Victorious advance

[Ebiris]

"It's precious little I know," Alicia says. "But should you or yours have lost a worshipper to the Styx recently it could allow him to be returned to his home or kin. I do not blame the man, he had no choice in what he was used for."

[Anastasia]

"Do you know when he was affected?" Corellon asks next, Sehanine Moonbow silent.

"That sounds horrible," Amaryl murmurs, quiet as she listens, while others feast around you, celebrating.

[Ebiris]

"One moment and I'll ascertain that, or at least when he was most recently affected..." the avatar replies.

Back in Sylica the real Alicia quickly checks with Naeys how long ago the mystery elf's memories actually started.

[Anastasia]

"Most recently," Naeys answers here, "Not long before the attack, but it could be far from the first exposure."

[Ebiris]

"His memories don't go back more than a day," the avatar says after that brief pause. "Though it's possible he's been repeatedly exposed and it's been some time since he first fell into the clutches of demons. More likely than not all things considered."

[Anastasia]

"Bring me a hair or a drop of his blood," Corellon says, "That will be sufficient, if he can not be brought directly here."

"No need," Sehanine whispers, and a flicker.

Screams.

A flicker.

The moonlight illuminates the battle. Hard, lean, foul men assaulting a camping family near roadside. Screams.

A flicker.

Blood. Death. Loss. A child is crying in the tent, one of the men raising a heavy club up. "Shut up!"

Then a jovial voice calls, "Oh, there's no need for that."

He's tall, bald and with a face that is not human. Not elven. Too sharp, too lean for his bloated, corpulent form. The face of a starving man, stretched too tightly against his cheekbones. He comes forward and over the child's cry he can be heard, "He's worth more money alive. An elf child - there are markets that will pay piles gold for him."

As the hard man steps aside, the jovial man comes forward and takes the child's hand. In a ripple of magic, they are gone.

A flicker.

Corellon's expression is dark, while Amaryl's expression is pinched. "Who is that?"

A flicker.

A bloated, fat thing - too fat, too large, festering and rotting, flesh the color of bloodied pus. It screams as it burns, as a voice calls, "Melyga! In the name of Chauntea, I condemn you to oblivion." The voice is strong, a man's voice, naturally carrying. "No more will you befoul the harvests of life." Heavenly fire strikes down, a pure flame strike that burns away the demon and leaves only the blasted and cracked grounds of a foul, dark place behind.

A flicker, reality returning.

[Ebiris]

Alicia is ashen when watching what Sehanine shows her. The... what that man nearly did to the baby, it reminds her all too well of how she found her own son all those years ago.

It takes her a long time to speak afterwards. "No life to go back to, then... whatever childhood he had was the creation of a disposable tool," she concludes grimly.

[Anastasia]

Corellon's expression is grave, "Tell me more about this, Alicia. What has been done to one of my brothers?" He puts down his cup, a soft flow of liquid from it from a thousand cracks once he lets go of it.

"Reducing life to a commodity...just as bad as the efreet," Amaryl whispers.

[Ebiris]

"He's a blank slate, little skills of his own - some tendency for swordplay, riding, woodcraft. Stereotypically elven but there must have been some training at some point for it to imprint past the amnesia," Alicia begins. "His amnesia is most easily explained by the Styx, but it's possible magic was used to remove and store his memories. Something done between missions to build up experience without risking exposure if he's captured? Or..." she frowns at a disquieting possibility. "Those memories could be shared with other blank slate assassins."

[Anastasia]

"The Radiant Sisters offend me," Corellon declares, "I shall not tolerate this wickedness and crimes against my brothers and sisters."

[Ebiris]

"Violet is powerful, but not massively moreso than I," Alicia says, glad for the potential support. "I don't know of any of her holdings outside of Shendilvari - our attacker had no knowledge of any base to return to or place to be picked up afterwards."

[Anastasia]

"That sounds all the more like that poor elf was meant to be disposable." Amaryl shakes her head, "Like an arrow and Violet is the bow."

"We are all contributing to the Liberation War," Corellon says, "But we cannot allow this to go unchallenged and unavenged, for it may be the most profane arts at work here."

[Ebiris]

"This calls for something more subtle than an army. Invading the Abyss is folly, but I agree Violet must be censured. We will be investigating more of her in the coming days," Alicia says, grateful but not expecting anything like the sort of resources that are going into full scale war with the efreet. "But I apologise, you were celebrating and I darkened the hour with these ill tidings."

[Anastasia]

"There is truth to that," Corellon admits, "For there are always dark tidings from below to sully happiness, if one cannot look away. Join us in this feast."

[Ebiris]

"I would be happy to," she says with a smile, reaching over to help herself to some of the delicacies on offer. Her avatar can certainly be spared for a time.

As far as the elf in question goes, Alicia makes the decision to send him to Balmuria where some of her followers can help him build a new identity and life. The mythal should keep him safe from demons and the decent elven population in the city will give him a chance to reconnect with his heritage.