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A Knight's Vows.

Posted: Tue May 21, 2013 10:31 pm
by Marcus
The sun rises across the lake, spreading the glow of a day freshly born across the world. On the bluffs overlooking the water, a man places the last stone on a tall cairn and steps back, wiping his hands on each other.

-------------------------------------

*Marcus looks upon the pile of stones with a critical eye. Each stone represented, to him, a person remembered from the fishing village- his home. Each was a personal monument, however simple, to the face of someone who died so prematurely all those years ago, during the night everyone called the Knight of the Burning Skulls, the night that changed his life.

He nods with satisfaction. It had been far too long, this honoring of his friends and neighbors lost. He may have led the survivors of that bloody night to the safety of Far Reach, but he owed everything to these people that were left behind. Their loss had set him on a path that had given him new purpose in the world.

He sets his hammer to the ground with a soft thump which, eerily, resonates further than the soft earth should seem to carry it. More than just the simple weight of a collection of mage-crafted wood and steel, it makes any close onlooker feel that it is more the weight of duty that makes itself felt. He kneels to one knee in front of the cairn with both hands firmly around the handle of the weapon. Such was the balance and craftsmanship of his black-lacquered plate that it makes no more than a soft rustle and creak of leather. He stares over his hands at the pile of stones, and then wider at the lake beyond, and begins to speak loudly and clearly of the same words that are also written upon the scroll of leather that hangs from his waist.*

"...I will show unwavering Valor by standing fast in the face of danger, when fear of mortality would destroy all resolve.

...I shall ever practice the codes of Chivalry, to better show my courtesy to those who are fair, and conduct myself appropriately as a Knight.

...Compassion will be my face to those truly in need, as a light might illuminate a dark path.

...I will pursue Justice for any and all who have been wronged by foul deeds, and against all those who would use the innocent to further their own ends.

...I shall give my Service by standing in defense for those who cannot protect themselves.

I, Marcus Gideon, swear that within these five oaths I will hold true: To uphold the honor of the Order of the Hearth-Knights and spread the Light of freedom, knowledge and compassion against the looming Darkness formed of evil and unrest. Here, before my new brothers and sisters of the Order, I have been consecrated. I am charged to do something rarely seen in this world.

I do not fight for Lords, Emperors, or even holy tyrants. I do not fight to add lands to a fief, or for bounty, or to coerce others to believe as I do. I am a soldier engaged in a war to make others free. I fight to give all people a freedom from fear, a freedom from tyrants, and the freedom to choose their own destiny. This is not my personal crusade, I am but a man, infallible and mortal.

However, my mission is not the work of any one person - it is of the Hearth-Knights as an Order. If I am to fall tomorrow, another will raise the banner high and carry on. We exist for the good of the people, and we will ever serve."

His oaths spoken, he makes to rise to his feet, but catches himself with a hissed intake of breath and claps his hand to his knee. It is a sad sign of the times that for a man who was thirty years old and barely past his youth (for he was of half-Guthrie parentage), he has been in the path of such violence that he should already suffer the occasional lasting ache and pain.

He purses his lips as though at an old troublesome foe, and the hand upon his knee is suddenly suffused with an otherworldly blue glow, strangely radiating warmth despite it's cool color. He holds it there for a few moments and then stands with a grunt. If a sore knee from time to time was the worst he had to put up with, so be it. He gives his leg a little shake to loosen up any remaining kinks, and turns to go back to town.

He carries himself confidently. He suffers from no wars waged with personal demons, and he is not haunted by the ghosts of the past (indeed, what more could a naive young blacksmith's apprentice have done to change things? One moment that would have have been so wasted had he thrown himself at his villages attackers was far outweighed by the lives of those he could affect now that his quest had given him the skills he so sorely lacked those four years ago.); no...they are merely there to remind him why he is on his current path, and the memories of them are to quietly urge him forward when he might stumble or falter. They inspired him, and gave him strength of the truest kind.


(OOG he travels a main thoroughfare in Haven back to town, so it's easily possible that others would encounter him)

Re: A Knight's Vows.

Posted: Sun May 26, 2013 11:12 pm
by taymoonlight
Thiseus was going about his usual business. Most days he traveled the lands with Zoran finding people to help. Most villages lacked good medical care and Thiseus fit that niche well. Today he was heading to one such village when he happened across Marcus. He recognized Marcus by his armor before he even say him.
"Hey Marcus. I hope you have fared well since we laft Gateway." Thiseus gave a big smile and offered a hand to Marcus.

Re: A Knight's Vows.

Posted: Wed May 29, 2013 6:29 pm
by Marcus
Marcus shifts his hammer to his shoulder and takes Thiseus' offered hand.

"Well, hello. Hmm...."Thiseus", isn't it? Sorry, I'm absolutely horrible with names, and I haven't seen you often. I am doing pretty well - everything around here is blessedly quiet, for a change. Yourself?"

Re: A Knight's Vows.

Posted: Wed May 29, 2013 6:52 pm
by taymoonlight
Thiseus nods his agreement. "I would agree." He had his typical face paint on that day. Both sides of the paint seemed equal size. He carried his mace in a holster attached to the back oh hiw shield.
"What brings you out here on this wonderfull day? I am on my way to the village down the road here a little ways to see if they need any medical help." Thiseus adjusted his shield a little to move the weight around on his arm.

Re: A Knight's Vows.

Posted: Thu May 30, 2013 8:56 pm
by Marcus
"I am just on my way back from the lake-shore. I was out there paying my respects to the memories of the victims of a tragic event that happened several years ago. There was a betrayal of the then-heroes of town by one of their own, who then turned the Kingdom over to an invading force, and beyond the heroes, many other innocent small-folk fell victim to it.

I myself barely escaped the ruins of the Fishing Village with my life, and I felt it was high time to honor them - though many here have either moved on or, more often, are simply too new to these lands to have experienced that night to understand. But their deaths drove me in an unexpected direction, and I needed to thank them, even if only for my own peace of mind."

Re: A Knight's Vows.

Posted: Thu May 30, 2013 9:50 pm
by taymoonlight
Thiseus looked at Marcus quizically. He thought for a moment about what little he knew about Marcus. He thought he might understand what Marcus meant.

"You followed the path you're on because of their loss? You want to honor their memory by helping others?"
Thiseus paused for a moment, trying to decide if he wanted to tell Marcus what he wanted to. Marcus seemed an honorable person but sometimes you never know. He decided to go with his gut.

"I can totally understand that. My parents were killed by a necromancer and his abominations. That's what turned me down the path thar I'm on. Made me want to help people, protect those who can't help themselves. It's a tough road. Sometimes a lonely one. But the friendships those who are like us make are fierce and well worth ir."

Re: A Knight's Vows.

Posted: Fri May 31, 2013 8:51 am
by Alinar
"A dark time... for all involved." Alinar approaches from where he was walking along the shore. "A catastrophic product of fear, desperation, and prejudice. We High Elves blamed all other sentients for the Cataclysm – for the actions of a few – and sought to gain control over all to prevent such things from happening in the future. We became the evil we desired to destroy.”

His eyes gaze over the orderly pile of stones. “Most believe it was all a consequence of a Dark Force possessing our King. But our people accepted all to eagerly his campaign of domination. The guilt cannot be passed so conveniently to outside elements. It is Sil’van’dar's to bear.”

Re: A Knight's Vows.

Posted: Sat Jun 01, 2013 1:19 pm
by Marcus
Marcus looks to Alinar and nods.

Sil’van’dar does bear a good amount of blame, but I've learned since then that regardless whose fault something might be based upon, it's the role of everyone involved to let it remind them to learn from it, for the worst deed someone can do is repeat old mistakes.

For lack of any substitute, that cairn marks the passing of a good number of people I knew closely. It's more for me than for them, frankly. Their deaths set me upon a new path in life, and showed me that I can do something to help better the world, if I simply keep myself true to what I have sworn. Just because during both the Cataclysm and the Night of the Burning Skulls, the "knights in shining armor" I hoped for never came to our rescue, that doesn't mean I can't stop someone else from being disappointed in the same way. That's the very basis of what my Order exists for, in fact.

Re: A Knight's Vows.

Posted: Sat Jun 01, 2013 8:28 pm
by taymoonlight
Thiseus remains quiet while Alinar and Marcus speak. He thought he knew which order he was speaking about.
"Do you mean the order that King Korrigan was speaking about? If so I sent him a missive requesting consideration for admitance to the order. I know that is not how things are usually done, but I believe that I could be a positive asset to your order. I was actually going to speak with you about it the next gathering we both attended."

Re: A Knight's Vows.

Posted: Sun Jun 02, 2013 4:36 pm
by Marcus
Actually, Thiseus, I am primarily a Knight of the Order of the Hearthknights. We are a group of Knights Errant who have dedicated ourselves to rebuilding civilization from it's fall in the wake of the cataclysm.

The Order you are referring to is the Order of the Silver Stag. For the time being I am also functioning as the Knight Preceptor for them, using the experience I have to help Korrigan get it off it's feet and to build it into a group Haven can be proud of.

Re: A Knight's Vows.

Posted: Tue Jun 04, 2013 11:00 am
by Alinar
“A fine and noble sentiment, Sir Markus. The world requires folk who think as you do. I do hope these Orders swell in numbers and influence. Pray instill in them the wisdom to understand what they protect, in addition to what they fight. More often than not Good appears filthy and unfinished, while Evil presents itself as polished and refine. The utter lack of such understanding lay beneath many of the atrocities spawned by that ill-conceived war.”

"Good intentions are a fine start - but not nearly enough in practicality."

Re: A Knight's Vows.

Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 9:00 am
by taymoonlight
Thiseus pauses for Alinar to finish speaking. "Your quite busy then. Tell me, have you found anyone for the order of the stag yet? It seems to me there are more than a few that seem worthy of the honor. Although I speak as one who has little real experience with the heroes of Haven."