Re: Turn 12
I've been a bit slow in posting these, so there are obviously many of them to come, soon.
Month 6 – The Year Of THE HAG
Smoke rose high into the air like a pillar. A great bonfire and sacrifice went up tonight on the very grounds where a new temple to Yohlla was to be erected. The men in Erkeborn’s war camp celebrated and enjoyed themselves. Even the few survivors remaining in Gynter’s band joined the frivolity. And, why not? What had they left when all their companions had either been slaughtered or run into the wilderness, never to return? Their commander did not join them however, for he was greatly disturbed.
“Wise mother, you are great and powerful. Do you understand that we all trust you with our lives?” Yohlla was with him in his tent, sitting on a soft bench. Were someone to enter, they would not realize the significance of these two, speaking casually and meeting together as they were.
She replied, “Erkeborn, when you ask a question like that of me, I can tell you wish to speak about something. This would be a better conversation if you simply said it to me.”
Her Prophet sighed, “This battle, today; I was lead into it. I did not fight it because I chose to fight, but because I had a dream which told me I must. This is the first time I have seen a prophecy and then seen it fulfilled. Still, I felt today as if we could have lost. This was no easy battle, and there were times when it might have gone the other way. I thought the prophecy implied we were meant to win and that it could be no other way.”
Yohlla replied, “It could not have been. Things happened the way they did, and nobody can change it, not even you could have. However, the prophecy fulfilled its role not in helping you win the fight, but by bringing you onto the stage to perform. It is still up to you to win it. Do not ever forget that, or else you and your men will become complacent. I think today’s lesson was an important one. Still, I feel there is more on your mind than even this.” She was right, there was more he needed to speak with her about.
“We won today, but we had a hard time with these barbarians. They even knew who we fought for, yet still they gave us a difficult time. I cannot imagine what it will be like when we must fight the terrible creatures south of us that can suck the life right out of a horse if moments. Any people who would use such creatures are terrible, indeed.”
“Erkeborn, there is nothing I can tell you that will reassure you, but I will say that you have no choice but to conquer this fear. With my help, there is no creature on this world that can defeat you, except your own fear; not even strange creatures with magnificent powers.”
“But mother, you are so beautiful. I know you will help us, and we will give our lives for you, but how can you protect us from such dark forces?”
The goddess stood up and fidgeted with some of the sparse tent furniture. She paused for a moment and then asked, “Am I young or old?” Rather than wait for his confused response, she continued, “I am both. The reason I appear to you people as young and old belies the very truth of who I am in power. I am wonderful and I am terrible. No, do not interrupt me, son of Ulm, but listen. People everywhere are drawn to me. They realize that I can make their lives better if only they would worship me. This happens, and so I am wonderful to them. What they do not know is that this comes at a price. Wherever I walk in this mortal realm, great misfortune besets those whom I live among. This is not something I desire, but it is who I am. Even now, thousands in the great city have died from a disastrous earthquake that my presence there has caused. Your enemies will know this wrath too, but you must not neglect your role as Prophet, and you must not fear.”
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