[5] Tale of Neshka: The Last Shaman

This is the backstory of my tabletop RPG character. In it, Neshka recounts her tragic past in the world of Pathfinder. Part 5: The Last Shaman [Intro: Warm medieval folk] [Sparse lute, warm harp, gentle cello] [Spoken-word: Intimate, low, reflective] Gukdalma was sixty-seven when she died. For an orc, that was an incredible age. For me... it was far too soon. I lost my teacher. My mother. My friend. And suddenly, the clan needed a new shaman. They looked at me. So I took her place. [Verse 1: Warm, melancholic acoustic folk] I carried on the work she gave, I learned to walk her ancient road. I read the bones, I watched the stars, I shared the people's heavy load. I knew their songs, I knew their names, the roads we traveled, the sacred flames. And though I was not born among them, they had long since become my own. [Chorus: Warm, emotional] I was no longer the stranger, no longer the one cast out. I had a fire in the darkness, I had people gathered round. I carried Gukdalma's wisdom, I carried what she gave. For thirty-seven years, I was the one who led the way. [Verse 2: Gentle, warmer] I watched the children grow beside me, and the old ones fade away. I told their fortunes, healed their wounds, and kept the spirits at bay. My claws were long. My skin was gray. My eyes could see what others couldn't. But no one cared. I was their shaman. Their family. And I was happy. By ninety-one, I had spent nearly sixty years with them. Every face around our fires was familiar. I thought I would grow old among them. [Verse 3: Quiet, spacious] Then something strange began. The dreams grew weaker. The voices disappeared. The hag's whisper, which had followed me since childhood, grew quieter... until whole nights passed without a sound. And then the bones changed. Whenever I read them for my clan, they showed me nothing but darkness. No paths. No choices. No future. Just blackness. I didn't understand. I told myself it was a flaw in the reading. A strange season. Anything but what it felt like. I began to believe it was over. That I was finally free. [Soft breath] I thought I had found peace. [Long pause] I was wrong. [Verse 4: Music darkens slowly] There were no stars that night. No moon. No warning. Just darkness. At first, we thought it was smoke. Then someone screamed. I raised a torch. Others did the same. The flames burned... but their light reached only inches into the darkness. Beyond it, there was nothing. No trees. No faces. No sky. Only blackness. [Chorus: Dark, tense, building] I called their names into the dark, I told them all to follow me. I was their shaman, I knew the way, I swore that I would set them free. Stay close. Don't run. Hold onto one another. We were a family. And I would not lose another. [Verse 5: Urgent, rhythmic] I took the lead. I knew the roads. I knew the land. "Stay close. Don't run. Hold onto one another." We moved through the darkness, one hand held tightly in another. Then someone screamed behind me. I turned. Nothing. Someone was gone. Another scream. Another vanished. A hand reached for me— I grabbed for it— nothing. One by one, my friends disappeared. Orcs I had known for decades. People who had shared my fire. People who had called me family. "Keep moving." I kept leading them. Even when I was terrified. Even when I knew I could not save them all. [Bridge: Music nearly disappears] The darkness followed us. Or perhaps it had always been there. I don't know. I only knew I had to keep walking. [Long pause] Then there were three of us. Me... and two of my oldest friends. [Final Chorus: Slow, devastating] I said we had to keep moving. They said there was nowhere left to go. I told them I would stay beside them. They told me... "No." [Long pause] "Go." I refused. Not them. Not after everyone else. One of them took my hand. The other pushed me toward the path. "You're the shaman." [Pause] "You carry us." [Long pause] "Now go." They knew they would not survive. But they could still save me. [Music swells slowly] I heard them scream behind me. I didn't turn around. [Long pause] If I turned around... I would have stayed. [Very quiet] So I ran. [Silence]