Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jeremy Ackerman-Yost" data-source="post: 401824" data-attributes="member: 4720">Re: A Stirring in the MistThat was interesting, Mythusmage.  It got my wheels turning in regards to the modern day.  I've even got this story idea floating around back there about a guy who more or less stumbles on a new rising of Demonic magic through a wannabe Goth chick he's been tutoring.  It's kind of a generic Buffy-meets-Cthulu idea at the moment, but it's still percolating.  Maybe something will come of it after it goes a few rounds with my subconscious.But I'm definitely a bit more caught up in the Middle Ages thing right now.  For one thing, thinking about what would happen to Christianity today if some people were gifted with divine powers is a) Too complicated and b) would probably send me off on a tangent that would get Moderators pouncing on this thread like Bill Clinton on an intern (see, there I go already).  For another, Seasong started up a great exchange of ideas.  There's a mighty fine game lurking in there somewhere.Of course, your story also got me thinking about how people would react to magic in their midst.  Would they be as pragmatic and kind as the doctors and hospital officials in your story?  Some would, but probably not the majority.  A lot of people would run screaming for the hills.What would the effect be inside a cloistered order or amongst the clergy?  I wonder if the clerics who were slower to awaken their powers wouldn't look at the other, more developed clerics and wonder why those men were doing better.  Why are they more powerful?  Is their faith that strong?  Or is mine not strong enough?  Or what if their underlying assumptions about God excluded this sort of manifestation?  You could have an unshakeable faith in God but not believe in miracles.  Sort of the "God does not need to put on a show for us to bully us into doing what is right" stance.Would a king who was gifted with great sorcerous powers "by virtue of being the Eighth Degree from Our Lord, Jesus Christ" put up with an advisor who practiced wizardly magic by ritual and incantation?  Even if he wanted to keep the man around, would the Church and the faithful people allow him to?  Or would they be screaming for the blood of "the devil-worshipping warlock"?Thinking about some of these questions, and to counter your tale, I threw together a quick story.  Be warned before you read that random inspiration and the praise of Seasong might have inflated my ego regarding my own prose...Brother Thomas was afraid.  An emotion he had long since thought expunged, but had made itself apparent ever more of late.How long ago had the... oddities begun around the Monastery?  Was it as much as four years ago that the bells began?  At odd times and on unusual occasions, the monastery would be filled with the tolling and chiming of all manner of bells, yet, when the belfry was examined, not a one was stirring.  The villagers reported strange lights sometimes, late at night, and grew ever more reluctant to approach the monastery gate.  And then the vineyard...  Seemingly at random, vines would become overgrown, massive, and laden with enormous grapes.  Grapes which proved sweeter and more delectable than anything grown by the Brothers in living memory.  The young acolytes babbled about blessings and curses.  And even Hammish, the gnarled old stump of a wagoner who alone was willing to take the wine of the "cursed" monastery to the merchants' dock, always made the sign to ward off the Evil Eye before he drank of his cup.As for what his Brothers thought, Thomas could only guess.  Most simply shook their heads gravely, and went on with their work.  As they so clearly accepted the mysteries of life under God, Thomas knew he should not be so discomfited.  But that was little consolation this morning, when he had come upon Gabriel kneeling in the chapel...Thomas shuddered at the image.You are a man of God! he scolded himself silently, is it so hard to believe in Miracles?Yes, yes it is, he answered himself.  The Age when God walked among His people is long since gone, and will not come again until the End is upon us.  The hand of God touches not upon this world, but upon the hearts of men.Not in many years had he been so agitated, and he felt the need of calm and contemplation.Lowering himself to his pallet, he thought If only I could look upon the face of God in my heart, all my questions would be answered...Indeed they would, my Brother.Startled that a voice inside his head could be not his own, Thomas looked up and wondered.  In his doorway stood Gabriel, the nimbus of golden light Thomas had first seen in the chapel still radiant about his head.For I have looked upon the Face of the Divine in my heart, and for the first time, all is clear.  Stepping closer, Gabriel held out his hand.  I have found the Path to my answers, Brother.  Let me guide you onto the Path, so that you may seek answers to the questions in your heart.Ah, those words were sweet.  But what if it were a trick?  The devil's servants ever tempted men with sweet words that hid the sourness of lies beneath the surface.  But Brother Gabriel?  A more devoted man of God Thomas had never met.  Could such a man have fallen so far?Closing his eyes, Thomas searched his heart.  Gabriel's words rang true.Putting his Faith in God and the heart of a Man, Thomas took Gabriel's hand as the bells rang once more...</blockquote>

Verification