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((Ummm... *Inhales deeply, and in a single breath says.* The follow is a short, nearly bio-like, tale of Veldren's history. More a bio than a real story. The following story is rated PG for minor creepiness and mature themes. As always, if at any time you feel offended, disturbed, or just cannot take anymore of my literary "voice", please stop reading immediately. Moderators are more than welcome to remove this work if it deemed to be too dark, too disturbing, or simply too boring... or... you know... if it breaks some written or unwritten rule that I do not no of.... *falls to the ground panting, his face an interesting chade of red/purple.*))

The young priest of Solusek Ro sits next to his fiancee as she rests in one of the infirmary sickbeds. You seem to recall his name is Veldren. His fiancee is Tarrah.

No healer in the Temple of Marr could fail to recognize Tarrah for two reasons. First and most obvious is her heritage, she is Koada'dal. Why she chose to follow the Queen of Love, instead of following the example set by nearly all of the rest of her race and following Tunare, she refuses to tell anyone. The second, was that she had fallen ill, and no healing magic that any priest in the Temple of Marr could cast was capable of healing her.

As the couple sit sharing the few private moments circumstances had allowed them, you sit at your desk by the entrance to the infirmary, trying as hard as you can to not overhear what they are saying. You are so intent on not listening in, that you miss the first signs of one of the seizures Tarrah became prone to not long ago.

I starts with her breathing becoming labored and shallow. If you were looking, you are certaub you would see her grow pale suddenly. Almost immediately after, the seizure is fully upon her, and she begins thrashing about on the bed as if possessed. You are out of your chair and headed the short distance to her bed in moments.

However, you are not even halfway out of your chair when you hear Veldren begin a soft, droning chant. By the time you are halfway to Tarrah, Veldren is stopping his chant and sitting down, Tarrah's seizure fading.

Veldren turns to face you, his pale blue eyes showing a mix of anger and fear. "How long has this been happening?" He keep his voice is calm, comforting, and silken, so he won't startle Tarrah while she's in the sleep-like state that always follows her seizures, but his eyes turn the question to an accusation.

"Only the last day or so..." Staring into his eyes, you find it a struggle to keep your voice calm and even.

In spite of your best efforts, Tarrah makes a startled sound and stirs. For all practical purposes, at that moment, you ceased to exist to Veldren's mind.

He turned back to Tarrah, holding her hand in both of his.

As you return to your desk, you hear Tarrah's voice, still slightly slurred from sleep. "Love... I think I'm dying..."

Veldren cradles Tarrah's cheek in his hand. "Beloved, if they let you, a priestess of Erollisi, die in the middle of the Temple of Marr, no priest of Marr would be able to hold their head high. They won't allow you to die..."

Tarrah smiles weakly and gives a slight nod, you get the impression the actions are purely for Veldren's benefit. "Veldren... Marry me."

"As soon as you are better, beloved, we will."

"Love, it's my body that's failing, not my mind. I just.. I don't want to wait and risk not getting better..."

"Beloved, as long as there is life in my veins, you will get better."

Tarrah smiles, "In the oldest times, men and women didn't have the elaborate rituals and requirements for marriages that we have today. They didn't need them, all they needed was two people to come together to make a vow to love and be faithful to each other, the gods themselves acted as their witnesses."

Veldren nods slowly, "When you get better, you will get the Erollisian wedding you've told me so often you wanted..."

Tarrah smiles, "Of course, I wouldn't give up the chance to wear Mother's gown..."

Veldren absent mindedly strokes Tarrah's cheek with his thumb as he speaks. "I vow to you my heart, my mind, and my soul. Everything I am is yours. I vow to be your armor and your shield against all attacks. I vow to hold you closer than my own soul, your honor shall be more precious to me than my own, and no harm will touch you while I am at your side. With every god of every pantheon, in Norrath and beyond, as my witness, I vow that I am yours, now and forever, until the sun fades to darkness, the stars fall from the sky, and oblivion separates us at the end of all things."

Tarrah smiles slightly, it strikes you as a sad smile. When she speaks, there is a strain in her voice that you doubt is entirely the result of her illness.

"Veldren, greatest love of my life, I vow to you my heart and my soul. I vow to be your weapon against your enemies. I vow to be your comfort in the hard times, and to be your refuge when you cannot go on. I vow that I am yours, now and forever, until the fates declare we should be separated at the end of all things. I call on every god of every pantheon to witness that it is so." At the end of her vow, Tarrah sits up and pulls Veldren forward into a kiss.

Throughout Tarrah's vows, you've felt power for a spell gathering around Tarrah, although you could not figure out what it was for. When they kissed, though, Tarrah released that energy into a spell of sleep, and Veldren collapsed unconscious. He would have slid down to the floor, but for Tarrah trying desperately to hold on to him. Tarrah looked at you, and pleaded, "Help me get him into the bed... he's heavier than I remember..."

Between the two of you, you manage to get him into the bed so that he is laying on his back next to Tarrah. Confused by Tarrah's actions, you ask, "Why did you do that?"

Tarrah, exhausted from the effort to get Veldren into the bed, collapses, resting her head on Veldren's chest, panting slightly. "Because... I am dying."

You nod. "But he knows that... He's just trying to put a brave face on it."

Tarrah sighs, "No, not 'I'm going to die.' I'm dying, right now. I can feel my life draining away from me..."

"But why not spend your last moments with him... well... awake?"

Tarrah closes her eyes as she speaks. "Because he meant every word he said before... Because he would keep me alive with his magic... He would burn his life-force away to keep me alive, and in the end, I would still die. He deserves better than that. He deserves... so much more..." Her last words come out as a sigh, and its almost a full minute before you realize that she's not breathing.

Some time later, although you cannot tell if it is a minutes, or hours later, Veldren stirs. At first, he smiles slightly, still mostly asleep as he shifts his arm to better cradle Tarrah's motionless form. Seconds later, Veldren is out of the bed, already halfway through a spell of healing. When that fails, and he realizes what's happened, he starts a more complex chant, heat radiating from him in waves. As the spell ends, a soft golden light radiates from Tarrah's features, and for a moment, you think he's done it, but the glow fades, and Tarrah remains motionless.

Veldren lets out a soft growl as he rips the holy symbol of the Burning Prince off it's resting place around his neck and begins another chant. The words of the spell flow together, seeming to creating a wordless, haunting melody. Sparks fly the holy symbol and weave a beautiful pattern around Tarrah and Veldren before settling to rest on Tarrah's body.

When that spell also does nothing, Veldren turns to you and begs, "Help me..." The desperation in his voice is such that you immediately begin a spell of resurrection, even though you know it will not work. When you finish the spell, and Tarrah remains as she has been, Veldren lets out a bestial scream of frustration. He throws his holy symbol away from him, and it lands in one of the fire pits that heats the infirmary. As soon as the symbol is out of his hands, Veldren picks Tarrah's body up with reverence, and in a few strides, he is out of the infirmary.

* * * * *

Later, you learn that Veldren left the Temple of Marr altogether, and took Tarrah's body with him.

The fire Veldren threw his holy symbol into resisted all efforts to put it out, and to retrieve the holy symbol of Solusek Ro, which showed no mark of burning or charring.

Nearly a week later, the fire suddenly snuffed itself out, and the holy symbol, which is cool to the touch, could be removed from the ash. The symbol itself was charred black, and gave no sign that it had once been carved of a single large ruby. However, you could still use it to scry out Veldren's location.

With both the holy symbol, and Veldren's location, you immediately left to talk to him.

Veldren is living in the basement of an abandoned house. The room is set up in such a way that the outside light penetrates only a little way into the basement. In the center of the room is an alter of fine stonework. It is about six feet long, and has a candle at either end, giving a surprising amount of light to the alter.

As you come closer to the alter, the smell of fresh cut roses fills the air, and you notice a slight figure on his knees before the alter. A step closer lets you recognize the figure as Veldren. He's dressed head to toe in black, and seems paler and more tired than you imagined he could look. Another step shows you why the alter seems so bright with only two candles to light it. All around are crystals. Some hang from the ceiling, some are propped against things, but they are all placed in such a way that they reflect light back to the alter. One more step shows you what the alter holds.

Tarrah.

Every facet of every crystal reflects her image back to your eyes. She is on a bed of red roses, her body has been washed, and her hair has been brushed until it shines. She is in a white silken gown, obviously of elven making.

Your final step brings you even with Veldren. He turns to look at you, and you notice that his eyes changed color, from pale blue, to a deep black that seems to draw away any light that comes near it. "Veld-"

Veldren cuts you off almost before you begin talking. "Why are you here?" His voice is hoarse with grief, and hard about it that wasn't there before.

"I came to give you this," You offer his holy symbol to him. "And to see if yo-"

Veldren turns to face you, his eyes locked on the symbols of Erollisi embroidered on your robes. Again, he cuts you off. "What would you do to be with the one you loved again." His voice is full of desperation, and you are struck forcibly with the image of a drowning man, flailing about for something to keep his head above water.

"Anything." The answer comes to you shockingly quickly, but, no matter how long you think about it, your answer remains the same.

"Anything?" Veldren's voice is suddenly back to it's silky baritone, although the hardness you noticed earlier is still present.

Something about the tone in his voice makes you doubt your answer. Your eyes meet Veldren's and in an instant you know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you shouldn't have come. The holy symbol falls from your suddenly nerveless fingers as you back away from Veldren, whose attention seems to be back on the alter.

As you reach the exit, a skeletal hand grabs your arm from behind. In one fluid motion you draw your mace, spin, and deliver a bone shattering blow to your assailant. An aged beggar falls away from your blow, a look of surprise and betrayal frozen on his face as he hits the ground.

Nauseated and not looking back, you run as fast as you can back toward the Temple of Marr.