Tag Archives: Gods

Rask’s Prayer to Raiden

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Rask makes the same prayer to Raiden before his goes to sleep, before he eats, and before and after he does his morning exercises:

Praise Raiden, The Great Protector, Raiden Shields us from our Foes,
We stand before Him, weak and vulnerable. Raiden will shield us from the blows.
Praise Raiden, Raised by Anashar, blessed with Glory, Resolute and Strong
I wield my sword to help the lowly as we make our way along!
The Light of Raiden shine upon Us, as it shines upon me and all of Aegir
Let it shine on me, and through me, let the Light purge the taint of my sorry soul.
Praise Raiden, The Great Protector, Raiden Shields us from our Foes,
We stand before Him, made strong by Raiden. None to save them from our blows.
Praise Raiden, Raised by Anashar, blessed with Glory Resolute and Strong
I wield my sword to help the lowly as we make our way along!
Praise Raiden.

Warrior in a Garden

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Rask tends to the horses and helps set up camp in the calm grove, free from the unnaturally cold mist. The cherry tree in bloom, soft grass and moss underneath it is inviting. Rask finishes unsaddling and brushing down the horses and begins to set up his own camp. It is safe here, calm, the owl, the white wolf, the hawk, all at ease.

Rask takes off his pack and sword belt and a sits on the grass beneath the cherry tree, amid the blossoms on the ground. He focuses on his breath at first, pausing between exhale and inhale. He turns his mind to Raiden, the protector. There is a connection between Raiden and the land. He can feel it. His own tattoos, Runes of Raiden, described to him by Mage Eye as the Raw Power of Aegir. It is strong in Gustav, and part of Ca’armine’s connection too.

The feeling of gentle southern breeze brushes over Rask, the thought of an early fall day, warm and sunny, ‘Raiden’s Summer!’ Rask insisting to Brude and Yon, who called it ‘Zephrus’ Goodbye.’ Thater, so clam and peaceful in the afternoon light.

Children singing songs about Raiden… farm animals, gentle and kind… farm and village dogs, sweet and protective…

The clarity and mercy of every strike in his recent battle, the Gift of Raiden’s Mercy flowing through him…

Rask’s eyes are open, focused gently at nothing, a middle distance, his mind at peace, his vision taking in the garden in general and in detail. A cherry blossom floats to the ground, wafting through his field of vision. The thought of a lesson, from his mother perhaps, perhaps a chaplain… the sleeping goddess… cherry trees, the white hawk… kindly defense, the sword unstained… Tai-Lynne…

Alexis approaches the white wolf, it growls at him, and moves away as Alexis slowly continues his approach. Alexis backs off.

Rasks stands slowly and deliberately. He unpacks his bedroll and removes his armor, taking great care in each movement. When his camp his set, he returns to meditating under the cherry tree, his back and chest bare, the top two thirds of the Iron Tree runic tattoo visible.

Rask’s eyes are open, focused gentle at nothing, a middle distance, his mind at peace, his vision taking in the garden in general and in detail. A cherry blossom floats to the ground, wafting through his field of vision.

Gustav’s Crow and the owl greet each other and begin to play some sort of game of tag or follow the leader.

Rask breathing settles into an easy rhythm, his mind wanders through peaceful memories, visualizing defensive and non-lethal combat forms, children playing a fighting, a peaceful wind wafting through white tree blossoms, a hawk soaring in white clouds, cherry trees in full bloom with petals perfect beyond belief, gentle bees buzzing in the boughs, tree branches bent under the load of pale flowers, the breeze as ceaseless as the peaks of the mountains are lofty, Brude and Myrsky young and laughing in the sunshine, families working the land on warm spring days, preparing the soil, sowing the seeds, tending to calves and foals, gathering wax and honey from the hives, playing with puppies… peace like Rask has not known in a very long time.

A harsh black rage interrupts Rask’s calm with a silent howl. Rask is jarred to a specific awareness. Alexis and Ethelred are talking. Something about cooking and gardening. The rage is quiet.

Rask sighs, and returns to measured, controlled breathing, pausing between each inhale and each exhale. His mind quickly returns to its peace, families harvesting in the warm fall, breezes wafting gently, non-lethal combat forms, playing with dogs, milking gentle mama goats…

Again! Another harsh black rage and a silent howl. Ethelred is looking at some of the plants in the grove, they are withered and dead. Alexis removes a necklace and tries to clean up the withered plants.

Another wave of rage. As Alexis attempts to clean, black waves of wrath flow over Rask. The white wolf whines.

Alexis stops and begins to make camp at the edge of the garden. The wolf whines. Rask asks Gus if he can calm the wolf, and the group sets watches for the night.

Before laying down to sleep, Rask sits once more beneath the cherry tree and returns again to measured, controlled breathing. His mind returns to its peace, families sharing a meal in a warm house in the winter, a cold morning, warm breath wafting gently away from young boys excited to explore the freshly fallen snow, a white panther fearlessly leaping from ice cover rock to ice covered rock with joyful focus, defensive combat forms, playing with dogs, tending to the farm animals in their stalls, making candles in a warm work-room… Kark Bergthison’s songs of Raiden, the protector of humanity, sung at the hearth in the Worn Stone Tavern…

Rask’s breathing settles into a natural rhythm. His mind wanders to children playing at fighting… Yon and Sten… to defensive combat forms… to non-lethal combat forms… Raiden… the Protector.

“Praise Raiden” Rask intones and moves to take his rest in the Garden of TyLin, his first truly peaceful rest in far, far too long.

Let’s Go Back to Church

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Morning in camp. Ca’armine finishes his watch, and wakes Alexis, who as usual had taken the first watch. “Camp is secure, nothing to report overnight. If you’re awake, I’m going to retire to pray.” Alexis rubs his eyes, and nods, pushing up on one elbow. Once Alexis is up, he’s up– and the two have made this exchange many times over the months they have been together. Ca’armine moves off from the group, and finds a tree to sit beneath.

“Raiden, brother, protector, hear my prayer!” He starts, as he always does, with his silver shield in his two hands. He thanks Raiden for protection and guidance, and asks that Raiden continue to bring these gifts to him and to his team.

He becomes distracted, though, as he calls the faces of his comrades into his vision. Alexis asked to be taught the ways of Raiden yesterday! Ca’armine thanks Raiden for the opportunity and asks for the gift of wisdom in this matter. Forming a congregation, was not the path he foresaw for himself, when he got the call to go south and find the Crimson Calling. But in the midst of battle, something was changing with the spirit of his team. Rask is depending on Ca’armine, for spiritual guidance and more. Gustav is offering his trust, and asking Ca’armine to consider the burden on his soul, of accepting magic from gods other than Raiden. Ethelred is not talking much about religion, it’s true, but he did join in the cause of helping Rask by crafting a holy symbol of Raiden for Rask to hold. And now Alexis the Av worshipper, the one who calls on Av’s power for spell work, is showing interest in Raiden worship and asking Ca’armine to be the guide. Ca’armine feels giddy as he thinks about the team coalescing, not only in purpose, but also, in inspiration. Raiden be praised!

He feels things shifting in this group. Only a week ago, he was still nursing a plan to leave the group and head north and east, to the region of Fjellsby where he felt sure, he would find his opportunity to thwart the Dark Hand’s evil plans. He did not feel he could push Alexis any harder than he already was, to take that path, and Alexis was still clearly ruminating on unfinished business in Southron. He wondered if, in that moment, Rask would join him. But more he wondered if, without the rest of the team, he could survive long at all, in his quest to find Bandesingh.

But Alexis took the path to the North East without any further discussion, and the team had all followed along. In that moment, Ca’armine realizes, he finally felt he had found his place on the team.

“Raiden, protect us! Protect humanity from harm. Protect us from the evil workings of our foe!” In his mind’s eye he sees, but vaguely, a powerful and evil magical working, and imagines Bandesingh looking on in satisfaction. He envisions himself interposing his body, sacrificing his life to stop the evil from gaining sway in this plane. Then he tries to imagine having his whole team with him, resisting that magic. Stronger, yes. So much stronger.

Strong enough?

“Raiden hear my prayer! Help me to guide my team in spirit, so that we can, together, find the foe and cancel his evil plans. Help me to bring them together as comrades, as soldiers in your army, to defeat the foul foe. Help me raise up their souls in your light, so that we can do your good work and save humanity!”

In his mind’s eye, he sees Alexis, pointing out across a plain, and sees Rask, blade held high, charge past in the direction he’s led. He sees Gustav moving out in a flanking maneuver. Red, circling around the other way. He himself, following behind Rask, holy shield in one hand, sword in the other. The team, charging into battle, to the end, together.

“Raiden please let it be so!”

What About Raiden?

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It’s the morning after the group camped at “Ty-Lynn’s Garden”. Morning settles soft over the camp, the mist clinging low to the bedrolls and the blackened stones of the fire. A crow mutters somewhere in the trees. Alexis stands near what’s left of the coals, warming his hands more out of habit than need.

“Since Warder Yule,” he says, eyes on the faint embers, “and especially after what happened last night, I’ve been thinking about where my magic comes from.” He straightens a little, turning his hat absently in his hands as he speaks. “Avv’s realm has its uses—finding what’s hidden, drawing the unseen to light. But I’m not her servant. Never was. And since we left Ghanil, treasure-hunting hasn’t been high on the list.”

He looks up then, toward Ca’armine, but his voice carries to all of them. “The name of Avv… tends to make people uneasy. You’ve felt it. Yule certainly did.” He gives a small, crooked smile—more acknowledgment than humor.

“I trained with the Collegium,” he goes on. “They teach you to touch where you choose, not a servant any one realm. And I’d like to be in greater harmony with you; my Raidenites.”

Turning to face them fully, the mist curls around his boots, “Are you willing to help me make the shift?”

Poor Morwraith

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Mist clings low over the road, swallowing sound. The horses’ hooves make dull thuds in the packed dirt, and every breath comes with a hint of cold damp. The drops of mist make drops on Alexis’ hat that never seem to actually fall.

After a stretch of silence, Alexis speaks to Ca’armine—low enough that the words barely rise over the muffled creak of leather and the steady rhythm of hooves.
“Since we left the ferryman, I’ve been thinking.”

He turns his head just enough for Ca’armine to hear him clearly. “You said you didn’t want to interfere with Raiden’s plan for Morwraith to be undead.” Alexis’s tone isn’t challenging, just curious—careful, like a man testing thin ice. “But it was my understanding that all the gods stand against the undead. The mantle”—he jerks his chin toward Gustav—“makes it pretty clear how Raiden feels about undeath.”

Alexis turns the Collegium ring around his finger. “I’m not sure Raiden made Morwraith what he is.”

He glances sidelong at Ca’armine, waiting a beat for a reply. When none comes, Alexis adjusts his hat and looks forward again, pace unbroken. The road bends into deeper mist.

Choose Life

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A couple days after the fight with Verisimus and his gang, Rask approaches Ca’armine. Joyful and excited, but not exactly exuberant, he is still a soldier after all.

“Ca’arm, that felt really good. I mean the power or Raiden flowing through me was incredible,I always love that! But beating Ironjaw and Blackpike but not killing them. I wish we had stopped Verisimus for good, and I’m not sure what we would have done if I had knocked him out… But not killing… defeating the enemy without killing them…. that is a true victory!”

Rask is clearly excited about this new insight, but still a little unsure, and he looks to Ca’armine with a desire for confirmation an understanding as much as with joy and celebration.

A River Of Lost Souls Ahead

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Zrithrak has been driven from Rask. Alexis has exclaimed that Hood had come to claim the spirit while holding a fly in his hands. Since those moments the group has gathered their things and barely started toward Ghanil again. Packs shifted, gear checked, the wagon creaking along. Alexis addresses the group.

“I keep circling back to that soothsayer—Ness Brightleaf.” He waves absently, not toward anywhere in particular, just back into memory.

“Something like: ‘Ahead of me, a river of lost souls. Some spirits refuse to sleep. The voices of the dead yearn for rest. Their whispers bring dark tidings.’” He shrugs, not claiming perfect recall. “Or close enough.”

The copper coin keeps running over his knuckles as his gaze sweeps the line of travelers, pausing a fraction longer on Ca’armine. “Zrithrak fits—soul that wouldn’t sleep. But did he ever want rest? Or was he holding on?”

He gives the priest space, then presses on.

“I still think of that dwarven spirit in Dura-Intun. The one who spoke of Kobos. He was restless. Wanted Hood’s gate, wanted peace. And that city of the dead? That’s different. They’re bound by the Endless Hunger. Won’t let them rest. Zrithrak wasn’t bound like that.”

The coin flashes once, drops into his palm. “So what kept him?”

The Need For Some Time to Appraise

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It’s the daytime after the group has first started scouting Tarkus Vell’s warehouse. Ethelred is on watch.

Alexis stirs, pushes himself upright, and glances around the camp. The others are still wrapped in sleep, breath rising steady from their blankets. The quiet hum of the nomad quarter beyond, the wide grasslands holding steady at the city’s edge. He spots Ethelred on watch and lowers his voice.

“Evening Red” Alexis whispers.

…

“Mostly good,” he says after a moment, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “Though I woke from another of those dreams—like the visions back in the Westlands. This time I was behind the eyes of a great white wolf. It dug at the earth, but the ground gave back bodies instead of dirt. And still it tore on, trying to reach something burning below.” His hand closes around the red jasper at his throat. “We can’t let him succeed. He’ll ruin everything if we do.” Alexis says it plain, as though stating the weather.

Alexis takes a moment and shifts gears.

“I’ve been thinking that after we leave here we need to spend some time discerning what some of our tools do. I still lament giving up those wooden rings, but we weren’t spending the time we needed to figure them out and Mavon needs the money. But while traveling away from here, or wherever we are next that’s quiet, please make sure I make time to uncover the mysteries.”

Alexis eases back down onto his bedroll, folding his hands behind his head. His gaze lingers on the pale sky, a faint smile touching his lips as the sounds of the nomad quarter drift across their camp.

Rask Rebuilds

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In the first few days after the Ritual on the Road Rask is subdued. He prays with Ca’armine and Gus whenever he can. He invites Ethelred to join them if Ethelred doesn’t seem busy. Helps them around camp and on the road, and spends a lot of time tending to the horses. He touches the wooden Shield of Raiden brooch Ethelred made him often.

In the morning on the first day after Rask very tentatively does a long set of calisthenics, pushing himself up off the ground, jumping up and down, marching in place and more. He exercises vigorously for nearly a hour, but he does not practice any fighting moves at all.

The next morning he does the same, more confidently.

On the third morning he adds a few minutes of slow movements that seem somewhat like unarmed fighting moves, but at the slowest possible pace in the most idealized form. He prays to Raiden for guidance and protection while holding the small wooden shield. The next day his routine changes, he prays briefly before starting m, a short intense burst of calisthenics is followed by a long, repeated cycle of the same slow, very controlled movements. After about and hour he prays to Raiden briefly in thanks, and goes about the rest of his day.

The remainder of each day continues very much the same: An occasional conversation, lots of praying, tending to the horses, and helping Gus or Ca’armine any time they will accept it.

The next morning, the cycle of unarmed movements progressively gets faster until it is blinding fast, and then slow again until it ends at the slowest possible pace. Throughout Rask is calm and focused, the movements carefully controlled and precise.

That day, Rask asks Ca’armine for permission to start practicing with a baton, and Ca’armine assents.

His routine shifts again: short burst of calisthenics, unarmed forms at a moderate pace and then at his fastest, fully controlled pace. Only then, starting at the slowest possible pace, does his begin the fighting forms with the stick. Two days later he is practicing at full speed with the stick as well. At the end of each session he sits, contemplative, offers a prayer to Raiden, and then goes about his day.

It takes a couple days of full speed stick practice before Rask asks Ca’armine for a sword. Rask does so with humility and some sense of resignation and sadness.

The cycle starts again, Rask adds a prayer to Raiden at the beginning, then the calisthenics and unarmed forms at their slowest pace as well as the sword forms. Rask takes a little longer with the steel sword, and spends two days of excruciating slow forms. A skilled swordsman would notice that the forms are almost exclusively focused on using the flat of the blade, the pommel or creating an opening for a kick, leg sweep, or other unarmed strike, and not on thrusting or slicing attacks. Rask slowly works his way up to speed with the steel sword. Rask is precise, focused and in complete control throughout the exercises. At the end of each session, he prays to Raiden before starting the rest of his day.

The morning before entering Gahnil, and after praying together, Rask approaches Ca’armine with the same sad, humble resignation and asks to partice with and carry the Raidensblud Blade. Before starting practice he prays to Raiden. His calisthenics and unarmed forms are just under full speed, control and precision are his complete focus. He is cautious at first with the Blud Blade, using the slowest possible forms again, but builds to full speed, still completely in control and with a precision that is both comforting and frightening to those who watch.

He concludes the session with a moment of contemplation and then a prayer to Raiden. He is ready to break camp and make the final ride into Gahnil, to find Tarkus Vell and return to the hunt for Bandesingh.

Raiden’s Grove Again?

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The group is about 9 days out from Ghanil and three days since driving Zrithrak out of Rask. Ethelred is in the back of the wagon studying, Rask is riding his horse, and Gustav and Alexis are leading the cart horses.

“About what we talked on yesterday,” Alexis says. “Can you make another grove, wherever we stop next? Could Ca’armine help?”

Alexis keeps walking with Gustav, waiting for his friend to answer in his own time.