[HQ Ignorance] Scene 171 : Azhur's Quest

[Loran]

Azhur bowedhis head as a sign of understanding and then opened his hands before him as asign of peace.

Then he took out the old red banner from his ancestors and rolled itdown. Immediately Orlanth’s blessing spread it out and it floated in aninvisible and mystical wind that no one could feel in the room.

He recited in a mutter the first verse of the True Abiding Book. “In thebeginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” And headded quietly: “May the Breath of the World supports our understanding.”

“I am Azhur, a knight on giant warbunny, an elected King in the West, ahusband without his love, a traveller without a home but a friend of all honorableand peaceful peoples” he murmured in introduction.
“With others companions, I was questing to save my homeland from the Kingdom ofWar, but we lost our way in the fog rather than to face the amethyst dragon,the last incarnation of the end of time.”

“I humbly ask for shelter and advice.” 



[I wish you all a peacedul Sacred Time in his troubled period, surely the Breath of the Amethyst Dragon blows on us]



    Le mercredi 29 décembre 2021, 02:10:22 UTC+1, Lev Lafayette <lev at mimesisrpg.com> a écrit :  
 
 On Sun, 2021-12-26 at 20:52 +0000, Loran wrote:
> Azhur reminded then some old philosophical teachings from this father
> : "As long as Cosmos exists, there will be a Will to Live... and to
> expand itself, Cosmos will find in itself its own Will to Power...",
> "Chaos is eternal doubt, Doubt is Torment, Torment is Chaos: an
> Eternal Return..." and "the only way to escape the Eternal Return is
> to find Bliss in Submission to Will, this is the only way of the true
> Herodom."
> 
> Suddenly Azhur realized how obviously arkati these teachings were.
> How could he not have understood that before ?
> "Strange I never understood what my father was trying to teach me :
> Malkion's martyrdom is no mystery for those who submit to the
> Cosmos.". "Beyond Duty, there is a total submission to Fate and what
> should be will be."
> 
> Azhur got on BlackMare, his war bunny and rode in direction of the
> village on the hill with a reinforced courage.
> "In the Heart of Chaos, lies the possibility of Order and it is
> called Will" he reminded again... "Let's see what lies in the heart
> of this fog."
> 

"The universe provides", Azhur mused as he hopped on his war-bunny
towards the village. It was only a short while before he saw his first
people on outlying farms. The King-elect was not entirely surprised
when the farm workers panicked and bolted towards a large wattle-and-
daub building. From their fort he could see their fearful faces spying
out of windows. Azhur gave a friendly wave, and noted the presence of
Orlanthi runes on the buildings, especially those related to the Storm
Bull cult: Air, Death, and Beast.

What was more surprising was the lack of noise. Despite the presence of
cows, sheep, goats, ducks, geese, and horses in the fields, and
numerous wild birds, the silence was pervasive, like the thick fog
itself. Nevertheless, Azhur continued on towards the village towards
the main hall in the centre where a thick plume of smoke exited a
simple chimney. They few people he espied on the road quickly ran to
their homes, with curious eyes, young and old, following his every
move.

Tethering his war-bunny, Azhur entered the hall. He was not surprised
that everyone stopped what they are doing and stared at him. In many
ways it seemed almost normal. People drinking beer, eating gruel, and
generally being in each other's company, like normal village life.

Azhur opened is mouth to speak: "I am King-Elect Azhur of Seshnela...",
he began with an authorative voice. But only a strong whisper came out.
But that was enough to send people into shock. Many put their hands
over their ears, or backed away to the walls of the room. One person
fainted. Several drew weapons. One large man, with a big red beard
wearing horned helmet and brandishing a sword at the ready stood and
approached Azhur slowly.

The King-elect did not make for his own weapon, but rather let the man
approach. The man came up very close to Azhur and stared him in the
eye. "Redbeard" mouthed a few words silently and moved his hand. There
a spark, like lightning, and the smell of cattle in the air. Redbeard
sniffed all around Azhur suspiciously, before turning to the assembled
and nodding. This seemed to relax everyone, and they went back to their
activities, a suspicious eye still pointed in Azhur's direction.

Redbeard leaned over to Azhur and whispered in his ear. "We don't talk
aloud here, for that can break the Ban and allow Chaos into our
community. Don't ever do that again, or you shall my iron will run
through your guts. I don't know how you managed to came here, strange
King, but I detect no Chaos on you. Which means that you must have a
story to tell, because your very presence forbodes an unravelling of
our community and our world. You must face The Ring." Redbeard beckoned
towards a table at the far end of the room, where several individuals
were seated around.

As Azhur made his way to The Ring he noted two things that seemed
important. The first is that the people in the hall did communicate
with each other, whether it was by sign language or by whispering, and
with a definite preference to the former. The second was that all the
tables were round. At first this seemed to be an affection to allow for
the painting of the Wind rune which adorned many, or perhaps for the
egalitarianism that the Orlanthi were famous for. But Azhur also noted
their functional purpose - that one could pass messages around a round
table far more easily than a long table.

A spare seat was brought out for Azhur as he reached The Ring table. A
pint of cider was placed in front of him and a plate of steaming gruel
appeard. The Orlanthi were, of course, famous for their hospitality as
well as their suspicion. Azhur looked around The Ring. Redbeard was
there, of couse, bearing the runes of Storm Bull prominently. An aged
grey-eyed warrior bore those of Orlanth, probably the chieftan, and
beside him an even older man with perhaps the longest beard that Azhur
had ever seen, but not the hands of a warrior. Probably Lhankor Mhy,
thought Azhur. A thin young man with long-fingers sat next to
Longbeard, and next to him a serious, middle-aged woman in a peasant's
outfit. Finally, there was dark-haired young woman who carried on her a
number of crystals and precious stones. She leaned over to Azhur and
whisperd to him, "You talk to me, and I'll talk to the others".

Azhur took a mouthful of food and washed it down with the cider. There
had been many times on this Quest that he had to explain himself in the
audience of strangers. But this time was very different indeed. How
would he explain himself?


[Season's Greetings for Sacred Time!]


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