Ruki once again jolted up in the middle of the night, looking around. His body drenched in sweat, panting... after he was able to check in the dark surroundings of the room. The wizard lock he set up was still in tact, the ward one the cabin was still active, his cabinmates were still sleeping, as they had been 10 minutes before when he last awoke in a panic. The adept much preferred the sleepless dreams from his spells, scrolls, and what alchemy he had... but they never lasted long enough, and he had run out long ago. So he was forced to try and get to sleep naturally, but whenever he would drift off to sleep, he would be haunted by the same exact dream....
A person chasing down and slaughtering innocent fae creatures who were running for their lives, panicking, begging... but it made no difference. They all met the sword. The pile of bodies grew to the size of a mountain, and one by one they would be fed through a horrific grinder-type torture device while the person laughed manically. The person would then turn around and be Ruki, but his face monstrous and contorted. And then he would awaken.
It had been like this ever since that night, he knew what he did was horrifying and awful and truly believes it has damaged his spirit..... but it was the right thing to do. Wasn't it? The lives of some fae for the lives of the entire realm. On paper, it absolutely makes sense... the needs of the many versus the needs of the few. But to actually act on that, to actually be the one to put those lively, friendly, bubbly innocent fae through the grinder, it was something else. On one hand, Ruki does regret his actions (because what person with any ounce of good in them wouldn't), but on the other, someone had to do it, so why not him? Why should any of his friends and allies have to feel the guilt and sorrow and unrelenting shame? This was war, this was just the beginning. Many horrible things will need to be done by everyone... this was his part. In the Nightmare Realm, Ruki was a butcher of the elementgnolls, in his own realm a butcher of fae. This was clearly always destined to be his fate. A monster with a tainted spirit, doing "what's right".... truly someone worthy of going back to his family once this was done.
The broken human rolled out of bed and got dressed and exited the safety of his cabin. Sleep would not come for him that night yet again, so he wandered out into the Lux and skirted the fae forest... maybe someone would kill him yet again, and maybe this time he wouldn't come back. A permanent, dreamless sleep. That sounded nice.
A person chasing down and slaughtering innocent fae creatures who were running for their lives, panicking, begging... but it made no difference. They all met the sword. The pile of bodies grew to the size of a mountain, and one by one they would be fed through a horrific grinder-type torture device while the person laughed manically. The person would then turn around and be Ruki, but his face monstrous and contorted. And then he would awaken.
It had been like this ever since that night, he knew what he did was horrifying and awful and truly believes it has damaged his spirit..... but it was the right thing to do. Wasn't it? The lives of some fae for the lives of the entire realm. On paper, it absolutely makes sense... the needs of the many versus the needs of the few. But to actually act on that, to actually be the one to put those lively, friendly, bubbly innocent fae through the grinder, it was something else. On one hand, Ruki does regret his actions (because what person with any ounce of good in them wouldn't), but on the other, someone had to do it, so why not him? Why should any of his friends and allies have to feel the guilt and sorrow and unrelenting shame? This was war, this was just the beginning. Many horrible things will need to be done by everyone... this was his part. In the Nightmare Realm, Ruki was a butcher of the elementgnolls, in his own realm a butcher of fae. This was clearly always destined to be his fate. A monster with a tainted spirit, doing "what's right".... truly someone worthy of going back to his family once this was done.
The broken human rolled out of bed and got dressed and exited the safety of his cabin. Sleep would not come for him that night yet again, so he wandered out into the Lux and skirted the fae forest... maybe someone would kill him yet again, and maybe this time he wouldn't come back. A permanent, dreamless sleep. That sounded nice.