Seven days of Prayer for Hilp.. and for guidance.
Nov 4, 2021 9:06:30 GMT -5
DM Flash and brygun like this
Post by totallyboneless on Nov 4, 2021 9:06:30 GMT -5
"Exit East from Suzail, then go North towards Immersea.."
This is a wounded land, and a wounded people walk it. Oriah had carried the thought since she had arrived, and it had only become more steeled as the lands and people of Cormyr have opened up to her. From Greatgaunt, to Roar, and eventually into the heart of Cormyr, Oriah could not help but feel as though she were walking in the wake of decades of terror and loss. Every story she learned had been a sad one.
And she had just learned another, just a day ago, though she hadn't been certain of the weight of it. An orphanage, this Olivia's life's work, was lost... in some way, but Oriah had little context to know how. The roads were clear ahead of her, and her mind wandered - Before embarking she had been told that she "Deserved nice things" - and this had churned some sickened anger within. But why?
Because you are little more than some bandit in the sands still, idiot-girl. You will never correct the death you wrought so reckless, so young. You will never. You will never. You will never. You will never...
Miles were lost, the words repeating in her head, punctuating her footfalls. A hill was growing beneath her feet and the burning of her calves brought her-to. Soon, the rounded stone workings of headstones began to show on the horizon. Pausing to breathe and gentile her mind, Oriah quickened her pace. Before her grew the immense field of Graves, and beyond it the City of Hilp - deathly silent, and her pace slowed again, her attention to the graves. One-by-one and slowly. She could do nothing for a city lost so long ago. She could do nothing for any who had suffered here, she could only give each the honor and remembrance they deserved in death.
But I was blessed to know this thing - death. I sat beside it's procession with an arrow in my belly. I watched the lights of the All-Sun become black, but ever-bright still, with my eyes ever-opened to close them.. I watched this world give way to the next, and I sat next to this procession.. At his side, watching.. And I was returned to this life remembering this.
Many of the graves shared surnames.. Nearly all shared a similar date. Statues and placards told the story true. Oriah found herself trembling within her armor towards the end of her prayers before the graves, and winded as she stood from her kneel. It was as if she could not maintain a breath. Her hands clenched to be free of their numbness. The weight of realization hit her, despite the fact being known already - this orphanage was burned. Oriah had surely walked past the graves of these children already.
...HOW MANY HAVE YOU CLAIMED WHO WILL NEVER KNOW THE HONOR OF GRAVE HOW MANY HAVE YOU CLAIMED WHO WILL NEVER KNOW THE HONOR OF GRAVE...
The thought carried her again, and she found herself standing before the Shrine of Kelemvor, centermost of the graves. She was gasping in yelping, sobbing breaths now. Her hands screamed with cramps from clenching at air, her body weeping sweat, straining away from threats that did not exist. Her knees buckled, less kneeling and more collapsed, before the altar, her eyes fixated upon the scales. Breath returned to her in time.
I will never know how my scales are balanced. This is not knowledge of the flesh that lives. I live - others of my blood do not. You brought me to your side and showed me death without these plays of mortal fear, mortal sorrow... And you returned me to live again. You chose me, and to question my worth is to question this choice... But no, you see beyond this flesh where I can not..
"My life is in your name, Eternal Judge.." Oriah nearly jumped at the sound of her own voice, the calmness within it, "And I walk this life to serve you.."
((TBC After work. I write stories way slower than I imagined.
Any passing by Hilp in the coming days may find a bedroll and tent often placed in some conspicuous clear spot in the graveyard, giving sign to someone camping within, as well as the Tithing Box at Kelemvor's shrine seeming to overflow with around a thousand coins every day for about a week.))
And she had just learned another, just a day ago, though she hadn't been certain of the weight of it. An orphanage, this Olivia's life's work, was lost... in some way, but Oriah had little context to know how. The roads were clear ahead of her, and her mind wandered - Before embarking she had been told that she "Deserved nice things" - and this had churned some sickened anger within. But why?
Because you are little more than some bandit in the sands still, idiot-girl. You will never correct the death you wrought so reckless, so young. You will never. You will never. You will never. You will never...
Miles were lost, the words repeating in her head, punctuating her footfalls. A hill was growing beneath her feet and the burning of her calves brought her-to. Soon, the rounded stone workings of headstones began to show on the horizon. Pausing to breathe and gentile her mind, Oriah quickened her pace. Before her grew the immense field of Graves, and beyond it the City of Hilp - deathly silent, and her pace slowed again, her attention to the graves. One-by-one and slowly. She could do nothing for a city lost so long ago. She could do nothing for any who had suffered here, she could only give each the honor and remembrance they deserved in death.
But I was blessed to know this thing - death. I sat beside it's procession with an arrow in my belly. I watched the lights of the All-Sun become black, but ever-bright still, with my eyes ever-opened to close them.. I watched this world give way to the next, and I sat next to this procession.. At his side, watching.. And I was returned to this life remembering this.
Many of the graves shared surnames.. Nearly all shared a similar date. Statues and placards told the story true. Oriah found herself trembling within her armor towards the end of her prayers before the graves, and winded as she stood from her kneel. It was as if she could not maintain a breath. Her hands clenched to be free of their numbness. The weight of realization hit her, despite the fact being known already - this orphanage was burned. Oriah had surely walked past the graves of these children already.
...HOW MANY HAVE YOU CLAIMED WHO WILL NEVER KNOW THE HONOR OF GRAVE HOW MANY HAVE YOU CLAIMED WHO WILL NEVER KNOW THE HONOR OF GRAVE...
The thought carried her again, and she found herself standing before the Shrine of Kelemvor, centermost of the graves. She was gasping in yelping, sobbing breaths now. Her hands screamed with cramps from clenching at air, her body weeping sweat, straining away from threats that did not exist. Her knees buckled, less kneeling and more collapsed, before the altar, her eyes fixated upon the scales. Breath returned to her in time.
I will never know how my scales are balanced. This is not knowledge of the flesh that lives. I live - others of my blood do not. You brought me to your side and showed me death without these plays of mortal fear, mortal sorrow... And you returned me to live again. You chose me, and to question my worth is to question this choice... But no, you see beyond this flesh where I can not..
"My life is in your name, Eternal Judge.." Oriah nearly jumped at the sound of her own voice, the calmness within it, "And I walk this life to serve you.."
((TBC After work. I write stories way slower than I imagined.
Any passing by Hilp in the coming days may find a bedroll and tent often placed in some conspicuous clear spot in the graveyard, giving sign to someone camping within, as well as the Tithing Box at Kelemvor's shrine seeming to overflow with around a thousand coins every day for about a week.))
