[DM]
After reviving Idris from a nasty hit, Falcon and Pine rush to engage the two smaller gulthias trees, whose bashing through walls was making the house unstable. Pine summons his spirit guardians, and when he does so the cowled figure appears to him on the stairs nearby, watching.
"Perhaps this is the time to explain everything to you," it said into Pine's mind with a barely perceptible smile showing on its lips, "Or perhaps I'll wait to see if there's a need."
[Pine]
In that moment after the cowled figure had appeared, either to him, or to them all, Pine was acutely aware of that gaze upon him, words slightly amused in tone. Despite the dire state of the battle around him, his lips pulled back in what might be recognised as an echo of that slight smile, darkly amused at the graveyard humour.
It would be clear enough that Pine did not expect any aid from his guide, there was no presumption there that his guide, or indeed anyone, would go out of their way for him, and was generally a surprise if anyone did. He had been alone all his adult life, and before then, through both situation and choice, and the idea that another might do that as a standard moral choice was not something he believed in or was used to.
And yet he recalled only too well what had been said to him in the past, and in that moment between dodging a flying corpse and standing firm against the severe odds, he had an adjacent thought. The fact that the spirit was there now was likely at least partially for its entertainment, but it might also be a test. He had, after all, been told that the most powerful boon a cleric could have was being able to act as supplicant. Was that what the cowled figure was waiting to see? Despite his calling in life, religious practices were not that well known to him. He didn't even know if they even applied here, if this spirit was a conduit for his God's power. If he had one.
"Do you wish for me to ask for your aid, or are you here to collect? I have no apprentice to take over my path when I fall."
Contrary to most, Pine did not struggle against the inevitable ending of his life other than trying his best in the fight at hand. There would be no sobbing or begging unless the latter was asked of him. If he were to fall there in that blighted manor, it was only the regret for the path left untrod into the future where the dead would be left without proper rest that bothered him. It had always been his strongest driving force, and there with his guide, one who perhaps even had paved that path for him over the years, he would not rail against that inevitability when death came to all eventually. His respect for that designated passing from one state to another was too strong.
If the cowled figure, who had, with the other two, put to rest thousands of undead between one moment and the next, did not deem his life useful enough to have continue, then paltry words the figure must have heard time innumerable would not alter his fate that day.
[DM]
In a flash you receive a message from the cowled figure – it happens in an instant as you recover from the walking corpse that was thrown at you. The ghoul starts to snap at your ankle but before teeth can meet flesh, time stops.
“I am not here, cleric. I am nowhere in particular. I am everywhere. But you are right, you are of interest to us. The amulet you picked up has bound itself to you, your most recent…addition to it has made it evident now.
"We could help, but as with all such dealings there must be a price to pay. Your nature will be changed irrevocably, never to be one with your kin. You will have to serve, first to destroy this dragon and claim its soul, then to become an agent of the Dead Three.”
On the corner of your eye, you see the cowled figure but it has finally shed its cowl. A horrifying sight, multiple skeletal heads lined upon this too tall figure, stretched and blackened skin barely covering the decaying skeletal God.
"I promised a further explanation, a conversation telling you why our eyes have rested upon you. But it is not yet time. I will watch you succeed or fall no matter your decision – what happens after is the important part.
"Either way… know the Lord of Bones is watching."
(Does Pine know anything about the Dead Three? He rolled 18 on History)
[DM]
(Yes, hearing the name makes your fur stand up at end as tales of the dead three have made their way far and wide. The three Dark Gods, once mortals, then gods were terrifying death aligned deities. However, while the Cult of the Dead Three goes strong the three earned that name because they were killed. )
[Pine]
(So to be clear, are the Three still technically gods? Does Pine know?)
[DM]
(unclear they should be... Dead? As in gone completely)
[Pine]
It might seem strange that the words of deals made with a being of terrifying visage and power brought some manner of relief to the tabaxi, but nonetheless it was the truth. This, unlike many times on his journey since coming to the region, was a clear choice: struggle alone, or carve a deeper path to bind himself further to those who had influenced his life up to that point in a way that fitted with him. It wasn't a difficult choice.
"I have never been one with my kin, and it seems likely I have already been serving you. My path to lay the dead to rest has always been more important than kinship to my clan and homeland. It is difficult to claim the importance of birthright when all pass beyond their moral lives."
As that cowl was drawn back, Pine was certainly not unaffected. No one could be when the visage of the more normal looking figure was cast aside for something far more truthful. And yet that did not alter his answer. Although Pine had always felt the inevitability of death to be a comfort in its very stability and uncompromising nature, and he found his own satisfaction in helping those lost find their way, the sight of that visage of a deity so powerful that death itself had not held its grip upon him, was overwhelming and terrifying.
He was able to find no other words in that moment, when the terror of being in the presence of a being so powerful held its grip over him, but if Myrkul was able to read his thoughts, his intentions, he would find that whether his judgement was compromised by clever manipulation or not, he remained firm in his acceptance of his allegiance.
Only when given enough time to overcome the fear-induced mutism, would he speak again.
"I accept your terms, Lord of Bones."
[DM]
No sooner the words leave your mouth/mind an image of the threes faces flashes across your eyes, features clearer than ever but also distorted, made abstract. More symbols than creatures.
As one the voices rung out
"SO BE IT REMNANT, A PACT LAYS OUTLINE. AT THE CROSSINGS OF FATE AN EXCHANGE WILL BE MADE, SOMETHING GIVEN, SOMETHING TAKEN. IT IS SPOKEN AND IT IS HEARD."
The heads as one would turn and pierce you with their glare, one filled with anger, one with command and one filled with inevitability, and speak again, their voices loud enough to cause a pang of pain to cross your head.
"YOUR FIRST TASK IS TO SEEK OUT THE WYRM THAT YOUR FELLOWS CHASE. PUT IT TO REST BUT RETRIEVE ITS ESSENCE. IT IS A NECESSITY."
The vision faded and time spinning up again, you notice that nothing has actually changed and you are in the exact same situation unchanged and barely conscious.
Almost a whisper in comparison you heard the voice of one of the three but it is so faint it's unclear which one.
"An explanation more befit to the mortal mind will follow.."