Who is Claudia?

The soothing sound of the pitter-patter of raindrops hitting the ground further hides Claudia’s already quiet footsteps as she discreetly follows her target up the winding road, which leads to a huge gothic manor in the distance. She has been trailing this black-cloaked figure for what seems to be a short eternity. A flash of lightning sets fire to the sky for a brief moment, illuminating her wet, dainty face. She pulls up her mask as she steps out of cover, making sure to stay downwind of her quarry.

“It’s useless. Just be a good girl and give up.” something hisses in her left ear.

Her hands unconsciously check for her daggers as she approaches the building. She hears the rumble of thunder and quickly flits into cover behind a tall tree, stopping to wait for the lightning to pass. As the area is illuminated by the swiftly retreating light, Claudia manages to catch a glimpse three distinct shadows being cast over her own. She quickly looks behind her in panic as the smell of sulfur enters her nose, her knives drawn. Nothing but more trees. She realizes that she is breathing heavily as she sheathes her blades. She shakes her head to clear it, then proceeds to follow her target into the manor.

As she steps into the large structure, she is greeted by the stench of iron, blood, sex, and unwashed humanity. It is as if an invisible hand has punched her in the sinuses. She draws her mask tighter over her nose and mouth as she moves through the passageway, the prisoners hurling suggesting remarks and insults at her through the bars of their permanent homes. Her quarry is three floors below her, she realizes as she catches a glimpse of a black cloak fluttering as it turns a corner. Without skipping a beat, she launches herself into the air, falling for three floors before she catches the railing with both of her hands. With a deft pull, she vaults over the rail and continues her pursuit.

“I am going to have a lot of fun with you, bitch.” something growls with promise in her right ear.

Distracted, she looks over her shoulder just as she rounds the corner, causing her to crash into something that feels curiously like flesh and rock. She looks up to see Romulus Rex towering over her, his body covered in cuts and bruises, a large axe beginning a downwards arc towards her head. Time seems to slow down as Claudia leaps backwards, causing the bladed edge to miss her face by a half an inch. She can see each small nicks and scratches on the metal and feel the slight gust of wind on her face as it passes her by. Already, her blades are in her hands. Sparks fly as the axe hits the floor with a deafening clank.

“You fucking cunt! I’m going to get you for what you and your friends did to me!” Romulus roars with unfretted rage.

He charges Claudia with surprising speed, his axe dragging on the floor as he swings it in an upwards slash. She dodges to the right, letting him get past her before kicking out at his legs with a swift thrust of her boot, using his great momentum against him. As he begins to fall, she quickly stabs him in the chest and in the neck, making sure to twist both knives before pulling them out again. She wipes her daggers clean as she begins to walk away from Romulus.

“You didn’t think it would be that easy, did you?” Romulus growls, impossibly close to her.

She is already moving as she hears the voice, but she was caught off-guard for a second and only barely manages to stop the axe from splitting her in two at the waist by deflecting it with her daggers. Romulus twists his axe and pulls, causing her to lose her grip on one of her daggers. She hears it clatter away as she once again begins to smell sulfur.

“Mmm. I can’t wait to have a taste of you again.” something whispers behind her.

She gasps in surprise, panic rising in her throat. She feels a large boot slam into her chest, sending her flying into the air. She lands with a solid thunk on a familiar wooden floor.

“Whoa! Are you all right?” April asks as she bends down to help Claudia stand up. “That was quite a fall you had there.”

Claudia grabs her hands and begins to reply when she sees a black cloak flutter amongst the crowd of soldiers in the tavern. She gets up and runs off in pursuit of her target.
“You’re welcome, by the way!” April shouts after Claudia as the girl sprints away.

Claudia runs through a seemingly endless tide of patrons, bumping and jostling her petite frame against large, well-muscled bodies that were trained and bred for war. She sees the doors of the tavern open, her quarry about to leave her sight. With renewed determination she begins to gracefully slip through the crowd, her small body allowing her to get through the smallest of spaces. As she reaches the door, she slips a knife out of the hilt of an unknowing soldier and steps out into the pouring rain. She catches a glimpse of the cloaked figure with the corner of her eye before it ducks into an alley. She follows as fast as her feet can carry her, feeling desperation and anticipation crawl into her heart as she closes in on her prey.

She turns into the alley, breathing heavily as a lightning flash illuminates her prey. She creeps up behind the cloaked figure, which seems oblivious to her approach. With a quick and decisive motion, she pulls her target back and stabs her target in the chest.

There is a flash of red as the woman’s hood falls away, but strangely, it isn’t coming from the chest wound that she has just inflicted. Instead, she realizes that the woman that she has just stabbed through the heart has red hair, much like her own. Exactly like her own, in fact. She jumps back in surprise as the woman turns her head around and smiles. Claudia’s eyes widen in horror as she realizes that she is staring at her own face. With a laugh that seems to echo around the inside of her head, the other Claudia tears the dagger out of her chest and casually tosses it aside, her mouth widening impossibly as she continues to laugh at Claudia. Three shadows begin to form around the walls of the alleyway, creating silhouettes that she recognizes with abject terror. Claudia turns around and makes an attempt to run away. There is the flapping of large wings. The gnashing of sharp teeth. The slithering of thin appendages. She feels fire in her legs and chest as she runs with burns every ounce of energy that she has, but the mouth of the alley seems to only get further and further away.

“We’re waiting for you, Claudia. You are our property. Now and forever.” three voices hiss, growl, and whisper together with infinite malice.

Claudia screams as she wakes up drenched in cold sweat.

Claudia’s eyes dart around the busy sunlit street as she waits in the line to enter the fortune teller’s shop. Though she attempts to avoid eye contact, something in her eyes makes the townsfolk actively go out of their way to avoid her. She has done her best to conceal her identity, as her fame as a Red Nightingale could prove troublesome, but she needn’t have bothered as the combination of her sullen face and the dark circles under her bloodshot eyes were more than enough to dissuade anything more than a casual glance. It has been days since she has last slept soundly.

After hours of waiting, she is finally third in line to enter. She wishes the she had thought to wear more comfortable shoes as her feet throb inside of her tight boots. A warm breeze blows through the street, bringing with it the scent of hot food and fresh fruit from the busy marketplace. She yawns involuntarily, her fatigue getting the better of her. She savors the fading of the bright sunlight as her eyes close involuntarily. It feels good to give her tired eyes some respite. As she feels herself begin to drift, she is struck by a small feeling of apprehension. It is as if she is forgetting something. No matter, all is right in the sweet embrace of the sweet embrace of the darkness.

“That’s right. Just surrender. There’s a good girl.” something whispers behind her.

She screams as she wakes up with a start. There is the sensation of falling as she realizes that because she let her guard down, she had nodded off. Quickly, she catches herself with her left leg before her body can hit the ground. She takes a couple of unsteady steps before she regains her balance. Suddenly, Claudia feels a hand on her shoulder.

“Miss, are you-“

“Don’t touch me!!” Claudia shouts at the stranger as she slaps his hand away from her.

She squeezes her eyes shut as she shakes her head, willing the memory of her brief nightmare to disappear. She looks up to see the man who tried to help her return to his place in the line, one spot in front of her.

“Crazy.” he mutters to himself while he shakes his head, stopping at his spot by Dapione’s door.

She can wait no longer. She walks towards the man, making sure that her footsteps are loud enough for him to hear her approach. As she gets close, he turns his head towards her, a confused and slightly frightened look on his face.

“Look, I’m sorry but-“, he begins to stammer as the lady with the scary eyes stops in front of him.

“I’ll give you twenty gold pieces if you let me go in before you.” Claudia says, her voice flat.

The man gulps as the words begin to sink in. His green stud shines in the afternoon sunlight. Twenty gold pieces would go a long way towards getting rid of his troubles. Gears seem to move audibly in his head as he considers his position. Abruptly, the door behind him opens, and a dwarf woman steps out into the street. With a worried look on her face, she runs off into the distance. Dapione’s bodyguard, a lanky half-orc, pokes his head out into the street and looks at the queue.

“Next!” he says with a voice that is surprisingly deep for his frame.

“Make it twenty five and you’ve got a deal.” he says with feigned confidence, a slightly uncertain tone barely audible in his voice.

Without another word, she digs a small bag out of her pocket. It clinks gently with the familiar sound of gold. As she counts the pieces, the man couldn’t help but imagine the things that he would do with the sudden windfall that he is about to receive. Payment to clear some of his debts? Sure. But first, he would indulge himself and hit the town with some of his drinking buddies. Maybe he could even try to recoup some of his losses in the gambling den. The possibilities were endless.

Without warning, Claudia throws the bag of coins at the still-fantasizing man. It hits his chest with a small thump and a clinking of coins, breaking him out of his reverie. He manages to bring his hands up in time to catch the bag. He greedily counts the money before shoving it deep into his pocket.

“Pleasure doing business with-“

“Get out of my way.” she says sharply as she jostles the man aside. He does not feel Claudia’s deft hand take the bag of money back from his pocket. She may be tired, but her skills have not waned. She darts into shop as quickly as her feet can take her, careful to keep the bag of coins out of sight.

A sweet and cloying aroma engulfs her as soon as she sets foot inside the fortune teller’s shop. She holds her breath as soon as she detects the first waft of the smell, attempting to determine if whatever she is smelling could be harmful. She relaxes by just a touch when she realizes that what she breathed in was nothing more than a mix of herbs to soothe customers. She releases the breath that she has been holding as she hears the half-orc closing the door softly behind her.

He holds out a collection bowl that is half-filled with coins. Claudia empties the bag of gold into it without comment. The half-orc raises an eyebrow.

“You know that paying more won’t get you more questions, right?” he says, his voice still incredulous over the absurd amount that this girl was paying.

“I just want to make sure that I get the answer that I need.” Claudia answers, her impatience clear.

The half-orc shrugs.

“Dapione is through there.” he says as he points towards a doorway covered by tiny crystals hanging on long threads. “Remember, only one question per customer.”

Claudia walks through the doorway with no further comment, the tinkle of crystals following in her wake. The room that she enters is dark, but she is untroubled as her half-elf heritage allows her to see anyway. As she walks towards the table at the center of the room, candles that have been placed around the room begin to come to life. As her eyes follow the trail of the small flames, she feels a small gust of wind to her right just before she realizes that she is no longer alone.

“Please, sit.” purrs a woman in a long, white ensemble, her face completely covered by an intricate crown and more white cloth.

She was not there a second ago, Claudia swears to herself, resisting the urge to unsheathe her hidden dagger. She reads no intent to attack in this woman’s body language, so she takes her seat. Still, she makes sure that she is just out of arm’s reach.

“What is your question?” the woman purrs with a voice that seems to echo through her.

Claudia does not like the way this woman’s voice touches her, yet she clears her throat anyway, preparing herself to talk about her entire sordid affair. She begins to speak, being careful not to reveal anything about her ties with “Them”. Her amnesia. The fragments of her memory. Her nightmares. Her tormentors. It is draining to discuss her fears with this mysterious woman, but in a way, it is also a relief. Claudia pauses for a minute after she finishes her tale, as if to give the oracle time to process her tale.

“What should I do to get my answers?” she asks simply, too tired for anything more complicated.

Dapione seems to stare at her through the cloth covering her face. She then stretches her hand towards Claudia, who flinches away at the motion.

“Give me your hand.” she purrs gently.

Hesitant, Claudia begins to reach for Dapione’s outstretch hand. As soon as they make contact, the oracle’s head snaps back, her eyes and mouth glowing bright yellow against her white mask. She begins chanting in a tongue that Claudia cannot understand. Frightened, but determined to get her answers, Claudia clings tightly to Dapione’s hand.
“Through blood, you lost your place. Through blood, you lost your kin. Through blood, you lost your soul. Only through blood, will you regain all that you have lost.” the oracle says in a large voice that is not her own, her eyes seeming to burn holes through the white cloth.

After a few seconds, the lights behind Dapione’s mask fade out, leaving her gasping for breath. Claudia stares at her expectantly, terrified of what she might have seen.

“Your soul…” Dapione coughs. “It smells like home.”

Claudia’s eyes knot in confusion, the full meaning of the statement not yet sinking in. Dapione undoes her mask, letting it fall to the ground, revealing her face. Claudia’s eyes widen in horror as she realizes that what she earlier dismissed as an intricate crown was actually Dapione’s horns, which were decorated with jewels and metal. The oracle of Whitecrown is a tiefling. Stunned, Claudia does nothing as the blind woman lifts her hand close to her face. She sniffs it tentatively.

“You haven’t had contact with a tiefling recently though, so-“, Dapione begins before she is interrupted by Claudia’s scream.

The terrified girl starts pulling her hand away from Dapione, who lets go immediately.

“What’s going on?!” the half-orc says as he rushes into the room.

Without warning, Claudia leaps up from her chair, causing it to crash to the floor. She darts around the confused half-orc, running as fast as she could to the exit.

“Wait!” Dapione shouts as Claudia slips through the crystal curtain.

She gets up in an attempt to go after the scared girl, but it is too late. She is gone.