He was born to the Silverdawn family in Luskan.

Though the devil blood from an

ancient pact made centuries ago in that family ran strong in his veins, it did not
manifest in his appearance, but for one slight change. He was born a fair skinned
elven child with black hair, his eyes, yellow as a bar of gold, took his parents aback.
His father, Thamior, assumed that it was simply a side of effect of the magic the
child was exposed to before his birth and paid it no mind. The child was named
Paelias Silverdawn and grew up healthy and fit, being privately tutored in
preparation for a wizards education. Though Paelias seemed capable of grasping
the concepts in his lessons, he often seemed more interested in playing pranks and
chasing fleeting whims then studying and all through his childhood strange things
would happen, seeming to share his state of mind. One day a strange little burst of
green flame started on a textbook that the young lad particularly hated. It was a
tenday before a replacement could be procured. Paelias spent the tenday shirking
his lessons, running through the woods and chasing fireflies.
Another notable instance a few years later involved a young elven maiden feeling a
gentle pinch on her rump as bent forward tending a flower garden. She gasped,
jumped straight and looked around but no one seemed to be near, there were
various elves going about their business in the distance, the closest being Paelias,
watching from a nearby rooftop, wearing a surprised grin with the last few traces of
amber light fading from his eyes; but she was alone in the courtyard. It seemed
that Paelias blood was gripped at least as much by his Fey ancestry.
Thamior, growing ever more perplexed, was there to see that occurrence as well as
every occurrence before and after, noting the seeming randomness of magic that
still conveniently served Paelias so well. He was fast coming to conclusion that his
son was imbued with some strange magic he could not account for and had never
heard of, save for what he read in texts describing sorcerers.
As Paelias grew, and the strange happenings began to reflect stronger and stronger
magic, a lady devil, Nemeia, began to take note of his progress and saw potential
for yet another minion to add to her collection. She too, began to watch with
increasing interest, noting everything for the day she would make her approach to
the young elf. One thing that she could not decipher was why he did not look like a
tiefling, aside from his eyes of course.
As Paelias approached his 21st birthday, his father began attempting to teach him
simple wizardly cantrips, these Paelias could not seem to grasp consistently. Some
days he would not be able to conjure even a glimmer of light to dance, and other
days he would conjure an orb so bright, that they would be blinking purplish haze
from their vision for days afterwards. The elf mage could not delude himself,
especially not in light of all the evidence. It was clear that his son was born a
sorcerer. This, in itself, was not so bad. Sorcerers can become quite powerful and
there is no shame in such a gift; but in searching for clues as to the source of his
power, nothing could give a clue, nothing but his eyes. Viewed from the context of

sorcery, Thamior couldnt help but wonder if those eyes signaled a devilish heritage.
He decided that he must confirm his sons sorcerous nature before making
assumptions about anything else. He determined the best test to be an attempt to
teach him a very basic wizardly spell that a sorcerer cannot learn: Find Familiar.
Nemeia, watching through a scrying pool as Thamior told his son the spell he
planned to teach him, saw an opportunity to make contact with the elf lad. She
called for her servants, telling them to fetch various components and spellcasters as
the plan continued to form.
The day had come for Paelias to attempt the summoning. His father had drilled him
and drilled him, making sure that he knew each inflection of each syllable perfectly.
Finally he had become convinced that his son knew every aspect of the spell
perfectly and had but to pair that with the magical summons. He told his son to
head out into the forest for the summoning, knowing that it would fail if he
accompanied him. So Paelias set out, hiking deep into the forest, seeking a prime
location for his summoning. His father had not shared his suspicions with him, only
telling him that wizards must always study until they collapse from exhaustion to
ensure the perfect spell. Paelias still had a headache from the study and felt
absolutely certain he would succeed.
Finding a clearing he began to set everything up but paused, looking around, having
thought he heard a giggle. He scanned the treeline, yellow eyes flicking back and
forth, trying to determine if there was something there. The sound of the laughter
had set a thrill through his heart and he couldnt help the grin as he looked. After
searching for a while and finding nothing, he stopped looking, assuming that his
imagination was simply getting the better of him. Crestfallen, he turned back to his
equipment, only to find the gem he had placed down was gone. He began casting
about frantically, trying to find the most rare and expensive focus to the spell that
his father had provided. Suddenly he felt a sharp pain on the back of his head and
turned to see that the gem had been thrown at him from behind. He leaped up and
around gem clutched in his hand and felt a prick on his bottom. This time he caught
a trail of sparkles and a pair of tiny feet fading into invisibility and heard that giggle
again. I saw you that time! He cried as he cast about, searching for the little
being. Catch me if you can! A tiny voice cried as a pixie faded into view, garbed
in tiny vines all about her and fluttering her purple butterfly wings. She waved the
charcoal that he needed for his spell, giggled again, and zipped off into the wood.
Laughing aloud, Paelias immediately leaped after the pixie, leaving everything
behind in the clearing. Oh I will catch you for sure little fairy! He jumped over
roots, dodged tree trunks and swung from low branches, all the while following the
sound of the pixies delighted giggling. As it became clear he could not catch her
this way, he grew frustrated and desired more and more to catch her. Little did he
know that his eyes were beginning to glow, suddenly his perspective changed, a
massive oak tree that he had noticed beyond the pixie was suddenly right in front of

his face. He started as he felt a thump on his back. Whirling around, he saw the
pixie falling, a wing slightly crumpled. He reached out and gently caught her and
the charcoal, apologizing for the accident and slowly lowering himself to sit on the
mossy ground, lowering his hand so that she was an easy step away from the
ground. She looked up at him in time to see the last flickers of light leaving his eyes
as she faded from consciousness.
Paelias sat there at a loss as to how to help her. She seemed to be breathing
normally, but her wing was still bent. It seemed so delicate that he dare not touch it.
He looked around and shouted out to any pixies or other Fey creatures that might
be around. He paused for a moment and waited but it seemed she had ventured out
alone today. He looked down at her and noticed her beauty for the first time, she
had raven dark hair, glossy and flowing. Her skin was pale and dotted with the
occasional freckle. Amongst the vines, one could just barely make out her ribcage
and small abdominal muscles as she lay there, splayed out in his palm. Her legs and
feet were bare, dainty yet clearly well-muscled for one of her size. She did not seem
bursting with muscle, more the supple readiness of an athlete then the bulging
sinews of a barbarian. He resolved to find aid for her and stood up, just in time to
feel another prick in his side, he looked down and saw a tiny arrow protruding,
though it seemed to warp oddly, twisting and stretching as his vision faded to black.
The last thing he did before passing out was to gently cup the pixie, clasping her to
his chest and twisting so he fell on his back to protect her. Then he knew nothing.
Thamior did not worry after the fourth hour had passed, knowing his son to be
especially free-spirited but trusting that he would attempt the spell soon, by the
sixth hour he grew concerned and on the seventh hour, trust be damned, he
prepared to scry through the gem he had given Paelias. An arcane focus, he had
told his son as he gave it to him and his son thought nothing of it. As the spell
completed, the mirror clouded over, then resolved to nothing, just blackness on
the mirror and nothing to be heard. Unfortunately, Thamios could not be sure that it
just wasnt in a pocket, but given the delay, he had to assume something was
wrong. He immediately hired scouts and levied favors from his compatriots in the
hosttower. Rangers crept through the wood, diviners scryed, and conjurers swept
over the wood on conjured clouds, all for nothing. The fey in Neverwinter Wood had
hidden from men in the centuries since men had roved the area. It would take more
than a general search to uncover them.
Paelias awoke restrained, ropes holding his arms above his head and he legs tied
together in a kneeling position. All he had on was his loose over robe and trouser,
his tunic had been removed as had his shoes. It was not the most comfortable way
to repose, but it seemed that they had not intentionally been cruel, just uncaring.
Several sprites stood guard, bows at the ready should their prisoner try to cast a
spell or call for help. Paelias was considering doing just that when a sprite caught
his eye. He noiselessly shook his head and motioned with his bow, arrow set. As
Paelias glanced at the arrow, he saw a droplet fall from the arrow and nodded once,

closing his mouth tighter as he remembered how quick that poison could take
effect. He would need to be conscious for a better escape opportunity. The sprites
snapped to attention as a door opened and the pixie he had played with before
walked in, escorted by two very well armored sprites, each wielding long spears and
decked in full plate armor made from walnut shells and glimmering with
enchantment. Paelias looked over the pixie again and sighed in obvious relief to
see her wing restored.
She looked up at Paelias restrained how he was and giggled, lifting into the air and
lighting on his shoulder. Sorry youre all tied up, the sprites think you were trying to
kill me, she widened her eyes and placed her hands on her cheeks in mock horror,
some even say you were trying to eat me! The sprites in the room looked away
with faces turning red. She looked at them all with a faint air of amusement. They
can be a little overzealous and they gossip more than human grandmothers! She
tittered into her hand. They still refuse to let you go, apparently some elf wizard
has the entire hosttower searching all through these woods and they are afraid you
will lead them back here. A justified concern. She looked over at Paelias sternly,
they have lived here for centuries untouched after all. She poked his cheek firmly,
you wouldnt dare think of telling anyone how to get here. She stamped her foot
on his shoulder and put her hands on her hips in a picture of outrage slightly ruined
by the mischievous smirk on her face. Paelias sighed and shook his head, I was
unconscious the entire time, I dont know how to get here. She fluttered from his
shoulder to float before him, lowering down as she spoke, you wouldnt happen to
be concentrating on any spells at the moment would you? Paelias shook his head
and started to respond, but instead burst out into laughter as the pixie dove under
his robe, tickling up his stomach and ribs, under his arms and down his back, flitting
out from under the robe and down to his bare feet. I swear! No spells! Paelias
gasped as he recovered from the tickling, only to start howling even louder as the
pixie danced her way over his feet before fluttering back around to float before him
yet again. She turned towards the sprites, see, no spells, and bowed low toward
them in midair. The sprites looked over her at the elven boy squirming and still
laughing every so often, trying to recover from the unexpected assault. They looked
at each other and nodded, themselves flitting up to untie him. He settled back when
he was untied, rubbing at his wrists and smiled at the pixie. She smiled back, then
looked sad for a moment and said, one more thing, they still need to take you out
of their realm and- she shrugged. Paelias sighed, I know, and held his arm out to
one of the bow wielding sprites who looked up at Paelias with an apologetic
expression and then pricked his hand. As before Paelias passed out very quickly.
He awoke sometime later in the same clearing where he first set up for casting the
spell, it was the same time of day as before when he first chased off after the pixie
so he wondered if he had just dreamt the whole thing. At least, he thought that for a
moment until an unbearable tickling engulfed his right foot and he fell back
laughing and scraping his foot against the groud, trying to find some relief when it

stopped as suddenly as it started. He pulled off his shoe and looked at his foot to
see a message:
Paelias,
It was an absolute joy to meet you, you are very pleasant for a tiefling. I think I will
find you again, perhaps to leave you more notes!
-Ceana
Suddenly the message faded from his foot and a small strip of parchment with the
same message appeared on the ground. Also appearing was a small ring, really a
belt for a pixie. Paelias put it on and suddenly felt the connection of the life all
around him. It was all very vague, just a deeper connection to what he knew was
already there, but it was a marvelous sensation. He soaked it in for a moment but
his spirits soon fell again as he read the note. A tiefling? Is that why my eyes are
yellow? He muttered to himself distractedly and so didnt notice when his father
drifted down out of the sky behind him, reading the strip of parchment.
It sounds as though you have quite a story for us son a deep sonorous voice rolled
over Paelias. We were concerned for your safety, the entire hosttower was out, it
will be a sleepy day as all the wizards rest to relearn their spells, Thamior chuckled.
Lets get back home son. He turned to begin the long walk back through the
verdant, green wood.
A tiefling? Thamior turned at his sons subdued voice. A tiefling! Paelias
shouted, rising from the ground and growing angrier with each passing second. A
TIEFLING?! Paelias bellowed into the sky, throwing his arms wide. His eyes began
to glow and he rose into the air. How could you keep this from me?! How could you
pretend I was different?! Paelias pierced Thamior with his gaze. Son, I did not
know. Only your eyes would have suggested that heritage, but without the skin I
could only assume it was a random quirk of the magic we are surrounded with every
day. Today was to be a test, I believe you to be a sorcerer and a success or failure at
this spell would have shown me the truth. I did not wish to alarm you without being
certain.
Congratulations father, I lived a life of ignorant bliss, a tiefling walking openly
through the hosttower. How many others suspected? How many others whispered
behind my back?? Paelias screamed out, Perhaps I should just summon a devil to
pact with now and be done with it!! At that moment, the light glowing in his eyes
exploded outwards, blinding them both and throwing Paelias down.
When it faded, they both looked to see an Erinye standing atwixt them, her fiendish
beauty entrancing them both. She wore very little over her dusky red skin, smooth
and supple. She stood barefoot, nails trimmed back and clean, rather unlike the
talons both the elves expected. Her slender, yet muscled legs canted at an angle,

thrusting her curvy hips to the side. She wore a sort of thin cloth that covered very
little of her fiendish garden. Their eyes couldnt help but follow the slight v
created where her legs join her hips. Her stomach, smooth and taut, flowed
seamlessly up to her ribs and above. Another slight cloth wound around her breasts,
covering the center and supporting them upwards, leaving her upper chest bare
aside from the beginnings of a sheer, silken robe swirling gracefully down and
around her form, continuously undulating as though stirred by a gentle breeze and
framing a deceptively delicate neck and collarbone leading up to a soft, curved and
dimpled face, bearing a smile wide enough to show the tips of two small fangs
poking out of dark and pert lips. Yellow eyes with vertical pupils gleamed devilishly
under slender eyebrows, resting against a smooth forehead out of which sprouted
two slim horns. Her flowing black hair was captured by an obviously enchanted tiara
made completely of diamond. She fixed her gaze on Paelias, how may I service
you? Conveying through her tone a level of carnality that would make a succubus
blush.
Paelios was completely befuddled, mouth hanging wide, completely overwhelmed
by feelings he never felt before. A stirring deep within that longed for release, a
need that he never knew to be so strong weakening his limbs and dulling his
senses. All he could see were those eyes, everything else was washed out in a
torrent of red, a roaring in his ears and a fire in his core.
Thamior was similarly entranced, however he retained the presence of mind to
wonder how she had gotten here, as Paelias had in no way phrased a summons. He
also noted several wands and rings on her person, though from behind even less
was covered and her pert rump resting just below a very expressive tail and a
completely bare and smooth back were giving poor Thamior some serious trouble in
staying mentally faithful.
I am Nemeia. She was speaking now in a lustful whisper, speaking every inflection
as though screaming take me now. If you areinterested. I believe that you and I
canjoin together in a very pleasant partnership. She stepped closer and he
suddenly became very aware of her scent, somehow making the charring of wood
and earth, sensual. She leaned forward to whisper into his ear, sliding a hand along
his flat stomach and resting on his chest while her tail slipped into his trousers,
snaking along his inner thigh, emanating warmth all the way.
Thamior recovered first, beginning a silent chant, thinking to detect the nature of
any enchantments on her. She was aware of this but decided to let him so he could
truly understand just how unprepared he was. Thamior completed the spell and fell
back, gasping. This devil was so heavily enchanted, a greater water elemental could
naught but tickle her. Still, this was his son who was truly out of his league. He had
to help somehow. Thamior began another chant, meaning to call for help. This she
would not allow. She pulled away from Paelias, who couldnt help but sigh in
disappointment.

Quiet now beautiful. Nemeia backed her words with magical power and Thamior
found himself silenced. I will play with you later, for now, just wait there. Thamior
was suddenly held, there was nothing he could do but watch as she moved back to
Paelias, whispering in his ear again. Just make a deal with me and I can satisfy
every desire you are fighting against. Right. Now. She licked his earlobe and Paelias
nearly passed out. He began to speak, about to agree when he thought of Ceana.
He saw her face in his mind and she was crestfallen and despairing to watch him
surrender and partner with such evil. Her disappointment saddened him and,
though they had only just met, he found the strength of will to break free of the
enchantment being woven around him. Suddenly he saw her not just for her
features, undeniably beautiful and alluring. He saw her for her heart, twisted and
warped with evil. Disgusted, he pushed her back, ripping her tail from his trousers
and leaped back, eyes flaring with yellow and cut loose with a wordless snarl. This
sound was accompanied roots rising from the earth and wrapping her down.
Unbeknownst to them, this burst also carried with it a message that every nature
wielder in the area could hear, detailing the presence of a devil and the need for
help.
Ceana looked up from teasing a sparrow in sudden concern. She was immediately
on her way, calling to any dryads she passed along the. Though they were quite
distant, they were moving quickly with Dryads carrying them through trees. Help
was on the way.
Nemeia found herself fully engulfed in almost a full thicket of roots, all that Paelias
could see of her was her head, her feet, and her stomach. He could also tell that the
slips of cloth had fallen away in the root tangle and that thought almost entrapped
him again, but he firmly fastened an image of Ceana in his mind, giggling as she
held up the charcoal and teased him. With a wistful smile on his face, he took a
page out of her book when he saw the devil chanting softly, his eyes flared and the
roots near the devils feet sent off sprouts along her feet and in between her toes,
other roots sprouted seedlings under her arms. Nemeia did not know she was
ticklish, one is not tickled in tarterus and no mortal had previously had the presence
of mind or the inclination to tickle her. She found the sensation completely
overwhelming and lost the spell she was working on. She snarled in between snorts
and giggles as roots sprouted questing seedlings all around her body.

Paelias, convinced she was thoroughly distracted and chuckling at her plight, moved
to his father trying to figure out how to free him. Thamior desperately tried to break
the enchantment, to tell him to flee but could not subvert Nemeias will, even with
her so oddly occupied. Thamior knew that some tickling plants would not hold her
for very long at all.

Paelias stood before Thamior, cursing his inattention during his lessons as he
struggled to remember anything about spells of holding but could not. Too often he
had spent his time daydreaming with his head in the clouds. Suddenly he felt a
wave of heat crash over him and turned around. Nemeia had finally had to resort to
her dark heritage and allowed the flames of tarterus to wash through her,
incinerating the offending sprouts and charring the roots that held her. Once
sufficiently weakened, she broke free and stood atop the pile, everything burned
away but her rings, wands, and tiara. However, she was past charms and her evil
aura was dampening any affect her naked and still obviously beautiful body might
have had. She fixed her baleful gaze on Paelias and suddenly he knew fear. It
washed over him even more thoroughly then the previous passion had and left him
completely unable to focus on remember how to break a hold spell. You had the
chance to experience ecstasy beyond the imaginings of your most dexterous
women She began to step down from the pile, walking on air as she descended
towards him. Now you shall feel more pain that that fool Ilmater himself could
handle! She picked him up and threw him into a tree. As he crashed against it, he
could feel bones cracking and cried out. Thamior threw every ounce of his will into
breaking the hold but still could not. She felt it and flashed a wicked grin his way,
showing every sharpened tooth in her mouth.
By this time, Ceana had arrived and they all hid in the woods, she watching for
clues and hints of a weakness, and the dryads mourning at the pain of the earth as
the roots still smoldered. Ceana knew that such a high ranking devil was far beyond
every one of them combined and began to look for a way to escape with the elves.
Paelias had managed to stand up and had picked up his arcane focus, having moved
past his fear and determined to inflict some pain before he died. Nemeia looked
back at him, How cute, the sorcerer has a focus. She grabbed it with magic and
began to batter him with it, more to emphasize his weakness than to hurt him. I
will admit, using those roots to what is called? Tickle? Ill admit that was clever,
and I will have to further explore that weakness of mine to eliminate it, but nothing
you could have done to me while I was trapped in that tangle would have done
anything more than extend your eventual suffering. She picked him up again with
one hand, lets see how you like it with her other hand and her tail she reached up
to tickle his stomach and side. He resisted for a time, though even the involuntary
twitching sent agonizing spasms through his body. He could not resist for long,
however, and began to laugh, racking himself with even greater pain. However
much she tickled, the pain was not diminished either. Bored of her game, she
slammed him down to the earth with her fist, cracking even more bones and
changing his laughter to screams.
Ceana had heard enough, she had formulated something a plan and communicated
it to her allies. Then she leaped out and fired a dart from a bow at the devil. It did
little more than prick the skin, and her fiery nature burned the poison away before it
could do anything but it did get her attention. She looked up to see Ceana making

an obscene gesture among devils and snarled to chase her. As before with Paelias,
she fled, never enough to lose her pursuer until she led her between two closely
spaced trees. As Nemeia leaped over a low hanging branch, two dryads reached
from each tree trunk, each grabbing an arm and a knee and pulling them into the
trees and leaving them there. Nemeia found herself trapped yet again and set to
casting immediately, suspecting what was coming next. It was not quick enough
however, as the dryad hands reach out from the trunks, sprouting twig like caps
before tickling her on her sides and causing vines to sprout and tickle everywhere
else. If the sprouts from Paelias were bad, this was worse and beings controlled
vines as dexterously as she could use her tail. Nemeia could not do anything but
howl with fiendish snarling laughter, promising torturous death in between laughs.
Ceana flitted low and tickled a leg on her way past back to Paelias. Several other
pixies flew to Thamior trying to undo the hold spell but could not.
Another dryad joined Ceana to help Paelias and began casting every spell of healing
she could, just to stabilize him. Ceana flitted in front of his face, tears rolling freely
as she begged him to come back. Paelias had no response and things looked even
worse when a roar of pure evil rolled out, followed by a blast of flame and heat
which they even felt dozens of feet away. Ceana knew they were out of time,
especially hearing the cries of agony and despair from the earth as so many dryads
and other fey creatures were extinguished in that blast. The dryad could not focus
to cast spells any longer, so great was her rage at losing so many sisters to such an
evil being. She never thought to blame Ceana or Paelias, knowing instinctively that
it is every goodly creatures duty to fight such evil and that death is a risk. This did
not dampen the dryads fury and she grew to new levels of power, flitting through
trees to meet this devil. Nemeia respected the capacity of natural magic to exploit
her newfound weakness and so was not planning on letting another dryad anywhere
close to her. She was still furious. Furious that what should have been an easy
seduction and enslavement, had instead become a painful and dangerous task.
Furious that she had to expend such a rare magical artifact to escape from the
trees, without it she would still be there, laughing and threatening. She knew that
more help would be arriving soon, that so close to Luskan, she was risking much by
staying, but these pathetic creatures had humiliated her, had discovered a
weakness that no fiend must know. She knew that if anyone or anything from plain
found out this weakness, she could expect to spend eternity locked in ticklish
devices, howling for mercy. This did not fit in well with her plans so she knew that
she had to ensure this secret of hers went with her foes to their graves.
As the raging dryad closed on Nemeia, she began chanting a quick spell designed to
banish her target to tarterus. As a native, the spell was easy and quick. It would also
solve her problem as she sensed this dryad to be much more powerful, perhaps as
powerful as she herself. As she was about to complete the chant, she felt a vine
wrap around her ankle and a twig tickle weakly at the side of her foot. Such an
attempt was greatly weakened, being done by a dryad on the edge of death. Even

so, Nemeia kept her skin absolutely soft, with no callous to take from her charms so
even such a weak tickle caused her to giggle and jump, disrupting the spell. She
roared in fury knowing she had to expend another priceless magic item, but the
raging dryad was too close, those fiendish vines were already reaching for her
unprotected flesh. She quickly tapped a ring on her finger, spoke a command word
and become insubstantial. She shuddered as the vines passed through her, right on
target for her under arms, stomach, and legs. She then spoke another command
word and the magic was reflected back on the dryad casting it. The vines,
possessed by evil and powerful magic, immediately wrapped around the dryad and
began to do as they were called into existence to do. Soon, silvery tinkling rolled all
through the meadow as the dryad was engulfed in a mass of her own vines.
Nemeia quickly dealt with the weakened dryad just as she became substantial again
and the ring puffed away. Fury renewed, she stalked towards Paelias, swatting
Ceana away when she came close. She was out of magic for the moment but
needed none as she raised her arm and willed a fiery dagger to appear in her hand.
She was about to strike when Paelias was teleported away. First thinking the other
elf had broken free, she mentally check and confirmed that he hadn't, when she
heard a shout and recognized it to be a call to Torm she knew she was over
matched. Even more so as a powerful druid stepped out a tree near Paelias. A
formation of clerics led by a paladin stepped through the trees and Nemeia cursed,
expending almost all of her remaining magic shaking the ground under them. It was
a weak tremor, but enough to cause them to stumble and delay them as she shot
back towards Thamior. She screamed out as she went that this was not finished,
that she would be back to devour them all. Finally she screamed out as a weak
Paelias began to awake, This elf will become my new playtoy. I invite you to come
and rescue him, I will eagerly await you in Tarterus. Then she and Thamior
vanished in a puff of smoke and fire. Paelias stretched his hand out, whispering,
father, before he passed out again.
Days passed as clerics struggled over him, trying to restore his life. He was
tormented by horrible dreams, sometimes watching as his father was tortured by
Nemeia and her minions, other times coupling together while stroke a flame that
was burning Ceana alive. Always did he fight back and so, in his time of greatest
weakness, he waged the most critical battle he would ever fight. The battle for his
soul. Gradually the dreams become sweeter, of reuniting with his father, of chasing
Ceana through sunlit glades. One such dream had him chasing Ceana when she
passed through a beam of the brightest sunlight ever to be seen in his dreams. He
chased her sluggishly as one can only do in dreams. As he entered the light, he
began to feel great pain in his body. His back and ribs cracking the further he
moved into the light. He screamed out in agony but new he must push through the
light, that Ceana needed him. He could hear her voice calling out to him in an
echoey, wavering way. Paelias, Paelias come back to me. I am lost without you. He
passed further into the light and felt it begin to rain, drops of water splashed on his

cheek and his chest. Still he pressed through the beam until finally he came through
the other side and...
...woke up in a bed surrounded by clerics and with Ceana softly sobbing on his
chest. He gasped for breath and immediately tried to sit up, before wincing in pain
and falling back. A priest knelt next to him and told him to rest, that he still had a
long way to go before he would be recovered. Ceana dashed through the air up to
his neck and hugged it tightly, weeping and thanking all her druidic entities for
bringing him back. Paelias looked about the room, noted the brightness of a crack in
the curtains through which the sun was beaming into his eyes, then passed out
again.
The next time he awoke, he was alone with Ceana sleeping on his stomach, still in
the same bed but feeling stronger. He tried to sit up on his elbows and found that he
was able, though the effort left him weak and shaking. He also realized that he was
incredibly hungry and with that thought, his stomach shook so fiercely and groaned
so loudly that Ceana awoke screaming Earthquake! and flew into the air. She
whipped her head about wildly, looking for the source of the quake until she saw
Paelias laughing silently at her. She put on a face of mock fury and declared, I will
give you something to laugh about! and flew down under his blankets, tickling
along his sides and down his legs to his feet before flitting out from the end of the
blanket, coming to rest on his chest and glaring at him so angrily, he began to think
he had upset her.
I feared for your life you clod! She shouted before flying out the window sobbing.
Paelias shook his h