Spring 2005 Ceramic DM Round 1.1: FireLance vs. Speaker vs. Hellefire
Judgement
It had been a very bad day.
Thogar ran through the snow-covered forest, exhaling a puff of mist with every desperate breath that he took. The cruel wind brought to him the final screams of his fellow hunters and the triumphant roars of the Snow Demon.
A body of blue water appeared before him, and he realized that he had reached the river. Hoping that it would wash away his scent, he splashed into the icy water, swam to the middle, held his breath and dived below the surface.
The river current was surprisingly strong, and he tried hard to stabilize himself. Before he could do so, he heard something plunge into the river behind him. Whirling around, he came face to face with the Snow Demon.
It looked like a large cat, pure white in color, except for its black markings. Its fangs were bared in a menacing snarl, and its paws reached out as if to grasp him (1). Thogar tried to swim away, but his left leg suddenly erupted in intense, numbing pain. With his last reserves of strength, he flailed and kicked, and felt his right foot connect with something solid. His last memory, before everything went dark, was of the river current dragging him away from the Snow Demon.
When Thogar regained consciousness, he felt warmer than he had ever been in his entire life. Opening his eyes, he found that he was lying on a rug in a small wooden hut. His left leg still felt cold and numb, and when he examined it, he discovered a long, white scar. He deduced that the Snow Demon clawed him there during his escape.
"Ah, my friend, I see that you are awake," a voice came from the door of the hut. Thogar turned and saw that the speaker was a dark-skinned man with a broad, friendly smile.
"Where am I? Who are you? What happened? Why is it so warm here?" Thogar asked.
"My name is Ulati," the man said, "You are in the village of Salesh, and I am the healer here. Some women found you washed up on the bank of the river yesterday and brought you to me. As to why it is so warm, well, I will be able to explain it better if you came with me. Are you able to stand?"
Thogar rose unsteadily and limped to the door of the hut. His left leg felt awkward, as if it was not entirely a part of him. The hut was one of several ringing a large expanse of greenery. In the centre of the space was a dais on which a great fire was burning.
"This is the Warding Flame," Ulati said proudly, "Its power warms us and keeps us safe from the Snow Demon." With a start, Thogar realized that there was not a trace of snow or ice as far as he could see.
"How did you find such a wonder?" Thogar asked.
Ulati shrugged. "It has always been in our village. Some say our ancestors built it, others say that it was a gift from the gods. Nobody knows for sure. But come, you must be hungry. Let us go and find some food for you."
Thogar feasted on fruits, nuts and berries from the trees and plants growing in the village, but although he enjoyed the villagers' hospitality, his thoughts went often to the family and friends that he had left behind. He wanted to return to them, but feared that he would encounter the Snow Demon again if he left the village. As darkness fell, he thought again of the Warding Flame. Perhaps if he was able to take some of it away with him, its power would be able to protect him.
He walked to the dais for a closer look at the flame. Up close, he could see that
the flame seemed to be burning many small pieces of rock (2). Strangely, the flames merely seemed warm, and not hot like normal fire. Perhaps it would be possible to take a single piece away with him. Gingerly, Thogar stretched out his hand to take one.
A blast of intense heat and light flung Thogar off the dais. He landed heavily on the ground, and his right hand, which he had tried to pick up one of the stones with, glowed red and felt unnaturally warm. He heard shouts and cries around him, and he was soon surrounded by several grim-looking villagers.
Ulati strode to face him, his face dark with anger. "Is this how you repay our hospitality?" he demanded, "You try to steal our Warding Flame?"
"Thief!" someone cried.
"Ungrateful wretch!"
"Betrayer!"
"To the Cave of Judgement with him!"
The villagers dragged Thogar into a cave and sealed the entrance with a boulder. With only his glowing hand for light, Thogar could just make out that there was a passage in front of him leading deeper into the cave. Slowly, he made his way down it.
Before long, he noticed a point of white light in the distance, as he got closer, he saw that it illuminated
the head of a woman wearing a jeweled headdress (3). The woman's body was shrouded in darkness.
The woman looked at Thogar. "I am the Oracle of Judgement," she announced, "Who are you, and what crime have you committed?"
"I am Thogar, and I tried to take a piece of the Warding Flame," Thogar replied, "So what will happen to me now?"
"That is a matter for you to decide," the Oracle said, "For in the Cave of Judgement, it is your own judgement that decides your reward or punishment. You bear the mark of one who was wounded by the Snow Demon. You fled from it, did you not?" Thogar nodded, and she continued, "You could choose to stay on in Salesh. The villagers will not deny you shelter after you leave this cave. But that is not your only option. You have touched the Warding Flame, and bear some of its power. You could try to use it to destroy the Snow Demon instead."
"I will not stay in this village," Thogar said, "I must return to my own. And though I would destroy the Snow Demon if I could, I would rather bring back the secret of the Warding Flame to my village. Is there anything I can do to accomplish this?"
The Oracle smiled. "You have already taken the first step. Follow the river back to your village, and seek the Warding Flame when the elements of nature - earth, air, fire and water – co-exist in harmony. Finally, remember that you did not choose the path of fear, or the path of hate, but the path of love." As she said this, she and the cave faded away, and
Thogar found himself standing on the riverbank a short distance from his village, just as the sun was rising (4).
A snarl and a flash of white at the edge of his field of vision alerted him to the fact that he was not alone. Slowly, menacingly, the Snow Demon emerged from the forest and advanced on him.
Thogar's first instinct was to run, or to find a weapon to use against the Snow Demon, but he remembered the Oracle's words. Deliberately, he turned his back on the demon, and stared across the river, into the sunrise. At the very edge of the river, where the pebbles were lapped by water, cooled by air and lit by the sun, a handful of stones flickered faintly with the same flame that he saw in Salesh. Quickly, he ran to pick them up, and as he did so, he felt power flow from his right hand into the stones, which then blazed with warmth and light.
Thogar turned around. He was standing alone on the bank of the river, holding a handful of pebbles that burned brightly with the Warding Flame. In the distance, he could see the snow starting to melt.
It was going to be a very good day.
. . . . .
(1) The Snow Demon
(2) The Warding Flame
(3) The Oracle of Judgement
(4) The river bank