My first encounter with Baal

It started out as sort of a quiet day. I was going to Dratan to visit the Serel Farm to get some high quality herbs for my potions. Little did I know how that sense of quiet would be shattered...

Before I got to the Teleporter, a messenger from our Allies ReignOfFire intercepted me. "We need a Healer, NOW! Come to the North Gate of Randol." As always, any member of our guild will respond to a request of our allies. Clients are our first priority above our own needs, and Allies can call upon us at any time. But it was quickly apparent something horrible was going on.

As I moved toward the North Gate will all the speed I could, the crowds were getting heavier and heavier. There were whispers of "Baal" and screams of heralds yelling "Save the Princess!" and soon it became clear. When I met with BlackSol, Catharsis, and Silver Leaf, we started to run and they told me the story. The Princess was out trying to bring potions and support to areas North of Randol ravaged by Werewolves. It was a trap, it seems, and Baal had appeared to try to capture her.

The press of people was insane as they threw themselves in the path of the monster attempting to stop him, or at least slow him down enough to let the Princess escape. Such loyalty, such devotion, for a single woman. Who would have thought it?

Still, I had little time to ponder the presence and charisma of Royalty. As Catharsis and Silver Leaf cut a path through the two headed dogs, BlackSol pushed forward to confront the monster himself. It was all I could do to keep healing fast enough to keep him alive. And I have no idea how I did it.

You know how in the heat of battle your mind can take on that strange sense of a time fugue where nothing seems real anymore and time sort of just drifts by you while your perceptions focus down to single minded sharpness? That happened to me. Nothing mattered save saving the ones I was responsible for. Guild Honor, Personal Safety, Friendships, none of these things made an impression on me as I tried to keep healing and keep up the shields on the three men who were battling for all they were worth and trusting that I would do my best to keep them alive.

All of a sudden a great silence came over the battle field. Baal had been defeated and fled, the corpses of his minions strewn over the whole area. I was stunned for a moment. Was it really over?

Someone said the Princess was giving out rewards. I never got any. I never even saw her. The thanks of our Allies was the greatest reward for me that night. They are sometimes coarse, sometimes abrasive, but always thankful and respectful for the work we do to help them.

I never did get my potions made that day, but I did survive my first encounter with Baal.