The play by post that occurred that is officially Swordfall canon!
If you have been following me, you know I play in the Dungeons and Dragons actual play podcast, Tales of Swordfall, in the Tuesday Blue group as the Air Genasi barbarian Kraka-Tur. Between games, the discussion of Play by post came up. I had never attempted this endeavor, but fellow player/Rey @CamilleDoesDND was so kind as to introduce me to the idea of it. What resulted was an awesome scene between Kraka-Tur and Rey that played out. It has been confirmed by our DM, Paul, as canon and part of the game, so you can catch it all here!
Enjoy the story and character development. Camille really has a knack for this thing! If you aren't up on Tales of Swordfall, come check us out. We're on Youtube and Anchor. The events of this take place after Episode 4, so if follow the Blue Group and do not want spoilers, don't read until you've listened to that episode.
It must have been four in the morning when Rey's eyes opened. Even in the dim light she could see clearly; even though there were no threats present, her heart raced from the remnants of her nightmares and she held onto Taz's form even tighter. She was far too alert to slip back into slumber now and the last thing she wanted to do was disturb the Tiefling at her side. Rey carefully removed herself from the embrace, tucking Taz in as she quietly padded out of the room. The rest of their group remained scattered about the tiny apartment, but she sought out one form in particular. The hulking genasi was right where she left him, blanket tucked up to his chin and Rey smiled softly as she crossed the room to him. His wounds looked bad - they would scar, but she could ease his pain. Calling upon the mysterious healing nature that came from somewhere she had yet to fully explore, she trailed a pale finger down his wounds and watched in amazement as they seemed to lessen. She could not fully heal him this way, but she could help take the edge off.
Kraka-Tur jostled about lightly as Rey cast her spells. His eyes, blue as a clear sky, slowly opened to the sight of Rey knelt over him. He slowly lifted a hulking hand to the scars that were being healed. They began to not look nearly as bad as they had been earlier when they originally arrived at Taz’s humble apartment. She had not noticed he had woken, and he softly put his hand onto hers as if to try and subtly gain her attention without making a lot of noise.
As Kraka-Tur's hand found her own, she stopped. A part of her wondered if he would not want to be healed or spared of any ounce of pain, and by healing him she had tread on his will. She knew men like that, and they came from vastly differing cultures. "Hey," she whispered, kneeling down. Figuring they were far enough from the others so that they would not be overheard, she tucked her wild white-blonde hair back behind her ear. This was the reason she usually kept it braided; it was much easier to maintain. "I didn't mean to wake you."
“Tis nothing to worry about, Rey” Kraka-Tur said while he tried to keep his thunderous voice as quiet as a calm sea. “I was already having a difficult time sleeping.” He paused as his gaze met hers, but soon he looked away sheepishly. His eyes looked at her from the side of his head, as if he was hoping his cloud-like hair would conceal his expression. ”I appreciate your concern for my… wounds. It has been some time since I’ve actually felt the touch of proper healing.”
His admission was not surprising - whether it be from the damage dealt to him or their overwhelming day, she was surprising any of them could get any sleep at all. Yet each of her allies snored on peacefully, undisturbed. "As was I," she replied gently. Although Taz's mattress was certainly more comfortable and much more inviting than her cots in her time in the military, her overactive mind prevented her from really resting. "I am not much of a healer," she confessed with a shake of her head. "But I do what I can. People like you and I tend to take a lot of damage... It can be useful in a pinch." Rey sat cross-legged next to him, sinking back long the wall. "Kraka-Tur, I actually wanted to thank you. For taking such good care of Taz."
Kraka-Tur looked over to Rey. The words “thank you” were not something he was used to. He was much more used to jeers, insults, and panic when encountering others. He tried his best to speak quietly as not to disturb others. “Where I come from, protecting one’s allies and dying in defense of one’s clan is one of the greatest honors one can achieve. I may not know Taz or you very well, but..” He paused for some time, as if he wanted to say something, but stopped himself. “The Spirits tell me that you two are honorable and good. I was glad I listened to them when we ran into you in those sewers.”
Rey nodded slowly as she listened to his deep voice rumble over her. She understood being guarded, the woman had enough secrets of her own, so she didn't press when he seemed to stop himself. "As am I." She glanced across to the bedroom, keen eyes searching for sign that the Tiefling had stirred. "I cannot speak for myself, but she is good. That much I know." She didn't have spirits guiding her. All she had was a soldier's intuition. "I have lost enough people like her to be... protective. Something tells me you know the same."
Kraka-Tur looked at Rey intently, as if trying to see if her eyes would betray the answers to the questions that began to well up inside of him. He looked over to the sleeping tiefling as well. "If how you care for Taz is any judgement of your character, than you are much better than I." He looked to Rey who did not meet his gaze at first. "I find it admirable. I seem to almost have forgotten how to care for someone like that." He looks down solemnly and says in a melancholy tone, "I know too well what it is like to lose those you care about. People you are charged with protecting. It never gets any easier does it?" He says this as he reaches into his pack and produces a bottle of a strange, deep blue liquid. He pulls the cork, takes a swig, and extends an arm with it in hand as if to offer Rey a drink.
His statements produced some emotion in the woman, though which emotions those were she was unable to truly identify. Her feelings for Taz were... new, and somewhat exciting. But also terrifying. What if she failed to keep her safe? What if her feelings were not returned? She let go of a heavy sigh, glancing back when he admitted that he had almost forgotten how to care for someone in that way. Lips parted, she wanted to inquire further... But she stopped herself. If he wanted to tell her, he would. His rhetorical question was met with a shake of her head, more than readily accepting the drink that was offered. "In Belka, we have to burn the bodies of the dead." Her statement might have sounded off-topic or unrelated, but her stomach sank as the images of the horrors she had faced were brought to the front of her mind. "Watching them die is not as bad as watching them rise back up."
Kraka-Tur was not certain how to react. He had heard many tales in legends of all kinds of horrors, but for Rey to have lived them? He wanted to show some sort of empathy and nodded for her to take another swig. "That stuff should help calm thy nerves. I drink it after almost every
battle I find myself in. Plus, Kazu hates the taste of it." He chuckled a bit, hoping his poorly placed humor may add some light to the dark moment. He took a moment to collect his thoughts. "That must have been real horrible to see the dead walk. I cannot imagine what that would be like, and I have seen a lot of things. You did what had to be done." He took the bottle as Rey passes it back to him and he takes a big gulp of it. "Those are the kinds of things Kazu would love. Not me though. Can I be perfectly honest with you, Rey" His eyes actually meet hers and despite his jovial and confident nature he usually exuded, for the first time, Rey could actually see sadness and sorrow in the eyes of the genasi.
As Rey took a bigger sip of the fiery liquid, she was reminded of the illicit moonshine the soldiers on the front lines would sometimes make when the whiskey ran out. She allowed a smirk at the mention of his inner demon, a creature she did not yet understand but was not too concerned with prying into just yet. "You did what had to be done." She swallowed heavily, that same emotion welling up into her chest and almost bringing the bile into her throat. He didn't know, though. He hadn't seen her cowardice. But his question drew her from her thoughts and her pale brows knit, head tilting just to the side. At this point they had nearly brawled in an alley and then seen each other nude. What else could he surprise her with? "Of course," she prompted, the concern evident as his demeanor shifted into one she did not recognize. Rey passed him back the bottle, ready to hear whatever it was he had to say.
Kraka-Tur meekly stared at the bottle, spinning it around as if to watch the liquid slosh about and then settle. He was embarrassed to ask her, but at this point, what had they not experienced? "I..." He pauses and catches himself. "Fighting. Battle. Violence... I actually abhor it. I hate it. I never enjoyed it." He looked down, ashamed to tell Rey his secret that he dared not tell Tabby or Flea as he saw her as an able bodied and strong-willed combatant. "But Kazu revels in it. He would drink the blood of our enemies and eat their flesh if he had his way." He paused. The great warriors of legends he had read about all seemed perfectly content on the battlefield. "What about you, Rey? Do you enjoy the fight?"
Despite their racial different, Rey knew the look of shame when she saw it. His admission hit her full force and without thinking she reached out and took his hand into hers. This demon within him horrified her, but she was powerless to anything against it. Her lips parted again in surprise but she did not pass judgement on him. That was not her place. As he paused, she gave his hand a small squeeze. "What about you, Rey? Do you enjoy the fight?" Biting her lips together, she took a second to collect her answer. "No, Kraka-Tur. I thought I would... My parents were expecting a boy," she admitted. "I think I became interested in swordplay because it was so... artful? I have always been stronger than... than others my age. When I enlisted I was so full of confidence and bravado. No one could tell me anything." A harsh, quiet laugh escaped her throat as she remembered what it was like to be a fresh recruit. "And then... it became clear that I was very good at it." She finally sighed, running a hand through her loose waves. "I feel a duty to protect others who are not as strong. That is why I fight." The alcohol had already began to numb her, to make heavy her eyelids. Her Belkan accent slowly thickened. "That was probably more information than you wanted to hear."
Kraka-Tur took great comfort in hearing the strong, iron-willed warrior telling him she did not revel in fighting. He could see the fear in her heart, but, even if he did not show it, he greatly appreciated the fact that Rey would not let Kazu control her judgment of his character. Kraka-Tur felt invincible for a second, but then was reminded by her words "I feel a duty to protect others who are not strong." He took a long look at her, seeing the genasi liquor work its own magic. "Your stories could not bother me. It seems you are a legend in the making yourself! The Raijen people would gladly have taken you on as a Tur." Her admission of not enjoying combat made him only admire her more. He then quietly said, "I was supposed to be a protector for my people, but I had failed that." The admission of his failure was harder to make than saying he did not enjoy battle.
A legend in the making, Kraka-Tur told her. The idea was laudable. "I don't know what that means but I'm flattered," she told him in response, unable to help the smile that spread over her lips. It faded as instantly as it came at his next statement. "We all feel like failures sometimes," she replied, her voice softer than she knew she was capable. "I, too, have failed. There is a reason I am no longer a Belkan solider." Several reasons. "You are not alone, friend. Not while I am here."
Kraka-Tur, despite lacking many of the common graces of most people due to his sheltered upbringing knew this was an issue not to press on about. He wondered a moment if he should say anything. After all, sometimes silence says more than a thousand words. He hesitated a moment, but reached out an arm and softly placed it on her back and gave her a few pats on the back in a way to try and comfort her. He tilted his head back and softly said to himself, "But to fail is only the beginning of the path." He took a moment and whispered as his eyelids grew heavier. "I sure hope you are right, Magno-Tur."
She would be lying if she said his touch wasn't comforting as she relived her days past. "Exactly," she echoed his statement, hoping that he would take his own words to heart. It was a shame how often people were so hard on themselves and so quick to forgive and comfort others. "Magno-Tur?" she questioned with a short laugh. "Do you want to know a secret, Kraka-Tur? You cannot tell anyone."
He chuckled "Oh yes Magno-Tur... The one who came before me. A great and wise man." He stopped before he carried on too long about his former mentor. He always was humored at the mention of his name because the people of this land often thought Magno-Tur was his father. He grew as quiet as he ever could, excited at the prospect of having a bond so close to someone that they would tell him a secret. He perked up and looked to her and with all that he could, whispered, "You can tell me anything, Rey. I have kept many a secret Kazu has told me."
Rey made a note to get Kraka-Tur drinking again at a later date; perhaps then she would be brave enough to ask more about his life back home. Or perhaps she would be brave enough to give a few things up herself. At her very core there was a truth that she knew she had to protect at all cost, lest it endanger her allies. She could not run from it forever, but she could for now. The way he brightened at the prospect of a secret had her reminiscing to her childhood, when she had a partner in crime with whom she had shared everything. "My name isn't Rey," she told him. "It's Aurea." In her Belkan accent the 'r' hardened, and the word came as a whisper. That name had not been spoken aloud by her in years, but it did not feel as foreign as she once imagined it would. "They started calling me Rey in the military. It sounds tougher, doesn't it?" A man's name, she didn't say.
Kraka-Tur was taken aback, for he connected with this more so than anyone could imagine. He felt as if him and Rey perhaps the same individual derived from the splitting of a great spirit. He smiled and says "Aurea," to get a feeling for it. He fumbles with the Belkan accent. "I like it. It has a strength of its own." He sat thinking for a time as if not to prod too much, but this true name of hers left him with so many questions. He felt though he had to give if Rey was willing to tell him about herself and it would only strengthen their bond. "You are not the only one with a second name out of us, strange as it may be."
Rey found herself smiling as he tried to pronounce her name the way she had. "Thank you," she accepted humbly, like she had been taught from a young age. "Were I born a boy as they expected it would have been Aureo, which means 'golden'." She began to twist her hair as the drowsiness continued to sink in and she contemplated returning to Taz's side. At his admission, she found herself shaken at the similarities between her and the genasi. "Sometimes... Names protect us," she told him with a half shrug, not wanting him to feel pressured into telling her anything she should not hear. She had already spoken too much, his alcohol loosening her tongue. "You should get some rest, strong one," Aurea told him, running a finger down his wounds and giving him another small burst of healing energy. "I'm going to go hold on to my little glimmer of hope and try to get some sleep as well."
Kraka-Tur watched as Rey."Aye, tis a good idea." He gave her a sly wink, though he struggles with it and whispered "Goodnight, Aurea. May the spirits guard your rest and... thank you. Your company is much appreciate." He let the embrace of sleep slowly take him as he returned to he usually stormy state of mind.
I hope you enjoyed it! I had a blast with it. It really gives some great insight into our characters, and it offers up some great development. I can say although Kraka-Tur comes off as brash and socially awkward resulting in plenty of comedic moments, he is sort of a tragic character. This was Swordfall After Dark, and hopefully there will be more SAD to be had. And if there is, it can be found here on Kobold Stew!
As always,
happy gaming,
Uncle Puddins
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