Ep. 33 Eberron Reduced 3

## Listen

Ep. 33 Eberron Reduced 3

—Willian Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act III

While the party tries to find a way to bring Beric back to the land of the living, the half-drow warlock has his own answers to find. In Dolurrh, the Realm of the Dead, he finds his mother, the Lady Urik Rowan, and discovers his ancestors have been stuck, waiting for the pact to be completed. He meets the Raven, queen to the Shadar-kai, and they merge their pieces of the pact and return him to Eberron.

## Synopsis

### Dolurrh

*"Wake up. Beric, wake up!"* Following his death in the dangerous Xen'drik jungles, Beric opens his eyes and sees the somewhat familiar figure that handed him Curse-Bringer back in Sharn. The sky is gray, the trees are dead, and it seems like there are wisps of shadow floating off the treetops. The hooded figure extends a hand to help Beric up, and he stands and realizes he's in Dolurrh, the plane of the dead. Before them is the scene of his death; Sam stands in a defensive position, Therudak is the silhouette of his dragonmark, and Dex is in his changeling form, leaning aggressively into Sam's face. On the ground next to them is Beric's body.

Curse-Bringer brings his attention to the present by saying they don't have much time; they need to find a way back. Beric is still somewhat in a state of shock, and Curse-Bringer tries getting him to focus. Beric looks a little crestfallen when he's told this is where souls go when they die - as a believer of the Silver Flame, he thought he'd get to join with it. With a sigh and a little impatience, Curse-Bringer tells him his soul *would* have joined with the Flame, had it not been for the pact. Being the last of his line, he can't pass on with the pact incomplete, unless he has a child. Beric asks about being let out of the pact. Curse-Bringer tells him that wouldn't do - he would no longer exist, and they have important work to do. If Beric wants to join with the Flame, they need to finish the fight and save the world.

They need to find some way to get back to Eberron, perhaps a haunted house in Stormreach. Someplace that's coterminous with Eberron and Dolurrh.

*"I've no wish to be a ghost, friend."
—Beric*

### Silver Flame

They see a figure walking, and it stops and looks at Beric. Beric says they can ask for directions, and starts heading forwards the form. When he gets close enough, he recognizes the cleric who had been infected with lycanthropy. Beric tells him how he died, and the cleric says he thinks he was killed. He isn't bothered by it; he was a lycanthrope, and now he can already feel the warmth of the Flame inside him. He looks up to the treeline and it looks like the color returns to his face and light shines down on him. He looks back to Beric and tells him someday he'll get his reward, too. His form almost comes apart into flame and light and it soars up into the sky into a column that's opened up, and the Silver Flame accepts his soul. Beric watches in awe.

As Beric stands there watching, Curse-Bringer interjects and tells him if one day he wants to join with the Flame, they have to finish their purpose. After a bit of wondering what would happen if Beric killed this new Dolurrh body, Curse-Bringer convinces him to go with him to Stormreach.

*"Look on the bright side."
"There's not a bright side; we're in Dolurrh."
"We just saw a giant flame in the sky."
"Yeah, that wasn't Dolurrh."
—Curse-Bringer and Beric*

### Urik Rowan

They both turn to start walking and see, about four inches away a ghostly face, pale white, lacking any sort of lips but with just teeth and hollow eye sockets. Beric jumps back and as a reflex gestures to summon Curse-Bringer into his hand. The hooded figure disappears and shoots to his hand, forming into a ghostly version of the sword. Beric is surprised and for a moment doesn't react. The monster, its slender bod covered in pale white, taut skin raises its arm at Beric and makes a horrible sound. A shadowy glaive begins to form in its hand. Beric tries casting Create Bonfire, but nothing happens, so he cuts at it with the sword. It passes through. Curse-Bringer flies out of his hand and reforms into the hooded figure once again.

*"eric, you may wield me, but allow the untapped power that I wield to assist us in returning back. [Swirls hand and utters incantation, gestures at figure. Nothing happens.] Drat. Run."
—Curse-Bringer*

They both turn to run(after Beric questions why even bother). Beric asks what that thing is, and Curse-Bringer tells him it's a Sorrowsworn; a demon. It will capture his soul and do horrible things to it. It screams again, and this time is cut off mid-scream, but then they start hearing similar screams all around them.

They hear hoofbeats behind them, and Beric looks and sees a large black steed bearing down on them with a figure in a flowing black cloak riding it. In front of them, another Sorrowsworn opens its mouth to scream and a spear flies over Beric's shoulder, hitting the creature and cutting its scream off. They hear the figure behind them command them to stop, and they both stop and turn to face it.

*"In the name of my queen, who are you?"
—Urik*

The figure gets down off the horse, and they can see a helmet in the shape of a raven. She takes the helmet off and it's the face of Urik Rowan, though a much younger one than Beric is used to, and she looks a bit more like him - more ashen, a bit gaunt. Her hair has turned black. She and Beric share an embrace, Beric collapsing into her.

Urik tells Beric of her role in Dolurrh; she commands the Queen's armies, doing what she was good at in life. She apologizes for not being there for him while she could, and how she watched him from the afterlife. She saw how he was treated because of her actions, and she had to stop. She took the power of the pact because she thought it would help her win the war, that she was going to be a hero. She thought she could end it before she died and spare Beric this same fate.

Beric inquires about this queen she's working for, and Urik tells him she goes by the Raven, and she has more in common with them than he might think.

*"I have had a very bad run of luck with people using bird names."
—Beric*

Urik explains that the Raven helps souls on their way to whatever is beyond Dolurrh. She thinks the best thing to do is take Beric to see her. If there's anything to be done about the pact still being attached to him, she'll be the person to have answers. They start walking, Urik leading the horse. Beric asks about it, which leads to Urik telling him about the mirroring of things on Eberron in Dolurrh. The most significant of creatures and things are reflected here.

During their travels they make conversation, and when Beric mentions Eladrin going to Syrania Urik interrupts. The angels mentioned Eladrin but not the fierce brunette by his side? Beric tells her about how he died and why they fled Khorvaire.

As they walk the trees come to and end and they see flat earth covered in snow, and everything is gray with a dullness to it. This is the realm of the Raven's court. Urik warns Beric that she can be a bit stubborn, so it might be best to keep his cynical charm at bay. They come to a break in the snow and see stairs leading down into the earth. Urik says the Raven has been there longer than herself or most of the people in court, and so she's lost touch a bit with what it means to be human. She has some level of attachment to whatever fuels Curse-Bringer, and she believes she's part of the pact. Based on talking with others, they all come from families that have a pact with a creature they don't understand. The Queen has a term for them, an old draconic term for "anchored soul;" shadar-kai. Urik says she'll do her best to guide the conversation, but she's a general for the queen and Beric is an outsider. She squeezes Beric's hand and gives him a quick kiss on the forehead, and they head down.

### The Raven

Torches lead the way down, casting a weird twilight glow, burning just bright enough to stave off the darkness. The stairs head open to a great hall, and they see figures standing around that have a similar complexion to Urik. They glance at Beric, but mostly stare at Curse-Bringer. At the end of the hall are large double doors, and Urik opens one of them. Inside there's a throne with the engraving of a raven and a dozen or so actual ravens about it, some perched on the back. The Raven sits on the throne, with the same ashen skin as everyone else. She wears ornate robes with shifting images on it.

Urik kneels and says she's found a new soul that's been bound there. Beric follows a few paces behind and does the same. The Raven approves of Beric's manners, and tells them to rise.

After introductions, the Raven inquires about Curse-Bringer. Beric tells her he doesn't really know who he is. While he explains his experience with the sword, she shifts toward, interested. When he finishes, she asks if he's the last of his line, and says no one else since she's been there has been the final heir of their pact. He wields more power in Dolurrh than he realizes. She smiles and her cloak lifts off her and twirls through the air and forms next to her in a figure that looks like Curse-Bringer. She was the last of her line as well.

Her's spoke to her at a very young age, telling her it was part of the Silver Flame. She believed it and gave in to the power. When she spoke of it, they accused her of heresy and petrified her. However, it might have been worth it for them to both up end in Dolurrh; they have great power, and might be able to help the souls there move on.

*"The soul of your mother and thousands like her rest on us getting you back to Eberron, and you figuring out whatever this pact was that we all found ourselves in, and completing it."
—The Raven*

The Raven thinks finishing the pact will allow the shadar-kai to move on. She can't return to Eberron as long as her body is petrified, but she thinks there's a way to bring Beric back. If they joined Curse-Bringer and Soul Reaper to combine their pacts, they might generate enough energy to return him.

During her time with Soul Reaper in Thrane, she was told that there were powerful figures in the church that had become tarnished. They must extract them from the church, not through violence, but by spreading the light to every corner of Eberron and in that way keep any enemies of the Flame at bay.

She gives him an offer. The fact that he still carries his pact with him in Dolurrh means he could be just as powerful as her one day, and he could stay there with his mother and become a member of her court. He could stay with her in Dolurrh, or he could go back to Eberron. If he went back, he'd have to join pacts with her and bind himself to her. Beric considers for a moment and admits that there's an appeal to staying, but if his ancestors are trapped there, it would be the height of selfishness to refuse to go back. He doesn't care what it'll do to him; he'll do it.

The Raven gets up and Soul Reaper forms back into a robe. She looks at Curse-Bringer curiously and tells Beric to put his cloak on. Curse-Bringer shifts uneasily and Beric, a little uncertain, reaches out and visualizes him as a cloak. Curse-Bringer forms into a very thick, navy blue formal war coat, the clasp the shape of a raven's head. The Raven leads the way, gesturing for Urik to stay back.

They walk back onto the frozen wasteland. It feels cold, though that's quite a welcome sensation to Beric, who hasn't felt much of anything since arriving in the realm of the dead. The Raven tells him there are things happening as they speak; his friends, and his father, who they managed to track down thanks to Drakir, are trying to get him back.

### The Pact

She tells him one of the ways for the pact to be transferred is through a willing exchange, and that's how Eladrin gave it to Urik. Eladrin wanted to be rid of the pact, so Urik took it from him, but they both lost focus on what it was about. Eladrin wanted to know too much, and Urik simply saw it as a tool. He returned to Xen'drik, free of what he considered a curse, but he never stopped missing Urik, or wondering how Beric was. Familial duties demanded he take a wife and continue the line, but he'd been trying to find a way to bring Urik back.

When a person dies, for a brief moment a portal is opened for their soul to pass through to Dolurrh. It's also possible for someone to escape into Eberron. On rare occasions, the Raven has sent some souls into Eberron to assist those attempting to complete the pact. Quite a few people joined Urik in one of her great battles. Once they combine the pacts, Beric would also have that power.

They find themselves emerging through a torrential storm, but rather than rain and lightning it's almost like a negative energy and drops of shadow. There's a large spire with a huge, glowing crystal sticking out of it. The superstitious type think the Qabalrin elves tinkered with too much dark energy and Siberys himself sent the shard to destroy them. The pact begins with the Qabalrin. They found a powerful being that they communed with and made a pact with to give them immense power. Some say it was a dragon, some say it was a powerful cuotl. To find more information about the pacts, they must find others with the pacts and join with them. If they're willing they can give them, if they're unwilling, she's not sure how they'll acquire it.

This is the place Eladrin formed Curse-Bringer. He was able to choose the form it took because it was freshly made. Beric didn't have the opportunity to forge it because he inherited it from his mother, but after they merge their pacts, he will be able to. Before he goes back, Beric asks if he can say goodbye to his mother.

The Raven waves her hand and a rift opens up. Urik steps through, and the Raven gives them a moment to themselves.

Beric is quiet for a moment. He says he's sorry to be going, but Urik tells him how proud she is of his choice. A lesser man would have chosen to stay. He's made a name for himself, and there's no better legacy for a mother to leave for her son. She squeezes his hands, kisses him on the forehead, and retreats into the portal.

*"Goodbye, Beric."
"Bye, Mom."
—Urik and Beric*

### Merging of the Pacts

The Raven steps back out and leads Beric down some stairs. They emerge into a cavern and see a scene before them, not frozen in time but still shadowy and gray. Beric's body is strapped to the large crystal in the middle of the room, with Therudak and Dex rushing around. Drakir stands nearby, looking stern, in front of a table with Eladrin on it. The Raven tells him that after they open the portal to Dolurrh, Beric will have to push through the rest of the way. There's a loud ripping sound and a portal opens into Eberron, and the lich steps through.

*"I suppose, how do we do this?"
—Beric*

They both take off their cloaks and lay them on each other. Color starts returning to the scene in front of them. He reaches out to form Curse-Bringer and his coat on the ground starts forming into a sword, but wraps itself in the Raven's cloak as it returns to his hand. Curse-Bringer pulls on him as his form in Dolurrh flies towards his body in Eberron, and the sword is plunged into his chest. He opens his eyes, now back in his material body on Eberron, and sees the chaos around him. Dex shouts questions at him, there's an explosion of light, and then silence. The shadows are gone and there's calm, as everyone looks to Beric.

End of episode.

## Location

* Dolurrh
* Xen'drik

## Spells

* **Beric**
	+ Create Bonfire (fails)

## References and Footnotes

1. ↑ In which case, bugger off.
2. ↑ A cloak that's not black.