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[Out of the Frying Pan] The Story of Ratchis (Concluded 10/28)
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<blockquote data-quote="Ratchis" data-source="post: 934522" data-attributes="member: 5004"><p>I ran for hours until I came to clean stream thousands of feet above the hell I had left behind. I threw myself down and drank deeply. I lay with my face on the cool mud of the shore and thanked the spirit in these woods that I could sense as clearly as the designs on the back of my hand. In the weeks that passed, I hunted for my food and outfitted myself in animal furs, making sure to fashion a large hooded cloak so that I could hide my identity when needed. I always thanked the animal for its sacrifice and never took more from the land than I needed. I also fashioned a heavy walking stick that would serve well as a quarterstaff if needed.</p><p></p><p>While making my way through a particularly precarious ravine, I saw a human female sprawled on the rocks below. I rushed down and saw she was dressed in the rags of a slave. I was relieved to see she was alive and apparently sleeping. She was shivering so I covered her with my cloak and built a fire a safe distance away. I was stretching and exercising when she awoke. For a moment she didn’t know where was, but when she saw me she screamed and tried to scramble to her feet.</p><p></p><p>“No,” I said. “I was like you. Look!” I showed her the scars on my wrists where I had long worn shackles.</p><p></p><p>She hesitated, then sat back with a sigh, covered her eyes with one hand and cried. When she was done, I offered her my water skin, which she drank deeply from. I cooked a rabbit and she ate hungrily before the animal was much past raw. She then told me her name, Alice, and that she was from a small village whose name I do not recall and that raiders had come one night to her home and her husband was killed. She cried again and I waited for her to go on. Alice told me how she was sold to an old woman who had her do everything about her house. A few days ago, her owner had died of natural causes, and since Alice had seen where the old woman kept all her keys, she was able to get out of the house and away from the city before anyone was the wiser. Now that she was out in the middle of nowhere though, she was thinking that perhaps being sold to someone else in the city might not have been a terrible thing after all. </p><p></p><p>I told her that freedom is all we are promised when we come into this world, and if anything was worth fighting and dying for, that was it. I don’t know what effect my words had, but my offer to escort her to a safer area obviously made a positive impression. And so it was that I led this lone woman to a place of relative safety where she might be able to start her life anew. As the seasons passed, I helped six more former slaves make their way to freedom. It was not coincidence that I found them and inevitably I was seen by the enemy. A price went out on my head, and when I saw the grizzled mountain men making their way through my territory, I avoided them completely.</p><p></p><p>During the next spring I had to put down a buck that had been shot several times with arrows, but with no finishing blow. I wondered who could do this to an animal and not take the time to hunt it down to put it out of its misery. I laughed at my own foolishness, thinking of what humans did to one another all the time. The next day, I came upon a fox that was chewing its leg off to get out of a trap, and I put it out of its misery. When I found the hunters that were running amok in my land, I showed no mercy. I rushed into the middle of their camp, knocking the first hunter unconscious with a swing of my quarterstaff. The second came at me with a long sword, and we danced around their campfire a bit before I was able to deliver a telling blow, knocking him off his feet. When he tried to get back up, I hit him twice in the head, killing him. </p><p></p><p>The other human was tied up when he awoke. I pulled back my cloak and barred my teeth to him, eliciting the terror I was hoping for.</p><p></p><p>“Go back to the others, the other defilers and tell them these woods are theirs no more. And if you ever dare come back, I will skin you alive.”</p><p></p><p>I cut his ropes and kicked him in the rear as he ran off.</p><p></p><p>------------------------------</p><p></p><p>Things got more dangerous as more men made their way into the woods looking for me or perhaps other escaped slaves, but I always stayed one step ahead of them. On one of my daily patrols, I came upon a camp that I watched for some time to discern who these people were and what they wanted. They were a man and a woman, armored in chain, sitting about a campfire, speaking in too low of a voice for me to eavesdrop. I watched them for hours before deciding to climb a tree. After some time, I was almost directly above the pair.</p><p></p><p>“What do you want in my woods?” I shouted down as ominously as I could. </p><p></p><p>“I wasn’t aware they belonged to anyone, friend,” the man said.</p><p></p><p>“I would hope two travelers who mean no harm would be free to go about their business as they see fit,” added the woman.</p><p></p><p>“Aye, you are free to do as you will, but know this, slavers and their lackeys are not abided here. If you are just travelers, this is not a safe place,” I replied.</p><p></p><p>“I didn’t realize the danger. Perhaps you will see us somewhere safer?” asked the man.</p><p></p><p>I agreed to do so and came down from the tree. They were obviously not afraid of my towering form and made pleasant small talk as I led them along. In the days we traveled together, they did all of the talking, telling me of lands near and far. It was certainly not unpleasant listening to their tales.</p><p></p><p>Finally, around the dinner fire on the third night, the woman, Jetta, asked, “And what of you? How do you find yourself in this place?”</p><p></p><p>I did not know then what came over me but I spoke for hours, my story spilling out of me from the very beginning. It was almost an act of creation, as though finally sharing my story made it real at last. When I was done, Jetta had tears in her eyes and she nodded to Narcell, apparently her husband.</p><p></p><p>“Ratchis, we have not been honest with you. We came to these woods looking for you. The former slave that kept the area free, rescuing any slaves you could. We are friars of Nephthys. Do you know who she is?”</p><p></p><p>I shook my head no.</p><p></p><p>“She is the goddess of freedom and bravery,” Narcell began. “She was the wife to her brother, Set, the god of power and tyranny. She broke this bond as she seeks to break the bonds of oppression everywhere. Her rangers roam the land, much as you have, maintaining the integrity of nature and helping the enslaved and downtrodden.”</p><p></p><p>“Those that follow her path, her rangers and friars, are not popular among human leaders. It is similar to what I am sure would be your less than popular status among the orcs of this land,” Jetta continued.</p><p></p><p>“It was a former slave, Malar, who first spread Nephthys’ belief in freedom over all other aspirations, fending off Set’s abominations. We all answered a calling, friend. We do not seek to control anyone’s destiny. We take those, who out of love and a feeling of duty, seek to make Aquerra a place where one can make their own choices and decide their own fate, and give them the guidance set forth by the goddess. When given a choice some choose to be evil, but others never knew there was a choice."</p><p></p><p>“Those who are called are the most blessed and the most cursed of people. We are blessed with a clarity of vision that will not be blurred by the lies of man or the justifications of rulers, seeing bondage and tyranny in all its forms. At times, though, it may seem like a curse as those we love oft times reject us for trying to clear away the illusions, and those who we followed in ignorance now scorn our truths, seeing it as the threat it is to their cults of personality, their empires built on the bodies of the poor and the backs of the enslaved.”</p><p></p><p>“I do not know of this goddess, and if she is the spark in me, perhaps I would have been better served if she had stayed out of my life. I am not sure I like the complications and the loneliness I have known for too long,” I answered.</p><p></p><p>Jetta nodded, “I understand. Nephthys has blessed you, but she is the goddess of freedom; we would never do anything to cause you to do anything that was not exactly what you wanted to do with your life.”</p><p></p><p>Narcell stood and said, “We are not just here to see where your path will take you, friend. As you are very aware, great evil takes place in this region, and we have learned of a band of slavers that are responsible for much of the abductions that fills the land of Menovia with its ill-gotten labor. We need someone who knows this land well. Someone that can lead our allies and us over the unseen trails that will allow us to strike at these evildoers without anyone knowing we are coming until it is too late. Have we come to the right person?”</p><p></p><p>They had at that. I agreed to guide them where they needed to go and agreed to meet them at a crossroads I knew well in two days hence. I left them, needing much time to think about all I had heard and all I was feeling.</p><p></p><p></p><p><strong>to be continued. . .</strong></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ratchis, post: 934522, member: 5004"] I ran for hours until I came to clean stream thousands of feet above the hell I had left behind. I threw myself down and drank deeply. I lay with my face on the cool mud of the shore and thanked the spirit in these woods that I could sense as clearly as the designs on the back of my hand. In the weeks that passed, I hunted for my food and outfitted myself in animal furs, making sure to fashion a large hooded cloak so that I could hide my identity when needed. I always thanked the animal for its sacrifice and never took more from the land than I needed. I also fashioned a heavy walking stick that would serve well as a quarterstaff if needed. While making my way through a particularly precarious ravine, I saw a human female sprawled on the rocks below. I rushed down and saw she was dressed in the rags of a slave. I was relieved to see she was alive and apparently sleeping. She was shivering so I covered her with my cloak and built a fire a safe distance away. I was stretching and exercising when she awoke. For a moment she didn’t know where was, but when she saw me she screamed and tried to scramble to her feet. “No,” I said. “I was like you. Look!” I showed her the scars on my wrists where I had long worn shackles. She hesitated, then sat back with a sigh, covered her eyes with one hand and cried. When she was done, I offered her my water skin, which she drank deeply from. I cooked a rabbit and she ate hungrily before the animal was much past raw. She then told me her name, Alice, and that she was from a small village whose name I do not recall and that raiders had come one night to her home and her husband was killed. She cried again and I waited for her to go on. Alice told me how she was sold to an old woman who had her do everything about her house. A few days ago, her owner had died of natural causes, and since Alice had seen where the old woman kept all her keys, she was able to get out of the house and away from the city before anyone was the wiser. Now that she was out in the middle of nowhere though, she was thinking that perhaps being sold to someone else in the city might not have been a terrible thing after all. I told her that freedom is all we are promised when we come into this world, and if anything was worth fighting and dying for, that was it. I don’t know what effect my words had, but my offer to escort her to a safer area obviously made a positive impression. And so it was that I led this lone woman to a place of relative safety where she might be able to start her life anew. As the seasons passed, I helped six more former slaves make their way to freedom. It was not coincidence that I found them and inevitably I was seen by the enemy. A price went out on my head, and when I saw the grizzled mountain men making their way through my territory, I avoided them completely. During the next spring I had to put down a buck that had been shot several times with arrows, but with no finishing blow. I wondered who could do this to an animal and not take the time to hunt it down to put it out of its misery. I laughed at my own foolishness, thinking of what humans did to one another all the time. The next day, I came upon a fox that was chewing its leg off to get out of a trap, and I put it out of its misery. When I found the hunters that were running amok in my land, I showed no mercy. I rushed into the middle of their camp, knocking the first hunter unconscious with a swing of my quarterstaff. The second came at me with a long sword, and we danced around their campfire a bit before I was able to deliver a telling blow, knocking him off his feet. When he tried to get back up, I hit him twice in the head, killing him. The other human was tied up when he awoke. I pulled back my cloak and barred my teeth to him, eliciting the terror I was hoping for. “Go back to the others, the other defilers and tell them these woods are theirs no more. And if you ever dare come back, I will skin you alive.” I cut his ropes and kicked him in the rear as he ran off. ------------------------------ Things got more dangerous as more men made their way into the woods looking for me or perhaps other escaped slaves, but I always stayed one step ahead of them. On one of my daily patrols, I came upon a camp that I watched for some time to discern who these people were and what they wanted. They were a man and a woman, armored in chain, sitting about a campfire, speaking in too low of a voice for me to eavesdrop. I watched them for hours before deciding to climb a tree. After some time, I was almost directly above the pair. “What do you want in my woods?” I shouted down as ominously as I could. “I wasn’t aware they belonged to anyone, friend,” the man said. “I would hope two travelers who mean no harm would be free to go about their business as they see fit,” added the woman. “Aye, you are free to do as you will, but know this, slavers and their lackeys are not abided here. If you are just travelers, this is not a safe place,” I replied. “I didn’t realize the danger. Perhaps you will see us somewhere safer?” asked the man. I agreed to do so and came down from the tree. They were obviously not afraid of my towering form and made pleasant small talk as I led them along. In the days we traveled together, they did all of the talking, telling me of lands near and far. It was certainly not unpleasant listening to their tales. Finally, around the dinner fire on the third night, the woman, Jetta, asked, “And what of you? How do you find yourself in this place?” I did not know then what came over me but I spoke for hours, my story spilling out of me from the very beginning. It was almost an act of creation, as though finally sharing my story made it real at last. When I was done, Jetta had tears in her eyes and she nodded to Narcell, apparently her husband. “Ratchis, we have not been honest with you. We came to these woods looking for you. The former slave that kept the area free, rescuing any slaves you could. We are friars of Nephthys. Do you know who she is?” I shook my head no. “She is the goddess of freedom and bravery,” Narcell began. “She was the wife to her brother, Set, the god of power and tyranny. She broke this bond as she seeks to break the bonds of oppression everywhere. Her rangers roam the land, much as you have, maintaining the integrity of nature and helping the enslaved and downtrodden.” “Those that follow her path, her rangers and friars, are not popular among human leaders. It is similar to what I am sure would be your less than popular status among the orcs of this land,” Jetta continued. “It was a former slave, Malar, who first spread Nephthys’ belief in freedom over all other aspirations, fending off Set’s abominations. We all answered a calling, friend. We do not seek to control anyone’s destiny. We take those, who out of love and a feeling of duty, seek to make Aquerra a place where one can make their own choices and decide their own fate, and give them the guidance set forth by the goddess. When given a choice some choose to be evil, but others never knew there was a choice." “Those who are called are the most blessed and the most cursed of people. We are blessed with a clarity of vision that will not be blurred by the lies of man or the justifications of rulers, seeing bondage and tyranny in all its forms. At times, though, it may seem like a curse as those we love oft times reject us for trying to clear away the illusions, and those who we followed in ignorance now scorn our truths, seeing it as the threat it is to their cults of personality, their empires built on the bodies of the poor and the backs of the enslaved.” “I do not know of this goddess, and if she is the spark in me, perhaps I would have been better served if she had stayed out of my life. I am not sure I like the complications and the loneliness I have known for too long,” I answered. Jetta nodded, “I understand. Nephthys has blessed you, but she is the goddess of freedom; we would never do anything to cause you to do anything that was not exactly what you wanted to do with your life.” Narcell stood and said, “We are not just here to see where your path will take you, friend. As you are very aware, great evil takes place in this region, and we have learned of a band of slavers that are responsible for much of the abductions that fills the land of Menovia with its ill-gotten labor. We need someone who knows this land well. Someone that can lead our allies and us over the unseen trails that will allow us to strike at these evildoers without anyone knowing we are coming until it is too late. Have we come to the right person?” They had at that. I agreed to guide them where they needed to go and agreed to meet them at a crossroads I knew well in two days hence. I left them, needing much time to think about all I had heard and all I was feeling. [b]to be continued. . .[/b] [/QUOTE]
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