by Neal Jones
17 A host of guards leaped into his path and reached out to seize the stranger, but their hands and feet became crippled with great pain and they cried out as they fell. In only a few moments King Lormnal was face to face with the visitor.
18 The king was very afraid, but he would not show it. Instead, he demanded, "Tell me your name and what business you have with me and my guests! Why have you entered my hall?"
19 "My name is Aamon Tor'Ahl, son of Samgar and adopted son of Riddan. I bring to all of you a warning. We have all sinned against our Gods; have spilled blood in Their name, yet it is not an honor. We have slaughtered our fathers and our brothers, raped our mothers and our daughters, and celebrated wickedness." His voice thundered through the hall as he turned to the gluttonous crowd. "Our souls have been measured upon the scales and found wanting. This night, at the hour of the wolves, this city shall burn with holy fire. All who are still within its walls shall be consumed and will face eternal judgment. Those who follow me will receive a second chance at salvation! These are the words of our Gods!"
20 Aamon drew up his hood and marched from the hall. On his way through the courtyard he passed his hand over the guards, and then again at the bottom of the palace steps. The watchmen were healed of their infirmities, and they wept as they cowered in fear. Tor'Ahl, now the emissary of the Varashok, paid them no heed.
21 He walked into the market square and stood beneath the statue that Lormnal had erected of himself. The emissary spoke in a voice that stilled the throngs around him, and he delivered his warning to the people just as he had done in the great hall of the palace. Thrice he spoke his words, and then drew up his hood and walked out of the city.
22 The people of Kimnamor were too afraid to follow. They began to whisper amongst themselves, not quite believing that the madman was truly the son of Samgar. Many called him a liar, and others mocked his warning as they turned away.
23 But some listened, especially the mothers, and they clasped their sons and daughters close to them, for many knew in their hearts that what he said was the truth. They watched him walk out of the city and into the burning plains.
Chapter 3
The Judgment of Kimnamor
1 The bonfires on the city walls were lit at the hour of twilight, and Aamon watched them from a great distance. He was seated in the sand, his legs folded in front of him, his hands folded in prayer. His head was bowed, and he begged the Gods to spare the Kimnamor and all its people.
2 "Give them one more chance," he whispered fervently. "They know not what they do, but if I could warn them again, I know they would listen."
3 But there was no answer in his soul. The Varashok had already made up their hearts, and this night was a night of reckoning.
4 But it was a long time from the hour of the wolves, and Aamon's heart was gladdened by the sight of a small throng who had come to meet him. They were mostly women and children, but a few men trailed them, looking fearful and anxious. He bade them wait with him, and to pray, which they did.
5 In another hour came some more, and then still more the hour after that. By the time the sand wolves began to creep from their dens and roam the plains, the number of those who had heeded Aamon's warning was six and two hundred.
6 At the appointed hour, Aamon stood and proclaimed in a loud voice, "The Varashok are most holy, and most righteous, and Their word is our own! Their judgment is swift and sure, and let none say this night that they were not warned!"
7 At the end of his words, fire reigned from the sky, and the light was as day. It consumed the city and all who lived there, and those that looked upon the sight trembled with fear.
8 But Tor'Ahl told them not to be afraid, and to place their trust in the Gods. "Thou hast all been spared of this judgment because you believed on Their name, and have heeded Their words. This is your salvation."
9 The fire raged through all the night. The storm of lightning seared the desert sand, and the thunder crashed through the heavens. Tor'Ahl and his chosen people lifted their hearts in song and prayer as they waited for the dawn.
10 When day broke at last, there was nothing left of Kimnamor. It was as though nothing had been built at all, and not even the sand was scorched. Aamon gave up a prayer of mourning, and all those with him wept for the loss of those who had turned away from their Gods.
11 And then said Aamon, son of Samgar, adopted son of Riddan, "Blessed are we who have been chosen by the Varashok. They have made us in Their image, and we are Their children. From this day forth shall we follow Them, and Them alone."
12 When he was finished, he lifted his eyes to the mountains, and he declared in a loud voice, "We will leave these plains and journey to a land that has been promised to us by the Varashok. You that are with me on this day have proven yourselves faithful and most holy. Now shall your faith be rewarded, and your seed upon this earth shall be great in number. Thou art the nation of Chrisarii, thy name shall be known unto all men. Thus saith our Gods!"
13 And they echoed unto him, "Thus saith our Gods!"
14 Thus was born the tribe of Chrisarii, the chosen of the Varashok.
Chapter 4 tells of Tor'Ahl's journey to the other free clans of the burning plains, preaching to them the gospel of the Varashok. Through the testimony of his believers, almost all the clans were converted, and the few who refused the warning were killed by the same holy fire that had slaughtered Kimnamor and its people. By the end of the chapter, Tor'Ahl's following numbered just over a thousand, and he was finally prepared to lead his fledgling tribe to their promised land.
Chapters 5 – 10 detail the settling of that land by the Chrisarii. The reason that Renast's scouts had never returned was because they had fallen prey to the barbaric and violent clans that occupied the fertile grasslands, prairies and jungles that lay beyond the mountains. The desert tribes that had settled the burning plains weren't anywhere near as depraved and as heathen as the people who inhabited the promised land. They practiced child sacrifice, cannibalism, rampant polygamy, slavery, and a host of other debauched and decadent traditions that terrified and shamed Tor'Ahl and his followers.
In fact, the Chrisarii were so afraid that they remained in the mountains for almost two months, living off the small game that they could capture as well as the abundant vegetation that bore plentiful fruit. They believed Tor'Ahl when he told them that they needed to gather their strength, and that when it was time to descend into the promised land, the Varashok would give him a sign.
It was during this time of waiting that Aamon began to teach his followers of the Varashok's divine plan for the new tribe. It was time to put aside the barbarism and backward ways that had dominated their lives to this point. Tor'Ahl spoke of peace, love and mercy. He spoke of the five personages of the Varashok:
· The Father, who gives wisdom and justice
· The Mother, who gives love and peace
· The Warrior, who gives strength and honor
· The Maiden, who gives virtue and temperance
· The Priest, who gives faith and sight
Until now, the Varashok had been nothing more than a collective group of faceless beings who inhabited ancient myths and legends. They had created the world first, then created man, and then walked away and let nature take its course. They were little more than vague figureheads on which to drape whatever cause seemed appropriate to each generation. At the time of Aamon's birth, the tribes of man believed that the Varashok were nothing more than great warriors who looked favorably upon the survival of the strong.
It is important to note here that this time period in Chrisarii history was akin to the middle ages of ancient Earth. No one lived past the age of forty, primarily because of the constant threat of disease and war. The people themselves were primitive, lacking extensive knowledge of the world around them. Though there was a written language, it was still in its infancy, and nearly every region had its own separate language. The tribes of the burning plains wrote and spoke entirely differently from
the tribes of the grasslands, or those from the arctic lands in the far south. And even within the tribes of the same region, there was individual languages and dialects.
There were no printing presses and no books. Only kings and their courts could afford scribes who would write in scrolls made of dried animal fat, using ink extracted from the blood of the sand rats. And even then, a scribe's primary job was only to keep records of the lineage of each king and his house. Storytelling was strictly for the bards, and most of them made up history to suite whatever king happened to be in power at the time.
So to individualize the Varashok - to give them faces and names - was a novel notion, but it was something that the new believers readily grasped, especially the roles of the Father, the Mother and the Maiden. Like battle weary soldiers, the Chrisarii were ready and willing to embrace a doctrine other than violence and war. And, at this point, anything was better than the warrior kings and their tyranny.
Aamon taught his followers the basics of natural medicine. A vaka root, for example, could be boiled and mashed into a paste that would heal battle wounds. That same root, when mixed with the leaves of a tanta vine and taken orally, would bring down a fever. Because there was so little vegetation on the burning plains, many of these remedies had been unavailable to those tribes. But now, thanks to Tor'Ahl, there was a bevy of natural remedies at their disposal, and as their diets changed, so did their stamina and strength.
Aamon selected a scribe from the clan of Eklore to document the judgment and exodus from Kimnamor, as well as the time in the mountains and the conquering of the promised land. That man's name was Oraeko, and it's his book that comes first in the Holy Covenant. Oraeko was also given the responsibility to merge the various dialects that were being spoken among the new believers into one uniform language that all could understand. Even after three thousand years, this language is still one of the three dominant languages of the Chrisarii Alliance.
The sign that Tor'Ahl was waiting for came finally in a dream, where he was told by the Warrior to march the Children into the midlands at dawn. He was told exactly what words to utter, and the power of the Varashok would flow through him. The Warrior assured the Prophet that there would be no bloodshed on the part of the faithful. This was good because most of the believers were women and children who hadn’t the first clue of how to fight a battle. Of those thousand, only a couple hundred were men.
When the first rays of the sun touched the horizon, the Children of the Varashok stood ready, and at Aamon's signal they began their descent into the plains of the midlands. Because they were so high in the mountains, and because a thick forest lay at the base, it took a full day and most of the night before the believers arrived at the sprawling meadows that marked the border of the midlands.
In the distance stood the walled fortress of the clan of Tyrobi. These were the same people who had butchered, skinned and eaten the scouts sent by Renast. The soldiers in the watchtowers has already spotted the throng of Chrisarii, and they sent out armed riders to meet them. Aamon saw them coming, and he reminded his followers to remain where they stood and to abide in their faith of the Varashok.
It didn't take long for the riders to reach the Chrisarii, and they quickly surrounded the band of intruders. Tor'Ahl waited until the right moment, when the riders were close enough to his people that they could smell the rancid breath of the Tyrobi. Verses seven, eight and nine of chapter five tell what happened next:
7 Then did Aamon speak in a loud voice, and he uttered the holy words given to him by the Warrior. And there was a sound like thunder, but not thunder; and a light that was fire but not fire.
8 And the riders in black were struck down, every one, by the hands of the Warrior and the Father. Their flesh melted, their blood flowed like water, and their bones crumbled into dust, which was scattered upon the winds.
9 And Aamon lifted his voice once more, to give a prayer of thanks unto the Varashok. Then he and all with him marched forward into their promised land.
The Varashok were not shy about whose side they were on, and that same scene was repeated at the gates of the city Enshang. A second army of riders in black had been dispatched to meet the incoming threat, and they too, were destroyed with a holy vengeance that made the watchmen in the towers very afraid. They willingly opened the gates for Aamon and his followers.
The Prophet instructed his people to wait outside the city, assuring them that no harm would befall them in his absence. Then he took Oraeko and ordered the watchmen to take him to their king. They quickly obeyed.
King Drade is described in chapter five as a fat, gluttonous man who epitomized every heathen vice of his people. He had forty wives and nearly a hundred children, all of whom he treated as slaves. Just as in Kimnamor, there was a drunken celebration in progress as Aamon and Oraeko were led into the king's hall. The Prophet wasted no time in getting everyone's attention and delivering the same warning to the Tyrobi that he had given to the people of Kimnamor. Drade wasn't happy that his party was being so rudely interrupted, and he ordered his soldiers to seize the two strangers and cook them for his feast.
But, as was now par for the course, when the soldiers stepped forward, they were slain in the same manner as the black riders. This made the women, children and servants extremely terrified, for not even their necromancers could conjure such power.
But King Drade was as stupid as he was fat, and he dared Tor'Ahl to surrender or be destroyed. The Prophet gave his warning a second time, and the king still issued his ultimatum. Aamon sighed with pity as he bowed his head and whispered a prayer. A sword of fire crashed from the heavens, shattered the ceiling of the great hall, and burned Drade where he stood. Not so much as an ash or a fingernail was left behind.
The wives, children, servants and the rest of the king's court were so afraid that they didn't speak for several minutes. Aamon turned to them and spoke his warning one final time. If they did not come to his camp before nightfall, they would be destroyed with the rest of the fortress. Just as he had done in Kimnamor, he raised his hood and marched from the hall.
Outside Enshang, Aamon told his people to set up camp at a safe distance from the fortress. By sunset, the tents were erected, cook fires built, and the hunters had bagged small game to serve for dinner. But no one from Enshang left to join Tor'Ahl's band, and the city was destroyed at nightfall in the same manner as Kimnamor.
That night, Tor'Ahl was visited once more in his dream by one of the Varashok. The Mother told him that his obedience would earn him great reward, and that he was to wait for seven days before moving further into the promised land. There were heathens who had been watching from their own walled cities and had witnessed the destruction of Enshang. Seven days was enough time for word to spread about the new and peculiar army that had just entered the midlands.
After that time, the Chrisarii packed up camp and marched forward to the next city. This time, Aamon's warning was heeded by some, but not enough to spare the city. It was destroyed with the same holy fire that had razed Kimnamor and Enshang. The Chrisarii waited another seven days, and then the process repeated itself. Through one city after another, Tor'Ahl and his followers marched, the Prophet delivering his warning to any who would listen. And while many heeded his words, the Varashok still saw no reason to spare the cities.
Until the last one, that is. Quaal was the largest walled city of the midlands, and it was three months after descending from the mountains that the Chrisarii arrived at its tall gates. By now, Tor'Ahl's following had grown to nearly three thousand, and he probably could have assaulted the city in battle and taken it. But the Varashok, of course, had other plans. This time, Aamon was visited by the Father, who instructed the Prophet to deliver his warning to the people of Quall just as he had done in all the other cities, but with one exception. Instead of the city being destroyed with holy fire, Aamon was to say, "You will incur the wrath of the true Gods."
The next morning, Aamon and Oraeko entered the city without
incident, and were treated very respectfully and fearfully. When they entered the court of King Saird, the man knelt before Aamon and wept bitterly, begging the Prophet to spare his life and the lives of his people. Verse eight of chapter nine says:
8 And Aamon bade the king to rise, saying, "You have not yet allowed me to speak. You know not what my words will be."
9 But the king was exceedingly repentant, and he stood, saying, "We have seen thy power from afar, and we have witnessed the destruction thou hast rained upon these lands. Whatever gods you serve, we will serve also. Wherever you go, we will follow."
Aamon turned to the king's court and delivered his warning, just as the Father had instructed him. This time, all the people fell before him, in the same manner as the king, and they repented of their sins. Aamon blessed them and prayed for their souls, and then he told the king to follow him into the streets. Everywhere they went, the Prophet called out his warning, and King Saird persuaded his people to listen. Those who believed and pledged their lives to the Varashok were told to go forth and spread the news to the rest of the city.
