Alessia's Shrine Quests

Let me tell you a story from my younger days... a tale of mystery, and deception. When I was just an innocent doe, way back when I was just coming of age, I found myself swept into a ceremony that would change my life forever! They told me it was a simple coming-of-age ritual, something all young mages went through, with no real effects to speak of, and I believed them!

I was naive then, trusting in my handlers' words, reassuring myself that they surely wouldn't do anything to harm their precious saintess! After all, they had put too much effort into grooming me... to shape me into the perfect figurehead they desired.

They assured me it would have no lasting effects, just a tradition to mark my transition into adulthood. Oh, how naive I was back then, trusting in the words of those who had plucked me from my family and groomed me for their own selfish goals!

Little did I know… about the true nature of the ritual! They didn't tell me, how it would corrupt my body… my very soul, just to make it so their precious Saintess may stay forever young and pure.

It all began with a ceremony, a seemingly innocent rite of passage held in a secluded shrine, hidden away from prying eyes. On the altar in its center they had placed some… strange objects. One plain ceremonial dagger, no hilt guard or anything, just the blade…. a pomegranate... and a skull. A skull looking much like a beast's, painted in vibrant colors, that gave me the shivers just looking at it!

In preparation, they had weirdly asked me to write down everything about myself on a piece of papyrus... to pour my heart and soul onto the page! As the ceremony unfolded, they placed that very piece of parchment in the jaws of the skull. Its jaws snapped shut with an ominous finality, as if it was alive… and I even thought it looked like the scroll itself was bleeding? … but that surely was just my imagination, I told myself then.

Following that, a strange fella I had never seen before picked up the fruit and knife from the altar… heck, I couldn't even identify if they were male or female! They wore a dark robe giving some grand speech along the lines of:

"We present this vessel of youth and promise, to the great Patron.
May her journey be blessed, her path illuminated by the flickering flame of Fortune's favor.
May blessings be upon her, and may her path be guided by fortune's favor.
Blessed be this fruit of life, blessed be this sacrament of renewal.
May its essence sustain her through the ages, a testament to the enduring power of Fortune's grace.
Let our hymns rise like incense, our prayers ascend like smoke, that Fortune may hear and heed our call.
Let us release this vessel of youth and promise into the care of Fortune.
May Fortune watch over her with benevolent eye, may she guard her with gentle hand, may she bless her with boundless fortune."

Hearing those words back then, I thought them just some fancy speech, wishing for my good luck . . . but oh boy, was I wrong!

As the ceremony went on, they covered my eyes with a piece of cloth, mimicking the markings on the skull… then came the pomegranate. Splitting it open with the dagger, its juices flowed like blood as they dripped it over my snout and the blindfold.

Ordering me to drink the juices as they did the same with the skull, it felt like blood running down my snout… and wouldn't it have been for the sweet taste of the fruit's nectar, I just might have believed it was! Little did I know then, the juices symbolized a pact with Fortune, a mysterious and treacherous patron offering power at a bloody price.

For a few heartbeats nothing happened… until I suddenly felt as if my very being was been torn apart by some unseen force! It was excruciating, but it passed as quickly as it came. Unbeknownst to me, I had absorbed large amounts of Corruption, fulfilling the desires of my patrons to keep me forever young.

It took me a while to recover from the shock, but when I looked up... the skull was fully pristine again! So was I, with only some splatters on the ground and altar remaining from the fruit's nectar. Even more weirdly though: the sweet smell of fruit, had been replaced with an odd… metallic stench. I only recognized years later that it had been the smell of blood!

I didn't fully understand the consequences of that ceremony until much later, when I realized the extent of the corruption that had seeped into my being. By then though, it was already too late… luckily it wasn't enough to lose myself in it! Although I can all to vividly remember feeling really nauseous, whenever I tried to use my magic for months after . . . luckily that went away though.

Alas, nothing I could do about it anyway, as this corruption is what I have to live with now. This selfish... prank, of those who had promised to raise and nourish me!