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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Angel of Adventure" data-source="post: 2222228" data-attributes="member: 19165">The Tale of Saint SimonDawn broke upon Ardick in wave of bright light, winnowing back the darkness into small slivers of shadow, and then dispelling it completely.  The brutal land that surrounded the Travelers scowled at them, angered at being revealed as the festering sore it was.Gherrick awoke before Mhoram and quietly rolled out of his bedroll.  No reason to wait, he thought.  Aegle and I need our practice before we set out on the road.  Yes, replied Aegle in his mind.  Your hands can always be quicker, Gherrick, and more proficient in wielding me.His companions took little notice of him as he began his exercises, starting with the simple routine of drawing his bow in a slow motion and guiding it into the perfect firing position.  He sped this routine up until he wasted less than a second of time readying Aegle, then stopped his left arm in the air and rapidly brought Aegle’s bowstring back several times, sans arrow, in a blur of motioin.  Next, he combined the two movements, never once firing an arrow, while shadow targeting various stones and cracks farther and farther away.  After several minutes, he began tumbling around, as though dodging invisible blows.  Never once did he loose his footing while aiming methodical, rapidly shooting his unseen attackers.  He was a whirling dervish, kicking up much dust around him, and unconscious of what his deadly hand were doing.  He just moved; Aegle could do the rest if he gave her an arrow.Gherrick stopped abruptly, letting the dust and his rapidly beating heart settle.  He closed his eyes and repeated the Code of the Bow.“I do not shoot my enemy with my mind, though it is what led me to him.”“I do not shoot my enemy with my hands, though they yearn to strangle him.”“I do not shoot my enemy with regret, though he could know my forgiveness.”“I shoot you, enemy of mine, with my heart and my bow.  For they are one and both will have their wrath upon you for ever trespassing against us.”  “You may forgive yourself once you are dead.”Gherrick took stock of himself, thanked Aegle for the excellent workout, and returned to camp.  He found them all sitting around Simon and enjoying a prodigious feast of breads and vegetables.  Water was plentiful, too.  The tall frame of Saint Simon loomed over them all, even sitting down.“Ah, Gherrick, right?” asked Saint Simon.  “Come here and join us.  You could definitely use some sustenance after all this time out here.”  His gaunt, muscular arm motioned to the food in from of them.“We were just finishing our tale,” Mhoram mentioned.  “You arrived just in time to hear Simon out.  He is about to begin.”“Start by telling us why these Aags had you,” Darsint ordered.  “Yes, they tortured you out of pleasure; that is not hard to surmise.  But why else would they keep you around?  What haven’t you told us?”“Well, I haven’t really told you anything about myself or my life on Ardick,” began Simon, “and I know you have many, many questions.  Please hear me out, Darsint, and I will answer for you what I can.  Just understand that my years here haven’t been kind and my memories are fragmented in many, many places.”“Yes, we understand what that is like,” Darsint responded.  His arms were crossed and his face broke into a slight sneer when he talked.  “Tell you tale, Angel, and we will learn what we learn.”“Very well, then.  I was not always the Angel you see before you.  I was once like you, Gherrick: a humble mortal, though a faithful servant to God.  Some might say that I did a lot of good in my time and perhaps I might agree just to inflate myself, but truly, I only made the choices that were needed at the time.  Not for me, nor those I cared for most dearly, but for all of us.  It was what any decent person would have done, if in my position.  Never-the-less, I was Sainted once I passed on from my world, and ascended into Heaven to join the glorious Choir along with my brethren.”“I sang for countless centuries and gave every ounce of myself into lifting our harmonious voices to more magnificent song.  Eventually, I was called into our army and began to more . . . forcefully defend God’s Will.  I was ultimately brought to Ardick thousands upon thousands of years ago, in an effort to quell the Enemy.  I joined my comrades shortly after they had expelled our foes from the Shining City and we swept them out of ‘Redshores’, where you are headed, as well.  We spent some time there, gathering ourselves and burying the dead.  The town was not called Redshores, then anyway, but must have gotten its name from the blood stained beaches where so many of us fought and died, on both sides.”“So, we pushed off into this place, these Wasted Lands and fought an epic battle against the forces of Shadow, smiting them with the might of our righteousness and banishing them from darkness forever!”  Simon opened his eyes widely in surprise, as if stunned by the strength of his words.  He could still feel His light shining upon them, giving them strength in the face of so much adversity, even so many years removed now.“It was a vicious battle.  So many of us died that I could never hope to recite all their names within your lifetime, save perhaps yours, Darsint.  The battle was fierce and I was captured during our retreat.  I was left in the hands of those Aags, who used me as a dog uses a chew toy, for oh so many years.  Every day passed the same.  I was used for different experiments during the day, as the Aags tried to perfect a poison that would ruin my kind.  At night, they would take me outside, dragging me along and performing their profane rituals until just before sunrise.”“This was truly an outstanding turn of fate for us that we met.  I have not seen anyone, save those you encountered, for far too long.  Just to witness the site of healthy, vibrant mortals such as yourselves would have greatly lifted my spirits.  I feared that we had not won, that all our losses had been in vain, and that the Dead now ruled all of Ardick.”  He ran his left hand over his face and bald pate, as if checking to make sure this wasn’t all a dream.  Perhaps he possessed many of the same feelings as the Travelers about their current predicament.The Travelers took a moment to digest his tale, all looking downward and lost in thought.  Darsint wore a look of grim analysis throughout the entire tale; he spoke first.“Tell us of your god, Simon.  Who is He?  And what do you remember of Redshores?  Is it a place that we want to go?”“Darsint, my god is the Lord, the One True God of Good and Order.  He is the only true god, thus he is named as such.  As for Redshores, I am sorry my friends.  I cannot recall much, just spending most of my time digging graves or tending to our wounded.  Redshores was a decent sized town at the time; perhaps a thousand or so humans called it home.  It was a place of freedom, but good at heart.”“Who is the Enemy, then?  What is his name?  I told you earlier that we were on a quest of atonement.  Perhaps he our true adversary in all of this!”“His name is one that I will never say and, should you learn it, you all are advised to do the same.  And, yes Darsint, he is most certainly your adversary, as he is the adversary of all Good on Ardick.  Whether or not it applies to your atonement, I do not know.  But . . . it would be a good place to start.”  A large grin broke upon Simon’s otherwise stern and contemplative face.  “Why did your forces retreat, and why did they allow you to be left behind?,” Mhoram interjected while Darsint search for his next question.  “From your tale, it would seem that your side had the upper hand.“I do not know why they retreated, only that the retreat was called.  I was in the hands of the Aags soon after.  I know my Brothers quite well, Mhoram. They would have saved me if it were possible.”“Tell us true, Simon.  Why did the Aags keep you alive?,” spat Darsint.  “It creates a great sense of unease in me knowing that they did not kill you outright.”“As it does me, Darsint.  Again, they experimented on me with various attempts to find a poison that would kill Celestials, and as amusement.  As you can see, this is a desolate place.  There is not much to do.”“Please, let us walk together, and gather our thoughts.  I do remember my past, unlike you, but it is so far away that there will be much time spent digging it out.  Gherrick, have some food, please.  You are looking a little too exerted from that workout.”Gherrick nibbled on a few more breads and packed a bit more for later.  They sat quietly, contemplating, until Darsint broke the silence.“Just one more thing, Simon.”“Indeed, Darsint?”“Now that you are free, will you leave and return to Heaven?”“Ah, I long to do so badly, but it is unlikely.  This world is difficult to get out of, otherwise I would have escaped those Aags long ago.  Perhaps I shall ask God himself later today.”“Difficult to leave, HOW?,” snapped Darsint.  “Must you always be so vague!”Simon’s face was painted with sympathy.  “Darsint, I am sorry that I haven’t been more forthcoming.  It is hard on all of us, to not remember all that came before this.  We must press on, though, and be brave in spite of the loss.  You all seem very capable; trust in God to do the rest.”Darsint sat up and walked away, needing time to himself.  No answers!, he thought.  All we get are obscured portraits of what we don’t know!They broke camp and continued down the Road of Bone.  It was a warm day that severely taxed those who weren’t of Living Constructs or Celestial heritage.  Gherrick used up the last of his water towards midday and Saint Simon took it as a personal offense that he did not immediately ask for more.  Gherrick replied that he could not remember ever meeting a creature like Simon, but he would certainly ask for more in the future.  Aegle vehemently agreed, though she needed no water for herself.Onwards, onwards, and onwards they traveled, walking and flying at various times.  H.A.L. proved quiet useful in enabling the party this way and Mhoram requested he cast more the next day on all of them, save Simon.  The sun continued its unpredictable path thru the sky and made it challenging to gauge the passage of time.  So onwards, onwards and onwards they went.The sun was nearly set when H.A.L.’s sensors spotted a ramshackle abode hundreds of yards ahead.  They approached cautiously.  Darsint and Simon led the way.  The abode appeared to be a shanty house of some sort, assembled from various burnt pieces of debris, as the got closer.  There were others that dotted the landscape at irregular intervals.  A sickly looking man, clothed in tattered black robes lazily prodded an ugly plant on the ground with his hoe.  He turned towards them as they approach, and revealed a sunken face with red, watery eyes that barely opened.  He was quite scrawny and, as he opened his mouth to talk, he exposed a blackened tongue and set of teeth."Helllllllls Weeeeeeeed," he whispered, extending his cupped palm.  "Heeeeeeelllss Weeeddddd."</blockquote>

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