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They came in search of Paradise (A Story of Erth) - Updated 23rd April
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<blockquote data-quote="robberbaron" data-source="post: 1980295" data-attributes="member: 14771"><p><strong>Seigfried Reaches a Bit of an Epiphany</strong></p><p></p><p>20th September 1699, Night</p><p></p><p>Seigfried’s nightmares took a turn.</p><p>For several nights in a row, his dreams had become less frenetic and less bloody, though more disturbing.</p><p>And his screaming less intense.</p><p></p><p>--- </p><p></p><p>He was walking through a forest and into a clearing with a large cottage in the centre. His father looked up from the pile of logs he was turning into firewood, saw Seigfried and leant on his axe, calling for his wife.</p><p>She appeared in the doorway, just as Seigfried approached.</p><p></p><p>Seigfried could not quite hear the words – they were a buzzing, like flies in a jar – but his father was angry and his mother concerned.</p><p></p><p>[Otto Schtauffen had been an officer in the Army of the Thousand Year Reich that had subjugated all of northern Europa thirty years earlier, and hated how his countrymen had been treated since the Fuhrer had ascended (according to the Priests) and Peace had broken out. Peace! He spat the word as a curse. He hated his life. Grubbing a living out of the earth when he had been striding across the continent at the head of a victorious army. </p><p>Otto tended to see himself as a general, rather than the Lieutenant he had actually been.</p><p></p><p>Seigfried, brought up on the teachings of the Fuhrer and the litanies of the Priests, had rebelled. Unable to stomach the stupidity of his father’s beliefs he had gone off to discover his own path. He had found it on the border of Slavia.</p><p>He had discovered a temple to Morana, the Slav Goddess of Death and Winter and taken her teachings to heart. How he loved his Goddess! She became everything to him and, one day, his prayers were answered.</p><p>Morana herself appeared to him and granted him power in return for his service.</p><p>Without hesitation, Seigfried pledged himself to her and took his first step on the path of the Paladin.]</p><p></p><p>Seigfried knew that his father’s anger came not only from his abandoning of the Germanic “faith” but, more importantly, that Seigfried had entered the service of a god of what should have been a slave race. The Slavs were to have been the Germanian army’s next conquest.</p><p></p><p>No matter what he said, however he tried to explain himself, Seigfried only made his father angrier, until Otto grabbed his axe and threatened Seigfried. Backing away, toward the house and the disapproving stare of his mother, Seigfried kept himself outside the swing of his father’s weapon, then ducked past his mother and into the house.</p><p>He ran through the house, hearing his father’s footsteps behind him, until he was cornered in the living room. With his father coming at him swinging his axe, Seigfried looked around in growing fear. He spotted his father’s giant sword, hanging over the fireplace, and grabbed it just in time to deflect an axe blow.</p><p>They traded blows for a minute or more – Seigfried was inexperienced, but Otto was old – until Otto overextended himself and Seigfried cut deeply into his shoulder.</p><p></p><p>Now it was Seigfried’s turn to be angry. He was angry at how his father had ruled his life, how he had been brought up by a bullying, ignorant soldier who thought he was a great hero of the Empire.</p><p>He was angry at his mother for letting his father dominate him so completely.</p><p>He was angry at both of them for not understanding him.</p><p>He was angry at them for not accepting his choice.</p><p>He was just angry.</p><p></p><p>---</p><p></p><p>Seigfried’s vision cleared and the only sound he could hear was the steady drip, drip, drip of blood from the point of his sword. Everything in sight was red. The hearth rug was red. The fireplace was splashed with red. </p><p>His clothes were red.</p><p>The arm on the sideboard was red. </p><p></p><p>The arm on the sideboard?</p><p></p><p>Looking around the room he could see pieces of body all around him.</p><p>He recognised his father’s face, lying on the window sill, and his stomach lurched.</p><p>He saw a head, still attached to a shoulder, under the table. His mother’s.</p><p>His stomach lurched again, more urgently.</p><p></p><p>He managed to get out of the door before his stomach emptied.</p><p></p><p>---</p><p></p><p>He awoke in the forest, leaves coating his body, stuck to the dried blood on his clothes.</p><p></p><p>What the hell had happened? Whose blood was this? </p><p>After a hasty examination, he concluded that it wasn’t his.</p><p></p><p>Where was he?</p><p></p><p>--- </p><p></p><p>He tramped through the woods for hours before coming across a temple, seemingly deserted.</p><p>Entering the gates he was met by an old priest who looked at his blood-soaked clothes and took him in hand.</p><p></p><p>Seigfried spent several days at the temple, dedicated to Forseti, the Norse God of Justice, and learned as much as the priest could teach. </p><p>At the end of his stay, Seigfried took the oaths and swore his service to Forseti.</p><p>He felt that his destiny was to be a Holy Warrior for Justice and determined to seek out iniquity in the name of his God.</p><p></p><p>So, to Byzantium, one of the greatest cities of the age. And where there was greatness, you would find baseness, either in control or in the gutter.</p><p></p><p>--- </p><p></p><p>Waking in his bed, covered with sweat and bruises from his extremely unquiet night, Seigfried could remember everything.</p><p></p><p>He had murdered his parents and left their bodies for the animals’ feast.</p><p>He had sworn himself into service with a God.</p><p></p><p>“Yes, you did. But you are back now and I suppose I can forgive my favourite servant.”</p><p>Seigfried’s head whipped around as he jerked upright. There was a woman in his room. An achingly beautiful woman dressed in crisp white robes. His mistress! How could he have forgotten her?</p><p></p><p>Leaping out of bed, Seigfried threw himself to his knees in front of the beauty, pressing his forehead to the rough boards. </p><p>“I am unworthy of your forgiveness, great Morana,” he breathed.</p><p>“Yes you are, I suppose,” Morana replied, gently, “but you acted properly, so I am willing to be kind. You punished those who mocked your faith. Who mocked ME!” this last word screamed at him.</p><p>“They deserved death and you dispensed it accordingly. Now, pledging service to a God other than me, that is different.” Morana stepped around Seigfried, still with his face pressed to the floor.</p><p>“You must have been out of your mind.”</p><p>Seigfried whimpered faintly, expecting at least excruciating pain from his jilted Goddess.</p><p>“Yes, that was it. You were not yourself. I can accept that and I am sure I can persuade Forseti to agree.”</p><p>Seigfried stopped moving. It seemed that his Lady was trying to help him. Then he found that he couldn’t actually move, and that the room was getting rather chilly.</p><p>He tried to rise from the floor, but his hands and forehead were stuck and the floor was icy cold. And getting colder.</p><p></p><p>“You seriously thought I wasn’t going to punish you?” asked Morana, as the temperature in the room passed freezing point and continued dropping.</p><p></p><p>--- </p><p></p><p>The burns on his face and hands took but an hour to heal, and Seigfried was ecstatic that his Goddess had accepted his offering of pain and heartfelt apologies and taken him back into her service.</p><p></p><p>He would not let her down again.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="robberbaron, post: 1980295, member: 14771"] [b]Seigfried Reaches a Bit of an Epiphany[/b] 20th September 1699, Night Seigfried’s nightmares took a turn. For several nights in a row, his dreams had become less frenetic and less bloody, though more disturbing. And his screaming less intense. --- He was walking through a forest and into a clearing with a large cottage in the centre. His father looked up from the pile of logs he was turning into firewood, saw Seigfried and leant on his axe, calling for his wife. She appeared in the doorway, just as Seigfried approached. Seigfried could not quite hear the words – they were a buzzing, like flies in a jar – but his father was angry and his mother concerned. [Otto Schtauffen had been an officer in the Army of the Thousand Year Reich that had subjugated all of northern Europa thirty years earlier, and hated how his countrymen had been treated since the Fuhrer had ascended (according to the Priests) and Peace had broken out. Peace! He spat the word as a curse. He hated his life. Grubbing a living out of the earth when he had been striding across the continent at the head of a victorious army. Otto tended to see himself as a general, rather than the Lieutenant he had actually been. Seigfried, brought up on the teachings of the Fuhrer and the litanies of the Priests, had rebelled. Unable to stomach the stupidity of his father’s beliefs he had gone off to discover his own path. He had found it on the border of Slavia. He had discovered a temple to Morana, the Slav Goddess of Death and Winter and taken her teachings to heart. How he loved his Goddess! She became everything to him and, one day, his prayers were answered. Morana herself appeared to him and granted him power in return for his service. Without hesitation, Seigfried pledged himself to her and took his first step on the path of the Paladin.] Seigfried knew that his father’s anger came not only from his abandoning of the Germanic “faith” but, more importantly, that Seigfried had entered the service of a god of what should have been a slave race. The Slavs were to have been the Germanian army’s next conquest. No matter what he said, however he tried to explain himself, Seigfried only made his father angrier, until Otto grabbed his axe and threatened Seigfried. Backing away, toward the house and the disapproving stare of his mother, Seigfried kept himself outside the swing of his father’s weapon, then ducked past his mother and into the house. He ran through the house, hearing his father’s footsteps behind him, until he was cornered in the living room. With his father coming at him swinging his axe, Seigfried looked around in growing fear. He spotted his father’s giant sword, hanging over the fireplace, and grabbed it just in time to deflect an axe blow. They traded blows for a minute or more – Seigfried was inexperienced, but Otto was old – until Otto overextended himself and Seigfried cut deeply into his shoulder. Now it was Seigfried’s turn to be angry. He was angry at how his father had ruled his life, how he had been brought up by a bullying, ignorant soldier who thought he was a great hero of the Empire. He was angry at his mother for letting his father dominate him so completely. He was angry at both of them for not understanding him. He was angry at them for not accepting his choice. He was just angry. --- Seigfried’s vision cleared and the only sound he could hear was the steady drip, drip, drip of blood from the point of his sword. Everything in sight was red. The hearth rug was red. The fireplace was splashed with red. His clothes were red. The arm on the sideboard was red. The arm on the sideboard? Looking around the room he could see pieces of body all around him. He recognised his father’s face, lying on the window sill, and his stomach lurched. He saw a head, still attached to a shoulder, under the table. His mother’s. His stomach lurched again, more urgently. He managed to get out of the door before his stomach emptied. --- He awoke in the forest, leaves coating his body, stuck to the dried blood on his clothes. What the hell had happened? Whose blood was this? After a hasty examination, he concluded that it wasn’t his. Where was he? --- He tramped through the woods for hours before coming across a temple, seemingly deserted. Entering the gates he was met by an old priest who looked at his blood-soaked clothes and took him in hand. Seigfried spent several days at the temple, dedicated to Forseti, the Norse God of Justice, and learned as much as the priest could teach. At the end of his stay, Seigfried took the oaths and swore his service to Forseti. He felt that his destiny was to be a Holy Warrior for Justice and determined to seek out iniquity in the name of his God. So, to Byzantium, one of the greatest cities of the age. And where there was greatness, you would find baseness, either in control or in the gutter. --- Waking in his bed, covered with sweat and bruises from his extremely unquiet night, Seigfried could remember everything. He had murdered his parents and left their bodies for the animals’ feast. He had sworn himself into service with a God. “Yes, you did. But you are back now and I suppose I can forgive my favourite servant.” Seigfried’s head whipped around as he jerked upright. There was a woman in his room. An achingly beautiful woman dressed in crisp white robes. His mistress! How could he have forgotten her? Leaping out of bed, Seigfried threw himself to his knees in front of the beauty, pressing his forehead to the rough boards. “I am unworthy of your forgiveness, great Morana,” he breathed. “Yes you are, I suppose,” Morana replied, gently, “but you acted properly, so I am willing to be kind. You punished those who mocked your faith. Who mocked ME!” this last word screamed at him. “They deserved death and you dispensed it accordingly. Now, pledging service to a God other than me, that is different.” Morana stepped around Seigfried, still with his face pressed to the floor. “You must have been out of your mind.” Seigfried whimpered faintly, expecting at least excruciating pain from his jilted Goddess. “Yes, that was it. You were not yourself. I can accept that and I am sure I can persuade Forseti to agree.” Seigfried stopped moving. It seemed that his Lady was trying to help him. Then he found that he couldn’t actually move, and that the room was getting rather chilly. He tried to rise from the floor, but his hands and forehead were stuck and the floor was icy cold. And getting colder. “You seriously thought I wasn’t going to punish you?” asked Morana, as the temperature in the room passed freezing point and continued dropping. --- The burns on his face and hands took but an hour to heal, and Seigfried was ecstatic that his Goddess had accepted his offering of pain and heartfelt apologies and taken him back into her service. He would not let her down again. [/QUOTE]
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