Author Topic: Adventure #66 The Wrath of Red Wind (extended edition) - Medoere  (Read 11506 times)

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Offline X-Medoere & RCS/KE (Thorsten)

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Re: Adventure #66 The Wrath of Red Wind (extended edition) - Medoere
« Reply #15 on: June 04, 2013, 10:25:57 AM »
”You have clearly made up you mind about many things. Good and evil. Right and wrong. Them and us. What has transpired and what has not. I feat that your closed mind will serve you poorly in the days to come. Pitty.
 
I must go attend other matters, so I bid you good night.”
« Last Edit: June 04, 2013, 10:42:52 AM by X-Medoere & RCS/KE (Thorsten) »

Offline X-Medoere & RCS/KE (Thorsten)

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Re: Adventure #66 The Wrath of Red Wind (extended edition) - Medoere
« Reply #16 on: June 04, 2013, 10:26:41 AM »
Kaven seems almost desperate. Penned in a prison of his own choosing between enemy lines as he believes himself.
"Speaker! Wait! How do I reach you?"



Resolving to asking Janosh if he can arrange for another meeting, one that will adress the matter of the One God, and not the current events in Ilien, Kaven spends his days in deep thought.
Where once he had considered scouting the defenses of the city, he now just sits brooding and contemplating, considering the Speakers words.

Eventually he asks for pen and paper, in order to write it down, lest he forget it, and so that he may consider it more fully.

---

In the following days, waiting on someone who may, or may not show, the baron switches between feeling shameful for even considering the words of one he deemed his enemy not a month ago, and a strange feeling of elation at the notion that there might actually be something in the Speakers words. How easier it would be for everyone, if there was only one deity. The prospect that religious strife alone might grind to a halt would be... fantastic. The recent events in Alamier had left him with a foul taste in his mouth. That people - any people - would kill and rape priests, burn temples and harass the populace, all in the name of their god was galling. He had no stomach for that... better far to know that your foe where abominations on nature - the undead - than other Anuireans.

Kaven had killed men in the name of Haelyn before. He had even found himself shouting Ruornil's name at the height of battle, although more often than not his foes had been the foe of all humanity then, be it shadowspawn or those who followed them.
Still, when he thought about it, it rankled him that it was so common a practice, that it was considered perfectly normal to do so.

Returning to the present from his silent brooding, he looked down on the papers, focusing on the one point that had struck home truest in the words of the Speaker, that the gods may be aspects of only one God. Knowing full well that many would be ardent believers of the concept that the gods are distinct, separate divine beings, instead of aspects, Kaven couldn't honestly say he had ever had that belief. If that had been the case the Lawmaker and the Silver Prince would never have allowed one as himself to be in the position he was in.
But then again, why would the aspects of the gods fight each other? Not just at Deismaar, but at every turn - like in Alamier, where the followers of the RCS and the Orthodoxy had risen against each other. Why would the gods ask for that?

Almost laughing out loud, Kaven suddenly realized they hadn't. Not in all his years as the voice of the Silver Prince, had Ruornil ever given him commands in that regard. Spread the truth - of course. But never had it been said that it should happen at the expense of others. That was mans doings. Not once had Kaven ever received the impression that His truth is better than Their truth. And when other men refused, weapons where raised. He shook his head with a sad smile.
If all gods where One, then that would go against their wishes. No truth where better than the other, he decided. The gods all *where*, so why should Haelynite faith trumph out Nesierean, or Ruornite? They where all truths, just seen from different perspectives.

The baron of Medoere chuckled as he wrote that down. Then, hesitantly added "there is only one truth" at the end. Because there where. All truths where one. Would it truly matter what aspect you chose to believe in if they where but branches of the same tree? Most people would live in contentment and peace, if given the chance, the Speaker had said. Only mankind did not give itself that opportunity... it fought to make it's own branch bigger, at the expense of others.



Putting down his pen, Kaven blew softly on the fine vellum paper Janosh had somehow procured. Satisfied that the ink would not smear, he read it through again.
At least some manner of record would exist as a result of his meeting with the Speaker. He still wanted to learn more, but what he had learned so far intrigued him and sparked something within him. It just felt... right.


« Last Edit: June 04, 2013, 10:28:14 AM by X-Medoere & RCS/KE (Thorsten) »

Offline X-Medoere & RCS/KE (Thorsten)

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Re: Adventure #66 The Wrath of Red Wind (extended edition) - Medoere
« Reply #17 on: June 04, 2013, 10:28:59 AM »
Janosh arranges another meeting - this one deep in the catacombs...in the very chamber where the wraiths were destroyed and the Iron Rider killed. Someone has cleared out rocks and debris and erected supports to prevent further collapses.

The Red Wind...the Speaker...does he have a real name? He is there, wearing only loose-fitting white breeches and slippers. Every inch of sun-tanned skin is covered in intricate tattoos, some clearly arcane in origin. He wipes dirt from his hands with an already filthy cloth.

"You wanted to see me again? Well, here I am. The same as last time. Now please get on with it, I have much to do and time is not on my side."
« Last Edit: June 04, 2013, 10:43:02 AM by X-Medoere & RCS/KE (Thorsten) »

Offline X-Medoere & RCS/KE (Thorsten)

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Re: Adventure #66 The Wrath of Red Wind (extended edition) - Medoere
« Reply #18 on: June 04, 2013, 10:29:11 AM »
Kaven, having discarded the peasants clothes for the more comfortable robe of a priest, enters slowly as he looks around.
"Curious place to have chosen, Speaker."

He finds a place on the earth and sits himself down, legs crossed.
"I feel I must apologize for our last meeting. You touched on some sore spots, and I snapped in return. I considered your words from last and came to the conclusion that man, not the gods, decides to push their beliefs down on each other by violence or trickery. I believe it has always been our assumption that we did what we did in the best interest of the one we served, but if the truth is, that all gods are merely aspects of one, we are simply stifling spiritual growth.

Speaker, I would hear more of the One and this... Unmaker if you would talk of them. I am curious about one and the other, and have some questions of my own."

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Re: Adventure #66 The Wrath of Red Wind (extended edition) - Medoere
« Reply #19 on: June 04, 2013, 10:29:24 AM »
"Well, before you let emotion get the better of you...contemplate this:

Those that serve the One are also but men. They can err and go wrong. So belief in the One does not offer Utopia without effort. The pious and the true must ever be vigilant, ever be willing to work hard and make sacrifices. The flaws in all men will not go away.

Nor can we hope that those who deny the One will not use violence...not is it the way of the One not to defend the faithful. It is not a faith of war and violence, but it is by no means pacifist. If you raise you hand in anger against us, we will smite you down. But we will not then condemn you family and fiends to the same fate based on your actions.

Because it is out belief that all men are endowed by a free will. It is our blessing and our curse. If we were not flawed, then there would be no free will. So in a sense it is our capacity to be selfish and evil and cruel that give us the opportunity to be what we are...aspects, fragments if you will, of the One True God.

Yes, the One is not an easy god. It is not the god of your ancestors. He is not a god of wind and weather, war or peace. He is all those things, but he is so much more. He offers few answers regarding good harvests and fair winds, but rather more regarding the nature of man, morality, and our place in the grand scope of things.

But more of that later...you asked about the Unmaker. What can I say? I am not sure there even IS an Unmaker. It is just a term I have coined. The reason why the One spoke to me. The elusive enemy I try to find, to stop. Great as the One is, he is not all...there are things...places...ideas and ideals that are not part of Him, but apart. Not here on Aebrynis, but beyond that. He does not give meaning to cause and effect. He does not define good or evil. He fills existence, but he does not define it. Do you understand what I am saying?

No matter. The Unmaker seeks to unmake the world. That is why I have given him this name. Not destroy, not ravage, but unmake. If he has his way we will not fall into mere oblivion, no, we will never have existed at all. Nor will the One be there to fill existence...perhaps the unmake seeks to fill it with something else...perhaps he seeks the void...I do not know."
« Last Edit: June 04, 2013, 10:43:12 AM by X-Medoere & RCS/KE (Thorsten) »

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Re: Adventure #66 The Wrath of Red Wind (extended edition) - Medoere
« Reply #20 on: June 04, 2013, 10:29:33 AM »
Kaven sits and contemplates this in silence for some time.
"I had considered the notion of free will. It is after all man who decides to wage wars, not the gods. That we do so on their behalf does not always make a cause all the more righteous.
That you are not pacifists I can most certainly see - I just have to look at the harbor to see a fleet with those, I must presume, who follow the One God."

He smiles meekly.
"So it is our own free will that allows us to fail or succeed. Do more fail than not? Does the One God have a place reserved in the afterlife, for those who strive to be all the best they can? Or a place for those who do not? Are they condemned to limbo?

 And how does the Shadow world fall into this? I have fought it's denizens on more than one occasion... Is it in any way tied to this Unmaker?"

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Re: Adventure #66 The Wrath of Red Wind (extended edition) - Medoere
« Reply #21 on: June 04, 2013, 10:29:47 AM »
Taking some time to glance around in the chamber, the baron remarks as an afterthought.
"What are you trying to accomplish down here, Speaker? It seems a rather grim place to consider for anything.

He gets to his feet, brushing the dirt from the back of his robe.
"This is where the Iron Rider met his end, alongside various members of the clergy of both RCS and IHH. Over there I received a deep wound myself, and here is where the Pontiff attempted a mad charge."

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Re: Adventure #66 The Wrath of Red Wind (extended edition) - Medoere
« Reply #22 on: June 04, 2013, 10:29:59 AM »
"The One does not change anything. He does not invalidate the afterlives of the souls. But if you believe in Him and serve Him you will stand before His judgment the day you die. Some souls will serve him, others will be reborn, but the pure ones will join him again - for he is the wellspring of all souls, from which we all come and must eventually return to."

He moves over a bit

"It is here that the end begins. This is the source of the tears in the Veil, this is where the Unmaker seek to gain purchase...if you were one of the faithful you would understand...once the One has spoken to you His presence is with you always...but here, in this place, it is undone...I can hear him only as a faint whisper...and I find myself questioning - is the One even real, have I dreamed it all up in my deranged mind, if he can be undone here how can he be the One?

This is why I came to Ilien. To see this...to test my faith and to see if I could understand it. Which I must say I cannot...a troubling realization for who who believed himself to be the greatest archmage that ever lived! If you could only sense it...it is most insidious...it is like even the most basic of laws break down in its presence...time and space...cause and effect...perhaps even good and evil.

It did not begin with the battle between yourself and the undead...it may always have been...hard to tell when time has no meaning, would you not say?"

He steps back.

"So, what do you think? Am I only mad and paranoid, or is there something to it? Does the world end here?"
« Last Edit: June 04, 2013, 10:44:00 AM by X-Medoere & RCS/KE (Thorsten) »

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Re: Adventure #66 The Wrath of Red Wind (extended edition) - Medoere
« Reply #23 on: June 04, 2013, 10:30:09 AM »
Tilting his head at the Speakers words, Kaven purses his lips in thought.
Instead of answering the man right away, instead he moves slowly to one side of the room, placing a tentative hand on the wall and closing his eyes.

"There was problems with the veil here even before I arrived first, I know that. If this ghost you talk of, the spirit of several counts combined has been protecting the veil in Ilien, perhaps even before the time of Aglondier, that may well explain why we have not seen it before now. The ghost has remained a secret, and so has any damage to the veil, as it has been repaired as soon as it started to unravel."

He moves to one side of the room, sensing with his hands and spirit rather than seeing with his eyes.
"The conflict and hate the spirit feels towards Diemed could alter it's focus sufficiently to allow anything from the Otherside purchase in our realms..." he pauses, then sets his jaw. "... which would explain why it wasn't discovered until around the point where Ilien rebelled. Their focus shifted."

OOC: I think Kaven will attempt some kind of detect evil. Not directed at the Speaker, but more the surroundings. Hopefully the touch will help focus his search, or at least keep the Paladin focused on the task at hand :P.

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Re: Adventure #66 The Wrath of Red Wind (extended edition) - Medoere
« Reply #24 on: June 04, 2013, 10:30:20 AM »
There is a certain taint of the Shadow here, but that should be because of the tears in the Veil...but suddenly Kaven can sense it too...the gods, his gods, suddenly seem far-away and unimportant...do they even exist?

"This has nothing to do with any ghost. Many ghosts are malicious or malevolent, some are not. But they pass THROUGH the Veil, they don't damage it. And at any rate it does not explain the rest. Grasp at straws if you like, but the ghosts of counts of the past did not do this."
« Last Edit: June 04, 2013, 10:44:24 AM by X-Medoere & RCS/KE (Thorsten) »

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Re: Adventure #66 The Wrath of Red Wind (extended edition) - Medoere
« Reply #25 on: June 04, 2013, 10:30:30 AM »
Kaven shakes his head sadly.
"I was referring to your words that the ghosts where repairing the veil. I am not saying they tore holes... not anymore."

He gasps as he feels the link to his gods slip.
"By all that is holy... I ... I sense what you do... or rather the lack of it. There is a bleakness that exudes from somewhere close by. What cruelty would deprive a man from the joy of knowing the gods?"

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Re: Adventure #66 The Wrath of Red Wind (extended edition) - Medoere
« Reply #26 on: June 04, 2013, 10:31:07 AM »
"The Unmaker perhaps?"

You think that was some sort of joke.

"Now you see why I have coined the term...and how elusive this enemy is."
« Last Edit: June 04, 2013, 10:44:32 AM by X-Medoere & RCS/KE (Thorsten) »

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Re: Adventure #66 The Wrath of Red Wind (extended edition) - Medoere
« Reply #27 on: June 04, 2013, 10:31:14 AM »
Removing his hands from the damp walls, Kaven nods to himself, seeming to come to some conclusion.
"How may I help in ending this threat, Speaker?"

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Re: Adventure #66 The Wrath of Red Wind (extended edition) - Medoere
« Reply #28 on: June 04, 2013, 10:31:23 AM »
"I have no idea. This...baffles me. I must have time to study it..."
« Last Edit: June 04, 2013, 10:44:43 AM by X-Medoere & RCS/KE (Thorsten) »

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Re: Adventure #66 The Wrath of Red Wind (extended edition) - Medoere
« Reply #29 on: June 04, 2013, 10:31:35 AM »
The baron purses his lips once more.
"I am sure there is a reason, though I still feel I must ask - why not just bury this? Pull down the support and make certain that nothing enters of leaves this place in the time to come? Can anything good really come from studying this? Do you not fear that close proximity will sever your connection completely?"