#eyyy durge choices

[blackjackkent]

More explorations in the ruined temple:

Chatted with Roah Moonglow. In-game Rakha succeeded the history check to recognize the Zhentarim logo but I choose to believe this didn't actually happen because why would it. She did shake the little halfling trader down for plenty of info though - most importantly, Roah namedropped Moonrise Towers as another center of the cult's activities, and mentioned "the drow" again as someone who's buying all Roah's smokepowder off her in service of some big upcoming plan. "That glint in her eye is bad news for someone." (This is good for me from a meta perspective, as I want Rakha to go beat up Minthara before getting Halsin and then lighting the whole place up by fighting Ragzlin.)

Stopped in camp to sort some inventory and Gale needed another artifact. D: Fed him the gloves we got off the goblins in the grove. He's worried because it's not having the same effect that the last item did; Rakha is worried because he's worried - and because she doesn't know what the hell is going on in the first place.

Encountered Abdirak in the so-called "Bloodied Shrine". This was an interesting bit that I didn't do with Hector; basically Abdirak serves the goddess of pain and is there to help the goblins torture prisoners. Letting him beat on you for a while grants you a permanent blessing from Loviatar that gives you buffs at low health. His conversation with Rakha was interesting. He mentioned something along the same lines as something Shadowheart said recently - "Pain without purpose is a terrible thing, wouldn't you agree?" Rakha told him, matter-of-factly as always, about her urge to cause pain, to inflict death. His response: "Do not be ashamed, child. What I see in your eyes, in your soul, is only natural. We've all suffered in these dark times. It is little wonder you bear scars of pain and anguish. Let me alleviate this pain." Again that flash of hope - does he know something about what happened to her, about who she is? The alleviation he promises is "penance - administered by my skilled hand". This elicits a dry joke from Shadowheart: "Go ahead. I'm sure you're in need of a little *penance.*" The beast, the dark urge, is unimpressed in Rakha's head by the idea of self-flagellation ("Only the poorest of men need seettle for the spectacle of their own gore," points out the Narrator), but Rakha's curiosity - and the hope for answers - wins out. A strange experience for her. The pain of his blows are crisp and sharp and - she must admit - oddly bracing, but they bring her no clarity. She can smell the blood in the air and lashes out at him, howling back with each blow, demanding he hit harder still. But it isn't what he wants - he (or his goddess) wants her mewling and begging for mercy, crying out in pain, which she was never going to give him. So she leaves, aching and angry and with no more answers than she had before. Shadowheart seemed to enjoy the show. Wyll and Lae'zel... less so.

Saved Volo! This ended up being easy because Rakha just beat the shit out of the goblin guarding him without bothering with the speech checks, bc she was still riled up from the encounter with Abdirak. XD She's pretty bemused by Volo; I suspect it might have actually been Wyll and not her that invited him to go to their camp.

Found one of Aradin's guys strung up and being tortured by the goblins. I suffered a great deal of terrible disappointment that this line is not in character for Rakha:

Interestingly, Shadowheart chimed in without prompting: "Say we'll take over. His work is sloppy - he'll kill the prisoner too quickly." Hints of that Sharran torture training poking through.

We get a fairly nasty bit of Durge content here. Rakha is more than a little distracted by the smell of blood in the whole area and the beast in her head would be happy to watch the torturer finish - or to do the job herself. [PERFORMANCE] "I'm taking over," she says, following Shadowheart's advice. "Your sloppy handiwork is going to kill the prisoner too quickly."

"What?" sputters the goblin. "Think you can do better? HA! Go on then, have at it."

Rakha hisses a breath out between her teeth. "I am going to do something so awful it would scare even you to watch," she says slowly. It isn't even really a threat - more an acknowledgment that her control is slipping, a warning to her companions as much as to the goblin.

"Oh," says the goblin cheerfully. "I'd like to see you try."

Narrator: Face the prisoner, consider the implements provided. Then...

Caress his thighs with the poker's warmth.

She isn't conscious of making the decision, or picking the poker up - only that it is suddenly in her hands and that strange harsh smile is twisting her lips, and the man is screaming, screaming in agony as the hot metal sinks into his leg.

Narrator: The stench of charred flesh wafts over you. You don't know why, but you are *really* good at this. You never want this perfect moment to end.

The beast in her head is purring eagerly, almost blotting out everything else - but at this moment she becomes conscious of Wyll's eyes on her. He looks appalled, disappointed - angry, even. And she feels her jaw set, pushing back suddenly against the dark urge.

Wyll is right. It is like Arabella - this man's pain does not serve them. But the smell is overwhelming, the sound of his screams so brutally sweet...

She drops the poker, watching it clang onto the floor. Stop. A hoarse breath in, a heavy exhale. Attack with purpose.

Don't let yourself fall further into this pit. Attack the goblins and save him.

It is its own kind of satisfaction for the beast to kill the goblins as well, of course. The beast always seems to win, in the end. But Wyll seems pleased, when they open the rack and let the man out onto his feet. And Rakha has a strange feeling in her chest, a mixture of pride and regret that she cannot explain or articulate.

(A/N: She got this very interesting sad sort of look on her face, watching him climb down off the rack...)

The prisoner has little information to offer - but a few useful scraps here and there. The druid Halsin can become a bear. Aradin wanted the Nightsong for a wizard named Lorroakan who is searching for it. And most important of all - the goblins were torturing him to find out where the grove is, so they can attack it.

----

"Good," Wyll says in an undertone as they turn away from the bloody torture device, as the man slips off into the shadows. "I saw that. I saw you fight it."

"You saw me fail to." Her voice is gruff, but her glance flicks to him sharply. How closely has he been watching her?

"And then I saw you succeed." Wyll shrugs. "Not all battles are fought with steel. I know that all too well."