Oshala's story

[CharacterInWhite]

Author's Note: I really want you guys to believe Oshala truly is deeper than you make her out to be, so I'm going to show her story, in short chapters, whenever I have time and inspiration to write well.

Thump, thump, thump.

The hollow tree reverberated throughout the hill. It was Oshala. She was in her horse stance, repeatedly punching her foe, the hollow trunk. Sweat poured from her brow and her bun was beginning to loosen, strands of long hair getting in her face. Her knuckles bled and protested at her fiercely to stop ? but she ignored it all, including the boy sitting next to her, complaining.

Thump, thump, thump?

?You?re as stubborn as an ox, Oshala.? Carlos said. ?I keep telling you that you won?t win the sparring match. Why don?t you step down? As long as you don?t consent, he can?t touch you.?

She continued to ignore him. Thump, thump, thump.


?He?s a giant, compared to you, Oshala. How do you expect to win??

Her response was the same: thump thump thump

?He?ll break every joint in your legs. How do you expect to fight each other blind folded??

This time, she finally responded, although she spoke between breaths and punches. ?We are of the Dark Moon. Our mastery is over darkness, not light. We do not need our eyes to fight.?

?This still seems foolish. Why fight him??

?He challenged me.?

?That?s it? You?re going to risk your life because of a little pride??

?It?s not pride.?

?Then what is it??

She stopped punching, standing up right and letting the blood flow from her knuckles. As she was about to respond, she saw a banner in the distance, carried by a mounted man. There were numerous other knights, all around them, dressed in gleaming white robes and clothing, all mounted. Behind them were foot soldiers, a fair few.

?Carlos, go to Master Shurnkel, tell him the soldiers of Helm are only a few minutes away.? She said curtly.

?Bah, what in the Nine Hells do they want with us? We haven?t done anything wrong.?

?Not in our eyes, but they won?t see it that way.?

[CharacterInWhite]

Veridas sat pompously on his horse, his fine golden beard and short hair swaying slightly in the wind. He was a muscley man, wearing shiny full plate armor and a flowing red cloak. His horse trotted along autonomously, along with his fellow troupe of Paladins. Behind him were the foot soldiers - those who had yet to prove their worth.

"Scum. Be wary, men, we enter a town of thieves, criminals and cultists."

The statement wasn't entirely true. The community was certainly more self-interested than others, and one would hesitate to call it a "functional evil" settlement, but it was far from anarchic. There was a certain honor that was kept true in this town - despite the stereotype, there was little senseless murder and stealing was only ever done in desperation. Nonetheless, it's inhabitants had become steeled, much like those of Thay. They were interested only in their own safety, and little was done to go out of your way to be kind to your neighbour.

Despite all this, this troupe of "adventurers" thought it was a blemish on the face of Faerun. The community never even thought once about war - it was too busy fighting itself, and yet these men, along with their numerous wannabe acolytes, had set out to remove it - one way, or another.

By the time Veridas had approached the town's outskirts, he noticed a small gathering. They were all robed, and he noticed various symbols of the blasphemous gods stitched into them - Bane, Shar, etc. There was one man of oriental nature, he was fairly short but quite stout, that stood out from the rest. He took a few steps forward, and bowed to greet his guests.