"Tragic Backstory"

"Tragic Backstory" is the sixth episode of Dealing with Death. Through a letter, the group find out the story of Grius' fall and also the fate of Kier's father, who raised Charoth as well and recently died. They make a plan to try and pacify Charoth with a play about moving on.
== Plot Synopsis ==
As the group enters the shrine, they notice a man slumped in a corner of the entrance room. The man is dead; upon closer inspection, they find a letter clasped in his hands. Markus recognizes it is sealed with arcane magic. He unbinds it and attempts to read it - unsuccessfully so, as the text is written in Grecian. Pretending to have read it, he passes it to Kier, who begins to read it aloud.
The letter records a part of a godslayer's life and how he fought Charoth because he did not want to sacrifice his own son to the spiritfolk. When he mentions 'his' Iconoclasm spell, Markus and Ashe immediately surmise that the dead man is Kier's father. Charoth's dying scream released an army of corrupted spiritfolk upon Grius, killing all of its populace (except Kier, unbeknownst to him). However, Kier's father did not finish the job with the Iconoclasm spell, leaving Charoth's wisp intact. 
Charoth followed him as he travelled around the Shrouded Isles. The wisp's childlike nature compelled the godslayer to take care of him. He raised Charoth as his own in the shrine for 15 years after the spiritfolk took up a new form.
He goes on to say that he feels his life is drawing to its end. However, he worries that Charoth will be overcome with grief and rage after his death, rampaging across the Isles once again. He reveals that Charoth is bound to all the bells on the islands, but primarily to the large bell in the shrine - should Iconoclasm be used on it, the death god would not survive. If Charoth is indeed causing death and destruction, Kier's father begs whoever is reading the letter to go to his house to find the Iconoclasm spell and 'do what [he] could not'.
Ashe attempts to tell Kier that the man is his father, but Markus interjects, seeing Kier's distress. They agree that they should not tell him yet. 
The group begin to argue about what they should do now that they know Charoth is mourning. Gregor advocates for the original plan (= killing the spiritfolk), while Ashe and Markus take Charoth's side. Markus pretends to tear apart the paper with the Iconoclasm spell to show his support.
They continue further into the shrine until they reach a large room with a giant bell - the same one Kier's father talked about in the letter. Ashe suggests trying to communicate with it, as the bell itself is an extension of Charoth. She realizes that they could conduct a play on Talthir's stage to convince Charoth to move on. Markus agrees and though Gregor thinks it's ridiculous, he does not attempt to stop them. 
Ashe reaches out for the bell, trying to establish some sort of connection - she succeeds and enters a trance. Markus sends a Message to the bell, managing to connect to Charoth's mind as well. The two come across a wisp and Markus tells it to pay attention to the stage, disappearing when the spell runs out of words.
== Trivia ==
* Kier's father's corpse was missing its fingertips when Ashe inspected it.
* The group have actually met Kier's father before, in "Ghost Beach Episode". He mentioned he was 'doing [them] a favour' by letting them use the bell on the beach, then left. At this point, he has already diedhttp://3rdwheelandthe4thwall.tumblr.com/post/117187563391/kiers-dad-charoth-and-charoth.
== Quotes ==
* GM: It's actually written in Grecian, which you do not recognize.
* Markus: "Hmmm, yes.. this looks familiar.. uh huh.."
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* Kier: sobbing "He was such a good- he was such a good dad."
* Ashe: I wipe away some of my own tears, then look Kier in the face and say: "He abandoned you!"
* Markus: I clap a hand over Ashe's mouth- "Ashe is just overcome with feelings at the emotional story you just read, Kier."
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* Gregor: I keep raising and lowering my glaive.
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* Markus: I cast Detect magic.
* GM: ..it's magic.
* Markus: I cast Detect poison.
* GM: It's not poisonous.
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* Kier: "Okay, I'm gonna be fully honest, when me and Markus were doing our comedy act, I almost lost consciousness."
== References ==
Category:Dealing with Death episodes