The Grave Digger's Journey

**The Grave Digger's Journey** is the Origin story of Shoshani Gamgee.

The Origin is named for Shoshani's uncanny ability to get several people killed during the course of her lifetime; literally digging their graves for them.

## Summary

Shoshani is a rogue with a thirst for adventure traveling with Erol Waleigh and Luisito Thalia. This story follows her beginnings as a thief from Wraith all the way to her current situation on Ka.

## Plot Synopsis

### Part I: The 54th Grand Commencement

A young Shoshani Aries recalls murdering her parents by stealing the Alinian Lifestone and causing a riot among the people. Her father and mother were close with the King, whom died once the Lifestone went missing, and Shoshani framed her father by planting the Lifestone on him, due to him forgetting her birthday. Shoshani fled to Wraith on the night of her parents' execution.

Years later, Shoshani travels with a woman named Uupa and does contract work for a guild of thieves known as the Vulvans. On a trip to Sheraton Island, they come across the Grand Commencement tournament and decide to enter. Shoshani meets Samwise Gamgee, and she is impressed by his power. He says that he will train her if she wins the tournament. For the first round she will face a large monster, and Uupa informs her that all the fights are deathmatches.

Shoshani considers fleeing, but after a surprise encounter with Vesuvius Slade she proves her strength to herself and to Samwise. She goes back to the tournament and easily slays the beast.

With the preliminary round over, Shoshani goes back with Uupa to the campground and rests for the second round. Shoshani asks Uupa what she would do if they had to fight, and Uupa simply replies that she would kill Shoshani. Feeling lonely, angry, and upset, a wayward Shoshani goes to Samwise’s cabin. She finds him there with Vesuvius and another two men. Samwise introduces her to Alden Juniper, and Severus Rowling. He informs her that the three men are his disciples, and reiterates how impressed he was by her fight with Vesuvius. Vesuvius dismisses it as luck, but he is clearly impressed as well.

The night goes on and Samwise and Shoshani watch the sun rise together. She falls asleep on his shoulder, and Samwise carries her back to the camp. He says a small prayer to “The Light” that she does not die in this tournament, but in his eyes it is obvious this may be impossible. He walks away and leaves her to rest.

The second and third round go swimmingly. But the semifinals will see Shoshani facing Uupa. She goes to Uupa and tells her that she doesn’t want to lose her, because of how much she cares about the woman. She and Uupa have been partners since Shoshani was 16, and Uupa was the reason she was accepted into the Vulvans at such a young age. Uupa states that she would be insulted if Shoshani backed out simply because of who she is, and then calls Shoshani a “coward” for always letting her feelings get in the way of what must be done.

A scorned Shoshani fights Uupa the next day in the tournament. Shoshani has trouble at first, but overcomes Uupa. Uupa is knocked unconscious which means Shoshani is the winner, as tournament rules count knock-outs as victories just as they count a kill. Shoshani, remembering what Uupa said the night before, does not stop. She draws her blade and wakes Uupa up, pushing her knee into her throat to cut off her breathing. Uupa begs for her life, but Shoshani does not stop, saying “it’s just business.” She then proceeds to stab Uupa repeatedly in her face until the woman drowns in blood, and the crowd watches in horror. The only person who doesn’t flinch is Vesuvius. Once again he seems impressed.

Shoshani goes on to the finals but is defeated by Vesuvius. She begs for him to kill her, but he does not grant her wish. Embarrassed, Shoshani runs into the woods and cries on a stump. A man appears before her and tells her “you must not let your emotions win.” He tells her to “be strong” and to make her “heart out of diamond to stop the iron blades of the world from penetrating her.” Shoshani thanks the man, who claims to be simply known as Onyx of the Woods.

She goes back to Samwise and asks to be his student. She apologizes for losing to Vesuvius. Samwise tells her that Vesuvius will need to decide if he should allow Shoshani to continue with them. She goes to Vesuvius who asks if Shoshani is “stronger than death.” A tear falls down Shoshani’s cheek and she tells Vesuvius that she is “the strongest diamond in the whole fucking universe.” Vesuvius smiles, and accepts her as an apprentice.

### Part II: The Road to Omega

The story opens two years later. Shoshani is now a powerful
contender in the 60th Grand Commencement. She kills with ease, and
during the final leg of the tournament she plans to finally defeat Vesuvius. She
asks Vesuvius to do a blessing for her that night, and he agrees. Vesuvius
requests strength from his mother, Eleanor of Hathia, and Shoshani notes that
Eleanor is a beautiful name. During the blessing Shoshani is bit by a spider
and falls ill. She is unable to fight in the tournament. She is healed by
Samwise, her teacher, and she expresses her gratitude for him immensely. The
two end up making love on a riverbank, and Shoshani becomes pregnant.

She makes multiple attempts to kill the unborn baby, but she
fails. Samwise learns from Alden that she is pregnant and he takes her to meet
Anastacia Runehartz, the court wizard of Spero. Anastacia blesses the baby, and
then begins to discuss something in private with Samwise. Shoshani is only able
to make out, “this will settle your debt,” before Samwise puts his head down
and turns very red.

Later that evening, Shoshani requests information on what
went on earlier that night. Samwise responds by getting down on one knee, putting
a hand on Shoshani’s stomach, and asking her to marry him. She reluctantly
accepts, and only does so because of Samwise’s power and her new need to depend
on someone.

Later in the evening, Vesuvius tells Shoshani not to go
through with the wedding. He tells her that Anastacia Runehartz is a terrible
villain, and she is using Samwise for his power and influence. Shoshani
dismisses the claims and in the night, Vesuvius departs from the group.

Months pass, and Shoshani is now living on the planet Omega in
a small town named Shepherd along with Samwise. She gives birth in a clearing
in the woods, and she locks eyes with a status of Hades as she pushes her baby
out. Samwise, Alden, and Severus are present for the birth. Vesuvius lingers in
the trees and watches. She notices him but does not call out, opting to name
her daughter after his mother to honor him. Alden, unfamiliar with writing common
language, spells the name ‘Elanor’ instead of “Eleanor.”

That night, Samwise informs her that they must make their
way to Camp Antonia for the “Rapture.” She packs her things and they set off.

They do not return to Shepherd for several years.

Shoshani states she has no memory of her time in Camp
Antonia.

### Part III: Nemesis Meets the Livaseer

The next chapter begins with Shoshani noticing a pair of her
most expensive earrings are missing. She finds it in Elanor’s toy chest amongst
several other artifacts that members of the town have griped about being
stolen. She goes to Elanor, who is in the backyard digging a grave for her
deceased pet, Garrix. She kneels next to her child and kisses her on the
forehead. Shoshani thinks, “If one thing was to be burned in the mind of my
child, it was that stealing is the only way to make it in a universe like ours.
Steal your way to the top. I stole the virginity of a lonely magician, and
became one of the most powerful women in the galaxy. I stole a last name.
Gamgee. Not only for me, but for my daughter. So if she wants to steal just
like her mother did before her then I will not only reward her for it, I will help
her do it.” That evening, the two traveled to Garrison and stole an expensive
amulet from a group of dwarves in the Fighter’s Guild. They flee back to
Shepherd in the cover of the night, but are spotted by one dwarf. He pursues.

The dwarf breaks into the Gamgee home in the middle of the
night, and is beaten senseless by Shoshani. Alden arrives to see the affair. He
helps her with the issue by charming the man, making him think that it was the
work of the guards in Garrison. He states, “They have been stealing from your
kind for a long time. Perhaps you should make a stand.” The dwarf leaves in a
daze, and Shoshani tells Alden that she does not appreciate his help, insisting
that he may of just put a family in grave danger.

Out of guilt, the next morning she goes back to Garrison,
and hears a report that the captain of the guard’s home was broken into by a
group of dwarves from the guild. His wife was killed.

Out of fear that she will be hunted as a conspirator, she
tells Elanor she must go on a trip. Elanor is happy to live on her own, as
Shoshani has always been a very inept parent. Shoshani sets off on a trip that
lasts over a decade.

Our first look at her journey is back in the Vulvan’s in the
9030’s. She is now a famous thief once more known as Nemesis. She steals a lot
from Roamsen and sells to the pirates in the Quell. She meets the Thief King,
Kelvin Balmore, and the two begin a passionate affair.

Shoshani admits that her main reason for pursuing Kelvin is
due to missing Samwise. When she finds out he is married she becomes angry,
even though she is married as well (unbeknownst to him). Before she can act,
his scorned wife poisons him, causing him to die while arguing with Shoshani.
She flees once more and while on the road in New Tides she runs into her
husband. The two embrace and then go together to meet with Severus in the
Golden City. In private, he questions Shoshani. He insinuates that she has had
an affair, and claims that Shoshani is pregnant.

In the night, Shoshani goes to the nearby Fallen City and
has a shaman abort the baby. It succeeds. An emotionally damaged Shoshani does
not say bye to her husband.

Shoshani ends up in Three Rocks. She is recognized by a man
as the thief Nemesis and the town chases her out with pitchforks and torches.
She cowers in the Grove and finds solace in Maphrodite, the Livaseer of Omega.
Shoshani calls Maphrodite the “mother she never had” and the two have an
instant connection. Maphrodite shelters Shoshani for several weeks.

Shoshani notices that Maphrodite regularly meets with a
small group. She seems distressed after each meeting, so Shoshani asks how she
can help. She is told they are searching for the Mask of Metronomus, which is
said to be deep within an ancient city somewhere on Omega. The Others (as she
calls them) are unable to search for it themselves, so Maphrodite has been
searching for it. Shoshani says she will go looking for it, and a jubilant Maphrodite
calls upon two of her other disciples to set out with her.

She is immediately recognized by the two as Nemesis. But
they respect her as a powerful and important member of their group. Before
leaving, she shares a moment with Maphrodite - the only woman she’s ever truly
loved, and then she leaves the Grove.

At this time she is unaware that Irabella is controlling
Maphrodite, and as she walks off into the night with Luisito Thalia and Erol Waleigh
she finds herself saying a prayer for her daughter, and then for her husband.

### Part IV: The Man of Lore

As the story progresses, Shoshani’s deterioration becomes
more and more apparent. She is sleeping with Erol Waleigh regularly, and this
affair seems to be on the borderline of rape. He becomes dependent on her for
physical stimulation, and she admits to Luisito that she only does it because
of how he fawns over her. Erol, only being 18 at the time of traveling with the
two, is unable to fight back her advances. He speaks out against her at
multiple points in the story but she does not listen. She silences him several
times by raping him.

Luisito keeps an extensive journal of the incidents
happening within the group. They come no closer to finding the Mask. Maphrodite
confronts Shoshani about her treatment of Erol but by this time the shell
around Shoshani’s heart keeps even her out. She does not want to invest in
anyone, and tells her that the personal relationship that Erol and she are
building does not involve anyone but the two of them.

On a trip to Sheer the group helps a wayward soul named
Felipe Nevarro. Shoshani does not detail the account. She describes Felipe as a
spoiled brat. She states that “he is so lost in lust that he no longer knows
himself. A pitiful disillusion.”

The only event of note that occurs at the Kingdom of Rotten
Hearts is the violent rape of Erol in the throne room. She breaks Erol’s nose
and does significant damage to his body with her nails. She states that Erol
may have had a seizure during the intercourse, but the intensity of the sex did
not allow her to stop. As the situation continues to worsen, Erol has no other
choice but to put an end to the mistreatment. He attempts to drown Shoshani on
the way back to the Grove, but she overpowers him and brutally sodomizes him
with an oak tree branch.

Erol leaves in the night for his own sanity. Luisito parts
ways with Shoshani as well, claiming that she is “a monster of no comparison to
any he’s met in his existence.”

Shoshani cries alone in the woods. Severus Rowling appears
to her and sits next to her, telling her of the child in her womb once more. He
asks if she will get rid of it as she did the last, and she says no. She says
she will birth this one and raise it correctly.

Severus asks Shoshani why she continued to torture the young
Erol at such a malleable time in his life, and Shoshani tells him of Uupa
molesting her when she was a very young girl. It wasn’t until she got to this
point in her life that she realized she was being molested, and what she did to
Erol was her way to reclaim her power. She tells Severus that in the Grand
Commencement when she had the opportunity to spare Uupa, she did not. A part of
her believes that is due to the negative treatment she received from Uupa. Since
the woman tarnished her identity, Shoshani’s payback was stabbing her in the
face. But the pain she inflicted did not remove the pain in her heart. Severus
asks if Shoshani believes she loved Uupa, and Shoshani cries in his arms after
admitting the possibility. She calls out for her daughter in the woods, and
Vesuvius stands nearby, watching over her as always.

Elsewhere, Elanor awakens in the middle of the night.
Attalia and Klemens are both asleep. She sits up in the darkness of a chamber
inside of Death’s Fury. Even though her mother called out to her, Shoshani
never crosses her mind. She spends the whole night thinking of and thanking her
father, for he had just saved her life.

### Part V: The Fools Who Ruined Me

The
final chapter opens months later. Shoshani is in a Halfling community in
Praxin, spending time with her distant cousin, Olo Ashworthy. The two go out to
hunt for food but they are separated during the hunt. Shoshani comes across the
clearing where she gave birth to Elanor, and Maphrodite appears to her
demanding that she resume her search for the Mask. Shoshani does not believe
Erol and Luisito would travel with her again, but Maphrodite disagrees. She
tells Shoshani where Erol is and that he is about to marry the Von Shaft
daughter. Shoshani, having a personal history with Goemon, decides she must go
to Kamikaze to talk to Erol.

On the
day of Rosemary Von Shaft’s wedding to the Man of Lore, Shoshani pays Erol a
visit. She apologizes for everything and tells him that she was pregnant with
his child, but that it died during childbirth. Erol is angry due to all of the
pain Shoshani caused him. He goes to strike Shoshani but is stopped by
Maphrodite. She makes the two of them apologize for abandoning her, and she
informs them that the Mask has been located by Nikodemus Greyhawk.

Erol
begrudgingly accepts the invitation to go back to Praxin with Shoshani, but
says he must stay for his wedding first. Shoshani curses Rosemary under her
breath, and is surprised to find out that moments later Rosemary is killed by
Klein Klemens. Erol takes a moment in the courtyard to mourn her loss, but as
things go from bad to worse, she and Erol must escape the city.

That
night, as Erol goes over his past journal entries, he makes mention of a group
known as the Nefarious Seven. Shoshani pretends to have never heard of them,
all while keeping the secret to herself that she is a member.

A
flashback opens of a scene months earlier. Shoshani looks down into a coliseum
and watches as a group of young men fight a large dragon. She looks to her left
and right and sees multiple people, including Vesuvius Slade and the legendary
Queen, Anima. The description ends quickly.

Erol is
wary of Shoshani until an attack from a group of skeletons.  Shoshani saves his life from the Armored Being
and the two reconnect platonically. They set sail for Praxin and arrive to find
it is surrounded by a mysterious force field. She calls out for Vesuvius’ help
but he does not respond. Erol says that instead of going to get more information
from Nikodemus, they should simply go to the Abyss and search for the Mask
themselves. The two arrive at the ancient city at the pit of the Abyss and
enter the church of the Quanari to find the Mask. Maphrodite meets them in the
dungeon of the church along with Luisito, whom has been trying to protect her
from several attacks from the Quanari. Erol is able to get them out of the
abyss by using a teleportation spell, and they find themselves back in New
Tides.

The
first thing Shoshani notices upon returning to New Tides is that the sky has
changed colors. It is now a dark shade of red. Maphrodite insists that time is
running out and that they must get to Praxin in order to stop the Warriors of
Light from being captured by Anima.

They
travel back to Praxin to find that the force field is gone. They head to Lyonus
and find that it has been ravaged by the Disciples of Carnage. Shoshani comes across
the body of her daughter Elanor but notes that she “feels no pain over the
loss.”

The
three wander into the Castle and are attacked by the Spirit of Romulus.
Shoshani states that it is attempting to find a new soul to Entwine with, so
the group quickly leaves the castle.

Shoshani
has an odd conversation with Luisito about Maphrodite. She believes that he is
hiding something from them but doesn’t have time to pursue it as they arrive at
Death’s Fury. The plan is to find Samwise Gamgee in order to get his help to
escape Omega with the Warriors of Light, and to take Animus with them as a
hostage per Maphrodite’s orders.

A
chance encounter with Anastacia Runehartz at the base of the volcano leaves the
group weary from battle. Anastacia will do anything to keep the O.M.E.G.A.
Experiment going, even if that means killing the Warriors of Light spoken so
highly of in Anima’s Prophecy. She states that Maphrodite is not the same as
she was at the beginning of the Experiment, and that her soul has been ravaged
by another. Before Shoshani can understand what Anastacia means, she vanishes.

Erol
tells Shoshani and Luisito of Irabella Roseheart as they climb the volcano. He
says that Irabella was against the Experiment, and along with a group of
mercenaries she came to Omega to stop it before the “Rapture” even began. But
Irabella was not strong enough to defeat Anastacia. The great General Edwin
DeLais killed Irabella in cold blood. Luisito tells Erol that Irabella is still
alive, and that she has an Entwining spirit just as Romulus does. Erol
dismisses the claim.

As they
enter the castle to take Animus and the Warriors of Light hostage, Shoshani
recalls her true mission. She must get the Warriors of Light away from Omega
and Wraith long enough for Vesuvius and the other members of the Nefarious
Seven to drain the planets. She will do so by making up some crazy quest and
keeping them on the Ethereal Plane for as long as possible. She isn’t quite
sure how she will keep Erol away from the Warriors, and she also isn’t sure
what Luisito is hiding from them. But for the first time in a long time,
Shoshani feels hopeful.

As the
door opens and she sees Samwise Gamgee and the deceased Animus, the hope
immediately disappears. And her next journey begins.

## Characters

* Maphrodite Tomě
* Elanor Gamgee
* Erol Waleigh
* Felipe Nevarro
* Irabella Roseheart
* Luisito Thalia
* Uupa Garrick
* Samwise Gamgee
* Severus Rowling
* Shoshani Gamgee
* Vesuvius Slade