Private Tales Blood of the Innocent

[Ayodele The Cursed One]

A small village was seen ahead. Strange that wasn't on the map, a small figure emerged from the forest observing the quiet town ahead. His small purple three toed feet was aching badly having traveled non-stop for several hours. Ayodele sighed rubbing his yellow skull, he's been cursed into this form for hundreds of years and he still never adjusted to the limits opposed on him. Not a day goes by that Ayodele remanences the time that he was human. A tall, dark and talented warrior for his tribe. Ayodele remembered the wind blowing against his skin as he sprinted across the desert plains. He always liked to run, whether it's for pleasure or to hunt. The thrill of running always courses through Ayodele's blood, now that was stripped from him. His talent as a warrior gone and replaced by this weak, ugly thing.

Ayodele shook his head as he lumbered towards the village. He had to stay calm, there was a way to return back to his normal form. Ayodele heard of an ancient ritual conducted the Dark Elves which could reverse a curse. However it would have to come at a cost of an innocent soul, perhaps the Spirits have guided Ayodele to this humble village. He can't say he'll like what he was about to do. But it was worth it to get his body back.

 

[Eryn Pere]

Eryn was outside on the edge of the village, taking a break after the morning crowd had dispersed. There was a little stream near the village that fed into the ocean, she liked to go there and soak her feet in the water, especially since meeting Willis she's had more courage to go outside the village by herself. Willis wasn't around, probably out hunting monsters for Little Portshaw, or even Big Portshaw not far away.

He would probably be back after the noon sun had passed its height.

She sighed as she lay under the shade of a large oak tree with her feet drifting lazily in the bubbling stream. It's been a while since any monster has come close to Little Portshaw, Willis has changed things for the better around her, but she still had dreams of leaving with him someday.
She stretched and yawned, the clear summer sky was warm, the breeze was cool, just perfect for her. She slowly began to nod off to sleep.

 

[Ayodele The Cursed One]

Since he became a monster, Ayodele has faced discrimination by villagers in Arithrel. Cries of: "freak!" and "monster!" were as common as their eventual screams of terror when Ayodele absorbs their souls to increase his own powers. Strangely he was able to enter cities such as: Elbion and Alliria though the Shaman hypothesized that the population probably sees so many different types of species a day, that when a skullfaced shaman waddles in their vicinity the worst they'll get is the cold shoulder.

Not peasants they were superstitious, small minded, racist, and overall primitive. In all his years of traveling the earth, peasants were pretty rotten people. Though admittedly, Ayodele did serve as the village wizard in some of their villages. Still it was easier to manipulate the average villager and even absorb their soul without anyone suspecting. What lord would waste resources investigating the death of a simple peasant? In fact the only assumption they come with was the influenza!

Souls were needed for Ayodele's summoning's, particularly the higher level demons that roam the Pandemonium. From Balrogs to Drageloths. Higher Demons needed to have incentive to be magically summoned to the physical realm. A few measly souls should be enough to tempt them. However, Ayodele is seeking a particular soul in general. He spotted a young girl exiting her village and heading for a small stream near an Oak Tree. Is she the one? Perhaps, it'll be easier to go in and isolate her so he can find out.

Ayodele began following the girl to the stream and approached the water and began drinking from it. Best to act casual and unassuming.

 

[Eryn Pere]

Eryn was having a peaceful moment, but she froze as it was interrupted by the sound of something drinking at the waters edge, expecting to see a cow or a deer she opened her eyes with a smile, but what she saw made her instantly clap her hands over her mouth to stifle her high pitched scream of alarm. What she saw wasn't the most fearsome thing she had ever seen, but it's body and features were disturbing enough to cry out in surprise.

She was able to stop her scream, but she didn't know if it was enough to attract its attention, so she remained frozen, perfectly still with her mouth covered to hide her panicked breathing. She had no idea what it was, or its capabilities, Willis never told her about anything like this in his stories. It looked humanoid, so it was possibly intelligent, but it had a skull seemingly for a face.

 

[Ayodele The Cursed One]

Ayodele heard the young woman scream filling him with a sense of pride. Though his physical strength and speed were diminished, Ayodele compensated through standing back and observing people, enhancing his hearing whether through magical means or just stopping what he was doing and listening. It took swallowing his pride but Ayodele needed to adapt if he wanted to survive and regain his human form again. The young woman had the same look as the other peasants did whenever he walked by. Ayodele hated it then and he hated it now as it was a painful reminder of the curse that was put upon him.

However in time, Ayodele learned to leverage this to advantage either to play up the monster or become a tragic one. In order to put her at ease Ayodele opted for the latter, "hello there!" the Cursed One said smiling. As repulsive as Ayodele found his body to be with the right facial expressions, he can look adorable or sad gaining sympathy for the person if that said person didn't try to kill him that is. "Lovely day we're having! In it's around this time that the fish come to breed. I'm trying to catch some fish for my lunch would you care to join me?"

 

[Eryn Pere]

It spoke to her, so it knew she was there. But she was caught off guard by its invitation to join it by the river. She pulled her feet out of the water and hugged her knees to her chest. She learned from Willis that running from an unknown creature was a bad idea.

She shook her head, her eyes never looking away from the creature.
"N-no... I'm good right here..."
So it can speak, but what on Earth does one say to such a creature?

 

[Ayodele The Cursed One]

Ayodele chuckled the young woman is full of fear rightfully so if she knew who he really was. Right now the woman was terrified of Ayodele's outside appearance. He remembered hearing stories of beasts who were ugly on the outside but were pure hearted on the inside. Of course there were some monsters in Arethril who did appear menacing but were actually gentle and friendly beings. However Ayodele wasn't exactly pure after all he was the same man who secured souls of people who he come across.

Ayodele got up and approached the young woman still maintaining his friendly façade. He didn't want to tire himself chasing the woman nor would he summon demons to take care of peasant. "My name is Ayodele," he said bowing to the woman. "The most handsome shaman in Arethril and who might you be my lovely lady?"

 

[Eryn Pere]

She shied away fearfully, pressing against the tree, but she answered without thinking.
"Eryn... My name is Eryn..."

What could this creature want? It was acting friendly, though this was offset by the skeletal face that somehow seemed to bend itself into expression.

Willis is a monster Hunter, so he had naturally given her general warnings about what to do around monsters if he wasn't there. So she decided it was best to not antagonize the creature or give it reason to attack.

"I'm sorry to be rude, it's just that I've never seen anything like you before..."

 

[Ayodele The Cursed One]

“Eryn huh?” Ayodele sat beside the young woman and smiled his stubby, purple hands twitching a bit. His hands always twitched when ever he was in proximity of his target. Adrenaline filled his cursed body eager to attack however this woman was special and delicate. Ayodele needed to be careful and he needed to be sure that Eyrn was the one.

“That’s what they all say,” The Shaman said getting closer to her. “I’ve been shall we say forced into this body for years and I’ve received the hatred and ire from many people whom I met in travels.”

Ayodele then sat next to Eryn. “Where do you come from Eryn?” He asked. “I come from the lands afar. Do you have loved ones? Family?”

 

[Eryn Pere]

He was being so polite, when he sat down beside her she resisted the urge to back away and remained where she was.
"So you were cursed to look like this? Huh..."
She pondered that for a moment. Willis never spoke much about curses.

He asked about her relations. Her guard was lowered so she answered him, "I live in Little Portshaw just over there. I have no one but my fiancee. He's home now and I should be getting back to him soon or he'll worry. He's a monster Hunter so he tends to get anxious when I'm by myself."

She lied about Willis being home, she couldn't imagine him returning in less than a day with his hunting. But she didn't fully trust this creature, so it was best to play it safe.

 

[Ayodele The Cursed One]

Ayodele nodded his head remained down looking at the grass. "Yes," he said with heavy sadness in his voice. "For years I've been looking to find a cure for my grotesqueries alas I found none and received fear and hate by the common people."

It was true, Ayodele searched far and wide for a cure to the point where he felt that he traveled the entire continent. Ayodele found nothing his home was in a place so far that sailors do not know of it. He calculated every possibility of the location of his home but came up empty. It seemed that Ayodele was cursed to never return to his home that damn Shaman!

According to the laws of magic, curses don't last forever but Ayodele is not a patient man and he's already convinced that the Shaman has placed the curse to last millions of years. The Shamans from his homeland are powerful mages with some capable of manipulating the weather and the earth. In addition of being fine warrior, Ayodele was a promising mage though he spent most of his time pursuing physical activities.

"Little Portshaw?" Ayodele said. "That wasn't on my map and there's a monster hunter? That's a rare sight in these parts. I'm sure you're happy that you're engaged to him. Please stay I get lonely and I haven't talked to a person in years."

 

[Eryn Pere]

The creature sure had a tragic story, but she was still wary of him. She put on her shoes and stood up.
"I'm really sorry, but I've tarried too long already. He's expecting me back soon and there's still much to do."

There really wasn't. She was more at ease, but this creature still rubbed her wrong, like a sinking feeling in her gut that told her she wasn't safe. She skirted around the creature and began walking back down the path leading to Little Portshaw.

She felt safe to turn her back on him, infact she wanted to, reacting like someone trying to ignore a begger to not give them false hopes while feeling guilty for not wanting to get involved.

 

[Ayodele The Cursed One]

Ayodele sighed seeing the girl walk back to that shack known as Little Portshaw. “Eryn,” Ayodele called to the young woman following her. “You’re going to tell your fiancée to kill me are you? You see me as a monster who must slain?”

Ayodele had already accepted the fact that many people will look at him as a freak who must be killed. Any japes or threats of death is just another day for the Shaman. Right now he just wants to play on the woman’s sympathy so he won’t have to waste magic to capture her.

“I just want a person to talk to me Eryn,” he said. “I’ve spent years inside this body trapped in this strange land alway from my home, my people. I have tried everything to go back to my homeland but unfortunately the curse prevents me from entering it.”

There was some truth to it, Ayodele desired to go home and kill the shaman who cursed him. Though in Ayodeles homeland, Shamans are known to live up to thousands of years the shaman who cursed Ayodele is probably dead by now. He’ll probably just kill his descendants then.

“Please just talk to me for a little while,” he said.

 

[Eryn Pere]

Eryn paused. He was a suspicious creature, and rightly so if he truly thought she would go and tell someone to kill him. She turned and assured him, "No, I wouldn't ever tell anyone to kill you!"
She bit her lip, "Fine, I'll stay. But I really do have to get back soon."

She walked back to the river and sat down.

 

[Ayodele The Cursed One]

Ayodele smiled when Eryn sat down next to him. Now was the time to test her and not mess up. Though Ayodele thought it was unlikely to do that, so much was at stake. He could actually get his body back.

“Do you enjoy life Eryn?” Ayodele asked the young woman. “How much do you love your fiancée?”

 

[Eryn Pere]

Syn was slightly uncomfortable, but she answered the questions.
"Yes, I enjoy life. And my life became worlds better when my fiancée arrived. He's shown me many things about the world and I love him with every fiber of my being."

 

[Ayodele The Cursed One]

Ayodele waved his hand and immediately a bubble was formed containing a fish. "Pink Salmon," Ayodele thought as he carefully controlled the bubble towards Eryn. "Love," the shaman said waving his hand again. The fish converted to a bright light and was sent to Ayodele's bag.

"Love can bring about the best of us. We become braver and are willing lay down our lives to save the ones we love. However love can corrupt us and morph us into something like,"

Ayodele looked at himself in shame. "this I was in love and that love came with consequences. A shaman transformed me into this...... thing. And now I'm trying to find a way to transform back and I found a way."

 

[Eryn Pere]

She watched his display of magic, she was quite impressed that he could use magic so casually to just catch a fish. But what he was saying about love she couldn't agree with...
"Lust can corrupt... But love is pure... It was hate that turned you into this, but if you have found a way to turn back, why haven't you?"

 

[Ayodele The Cursed One]

Ayodele sighed and stared at Eryn. “The curse,” he said. “Is very strong you know the laws of magic: A curse does not last forever even if the spell caster tries to maintain it. The shaman who cursed me is one of the most powerful spellcasters In my homeland. It was love for his daughter that caused him to act.”

The shaman then stared at Eryn, his dark blue eyes meeting hers. “Love can make you do things that you would never do.” He said. “How much would your fiancé sacrifice if someone harmed you? How many people would he kill so he knows you’re safe?”

Ayodele frowned “love isn’t always a good thing,” he said. “In hundreds of years of traveling, I’ve seen people burn cities, sell their souls other peoples soul just for their loved ones.”