trans_9 | (no subject)

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Being from (Ar)Rakis, Sheeana's first thoughts on the dark dreams that had been afflicting her fellow crewmates had more to do with hurricanes and sandstorms than clouds. The metaphor was the same though.

That was her thought as she sat in the lotus position in front of Arha's door (she would not leave her if she had another such dream, but would not tempt herself into sleep by joining her either). Sandstorms. She missed them so, the beating, suffocating, gritty howl of them. Real weather, to rasp at the skin, to shape both person and landscape. Sand or rock crunching underfoot, screaming winds, danger that could be understood and grasped by human hands. I am a desert creature. I need the environment I was born for.

She longed for them as for the touch of a lover.

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"I spent two or three more years adventuring with Master Gren, learning and practicing field arts and helping defend border towns from goblin and orc raids. Still, nothing prepared us for what came soon after.

"The king's paranoia overtook him. He was convinced that if the Paladins ever allied themselves with another kingdom, they could overthrow him. He refused to give them that chance, and he mobilized a full legion against them.

"They weren't stupid, and they had a source of information that could not be outclassed: divine insight itself. Gren came for me himself, urging myself and the other Warriors to take the squires and pages, and leave the fortress. We didn't understand then, but we would later. The king's soldiers wiped them out to a man. We were all that remained of the Paladins of Tyr.

"Neighboring elvish nations took us in. The young ones stayed and studied, but we Warriors needed experience. We needed skill and power to overthrow the king and finally end his mad reign, before he sought to expand his rule over the entirety of the world. I was among the eldest Warriors, and so I was one of the new Masters. Barely out of my own apprenticeship, I now had pupils of my own. The following years were difficult, and I often--" Khel leaned forward, the glowing motes that served as his eyes dimming with grief for his long-lost friend and teacher.

"I often missed Gren. I did my best, we all did, but we Warriors were not masters, and we feared that Tyr's faithful had finally been extinguished."

Although he had no voicebox to issue it from, Sheeana sensed pain in his voice. She too had fled a slaughter, had assumed a master's mantle at the tender age of fourteen, had taken on students of her own.

She slid an arm around a shoulder that was all clavicle and scapula bone and leather armor.

"You need not continue with that part if it pains you. You can skip it."

"Nay. I shall press forward, as always. I simply-- my master was a ... good friend." Khel's words said one thing, but the tone spoke quite another. True, he and Master Gren had been close friends, but while Gren had been teacher and mentor, the death knight could only admit to himself that 'father' was the last thing he had considered the older Paladin.

"We became mercenaries, disguising our abilities and past ties as adventurers. We became quite wealthy, and drew in other skilled individuals: wizards, sorcerers, archers, lockpicks and the like. Soon we had our own official guild, and were separate from any kingdom. Being a mere adventurer's guild, the king did not view us as having the same organization and risk as the Paladins. He would often hire us, unaware that the founders of this guild he hired were those who plotted his down fall.

"We did this for years, gaining in power and skills. We remained apart often, but communicated with the aid of wizarding members of the guilds, and squires and Warriors who filled our need as clerics and priests. They gave up their roles as Paladins to serve in a more academic fashion, but they were brothers still.

"In a few short years we were running the largest adventuring and mercenary guild in all the kingdoms. Soon, we knew we would have to strike. As I had already said, my father was a merchant in arms and armor, and I knew he could be trusted. It was time to return home, and let my past and present finally meet."

"I traveled to my father's home alone, with only a wagon bearing guild funds accompanying me. As I should have realized, my father had trouble accepting it was me at first. Still, I convinced him, and we spoke long over what had transpired. The king had my younger brother, as expected, and my sisters were now married and with families of their own. Still, Gran was no fool, and he knew I had come with a purpose.

"I commissioned a battalion's worth of arms, armor and magic items with the funds I had brought. Across the world, other emissaries did the same for the guild. It took a surprisingly short time: only four months to craft it all, and naught but two weeks to transport it out of the kingdom. The time had come.

"Every Guildhall cleared itself out. We had numerous noble allies among the borders, and we all left under the pretenses of aiding their troops with the raid seasons. In actuality, we left for a neighboring kingdom."

"We gathered swiftly, all of us. Wizard, sorcerer, cleric, fighter, ranger, thief ... it did not matter. We were Guildmates, and we had our purpose. A purpose guided by the Paladins of Tyr." Khel's eyes now flashed brightly, twin flames glowing out from otherwise empty sockets

"We had grown used to battling in teams of eight to ten, deliberately training our adventurers to be ready for militarization. We took the concept of an exploration and dungeon party-- and expanded on it. Before the month was out, we had sent a missive to the mad king, and declared war.

"We knew he would need time to consolidate his army. His troops lay scattered through every duchy and noble's territory, ensuring that his people saw his power. What successfully kept his citizens in line, however, was his deadly weakness to our own army. We took none of the rival king's soldiers. We didn't need it. I and the other eight eldest Paladins traveled at the head of a separate army. We would surround the kingdom and move in, take him piece by piece and ensure victory.

"The war was short, only a year, but in that time there was loss and gain, as is the case in most wars. About nine months in, I was struck by a poison arrow during a battle not seventy miles from the capitol. Though we won the day, most feared I would not last the week, for no clerical magic could cure it.

"In truth, my own body had fought off the poison that night, and the fever dream I had was shared by my eight peers. It was a visitation from Tyr Himself. He came to all of us and told us that the brotherhood had need of masters, and that we were to be chosen. We became his Knights, champions of Tyr, justice, and compassion. We would yet need the power.

"On the seventeenth day of the twelfth month, all nine armies were in the capitol and closing in. When we reached the palace, however, we were rocked to our cores by the pure unadulterated evil emanating from it. We, the Nine, went in alone."

"The king;s madness had overtaken him, and in desperation he had tapped into eldritch forces that few dared to tamper with. He was a lich, voluntarily giving up his life essence to animate his body with sorcerous dark magic. No one had known the king was a wizard, and certainly no one expected him to be this powerful!"

"While our forces battled new abominations, demons and undead dragged from the pits of Hell itself, we fought the evil king. For fifteen hours we fought him, sword and shield and faith against staff and spell and hate. Tyr came to us, granting us His blessings. He helped us ignore wounds, heal injuries, and protected us from the darkest and most corrupting powers.

"The tide turned when we approached as one, and we all called upon the greatest power any good of light can grant a champion: the power to Smite Evil. With echoing cries, we swung our blades, where steel met undead flesh! There was a flash of light, a scream of anguish from the king, and the war was over. His mad reign was ended, and his kingdom done with."

"We decided then and there that no one man should ever again have the kind of power that king did. We took his kingdom and split it into nine parts for the Nine, with strips of land for our allying kingdoms. I did not want to rule, but I saw their wisdom, and so I took the smallest kingdom for myself: some tracts of land and forest, and a large island in the middle of a river.

"There I built a humble capitol, and brought my family to live out our days in peace and joy. Though my father and younger brother had died in the war, my sisters and their families, mother, and youngest and eldest brother lived still. I thought everything would be for the better then.

"In only five short years everything was gone, my people dead and enslaved, and I -- I was murdered by she whom I trusted. That, and no less, is how I came to be what thou see-est before thee."

Sheeana reached over and hugged the mass of bones. She felt them and the armor dig into her skin. But she felt she could safely fall asleep there, though she would wake up with the imprint of ribs on her face.

"We are much alike. I joined my order at age twelve too, and assumed a position of responsibility far too young. I am also bound to a god that destroyed my home. I do not believe destiny is a benovelent force but if I were the type I would say it brought us right here."

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