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Adventure #66 The Wrath of Red Wind (extended edition) - Medoere

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X-Medoere & RCS/KE (Thorsten):
He smiles

"How it can be? It can be because men do not know everything, but steadily seek to learn. It can be because the parts continue to be parts, even if you put them together. It can be because the one has always been, but we have been too blind too see the whole, we ignorant little men.

I will tell you a simple parable, one more suited for the common folk, but descriptive nonetheless: If a craftsman takes all the parts that make up a wagon - the wheels, the axles, the boogie, and so on...and makes a wagon. It is now a wagon, but the wheels remain wheels...only now they have a greater purpose. Now, imagine you had never even seen a wagon before and could not understand what use to put it to; then you would perhaps still recognize the parts and make use for them. But it would still be a wagon, and when you realized what it could do for you you would be angry with yourself for making firewood of the wood and carrying home the iron loops on your back!

That is how it is with man, 'your' Gods, and 'my' God."

Janosh serves you some wine and surprisingly good bread.

"But you are right of course...you are too educated and too wise not to understand that the parable also tells of the downfall of the old and the advent of the new. So yes, in time, when more people have recognized the One, then his various aspects will fade in prominence. But it will not be this year, or even in our lifetime...

...and even when it comes, will it be a bad thing? Fade does not equal disappear...there will still be room for nobility and warfare, moon and magic...only now they will be united in purpose, rather than fractures and in opposition.

So we both know that there will be opposition...some from the small-folk...out of tradition and fear of the unknown, but mostly from those who stand to loose temporal power and wealth."

X-Medoere & RCS/KE (Thorsten):
Kaven seems to have issues grasping some of this, his brow furrowing. "If I understand you correctly, you would claim that all the gods are One? That he is the gathering of the Celestial Nine and Infernal Two, in unity? And Azrai?

We know our gods and love them. They fought besides us at Deismaar, their blood flows in our veins still. We fought fiercely on either side, hating and loathing the other. Do you tell me now that this One God was all the deities in that battle? That he choose to battle himself and shatter the world and all but destroy part of himself? That is asking me to believe a lot, Speaker. Why would the wagon work against itself?"

He pauses.
"Is this why you bring chaos to Ilien? Because you believe us to have chopped up this proverbial wagon for it's lesser parts and fail to see the whole of it?"

X-Medoere & RCS/KE (Thorsten):
"In a sense I am. But that is only part of it. The One God is much bigger than that. The One has always been and always be, and in the final sense he IS everything, not just a God to be worshiped, but literally everything. You, me, every grain of sand. We are all part of the One. It was always thus...but we never did see, because we were not ready..."

He pauses for a while.

"Not everything about the One is easy to understand. Not everything appeals to the common mind...he is not good or evil. It is as you say...he is both. How could it be any other way when you look at man and recognize that we were made in His image? Men are not evil or good. We are both. But not necessarily in equal measure...most people would live in contentment and peace, if given the chance...and so it is with the One.

He is benevolent, but he is not perfect. He is omnipotent and omnipresent, but not without flaws. If he were the world would not exist, we would not exists...it would be stagnation and stasis...we are what we are because we are only nearly perfect...just barely flawed."

You sense there is more, but he stops before it gets too esoteric.

"No-one will demanding that you stop loving your gods or honoring your ancestors. Why would the One want that? We've know him in other forms and names, but we have still known. The first men knew him as shapes in the dirt or as the power behind the life-giving waters of the desert. Later they called him Titan and ascribed to him power over the physical world. Yet later, in my day, then named him God and fought each other over which aspect was 'true' and which was not. Then came Deismaar and the true gods were replaced by their mortal heir...creating a strain of quasi-gods we call scions...but I digress...we've know Him by many names, but he has always been the same...

So by all means, continue to honor your gods...but know that you've been given the greatest gift - if you dare open your soul you will know the One for what he truly is."

The food arrives.

"And honestly truly, I did not make this - Ilien - come to pass. There are other, more sinister, forces at work here. A darkness that reaches across time to undo the future that must come. That is why I am here, prematurely, to stop this from happening."

He laughs a little.

"I certainly did not make Gerladine rebel. I did bring no army here. I did not send assassins. I'm not the ghost stalking the halls, dreaming of old glories. And I am not the one who is tearing the law of space and time to shreds.

All I did was seize the opportunity. Extend a hand in friendship...to secure my passage here.

Kaven...this is where the end begins."

X-Medoere & RCS/KE (Thorsten):
"The plagues? The perverse attempts to control the minds of men and turn them against those they love? The fleet in the harbor? That was not you?"
Kaven's eyes linger on the lips of the Speaker. "I sought to end all that, and had you pegged as the culprit, which is why I left, blade in hand, to seek you out. I desire nothing but peace for the region, would that I could turn my swords to plowshares but there are transgression that cannot be overlooked.

You speak fine words of contentment and peace for all. Of a god who flows through everything - and it almost sounds to me more like you describe the flow of the mebhaighl, Speaker - but you must realize that this is not for the foreseeable future. We..." he spreads his arm to suggest that he means all the people of Ilien, even Anuire "... cannot accept that so readily. I, myself, am only hearing you out as it is, because I know there is the vaguest possibility of truth in your words, however insane they sound."

He shakes his head slightly, still looking at the man in front of him.
"I am a paladin dedicated to Haelyn, Speaker, as you will know... yet I serve the people of Ruornil as their High Priest, in spite what scriptures may think and say of that.
I have come to learn through this special bond, that to the Silver Prince it does not matter that I call another god my patron, I am still blessed with his love and allowed to serve him, just as I am embraced by the Lawmaker. It is this knowledge and love that cross boundaries the holy men suggest should not be able to be crossed, that make me hear you out..."

He exhales slowly, uneasy.
"What end?"

X-Medoere & RCS/KE (Thorsten):
”The fleet is entirely my doing, as well you know. It belongs to the Satrap of Eustan, a city-state to the far south. And yes, before you ask, the One God has a following there. It was my way of gaining entry here…you helped foil my last try remember? The one where I tried sneaking into the city to learn more…
 
Now I’ve heard that Ilien – and Medoere – has been plagued by disease in the past…that may well be related to the closeness of the Shadow World…although in Ilien’s case I think it has rather more to do with too many people and too little sanitation. But I assure you; I have nothing to do with that, and there have been no plagues here while I’ve been here. Even during the siege we have been lucky enough to avoid it within the walls.
 
And you forget that Countess Geraldine is a sorceress. It was she that turned the loyalty of the Ghiestan commander…after she read from his mind the treachery he had planned. I warned her about that her though, for I could not understand what Duke Hiriele, so friendly to Diem, had to gain by helping her out. It made no sense at all. So it was one man, and that man was planning to turn on her. He had it coming. So quit whining about that please.”
 
Long pause
 
“The end of all things of course! That is the reason why the One has revealed himself now, at this time. The eye of the Unmaker is upon Ilien…and much hangs in the balance.”

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