From Gallows to Glory

[malignant]

The cell floor was damp, cold stone. I was accustomed to it's feel. I'd been sleeping on it for the last week. The rest of the cell was not much better. A small ten span by ten span room of stone relieved only by a thick oak door on one side and a small grated window on the other. The purpose of the window was not to provide me with fresh air, but to provide me a view of the gallows I would soon be standing upon.

Who am I, why am I here, what have I done, you might ask? I am Vroon. A half-orc by race, a bandit by profession, and now the next in line for punishment. My life started as it does for many of the tainted blood, harsh, uncompromising, unforgiving. Be tough, be strong, or die. That is life for a half-orc. Not accepted by either side of our blood, reviled, rejected and repulsed. This tends to lead one away from introspection and toward a harsh life. A bandit I said I was and the worst kind of brigand. I make no excuses, nor ask for any mercy. I know indeed I deserve what I am to receive. All manner of crimes I have committed and indeed reveled in. Do I believe this to be the fault of society? No, I may have been molded by them, influenced by them, but driven and controlled? I think not. I have my free will. At any time I could have stopped, been a laborer, joined a mercenary company, something, anything, but I chose what I thought was an easy path. I was wrong. Banditry was neither easy nor rewarding. It was a hard life, with bitter conditions and bitter companions, leading to a bitter end. So now I await the final end having been caught, tried and judged. It was a fast trial. I did not give them the satisfaction of pleading or denying, I claimed my guilt and stated my deeds. All I asked was a quick death without torture. The lord of the land, my judge agreed. So now I wait and become introspective, my bed a cold cell, my companions rodents and insects, my thoughts at least still free.

[malignant]

Days had passed as I waited in my small, stone cell. I'm not sure how many. I had no motivation to count them. I'd never really kept track of the days anyway. They have no real meaning for a brigand. I watched the gallows, they were finished and being tested. Large sacks full of wet sand were dropped to test the mechanisms and the rope. I believe the dropping of the sand sacks was supposed to intimidate or frighten me. If that was the purpose they had failed. I was resigned, quite calm, ready for my end. The world is a harsh place, a lesson a half-orc learns very early.

The door to my cell opens and I stand, thinking this is my time. They are come to lead me to the noose and my final reckoning. Instead a lone man walks in. He is short, yet stands tall. His bearing and presence seem to fill the small room and command attention. I see now the holy symbols on his robes, the the look in his eye and sternness of his gaze. A cleric, come to give me last rights no doubt. He looks hard upon me as I calmly return his stair. Then he speaks, a voice calm, yet penetrating and full. "You are Vroon, found guilty of brigandage, banditry, murder, theft, and robbery?"
Looking calmly at him I respond, "Yes, I am all that and more."
The cleric nods, "You accept your punishment then and admit your crimes?"
Again I calmly respond, "I am guilty of those crimes and many more. I do not contest the judgment. I have earned it."
The cleric turns departing the cell, his voice trailing behind him, "I shall return. You may call me Durnsten, I am a devoted of Torm". The cell door clangs shut behind him and I am again left alone with my thoughts.

[malignant]

I sleep, I dream. I am not used to dreaming, or at least being aware of my dreams. I am visited in my cell by a large human in full plate armor. He looks sternly at me, looking deep into my soul. "Vrool you have been judged and found guilty. You have admitted to the crimes you are accused of and more. You are sentenced to hang for them". My dream self nods and replies. "All this is true. My sentence is not unjust, my time has come, I am ready." The dream warrior continues to stare as if looking into my soul and judging. No doubt I shall be found wanting.
"You acknowledge then your ways were wrong and the fault is yours and yours alone?" The dream warrior asks.

I continue to return his gaze steadily and reply, "Yes, I am the guilty one. I was not forced into these actions or molded to them by anyone. I have done wrong to those who are innocent and now it is right that I pay for those wrongs. My death is probably not enough to pay, but it is all I appear to have left."
The apparition nods slowly and states in a calm voice which fills my head, "That is not true, you have more to give. To die now is the easy way. To live and serve the harder path. I offer you now the choice, die now, painlessly and quickly, or live. If you choose life you will accept fealty to me, you will accept a life of hardship, a life of service, pain, suffering and duty. In this way you may atone from your sins. I offer you not a long life, or a rewarding one. Simply a new life of duty and service. The choice is yours to make." With these last words I fade back into a dreamless sleep.

[malignant]

Years later now I look back and remember. The cleric returned and on his word I was released into his charge. The Lord did not like it, yet the cleric's will was obeyed. I began training, a life harder than any I'd ever imagined. During this time I became aware, aware of the value of life, of other's lives. I leaned the satisfaction of helping another without reward. The fulfillment that duty performed can bring. I spent my days in battle training, my evenings in study and devotion, there was no time for self and soon I came to want no time for myself. I found service to Torm harsh, yet after time could see no other life, no other way. After years of study and training, testing with failures and setbacks, I finally achieved some hallmark visible to my teachers. I was presented with a token, an amulet of a mailed fist. A sign of a new life. I was called before the High Priest, blessed and sworn. An oath of blood, soul and power to a god of strength, law, and duty. I felt a presence coursing through me, an inner strength given a blessing and a covenant. I was chosen now, my real life begins.