The capture of Sister Laura

Sister Laura awoke to her first day of imprisonment with an odd sense of tranquility. Everything was quiet and still, with only a few candles lit. It had been her first time sleeping in a bunk bed, and while she was wide awake and a bit uncomfortable sleeping in around these strange priests, she didn’t really know how to get down. If she climbed down everyone might see under her skirts. If she jumped down she might wake people up with a loud thud. It was a conundrum that kept her locked under her blankets for quite some time, but eventually she had to muster up the courage to face it.

Pulling back the covers Laura rolled onto her belly and slowly slid off the bunk. Her toes stretched for the bottom rung of the bed as she searched for a perch. Her foot found a landing, and with a sweep of victory both of Laura’s feet touched the floor. A smile almost came to her lips as she was feeling quite accomplished, until she caught the glare of her bunkmate huddled in her covers. The smile dropped and she gave her an apologetic look. The angry clergywoman just rolled over and pulled the covers further up.

Laura didn’t really know why the Chosen Tyrant put her here. Certainly she belonged in the dungeon. That is where prisoners went after all. Why had he thrown her in here with the other priests? She wasn’t a banite. While really any abbey or temple had characteristics that were similar, she didn’t belong here and everyone in this building knew it. Of course she couldn’t complain. It was definitely more comfortable. Heck, she was getting better treatment than she had received in Myth. Which made her wonder, why were they being so polite? Perhaps they just wanted their money, or whatever they wanted from Myth, and when they found out she was useless they’d just move on.

It was awkward doing her morning routine while being watched. They were polite enough to leave her alone in the bath, but she had eyes on her everywhere else. She felt a little guilty making the poor Trusted Servant stand there as she braided her hair for the morning. It must be tiresome to just stand there and watch someone. Laura briefly thought to offer to do her hair as well, as it might give them a chance to get to know one another, but she had a feeling the woman didn’t really want to know much beyond her orders. So instead Laura just gently wrapped her braids up on her head, pinned them into place and secured her red ribbon. She changed into her proper robes and then was escorted out into the courtyards for her first day in Krag.

Arton having followed the commotion surrounding Laura awakes in a cell deep in the keep. He wipes dried blood from his forehead from the previous nights scrap. A slight chuckle escapes his parched lips at the insanity of his situation, all he can hope to do is laugh. He gets up from sitting against the wall and wanders up to the cell bars, looking down the hall as far as he can knowing they probably forgot about him, the thoughts of potentially getting food would be a godsend.

Pacing back to the far end of the cell he ponders how he might escape this hell hole. Deep in thought he sits back against the wall and comes to terms with the idea that he may be here awhile. Watching the flickering of torches outside the cell dreaming up an escape may be enough of a distraction to pass the time as he waits through his first day in Krag.

On the second day of Laura’s imprisonment, she met Miss Ticla. This changed the game. Laura had always known there were slaves in Krag, but it hadn’t really clicked. Meeting Miss Ticla set her mind into motion. Perhaps Laura had misinterpreted her dream. She wasn’t being told to have a rest or vacation at Misty Falls, she needed to be here, within the darkness…and be still. And within that waiting, that stillness of imprisonment she would find her way, and find it she did.

She had already sent Ticla away with supplies for the slave camps, but there would be need of more. At first, she didn’t know where to get them, but now there was Heide. She didn’t understand why she was being given so many things. She had a guard to go outside, a personal audience with a Chosen, the Inquisitor coming to give her time, and now they gave her a servant. Laura didn’t really like the idea of bossing anyone around, but she had been a novice before so she understood the basic premise. She understood that as a novice, being told you’re not needed or wanted is disheartening. She couldn’t leave Miss Heide without a purpose. Laura believed a lack of purpose is what drove most wrong doing in this world. So she would give those around her purpose. If the church of Bane was going to be kind enough to give her hands, and tools, and willing participants, then she would do as all Ilmateri do.

After all, that is why they were doing this right? Laura had an unbelievable talent in finding the best in people. It wasn’t that she couldn’t see the darkness in someone, but rather saw it as something fleeting. She was afraid of armies, and swords, monsters and even a little bit of the dark, but Laura was not frightened of evil. So when the church spoke to her in kind words, and soothing promises that she’ll be just fine…she believed them. She believed them whole-heartedly and she trusted they knew what they were doing.

So the next morning, with Snyden and Heide arriving as they were commanded to watch and care for her, she had her bandaging supplies ready. She had chairs for them both, and spent the rest of the morning talking with them and making healing supplies. It was actually a pleasant morning, and she could even call herself happy as they worked. Once a nice pile has been completed, she looked to Heide with a warm smile.

“Now. That’s step one. Step two…we need to make about ten loaves of bread.”

Heide arrives early in the morning to check on Laura. She greets the woman politely and takes a seat at the table where they begin to make bandages. Instead of feeling annoyed with the mundane task, Heide seems very interested and eager to learn.

Once the bandages were finished, Heide take the pile to the cabinet and tucks them away neatly for the time being. Hearing Laura's next task in mind, Heide visibly cringes before turning to look at the woman

"Loaves of bread....ehh....might be safe for those eating the bread if I just watch"

The third day of her imprisonment came and went, and Laura was beginning to find a system. She woke up, said her prayers, then was joined by Miss Heide and Miss Snyden. They made more bandages, and she would leave Miss Heide up to finding Miss Ticla to give them away.

Laura was now preparing to visit those who were underneath the Temple. Laura was afraid what she may find down there, the banite’s were not known to be kind to those they thought heretics. Then again, much of her beliefs would probably be considered heretical and they treated her well. Laura was beginning look forward to her visitors. She had met the Chosen, the Inquisitor, and of course Miss Snyden and Heide. She even got to see the Apprentice, though he didn’t stay for very long. It was almost distracting her from her work, and she’d spend what quiet moments she had waiting for the door to knock.

But she couldn’t allow herself to be too distracted. She had work to do. After spending the morning making more bandages she would hand half of it to Heide to give them out to Ticla, and then she would find who she needed to speak with to find these "heretics."

There is patience in the Priestess, and despite how naive she believes Laura to be, it does not seem to bother her. Perhaps she even finds it refreshing. This morning, she seems to watch Laura as the Ilmateri braids her own hair. There is a curious look on her normally passive and piercing gaze. She, however, says nothing.

Instead, she would be seen escorting the woman to where she needs to be, first speaking with the High Inquisitor about the next step.

What was Laura doing here?

Why her? Teekla could not find a situation, nor reason for what the Slavegirl was seeing before her. The non violent sister Laura in the hand of the Zhentarim. For what purpose. And it was still kindness Teekla offered to sister Laura dispite all these questions that burned like the lava around Castle Krag so very brightly.

They talked. It was almost whispering like they had done so in Shadowdale these many months ago, last time Teekla ever saw sister Laura and above all, managed to find some time speaking to This kind sister.

Yes it burned inside Teekla's heart. That feeling Sister Laura should not be here. But what could a Slave among many slaves in this relentless and Cruel castle do? There was no chance or option for Teekla.. then to just offer some water to Laura and in the darkness and silence of the Slave dwelling, to pray to Illmater for his protection.

The fourth day, she became useful. Laura was taken to the temple’s injured clergy and she was appalled. Fevers that had been raging for months, broken bones ill-tended to. She had to wonder if they just slapped a Band-Aid on them and locked them away in a room. It was shameful to her, certainly they didn’t call this recovery. Laura’s lips pressed into a thin line as she surveyed the damage. She then rolled up her sleeves, and got to work.

She broke the filth fever’s and set bones right, she healed wounds and bandaged others. It took some time, but the banite’s healer’s would be walking around giving her scowls around the temple soon enough. A little voice nagged at her as she worked, oddly in Mr. Cruven’s voice. These healers were only going to heal more of the armies that kidnap people in the dales. A clever Dalelander would leave these men and women to recover slowly and be unable to preform their duties…but they would suffer through it. Laura could not deny her calling. Despite their faith, it would be blasphemous not to help them. Besides, if she helped them she was promised to be shown the heretics and the slaves. It would be worth it in the end, right?

There were no heretics. This wasn’t a bad thing. Laura was quite relieved to know there wasn’t anyone being tortured underneath her bunk bed at night…but there was some expectation of work down in the deep dank basement. Of course, there would be slaves later on. Laura expected there would be quite a few. And, if Heide was doing as she was asked, hunting down the good Miss Ticla, then Laura would be covering a lot of ground with the slaves before she actually got to meet them. Laura still considered her plans going well. At this rate she would have healed and helped what she could, then would be back home in time to help Jonah with the construction of the new hospital.

Laura went to bed on the fourth day with high hopes and great plans in motion.

On the fith day, Laura began to butt-heads with Asher Malkus. He could be so civil, and then turn so wicked. She was a bit nervous to speak up at first, but then he began to corner an elven slave and her confidence was given a boost. She scolded him, and in hindsight that was probably a very dangerous thing to do.

Yet, she was unharmed. Laura assumed it was because Asher considered her young, naïve, and relatively ignorant of the world. She could scream at the man, and he’d probably just think of her as a yapping puppy. It was both relieving and utterly frustrating. She didn’t want to see what he was on about when he asked people to ‘step outside.’ She had a feeling it was nothing nice, but she didn’t like being dismissed either. It left her grumpy, grumbling to herself in her room as she finished her cross-stitching.

Worst of all, she couldn’t argue with him. She was naïve, and idealistic, and ignorant to most of the world. But why was that a bad thing? Didn’t the world need someone who expected so much from a world that could be so much more than it already was? Laura wasn’t going to settle for the excuse that the world was a dark and miserable place. It didn’t have to be, people just settled and stopped fighting for something better. She could make this place a better place.

So in the morning when she met with Miss Heide and Miss Snyden, she came to them with a mission. She certainly wouldn’t be staying here for too long, so she best start sowing the seeds while she could. And the first seed, she was going to teach these two proper first aid.

On the sixth day, Laura just wanted to go back home. Witnessing the public whipping in the courtyard had pushed out any doubts about the rumors she heard about castle krag. They were so cavalier about it, so intentionally cruel. She couldn’t stand to speak to anyone the rest of the night, and in the morning when Miss Heide and Miss Snyden arrived to fulfill their duties she wanted absolutely nothing to do with them. Or at least, that is how she wanted it to be, but it eventually devolved into being unable to give anyone the cold shoulder longer than ten minutes. Laura didn’t know how to be angry, at least not long term. She was very good at being hurt, but not angry. Those angry glares and scoffs soon melted into looks of disappointment and betrayal mixed with long silences and lack of conversation.

It wouldn’t be long now, is what she kept telling herself. They’d release her soon, and she’d go home…to a destroyed hospital…there wasn’t much of an upside. She could either stay here imprisoned in this wicked place, or she’ll go home to have people pat her on the shoulder, say they missed her, and then leave her to picking up the rest of the pieces of her life she was currently trying to glue back together. The thought lead her to sigh and pull more of the rolls of bandages closer to her. She’d only managed to do a few this morning, and she had also planned to teach Snyden and Heide some healing techniques but her heart wasn’t into it. She didn’t want to teach them a single, helpful, thing…and that was a horribly guilty thought of hers. Ilmater would share the gifts of healing with anyone. Regardless of deed, or creed…but Laura didn’t want to anymore. She didn’t want to do anything for them anymore. And that certainly included making wool socks. She didn’t even want to help the slaves at this point, and she knew wholeheartedly that was a sin. She couldn’t let her own mood destroy what good she could bring, and so she kept at it. Bandages, bread, and she managed to ask about potion making.

Laura kept to her room for the rest of the day. She remained polite, and proper, and the warmth in her eyes still lingered, but she had distanced herself from her companions.

It has been a week, but Laura was still trying to adapt. She had it better than most of course, but there was a constant surveillance. They gave her a small exception for the bath, but Laura was never completely certain that they didn’t have some other way of keeping tabs on her in there. If she remembered, Kendra had mentioned to her once about a scrying spell. It gave her a level of paranoia, and she quelled this anxiety with a lock, a chair in front of the door, a rope tying the door shut, and a blanket hanging from the ceiling to protect her modesty. It made things a little difficult, and escaping from the bath always sounded like she was breaking out of fort knots, but it made her feel safe.

Except for tonight. Laura couldn’t shake the feeling she was being watched. Aleister and Illnicker were a little more than creepy and she didn’t trust them to follow much of the church’s instruction. After all, like many sisters in her abbey believed, it wasn’t disobedience if you are not caught. She was protected by a thin thread of chance, and while the Chosen was a powerful shield..who knew how long that would last?

And why had it even begun? Laura had only met the Chosen once, and she didn’t understand his intentions either. Then again, she didn’t understand Chosens at all. She didn’t understand why she kept running into them. The Chosen of Mystra crossed her path, much to her dismay, and now a Chosen of Bane. Was that her fate? To be surrounded by people so special they were handpicked by gods? Did the world need to continuously remind her she was just a normal girl caught in a land of heroes and villains? The thoughts plagued her all night. How on earth was she going to get home, when she was just a little girl surrounded by giants.

The eighth day came and went, and Laura was spending time in the common room staring in the mirror. Aleister had, against her will, touched her hair…and now it looked completely different than how it should have been. A zhent, a wicked and sadistic man of bane, had put her hair up in pigtails. It was almost surreal, and if someone would have told her she’d be assaulted by hair stylists up in the mountain she would have laughed. Yet here she was. She wasn’t certain how to feel about it. Laura was always told a lady did not have her hair down in public. Having her hair down was akin to walking outside in her nightgown…but this wasn’t technically down. She almost liked it, but pig tails were a little too different for her. It was a strange thing to find such a wicked man had a knack for such things…if it had been someone else messing with her hair, she might have actually kept it in.

But it was not, and she was not going to change anything about her. It was a way to keep herself steeled against them. They couldn’t change her, and that included her hair.

On day nine Laura felt weird, and she was fairly certain why. Mr. Herveaux had put something on her hand, something that seeped into her skin before she had a chance to even look at it. She had been reeling around trying to determine what it was. A spell? A poison? A curse? Maybe just spit…She hoped it was just spit. Unfortunately for Laura. It was not spit.

Spit didn’t make the room seem larger, or the table suddenly much bigger. She hadn’t noticed how fantastic this room looked, or how softer her dress was. In fact it didn’t just feel soft. Soft had a sound now, a taste, and it’s own color somewhere between powder blue and periwinkle. If the alchemist knew what kind of new colors she was inventing just by staring down at her dress, he’d be selling his elixir for a higher dollar.

She could have remained in this room for hours just staring down at her dress, but she remembered she had a job to do. She had to talk to a plant.

Not just any plant mind you. The druidess had given Heide a sproutling, and there were specific instructions that came with the sproutling. She must water and tend to it, and apparently the druidess thought a staple in vegetation husbandry was talking to plants. Laura was not one to question an expert.

“I don’t know how much water you’re supposed to have…” Laura spoke quietly, sticking a twig into the soil as an anchor for the sapling. “I guess a cup will do.” Laura smoothed out her robes and settled on the ground, pouring the cup of water into the potted soil. “I like how blue you are, but you need to be careful around here. Miss Heide is nice, and Miss Snyden will probably only glare at you, but people around here don’t like happy colors.” Laura paused to think. Her mind didn’t seem to want to turn off. So many thoughts just racing through her head. So many details to focus on at one time, it was overloading. They were like a cloud swirling in her head, turning grey and somber. “I’m sorry you have to grow up in this horrible place…maybe Miss Heide can take you out to be planted somewhere down the mountain once you’re older.”

Laura choked up, her emotions swinging from fascination to sorrow on a dime. “I’d take you myself, but I’m probably not going to make it.” She choked back tears that seemed to pour out of her eyes and flood the room. “Don’t worry, Miss Heide will take care of you once I’m gone...Anyway. I should go to bed before I start to drown.” Laura said like it was just common sense. She stood up and tried to squeeze the sea of tears from her dry clothes. She moved the potted plant to her nightstand where it would be safe from her tears and settled into bed. Once she was laying in bed she felt safe. She could cry all she wanted, and flood whatever parts of the temple with her tears. She could do so without fear because in her mind, her bed could float.

((This was written by Blood Angel. I added the italics))

The Nightmare: Alchemy-Induced by a very evil man.

Laura’s nightmare:

She would awaken from her slumber in a bed of fine silk and satin pillows, the room adorned with decorations of nobility. Red soft slippers and she would be dressed in a cozy soft white gown. A warm fire burning in the fireplace, the smell of incense burning on the table. Laura would get up and walk to the arm chair sitting before the fire, its back turned to her. It was a leather arm chair and rather large. As she would approach the chair it would become more apparent there was someone sitting in the chair. His hands were visible and robes. As she approached the figure would stand up. Black cloaked long black hair and a pale white mask. The man would turn to her and take both of her hands into his, a single glowing red eye is visible through the eyelet of the mask. As he gazed into her eyes the room would grow increasingly cold and whatever joy she may have felt drained from her body. The fire in the fireplace would dim and a smell of rot and decay would fill her senses. He would hold her tightly in his hands moving within two inches from her face.

The mask would explode on his face into thousands of sharp shards, all penetrating Laura’s face. The shock would jolt her and the sense of pain not yet hitting her. The man’s face would be very familiar to her, it would be demonic and haunting. The demon would lick the blood from her cheek and whisper low “I am coming for you Laura, you’ll join your friends soon”. The demon would smile and his face would morph into that of a little girl who would cry for her. The demons face would melt slowly, the skin dripping off its face and morphing into a familiar face. Her long lost friend. “Why did I die? Why didn’t you save me? WHY!!!! YOU FAILED ME!!!” The demon would scream so loud it would blow back all the furniture and Laura herself to the wall. The walls would start to crack, the scream is deafening and would cause Laura’s ear drum to burst. The demon would charge her and tackle her to the satin bed which was now filled with insects, and snakes. Laura would be pinned down and the demon would head butt her until she was unconscious, slamming his head hard against hers. Crushing her skull into a pulp.

Everything would fade to black…

She would awaken in a large ballroom with large pillars and huge tapestry with banners on the walls. The symbol of bane. She was all alone in this large ballroom. Laura would walk to the doors and try to open them, they were locked. She would try another set to find them locked. The floor would echo her footsteps, her feet still clad with the red slippers. She still wore the soft white gown. “Hello Laura” a voice from behind her. “I have been watching you. Studying you.” As she would turn around she would see nothing. The hair would stand on the back of her neck and it would grow noticeably colder. “You have great potential” She would turn to the voice again seeing nothing. “Take my hand” She would turn again to the voice and would see Aleister Herveaux extending his hand to her wearing white pleated gloves and a blood red set of robes. His eye blazing red as before. He would pull her to him in his embrace, guiding her through a waltz.  As they dance around the ballroom he would speak to her in a soft soothing tone “You have untapped potential and I know you question yourself” his voice would echo “you doubt who you really are, your faith” He would spin her around and dip her “There is another way” he would smile to her as he leads her around the ballroom.  “Let me show you” He would bring her to a halt and take her hand bringing it to his lips, perhaps for a kiss.

He would instead take Laura’s wrist and sink his teeth into her. Laura would struggle but would not be able to break the embrace. Crying and frightened she would ask herself where she went wrong how she could fail. Utter despair would engulf her. Aleister would break his embrace and let her fall to the ground. Now drained of most of her blood she hangs onto life by a thread. “Ask and I will deliver you to the Dread Lord.” His mouth covered with her blood, his fangs bared. “Ask. You will have it” Laura would look at him with pleading eyes.

“Deliver me from this…..Bane deliver me!” Laura would say finally.

She would wake up then in a pool of sweat. This was a dream....or was it?

On the tenth day Laura fell ill from the devious trick. She is nauseous, light-headed, having images still flash in front of her eyes. She would stay sick in bed all day.