Itinerant: A Pilgrim Quest

[Gargulec]

Unanimous votes! All of them for one and the same option, that is not obeying! The thing has spoken. Or something. Also, this is the bonus update!

3.1 Waters Take Him​

At Cu's words, you did not move, even though your heart fell swollen and your muscles week; terror came over you. And for a while, all was silent around the fire, and all eyes were on you. And then Cu spoke again, his voice light, as if he was just a witness to a juggler's play.

His words were as such: "I was told that the women of Liefs are of such meekness that they meekly submit even when their life and virtue is at the stake."

He came closer to you and leaned over you, and his smile was altogether cruel.

"Yet for all of my urgings, you sit still; but unlike a female from the lands that are my own, you do not reach for the spear to defend yourself. A half-breed you must be, born of more courageous blood. Or deaf, for I am yet to hear you speak."

Others laughed at his words, and it only encouraged him further. He stepped back and presented himself to others, and his next words were in a mocking tone.

"But I know only of submission, and of fighting, and if you do not fight, you will submit, and yield me your spot by the fire. But as you are obviously weak, I will grant you that:
you can have the spear, while I will only have my bare hands!"

A roar of laughter went through the men at the fire; the only two who did not laugh were Reik and Notker, and only Notker spoke, standing up. And his words were harsh like lashes, and he declared that if Cu cuts you a finger, his arm will be taken at the shoulder, and at this the laughs died, and even Cu withdrew from you, taking his spear with him, and leaving you be for the night. But although you retained your place by the bonfire, you did not sleep easily or in fact at all; and so you watched the starless sky until it turned grey and it was the time for you to go with the river's flow once again.

Although the previous day was one of stories and games, this seemed cursed by silence and sombreness; few spoke, and when they did, it was in rough words, and often called each another not by the name, but rather by a derogatory moniker, and so you found that you were now referred to as "Notker's whore", and while previously they seemed indifferent towards you, now they treated you like one may treat a servant, that is unkindly and harshly, and sparing you little good word. And the sky above, though yesterday iron, now seemed leaden and heavy, as if a storm was to break.

Once again, you sat at the edge of the ship and wondered where the river Charm was taking you next, and whether the Saints would deliver you there safely, or would you perish on the day, or see worse things happen to you. Doubt once again took root in your heart, and although you tried to cheer yourself with the words of a prayer, they did not bring such consolation as to lift you up from the dark. And you wondered, too, whether it was because the kind of you was not fit to make pilgrimage, and that perhaps you should had stayed at your father's side and tended to him. In the dimness of the light and the silence of the bog, your whole endeavour seemed almost stupid to you.

It was then that you heard raised voices, and turned to see Reik discussing some matter with king's man Notker, who seemed very wroth with him. You did not catch what was the source of his displeasure, but aside from the look on his face, he was quiet, while Reik (as he was wont to do) grieved about the way he was treated and respect he was not receiving, and which was his due, and how Notker should be more mindful of him and perhaps more thankful, for he did much for both of them and gratitude was his due. Finally, his voice raised, he demanded he should be paid immediately and without delay, at which the patience that Notker had ended, and he reached for his sword and struck Reik in anger, and seeing that the blow was grievous, he cursed in an ugly fashion and shoved the man off the barge and into the river, which took him. Some words were exchanged between the others, but they seemed accustomed to such violence, and resumed their idleness. Thus died Reik.

You sat alone for a time, until Cu approached you and sat next to you, brandishing his spear to test his skill against the fishes of the river, and he spoke to you that it amused him greatly how afraid you were yesterday, but that you should not worry about him, for he had made a vow that he would not touch a woman under the light of the sun or moon, and from that vow his mettle originated, and thus he would not intrude on your virtue. He also told you more of Notker, who had also been known as Notker Red Hand, for he had killed his own brother in a quarrel, and although he spoke little, he was quick to rage and never hesitated to strike with bared steel, and that there were many feuds held against him, and many from his family were killed for him, but he seemed little concerned for that.

And then Cu laughed about Reik, saying that the man who angered Notker such had to be very stupid, and more stupid to make demands from him on his own boat, and that he was surely befriending fishes and eels now.

All while he talked, he skewered fish, but on that fell day, even that task did not go his way, and he did not catch half as many as yesterday. Angry, he put aside his spear, before smiling and handling it to you, asking if you wanted to try your hand at this game (which, as he had explained, was often practiced in the land he came from).

You…

[ ] Accepted and tried to catch a fish.

[ ] Did not accept it, but talked to him more.

[ ] Did not accept it and asked him to leave you, for you were grieving.

 

[Gargulec]

Scheduled update time! This one is shorter, but hey. Anyway, trying to catch a fish won, so that is what you did!
​

3.2 Hinds and Lynxes​

You took in your hands the javelin as offered, and attempted to do as Cu did, that is to skewer fish on it. But this task, although easy to explain, was not altogether that easy to perform, and so your thrusts reached water and threw up foam, but never pierce the fish that dwell in them, and each time you missed, Cu would laugh. Between his words of ridicule and mockery, however, he would show you how to better grasp at the javelin, and explained to you how to thrust, and as he did that, he also spoke of his homeland, which was not the Thistle Island, but rather the Rosemary Island which lay across a strait of the sea from it, and which is a home to many great warriors that take pride in knowing that even in the time of the White Wall, they were never conquered. And he also told you that you were, in appearance, not that unlike a sister that he had, and loved dearly, and who was taken by fell fever at a young age, before even a husband could be found for her, and that it was assumed it was caused by a curse (for gnawed bones of a wolf were found after she had died) of which another clan was accused, and that much bloodshed and murder followed as they sought avenge themselves, until by the king's own decree they were all expelled from the island for seven years, so that the carnage could be stopped, and that there were still three years of exile ahead of him.

As he spoke, you kept on attempting to catch a fish, and in the end, perhaps by luck more than skill, you managed to impale one on the javelin and threw where the previous catches had been stored. Cu laughed at that again, but you found it less mocking in tone than before, and he took the spear from your hands and instead himself quickly skewered another three, all the while asking you to tell him about your peregrination. And you explained to him that you left your home for your family was afflicted by a great misfortune, thinking that only the grace of the First Saint in the city of Step could avert hostile fate and save your clan from perishing from the face of the land, and with your brothers slain or captured, there was no one else to take the burden, but you. When asked if it was truly your desire to walk all across the known world to find the most blessed city, you replied that truly it was, and for the third time he laughed, and declared you utterly mad. For to think that you could do such a thing and accomplish such a feat for him seemed very unlikely, if not impossible, and he told you that he was expecting you to die on your quest, or else abandon it, or have even a worse fate imposed on you, and any and all of that was likely to happen to you before the next saintly day. In your defence, you declared that the Saints guide you and guard you, and that if it is their will to carry you to the city of Step, then you will reach it without a doubt, and if it is not, then you will submit to their judgement, for it is just, and perish on your way. Unexpectedly, those words troubled Cu, who cautioned you not to speak so idly of fate, but he refused to explain what he meant by that. Instead, he told you such:

"A lynx may walk alone, but not a hind; for the wolf fears to strike the lynx, but hunts the hind."

And with those words, he left you for the rest of the day, which you spent in silence and in solitude, mercifully ignored by others, even though their jests on the subject of you reached your ears, particularly when they called you the "virginal widow". Then came the night, and once again, you made land and you were put to kitchen duties, and later also set to scrub the pots and to other tasks which you found onerous, and there was such a number of them that you did not have the time to consult the book as you had intended to, and you did not finish them until the night; later, when you were sitting by the fire as on the previous day, you noticed Cu talking with Notker in hushed voices about some matter, and saw Cu putting something in the king's man hand. Then, they appeared in agreement, and soon enough you found Cu standing over you. Once more, he repeated the yesterday's gesture, and thrust a javelin between your legs. And the eyes of others were instantly upon you, and he spoke in the tone of cruel mockery:

"Little hind, you still take my place?"

Against your will and wish, your heart swelled again. And then, you...

[ ] …moved away from the fire.

[ ] …did not move, as on the previous day.

[ ] …reached for the javelin.

 

[Gargulec]

Unanimous again! You reached for the javelin, for better or for worse. Well, then.

3.3 Lynxes and Wolves​

You reached for the javelin and took it into your hand. A round of laughs came from the throats of Notker's men as you stood up and faced Cu. His raised his hands high, to show that there was no weapon in them, and barehanded, he turned to you. Others gave space, and cheered.

"Gut him, whore!" was the call of their whistles and shouts, and although seemingly encouraging, you found it dreadful and sickening. And Cu said nothing, his arms wide, as if beckoning you to strike. And you circled him for a time, feeling your limbs quiver and your heart race, like that of a hare. And before you even struck, you felt that your grip may slip, and that you may trip, and the night seemed very dark to you. And Cu only smiled, and his smile was one of a devil, and you knew that his was the smile of the Malefactors. And you thrust at him, and he dodged your thrust, and you thrust, and he dodged, you thrust, he dodged.

And again, you thrust, knowing that he was playing with you, and seeing that with each of your strikes, he turned to others and made a flourish, as if a juggler or a jester asking for reward for his performance, and they awarded laughs, ever louder and louder and they cheered for you harder and harder, calling you to move forward, to strike at him, to bleed him, to skewer him. And you knew that all they wanted to see was him step aside again from the way of your flailing, and see you humiliate yourself more. For it is pleasing for men to see a bear that is dancing and monkey that is juggling. And you did not know for how long it had lasted, for it felt like it took the entire night and more, and it continued until he tired of the game, or perhaps ceased to find it amusing to him, and without difficulty he took the spear from your hands and placed his hand on your throat. And he asked what he should do with you, and they told him what he should do with you, and he slung you over his knee like a parent does with an unruly child, and bared your bottom for all to see and struck on it savagely with the shaft of the javelin until you pleaded that he would cease, and then he threw you to the ground and took from you your cloak, for he liked that it was warm, and he said that he leaves you to others to do with you as they please. But the king's man Notker spoke again and said that you are not to be touched in such a fashion, and so you crawled off away from the fire, and there in the dark you first prayed, and when no one answered your prayers, you cried, and when no one answered your cries, you slept.

***

You have gained a scar! Scars will not leave you and they will accompany you all the way to the holy city of Step, wherever it may be. They are the burden that you carry; the reminder of toils that a pilgrim must suffer. And they are, perhaps, also the soil from which strength will grow.

Humiliated: you have learned that your honour means nothing, if you you are not mighty enough to protect it, and how easy it is to strip one of dignity and plunge them into the depth of despair. You have learned that shame does not kill.

Also you have lost possession of your cloak and the fibula fastening it.

***
​

Mirth returned to Notker's men on the next day, and, as you sailed down the river Charm, they spoke at lengths at the circus they had witnessed, and how good of a leader Notker was to allow such merriment on the voyage that was always so dreary. Once more, there were tales, and boasts and even brawls, for it almost came to for Siegbert to strike another of the warriors in anger over who of them was better at hunting boar. You were given no mind by them, and they treated you as if you were not there, unless there was a need for you to do something, but as there was no necessity for a servant on a barge, thus there was little need for you, and you were left to your own thoughts, which were such that the hand balks at transcribing them, and so they will not be related.

As for Cu, it seemed that he forgot of your existence, or else lost all interest in it, perhaps having sated his curiosity on previous. He too paid you no mind, and yourself, you could scarcely bring yourself to look at him, for he carried your cloak on his shoulder. But as you watched the water flow, you heard him discuss some matter loudly with others, that is what beast of the wild is most dangerous; and while most argued that it must be the wolf, he presented a different case, and he said such words:

"There is no beast more ferocious than the lynx; for a wolf, although dangerous and deadly, with an iron muzzle and a heavy hand may be tamed made to obey, and it is known that it is how dogs came to be in the service of men. The lynx, however, will not submit, and even if beaten with a heavy hand and put in an iron muzzle, she will still rake at her captors with her claws, until she frees herself, or dies in defiance."

Others did not believe that he was right, and argued that the wolf can hunt the lynx, but the lynx rarely hunts the wolf, to which Cu replied that the matter they were considering was not one of might, but rather one of ferocity, which is different; for, as he explained, a slave may be mighty, but never ferocious, and that one may be feeble in the arms, but still more ferocious than the mightiest warrior, who, having never been truly tested, was only strong in the body, but upon facing defeated, he cowered and surrendered, for such was his fear of death and disgrace.

Notker in particular disagreed with Cu, and declared him, in curt words which do not warrant repeating, for they were laced with blasphemy, a fool and a jester for saying such things, and perhaps too capable with words to be a proper warrior. Then one of his men suggested that Cu should become a priest, for such was his eloquence, and they all laughed, as they were prone to doing.

You made land again, and again you were put to many tasks, and also listened to several remarks and calls that, if heard by your brothers or your father, should lead to drawing swords. But on that evening, you felt indifferent to them, and that worried you.

Yours tasks finished, you set to find yourself a place to sleep on the ground. And you noticed that the spot by the fire which Cu took yesterday was left vacant, and Cu himself sat someplace else; and you noticed that he was looking at you.

With that, you decided to…

[ ] Take your seat by the fire.

[ ] Sleep in the dark.

 

[Gargulec]

Almost unanimously, you took your seat by the fire. Seeing that even battered and blooded, the pilgrim still stands fill me with DETERMINATION. PSA: There may be another update this evening.

3.4 Weight of Promises​

The thought appeared in your mind to crawl into the night, to the place that was given to you, and avoid pain and shame both; but then you remembered the words of the pious Desiderius of how Liefs were recognized for their ferocity, and so you sat by the fire. All laughed at that, and soon enough, you saw the javelin be put in the ground before you, and reached for it again. And although you detested that, you quivered and you quaked as you stood with it in hand, once more goaded by Cu to lunge at him.

What followed did not hurt any less than on the day before, and the men found a new way for Cu to punish you for their amusement, and their ideas brought great amusement to them, and great shame upon you. And they said that it was a good thing that they took such an useless thing as you on the way, and that they would loathe when the time came for you to be parted from them, and at that, they roared in laughter again, and one of them – whose name was Dagobert – dragged you away from the fire, and threw you into mud.

Then, on the next day, you watched the river flow, grey waters under grey sky, and come night, you sat by the fire and grasped at the javelin, and afterwards prayed and cried in the dark. And then, on the next night, you sat by the fire, and grasped at the javelin, and prayed and cried in the dark. And then on the next night, you sat by the fire and grasped at the javelin, and later found that your tears had dried up and your throat was too raw to pray.

***

You have unlocked ferocity! It is your virtue that you know that your body will give in before your spirit does.

***​

Also during those gray days and terrible nights, you had noticed something else which seemed to you rather puzzling, and that is that although each evening, Notker's men seemed to be amused even more than before, and their laughs were like the bellowing of great beasts or tolling of brazen bells, Cu's mirth declined with each night; so much that on the fifth night of your ordeal, he did not share their laugh and in fact seemed to you very somber and perhaps brooding in how he went about dealing with you.

On the following day, which was the sixth since your departure from the mighty city of Grace, as you sat on the barge and watched the water flow, which was how you tended to spend most of your days, and thought about various matters which came to you (such as how it was barely over fortnight since you had left your family's home, and yet it seemed to you a very long time, almost as if a year had passed, or perhaps that it was in a different life altogether), you saw a strange sign. That is, a flock of birds was spotted taking flight over the bog, and the shape of the flock was that of an axe-head, and men who were with Notker spoke about it and thought it a bad omen. But while they argued about it, and how they should avert such ill luck that was made apparent to them, you noticed that Cu sat aside from them and with his arms spread to the sky, prayed fervently and with utmost ardour in the tongue of the people from the Rosemary Island. His prayers were strange to you for such reasons: that you had not seen him pray before (nor in fact any of Notker's men; they were quick to blasphemy, but never devotion) and that the words he spoke did not sound at all that saintly, and you considered that he may be venerating idols with them. However, he then commenced a prayer in the language of the Liefs; but that too appeared to you to be of rather perplexing nature, for he was invoking the name of Saint Corvo (which, you reasoned, came from the fact that he too was an exile), but also the name of Saint Amaulf, who was the gatekepper of the abode of the Saints, and therefore invoked chiefly by those who were at the threshold of the life everlasting, and leaving the temporal behind.

Then came the time to make land for the night, and you did so on a clearing that was once a village, and some walls of the homes that once stood on those grounds were still upright, as were the foundations of a shrine that had been erected there in more favourable times. As you were set to your various onerous duties, and watched the rest Notker's men set up a camp, you also noticed that Cu procured himself a new spear, which was longer than the javelin he carried, and wrapped in fabric, so that the spear-head would not be seen; he carried it in one hand, and his javelin in the other. And then then, as you took your seat by the fire, and he approached, Notker stopped him and warned him that in two days' time, the barge will reach Pebbles (whether it was a name of a city or a trade emporium, you did not know) and therefore he should take great care not to mark you with bruises or wounds, and to that Cu agreed, and compared to previous nights, your humiliations were not at all that bad, although the carefulness exhibited by Cu seemed to disappoint others; due to that games were soon over, and the fire was smothered, and you were allowed to find yourself a place in the night to sleep; all that happened on the night of the new moon.

But Cu merely pretended to be as soundly asleep as the others, and when he was sure he would not be noticed, he sneaked up on you and woke you up, and bade you not to speak anything but to follow him, and he led you to the ruin of the shrine, which was made from stone, and therefore offered a measure of protection from eyes and ears. And there he set a low fire, and told you a story, which will be here related:

When the king's decree that he was to be exiled from the Rosemary Island for seven years reached him, being young and therefore not yet armed with unyielding firmness of spirit, he sought a soothsayer, although that was forbidden by the saintly faith, and asked him if he will ever return from the banishment, and the soothsayer looked first into fire, then into the guts of a goat, and gave him such a promise: that he would be surely returned from his banishment, unless he was to find a lynx that sails and the hind that is not a hind. And that prophecy seemed to him a very auspicious one, and he left his home island glad that unless such an impossible occurrence was to come to be, he would be surely returned, perhaps even rich in booth of the foreign lands.

Upon telling you that, he laughed, and then brought near the fire the other spear that he had, and he showed it to you, for it was of the most beautiful worksmanship, and he explained that it was the spear of his father, and of the father of his father before him, and before that it was wielded by the first men who came to the Rosemary Island to win it from those who had held it previously, and that it had a name which in the language of the Liefs would mean "the Rye-stalk". And then he told you that he took the spear with him into the exile knowing that he would be surely returned, and he laughed again.

Then he explained to you such things: that Reik and Notker were intending to sell you in Pebbels, for a good price could be fetched for one such as you, and that to walk through the bogs in the night would surely be the death of you, but in the light of the day, secret paths could perhaps be made apparent, and that although hostile, the swamps could be traversed, all the way to the city of Pillars or perhaps as far as the city of Breakers.

Then, the fire that he had set begun to dim, and so he came closer and smiled and he said to you such a thing: that you should respect fate, but never fear it. And then he came even closer, and as the last of the light died away, he asked you if you can swear by the names of all the Saints, and by the stars, and the moon, and the sun, and the earth that you walk, and the see that is deep, and the mountains that are high, that you will not cease in your pursuit of the city of Step, no matter what the road takes you. And then, he asked you if you can spend this night in his arms.

You looked at him, and before the light went out, you…

[ ] Made the oath and agreed to be with him.

[ ] Made the oath but did not agree to be with him.

[ ] Did not make the oath, but agreed to be with him.

[ ] Did not make the oath and did not agree to be with him.

 

[Gargulec]

Okay, after a much more intense competition than before, swearing the oath and not sleeping with Cu won. Some promises were made, other remained unbroken. What follows is a very short update, but sadly to make it any longer would require intensive padding, which I would rather avoid. And so, I am a bit apprehensive about that one, but hey, there it goes. Enjoy!

3.5 Do Not Look
​

In the dark that befell you when the fire went you, you made the promise to him; and you swore by the names of all the Saints, and particularly by the name of Saint Odo, and you swore to the sun and to the moon, even if they were not there to witness it, and you swore it to the ground beneath your feat and the sky above, and to the seas that are deep, and to the mountains that are high, that you will not cease nor abandon your quest, wherever the road may take you. And a certain weight came over you, for such words are not to be idly spoken, and Cu recognized that, and bowed his head to you.

And to his request, you said no, and reminded him that he could not sleep with a woman, for such was the restriction he imposed on himself to be strong. He seemed taken aback by that notion, but as the night gives way to the day, surprise gave way to understanding, and he said:

"I see now plainly that which was obscured from me."

And he explained to you that you were right, and that he would not need to sunder oaths made to meet the future he had promised. And he took into his hands the spear which was called the Rye-stalk, and he cautioned you to three things: that you should not follow him, that you should sleep in the ruined shrine, hidden behind a wall, that in the morning, there would be a great much of shouting and screaming, and that you must not look at it until all is silent and the crow caws.

Then, he kissed you, chastely and on the cheek, and left you, and although great dread came over you, you slept, and there were again dreams and visions, and of them, and again you remembered none of them, but only for the sense of severity around them. But as you woke up, you noticed that on one of the walls of shrine there was a preserved painting, and although colours were faded, you could clearly see on it a pilgrim on a very narrow bridge over a very deep chasm, and behind her was the city of the temporal and ahead of her was Step everlasting, and below her was damnation.

But before you could consider the meaning of it, a terrible sound reached your ears, as if a howling from a dozen throats, and the sound did not cease, and others joined it; there were screams and shouts and there was also the ringing of steel, and it was by the sound alone that you were rendered sick, for with each howl repeating, it sounded even more terrifying than before; and if the Malefactors could walk the earth, that would be the sound of it weeping under their feet.

Mindful of Cu's warning, you…

[ ] Nonetheless tried to look.

[ ] Waited for the crow to caw.

 

[Gargulec]

Unanimous vote again! Waiting for the crow won, and thank the Saints that it did, or else terrible things would happen. Not that they are not happening anyway!

3.6 Wicked Man Dies​

The terrible sounds and roars continued for a long time, and did not cease until the sun was well on its way towards noon; and afterwards, there was a silence equally terrible, and it too was lasting. But finally, it was broken, and that was by the sound of a bird; a crow, as expected. And following Cu's finally caution, you took it for a sign and emerged from the ruin, and beheld a very woeful sight.

And it was as such: in the middle of the camp, with his back against a wall that had not yet succumbed to time, stood Cu, the spear called the Rye-stalk in his hand; and he was drenched and in blood, and so was the spear. And he was also twisted and contorted in the most terrible fashion, the flesh of his body bearing little resemblance to how he was before. And it was the doing of the wounds that he had suffered, and perhaps of the terrible fury that had driven him, and ferocity which was unparelled. It is sufficient to say that such was the degree of the ruination of his body, that you scarcely could bring to look at it in death, and it occurred to you that to see it in life would had been a most heart-stopping display. He was also dead, from a score of strikes, and stood upright solely by the grace of sword that was driven through his chest and into the wall behind him. And on his shoulder, there was a carrion bird, black-feathered. Thus died Cu.

And around him, on the beaten ground, they lay ten others, who were the men of Notker, and who had all been slain, and their bodies destroyed with such force, that some of them could no longer be recognized, and their identity you could learn solely by investigation closely on the tokens they carried. Others yet seemed barely touched, and yet were dead all the same, a single wound on the heart indicating where the spear had pierced them. And they all grasped in their hands their swords and spears, which were bloodied; they fought, and they had been bested. Thus died Sigbert, Dagobert, Cifi the Islander, Ean, Osric, Ragobert, Einhard the Young and three others, whose names you did not learn.

Near to them, however, there was a man yet alive, but not for long; the king's man Notker, who was too covered in blood, and sitting in the mud, unmoving, but still breathing. The sword that he had carried, and with which he had slain Reik was next to him, discarded, and as you came closer, you saw that Notker had suffered many grievous strikes that had perforated his belly in such a fashion that his innards were spilling out, and also a number of other wounds, and there was no doubt that they were all deadly, and he was not long for the world, and would soon face the judgement of the Saints, as all men do when the hour comes for them to go.

He noticed you, and drawing voice from his throat – and it was a terrifying rattling – he cursed you and called you a witch that had seduced Cu, and thus brought death and ruin on all of them. And he said that it would had been better for them to kill you and throw you into the river to drown, or else destroy you. Then, still drawing breath, he blasphemed against the Saints, calling them cruel and unjust, and he spoke against all that was holy and good, and cursed it all a thousand times.

It occurred to you that it might had been the pain of his wounds that made him say such terrible things; or perhaps it was his native vice, and the failing of his soul and character, which could hold only hatred and blasphemy, and nothing that was good. Or perhaps, seeing how close he was to their grasp, the Malefactors seized the soul that was theirs and used it to further ruin the world that was too in their hands. For as you stood next to him, there was no end to his litany of ill words, and it seemed to you that he clung so dearly to his life only for the sake of invoking all the evil of the world against you, and in doing that, damning himself even farther.

And so, you decided to…

[ ] Show mercy, and put him out of his misery.

[ ] Show mercy, and pray for his soul.

[ ] Wait for him to run out breath, curses and life.

 

[Gargulec]

So! With some debate, showing mercy and praying won, which means that other options lost. Now for a slightly longer update with more choices that may or may not end up with you being haunted and hunted by vengeful dead (note: vengeful dead may or may not exist).

3.7 Tending to Corpses​

Seeing Notker seethe with such rage and hatred, you were initially taken aback, but through the power of the saintly faith, you persevered, and you knelt next to him and put your arms to the sky and sung the praise of the Saints, and beseeched them that they would receive Notker as one of their own, and absolve him of his sins. And he at first mocked you for this, but such was the might of the Saints that they took his tongue away from him, so that he could not curse nor blaspheme further, and your prayer could continue uninterrupted until such moment that the hateful grasp he had on life was loosened, and he finally abandoned the temporal. Thus died Notker, and although he had lived as a very wicked men, you had hope that by the zeal of your prayer, he might be granted some measure of reprieve or solace in the life everlasting, so that he would not join the Malefactors in the house of the damned that is called Hell. For it is said often that the vile men who live their final moments in great pain, which is to them terrible, but is hundred times smaller than the lightest of the tortures to which the damned are eternally subjected, are through it averted from their wickedness, and through their remorse and regret are spared damnation; and that is why it is often said that it is better not to dull the pain of agony, for it is the final grace that the Saints in their kindness impart on men. Although it must be also admitted that watching Notker bleed, and then die, in spite of prayer, you still doubted that he would be, in the end, delivered.

As you finished your prayer, you also offered the souls of others to the Saints, and particularly Cu, who although you feared might had been not entirely free of the errors of idolatry had nonetheless died in a noble fashion, which brought no shame to his name, nor to the name of his family, and you considered to relate the story of his death to others, so that it might one day reach the distant Rosemary Island.

The field around you was silent; twelve men died, and you were once more left alone, in utter solitude and with little knowledge as to where to go next, or which road to take. But even before that could be put into consideration, there were other matters which seemed to you rather urgent, and that is what to do with the dead.

First, there was the matter of their possessions. It could not be denied that they had many items of value and use on them, such as clothing and weapons and wealth which they carried in form of various jewels. However, it was also indisputable to you that it was an ignoble act to rob the dead of what was theirs. Warriors stripped and looted the foes they had slain on the fields of war, but such was the custom of battle, which scarcely applied to the slaughter around you; furthermore, it seemed to you that the booty of that fight would belong to Cu more than to you. Furthermore, it was also something that you had to consider that to steal from the dead could very well incur their displeasure, and you had heard stories of how the slain had avenged themselves on robbers of their tombs.

(Note: this choice concerns only items that are to be found immediately on corpses, and not the general supplies that can be found on the barge).

[ ] Loot the corpses.

[ ] Loot the corpses, but only for the items that are immediately necessary to you.

[ ] [specify what do you take]
[ ] Leave the rest to be buried with Cu. (Only applicable if you decide to give Cu a burial).​

[ ] Do not loot the corpses.

[ ] Loot the corpses, but set aside the loot to bury it with Cu. (Only applicable if you decide to give Cu a burial).

From the possessions of the dead, two items stood out and had to be considered separately; first was the spear that belonged to Cu and was called the Rye-stalk, and second was the sword that Notker carried, which had a pearl set into its pommel, and it was also a very fine weapon, even if the pearl was marred and stained (although it seemed to you to be in a better condition than it was while Notker had wielded it). Such arms, particularly the spear of Cu, were great treasures, and it was obvious to you that the families of the deceased would like to see them recovered and restored, so that they may continue to be used, until such a time that they break or the common sainthood is achieved. However, you also considered that they were not to be picked lightly; and that perhaps you were neither fit nor worthy to carry them onto your journey towards Step everlasting.

[ ] Take up Cu's spear.

[ ] Take up Notker's sword.

[ ] Leave the weapons with the dead.

Next was the matter of the corpses. The bog was ripe with scavengers and beasts that would pick the bones of the dead, and it was a very bad thing to let it occur; the dignity of the dead had to be protected, or else there was the risk of being haunted by them by not observing it. Of course, you were not kin to them, and therefore the danger posed was smaller, but it was still a pious and just thing to do to give the dead their dues, although indisputably onerous and difficult. Perhaps the most expedient way was to put the corpses into the river Charm, for its waves to do with it as the Saints please; such were often the proceedings of bandits and brigands who would tie stones to the legs of those they had slain and put them into water, believing that (particularly if they had bound their hands before) it would serve to protect them from the wrath of the dead. However, it was not a very saintly custom. The alternative was to dig in the ground a grave for them, which would be a task that could easily take some days of labour – although you had the supplies necessary to last that long. Finally, it was also the possibility to only bury some of them; perhaps the wickedness of Notker's men was such that they did not deserve to be put in the soil, but should be rather left to wolves and other beasts, to which they were kin more than to men.

[ ] Abandon bodies to the wolves.

[ ] [specify which]​

[ ] Throw bodies into the river.

[ ] [specify which]​

[ ] Dig graves and give proper burial.

[ ] [specify to whom]​

Finally, there was also the barge. There were many supplies gathered on it; food and wine, and some fabrics, as well as the chests that it was carrying from Grace to Breakers; and you opened one of them, and found it full of silver and gold. It occurred to you that it was likely that it was it the king's gold, from taxes or other sources, and Notker was sent to guard it. There was certainly much of it, although there were no coins in it, and most of it in items which were difficult to carry, such as chalices and chains, and many of them appeared to be items taken from shrines, and bore signs of the saintly faith. If you wanted to, you could take some of it, although your pack was mainly filled by the Book of Roots, and so there was not much space left in it for gold – although of course you could abandon the book for the temporal treasure, hoping it to avail you better in the coming times.

[ ] Pick some of the treasure for yourself.

[ ] Pick more treasure, but abandon the Book of Roots.​

[ ] Do not succumb to avarice and let the treasure be.

The rest of the treasure would have to stay on the barge, for someone else to find; or perhaps you could release the barge from its mooring and allow the undertow of the river to carry it forward, perhaps even as far as the city of Breakers; if the Saints would will it, it perhaps could still reach the place it was destined to reach. Otherwise, you could also use some of the oil which the barge carried, and set fire to it, so that it would go to the bottom of the river, along with the gold, so that no one would recover it, and perhaps cause it to be forgotten.

[ ] Leave the barge as is.

[ ] Release the barge and let it go with the river.

[ ] Burn the barge.

 

[Gargulec]

Oh boy I did not consider how much trouble would collating all the options be! Well, great thanks to Muer'ci and Nevill in assisting me with breaking the vote down. In order: pick corpses for necessities, take up Cu's spear (concealing it in fabric), bury Cu, put the others in the river, do not take the treasure, burn the barge. Okay! There we go. Also apologies for potential lapses in quality, circumstances today were not favourable.

3.8 River Charm's Gold ​

Although fearing that to do so may incur the wrath of the slain, you decided to pick through their possessions, although only for those items which you believed to be of absolute necessity to you on your pilgrimage; you recovered your cloak (which, while stained by blood and mud, was undamaged) and the fibula to hold it together. Beyond that, you gathered twelve denars from the slain, one for each month of the year; it was not a lot, but enough to provide for you if it came to be necessary for you to pay for food and lodging, and to take more reeked for you of avarice, which was alien to you. You also found a sheathe which would fit your knife. The rest of the items that were to be found on the dead, you set aside.

***

You recovered your cloak and fibula, as well as twelve denars! However, your cloak is stained and therefore of a far lesser value until repaired. Also when you wear it, you look drenched in blood.

***
​

Among other tools that were on the barge, you found a spade, and you took it into your hands and found a plot of ground near the ruined shrine which was unoccupied, and there, you dug deep and well a grave for Cu who came from the Rosemary Island, and you placed by him the spoils of his last victory: that is the gold that others carried, as well as his javelin and some other weapons and the sword that belonged to the king's man Notker, and they were all very fine prizes. Thus, his burial was one that befitted a man of his strength and courage. Furthermore, you took some of the flat stones which are often found at the river-side, and with them strengthened his final earthy bed, so that it would be difficult for scavengers to dig into it and draw his bones ignobly from the grave. Then, finding some fabric on the barge which could serve in the manner of a shroud, you placed his body inside, in such a way that his feet were trampling the sword that belonged to Notker, so that if the tomb was ever to be opened, his victory was to be made evident even so. And then, you closed the grave, and placed on it a stone, upon which with a knife, you attempted to inscribe a eulogy, however crudely. Such words you managed to scribe, and two knives broke on the stone, as if iron itself loathed to be a tool for mourning of such a man:

"In this earth, lies interred Cu who swore to touch no woman under sun or moon and held his oath until death. Let he who would give his life in exchange for a pilgrim's be remembered and cherished."​

This all took you a day, and then half of another one, and you found the work to be very tough on you, for you were unused to such exertion; however, deeming it necessary, you did not hesitate to put aside the meekness which you were told to be inherent to your sex.

Next, you put yourself to another task, which, although of lesser severity, was hard on your spirit; for you decided that you could not give proper burial to all of Notker's men and to Notker himself, but reluctant to leave them for the wolves and other beasts, you instead elected to put them all on the barge that had been theirs; and then you found a cask of oil among the supplies, and spilled it across the deck, allowing it to soak, before putting a spark to it, and then cutting the mooring. The boat took fire, and the river took the boat, and it burned and then turned to the side and was swallowed by the current, along with the great treasure that it contained, and the bodies of the men that were supposed to protect it.

You watched it be consumed by the blaze from the river-bank, and considered a story; a story of a treasure illicitly gained, and then drowned in the grey waters of the river Charm, along with eleven men, who were once its guardians, and who would stand vigil over it even in death. And you considered whether it would become such, told in hushed voices by men looking for a glint of a jewel beneath the waves, or that Notker and others who perished along with him would be forgotten, as so many men are. And then you thought that such gold, in such a story, would certainly be placed under a fell curse, and all who desired it would find nothing but grief come to them. But you, you were no longer a part of that story; your role in it, if it was ever to unfold, had already been played. That, you thought to yourself while the barge burned.

In your hands, you held the spear which was called the Rye-stalk, and considered it too; at first, you thought to bury it with Cu, but then, it occurred to you that you do not know where your road leads, and that it perhaps may guide you to the Rosemary Island, where you would find the family of Cu, or perhaps the king that had sent him into exile, and present him with the weapon and the story of how he died, in a fine and courageous fashion.

You also considered that it was heavier and more unwieldy than the staff you had, that you were not used to carrying such a weapon, not skilled in its use, and perhaps not meant to have it at all. But all those notions, however correct in principle, at that time seemed very distant to you, and perhaps even irrelevant.

You turned towards the bogs, and went into them.

4.0 Voices In The Bogs​

There was a trail leading out of the village, which, while faint, was still visible to you. It probably came from the time when people lived there, and had not yet been entirely overgrown, although in places, it was so faint and narrow, that you thought that you might be getting lost; and truth be told, you knew that you were lost. For you had no notion of where you were, and also where you were headed. The path led through the bog, and you had little freedom in following it, for you feared that if you were to step off from it, you could be swallowed by treacherous waters, or perhaps fall prey to some beast. Furthermore, it was a land with which you were entirely unacquainted, and therefore chose to be doubly careful. Finally, it was also a cause for your worry that if you were to be caught by nightfall here (which seemed likely), you would not have the means to start a fire, and that in the darkness all the dangers would be rendered far more severe.

Therefore, you put your hope in finding people; for although you heard the stories about the bogs being home to dangerous folk, traitors and exiles, it was perhaps still preferable to be with such, than to languish alone. And thanks to the good grace of the Saints, you did not have to wait for long, for some time before evening, with sun still on the sky, you heard the voices of men – although they were rather distant, and you could not tell whether those were the shouts of delight, anger or something else.

With that, you considered how to proceed next: you could try to sneak up on them, through the swamp, therefore potentially seeing whether they are dangerous or not. Or you could call out to them, to avoid the danger of attempting to cross such perilous grounds and waters. Finally, you could also keep low and avoid them entirely, perhaps growing accustomed to solitude over the company of men.

That all in your mind, you decided to…

[ ] Call out towards the voices.

[ ] Sneak towards the voices.

[ ] Avoid the voices.

 

[Gargulec]

Not following the voices won! Now you will never learn if they wanted to kill you or feed you. Or perhaps one and then another? What if it was a witch who wanted to fat you like a calf before eating you whole? That would be very terrible. Anyway. Now that the Big Drama is over, time for a small decrease in pace. And all that. Enjoy!

4.1 By Night, By Fire​

Mindful of the stories you had heart in the city of Grace, you elected to avoid the voices; it would not do to become a victim of wicked men so soon after miraculously escaping the clutches of king's man Notker. Therefore, you did not approach them, and presently, they grew more distant and then silenced entirely, and you were confident again that you were walking alone. It was a strange thought, that solitude could be preferable over company, and it troubled you that times were now such that a man alone in bog may quiver at the voice of another, instead of meeting it earnestly. But perhaps such was the decline of the world and of its good mores that it should not be surprising, and that nigh were the times of sword and axe, which had been long spoken about by elder men considering the fate of the world.

With such thoughts, you continued along the path, hoping that it would lead you to some desirous place. It quickly became evident to you that the reputation of the bogs claiming them to be very difficult and arduous to traverse was not exaggerated in the slightest, and even with the route to follow, the ground beneath your feet was mushy and damp, soaking your boots. Furthermore, the swamp was also full of brambles of various sorts, which cut at you savagely, and tore at your dress, which already stained from the toils of the road came to look like a rag that a mad-man would cover himself with, or which a beggar would take and display to others, as a proof of his misfortune. As if it was not enough, you also found that a woman's dress was rather restrictive, that is that it made your steps less secure, and in one particular instant, where it made you trip and fall, and almost roll into a pool of brackish water, you cursed that you were not born a different sex, free of such restrictions.

However, by the providence of the Saints, the path did lead you to a place where the soil was firmer and dry, and where trees were also more sparse, and foliage in general rather light. After some investigation, you also uncovered – half buried that they were – old ditches once dug in the earth to drain it, and you realized that the firmness of the soil must come from the fact that it once used to be a field which farmers tended to; and only by some great misfortune, it was abandoned, and by the woods reclaimed. Such an image – of the trees conquering what was once won from them by fire and hatched – seemed to you to fit well your earlier ruminations about the passing nature of the world, and the decline of man (which, as you had once heard from Ethal, was made most evident by such two things: that where fortresses once stood, now wolves roam, and that the imperial purple is not worn anymore, for even the king of Liefs is not considered to be deserving of it; the distinction between an emperor and a king seemed to you a very unclear one, but the priest had maintained it to be rather vital). Yet, you could not spend too much time ruminating on such matters, for there were other necessities to which you had to attend; that is to make a sort of a camp for the night. That, you managed through setting a fire (after much effort), which pleasantly warmed you. You made an attempt to dry some of your clothes by it (as most of them were thoroughly damp), although that did not carry you far.

Then, you also ate, and considered the supplies which you had. They were, alas, not many. You filled your pack to the brim at the barge, but the Book of Roots occupied the most of it, so you could only fit in some dry bread, cheese and a skin of wine, which could carry you no more than a day or two longer. Afterwards, you could perhaps try sustaining yourself off the woods and bogs, but you had very little experience in such matters, and therefore it could be rather dangerous, not to mention that the success of such an approach was by no means guaranteed.

Otherwise, you would have to find other men; and that should not be impossible, for the bogs were inhabited, although the ruin you had witnessed, and the fields overgrown with trees, worried you somewhat, for they were clear indications that some calamity had happened here. Yet, the burned out homes had long since gone cold, and the trees around you were clearly of some years; whatever was the cause for this desolation, it had long since vanished off the land.

You thought about brigands, bandits, witches and other dangers which you could face, and grasped at Cu's spear, once again marveling at the workmanship of it (although it is not the proper time to describe it at lengths). It was slightly longer than other such weapons you had seen, and you had some difficulty holding it one hand. Still, you made some attempts, and even chose a particularly gnarly tree, which grew nearby, and imagining it to be Notker, you thrust at it savagely, until you became short of breath. Yet, you had little doubt that the spear would not protect you against armed men (although you did consider that perhaps you could grew accustomed to the feel of it in your hand, and that thought, however strange, was also not entirely unwelcome).

The decision you had to make was on how to proceed; whether to seek other men or not, and if so, then how to go about doing that; that is whether to advance carefully, and make sure that you are not spotted before others see you, or to brazenly and boldly go through the bog, with a song on your lips, to increase the chance of finding others.
Considering that, you wrapped yourself in the fur cloak and went to sleep, to by morning decide that...

[ ] You will avoid human contact for now.

[ ] You will attempt to carefully find others.

[ ] You will attempt to brazenly find others.

 

[Gargulec]

Today's update is late. What can I say? I got carried away celebrating the fact that I finally have the time to do the update early. Such is the irony of fate (let's call it that). Anyway. Carefulness won. Solitude is not preferable! And very good that it is not, for attempting to survive the swamp alone would probably lead to some Very Interesting Events. Anyway! (I like this word, I do). The update is here.

4.2 Wading Through Deep Waters​

Such is the proverb among the Lief people: a man alone is a man that is gone; you heeded its wisdom and made the decision to seek others, and you put a prayer to the Saints so that they would deliver you from the wicked and the treacherous, but also that if it such was their design to put you through further ordeals of men's evilness, you would not protest, but rather, confident in their grace, persevere. And along the prayers to Saint Odo, who was the patron of your pilgrimage, you also prayed to Saint Merovech of Silvers, who had endured a year by only a single crumb of bread and only a single drop of water.

You also searched the Book of Roots for any counsel regarding how to proceed in the swamps; however, the pious monk Desiderius apparently paid such lands little mind, for he spared them but a few words, which were as follows:

Swamps are named for the pastoral goddess Svama because they furnish straw, that is, fodder, for beasts of burden.​

There was, however, a gloss next to it which you found very cryptic, and it read:

They also belong to the third law.
​

With that, you departed from the overgrown field and went deeper into the swamp, on the lookout for others who might inhabit it; and at first, that bore you little fruit. The trail that led you before was now entirely overgrown and disappeared, and so you had to mark your own steps and cut your own path, which proved to be very difficult. The swamp was filled with water and creeks, that often barred you passage and made you return to whence you came and attempt to find another trek, and often you had to take very perilous routes to advance at all, that is for example over a log of a fallen tree that crossed a deep pond. Furthermore, the sharp-thorned brambles seemed to grow only thicker (you would later in the future that the people of the swamps called them the "Malefactors' Fingers", for not only like brambles, they hurt and cut, but they also bore fruit in the autumn which were very sweet in taste, but also contained a potent poison, swiftly-killing – and this is how the deeds and words of the Malefactors seem pious and noble at first, but their true purpose is to lead to the death everlasting, which is also known as damnation), and further destroyed your clothing, sparing only your cloak, which, however damaged, proved sturdy enough to withstand them.

There was also a great abundance of birds, and little of other animals; this was however a blessing, for it meant to you that you did not have to worry as much about the wolf or the boar, although you had heard stories that in the swamps, there were many poisonous snakes. However those, you thankfully did not find.

Yet, despite that mercy, the swamp was nonetheless very hostile, and it could not surprise you that not many chose to live or dwell within it; you yourself had once come close to drowning, when you stepped into a pond which as covered by a layer of old growth, and only in the last moment you managed to plant the spear you had in the ground and thus brace yourself in the soil, only rendering one of your legs significantly more damp than another, and also completely stained with mud. This, however, was only a minor inconvenience, since more often than not you walked ankle-deep in water, getting used to the very unpleasant sensation.

The weather did not assist you either; heavy clouds shrouded the sky and occasionally released fine rain, which, while not torrential, only added to your misery.

It was not until well towards the evening (it must had been shortly before the hour of vespers), that you saw a sign pointing you to the presence of other men, and that a few arrows stuck in the trunks of the trees; and since the sap around them was still flowing, you reasoned that they had to be shot only recently. Thus, you investigated the area further, and noticed smoke rising to the sky, which was coloured black, and therefore likely coming from a fire. In that direction, you made your way (thankfully, the grounds there were a bit sterner, and therefore no lake nor creek blocked your way), and soon realized that some man had made himself a bonfire for the night; also the smell of meat being cooked was unmistakable, and finally, between the trees, you spotted the fire, and those around it. They were two men, wearing patched cloaks, with bows set aside nearby, and also a great sack which was filled with fowl; hunters, most likely. They worked the fire and prepared food, and the spot they had found for themselves was very favourable, and free of any water, which indicated that they knew their way around the swamp. In their business, they did not notice your approach.

Or at least so did you think at first; but you noticed that one of the men had turned in your direction, and stared directly you, although probably seeing only a portion of your frame, since you were hidden between some growth. And he seemed to you to grow very pale, and he made a gesture of devotion, as if to ward away evil.

Upon seeing that, you...

[ ] Approached without saying anything.

[ ] Announced yourself.

[ ] Hid yourself and ran away.