Free Men Part 1:
"It is the low points in a persons life that you can truly see the colors of a person. Pain, loss, and hardship, if handled well can make a man great in its wake, while a weaker person will resort to less than pleasant tactics to survive. It is those that condemn their souls to mediocrity, fear, and lack of faith that wallow in pain in loss. It is men that take sadness and make something beautiful out of it that become great."
The words of his mentor echoed in his head as he started to drift to sleep. The cart he had hitched a ride with was owned by a hay farmer, while comfier than the woods he had been sleeping in Arden still couldn't get to sleep because of the constant itch that the hay was causing.
"So what were you doing out there in them woods by yourself boy?" Coughed the farmer. The sudden conversation started by the farmer had broken the ambiance of crickets in the cool summer evening and startled Arden.
"I was running sir." Spoke Arden, saying it with more conviction and precision than a young man of seventeen should be able to muster. Lending to him, it seems, a far older soul.
"Well did you get off from your platoon? I don't want the Drakes beating down my door just because I picked up some cadet to scared to fight, trying to make his break to Lia Bay." Stammered the farmer nervously.
As the farmer went on about alien things, the boy had no thoughts on who the Drakes were, or where Lia Bay was. Instead, Arden drifted back to the memory of the burning monastery, where his family was slaughtered in front of him, and where his mentor was crucified and flayed for his beliefs in the individual and the Silver Lady, Deoge.
Arden had belonged to the last monastery of Deoge, the silver dragon goddess of all that is good. His family had moved to this small hidden monastery in the mountains outside Mitheralhall after their small village had fallen to the ever increasing might of the Cult of the Dragon. The crushing socialist theocracy that has taken over most of Salviquan. Arden had been raised there his entire life, and after showing a great ability to contact spirits at an early age Arden was chosen by Keeper Deraden to be the next in line to inherit the ability to speak with the Silver Lady, Deoge, herself. Arden's early years were spent out in long winter days doing the beckon call of the Keeper, whether to find fire wood, to clear snow around the monastery, or to shovel out the horses stalls. His master said it was to build character and to teach him the meaning of labor, Arden had never complained, and in truth believed his master to a fault. His nights were met with equal work and fervor for his studies where he would read every teaching and word written by the previous keeper's, stretching all the way back to Ajax Hammilton himself.
By the time of his Sixteenth birthday he had became renowned for his mastery of all things spiritual, though never able to cast divine spells like the clerics, his mentor was able to see that instead he was a shining beacon of all that was good. Not just faithful, but Arden had an understanding of the meaning beyond what the scripture said. Be faithful, not just to your god but to thine self. Find love in all things not just religious fervor in your god, but most of all find love for the self. And to finally fight for the greater good of man as you do your own goals, and do this at whatever cost.
It was only a few days ago when all this was taken from him, the eve of his seventeenth birthday. The night he was to be made Keeper. That morning is when his Mentor gave his final sermon to the people of the monastery, Arden couldn't help but think that Dearaden knew something was going to happen that night. It was during his initiation when the attacked happened.
Foul men from the Cult of the Dragon had finally found the small mountain pass that the brothers of Deoge used to trade their mountain ore for food and other goods with the small villages in the the foot hills. They were the best the Cult had to offer, a secret sect that the Cult created upon its inception. They are known only as the Inquisitors, no dragon heritage is claimed by these few dark men, only utter faith in the word of Aldrick. Their life's work is the punishment of those who go against that word, and that monastery was their Magnum Opus. To finally end the last of the Keeper of the word of Deoge, and be rid of the true religion's only true place of power. When the attack commenced they made the Keeper's initiate watch as they killed all that he held dear in front of his eyes leaving him helpless expecting him die in the cold from the shock of what just happened.
Arden was different though, broken and alone, in the silence, he could hear singing. He could not hear the words though, only that of a gentle melody of that of a soothing mother. He knew then that while the initiation was incomplete his goddess was still with him, gently singing in his ear, comforting his loss, and giving him the strength to start walking towards the woods where he was picked up by the hay farmer a few day's later.
"You realize you are being exceptionally rude young man." The farmer said sternly. " They have forums you can file to lodge complaints against your officer, you don't have to desert. The Cult of the Dragon is extremely fair in most circumstances, and it isn't fair to get a farmer mixed into military matters." The farmers eyes stayed on the road, Arden could feel how uncomfortable this man was. It was strange to the young, lost initiate, this man no more than a few hours ago had picked him up and showed him kindness that a saint would show anyone else while in complete silence and then regret his own kindness afterwords, was alien to Arden, a good act done is one received is what the boy had always been taught.
"I'm sorry for my burden sir, I promi-" Before Arden could finish a sharp wind and a low hiss cut across his right ear, and a sickening thunk sound came from the direction of the farmer.
"HhrrrrGrgh," Arden already knew what happened, the farmer had been struck through the neck with one of the bolts of the men who attacked his monastery. Looking out the back of the cart Arden could see what he feared most. A figure in a long red trench coat, a wide brimmed red hat accompanied by a patch with the shadow of a dragons wings upon it , holding a small crossbow in his left hand and a menacing looking mace in his right.
"You know I told the others to kill you with your master. I hate always being right anyways, get out of the cart, slowly, I prefer to make heretics renounce their god before they die." His voice was confident, as it very well should be, his title belonged to that of High Inquisitor, one of only three in the lands of Salviquan. His name is Tervaj a Yaun-Ti half-blood said to have blood stemming from the PoisonFang clan, the same clan that the first prophet of the Cult of the Dragon, Aldrick, was said to hail from. Arden gave the snake man little heed, his concern was the well being of the farmer's soul. He raced to the head of the cart and held the farmer in his arms, trying to comfort him as he passed.
"Listen as I listen," Arden whispered as he looked into the eyes of the dying old farmer. "Hear her song as you drift to sleep, as I hear it. I care not what creed or belief you hail, you saved my life as I will save your soul." With these words said with impossible will a blue light engulfed Arden, seeming to emanate from his chest.
"Nice try boy, but I have dealt with parlor tricks of this kind before, and a slight change of color is far less threatening than you might think." Tervaj seemed almost delighted while saying this, he always secretly loved it when his marks fought back, it also made for great tales spun for the local women of Leodicca. The Inquisitor lined up another shot on Arden, thinking to himself of how his superiors will be quite amused with him ending an escaped heretic of the monastery of Deoge. He fired, closing his eyes so that he could enjoy the noise he loved so much, the smack of a bolt through meat. To his dismay though there was no smack, just a scutter of a bolt hitting road. Opening his eyes the boy was nowhere to be found, Just the heaped over body of the farmer and the full moon poking out over the horizon. That was until he heard the beating of wings.
"You know not of your place, snake." It was like a thousand voices inside the head of Tervaj, looking up he could not believe what he saw, an angel, bathed in blue flame, carrying a large war hammer starring down upon him. Stunned with disbelief, Tervaj could only watch. The Angel came down no farther than three feet from the Yaun-Ti. "Ah, I see you bear the mark of Aldrick's seal, and I can smell his blood upon your veins. I come with the full fury of a rightous god, there is no longer the Keeper of the word, only the spoken word of Deoge, through my vessel the lost son of my monastery, my will be done." Tervaj, finally calmed down, though he could not remember just why he had such fear of this creature to begin with, he felt at ease, calm, ready to hear the words of this heavenly angel.
"I can see inside your mind, the evils you have committed, the men of faith you have slaughtered, the families you have ruined. All that will be communicated to Arden, Tervaj, and he will make the judgment upon you." The thousand voices drifted away and both Arden and Tervaj began to come to.
"Aldrick Preserve," whispered Tervaj with great sadness. "Kill me boy, I have done so much wrong in my life."
"I will not," said the angel in Arden's voice, soft and reassuring. "While my goddess speaks of smite and punishment, I make the choice to forgive, for that is the meaning of my will.
"You don't seem to understand," Tervaj spoke solemnly looking deep into the angel's eye's. "Men like me can never change, men like you can never change, I will hunt you till the day I end you, whether you stay in this such form or no. My life has been set on its course, if you leave me here then I will find you and I will kill you.
"Very well, may our next meeting be slightly more civil then." With that the angel flew off into the full moon, leaving the high inquisitor where he stood. In the darkness the Inquisitor made a quite promise to the stars, This heretic will be his to take to the high priests of the Cult of the Dragon.
Several days later Arden found himself outside the gates of the last capitalist city of Salviquan, no longer in his angelic form, instead given the knowledge how to summon that strength via the power known to him as Incarnum. A mysterious substance powered by the soul and the universe. armed with the new knowledge of who his enemies are, Arden's first step to bringing down the Cult of the Dragon starts at the last bastion of good men, Lia Bay.