Year 25

"I've looked through ALL of Ral's writings along with researching various tomes we have at the temple and I can't figure out exactly WHAT he did to you. I mean I can guess what he did, but even if I'm right, I still have no idea how to reverse it." Heather remarks.

You know Heather's done more than you ever expected from her, but you can't help but feel frustrated by all this. If your condition wasn't getting worse, it probably would be tolerable, but it is getting worse. Not so much for you in terms of life and death directly, but you're starting to effect things in a wider area.

At this point your home is freezing to most (or at least to Heather when she visits) and frost covers everything you come in contact with now. You don't even have to touch it for long.

Even Spikey makes his home outside the house rather than inside, though it's just as well since he's huge now.

Which is leading to the other issue and that's the fact your icy home is starting to look very out of place compared to the rest of the surrounding landscape. Granted you're isolated from most major population centers, but there is Dert. Dert is close enough that it's only going to take a few of the more adventurous young folks to go wandering from that backwards village and bring back tales of an "Ice Castle" with a manticore guarding it. (Fortunately Spikey has never wandered towards Dert and his hunting grounds are mainly elsewhere.)

Heather herself has been trying to keep your presence a secret since apparently Elder Flynn has been sensing a minor growth in magical energy in the area. So far he assumes it's Ral just working on something, but Heather stresses that if he finds out the truth, he'll definitely be heading to your home.

Heather is also stressed out due to the fact that she's been keeping all this from her comrades and on top of everything else, there's the beginning of religious faction war going on in Holgard.

Since she's out of any ideas that you might find acceptable, she suggests the last thing she can think of and that's that you leave and head north. She believes your condition is exaggerated by the warmer climate. (Even more so now due to it being a hotter summer than usual) While you've sort of guessed that to some extent, she thinks that if you were just constantly living in a colder environment, your condition would even out and you might not attract as much attention.

"So…what then? I'm supposed to just go live on a mountain top somewhere?" you say.
"No, I'm just saying that you could probably live some place colder and your condition not be as much of a problem. You'd at least blend in a bit better. As it stands now, you're starting to attract a lot of attention and you were previously pretty isolated before. Not to mention you've got a big ass manticore wandering around nearby. You stay here and you're probably going to have groups of hired adventurers beating down your door." Heather remarks.
"You just want me to leave because you're worried about your own ass."
"Damn right I am! I mean I'm risking every time I come here, every time I lie to Elder Flynn. You realize how much my stomach is in knots about this? And you know what? Fuck you. I've been helping you out trying to figure out how to cure you! I've tried potions, spells, salves, rituals and even prayers to Dorna on your behalf!"
"You've also been helping yourself to magical shit I have."
"So? It's been mutually beneficial, but now it's starting to get risky to a point of where I'm no longer comfortable."
"Alright, I get it. I get it. But I'm just not too keen on this idea that I'm supposed to just pick up and leave."
"Well, I dunno any other solutions. I mean when was the last time you went to Holgard and didn't start drawing a crowd? Didn't you say that the guards actually prevented you from entering last time? You said you had to sneak in and then you soon got run out of there. I mean it's only going to be a matter of time that you start drawing the attention of someone you aren't going to be able to deal with."
"Your boss is really getting that suspicious huh?"
"Elder Flynn is a concern of course, but it might actually be lucky for you that there's religious strife going on in Holgard right now. But I was talking in general. Look, we've gotten along for a while now, and maybe if circumstances were different I'd say stick around longer, but…"

Heather turns away from you a bit and exhales. In fact she starts to sniffle a bit.

"What? Wait a minute…no…really? You never gave any indication! Hell, we've never even kissed! Though I suppose given my condition that might cause problems. That's why you never acted on it" you say.
"Oh trust me, there's ways we could have gotten around that aspect. A simple protection of cold would have done that. It's just… it could never really work okay? And yeah initially I was helping you because it was beneficial to me personally, but I did genuinely want to help because you seemed like an okay guy that was in a bad situation. Even with you telling me tales of your shady past, there was always a charm about you." Heather remarks wiping her eyes a bit.
"If I ever run into my sister again, I'm sure she'll be amused to hear that some of her charisma finally wore off on me. Well if it makes you feel any better, I've had more than my fair share of thoughts about you as well."
"I'm sure."
"I don't mean just the dirty ones though, I mean I figured even if you were only helping for the magic knowledge and items, it still was nice that someone was helping me."
"Sort of wish you were only thinking of me in a dirty way, it would make this a lot easier. (Sigh) I shouldn't have said anything."
"I wish you have said something sooner, I mean now what am I supposed to do? Just leave, knowing all this?"
"If you do have feelings for me like you say then I beg you to leave because you'll just make it harder for me in the long run. I know it's selfish to put myself first, but it is what it is."
"Okay, I'm not mad because I get it, but I don't see why WE can't just leave together. I mean you could continue trying to figure out how to cure me and you could probably start up another Dorna church up north and convert barbarian tribes or something. "
"Heh, nice idea. Tempting even, but no. My life is here."

You're getting frustrated at this point.

"What are you fucking this Elder Flynn or something?"
"What? No! He's like a hundred years old and I don't have daddy issues!"
"Well what's really keeping you here then?"
"Look, maybe an infidel like you can't understand, but my temple is also my family and with all the trouble going on right now, I'm not going to just abandon them."
"Haven't you been hording knowledge and the shit you get from me?"
"Yeah, well it's a complicated family relationship."
"Guess I can't relate much…(sigh) Okay, fine. I'll leave, but only because you did try to help me, I'm a sucker for a pretty face and the fact I don't really have any other ties here and it'll make things easier for you."

You start to get ready to pack, but Heather stops you.

"Hold on a second. You don't need to leave right this minute." She says and makes a few little hand gestures causing a brief blue glow around her.

Then she kisses you. It doesn't feel as good as you remember the last time you did this with Lisa. Even the good stuff is dulled, but what the hell, you'll take it.

You and Heather get to it and you have a rather interesting time going about your intimacy. Heather's spell is working, but it's obvious she's still feeling some mild…well the word isn't exactly discomfort, but let's just say she has never pleasured herself with an icicle in the past so it's a cool sensation down there for her.

However she's a trooper and you must be doing something right because by the time you're done she's covered in frost. No, that's not a euphemism either; she's literally covered in frost.

(In fact if this was all taking place in a modern setting, there could be a whole joke about "The Iceman Cometh")

You on the other hand were sort of hoping that experience while pleasant enough would maybe raise your body temperature a little, but no, you're still as cold as ever.

After a moment of basking in frosty bliss, Heather brushes herself off and gets dressed.

"I hope that you can somehow find a way to cure yourself, but whether you do or not, take care okay?"

With those last words she gives you one more kiss and leaves you alone.

This experience has arguably been the best thing that's happened to you since you woke up in your condition. Of course maybe you're just sort of feeling that way due to the fact that you haven't exactly been with anyone in a long damn time.

Part of you wants to just go to her temple, but going to Holgard isn't going to do anything but cause problems for her and you, so you'll wait. You know she'll be back. You figure Heather will probably come back here in a couple days to see if you're still around and to potentially look for any items she may have missed. When she comes back, you'll make every effort to convince her to come with you.

So you wait. A week passes, then a month, then two months…

By this time, you're still laboring under the delusion that she's going to come back and mainly subsisting on frozen berries, fruit and roots that you don't go too far to collect from your home.

In the meantime Spikey, being an apex predator in the area has steadily over the past few years been depleting most of the wildlife. He was also supplementing this with the many bandit groups that make their homes in the woods at times. However, even bandits eventually get wise to the fact that it might not be the best idea to have a hideout where many of their fellows are disappearing at an alarming rate.

If his attention wasn't in the direction of Dert before it is now.

You however don't really know any of this until you get a knock on the door one night. Thinking that it's Heather, you spring from your chair, and open it.

And you're met by a woman, one you even know, but not Heather.

"…Isabella?" you say upon seeing her.

Isabella frowns as you just stare at her naked body in surprise.

"Glad you remember what my tits look like." She says.
"…Apologies, but I really wasn't expecting you. I thought another…nevermind, what are you doing here?" you ask.
"I'm here to speak to Ral…what the hell happened to you? You're as pale as I am and you're giving off some serious cold. This whole house is, given the frost and ice in the area. What the hell IS Ral doing in there?"
"Well…"
"Look, no offense, but I'm not in the mood to speak to his magic slave. I want you to go bring his ass out of his lab to come speak to me right now. I mean I thought we had an understanding at least that if we HAD to be neighbors he wouldn't fuck things up for me. Now I got a bunch of dead people in Dert due to his escaped manticore or pet or experiment or whatever the fuck. I told him that backwards dung heap of a hamlet was MY ongoing food source and was not to be messed with."
"Wait, Spikey attacked Dert?"
"Spikey? That its name? Real original. But yeah it was a damn blood bath there. Hell, I could smell it even from my crypt. The beast killed ten people. I would have tracked it down easily, but considering its scent was also leading in this direction, I'd pay Ral a visit first since I was sure this was all his fault. And judging from what I'm seeing, I was right. So get his ass out here!"
"That's going to be a problem given that he's dead."
"Dead? Bullshit."
"I'm serious. He's been dead for like two years now."

Now Isabella is the one showing some surprise. The fact that she is surprised means you must have really caught he off guard. You remember that Ral and her had a relationship in the past. From some of her brief sad expression, she perhaps didn't have complete loathing for him.

Isabella looks down a bit and closes her eyes before speaking again.

"(Sigh) Damn. Didn't think I'd still feel something for the bastard, but I guess you never know until it happens. I guess this means you're no longer a magic slave and you're in fact responsible for this mess then. How? You're no wizard. And how did you kill Ral anyway?" Isabella asks.
"I didn't kill Ral, he just died of natural causes in his bed." You quickly say.
"Hah! Nice try, but you're lying. Look, I don't care if you killed him, if he'd made me a slave I'd have killed him too."
"Well, I had help and it wasn't easy."
"I'm sure. So what's with the eternal winter here?"
"Ral's last gift to me."

You give a quick explanation of events of your condition to Isabella who listens to everything.

"So…it was this Heather was the one you were waiting for then?" Isabella asks.
"Yeah, but well…that's a long story." You say with a sigh.
"Let me guess you fell for your nurse."
"She wasn't a nurse, she was a priestess."
"Nurse, priestess, whore, doesn't matter. Your circumstance is as old as time. You fell for the one taking care of you when nobody else would. It happens a lot, but I think your case its just desperation."
"Excuse me?"
"Well, you've been waiting for this girl for two months you said. It's obvious she isn't coming back."
"She could just be busy! There's a religious war going on in Holgard right now! You know, we made love the last time I saw her!"
"And? That probably was just a goodbye pity fuck. Look, I didn't see how you two interacted and I'm only getting some of what you're telling me, so I'm not going to say this girl didn't have feelings for you, but its obvious she cares more about herself or at least her own life."
"You don't know shit!" you snap.
"Okay, look, whatever. I actually don't care that much, but we still need to settle this issue with your pet manticore along with your snowman condition because both of them are going to fuck up my shit. The manticore can be settled easily since I can just kill the beast and be done with it. But you are a whole other problem."
"Wait a minute you can't just kill my pet! And why the hell am I a problem, I don't even go near Dert."
"Yeah, but your aura might. I mean from what little you've told me, your condition is getting worse and if that's the case, the last thing I need is for it to freeze over Dert and cause all the peasants there to pick up and leave due to failed crops. It's bad enough some are already talking about leaving due to the manticore attack. Others are even talking about hiring adventurers. Last thing I need is a group of fortune seekers stomping around the area and stumbling on my place of rest."
"I'm sure you'd be able to handle them."
"That's not the damn point, my point is I like things peaceful and they can't be, if there are certain elements in the area fucking everything up! So the way I see it, is you got two choices. You either leave, or I cure you."

Once again Isabella has given you a little surprise.

"What? You can cure me? How?!" you ask.
"Invite me in and I'll show you." Isabella responds with a smile.
"Uh…no…things aren't quite bad enough for me to want to commit suicide."
"Who said I was going to kill you? I'd make you into a vampire."
"Wait. Why? Would that work?"
"Sure. The transformation process practically gives you a clean slate. I'd be very surprised if it didn't work. As for why…well let's just say why not?"
"…I feel like there's a catch…"
"Well of course there's a catch, I don't just offer the gift to anyone. I'd require you to help me around the crypt as it were."

And there it is.

"A slave. You want me to be your slave." You say.
"You wouldn't be a slave, you'd be my…companion. You think your few years of no meaningful intimacy are bad? Come back when you've had a century or so of it. I just felt a pang of loss over a man that I practically loathed for decades. Now I know I'm moving in quick on you, but when you've been as solitary as I have, you tend to not let social rules dictate your actions. I'm offering not only a cure for your condition and immortality, but also a chance for you not to worry about having to be alone ever again. You can't say you aren't tempted. I still remember that night we had years ago. Look, I'll be back in a couple nights. If you're still here, then I'll know you've accepted my offer. If you're gone, I know you haven't. And when I say I'll be back in a couple nights, you can bet that I'll mean it." Isabella says and leaves.

And once again you're left alone with a big decision. You knew you were going to have to make one soon, but these events haven't definitely given you more to think about.

You pack up and leave

While Isabella's offer is tempting, you can't risk being a slave again even if it means a cure for your condition. You'd also just be trading one condition for another, what would being a vampire even be like? You'd be dead and feeding on blood. You're not quite ready for that either.

However, you're wise enough to know that you really can't stay either. Even if you stayed inside at night. Isabella is still a powerful vampire, she'd probably figure out how to get to you eventually. Last thing you need is an enemy of that magnitude.

So you have to leave. There's nothing tying you here anyway. Heather hasn't showed up and is unlikely to do so, you were just holding out hope for something that was never really there in the first place.

Remembering Heather's advice about going north, you start looking at various maps that Ral had stashed around his lab. For someone who spent most of his time in his lab, he certainly had some detailed ones. You never really looked at them before, but now's the time.

You focus on his northern maps to see where you might be heading. Besides your forced foray into the wintery wilderness, you honestly don't know much about the great north other than there are some small settlements up there.

After some perusing of a map, you decide to make your way to some place just called "Evergreen." It's probably the closest northern settlement you'll reach from your current location. You have no idea what you're going to do there; assuming you can even fit in or stick around. You imagine you'll end up just living by yourself in the outdoors. You've probably spent more time in uncivilized wilderness than populated centers. You never thought that would happen, but it has, and you've gotten used to it. Then of course, you never thought a lot of stuff would happen.

Your roguish days have slowly been coming to an end for years now, in fact it probably could be argued that you haven't really been one since you left Teckleville. Though you suppose in some ways your skills have just been used for other purposes. Maybe you could set yourself up as a trapper or hunter? You've certainly got more skill in tracking large animals and beasts now.

Speaking of large beasts, you remind yourself that you're going to have to try to get Spikey to follow you. It's not going to be easy, but you figure you can't really leave him to prowl around here or else Isabella will kill him.

You pack what you can and leave note on the door for Isabella saying you've left since you figure it doesn't hurt to be polite to a vampire that did at least give you an option.

After a bit of searching (Doesn't take long) you finally manage to get Spikey to mildly follow you, though he does a lot of wandering off for long periods of time presumably to hunt. You aren't really sure if he's going to follow you the whole way or disappear along the way, but at least you're getting him away from potential danger. You briefly wonder if maybe you could try to ride him to make the journey faster, but while Spikey is tolerant of you, you doubt if he's going allow himself to be anyone's steed!

Being driven away from a place you called home for so very long seems very familiar. While it was always your sister that had the wanderer's spirit, it would seem that same spirit has been forced upon you. You still hope she's doing better than you are.

It's literally a cold harsh reality that your future is uncertain. However, you're confident that you'll probably survive it. Who knows, maybe you'll even discover a cure to your condition one day.

In any case, your life as a common rogue is over.