Chapter 20 - Lovers of Cosecca

~ When You Wish Upon A Star ~

The party, having received word of a quest from Caliban, investigates the town of Cosecca as instructed by the iussing Alderman...

Most Honorable Coseccans!

After careful deliberation, I, Lindberg Rusesci, Alderman of Cosecca, have decided to announce that any good traveler that would be so kind to aid our humble village in these uncertain times will be rewarded most graciously.

And other loyal adherents of Lathander! If you know no fear and seek work, I implore you, continue reading this notice, for the call contained therein will be of great interest to you.

In recent days, several of our humble townspeople have been plagued with unsettling dreams. Our investigations have revealed some notions on the origin of this ailment that I shall not elaborate upon in this writ. Any further details shall only be discussed in-person. Being greatly concerned for my brothers and sisters in Lathander, I have decided to grant a purse of 2500 gold pieces from my own coffers to and a promise that the compassionate folk of Cosecca shall treat and accommodate YOU who ends our predicament with the utmost hospitality for the rest of your days.

Please, whoever can find the charity in their soul to help a village in need, come see me at my estate, just past the main square and over the bridge. If you lose the way, ask any reliable fellow where the alderman has his home and he will be sure to politely direct you.

Lindberg Rusesci,

Veteran of Battle of Strust, Siege of Trohl, the Attack on Glenahs, Strahz, and Maiht, and Defense of Sotava.

Retired minister of the Elseighn temple of Lathander,

21st Alderman of Cosecca

With the party finally arriving the Town of Cosecca by caravan, Celestia notices the entirety of the townsfolk slain by gashes and javelins. Blood trails soak the dirt roads that lead further into town, and from each path into each home...but without much time to investigate, as the remaining corpses of the townsfolk were being feasted upon by Ghasts and Ghouls.

The party makes quick work of the undead with their combat prowess, much of the animated corpses turning to dust from our fireball onslaught, and decide to investigate the town further. The Alderman's quest note mentioned the townsfolk being plagued by nightmares, not a massacre. As the group inches closer towards the blood trails leading through the town, all that was found was more death and destruction.

We found body after body, some desecrated by the undead, some clearly slain in an experienced, surgical manner. A stab of the femoral artery, detachment of the spinal cord...our killer was an outright assassin, and one capable of taking the entire village on. As we located what was presumably the Alderman's house - by its riches and stature - we found more corpses; one of Lindberg himself (owing to the silks and rings still attached to his body), and one of a bard lying flat, with a pitchfork in his back.

There was one survivor, however...a young dwarven boy who goes by Lil' Emery. His parents managed to hide him in a closet during the culling...it must've been all trauma for the child...to watch his parents cut down in front of him, while holding his own screams back for fear of his own life. Emery was unable to speak to the party, out of fear, but with Stella's 'detect thoughts' (for better, or perhaps for worse), we understood what happened to the boy. We also saw his dreams; he wished to grow into a Paladin as strong as Sir Godefrey, to ride horses and dragons, alongside his pet bear. Perhaps this dream is something we can work towards, for Emery.

We leave Emery in the safe hands of our caravan driver, Old Man Jenkins, and explore further...this time, towards the Lighthouse down south - where blood trails further still.

There, the heroes are ambushed by a wary yet gravely injured Violet Tiefling Barbarian who introduces herself as Oradani of the Flaxdams. Being extremely suspicious of Oradani, the party offers to heal her up in exchange for information - and a grave twist was revealed.

Oradani and her party, known as the Obodain Oafs, were also adventurers responding to the Alderman's quest, but not only did the townspeople refuse to pay them for their work; Oradani's friends and lovers...by name of Ophidrith and Osmorn, were slain by their hand. In retaliation and for survival, Oradani laid waste to the townspeople, and took cover by the lighthouse as Ghouls came...

Only the lighthouse was no refuge, and Oradani spent days there with no rest; plagued by nightmares and screams coming from the structure itself. Having lost her only companions in life, Oradani was originally planning to lay waste to our party inclusive, before ending her own life...

To my surprise, the party was far from combative nor ready to retaliate against the Violet Tiefling. Instead, they empathized - and saw no right in playing judge, jury and executioner. Instead, especially Luna (perhaps this stems from a greater origin in her past...), the party convinced Oradani to earn her new lease in life, and to walk on for the Obodain Oafs.

Now a temporary ally, Oradani requested the party help retrieve her fallen party's bodies - Osmorn was by the Alderman's barn and easy to retrieve, but Ophidrith's was in the lighthouse, which was still haunted by banshees. We make quick works of the horrors, even with a banshee possessing Ophi's body, careful not to incinerate her remains and to preserve it for a proper burial - but a flash of white possesses Oradani instead...

In chasing after Oradani, we instead find the lighthouse attic...decorated with books and notes...one diagram particularly detailing the creation and imprint of a flesh golem, to protect Shelah...that's the sister of the previous Alderman. We run into said golem, and from our time in the attic we grow to know its name; Parisii. And as the stories in the books suggests, Parisii is a guardian of sacrifice and love.

The story finally makes sense...though explained shortly after by a Shelah-possessed Oradani, anyway. As it turns out...the necromancer we thought was behind all this, was Shelah's lover - Gilmoira Dane.

Perhaps the tale can be told in full by Shela herself, as it deserves to be...

The villagers of Cosecca, being fiercely devout to Lathander, were and remain extremely xenophobic and homophobic to this day. They were not aware of Gilmoira's presence in the lighthouse initially, where she was training her necromancy. First, graves were disturbed, then sightings of ghouls towards the southern periphery of the village.

The current alderman's great-aunt was precisely Shelah Rusesci -- who was 25 at the time, and the prior alderman's sister. She investigated unperturbed and desperate for some semblance of excitement amidst the monotony of village life, especially after abandoning her wild youth where she studied as a bard. With her family's heirloom spear in hand, she followed the ghoul tracks to the lighthouse where she met Gilmoira, a fledgling elven necromancer. Shelah was defensive, then intrigued, then infatuated, and would frequently meet with the infernal witch for late night rendezvous and some magical education on the side.

Eventually, the previous alderman, Algernon Rusesci, realized who and where the culprit for the undead and stolen bodies, as well as his sister's passionate romantic involvement with the necromancer. A retired paladin, Sir Godefrey, who also lived in the town, rallied a militia and stormed the lighthouse.

The militia fought against a handful of undead and there were losses on their side, but still they decimated Gilmoira's small rotting vanguard. In a desperate attempt to salvage the situation, the two hatched a scheme. Gilmoira planned to hide while Shelah, disowned from her village and with a bounty of her own, hid in the lantern room as her lover casted feign death on her and dressed her 'corpse' as a victim of suicide if the militia would ever break through the watch room below.

And the militia did, quite easily in fact, not even a few moments after. Gilmoira was slain before she could hide herself. The ritual for Shelah was imperfect and she lay there incapacitated far longer than originally intended. Thinking she had perished, the militia left Shelah's body to be feasted upon by gulls, skuas, and terns...rotting in the lighthouse...where she remained.

The party, moved and brought to tears by the tale of forbidden love, offer to collect Shelah's and Gilmoira's body for a proper, respectful burial. With the pair finally resting together on the lighthouse cliff, overlooking the Setsuna Seas with their beloved flower garden surrounding them...they finally pass into the afterlife.

May Shelah and Gilmoira rest in peace, rest in power, and rest in love together.

And Parisii, may you eternally guard their graves and protect them in their endeavour of love.