Valadain – The Cave

The Disciple of Malkar takes a trip to his father’s valley

It is the eeriest place on Grayhawk. Strangely quiet to the normal eye and yet to the disciple’s it is alive with memory, hatred and spirits. All of the spirits present are dead; they wail and moan as they seek loved ones – Valadain soon realises that many of them do not even know they are dead. Even with the protection from evil the disciple shudders at the place where his fate was formed, the spine-tingling fear he feels is difficult to remove.

            Up a steep incline he is drawn to an opening. It is lined with soulless, bodiless shades that plead with him for salvation or release. He ignores them all. The urge to reach the small opening drives him; impels him forward with no regard for his safety. At the mouth of the cave he hesitates, fear grips him like the slow throttling grasp of a strangler.

            Eventually he enters, curiosity getting the better of him.

            In the dimly lit cavern stands a woman, at least the spirit of a woman who holds in her hands the spirit of a small child, it’s head severed. She has no more tears…only an accusation.

            “This is good?” she wails. “This is what your master did, Valadain, this is what the monster in white perpetrated – he killed them all! What danger were the children? Tell me what danger!”

            Valadain sees through the despair and realises that he is addressing his mother. Her face is so remarkably like his that he feels pity at her despair.

            “Not even I was spared the blade of Malkar,” she continues, “he ran me through and moved on to your brothers and sisters with a wild abandon and a lust for death. Tell me where the justice is in that? My only crime was to be imprisoned and made to do the will of the disgusting creature!

            “But there is more to this than you know, Valadain the disciple, do you know why your father sent you here? To meet me yes but he sent you here so that I would be the one to reveal the true betrayal here…to reveal to you the gaps in your knowledge – gaps that Malkar was keen to keep in place.

            “Your father’s name was Manalkar. He was the eldest of his father’s children, the most powerful sorcerer and the most talented in so many ways…the crimson apple of his father’s eye you might say!

            “Malkar was his younger brother!

            “It was Manalkar that showed all the promise; it was he that was pushed into greatness – he moved in the hierarchy of the Abyss like a noble, for that indeed was what he was. All the strongest demons courted him; they saw in his dual blood a way to Grayhawk – or at least a way to power. Naturally Malkar was jealous. Like many siblings there was rivalry and a drive to gain the upper hand – but your father was altogether too clever and powerful.

            “In despair and disgust Malkar the Black turned his back on Manalkar and his family and came to Grayhawk. Despite their attempts to bring Malkar back into the fold he became a loner…sometimes he was a sword for hire in some distant war, or he farmed his skills as a sorcerer for those who would pay. He never sought the limelight – like your father – but Manalkar and his family saw this as a weakness. Soon they sent half-demons and worse to find him.

            “These were quickly despatched and in his rage Manalkar decided that the only way to get rid of his brother was to go to Grayhawk itself…to seek him out in the bosom of the greatest plane in the universe.

            “But it was Malkar that had learnt the ways of the Grayhawkians. He was now a consummate swordsman and a tricky mage. When that final day came Manalkar witnessed the impossible…he witnessed his younger sibling take apart everything he had ever built. Despite his grudging admiration Malkar could not be persuaded out of his bloodlust. Manalkar died at the hands of his brother and watched in horror as Malkar wrenched the black heart from his ruined brother’s chest.

            “Only the intervention of the White Woman eased his murderous quest.

            “Valadain you possess the same blood as your uncle…worse still he possesses the same black heart as his brother. Your master is a half demon with the noblest and blackest blood in his veins. When you see him next give him my regards…and ask him why…”