕̝e̶͍͚͙̭̦y̰ had her talk to the visitors, so she learned their language. All this time, her mother had begun getting more and more oppressive and hardline religious, while random events began to happen around Aldeth. Others heard her voice when she did not speak, things moved and were knocked over as she walked past, and strange creatures appeared and disappeared in a flash after someone blinked. The rumors grew and grew until her own mother declared her possessed by a demon, and began the long and tortuous process of casting it out.
She was only ten years old.
Casting out the demon began as simple, private exorcisms, which obviously failed. After a month, they progressed to public humiliation and time in the stocks, along with whippings to rip the demon out. Nothing worked, but the torture continued for a few months. In the height of the tortures, she lost control of her own mind and began to spew the whispers, which were prophetic in nature. This led to her imprisoned for a month or so to see if the prophecies would come true. When they did, the tortures continued to escalate, but she was always saved from the brink of death, subjugated to the harshest tortures but never allowed to escape them. Her mother wouldn't allow that, or so Aldeth.
But she much have gotten desperate. Most of a year had gone by, and her followers had begun to question why the demon would not relinquish the child's soul, and why the pastor would not burn it out of the girl.
So Aldeth sat in her cell, watching them building a pyre, when she heard the door unlock. She didn't even look, knowing it must be her jailor. When the whispers urged her to look, she saw the gate swinging loose on its hinges, open, with no one in sight.
She ran.
She was chased by the man who was the closest accomplice to her tortures. The whispers grew louder and louder until they were screaming for blood.
So to appease them, to quiet them, she turned and unleashed the fury she had fermented for years on the poor man. He was dead before he hit the floor.
She kept running, this time with a feeling of terror in her gut. The whispers had stopped, and she was alone for the first time in her short 11 years alive.
She found shelter in a cave a few miles from the town. These days were a blur. Years passed. Some townsfolk came to seek guidance or a vision of the their future from 'the witch in the cave'. Her mother sent people after her. They died. Eventually, a party of adventurers was trekking through the area, and were recruited by her mother to kill her. Expecting a demonic hag, they only found a scared young woman. They returned to town to confront her mother. She doesn't know what they did there, but they came back and took her in, feeding and clothing her, taking her through dungeoneers and bandit camps. She survived and proved herself as worth her keep.
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Topic: D&D 5e: Adventurers of the Lost Isle OOC (Full up!) (Read 112143 times)