I was thrown into this life, the only child of a great fighter. My father was a much storied and oft regaled guardian of the truth. He was always a bit disappointed I was not born a male, but I tried so hard to make up for it.
Mama warned me that the other children in the Hall of Truth would not take it kindly that I was there. My father got me entrance to the master, from there I would earn my right to be trained. And earn it I did, weary and sore at the end of the day, still I had to fight for a place at the table among the "men".
I mucked stalls for the horses of the great knights. I polished armor til my arms trembled. I swept the floors and hauled wood and washed dishes, all the while longing for the day when I would be ajudged strong and fit enough for the training yards.
One day as I walked across the stableyard, one of the older boys ran up behind me and pushed me into the dungheap. I rose from the stinking pile and charged at him...arms wheeling and sputtering oaths that would have made many a grown man blush I tore into him. The years of frustration and the pain of knowing that I would never be good enough in my father's eyes spilled out upon his head. By the time the men from the stable broke us apart my lip was split and bleeding, but his eyes were blackening and one of his teeth was wobbling loosely in his mouth. His nose streamed blood and my knuckles were only slightly recognizable, swollen and split as they were.
His friends laughed at him and called him sissy for letting a girl beat him so soundly. He looked at me with such contempt. I had made my first enemy.
My father's stern cold eyes glared at me from across the room as I stood quietly in the master's hall. The master entered and glanced my way briefly.
"Well Ragnor," he said, "it seems you have brought me a little spitfire of a girl for training. And one who cant control her anger."
"Aye, master," my father replied, " I heartily apologize for her behavior. I shall see her sent home immediately."
My heart sank. Now I had done it, I had ruined all my dreams with that one fight. It was so unfair. But the master wasnt finished with me yet, I knew there would be chores to pay for the training days that ruffian had lost to my fists.
"Nay," the master said, with a laugh, "I would not want to waste such a fine spirit, but to save my recruits I think I would rather have her learn to temper her anger with judgement."
He turned to me, saying, "So girl, you wish to be a Paladin of Truth like your father, eh?"
"Y-y-yes sir," I stammered.
"Well then," he began, "First you must learn humility and obediance. Report to the training yards at dawn tomorrow. And dont be late or you'll only think you have had it rough up until now."
I left the master's hall on feet that had wings. I was going to be trained!
I strode across the training yard with a purposeful gait that did not match the anxiousness I felt...today was my confirmation as a paladin of Mithaniel Marr in the great hall in Freeport, my home city. My parents would be there, and my friends (those who were going to be confirmed as well as the ones who still had a year or two of training yet to be finished). My hands smoothed down my new tunic and adjusted my sword belt more firmly on my hips as I reached the entrance hall to the cloisters of the paladin Hall of Truth. Since we were allied with the cleric's guild at the Temple of Marr just across the way, the actual ceremony would take place there.
We were to gather with our trainers in our hall and then, when the time arrived, we would march as a body to the temple grounds to show our training and discipline in action for the honored guests and our proud parents...(I laughed bitterly to myself, my father had never been proud of his daughter...I was only a girl after all). I knew my mother would be there, her sweet face glowing with adoration and pride. I still saw the shadow of grief in her eyes though...it had hovered there around the corners ever since my father had failed to come home from that last raid on Mistmoore Castle.
She rarely spoke about my father, but I knew that she would miss him forever. I had often heard them arguing about me when I was a child. I lay awake in my bed and listened to her defend my right as his child to follow his footsteps if I chose to do so, he argued that I was a female and weaker...he offered to use his connections with the cleric's guild to get me into their training. Mother was adamant though, and I guess, looking back, that my father really truly loved her because he acceded to her wish that he allow me to go into training in his guild if that was what I wanted.
After Father's death, Mother had withdrawn from the whole world for a time. It was almost as if she was hoping that by denying the world was moving on that she could somehow bring him back to her. I visited her as often as my training would allow, but eventually it was not I that brought her back to the world, but another. He was a gentle, loving soul...how odd that my mother allowed him, a wandering halfling druid, to touch her heart which had once only had room for my father. But Halstrop had touched her, and brought her back to all of us who loved her, and for that he earned my undying gratitude and respect. For that alone I gladly call him Father.
As we approached the grand entrance doors to the temple, our eyes searched the rows of benches set up for the guests and dignitaries. Then I saw them, my mother and Halstrop, midway up the aisle. They both stood there with proud expressions on their faces, I felt a sense of wonder that Halstrop showed so much pride in a child not his own, but he did and it warmed my heart. Yet, in the back of my mind I had a deep longing for my own father to be there; to see that pride in his eyes that so clearly radiated from Halstrop's.
Today was the day we would be conferred with the duties of our guild, and we would take our solemn oaths. At twenty seasons now, I had earned my right to stride across the world with my father's name and, in time, to make a name for myself.
The master cleric of the temple finished with his convocation and turned to the master of the Hall of Truth to give him the podium. Our master rose looking stern and hard, as he always had, but there was also pride in his eyes as he studied our faces for a brief moment.
"Initiates rise!" he barked in a voice more suited to command on the battlefield than the quiet cloisters of a temple.
We rose as one body, all one hundred of us that had completed our training and initiation quests. Our new tunics rustled and our swords brushed against our leggings with soft clanks. We stood straight and true under the proud glare of our master and teachers. The other paladin trainers rose and stood at attention beside the master.
He looked out over the gathering of friends and family members and gave a small tight smile.
"We have gathered here today to witness the next generation of guardians of truth take their oaths and pledges before us," he began," Look well upon them, these young faces and bodies that will soon bear the scars of many battles and trials. But even though they will become very different from the children and friends you know today, take comfort in the knowledge that each one of them will have their chance to make the lands of Norrath safe for others to travel and work in, they are our last best hope to hold back the forces of darkness that would overtake us and crush us. Notice also that they take upon themselves this challenge with the full knowledge that some of them may never return home again. They know that some of their number will likely perish far from home without aid or even the comfort of another's voice to ease their pain in their final battle. These are the faces of courage my friends. Look well on them, and do not weep, for they serve the mightiest of the gods, and someday their place at His side will be assured by their service to Him in this life."
With that, he turned his attention to us once more.
"Now, initiates I ask you as one body and in one voice to swear that you freely accept the duties and responsibilities that the Hall of Truth requires of you, in return for which you will receive the right to call yourselves Paladins of Mithaniel Marr. Do you so swear?"
"So swear we all!" we answered him in unison.
"Then repeat after me the pledge of the Paladins of Marr"
"I pledge by my good strong arm and my sure true hand that I will defend the defenseless, serve with honor and justice, uphold the right and strike at the heart of terror and cruelty with my sword. I pledge to travel without ceasure until the lands of Norrath are free and whole again. I pledge to this service my hands, my heart, yea my very life. So mote it be!"
On the last word of our pledge we drew our swords and lifted them to catch what light there was streaming in from the high stained glass window above the altar. At just that moment the clouds, which had been threatening rain all day, broke apart for an instant and the bright glare of the sun caught on the edges of each of our raised blades, flashing and refracting throughout the temple. The crowd of onlookers gasped and some crossed themselves as if they thought that the Lord Marr had made an appearance there Himself.
Then we initiates in unison reversed our swords and slammed them home into their sheaths with a resounding whicker of steel on leather. We turned and marched out of the temple into the street out front with as much precision and pride as we could muster. Rarely have I seen such pomp and ceremony from that day to this. As we reached the street outside our nerves and youthful enthusiasm got the best of us, we broke out into laughter and cheers, and we were joined in the street by our friends and families who were cheering and laughing right along with us. That was one of the best days...one that I held onto in memory during the dark days and months ahead of me. I didn't know it then, but there would be plenty of darkness and muck in the years to come. Looking back, I truly don't know if I would have had the courage to go on beyond that day, if I had known.
I huddled in the cold grey rain of another dawn near the lost mansion they now called Unrest. I suppose they call it so because of the trapped souls of the dead that wander it's foul grounds and wasted halls. It once must have been a beautiful home...full of laughter and gaiety. I have been fighting here for months now as I struggle to gain experience in my chosen path.
As a paladin of Marr, it is my destiny to right the horrific wrongs done to the spirits of the dead and dying who have evil spells wrought on them by monsters of the followers of the demon gods. I have sworn to give peace to the souls here and in other dungeons where they are trapped...feeding the demonic forces that would crush the living races of Norrath. I find the struggle growing wearisome and long for a day when I might return to my home and family.
I have gathered good companions along the way. Fellow beings with the sense of right and wrong in them that drives us all to root out the evil and force it into the light of day. The gentle little cleric gnome Gledhill, more a prankster than a serious father of the faith , but nonetheless a staunch ally in our fight here. A fellow paladin from the high elf city of Felwithe, he goes by the name of Erys. He fights with such ferocity, sometimes he scares me. My oldest non-human friend on this island continent of Faydwer, Ninatara, a lovely red-headed druidess of the wood elf tree-top city Kelethin. We have fought the orcs of Crushbone together and have become accustomed to each others fighting style. The newest member of our little travelling family is Nina's much loved druid betrothed Meathues.
I watch over them in the meager light of our small campfire, day time is our sleeping time now. We rest in the long dark tunnel that leads under the mountains into this forgotten place. At night we must rise like the dead here rise and fight until dawn drives them back into their underground crypts.
Last night really took a toll on us. We had approached the house cautiously, always keeping one eye out for the roaming monsters on the grounds. None were visible, but I had a strange sense of forboding as we grew closer to the crumbling wreck of the mansion.
Eerie shrieks rent the air near the house; gibbering, incoherent mutterings and rising wails of awful pain and suffering. The sounds made the hair on the backs of our necks rise like the hackles of a startled wild dog. I gripped the pommel of my sword tighter as Erys and I took the point positions on either side of our small force. With our training in the magical arts and countermeasures to the spells of necromancers and dread demons, we were the best equipped to deal with what we would find inside the house itself.
Erys had gained sufficient knowledge that he had the ability to imbue his weapons with a powerful spell that would release the trapped soul of an undead monster when he struck it. I had yet to attain that wisdom, my days were spent in growing in skill with my sword and my axe. But, I had been able to learn a spell that would drive the undead back a little. It was weak compared to Erys' magical power, but it could save my life. And I had the ability to make the undead run away for a short time if I had to have some time to regroup and gather my strength. I discovered that by reciting a passage from an old tome of lore I had found in the Hall of Truth's library of ancient wisdom, I could make the undead fear my powers...if only briefly. Even though the spell lasted only moments, it gave me time enough to heal myself with the rudimentary healing spells I had been taught in my training days in the paladin's hall in Freeport.
As we drew closer to the door of the decaying house, I heard Nina and Meathues begin reciting softly the incantations they had chosen to use to stupefy and confuse the waiting monsters. I saw from the corner of my eye the delicate and intricate sigils and runes they drew through the air with fingers that flowed gracefully and lightly. Behind me, Gledhill laughed softly at a joke he told to himself to relieve the anxiety of the careful and tedious approach. However, he did not falter in his incantations of protections over us. I felt the strength of Marr flood thru me as our little cleric raised his voice in prayers.
The very air seemed to crackle with arcane power as we reached the door. I heard the guttural shrieks of one of the loathsome witches that now resided in this house of horrors, she was incanting a foul sounding litany. The shape of her words made my skin crawl as if maggots writhed just under the thin covering of flesh over my bones. Nina countered her shrieks with an incantation of her own; suddenly I felt as if I were gripped in the flowing graceful strength of an animal spirit, my stride lengthened and I felt as though my feet had wings.
As the door slammed back on its hinges with the force of Erys' outthrust hand, we faced our test. Ghoulish creatures spilled forth thru the opening. Their onslaught was fierce and frightening. I felt the shock of impact as one of the creatures impaled itself upon my blade, all the while, it's bony misshapen hands scrabbled at the breastplate of my armor as it grabbed for my throat. Heaving a shuddering breath of disgust as I shoved the creature away with my foot and slid my blade free of it's still twitching body, I pivoted on my feet to meet the next one as it shuffled with eerie disjointed speed towards me. This one darted aside at the last possible moment and my blade swung over it's head in a futile attempt to separate the creature's skull from it's body. The thing slammed into me and bowled me over, it landed on me and began clawing at my armor, seeking a way beneath the hardened leather for it's claws to sink in and rip away at my flesh.
Gods! It weighed me down heavily. How could a ragged collection of bones and rotting flesh be so heavy? I heaved at it and managed to toss it aside a little distance, it was enough for me to regain my footing. I leapt at it as it came scrabbling back at me across the marble entryway. This time my blade swung true and it's head rolled freely across the cold flagstones...still chittering wildly.
I gulped in air with lungs that felt bruised, and ribs I thought might be broken groaned in protest at being expanded. I saw Nina and Meathues fighting side by side as they shouted incantations that caused gnarled roots to break through the pavement and snag at the feet of the nightmares pouring through the opened door. Erys slammed his blade home, right through the chest of one of the horrors, bursting it apart. Suddenly my chest relaxed and my breath came more easily, Gledhill was screaming an incantation of healing over me.
I turned to thank him with a brief glance and then I saw them, what seemed like thousands of skittering, clacking, grotesquely enlarged beetles. They were racing toward us from the wildly overgrown bushes of the gardens surrounding the house. Their huge mandibles chomping and crunching on the bodies of the ghouls we had already slain, they gained ground rapidly and threatened to overrun us on the porch of the house.
I shouted a warning and leapt over the rickety railing at the side of the porch and raced towards the delapidated gazebo in the side yard. There was a narrow path that led to the gazebo which ran between two deep pools of what had once been clear fountains of water. The water was now scumy and reeked of stagnation, but I wanted the natural barrier of water between us and the approaching horde of insects.
My companions turned at my shout and saw the approaching menace and followed my lead. We raced over the weedy, tangled lawn and gained the gazebo just mere seconds ahead of the beetles and the remaining ghouls from the house. I pushed Gledhill behind me and Erys took up a flanking position beside me as we turned at the end of the path between the pools. Nina and Meathues leapt high over our heads as they reached us and landed lightly on their feet, graceful and sleek like elves are even when running in full retreat.
The beetles were only briefly confounded by the water. The ones in the forefront of the rush were thrust into the water where they drowned quickly, however their bodies soon piled up and began creating a surface for the followers to walk over as they kept coming. The ghouls rushed along with the beetles in a race to reach us first, but they turned back as the beetles snapped at them and devoured the ones that fell. I heard the witches inside the house calling to their undead servants, recalling them as the insects crushed towards us.
Erys and I prepared to use brute force and skill to meet the coming crush of insects...these were not undead creatures that would run from our spells and incantations. To survive this fight we would have to rely on our weapons, skills, and strength. I felt as rush of strength as Meathues shouted a strange sounding incantation. My muscles felt as though they had expanded and had been rejuvenated. Nina continued to scream the snaring spell she had used to slow the rush of the ghouls, but now the grasping roots tangled in the many legs of the beetles and bound them to the ground.
We fought long and long into the night. The monstrous insects kept pouring out of the surrounding grounds. I soon heard nothing but the chitter and clack of their jaws as they leapt at me and I met their leaps with my sword. I sensed rather than felt or saw Erys at my shoulder, fighting as hard as I. Every now and again I felt the rush of power burst through me as Meathues or Nina would renew the effects of their strength spell.
The beetles were winning ...their numbers were so great and our number was so small. Then the sound of Gledhill's incantations changed. I could hear him shouting words of power above the clicking of beetle jaws. The air crackled and suddenly lightnings rent the sky and slammed into the horde before us. It was as if the hand of a god had reached down to crush our enemies.
Wearily I kept swinging my sword in hands that had gone numb with the shocks of so many heavy bodies hitting the blade and splitting in twain as I heaved the great weapon with aching muscles. All over my body there were rents and cuts in my armor where beetle jaws had found openings and had made thousands of little cuts and gouges in my flesh. I felt a growing weakness as I bled more rapidly, I could hear Erys grunting with effort as he swung his huge blade as well. I could feel the light touch of magical healing as Gledhill and Nina and Meathues chanted healing spells, but mine and Erys' wounds were draining them of their reserves of mana.
We needed to win and fast or we would all die. I dropped my sword on the ground and heaved my double bladed axe from it's holster on my back. It was a lighter weapon and I could swing it faster, however I knew it would not do as much damage as the heavy sword. It was my hope that rather than kill the beetles outright, I could wound them enough to make them more attractive to their fellows as food than we were. My axe rose and fell among the insects faster and faster as I fought with desperation born of fear.
Erys caught onto my strategy as I had faith he would and his axe made a cold steely whisper of sound as it sprang out of the holster. He set to with a renewed will and we fought harder and harder. The smell of scorched beetle carapaces and the stinging tang of ichor mingled in the air around us. The lightnings continued to slam into the waves of insects as they crushed closer and closer to us.
Just as I felt that my legs would give way and that the axe would slip from my grip, the sky began to lighten and the rain began to fall softly as dawn arrived. The enormous horde of insects suddenly seemed to evaporate with the coming of the daylight, weak as it was.
Erys and I sagged weakly against each other. We propped each other up as best we could while our companions moved quickly to bind our many wounds and stop the flow of blood. They each tried to summon up the mana for one or two more heals, but they had depleted their reserves.
I looked up tiredly and was surprised to see that our companions bore the marks of many wounds themselves. Erys and I hadn't been able to shield them completely from the rush of insects after all.
As soon as we were able, we all gathered our strength and rose. We half stumbled half walked across the lawn and through the meandering paths of the overgrown gardens of the house and found our way back into the relative safety of the tunnel's shelter. As we huddled around the glowing ashes of our previous days' fire to gather some warmth, I began to recant in my mind the simple healing spells I had learned in my training days. Days that were not so far off in years, but now seemed like a different lifetime to me.
We gathered our strength still more and healed our wounds slowly and carefully. I sat down and checked my weapons and cleaned them. I then pulled off my armor, too tired and sore to care that I was disrobed before men. I checked the armor carefully and began repairing the damage as best I could. I would need new armor soon. Nina and Meathues as was their wont moved silently and gracefully out of the tunnel to gather up foodstuffs and wood to rebuild the fire.
We finished the tasks of daily chores to feed ourselves and make ourselves as comfortable as we could. One by one my companions drifted off to sleep, Erys and Gledhill in their bedrolls near the fire, Nina and Meathues farther away from the fire but still slightly visible in the glow of it as they shared their bedroll.
But sleep would not come for me. I sat on my bedroll, reliving the horror of the night just past. And I wondered if we would be so lucky again if we should face another night like that here. I looked out of the tunnel at the cold grey rain falling softly.