The best tragic tale of love is the story of Kei'ali. Part of her story can be seen in #20 Noble. She was a Kraken assassin who loved Tellah, the Kraken archmage and gave him the most powerful magic ring ever as a dowry from Mai Cai as an engagement gift. Tellah said yes in his greed for the magic of the ring. This magic ring of invisibility combined with Tellah's many blades including a legendary vorpal sword that made him unstoppable in melee.
They were later wed by a Spanish priest. Afterward she tried to convince Tellah to kill Edward Lazenby who had besmirched her honor by taking advantage of her while drunk. "I was saving myself for you Tellah! You must kill him!" Tellah refused and told her to send one of Mai Cai's assassins at Lazenby due to the political implications. Note that this is right after we had saved Lazenby from an assassination attempt that had killed Bruno Baltimus and targeted him and saved Baltimus from an attack by the Spanish Guild. Our group was staunch allies of Baltimus and the British East India Company, and Edward Lazenby was it's defacto leader with Bruno dead.
Kei'ali left to try and kill Edward Lazenby herself, finding him at an orgy in celebration for the victory over the Spanish. Kei'ali tried to negotiate with Edward Lazenby, saying the British East India Company for his life and he just laughed as if he could give her such a thing that he did not possess. When she drew a salamander cutlass towards his throat, Lazenby offered 50,000 pieces of eight for his life. Kei'ali refused and said 500,000. Lazenby laughed at her and told his five guards to shoot her. Kei'ali was faster than the guards, slitting Edward's throat and removing his right eye. But then the muskets shot her in the right eye and she fell on top of Edward Lazenby in an almost romantic embrace of death. Kei'ali would have survived, but Grof was there at the orgy, hiding under the covers, and stole her bone armor and key of destiny before throwing her into the fire. That was when the Sea Hags offered her a deal to live again, to see Tellah again, in exchange for her soul. And she accepted.
We saw her again at Dunich with her body the color of black ash and horribly transfigured by the flames. She fought us with the people of Dunich before she saw Tellah and broke out of her rage with her love for him and turned on the people of Dunich. After defeating the horrors of Dunich we set sail for the Devil's Cross.
At the Devil's Cross the Sea Hags reminded Kei'ali the price for betrayal, that her fate was entwined with their own. With the death of each Sea Hag, Kei'ali gained a wound of black ichor that would not heal from magic.
The last Sea Hag told her to kill Tellah and that if she did, she would revive him and they could live together forever. She considered it, then told the last Sea Hag that she refused. The Sea Hag told her to just let her have control again and she would kill Tellah and reunite them in death. She refused. She told Tellah that she would love him forever and then attacked the last Sea Hag with her fists, and they died together in a twisted embrace dissolving into black ichor together.
Tellah had never loved Kei'ali though. He had only used her for her money, power, and connections. Everything was done just to beat the Sea Hags. Grof had done the same when he married Mai Cai, a marriage of convenience for power. Grof though had loved the Ice Princess before Kei'ali had assassinated her for Mai Cai and was capable of love. Tellah's only love was his obsession that had been fulfilled--to kill the Sea Hags by any means necessary.
Tellah demanded his money from the assassin's guild if they did not deliver the Key of Destiny to him. Grof was forced to give him the Key after the assassin's turned their blades on him. Tellah left Caribdus with Kirel and returned to his Earth. He removed the Key of Destiny from Caribdus to prevent it from being used by anyone else. And this leads to tomorrow's post...
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