The day passed by quickly filled with small talk, all three of them avoiding any discussion of The Choosing. The trail was easy, winding forever downhill and the large pines that made up the forest above began to give way to oaks and elms. Less leaves had fallen at this lower altitude so it almost appeared to the boys that they were walking back in time from fall back into summer, though the occasional brisk breeze at their backs told a different story. It was just after they had stopped for lunch, and had hit the trail again that one of Garret’s questions spurred a lengthy tutorial by Ashton.
“Well let me think.” Ashton had started. “There used to be dozens of gods that people from all the races of men worshipped. Most of them are now forgotten or dead I assume.”
“Wait hold up.” Garret stopped him in his tracks. “How is it that a god, something all powerful, would be dead?”
“Good question.” Stated Ashton. “Sorry I didn’t think about elaborating on it, but I will. It is believed that a god can only exist a short while without worshippers, though none can prove it. It kind of makes sense though, think about it. If a god holds the power to alter men’s existence then to balance it out should not men hold the power to alter the gods’ existence? Like I said it can’t be proved of course, but with wars lands are taken over, with the new rule laws are set in place outlawing worship of a certain god. Time passes and so too the knowledge of the god, even the memory of it passes, then when no one is left to worship the god supposedly even the god vanishes. At least that is what some of the scholars think. My mom told me about it. Anyhow back to your original question, how many gods, who worships them, and what does it entail? Well to be honest I don’t think I can completely answer your question Garret. I have a limited knowledge of most of the Gods that are openly worshipped besides my own. Even less knowledge do I have of the few gods who are not openly worshipped, yet still have a few followers. But in any case I will try to tell you what I can of those I know if that will do?”
Garret simply nodded in response to Ashton’s question, and so Ashton continued.
“Well first and foremost of course is Lorentia. She is widely accepted as the Goddess of healing and nurturing. Being that most of us with a gift for healing come to worship her, and heal in her name, it is thought that we her followers have a gift for magic, but through us she channels healing powers to restore the wounded or dying. Most of us pray to her, I know at least my family does, even my father who doesn’t have the gift, though he knows firsthand of its power. Let’s see, I guess next, and of special interest to you would be Gorandor. As I said last night, he is the god of Honor and Valor. Mostly warriors worship Gorandor, and nearly all of his followers are human, elf, or dwarf, though some other races probably make up a small amount. It is said that of his followers, only those with a pure heart and pure intentions are blessed with his gifts. There are a few of his gifted followers in Valdadore so I won’t spoil the surprise for you, you will know them when you see them I promise. I don’t really know how his followers carry out their beliefs though; I assume they pray to him as well. Next on the list, who may also be of interest to you is Vikstol, the God of battle. Now this one is a bit trickier I think. Most warriors, if not nearly all of them give their spiritual allegiance to Vikstol. Not because he gives them wondrous powers, or grants them wishes or anything, but because he is supposedly the god who controls the outcome of every battle. It is believed that he is the difference between you dying from a single shot from an arrow, or you taking the impact of twenty arrows and still living just long enough to slay the man holding the bow. Most followers of Gorandor, who do not receive his gifts drift off to worship Vikstol instead. I do know that at least before a battle, Vikstol’s followers will pray to him, and some of his followers that still carry old traditions will often make a sacrifice in his honor. Next up I guess would be Valonore, the god of nature. He is the god of the green robed Druids you are sure to see around Valdadore. Druids use earthly magics to create natural things. It is said they can sculpt plants, animals, even stone and earth with their thoughts. Oh and most Ranger types, you know trackers, worship him as well, they say the gifted ones can follow a year old trail buried beneath desert sands if given the gift of a magical sight by their god. But who knows right? Let’s see there is Saranadia, the Goddess of defensive magic, though from my understanding not many people worship her anymore, most preferring offensive magic. But through worship of Saranadia followers are often gifted with the ability to shield themselves from nearly every type of harm, the most powerful of her followers were said to have been able to shield entire regiments of the Kings army. Though I don’t think any are currently alive that can do that. Hmm let’s see who have I missed…Oh yes Zeranthil the mighty god of offensive magic. He has many, many followers all of them wear the red robes of his order of mages, all with the gift of magic of course. He cannot give his blessings to those who do not already possess the gift. He gives all of them his blessing to varying degrees, those who worship the greatest, and sacrifice the most of themselves to him, wield his most powerful blessings. Let’s see there is Ximlin, the Dwarven god of stone and steel. Ximlin has blessed the entire race of Dwarves with the ability to create the most wondrous items with those elements. It is said he is very particular to dwarves, however my mom once said that on occasion he chooses a member of another race to bless with his gifts if they are worthy. Who does that leave?” Ashton questioned himself. He thought about it a moment and started again.
“Well I think that just about covers all the Gods still openly worshipped among men today, but there are a few that I don’t really know much about that a few still worship. There is Gompidil worshipped by some Gnomes as the god of inventiveness. Though most every gnome, that I have heard of who worshipped Gompidil, and invented something truly amazing, died shortly after unveiling his creation. Then there is Ishanya a Goddess believed to be the Goddess of lost souls, though some called her the Goddess of hope a long time ago. It was said that she sometimes gifted her worshippers with either great magics, or great speed and strength. Warriors who followed her, and had her blessing fought with unimaginable fury and unbelievable speed. They were once called berserkers, though it is widely thought that no more exist. Followers of Hers who possessed the gift of magic were said to hold the powers of life and death within their hands, killing with a word, reviving a fallen comrade with another. Most people today think these are just old legends though as not a single person with her blessing has been seen in hundreds of years if even the histories aren’t mistaken. I think there is still a temple for her somewhere in the older part of Valdadore though.
That leaves Dazilen, the patron god of thieves and assassins. Good luck finding his temples as they are all very well hidden. His blessings to my knowledge haven't even been revealed to anyone outside his worship, perhaps those gifted by him are sworn to secrecy though no one even knows if he is a real god, or really gives his blessing to any of his followers without even a shred of proof. There I think that does it, at least as best as I can answer your question. I’m sure there are a couple I am forgetting, probably even some I haven’t heard of considering the Orc, Ogres, Trolls all retain some of their old gods as do the Elves, Centaurs and Minotaurs.”
Seth and Garret both simply stared at Ashton in disbelief. Not because they didn’t believe his words, but because his words were so hard to digest. They had heard mention of many of the gods through stories from travelers at the inn in the past, even heard tales of all the other races of men that walked Thurr. But what completely caught them off guard is the fact that they had written them off mostly as simple stories. Tall tales created to fetch the imagination of young children to keep them from wandering off into the woods, or go out playing in the dark at night. Being that as far as they knew, James and their mother had never served the Kingdom, not out of any fear or any misguided feelings toward the Kingdom, but simply they were raised so far from the Kingdom he hadn’t even known about The Choosing until he and the twins’
mother had moved to Vineleaf shortly before the boys’ birth. The twins knew Dwarves and Elves were real, even Orcs and Goblins, but centaurs, Ogres, trolls, and Minotaurs too. It was a bit much. Next Ashton would be telling them that dragons and Unicorns were real too. It took a few minutes for the twins to regain their composure and realize that they had stopped walking to listen, then a moment longer to close their mouths, still open in disbelief.
After they had been walking again for several hours Garret peered off into the distance, and seeing something the others hadn’t yet noticed said;
“Good we made it.” As if stating it to himself and then continued with. “Look out through the trees you can see roofs.”
Sure enough the others noted, past the trees and a few rolling fields beyond they could indeed see the roofs of Stone Haven. They picked up their pace. It was not long before they broke through the last of the trees into the open fields surrounding the small town.
Evening was upon the trio as they passed through the rolling fields at a quickened pace, every step bringing them closer to the town..
Stone Haven had once been a stone quarry. Not just any quarry, it was the quarry mined to build the city of Valdadore itself. Here the Glorian River meandered close enough to the large deposit of granite, where the stone could be cut, then sent on rafts down the river to where the city was built. No longer was this the case however. The stone, all mined out, was a distant memory of the inhabitants of the small town. It was nearly five generations ago that the Capitol city was erected. Now the town thrived much like Vineleaf, relying on travelers to buy goods, rent rooms, pay for female company, or have a drink at the tavern. It was a shell of a town, with people constantly moving away, and more constantly moving in to take their place. More or less Stone Haven was just a stepping stone for people trying to move closer to or farther from Valdadore.
The trio came upon the first homes just as the sun began to set upon the western horizon. The houses here were monstrous, foreboding structures. Made of the dark stone that was once the reason for the towns existence, packed closely together, the town had a feeling of unwelcome. Stone Haven appeared to be built in rings, cut down the center with one main road. It appeared the first inhabitants here had built the inner most ring, and those coming to mine for the Kingdom continued to build out from the original dwellings, starting a new ring when the previous one was full. It seemed a thoughtful design really, everyone had easy access to the innermost parts of the town, where surely the market stalls, stores, and inn would be. The boys each thought their own version of this conclusion as they made their way down a narrow alley, working their way to the main road that ran east to west through the town. Most of the buildings in the outermost ring were boarded up, some of them in disrepair. Occasionally the trio would catch sight of a person rounding a corner, or darting down a side street, but with the fading light it was hard to make out what the people here looked like. So the boys marched on straight towards the center of town each hoping their assumptions were correct and they would find people here. Sure as the sun would shine tomorrow, the closer they neared the towns center the louder the atmosphere became. They could hear haughty laughter, music playing, and the occasional garbled yell of someone obviously drunk. Ahead on the right side of the road was a Tavern very brightly lit, and its stone walls were gaudily painted in a bright orange color, just past that was an inn. The inn had the bare stone walls that most of the town shared. It was a long sprawling building that upon further investigation revealed it was actually once several buildings that had been conjoined with stone hallways adding to its rooms. Across the street from the Tavern sat a large three story building, it was dimly lit, and smelled of incents. The windows were all curtained in red, and the boys discovered that this was where the music came from. Approaching the broad doorway the trio was quick to discover a sign beside the door proclaiming the building to be a brothel. Next to the brothel, across the street from the inn were several small buildings and stalls, this is where the traders would set up their wares to sell, however at this hour they had all packed up and gone home.
The boys all stood in the middle of the road looking around, if not somewhat nervously, than at least undecided. Garret’s eyes kept flickering to the brothel, and Seth couldn’t help but to slug him in the shoulder and laugh at him. Ashton caught the meaning and laughed as well. They stood there a minute longer surveying their surroundings deciding independently if it would be safe to stay within the town, or safer to continue through town and find a place to shelter out the night then return in the morning.
“Seems safe enough.” Seth was saying almost to himself then added for everyone’s benefit. “If the inside walls are stone too, one of us could sleep against the door to be sure no one comes in while we sleep.”
Seeming a brilliant idea, the three marched off towards the inn, Seth and Ashton glancing around warily, and Garret glancing back to the brothel longingly. Oh the things money could buy.
They came to face the door to the inn and could hear from inside many muted voices in relaxed conversations. Light streamed around the poorly fitted door, and from two oversized windows, one to each side of the door. Above the door a sign danced in the slight evening breeze, marking this, the sunrise inn. The boys gave one another a nod of approval before pulling the door open. Garret placed his hand on the handle and giving a sharp tug, nothing happened. Thinking it stuck, Seth too took hold of the handle and the two large boys pulled in unison to no avail. Looking at each other in defeat the two boys shrugged their shoulders in acceptance and turned as if to leave. Ashton reached one of his slender hands up to the door then, the twins pausing to watch what would presumably be another failed attempt at dislodging the door; he gave it a light push, not pull, and the door swung effortlessly, silently on its hinges wide open. Ashton smiled at them as the twins faces flushed in embarrassment. The three walked through the door, Garret mumbling something about the door needing a sign saying push. They were welcomed by many strangers’ stares, and the strong scent of ale and garlic. They looked around quickly, and met the gaze of the barkeep who smiled at them widely, and welcomed them in a deep booming voice to the Sunrise Inn. They each nodded to him in response and quickly located a table. The three sat at a table in the corner keeping their backs to the wall, facing the expansive room ahead of them. They looked around the room, appraising the many people seated throughout the common room. There were a couple of men at the bar laughing drunkenly at their own jokes. Many of the tables too were occupied by men and women of varying ages. Some of them were obviously travelers like themselves, but more than half showed no sign of travel, their hair well kept, clothes clean. One man in particular caught all three of the boys’ attention. He was old, shriveled by age. His hair hung in long white cascades over his shoulders nearly reaching his waist. He had a full snowy beard as well, nearly the length of his hair. He was dressed in a peculiar gray garb, that had once perhaps been black, but faded by years of wear and travel now had a more mute earthly stone color to it. He seemed out of place, it wasn’t his clothes that seemed made in another time, in a fashion no longer used. It also wasn’t his age that seemed to keep him apart from the others here in the inn. Something about his posture, his too graceful movements left a feeling of unworthiness to those around him, as if the man were some holy artifact that was too great to touch or even look upon directly. Yet everyone within the room had looked upon him, and left him to his own musings, sitting in the opposite corner the boys had seated themselves in. The trio watched the man from the corners of their eyes, pretending to look around the room again and again. So caught up in their secret appraisals of the old man, none of them had noticed the woman when she approached their table.
“Hello fellas.” The woman greeted the boys, scrutinizing their clothes as if to measure their worth. Assured by the quality garb the twins wore she smiled at them all and continued in a softer nicer tone.
“Welcome to the Sunrise Inn, what can I get for you?”
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br /> The boys looked at each other puzzled, not having decided upon anything yet. Seth and Ashton looked to Garret as if to let him answer for them all. Garret took their meaning and turned to return the Bar maids smile and give his reply.
“Miss, if it wouldn’t be too much trouble, we would each like a cold mug of your finest ale, a hot meal, and a room if you have one to spare.”
“Well.” She began her reply. “Tonight we are serving spit roasted hog, spicy bean soup, and oven toasted bread. The ale is neither fine, nor is it very cold but I’d be happy to get you some, and as we are quite filled to capacity tonight I only have one more room available, with two beds, if that will suite your needs for the night. Perhaps if you’re here for an extended stay tomorrow we should have a few more rooms free.” She stated all this with practiced perfection as if she had said this same exact statement a thousand times before. Assuming somehow the thickest boy was their leader she looked to Garret waiting for a response.
“Miss I believe the room should suit us fine for one evening, and we will take the food and drink as well.” Garret replied to the woman with a wink.
“Well then sir, the room is a silver, and the food and drink is twenty five copper for the each of you.” The woman kept her gaze fixed on Garret, who nodded in response before she whirled on her heel and headed for the bar, Garret appreciatively watching the swaying of her hips as she departed.
Each of the boys pulled from their belts a small coin purse. Garret looked to his brother and Ashton and raising a hand to them signaled for them to put their money away. Seth looked at Garret questioningly, while Ashton’s look was more of that of one of relief.
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