Act I, Part VII: Last Words

By Nilas Arobar, Son of Miner Arobar

Father was right. He was right just like he’s always right. I wasn’t ready for this, but I don’t think anybody can ever be ready for something like this. I’m hiding in a nook as I hear the heavy footsteps of one of those—those things. I don’t even know what to call it, but it’s a monstrosity of flesh and bone and they’re so—so strong. And dangerous. I thought I was a warrior and I thought I could do this, but here I am, hiding like a scared child, because I made a mistake. I made a big mistake and I don’t know if there’s any coming back from it. I can’t just leave without having made it through the Trials, Father would never forgive me for dishonoring him like that, but I don’t know if I’m going to make it through this. This is—this is more than I ever imagined it would be. I just want it to stop. I just want to go home and rethink my life, but I can’t and now I’m probably going to die in here. I’m going to die because he was right, I’m not good enough to be Redoran, but I have to keep going. I have to. I might not be worthy of being Redoran, but I do have my honor and I have to protect it even if it means dying in this—this—place.

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I just wish I had known what I was walking into when I came here. I knew that whatever awaited me would be difficult, but I wasn’t ready for this. How could I be? The things in here—they’re—unnatural. The Underpriest told me that the residents of this place were unwelcoming of visitors, but I had no idea what they were. I knew there would be ancestral guardians and I figured I could make my way through a few skeletons, but those—those things—those monstrosities of flesh and bone—they’re so much. It’s like something pulled from the darkest nightmares and made real in this world and I just—I can’t fight them—they’re too strong for me to fight. I can handle my own in a fight, but those things, they’re just—I can’t even describe it. I don’t know what to say. I don’t have the words. But I have to do this. I have to keep going, even though I’m scared, even though I’m probably going to die here, because a Redoran doesn’t quit and though I’m probably not going to be a Redoran, much less make it out of here, I still have to carry myself like one. I have to go back out there. I haven’t even reached where the spirit who oversees the Trials is yet and I have to get there at least—I have to at least make it to him before I die or this is all for nothing.

I just hope that whatever happens over these next few hours, my sister knows I love her and that I’ve always been grateful for all of the sacrifices she’s made for me. You always were my guardian angel and I’ll never forget you in this life or the next. Thank you, Gandosa. Thank you for everything.

-Nilas Arobar, Redoran Aspirant