Tag: light

“- All rivers do not have to end but eventually they must bend. It is saddening to hear that your mentor Armand is dead. But as you have had no talent with the art of war or shapeshifting I do not know if I would make a adequate replacement….-I would recommend you stay on your current path Novice.”

When my mentor died I cremated his remains and I did contact the other members I knew. So few were they that it took months before I had a response from enough to satisfy me. My mentor’s loss was mourned but those that remained either were unwilling to take me on as their novice or politely declined my requests. They were willing to provide me with information and let me to interpret it as I will and to guide me to what would become my mentor’s resting place.

The area now known as Eastern Plaguelands was once populated by bountiful farms and small villages and called Eastweld. Those familiar with the maps will note of the mountains. It was there I took my mentor. Carrying him in a small urn with my waterproof cloak wrapped carefully around it.  Dornoll, Cathbad, Amergin, and Bodmail awaited me when I arrived and it was them who guided me through a small cave entry that barely fit two men side by side. These other members of the Spiral spoke almost nothing to me as they guided me to our destination. Our destination was a large cavern where part of the ceiling had collapsed to allow in the outside world. Our every step echoed as we approached the altar.

The Light is multifaceted. Do you remember what I told you about there being no one true Tyleril? The same is true for the light. I worship the Sun Goddess who speaks to me and once I bore her blessings with me into battle. I was nigh unstoppable, raining down cold burning fury and- ah. The good days before my heart started to fail me. One day I’ll take you to our sacred place. We used to have countless sacred sites, but time and long gone enemies have reduced us to one. 

It is impossible to describe the feelings you experience in there so I’ll tell you the basics. The Gods were once bountiful with their blessings when we were numerous and farther spread out. Each person who carried the blessing of their God would return to our sacred site when they felt death coming. The blessing would be set there for the next one worthy to bear the burden…

It would be more accurate to say there had once been several altars. The design of a spiral was carved onto the floor of the cave and nine altars were placed around it, with one in the center. Each altar, I had noticed had been damaged. Some looked like they had been worn away by time, others looked as if someone had taken a hammer to them.  Cathbad took time to silently point towards the altar on the farthest left. It had split in twain. Amergin next to my ear whispered my mentor had carried the blessing the altar had once held.

The ceremony that they sent my master off with was simple and soft. Voices never going beyond a soft keening wail. Armand was loved and I saw it etched in the faces of those present.

If the blessing cannot be given back when the Priest dies then the stone that held it breaks. Sometimes even when the Priests were able to return the blessing to the sacred site their successor could not bear the burden. And over time we have lost much. But fear not! Things change. With you as my novice I think the Spiral could continue on in some form…

There are some vows that cannot be broken.  Some promises that you should not ever make because they will force you to pay up when payment is due. Some trades you should not make, some deals you cannot make.

I was not wise enough to keep that in mind.

To swear by the Light is no trivial promise. It is promising something in the face of the Light that it will be done. And if it is not? You will suffer the consequences of breaking your obligation. Never take one that you cannot or will not fulfill. Remember the tale of Dalor and how he was burnt to ash for breaking his, Novice, and see to it you are never forced to suffer the same fate…

The Spiral etched onto the cavern’s floor once held twelve blessings. Each stone was heavily magicked- each bore shining runes and intricate designs that were old. Strong enough to hold a blessing only those devoted to the Light and blessed by it would ever obtain. Perhaps some time ago the Spiral had more stones like this. But by the time I entered the cavern that day there were only two stones that were intact. All others were damaged. 

Looking back now, centuries later I think they had found a way to extract the blessings of the Light. But unlike the Blood Knights they found some way to keep them  and continue passing them on, thus ensuring that the strong among them were even more so. But I have no idea how they were able to do it. I only know that whoever bore a blessing obtained from the stones had to return it before their death or the blessing was lost and the stone that was held it damaged.

One of the things I remember my mentor saying was ‘I don’t want to die yet!’ when I had teased Armand of a human’s short lifespan. Armand had laughed then and we joked back and forth like the pair we had become. Now, even centuries after the words haunt me as I remember his face. Maybe it was the blessing that had killed him, a burden that grew to heavy for his heart.

There’s so much I’ll never know. The members of the Spiral used these blessings for their own benefit, that much is obvious. The Light does not bless everyone so generously. Only the most devout and strong among us could hope for the Light to shine down on us so.

That day, I started the path I could not leave. I swore an oath to the Light I could not break.

But that, is for me to write another day.

Previously: The Spiral Broken