Chapter two
Ase, god of birth, I feel I can commune with you as the church is now empty. As time runs by and soon it will be full again, I shall make my prayer quick. I need to thank you for my son, as it is the light of my day, and only by your miracles he survived in this place.
You know your servent well. I've been praying to you day and night, ever since the Black Bear cult shown its head back in Agopos. I was praying that my friends and loved ones be safe from their insanity, and in your infinite mercy you saved a handful of them. To some extent. I mean who am I to criticize, being a god is probably very hard, so I shall not rub the ineffectiveness of my prayers onto your face. I am sure your days are very busy anyway, and you rule over birth, not mental hygiene. But seriously did you really had to let this much of them down ?
Nervous is dead, On is dead, Fineplank, Thratpin, Tekud, Ishes... My friends, almost all of them, now rest in the soil, finally free from all the trials we had to endure.
I am by no mean an innocent man. You saw the events unfold and you know how ruthless I have been. Now before you judge your servent and blight his soul like you blighted his life, please hear him out, and maybe in your infinite mercy you will find the kindness in your heart to forgive him.
Back in Agopos, the Black Bears caused much hardship. Hollowed husk they were - all of them, rovering in bands, trashing the city and assaulting its good people, insanity in their empty eyes. The day they left, we were relieved of a burden. No more fights in the streets, no more executions, no more riots. They took with them every single disapointed souls, and the good people of Agopos, in which I count myself incidentely, were relieved.
It took me a few years and very dire news from the continent to understand what was going on. What they started in Agopos, they were to carry it on to Adorana - the newly founded city. I knew I had to go and end their cult once and for all.
And yeah I know what you will say. My wife was throwing every single piece of silverware at my face because of my liaison with Athis, that Athis who just got married to a man that would beat me to a pulp, and my own son was to be born soon. But believe me my heart is pure ; I didn't moved because of petty personnal domestic affairs, no no : I moved out of pure hatred for the Black Bears.
***
When I arrived at Adorana, things already had started, so I shall tell you that story as it was told to me. You'll find it credible enough - I sure did. And not to snitch but the one who told me was the militia captain, Ricgo, so if he's lying take it with him, I've suffered enough already okay.
Adorana 'Dunequiet' was founded in 104, as a small outpost in order to prepare the colonization of the continent. That small group of friends wanted to create a sort of inn, for the travellers to regroup on it, and act as a stepping stone to move and create more villages in the area.
That was a simple goal. They were kept fed by local farming, and by trading with local friendly elves of the Canyon of Ropes, who settled further to the east.
It was- I've been told, a time of excitement and novelty. They were led by a young woman, Lide, and things were going well. Lide found love in one of her friends, a young man her age, and Ricgo, my trusted commender to this day, to a woman named Xiza. Adorable love stories started to bloom in that pristine seaside land, the future was bright, and everything was fine.
Then the Black Bears arrived. They arrived one year after the fundation of Adorana, in the summer of year 105 AD. People of Adorana had no idea who they were, and welcomed them with open arms. They built houses for them, and the village continued to expend.
As Ricgo told me, suspiscion started to arise fairly soon, but went ignored. Sure, some of the Black Bears seemed strange. Their eyes were empty, devoid of life, but Lide convinced her friends that whatever hardship they had to endure before, they could start anew in Adorana and find the happiness they could not find in Agopos.
What a fool she was.
***
As the village continued to expend, the first incidents started to happen. The trade depot that was meant to trade with the elves was ransacked during the night. The culprit was never found. Once again, Lide conviced her friends that it was not a big deal, and they rebuilt a better one soon enough. Forgiving, but increasingly suspiscious, they started to organize patrols in the streets, and Lide took upon herself to represent justice.
The beatdowns started to happen. The first were ignored, but soon enough they were so overwhelming that Lide was pressed into action. Perpetrators received a couple of lashes each and went on their merry ways. If I was here, I could have told them how futile this was.
By 106, the founders of Adorana were nothing but a minority in their own town. The Black Bears had overtaken it - and at this time it was already too late.
As she was patrolling the streets, Lide was ambushed by Artlumbered, one of the Black Bears, and strangled to death. Rel, one of the carpenters of Agopos, seing the scene, jumped on her attacker and slain him in return, but it was already too late. Soon after, Xiza was injured in another fight, and could not drink or eat due to her wounds. She died a very slow death.
With the death of Lide and Xiza, who were the heart of the village, civil war was now inevitable.
***
To make matters worse, feeling the time of the Black Bears had come, a man nicknamed "Glum" seized power and mendated the construction of a stone keep to make his reign permanent. He was ruthless and cruel, with cultist and citizen alike, but managed to hide his ties to the cult for quite a time, and people accepted his rule.
"Black Berserkers" was now the name used by the people of Adorana to describe the husks we had to fight back in Agopos. Some of them went periodically insane and would attack everything, living or not, in an access of indescriptible rage. But at this point, the militia was armed and patrolled the streets. Soon they would have to clean up a lot of blood.
In the militia under Ricgo's command, there was a mercenary by the name of Quanum. She was old and very experienced, and she insisted to wash blood with blood from the very beggining. While she was denied, with Lide and Xiza burried under the ground, she was named hearthcaptain and would systematically judge and execute Black Bears as soon as one of them was discovered.
In 108, the after a beast attack that took the life of yet another citizen, I decided to take the boat and to move to Adorana myself. I was but a man, but I have faced the Bears before, and I had but one goal : to end in Adorana what started in Agopos.
***
When I told Ricgo and Quanum of the past of their lord, they were speechless. I knew they wanted not to trust me, as I could very well be a Berserker myself - and for that I do not blame them. However, Quanum was a bounty hunter for most of her life, and her suspiscion was risen. She started to watch over her lord very quietly, but very diligently.
In the meantime, steps were made to reduce the influence of the cult over the population. That church was made, the tavern, the hospital. We tried everything we could to prevent more outbursts, and to some extent, we succeeded. Slowly, very slowly but surely, people started to leave the cult. The "Black bear woman" would not come that often into conversations. The seeds of hope were to bloom into people's hearts once again.
After Quanum witnessed Lord Glum attack his servents, biting them like a bear would, she came to me and apologized. Now we knew we had to do something - three of us were determined to. Myself, Hearthcaptain Quanum and Commander Ricgo.
The fight against the berserkers had gone long enough, and the army was ready to follow us. We stormed into the castle. The servents did not try to stop us. Lord Glum was confronted about his evil deeds, and promptly executed with the iron hand of justice holding a sword out of the same iron (pardon me, Ase, for this aweful metaphore).
Berserkers riotted in the streets for a while after that, but their attempts were crushed mercilessly. None can be proud of that... but soon, order was reestablished. We conducted a meeting to decide who would replace Glum as a lord. Ricgo, who was now the most powerful man in the village, was left with that choice.
"I was wrong about you" he told me. "You're a clever man, and we should have act long before".
I cannot blame him to have been a bit long to trust me, especially after everything that happened in Agopos and Adorana.
"If you feel your head is stiff enough for the weight of a crown, you can have it for now."
***
I am not a vain man. I came here to solve a problem before it grows out of control But I am also not a man to refuse a heartfelt gift, so I accepted, and took residence into the white stone castle.
Today, peace came back to Adorana. It is now a peaceful town in the woods, famed for its textile industry, its commerce with the elves and its beatiful shore.
Time will go by. The waves of the north sea will wash away the blood that was spilt on the sand. Dead men will become great trees, and people will forget the cult of the Black Bear Woman - hopefully forever.
***
Ase, you're the god of birth but you're definitely not the god of quiet children. I have to leave you now, or the cries of my son will make my eardrums explode. I shall pray to you, over and over, because you deserve it and not because I'm bored as a nobleman.
I am your servitor to the day I die. I'm not in a rush, by the way.
***
Author
Topic: Earth Legacy Game - 100AD - Populate The Earth! (Read 3904 times)