The Travels of Eliza Dawnseeker

[Eao]

[This somewhat tattered book consists of yellowed parchment bound in red leather, the cover of which is cluttered with childish scribbles, idle doodles, and a more recent starburst symbol of Lathander. Kept in the bottom of Eliza’s pack, what was once a spellbook appears to have been repurposed as a diary. The first few pages consist of Mass Contagion and Cloudkill, but are nearly completely obscured by crayon drawings of unicorns and butterflies and three stick-figure people: one of them a red-robed man, one of them a small and tailed child, and one of them a winged woman. Text begins on the next page in a childish scrawl]

Day 1!
It is my birthday today! Mommy took me into the city to visit daddy’s tower again, but we got there and they started fighting and stuff and it was not nice, so I went looking around till they stopped. I found this really neat book on a shelf in his book room, and since he had like a bajillion others, I took this one for my birthday present! I always wanted to write a diary but I could never find any paper, so now I can write all kinds of stuff, and have plenty of paper to draw on! I even drew me and mommy and daddy, but I can’t get the color right on mommy’s wings. I wish I had wings…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Day 3
Daddy came by the temple today, yelling at mommy about stealing his book. He called her all sorts of bad words and a “no good stinky alu-fiend”. I do not know what half the stuff meant, but it is fun to say. Alu. Aluuuuu. Aloooo! Mommy said she didn’t take nothing, and daddy left. She asked me later if I took anything and I told her no, but I don’t think she cared cause mommy does not like daddy much.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Day 682
Today, a bunch of people in armor smashed down the door and tried to attack everyone, but mom was able to rouse the acolytes in time to drive them back with spells and weapons. I asked her why someone would be so mean, and she said that people were jealous of us, that they were envious of the gifts that Malcanthet bestowed upon her worshippers. She said that that was why I had to join the church when I was old enough, that people would be jealous of my horns and stuff. I asked her if there would ever be any other children around that I could play with, but she said that other children would be jealous of me too. I kinda wish there were at least a few, though, or that I looked like a normal girl and could have friends.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Day 1440
Another birthday today – mom got me some more clothing as a present, says that I am “sprouting like a weed” and will likely soon outgrow the new clothing anyway. I had to beg her not to get me the same sort of black spiky leather outfit that she seems to love so much for herself. I mean, it looks okay for her, but she is way older than me, and it goes better with her wings. I swear, though, she looked like she was going to be sick when I told her I wanted something simple and bright, like white or yellow, but she got me some clothing anyway, and now I do not look like some dark gloomy creepy girl.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Day 2815
There is a new guard working at the house, and get this, he has a son around my age! Richard is kind of cute, with such dreamy blue eyes and the hottest smile I have ever seen. I wanna talk to him, but every time I think about it, I get nervous and chicken out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Day 2819
Mother saw me talking with Richard today and later took me aside, saying we needed to have what she called “the talk”. One really really embarrassing conversation later, I am wondering if there is anyone… nicer… I could have spoken to instead. I mean, she is my mother, but at the same time, some of the stuff she told me seems kind of… odd. I mean, I do not even own a whip!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Day 2839
Richard is a stupid butt-faced mean poop-head and I hate his guts and hope he dies in a fire and gets eaten by a moose.
He tried to pressure me into doing something I did not wanna do, and when I told him no, he got all angry and called me a “stupid little horn head” and said that tieflings should do what people tell them to do, because humans are better than half-bloods. When I told mother about this, she told me to grow up and stop whining. I hate her too! But when she heard about the humans being better than half blood comment, she looked really angry and started looking at her Whip of Fireballs in the corner.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Day 2840
I heard that Richard and his father died last night in a freak hunting accident. Apparently, boars can throw fireballs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Day 3600
My mother is furious with me at the moment. Today I am finally of the age where I would be expected to join the church of Malcanthet, but I told her that I needed some time to think it over. I swear, she looked like she was going to bust a vein or something. I dunno, I just really don’t see the lure of joining a church that is half a brothel anyway and worshipping some lame-arse succubus queen so I can go around and make life miserable for men and crap like that. I am not a succubus or even an alu-fiend like my mother. Half the time, I think that her being daughter of a succubus is what makes her act the way she does, but the other half of the time I think she is just a cranky bitter woman anyway. What I am worried about is… will I act like her when I am her age? Will I be an angry woman spewing her spite and resentment out on the world around me? Ugh, I really hope not. If I am only a quarter-fiend, Perhaps I will only be one-fourth as much of a b!#ch.
I don’t honestly know what I want to do with my life, really. If I can find a way to not be a priestess of Malcanthet, I suppose I could always learn to be a wizard like my dad. I have not seen him in a while, though, ever since he got some new tattoos. I guess he got promoted or something. I could learn to swing a sword or something, I suppose, and run around adventuring. That does sound kind of fun, to be honest, and I would love to travel, to see new places and meet new people. I do not have a longsword, but one of the recent patrols did manage to find a mace. Maybe I will give that a try.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Day 3645
I think I might go crazy if something does not change soon. Lately, I have just been getting this feeling that I should not be her, that I need to leave this place and these people and all their stupid and evil little rituals and actions and just find somewhere... fresh, and clean, where people are nice and treat each other well. Some place away from my mother, that damnable harpy.
Harpy… now there is a word that best describes her, for all that she has no feathers on her wings and no clawed feet. Her claws are mental, emotional, and she is not afraid to scratch the hell out of anyone that raises her ire. She practically treats me as a stranger now, and likely will do so until I agree to join her in that foul church of hers. I have no desire to join her in worshipping some evil creature of the Abyss, no matter what my tainted blood or heritage may claim. To the hells with Malcanthet, and with my tainted ancestry – I will do what I want, what my heart and my gut tell me. What I want most of all right now is to leave, but I have nothing to sustain me in the world outside these woods, no purpose, no friends. I still have not seen my father in some time, and I have been having a disquieting feeling that he is no paragon of virtues himself.
What I need is something, an excuse, a reason to leave, a proverbial boot out the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Day 3701
I nearly died today…
Diary, I hope you do not mind getting written on a lot, because I have had a long long day.
I was in the house today, practicing swinging my mace around, when the door got blasted off its hinges and a group of adventurers stormed in and started attacking everyone! The house guards and acolytes all came running in to fight them and I jumped behind that hideously ugly green sofa in the corner and hid. It sounded like the world was ending! There was screaming and yelling and the sound of steel on steel. After a while, I mustered up the courage to peek up over the top of the couch and see what was going on. There were four men total: it looked like an elven wizard who was throwing around magic missiles and glowing crap everywhere, an archer, some half-orc with a big axe, and the strangest man I have ever seen… he must have been a cleric or something, because he was practically aglow with this warm golden light, and he was swinging a mace twice the size of my own. He even had a shield, a big one with a picture of a rising sun on it. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him, he looked so… I do not even know how to say it… he looked nice. I mean, granted, he was bashing people’s heads in with the mace, but there was no malice on his face while doing it.
Apparently, though, I must have risen a little too high from behind the couch, because the next thing I know the archer spins to face me and there is this massive pain in my chest. He shot me! I mean, there is a big honkin’ arrow sticking out of my chest. I woulda freaked out, but the next thing I know, everything is getting dark and I must have passed out.
What happened next is quite possible the strangest thing that has happened in my life, and likely the only reason I am alive to write in you today. I started to see light, and I am thinking “Oh crap, I am dead. Do I head towards the light? Am I allowed to head towards the light, even, or do I have to turn my tail around and march away from it?” Apparently, though, I was not actually dead, because I manage to open my eyes and see that the light was actually coming from the cleric! He was leaning over me, his hand on the wound left by the arrow, and the pain was getting less and less, and I was feeling stronger. He was healing me! Why would he heal me!? His face, though… it was like the face of… everything a parent should be. It was warm and happy and he was smiling and it was so reassuring… I felt that everything would be okay, that this man was the answer to my un-spoken prayers, that he would know how I could escape this life of misery.
Then, of course, that damnable harpy of a woman that is unfortunately my mother entered the room. BAM! Fireball lights up the place, I close my eyes and curl into a ball. When the noise and the heat stops (one of the few times I have been thankful for my tainted blood, or at least the slight protection it grants me against fire) I open my eyes, and the adventuring party is now extra crispy… even the man that saved my life. My mother yells at me for not running out of the room when the trouble first started then leaves. No “Are you okay?” and no “Holy crap, why is your chest bloody?”. B!#ch. Not even a word that she was glad that I was okay.
I guess I will give the cleric a proper burial or something in the morning. It is the least I can do…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Day 3702
I cannot believe I am doing this… I feel like I am going to get caught, but I do not care any longer. If anyone should find this diary, know that I at least tried to escape. Unless it is you reading this, mother, in which case go kiss a balor.
I woke up early this morning and dragged the cleric out into the clearing by the house and started to dig a hole – he did save my life, after all, so it is the least I can do, right? Well, I dig a hole, and I tip the guy over into it. I go to put his shield and mace by his hands (I can barely lift the things) and when I do so, my hand brushes the thing around his neck – I know a holy symbol when I see one, after spending so much time around mother – and all of a sudden I just get this feeling. I do not even know how to describe it, other than to say it was like a shout in my heart, a warmth in my head, a flow of… courage, for lack of a better word. All of the nagging feelings that have been clouding my thoughts for the past few months just up and vanished like shadows before the light of this feeling. I had to get out of here! To get free! To the abyss with self-doubt and dragging my feet and lethargy, I needed to act! So, I pocketed this holy symbol, this sunburst, and finished burying the bloke.
I ran back to the house, grabbed my diary (I ain’t going anywhere without you), my mace, and some food, and went back out – told the guards that I was going to go see if there were any more adventurers out there lurking nearby. As soon as the house was out of sight, I ran, and ran, and ran until my feet ached and my legs burned, the holy symbol a comforting weight in my pocket that led me to redouble my efforts every time I felt it press against me.
I have been going east so far, and I figure I will keep going east, see what is out there. Maybe find some nice village to settle down in and figure out just what the hells is going on with this holy symbol. So much of what mother told me seems wrong when I look back at it now – I am sure that her tales of the discrimination faced by tieflings will prove to be just as exaggerated as well. Hells, it is not like I will get chased with torches and pitchforks, right?