Lady Veratt Cassalanter- A Brief History of a Short Life

The respite of a coming spring

After the fun and games of winter, the promise of spring started to sneak in rather early, filling the church with hope and laughter, but for me it brought the inevitable moulting of antlers, which I knew would be a tedious ordeal.

My head was sore and tender, each small knock reverberating through my skull and causing the antlers to throb. I started to get comfortable, wearing the common robes Shaka gifted me, earning me a few sideways glances as my appearance was not up to its usual standard. I spent many days sat by the fire, hoping for the heat to ease the pain in my head, it helped a little. I spent many an hour holding my head and lying in my room in the dark, begging for this pain to end. After a few days I was irritable and tired of being alone.

The looks of other guild members no longer bothered me when I wore my common robes, the only people I cared about looked at me the same way, or with kindness and understanding. Towards the end when my antlers were very loose, I was sat by the fire and Brackir asked what was wrong, as I assume, I had a pained look on my face. I did my best to brush it off as nothing, but he was persistent. I smiled and told him it was a sensitive time for me, being a druid, and his scales flushed scarlet. It took me a while to realise why. I laughed for so long, and it was good, it was good to laugh from the pit of my stomach, I even fell out of my chair! I couldn't help but mock him, the poor man thinking I as suffering heat like a beast! I feel like is should have been offended, but I was too amused at his reaction to care. Sweet and chivalrous Brackir with his mind in the sewer, it was too much to handle with a straight face. I finally calmed down and was able to explain that my antlers were moulting, not that I was in uncontrollable discomfort for the need to copulate. I dare say if that were the case, he would have been aware sooner than the final stages!

                One day Shaka was in the common room, looking sad and nervous. Morthos and I did our best to cheer him up and find out what was wrong. It turned out that after not having any look finding his tribe, he decided that he wanted to stay here, with the people he had formed bonds with during battle and through living with them. After much convincing, we discovered that he waned to ask certain members of the guild to be a part of his "chosen family" but was too nervous. Morthos and I shared a look, as we both knew what this meant, and we had to support him. We sat with him and explained that everyone would be honoured to be asked, so he should be brave and do it, it took a lot of time to persuade him. He eventually agreed and asked to speak to Morthos in the kitchen, after a short while, he returned beaming, and told me that Shaka wanted to talk to me. I remember walking into the kitchen and seeing him picking t his claws...if he could sweat, I have no doubt he would be. I took his hands in mine and healed them as he spoke to me, the panic and hope in his voice when he asked me to be his sister brought tears to my eyes, and I pulled him into a tight hug. From hating him upon arrival, we had grown closer, helping each other in battle and being there to teach and listen around the church, and now he wanted me to be a part of his family. I found hope in this, hope that I was not a repulsive monster, unworthy of love or trust. I pulled back and smiled at him, and he smiled his awful smile at me, one of the most beautiful sights I ever saw. it was toothy, lopsided, crude and more like a snarl, but the sincerity and love he wore it with made my soul beam as I was welcomed into his chosen family. He later asked Faedrin, a Firbolg warrior to be his adopted mother, and she gladly accepted; she seemed like a nice woman, but I never really spoke to her much. He also wanted to ask a farmer called Seb to be his brother. The pair fought together and saved Greenhaven together, they had an unshakable bond and I knew he would be honoured. Sadly, he never got the chance to ask him. Seb was brought back from the quest by the rest of the party, dead. Shaka was a wreck. He blamed himself for waiting so long, for not being there to protect him, for letting him go on the quest. It took weeks for Shaka to be able to look at the grave. I know how he felt, the sadness and horror I saw in his eyes when he saw the body was what I felt after realising Ras was not getting back up to fight again.