Chronicles of Espiria Season 1
Episode 2 - Ranhorn
Written by The Dude
Ranhorn was the capitol of the Lightbearer Territories and the center of known human culture. Even from a distance, it commanded respect from visitors, fear from enemies, and comfort from residents. Hogan and his men felt a wave of joy as they saw the high walls and tall spires that signaled that most of them were almost home. As was customary for soldiers returning from the front, they were led through the streets as part of a hastily prepared parade, one that was meant to lead them to the steps of the King's palatial castle so the King could welcome them home personally.
"I wish we didn't have to do this every time we come home." Hogan said to Ulric. "I'd much prefer to celebrate our homecoming at the tavern."
Ulric barely registered that Hogan had said anything; he had noticed his mother in the crowd, waving at him with a look of utmost pride on her face. Ulric waved back, catching Hogan's attention. Noticing the scene playing out, Hogan said nothing more. Nearby, Hogan saw a group of children play fighting with cardboard swords, each one fashioned to look identical to his own. On the corner, he found the source of the swords and smirked as he shook his head. The traveling merchant Rowan Gildur was seated next to his cart, folding more swords; a sign hanging from his cart announced that one could purchase a genuine replica of Commander Hogan's sword for 25 gold.
When the procession reached the steps of the King's palace, Hogan's least favorite part of the ceremony began. While he had utmost respect for his king and would do anything he asked, the King was not very good at speeches, and always gave the very same speech on these sorts of occasions. Hogan had long ago taken to examining the crowd to alleviate his boredom during these speeches. For some of his men, this was their first time hearing this speech as soldiers, and they listened with wrapped attention. He noticed, though, that many in the crowd, particularly children, were as bored as he; the children combated the boredom by playing with Rowan's swords, but the adults, who did not have the benefit of being immature, spoke quietly among themselves, careful to keep their volume low so as not to draw attention to themselves. Inevitably, Hogan would see at least one man paying no attention to the King at all, instead occupying himself by bowing to the nearby crystal statue of the goddess Dura, apparently thanking her for the safe return of the soldiers. While he himself put little faith in the mercies of what he understood to be a dead goddess, he saw no reason chastise others for their faith, so long as they hurt no one else.
Finally, the speech ended. As the crowd dispersed, Hogan started toward where he had last seen Ulric, hoping they'd be able to check on Izold before much longer. Before he could find him, however, he was met by Rowan, the boy's pet duck seated atop his head.
"Commander Hogan, I'm glad I caught up to you!"
"Rowan, while I do enjoy looking at your wares, I'm afraid I have other things on my mind right now."
"I understand." Rowan responded with a smirk. "Gotta start getting ready for your next mission, right? Well, just take this and we can talk later."
Rowan handed Hogan a scrap of paper with a hand-written message on it.
"Buy one, get one free...Dreaf-Be-Gone?"
"Yeah, it's been selling like crazy lately!" Rowan said, already in salesman mode. "Since you were here last, we had a minor infestation of them. No one knows why, but no one can say I'm not prepared for everything, and that's why I have plenty of Dreaf-Be-Gone in stock! Guaranteed to not only scare off the ones already in your house, but to keep them out for days! You'll sleep much better knowing that after a good spritz around your doors and windows, you won't have to worry about waking up with a Dreaf staring you in the face!"
"How would they stare at you without eyes?" Ulric asked, having found Hogan during Rowan's sales pitch.
"I don't know," Rowan replied, never skipping a beat, "and I don't want to find out, and that's why I use Dreaf-Be-Gone myself!"
"I'll think about it." Hogan finally answered, folding the coupon and placing it in his bag. Hogan had grown suspicious of Rowan's more exotic wares after he purchased an ear piece that was meant to let him hear the thoughts of others but instead broadcast his thoughts to those around him.
"While you're here, do you have any urine remover in stock?" Ulric asked.
"Is your cat still dealing with separation anxiety?" Rowan asked in turn. "I may be able to help with that. I've recently been approved as a pet psychiatrist, so for 50 gold an hour..."
"I'll think about it." Ulric answered before Rowan could give the full pitch.
"I'll meet you at the tavern." Hogan told Ulric as he started counting out the gold for the urine remover. "I want to see how Izold is doing before anything else."
"I'll save you a seat." Ulric responded.
Once his business with Rowan was concluded, he dropped his purchase into his bag and made his way to the Noble Tavern. Easily the best brewery in Ranhorn and possibly all of Espiria, the success of the tavern was due to its owner and brewmaster, Rigby Brown, who was as meticulous with his brews as a watchmaker with his watches. However, neither Rigby nor his masterpieces were what excited Ulric this day; rather, it was Dolly, Rigby's lovely daughter and the manager of the tavern in his absence. Ulric was quite fond of her, but found it difficult to speak with her without getting nervous.
Strangely, the tavern had few patrons this day. A small group of revelers were in one corner, apparently celebrating the acquisition of a new pair of boots by one of their number. In another corner sat a man and a woman, both staring at Ulric as if trying to remember where they had seen him before. He recognized them as bounty hunters, but their names slipped his memory for the moment.
After looking around for a moment, he directed his attention to the bar. To his disappointment, instead of finding Dolly behind the counter, he found the portly brewmaster himself. This disappointment was soon replaced with concern, however, as he noticed a very stern look on Rigby's normally jovial face and saw his whiskers twitch with apparent fury.
"Is something wrong?" Ulric asked Rigby as he approached the bar.
"Aye, lad. Somethin's very wrong."
Ulric began to worry that something had happened to Dolly.
"You don't have a beer in yer hand."
Rigby burst out laughing. The revelers in the corner joined in his laughter, despite having no idea what was so funny.
"The look on yer face, lad!" Rigby said as he laughed. Ulric began to relax and even see the humor in the prank while Rigby worked to regain his composure.
"So, is Hogan coming in today?" Rigby asked once he had recovered himself.
"He said that he would meet me here, after he visited Izold at the Temple."
"The Temple, eh? Good lad, confessin' his sins now so he doesn't have to worry about it later!" Rigby responded with another hearty laugh that made his considerable belly jiggle.
Hogan, meanwhile, stood before the Temple of Ascension, a massive structure of stone and gold that served not only as a place of worship for the people of Ranhorn, but as a small city within Ranhorn, where priests and monks could live and study in peace. The Temple itself was not Hogan's destination; he had only paused a moment to admire its beauty. His destination was one of the buildings on the Temple grounds, the Healing Sanctuary, used by the monks for divine healing. He had been told that Izold was resting in the Healing Sanctuary per Lucius' request, and Hogan was eager to see his progress. Before he could ask anyone where the Sanctuary was, he noticed a priestess sitting with a group of children, apparently teaching them about Dura's servants, the Celestials, using a deck of flash cards.
"And do you recognize this one?" she asked the children, holding an image of a stern woman clad in white armor.
A few of the children answered "Athalia!"
"That's right!" the priestess responded. "Now do you know what she does?"
The children were more hesitant to answer that question. One eventually raised his hand.
"Miss Belinda, one of the other priests called her the har...harbu..."
"The Harbinger of Justice?" Belinda finished.
"What does that mean?" the child asked.
"Harbinger?" Belinda thought for a moment. "A 'harbinger' is a sort of messenger or herald. Before the King speaks, a man will blow a horn to get everyone's attention. The Hornblower is a harbinger of the King. In the case of Athalia, it means that where she goes, she brings justice."
"And what is 'justice'?" the child asked again.
Belinda thought another moment. "You know that the King has given us laws to obey, telling us how we are to treat the King and those around us while we are in Ranhorn. If someone disobeys the King's law, the King sees to it that the lawbreaker is punished. Dura has a law as well, one which all of Espiria is expected to follow. You've learned it from the priests, but you've also learned it from your parents when they teach you right and wrong. When someone disobeys Dura's law, it is called 'sin'; justice means that sin must be punished. That is what Athalia does; she punishes sin wherever she sees it."
"How come I've never seen her?" the child asked again.
"That is a very good question," Belinda answered, "which I can answer with our next card. Do you recognize these two?"
Belinda held up a card with the image of two children with gentle faces, each holding one end of a golden rope. Some of the children answered "The Twins!", while others answered with their names, "Elijah and Lailah!"
"Very good!" Belinda responded. "And do you know what they do?"
"They make friends!" one of the children answered.
"That is one of their duties." Belinda said. "The Twins were made by Dura in a time when people had forgotten Dura's law and did not treat one another as she had commanded. Athalia wanted to punish them all harshly, but Dura, in her grace, chose instead to make the Twins, tasking them with reminding us of Dura's law so that we could once again live and treat others as we should. The Twins are Dura's mercy, guiding us in her ways so that we can be spared the punishment of Athalia."
Belinda silently prepared the next card so that the children could consider what she had said.
"Now, do you know who this is?" she asked.
She held an image of a clock with a head and two very large arms. None of the children could name this Celestial.
"That's not surprising," Belinda responded, a little disappointed, "we don't talk as much about him as we should. His name is Orthros, and he controls the flow of time. He ensures that one minute always lasts for one minute, and that tomorrow always happens tomorrow instead of yesterday. If not for Orthros' practiced hand, the world would be a very confusing place."
Belinda began to pull out another card when she noticed Hogan watching her and her class.
"Can I help you?" Belinda asked.
"I was looking for one of my men." Hogan answered. "I was told he was brought here."
"Ah, you must be Commander Hogan." Belinda said, her smile brightening. "Lucius has spoken of you." She turned back to the children. "Commander Hogan helps keep us safe so that we can learn about Dura and her servants. What do we say?"
All together, the children said, "Thank you, Commander Hogan!" Hogan smiled as they did so.
"I think that will be all for today." Belinda said to the children as she stood up. "I look forward to seeing your drawings tomorrow."
As the children got up and returned to the temple, Belinda beckoned Hogan to follow her.
"Lucius took Izold to the Healing Sanctuary." Belinda told him as they walked. "I believe he is set to be released tomorrow, Celestials be praised."
They soon reached a building marked with an eight-pointed starburst, the symbol of Dura, with an image of the Twins on either side of it. Lucius was just exiting the building; when Belinda saw him, she brightened even further.
"Lucius!" she shouted.
"Belinda?" Lucius responded, pleasantly surprised. "I thought you would still be with your class."
"Commander Hogan has come to visit Izold."
"Ah, right away, sir."
Belinda left Hogan in Lucius' care and returned to the Temple. Lucius led Hogan down the hall of the Healing Sanctuary, explaining Izold's case in hushed tones.
"I need to warn you about his case, sir. First, in order for the healing spells to have their full effect, Izold must have rest until at least this time tomorrow; so whatever he says, he cannot get out of bed."
"He won't like that." Hogan warned Lucius.
"I know." Lucius said, shaking his head. "Second, the spells require abstinence from alcohol until they take full effect; so if you've brought any of Rigby's brews with you, it would be best to leave them outside the door."
"I came straight here after the King's speech." Hogan said to reassure Lucius that he was dry.
"I missed the speech this time." Lucius said, mild relief in his voice. "Interesting as ever?"
"He was in rare form today." Hogan replied sarcastically.
"Finally, I should warn you that though I tried my best, I could not save his leg." Lucius' face was downcast. "I'm sorry sir."
"Don't be, Lucius." Hogan replied, resting his hand on Lucius' shoulder. "Izold is alive because of you."
Hogan entered Izold's room alone. Upon seeing Hogan, he brightened considerably.
"Sir, I'm glad to see that you've come to take me to Rigby's!"
"I'm afraid that will have to wait." Hogan answered. "Lucius says that you need to stay here overnight."
"Sir, may I remind you that you outrank Lucius and have the authority to tell him to cheese off." Izold commented, only half joking.
"I am aware of that," Hogan rebutted, "but Lucius is a highly trained divine healer; I intend to concede to his expertise. I promise you, Izold, Rigby will be just as happy to see you tomorrow."
"He'd better be," Izold replied, conceding defeat. "I'll have built up a powerful thirst for his pumpkin brew by tomorrow."
They sat in silence for a few moments. When Izold spoke again, he sounded worried.
"Lucius says that I won't be able to fight again."
"That I'm not so sure about." Hogan answered. "You're a tough old dog; a little thing like a leg amputation won't keep you down long. We'll talk to Thane once you've had a proper homecoming."
Izold groaned. "I thought I was done with that nightmare! Send me to face a unit of Maulers on my own, but spare me from a minute with Thane!"
"He's the greatest swordsman in Espiria." Hogan reassured him. "If anyone can get you battle ready again, it will be him."
They spoke for a while longer, then Hogan left with the promise that he would return the next day. He went to the Noble Tavern to see how Ulric was getting along, but was surprised to see him locked in unarmed combat with another patron while those around him cheered. Rather than intervene, Hogan found Rigby in the crowd and silently made his way toward him. He noticed Dolly watching from behind the counter, wincing with each blow that she feared Ulric would not be able to block.
"There ya are!" Rigby whispered, trying not to disturb the makeshift gladiators. "Your boy's doing ya proud! Not one man's been able to land a hit on him!"
"How did this get started?" Hogan asked as he studied Ulric's technique.
"Oh, the guy he's fightin' right now decided to prove he could be in the army too! Ulric's already beaten his buddies, but this guy's making him earn it! It's brought in customers, so he's already earned free drinks!"
As Rigby laughed at the sport, Ulric finally finished the fight by judo flipping his opponent over his shoulder. The cheers were mixed, as not everyone was wise enough to bet on Ulric. Ulric returned to the counter, exhausted, and slumped into one of the stools.
"Are you all right?" Dolly asked him.
"I'm alright." he answered. "Just tired."
"Course ya are!" Rigby said with a laugh. "You put on a good show just now! I think you've earned a drink for yourself and for Hogan!"
Ulric suddenly looked up and noticed Hogan sitting on the stool next to him. He tried to stand at attention, but Hogan stopped him.
"At ease, Ulric. Rigby, I think he needs a spiced rum."
"Aye, that would do him good." Rigby agreed, and began to pour one for him and Hogan.