When acts of devotion are carelessly performed
when sacred vows are broken, and when one's life is
corrupted, no great fruit can come from such a life.
The Dhammapada 22:312
"Leon, what sort of rubbish is this? I can not possibly publish this!" A slender man in a purple suit said as he stroked his goatee. Leon sat on the other side of this man's desk in a small office in Kirov.
"Perhaps this short story on this gladiator whore and this knight's love affair, but the ending is just not the type of stuff people want to read, do you understand Leon?" The man looked into Leon's face with a fake smile, enriched with a touch of arrogance. "You know Leon, I worry about you very much, I know that drinking helps with imagination!" The man laughed out a fake laugh, "but you could end up getting sick."
The man continue as he crossed his legs behind his huge desk. "Anyways, this story about the precentor and all that, and well, the whole lot is quite frankly RUBBISH Leon. You might be able to rework that knight and whore story. Just add a little more romance and sex. And why does all of your story hjave top end with a scythe wielding freak killing the protagonist? It makes mo sense Leon." The man looked down at Leon with a fake compassionate gaze.
"You have to undertstand Leon, you are a writer, a writer of romance novels for them sleazy Scarlet Moon nobles. Do you understand? You are not a poet, you are not an artist, you are a commercial writer! Do you UNDERSTAND! Now, produce some genuine smut for me or I'm going to be forced to discommision you. Get it?" The man concuded his speech in frustration.
"Sorry Chaz, I... I just got carried away," Leon muttered.
"You better be sorry for wasting my time. Being your literary agent is surely the work for a social worker! The Verdricci-Oppenheimer Publishing company is getting quite pissed off at me, they think I'm selling your work to thosmerchants of Zexen instead... so you better get something done soon or I'll be fucked." The man called Chaz slammed his hand on his desk, "do you understand!?"
"I understand Chaz..." Leon said as he looked down.
"You know what, you really ought to change locations. Why in the hell do you like to write in that shit town Kalekka? I can't think how that backwater delapidated village could be an inspiration for tales of romance! You need to move south, perhaps to the Kunan area. I have friends Leon." Chaz said as he smiled a fake smile.
"Thanks Chaz, I'll think about it..." Leon said.
"Okay then, VOP wants a draft in by next month so get something to me by next Monday. We'll then take qa look at it, okay?"
"Okay Chaz, I'll get something to you by then..." Leon said as he stood up. He adjusted his scarf to prepare himself for the cold Kirov street winds and put his hands on the doorknob. Chaz called from behind, "Do you still see your wife, Leon?"
"Everytime I visit Kirov, Chaz." Leon said as he looked back at Chaz. He then left the office."
Kirov was a town renown for its maze-like streets and closely built homes which was literally built on top of each other. Laundry hung from lines far above and the narrow alleys were filled with trash that residents from above simply disposed their trash from their windows. The alleyway was pungent with the stench of decay as Leon trudged towards the main street.
"My name is Leon... I am a..." Leon mumbled to himself as he passed under wet laundry. A droplet of water fell on his scarf. Leon stopped and watched the water spread on the texture of his cotton scarf.
"Water, water... giver of life, killer of life, giveth and teketh, salty, blue, deep, both an obstacle and an endless path, fish, seaweed..." Leon continued to mumble as if brainstorming. He then shouted, "Aqua, aqua vita! Water of life, haha!" He hastily left the alley as if he was hit with a sudden inspiration.
Leon arrived at the main street. The street was not very crowded seeing that it was already dusk. Leon crossed the wide street onto the other side and entered another alley. After a short while he came to a wooden door on the side of a building. Leon pushed the door open.
"Well, it's General Leon, what's up dirty old man!" A young woman behind a bar said brashly as Leon entered. Leon entered the small bar, there weren't many other customers inside the bar. Leon eyed the other customers wearily as he walked towards the bar. One of the customers yelled, "So are you a General today or a King, or a beggar perhaps?" Laughter erupted from the other customers, one man stood up and saluted Leon and the laughter grew even more.
Leon looked at the men in an angered gaze, "I was never a beggar!" He said.
The man who saluted Leon looked at the other man who called Leon a beggar and said, "Hey Gary, looks like you angered the General! your ass is gonna be court-martialed now eh?" The other men laughed.
"Hey, don't even go there pal, no one's martialing anything up my ass, especially this old faggot geezer!" The laughter grew louder. The woman behind the counter protested, "Hey guys, that's enough for teasing the poor guy!"
A huge guy in a butcher apron stood up, "We not teasin' barmaid! Me wife told me this old geezer always visit that purple-suit wearin' freak's flat. We all know that freak's a queer one, dirty geezer!"
"Paul, enough! Get out!" The barmaid said, "Out of my bar, right now!"
"Did I hear the little girl say something?" Paul the butcher said in a funny voice.
"I said, GET OUT!" The barmaid said as she pulled out a crossbow from behind the bar.
"Shit!" Paul the bucther said as he rushed out of the bar.
The barmaid then aimed at the other men, "The rest of you, get out as well, assholes!"
"Okay okay Irena, we'll go," tha man called Gary said as he raised his hands with a wry smile on his face. "Lets get out of this dump chaps!"
As Gary passed beside Leon, Leon suddenly assulted Gary. "No one calls me a beggar, no one!" Leon took Gary by suprise and smacked Gary right on his nose. Gary flew backwards from the force and crashed into a table. A few chairs were knocked down as he violently slammed down on the floor. The other men looked in amazement at this sudden display of violence.
"Fuck, my nose is broke!" Gary shouted as he touched his bloody nose. He tried to wake his body but fell again.
"You guys better carry him home, this oughtta teach ya to not pick fights!" Irena said as she laughed. The men picked Gary up from the floor and left the bar hastily.
"I've seen you in here a couple of times, but I never knew you could stand your own like that Leon, here, take this," Irena said as she placed a glass of "Aqua Vita" on the bar for Leon.
Irena looked at Leon as if expecting some reply, but Leon grasped the glass and started drinking as if posessed. "You know, people often talk about you, they say that you are Leon Silverberg, the Scarlet Moon Empire military strategist we all heard about during that horrible Succession War. So who are you, old man?"
Leon stopped gulping down his drink, his moustasche drenched with the misty liquor. "I am a writer, not a strategist," He said.
"A writer? Wow, I wouldn't have expected that from you." Irena said. "What type of stuff do you write?"
"Romance," Leon said as he resumed gulping down his liquor. Irena's dark brown eyes widened.
"You're full of suprises aren't you? You write romance novels? Which one?"
Leon replied, "Gone with the True Wind Rune, The Emperor and I, The Fire Hero's Harem..."
"You wrote all that?" Irena gawked. "I've heard of 'Gone with the True Wind Rune.' I think it was a story about a young apprentice magician boy being 'trained' by his blind female mentor.... I remember reading it and thinking only a woman could write this stuff."
Leon lifted his glass of Aqua Vita and gazed at it for a while. The small glass seemed to glow from within--the lazy aquamarine fluid swaying inside--refracting the lamplights. Irena saw the green glass reflected in Leon's dark eyes, like a venomous mist obscuring his soul.
"I'm a writer, too," Irena said. "I've written no novels yet, but I plan to. That's why I am a barmaid."
Leon drank the rest of his drink and pushed the glass towards Irena. He then shoved his hand into his coat's pocket and tok out a 10 potch coin, laying it on the bar.
"Leaving already?" Irena said. "You chased out all my other patrons, you better be a good customer.
"Sorry," Leon said, and promptly left the bar.
It was already dark outside, Leon wandered towards the main street, stumbling on a pile of empty crates on the way. Leon fell forward and struck the ground with his shoulders. He grunted as he stood up--the shoulder of his coat and scarf muddied. He walked ahead uncaring.
Leon proceeded on the dark main street of Kirov. The shops lining the main street were quiet and asleep. Leon looked towards the sky and saw that it was cloudy and starless. He then looked at the palm of his hand--it was muddy. Shifting his gaze to the ground he saw that he didn't have a shadow. Leon started walking again.
Leon walked a few dozen minutes and arrived at a church that overlooked Lake Toran. He trudged beside the church and headed to a small graveyard behind it. The graveyard had about three dozen tomb stones, all fashioned with gruesome death-heads. Leon proceeded to a tomb at one corner of the graveyard. As he proceeded, he saw that the clouds revealed the moon, showering rays of silver through the mist of Lake Toran. Moonlight wavered on the lake like a broad band of white velvet extending towards eternity. Leon stood in front of the one tomb, which read, "Here lies the legendary Water Fox, Kilawher Schulen."
Leon mumbled inaudibly as if annoyed. He rubbed some moss off of the tombstone using his soiled scarf. He then gazed at the tombstone as if remembering something. Leon stood there for a moment while mist drifted across his face--droplets condensing on his mustasche. His face was emotionless and it was hard to tell whether his eyes were open or closed. After a good twenty minutes, Leon's scarf had droplets all over, and his face was moist. He then left the graveyard, walking into the darkness of the Kirov night.
when sacred vows are broken, and when one's life is
corrupted, no great fruit can come from such a life.
The Dhammapada 22:312
"Leon, what sort of rubbish is this? I can not possibly publish this!" A slender man in a purple suit said as he stroked his goatee. Leon sat on the other side of this man's desk in a small office in Kirov.
"Perhaps this short story on this gladiator whore and this knight's love affair, but the ending is just not the type of stuff people want to read, do you understand Leon?" The man looked into Leon's face with a fake smile, enriched with a touch of arrogance. "You know Leon, I worry about you very much, I know that drinking helps with imagination!" The man laughed out a fake laugh, "but you could end up getting sick."
The man continue as he crossed his legs behind his huge desk. "Anyways, this story about the precentor and all that, and well, the whole lot is quite frankly RUBBISH Leon. You might be able to rework that knight and whore story. Just add a little more romance and sex. And why does all of your story hjave top end with a scythe wielding freak killing the protagonist? It makes mo sense Leon." The man looked down at Leon with a fake compassionate gaze.
"You have to undertstand Leon, you are a writer, a writer of romance novels for them sleazy Scarlet Moon nobles. Do you understand? You are not a poet, you are not an artist, you are a commercial writer! Do you UNDERSTAND! Now, produce some genuine smut for me or I'm going to be forced to discommision you. Get it?" The man concuded his speech in frustration.
"Sorry Chaz, I... I just got carried away," Leon muttered.
"You better be sorry for wasting my time. Being your literary agent is surely the work for a social worker! The Verdricci-Oppenheimer Publishing company is getting quite pissed off at me, they think I'm selling your work to thosmerchants of Zexen instead... so you better get something done soon or I'll be fucked." The man called Chaz slammed his hand on his desk, "do you understand!?"
"I understand Chaz..." Leon said as he looked down.
"You know what, you really ought to change locations. Why in the hell do you like to write in that shit town Kalekka? I can't think how that backwater delapidated village could be an inspiration for tales of romance! You need to move south, perhaps to the Kunan area. I have friends Leon." Chaz said as he smiled a fake smile.
"Thanks Chaz, I'll think about it..." Leon said.
"Okay then, VOP wants a draft in by next month so get something to me by next Monday. We'll then take qa look at it, okay?"
"Okay Chaz, I'll get something to you by then..." Leon said as he stood up. He adjusted his scarf to prepare himself for the cold Kirov street winds and put his hands on the doorknob. Chaz called from behind, "Do you still see your wife, Leon?"
"Everytime I visit Kirov, Chaz." Leon said as he looked back at Chaz. He then left the office."
Kirov was a town renown for its maze-like streets and closely built homes which was literally built on top of each other. Laundry hung from lines far above and the narrow alleys were filled with trash that residents from above simply disposed their trash from their windows. The alleyway was pungent with the stench of decay as Leon trudged towards the main street.
"My name is Leon... I am a..." Leon mumbled to himself as he passed under wet laundry. A droplet of water fell on his scarf. Leon stopped and watched the water spread on the texture of his cotton scarf.
"Water, water... giver of life, killer of life, giveth and teketh, salty, blue, deep, both an obstacle and an endless path, fish, seaweed..." Leon continued to mumble as if brainstorming. He then shouted, "Aqua, aqua vita! Water of life, haha!" He hastily left the alley as if he was hit with a sudden inspiration.
Leon arrived at the main street. The street was not very crowded seeing that it was already dusk. Leon crossed the wide street onto the other side and entered another alley. After a short while he came to a wooden door on the side of a building. Leon pushed the door open.
"Well, it's General Leon, what's up dirty old man!" A young woman behind a bar said brashly as Leon entered. Leon entered the small bar, there weren't many other customers inside the bar. Leon eyed the other customers wearily as he walked towards the bar. One of the customers yelled, "So are you a General today or a King, or a beggar perhaps?" Laughter erupted from the other customers, one man stood up and saluted Leon and the laughter grew even more.
Leon looked at the men in an angered gaze, "I was never a beggar!" He said.
The man who saluted Leon looked at the other man who called Leon a beggar and said, "Hey Gary, looks like you angered the General! your ass is gonna be court-martialed now eh?" The other men laughed.
"Hey, don't even go there pal, no one's martialing anything up my ass, especially this old faggot geezer!" The laughter grew louder. The woman behind the counter protested, "Hey guys, that's enough for teasing the poor guy!"
A huge guy in a butcher apron stood up, "We not teasin' barmaid! Me wife told me this old geezer always visit that purple-suit wearin' freak's flat. We all know that freak's a queer one, dirty geezer!"
"Paul, enough! Get out!" The barmaid said, "Out of my bar, right now!"
"Did I hear the little girl say something?" Paul the butcher said in a funny voice.
"I said, GET OUT!" The barmaid said as she pulled out a crossbow from behind the bar.
"Shit!" Paul the bucther said as he rushed out of the bar.
The barmaid then aimed at the other men, "The rest of you, get out as well, assholes!"
"Okay okay Irena, we'll go," tha man called Gary said as he raised his hands with a wry smile on his face. "Lets get out of this dump chaps!"
As Gary passed beside Leon, Leon suddenly assulted Gary. "No one calls me a beggar, no one!" Leon took Gary by suprise and smacked Gary right on his nose. Gary flew backwards from the force and crashed into a table. A few chairs were knocked down as he violently slammed down on the floor. The other men looked in amazement at this sudden display of violence.
"Fuck, my nose is broke!" Gary shouted as he touched his bloody nose. He tried to wake his body but fell again.
"You guys better carry him home, this oughtta teach ya to not pick fights!" Irena said as she laughed. The men picked Gary up from the floor and left the bar hastily.
"I've seen you in here a couple of times, but I never knew you could stand your own like that Leon, here, take this," Irena said as she placed a glass of "Aqua Vita" on the bar for Leon.
Irena looked at Leon as if expecting some reply, but Leon grasped the glass and started drinking as if posessed. "You know, people often talk about you, they say that you are Leon Silverberg, the Scarlet Moon Empire military strategist we all heard about during that horrible Succession War. So who are you, old man?"
Leon stopped gulping down his drink, his moustasche drenched with the misty liquor. "I am a writer, not a strategist," He said.
"A writer? Wow, I wouldn't have expected that from you." Irena said. "What type of stuff do you write?"
"Romance," Leon said as he resumed gulping down his liquor. Irena's dark brown eyes widened.
"You're full of suprises aren't you? You write romance novels? Which one?"
Leon replied, "Gone with the True Wind Rune, The Emperor and I, The Fire Hero's Harem..."
"You wrote all that?" Irena gawked. "I've heard of 'Gone with the True Wind Rune.' I think it was a story about a young apprentice magician boy being 'trained' by his blind female mentor.... I remember reading it and thinking only a woman could write this stuff."
Leon lifted his glass of Aqua Vita and gazed at it for a while. The small glass seemed to glow from within--the lazy aquamarine fluid swaying inside--refracting the lamplights. Irena saw the green glass reflected in Leon's dark eyes, like a venomous mist obscuring his soul.
"I'm a writer, too," Irena said. "I've written no novels yet, but I plan to. That's why I am a barmaid."
Leon drank the rest of his drink and pushed the glass towards Irena. He then shoved his hand into his coat's pocket and tok out a 10 potch coin, laying it on the bar.
"Leaving already?" Irena said. "You chased out all my other patrons, you better be a good customer.
"Sorry," Leon said, and promptly left the bar.
It was already dark outside, Leon wandered towards the main street, stumbling on a pile of empty crates on the way. Leon fell forward and struck the ground with his shoulders. He grunted as he stood up--the shoulder of his coat and scarf muddied. He walked ahead uncaring.
Leon proceeded on the dark main street of Kirov. The shops lining the main street were quiet and asleep. Leon looked towards the sky and saw that it was cloudy and starless. He then looked at the palm of his hand--it was muddy. Shifting his gaze to the ground he saw that he didn't have a shadow. Leon started walking again.
Leon walked a few dozen minutes and arrived at a church that overlooked Lake Toran. He trudged beside the church and headed to a small graveyard behind it. The graveyard had about three dozen tomb stones, all fashioned with gruesome death-heads. Leon proceeded to a tomb at one corner of the graveyard. As he proceeded, he saw that the clouds revealed the moon, showering rays of silver through the mist of Lake Toran. Moonlight wavered on the lake like a broad band of white velvet extending towards eternity. Leon stood in front of the one tomb, which read, "Here lies the legendary Water Fox, Kilawher Schulen."
Leon mumbled inaudibly as if annoyed. He rubbed some moss off of the tombstone using his soiled scarf. He then gazed at the tombstone as if remembering something. Leon stood there for a moment while mist drifted across his face--droplets condensing on his mustasche. His face was emotionless and it was hard to tell whether his eyes were open or closed. After a good twenty minutes, Leon's scarf had droplets all over, and his face was moist. He then left the graveyard, walking into the darkness of the Kirov night.