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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lars Frehse" data-source="post: 863035" data-attributes="member: 1674">Secrets- part 4 of 5The front room had been prepared for breafast. There was a big oaken table which was covered with freshly baked bread and there was plenty of fruit and vegetable."Sit down and eat", the keeper announced while waving his arm in an inviting gesture "All provided by the garden through which you have come.".The friends accepted the invitation and after silently eating and drinking for a while, enjoying the delicious freshness of the food in spite of the season outside of the mountain."So," Ben said, in between two bites:" Can you tell us the three riddles we are looking for?".The keeper had been watching his guests eat and drink, only occasionaly sipping from a small cup of tea. "Of course" he said and then he cleared his throat and recited from memory:"These are the three riddles of the three heads:"The burning head shall aid the one who eases it's pain. The drowned head shall aid the one who brings it the breath of life. The howling head shall aid the one who brings the song of the winds and turns it's pain to joy.".Niklas, who had written down the riddles, looked up:" And the burning head is on Cyri, the drowned one close to Mullis Town and the howling one is in the Kelders, close to Ghest Ghanest... Thank you. Is there anything we could do for you in return?"The keeper smiled and shook his head:" No, thanks. I am provided with everything I need to here in my exile.""I hope I am not being rude, but is there any way for your curse to be lifted?", Niklas asked him."Oh, no, you are not being rude at all. And since it is not intended to be a secret either, I can indeed tell you about the condition that would lift the curse: That is if I would worship the gods."Now Torn was surprised:" You don't worship them?".Now the keeper laughed out:"I certainly don't! Now, there is no doubt that they are indeed extremely powerful beings, with abilities far beyond the grasp of us mortals. But power and strength alone don't warrant worship to me. For example, we all are far more powerful than any mouse there is. Yet we don't expect the mice to worship us, do we?"And I don't think that their personalities make them worthy of our worship, either. For example, while Corean and Chardun have a truce, not harming each other, they allow their worshippers to endlessly fight and kill each other. Instead of fighting themselves, they delegate the actual suffering to their delegates.""But the gods defeated the titans!", Niklas said.The keeper smirked, indicating that he was well aware of that argument:" Indeed they did. But what will the effects be. You see, there are indications that the previous ages had been linked to one titan each. Now, after a number of other ages, it was Denev's turn. Maybe this cycle had a function that we can't see... The way it is now, we will forever stay in the age of Denev."Sure, the titans were lethal for us, and hadn't they been defeated we would have probably all been wiped out. But the titans are like mindless forces. But just like a fire in a forest is a catastrophe for those who are in it, plants, animals and sentient beings alike it is ultimately necessary and leads the forest into a new cycle. I might even go as far as saying that occasionaly, those fires are even necessary. Maybe it is the same with Scarn. Maybe the destructive powers of the titans were ultimately necessary for the universe to go on..."Ben turned to the others and rose in his seat:" I think we should get going now. We have what we had come for."."Let's just stay for a little longer", Torn said:" And what makes you think that?""Oh, just reflecting on the well known facts. After all, it is not as if I would be able to tell you any secrets. It is well known that there had been different ages before the current one, and it looks like that in each age, the druids had the powers of the titan who was in charge. But all druids, no matter which titan they follow, now have pretty much the same powers, which all seem to come from Denev. So, I wonder whether there will be any consequences because of that."While his companions were already rising, unsettled by the blasphemy, Torn pressed on:" And even though all you would have to do is bow your head in order to get rid of the curse, you don't do it?""That is right. I am not willing to give them this pleasure. And this way, by enduring the penalty without letting it dominate me, I am truly free. I won't let the outer circumstances of my existence dictate the state of my mind. All that matters is that I exist. Hence this punishment is irrelevant to me and I can laugh into the face of those who had devised this confinement.".Torn and Trepat shook hands with the keeper and the others waved him goodbye, and soon afterwards, they were back on the Nellie 2, sailing south to the island of Cyri.On their way there, they were stopped by pisceans, but Captain Strohman seemed to be used to situations like these, and after throwing a bag filled with coins down to the fishmen, they were free to sail on. Furtunately for them, he not only knew how to deal with the pisceans, but he also knew the blood sea like his own vest pocket. So, he safely brought them around the deadly cliffs and reefs around the island and safely landed them on the southern black shore of the uninhabitable volcanic island.</blockquote>

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