#zachriel

Zachriel, The Last Witness

Angel of Memory

petals placed in copper bowls    just outside the door strings of bells in wooden fences    for the wind to move boats of paper lowered into    the Euphrates lanterns burning in martyria    beneath our homes

       (offerings)

So! I think I already mentioned that Zachriel’s story is coming to an end. I’m really proud of my boy he’s come so far! His friends have encrouaged him to stop stealing things impulsively and he genuinely wants to try doing the right thing. He doesn’t want to be a hero but he’s *willing* to be one now and when the party needs him he’ll be there for them even if he’s afraid.

And he’s even managed to seek the forgiveness of his goddess! Pre-campaign Zachriel hadn’t been the best person. He was a criminal, a thief, and he was a little more selfish than his present self. Back when he had connections with a local thieves guild he and some friends were using the back room of Boldrei’s temple as their base of operations. On one of the last nights Zachriel spent in town, they accidentally started a fire that burnt the temple to the ground and Boldrei took vengeance on the group by cursing them with terrible luck wherever they may go. It was a mistake that tormented Zachriel, both out of guilt and in a very literal sense by making it hard to find any form of pernament comfort. Running seemed to help but eventually the party’s path took them back to Snowhaven and Zachriel was forced to face his mistakes head on. He went back to the temple of Boldrei, still blackened and in ruins and it was there that he had a vision.

Zachriel saw a fire in the center of the building, and he saw himself as a child running though, back when the temple was in its finer glory. Then he saw it with his friends, sneaking through to the back, then he saw the fire and even himself as he was just moments before, wandering though the ruins looking lost. The visions then showed him coming back later, a little older. And it showed him the temple repaired and full of people again. In the soot the word “promise” appeared and Zachriel saw what he needed to do.

After promising to return and rebuild the temple, Zachriel took a level in cleric, choosing the peace domain.

Written by PJ Artama

It was a dim morning. The clouds covered the sky, blotting out the usual warm sun and causing the rest of the temperature to drop. The trees swayed with the cold gust of wind as Kay made her way up to the quarry where Zachriel fell. She carried a wreath of flowers in her arms, wearing all black clothes, save for the golden Luueth’dei Family emblem and the now recently added ruby red Rofocale Family emblem dangling from her necklace, and was trying her absolute best to hold back her tears as she approached the water.

She finally reached the edge of where her best friend had fallen and died and rested the wreath of flowers on the walkway before it. She took a step back but never once took her eyes off of the place where Zachriel met his end.

“I don’t know whether or not you’ll hear this,” she spoke aloud, “but I’d like to just say a few things. Firstly, I read the letter,” she spoke aloud, “and I got the gifts you sent me. Thank you for entrusting me with them. I promise I’ll take care of them. Especially your journal. I’ll make sure that Bobbie gets it back.”

A light wetness started to drip down from the sky, making little wet marks on the wood and little vibrations in the water.

“Secondly, thanks to the money you left me… I’m thinking of planning and building my own Library sometime soon. Isn’t that cool? I’m thinking of purchasing the land near to the quarry and putting it there. Closer to you. I’m not sure what to call it yet, but I want it to be a good name. One that maybe you’d approve of. And… I’m planning on dedicating it to you, because you’re my best friend. You changed my life and taught me so much about the old world and the memories of others… I can’t thank you enough for that.”

She could see and feel the spitting start to become a light rain. The vibrations in the water were starting to become more noticeable.

“And lastly, I want you to know that… and if I can be honest here… it’s been hard… to accept you’re gone. I spent the first month crying myself to sleep, screaming in anguish and wishing it was all a dream. That… That you’d come out of the water and I’d see you by my bed once again. I cursed the heavens above, I cursed the Hethe, I cursed anything I could out of grief. It was probably the worst time of my life. If it wasn’t for my family, Nicholas, Cadmus and Ka’rai especially… I’m not sure if I could’ve coped...”

She tightly clutched the Rofocale emblem around her neck to try and force herself to not cry, feeling the lump in her throat as the light rain still kept going.

“And listen… I… I want you to know that… I miss you every single day… and there’s not a moment where I… don’t sometimes cry myself to sleep… when I think of you and… and all of the things we did t-together over the years… from the day I met you… t-to the night I lost you. I-I’ll never forget those times we shared… and they’ll… th-they’ll be with me… f-f-forever…”

She took off her glasses and put her hand over her eyes as she started crying. Her lips trembled as the tears rolled down her cheeks.

“…I-I-I’ll… never forget you… my friend. N-never.”

She cried by herself for a few more minutes as the rain started to increase. She eventually grabbed a handkerchief, wiped her eyes dry and blew her nose. As she opened them, for a split second she thought she saw Zachriel standing in front of her, smiling at her. But as soon as she blinked, he was gone. She stared for a bit at the spot where he was seemingly standing, wondering what that was before remembering the rain coming down on her and she knew she had to go. She began walking away from the walkway but as she got to the gate to leave, she looked back to the water and the flowers she left behind one last time and smiled tearfully.

“Goodbye… and farewell… Mr Rofocale.”

Hey, sure!

Holy fuck y’all let me tell you about Zachriel of @golden-eyed-writer

He’s scary and evil and twisted and violent and therefore a delight to read about, especially when he is all of these things in defense of the very small and very adorable Chase.

He’s really just cool af, and has a certain kind of viciousness I have never been able to capture in my own writing.

I delight in seeing the soft side he will insist he doesn’t have, and I enjoy thinking about the way he would interact or be seen by my characters.

Zachriel!

Azrael!

Maximus!

Chase!

And Sabina!!