#Lore24 – Entry #244 – Fantasy Month III #1 – The Long Journey to Caerlon

As Told by Erilantielle “Eri” Kitami, Champion of Erisaya

“Why did I come to Caerlon?  To rest, relax, and enjoy the local flavor, of course, just like everyone else.  It’s known as one of the best cities in the land for that kind of thing outside of Arcavarlon itself, right?  What?  Not good enough for you?  Well, I guess you could say there’s more to it than that, yeah… You really want the whole story?  You sure about that?  Well, alright, I guess.  I’ve got nothing but time right now anyway…

So, it all started back when I was abandoned by my family, whoever they were, into the arms of the loving sisters at one of Erisaya’s holy whorehouses.  I had only my given name, but that was more than enough for the sisters, given what it is; not every day a redheaded child is delivered to you out of the blue that shares your goddess’s namesake, am I right?  They saw me as good luck, sharing a little bit of the goddess’s own name and all.  Some of them made a real big deal out of that, tried to make it a lot more than what it was, I think.  Anyway, I was adopted by the Erisayans, raised by the church, and eventually took on the name of my adoptive mother, Kitami, one of the few elvish holy whores.

Life was good for a while when I was growing up.  Got to see life outside the elvish kingdoms for what it was, mixed in with so many short-lived races.  Really gives you a different kind of perspective on things, you know?  I was all set to join in on the church as another of the sisters when I was old enough, just seemed the obvious choice, you know? 

Well, some things went down that I don’t like to talk about…suffice to say that happy life came crashing to a halt when someone decided to summon up a demon and use my home as the sacrifice.  There was…a lot of blood…a lot of suffering… I was meant to be the crowning sacrifice, you know.  Meant to be the vessel for that demon… Well, Erisaya wasn’t going to have that, and she got good and angry about the whole affair.  Channeled her holiness right through me once she got wind of what had happened and sent that demon packing, all those in the cult that had come to town along with it. 

Ever hear of the Rose’s Thorns?  Nah, figured you hadn’t; they’re pretty rare, even amongst the Erisayan faith.  We’re usually a pretty easy-going lot, not prone to stirring up trouble, but woe be to you if you get the Lady angry enough to call out a Thorn against you.  I was too green to be a proper Thorn then, but Erisaya saw to that, guiding me towards someone who taught me how to fight, and others who were friendly to the faith, and so it was I got set on a quest to root out every last member of that demon-loving death cult.  Took us damn near fifty years of traveling all over this side of the world, but we saw it through to the end, sent every one of them straight to their master in whatever festering hole it dwelt within.

So, after all that, with most of my friends too old to keep up the adventuring life, we went our own ways.  I decided it was time for a little rest of my own, but had good memories of Caerlon, so that’s why I wound up there again.  Yeah, that’s right.  This is where I was raised, and that story about the whorehouse massacre?  Yeah, that was one of Erisaya’s temples, the one I was raised in.  It’s not there anymore; got burned down by the cult during the chaos when the Lady got angry, and most around here don’t remember it, having been so long ago. 

What?!  Now that’s just stupid.  Why would what happened back then have any bearing on what happened at the Bronze Unicorn?  Hey, you asked me to start at the beginning, and when you ask that to an elf, you better be prepared for a long conversation; I’d rather not have drudged up those memories, just so you know. 

Look here, it wasn’t our fault, alright?  Just ask any of my companions, they’ll tell you the same!  Fine, you do that, then!  Well, go on, I’m tired of looking at you, too!”