Written by: Don Daybell

The Cycles of Faith
by
Danar Tormalon
Nephew of the Moon

I was brought into this world in the year 1605, Dark Season, Illusion Week, Godsday. My father was Soraledir Tormalon, brother of Raus of Rone. My mother was Berylinda Dalembert, Daughter of the Moon. I am an only child, which I believe had much to do with the way I was brought up. Mother especially always took a very close interest in my welfare. It was almost as if she knew she wouldn't have me forever and wanted to get in a lifetime's love in the span of a childhood. Both she and father took great steps to shelter me from the harsh side of life. Instead of sending me to the military college, as was customary for sons of nobility, they put me into the College of Knowledge, run by the Temple of Irippi Ontor. I soon tired of this and, after much argument, they allowed me to enter mercenary service, but even this was tempered.

The company I was placed in existed solely to guard the sons of other nobles. We saw very little action which, although it satisfied my parents, unfortunately left me with little training in arms. This was something I would need dearly in later years. Most of my time was spent tutoring young nobles in the art of fine Pelorian script rather than in combat. It was in this service, however, that I first me he who would become my closest companion and friend, Crivelbetes. He came into our unit as a veteran of the Sartar Wars and was looking for some R & R. He kept many in our unit entralled with his tales of battles against the Sartar barbarians. When it came time for me to leave the unit, I invited Crivelbetes to enter service to our family as my companion and bodyguard. He was eager to do so, and he soon won the approval of my parents (I suspect his skill at arms pleased my over-protective mother).

It was at this time that my father, my Uncle Raus, and several other lords of the Redlands decided that they had had enough of the unauthorized incursions upon their lands by several neighbouring nobles. This coupled with their pompous arrogance and condescending nature drove us to act. We had repeatedly asked the Emperor for relief from these outlaws, but to no avail. Thus we were forced to take actions to defend ourselves. This, finally, was enough to attract the Moonson's eye. He sent the greater portion of the Imperial Army into our lands to stop our "little indiscretion" as he so phrased it. We fought bravely and well, but there were simply too many of them. I saw many I had known since boyhood cut down by the hosts of the Empite. It was during one of these doomed stands that my father lost his life.

I was defending a section of wall of some meaningless little town with a unit of men. I had Criv by my side and twenty good-hearted but inexperienced men under my command. It was our own misfortune to be the target of the main Imperial assault on the town. We fought hard, but they outnumbered and out-skilled us greatly. When I saw we were losing, I sent Criv to get father and his reserves. When they arrived, I was in desperate straits. I had engaged the Lunar company commander and was losing badly. Then in strode Soraledir, resplendent in his iron armour, cutting a swath to my side. He never even saw the lone man atop the wall. The cowardly bastard, knowing he couldn't face father in honourable combat, cut him down with a lucky arrow. Upon seeing this, the morale of our battered force broke completely and we were all captured. I ran to my father's side, but he was already dead. This the Emperor found "convenient", and so all priests capable fo resurrection were mysteriously "unavailable" for th enext week. Shortly after this, the Emperor completed the suppression of our forces. We were too important and high-ranking to merely be executed, so the Moonson devised another plan. Under the guise of a land grant program, he exiled all of us to the heathen Plains of Prax.

Now, you might think from the aforementioned events that I had developed a hatred for all things Pelorian. I might well have, were it not for the unswerving faith in the Moon which my mother had instilled in me. I searched long and hard for the good to be found in all of this, but it was not for some time that I began to see the purpose in the misery I had endured.

My Uncle Raus came to Criv and me with an offer to work for him in the new lands. I wanted mother to accompany me, but we both knew that she wouldn't be happy with life in the wilds. So, with a heavy heart, we said our goodbyes. She was fortunate to find a place in the entourage of the Ambassador to Esrolia, and therefore she was bound for Nochet City. Raus and his family were headed for the southern end of the River of Cradles in Prax, there to found a new homeland. On the trail to Raus' new domain, I began to see and experience much of the life I had missed at home.

As we arrived in the valley, insight slowly trickled through my consciousness. I saw that the waning cycle of my life had finished in the blackness of my father's death, and now I was waxing strong once again. Though I cannot enter, nor would I ever want to enter, the Empire again, I saw that I could give my greatest service to the Moon here in Prax. Although I will never be able to forgive the current Moonson for the death of my father, I have been able to separate him from the Empire. Eventually he will be gone, but the Empire will remain always. It needs to grow in order to survive, and to grow it needs the lands of Sartar and Prax. I have come to believe that I had been chosen for this mission by the Red Mother herself. My young life had been sheltered to give me the knowledge and skills of diplomacy and to teach the advantages of peaceful solutions. When this cycle began its downturn towards stagnation and complacency, the revolt broke out. This was my trial, to steel me for the hard life to come. I came through this with many sorrows and regrets, but also with a sense of my destiny.

I continued my upward cycle in my service to Raus. I was successful in gaining him an alliance with the powerful Morokanth and the dragon that lived in the area. I aided him in clearing the outlaw ducks, newtlings, and broos which infested the valley. The height of my cycle was the mission to retrieve the Ronesword. Its successful return was the pinnacle of my existence. However, the Moon in her ever-changing way had other plans for me, as the great giant Gonn Orta forewarned me. He spoke for the first time in 500 years, and these were the words he directed at me: "Whose side are you on, Danar? One man will come, and your choice will be made. Do not forsake me."

It was not until I returned to Raus with the sword that I found out what the giant had meant. Raus came to me and spoke of things...treasonous things. He spoke of once again opposing the will of the Moon. I attempted to reason with him and delivered my response in a calm and rational manner, but Raus was blinded by his hate and walked out on me as the content of my statement became clear. Here I will insert my words to Raus so that you, the reader, may judge the merit in what I said.

"You force me into a difficult decision. Though it is true I was exiled by the Lunars, I have found this to be a blessing. I was leading a sheltered and boring existence inside the Empire. Here on the frontier, I have found excitement and adventure. Were it not for the wisdom of the Moon, I would still be languishing in the life of the idle rich inside the Empire. I enjoy my life here, bringing the benefits of culture and civilization to the barbarians and gathering knowledge for the Red Goddess. I wish to continue in this fashion (it was at this point that Raus left; I will include the remainder of my thoughts on the subject as a service to the reader). I have served you faithfully and loyally, and would continue to do so unless such service forced me to betray the Moon. I find that I do not share your resentment of the Empire; rather I appreciate the infinite wisdom and righteousness of its actions. I have seen that even that which may seem undesirable eventually waxes in the way of the Moon to a favourable outcome. I would deeply regret being forced away from you, for you are my kin and my elder, but if you choose again to place yourself in opposition to the Moon, I would have no choice but to oppose you."

It was a sad trip to Pavis after this exchange. I deeply regretted the course my Uncle had chosen, but I felt it was my duty to warn the temple of his intentions. I then saw that the best way to bring the benefits of civilization to the barbarians and them to it was as a merchant wandering the Plains of Prax. This would also allow me to learn more about this vast wasteland ipon which so much depended. Following such, I entered the next major cycle of my life, spending two years learning the arts of trading. Along with Crivelbetes and a collection of acquaintances from paivs and Raus' service, I formed a company of adventurers.

We decided to take a trip through the Rubble before going on our trading mission. This turned out to be a fateful step indeed. We were not very knowledgeable about the dangers of the Rubble, and we soon came to grief. An encounter with a catoblepas left everyone save myself dead, and it cost use dearly to have everyone resurrected. It would seem that this would be enough to dissuade us from further adventures, but such was not the case. Through a series of missteps and miscalculations, we found ourselves spending the night in the Rubble, whereupon we were set upon by some foul broos. It was only because the Goddess is so open-minded in her acceptance of believers that we survived. As it turned out, one of our company was, unbeknownst to us, an Orge. He had been given the gift of regenerating his wounds and limbs, and it was only this gift that saved us. Unfortunately, as is its way, Chaos exacted its price for aiding us in battle. Crivelbetes was stricken with a dread disease and was forced to accept vile Mallia to halt its ravages. He was forced to remain in a house in the Rubble under quarantine while he kept a constant vigil of prayer to the Moon, in hopes that she would deem him worthy of redemption. This was a trying time for me as well, for I could not help but wonder for whom this trial was intended, him or me?

it was while I was at my low point over Criv's fate that the Goddess sent me another test. A bastard of the LUnar Emperor was sent here to Pavis. He was the son of one of the outlaws we had opposed in the Redlands and he came to me and insulted my heritage and my honour and that of my family as well. Though such would be justification for redress through combat, I remained true to my teachings and refused to be baited into offensive action. He, however, would not be denied and finally my patience gave out and I demanded satisfaction. He refused me, preferring to trade words. When his limited intellect was found wanting, he toppled the table at which I was taking lunch, spilling my meal all over me. It was then that I lashed out at him, catching him squarely on the chin and laying him low. Fearing the intervention of his cronies, I drew my weapon in a defensive posture. Seeing this, he also drew his blade and we proceeded to have it out there in the lunch hall. Soon, however, the Lord of the Temple restored order.

In the ensuing investigation, I was completely exonerated, but it was felt to be best if I were to leave Pavis for a while, as the little brat I had scuffled with was "politically important". I saw thw wisdom of this and accepted a mission to Alone. There we were approached by a Trollkin and wound up aiding them in the defense of their homeland (called Munchroom Caverns) against their Trollish masters. In this we were successful, but upon our return I received some dreadful news. It seemed that Crivelbetes had been cured of his disease with but a week of suffering, but it had come with a high price. He had been required to give as much of his soul to the gods as a man could yet still survive. Recognizing that he could no longer use any magic of even the least power in his condition, he retired to serve as an instructor at the Temple. I gave thanks to the Moon that she had seen fit to save him with a minimum of suffering and regretfully parted ways with Crivelbetes, the best friend a man could have.

With this, I had been severed from the final link with my previous existence. First my father, then my mother, then Raus, and finally my fine friend Crivelbetes had been diverted to follow other paths. I cannot help but see the work of the Goddess in this, but as yet I fail to grasp the intentions behind her actions. I am confident, however, that in time all will be made clear. For now I can only wait and hope that I prove worthy of the interest the Goddess has taken in me. With the passing from my life of my faithful protector Criv, I now enter the Cult of Yanafal Tarnils...there to learn better the arts of war. Though I remain convinced that peace is the best way, I will be prepared for war should it be thrust upon me. It has already cost me the health of my friend and the life of my dear father.

Truthfully written,
Danar Tormalon
4 Dark Season, 1628

As I take pen to paper, nearly 5 years have passed since I last wrote upon these pages. For a long time there, I had neither the time nor the desire for writing. The tumultuous times I am currently embroiled in, however, demand that I scribe something, if only to sort out my own thoughts and feelings.

After I spent two years in training with the Yanafal Tarnils, I gathered my company of friends and we proceeded to Dragon Pass, for I had received a warning, in a dream, to leave Pavis. It turned out to be fortunate that we did, for this was the season of the Cradle, and many were slain in that futile effort to capture the Giant Cradle for the Empire. At the time, I saw this dream warning as another blessing from the Moon, a sign of the Goddess watching over me. I was quite wrong.

We proceeded across Prax, following the main trade routes, and then spent some time trading in the newly "englowed" Province of Sartar. While in Duckpoint, Greebly, a member of our troop, found some information that told of a fortification the ducks had built in the marshes to the west of the city. The place, known as Duck Tower, had supposedly been sacked by the Lunars, but there was believed to still be treasure in the ruins.

Greebly and I, with an assortment of adventurers, some old acquaintances from Prax and some newly met, commenced an exploration of the ruins. Over the course of the next several seasons we made a number of forays into the ruins. Our first effort met with disaster, as after some initial successes, we were overcome by a band of flesh-eating Ogres. Fortunately for us, this band was as interested in money as in food, so Greebly and I, along with one companion, were able to buy our way free. Sadly, the rest of our company was eaten, save for two who, unbeknownst to me, were themselves Ogres. These two promptly joined up with their kin. It was rather gratifying to see one of them "blessed" with broo-hood from accepting one too many Chaos Gifts.

The cynical reader might point out what may seem to be the obvious, upon reflection, Namely, that the ogres in our midst set us up for their kin. While possible, I did not believe then, nor do I believe now that this was the case. I think that they merely took advantage of what was, for them, a better opportunity.

After this fiasco, Greebly, Flower (the other survivor) and I made our way back to Boldhome to rest, train, and hire on more hardy souls for a rteurn venture to Duck Tower. I had lost a leg to the aforementioned Ogres, so I was interested in spending a few seasons training while I waited for it to regrow. During this time, Greebly received a summons from some minor Lunar official who wished to speak with him about Duck Tower.

When GReebly appeared before him, he threatened to take all sorts of legal and bureaucratic sanctions against us due to our failure to obtain a permit to explore Duck Tower. It soon became apparent that he was just setting up a scheme to get his hands on an important Duck artifact, the Sword of Yakkerphuppie. Seeing the futility of fighting this, we acquiesced to his blackmail and agreed to find and give the sword to him. We gathered our group to once again penetrate the ruins.

Over the next season or so we made a series of trips into the ruins, culminating in an assault on the Temple of Humakt in the centre. We successfully got in, recovered the sword (along with other valuables), and got out before the guardian spirits could overcome any of us, though it was a close call in several instances.

Flushed with our success, we returned to Boldhome to enjoy our spoils. I made the grand tour of cities in the Dragon Pass area, seeking someone to assist me in enhancing my agileness, but I had no auccess. While I was away, the party was contacted by the Lunar authorities and asked to deliver a message to Pavis. We agreed and left the lands of Dragon Pass on the first of the year 1633.

We were journeying across Prax, a few days ride from Pavis, when we happened upon a battered and wounded Lunar soldier. He told us he was the sole survivor of a unit sent out to capture an important map of rope-writing from a group of barbarians. Apparently, there is an item sacred to the Praxians hidden somewhere in the papes, and the rope told of the way to get there. This rope, it seems, is placed in the safekeeping of a different tribe each yea, and the unit of Lunars was to ambush the group of barbarians carrying the rope to the tribe from the Paps. Unfortunately, however, they were attacked and wiped out by a group of impala riders before they could complete their task.

He requested that we go with him and complete the mission. Many in my party were under Lunar authority of some form, and I suspect eager for blood as well, so they all quickly volunteered for this mission. Though I was less than enthusiastic about going on this mission and abandoning all of my trade goods in the middle of Prax, I could see the way the moonbeams shone. I had no wish to lead two heavily-laden wagons across Prax by myself, so I acquiesced. We packed what we could, buried the rest, and set off to catch the Praxians.

After several days of tracking, we located them and successfully snuck up to their camp at night. Unfortunately, from ther our plans went totally awry. Our attack was poorly planned and we nearly failed. It was only thanks for Greebly's taking advantage of the confusion to sneak into the priestess' tent and steal the rope that we succeeded. Even that was a near thing, as he was almost caught on the way out. The cost was atrocious however. The only members to survive were Greebly, myself, and the Lunar soldier whom we had rescued. Greebly was able to sneak away into the night. I survived by luck alone. I had been befuddled early in the fight and my horse wandered off into the night, carrying me away from the fight. The Lunar, despite having only one leg, was able to slay both of the Bison Riders who rode off to deal with him! The rest of the party was either slain or captured. Those captured were executed by the barbarians.

Again left without a party, Greebly (who by now had become as close to me as Crivelbetes had in our glory days) and I rode to Pavis to seek our fortunes anew. Upon our arrival, we were thanked and rewarded by the Lunars for our part in obtaining the rope map. I had my right arm, which had been hacked off during the fight, regrown. We settled down to do a little training and to round up another band of adventurers. During this time, a most amazing thing happened. I received a message sating that my Uncle, Raus of Rone, wished to speak with me! We had parted on such poor terms those five years ago that I never would have expected him to speak to me again. I communicated my delight at hearing from him again and indicated I would come down to Rone Town soon.

After a week or so of trading, I took my wagon and our new band south to Rone Town. Along the way we had an incident with some broos which cost us one member of our party. Also, Greebly began to develop second thoughts about visiting Raus, likely due to an incident of attempted burglary he committed against Raus in Pavis. Thus, he found it easy to volunteer to bear the body of our slain companion back to the healers in Pavis while the rest of us continued on, reaching Rone Town without further incident a few days later.

Upon my arrival I arranged a meeting with Raus. Our greetings were cordial, if distant. We soon fell to discussing events which had transpired since our last meeting, while sounding each other out to see where the other stood. During this conversation, several pieces fell into place. it turned out that Raus and the giuant Gonn Orta had made an alliance to aid the passage of the Cradle to the sea. This was the meaning behind the giant's words to me. I further discovered that the dream which had warned me out of Pavis had come not from the Goddess but from my Uncle! After this startling revelation, Raus proceeded to tell me of the reason for his summons. He informed me that the Lunars were planning some big operation, and that he believed it was a terrible mistake. he then told me that it was time for me to make my final choice as to which side I would be on. Raus brought forth two bundles and bade me to open them. Inside one was a powerful rod full of Lunar magic, and the other one contained the Ronesword. Raus told me that by choosing one or the other I would decide my destiny for all time. I saw that this would be the biggest turning point in my life; larger even than my exile from the Empire. For by my choice, I would be losing a way of life forever. No matter which path I chose, I knew they would never rejoin. I spent the next week in the marketplace trading and pondering my decision.

First, I thought of my satisfaction as a Lunar, first as a sage, then a merchant, and then as a warrior. I thought of my plans to bring the fruits of Lunar civilization to the peoples of Prax. I had come to this valley with such high hopes and noble ideas so many years ago. Was I willing to turn my back on those aspirations? Was I willing to cast aside the sole remaining pillar of stability in my life, just so I could throw my lot in with my renegade Uncle? Criv would be lost to me forever, for he would never understand my leaving the Lunar Way. Also lost would be my high standing in the cult. After the successes against the ducks and the barbarians, mine is a rising star. I thought then of mother and all that she had taught me of duty, honour, and loyalty to my cult and my Goddess. Was it worth throwing all of this away? "No!" cried my brain. "Do not turn from your chosen path! Resist the temptations! You have a destiny in life!"

But then, from my heart, came thoughts of Raus and how he had come to Prax and, through peace and diplomacy, had built an impressive domain out of nothing in but a few short years, whereas the Lunars, with their armies, had still failed to control Prax. I then saw that the happiest times I had known were in service to Raus. I came to realize that he truly cared for me, no matter what path I chose. Even when we had split, he watched over me, warning me of the Cradle incident. I came to see that he was not blinded by hate when he walked out on me those years ago, but he had been overcome by disappointment that I would turn away from the family. He had always known what I seemed to have forgotten; family bonds are the strongest bonds there are. They mean more than any mouthed vows to some distant deity. Without family, a person is truly weak. Family helps family. The supernatural is often distant and out of reach, while the family is always there, looking out for its own.

By the end of the week, I really only had one viable choice left. I strode proudly forth from the marketplace, pocketing my 7 clack profit (yes, my mind wasn't on business), and marched up to inform Raus of my decision and to apologize for my former blindness. I gladly raised the Ronesword and rejoiced in my reacquiantance with my ever-so-great grandfather, Assil of Rone, whose spirit was bound to the sword. I now stand upon the biggest change in my life of change.

Signed,
Danar Tormalon
Prince of Rone

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