The Trinity in Rathgar

[Iituem]

This RP thread is dedicated to the activities of the Church of Trinity in Rathgar, and the responses of others to their actions.
(OOC Comments are fine, though.)

Reconsecration

The Sixth Day of the Thirteenth Week of the First Year of the Current Age
The Village of Ritrofassa

"How dare you affront the gods in this manner!"


The old man shook his fist at the lanky red-head in the dust-stained armour.  The youth and five axemen of the Stoned Lands had marched into the village, overpowered the village's strongest men and declared themselves in the name of Lord Stonedman and something called "Trinity".  A smattering of resistance had been put up, but the truth was clear enough; the youth was one of the First Men, and Common Men could never truly stand against them.


"We do not affront them, we honour them," said the youth, whose name was Garrick of Gladwin.  The cast of his features was distinct from those of the common northmen villagers, or of the Rathgari axemen at his heel.  Had he known of lands more than three days' travel from his village, the old man might have recognised Garrick as being akin to those men of the Imperium in the far south.


"You would set down Bear, lessen Him!" said the old man.  "It was he who led our ancestors here, who forged the realm of Rathgar!  You would dare dishonour him?"


"I told you once, old man, I do not dishonour the gods.  Rather I would honour them all, and Bear must be honoured amongst them rather than above.  Are you the priest of this village?"


"I tend to the shrine."


"You are its groundskeeper, then, and a poor one at that.  But dear not, you shall still earn your crust.  I claim this shrine, and this town, in the name of Trinity.  Tell me, when was the last time you saw magic, old man?"


"Not for many years, but a fraud such as yourself cannot charm us with hollow words and gestures.  This altar is sacred to the gods!"


The old man gestured to the village's shrine, a simple stone altar (little more than a squared block) on a raised earthen bier.  Dried flowers and empty clay offering plates lay forgotten by its side, and the grass of the bier was overgrown and weed-filled.  Scratched onto the surface of the altar in ochre and charcoal by some long forgotten shepherd was a votive image of a bear.


"Now it will be even more so," said Garrick, gesturing to one of his men.  "Bring the crucible."


The village lacked any sort of forge, so a fire had been set up and a crucible hammered from an old iron pot.  What few gold trinkets the villagers possessed had been melted down over the last four hours into a sliver of molten gold within the crucible.  One of the Rathgari axemen brought the crucible forth and Garrick drew from his belt a silvered phial stamped with the mark of a six-pointed star, a crown at its centre.


"I dedicate this shrine in the name of Trinity," Garrick intoned.  He uncorked the phial and began drawing a six-sided star on the surface of the altar, over the scratchings that represented Bear.  As he did so, metal powder made a trail in its path.  "Let all the gods look upon us, and know that we honour their ways."  Garrick took a lit torch from one of his followers.


Garrick swept the torch across the silvery star on the altar.  Instantly the metal powder burst into a blaze of white-orange light, sparks flying freely from the inferno.  The old man watched in horror as Bear was consumed by fire.



"Although the trappings of the past may be Destroyed..."


After a few moments the fire died down and it became apparent that the image of the star had actually burnt itself into the altar stone, creating a star-shaped hollow in the rock.


"...Destruction's teachings give us the Courage to press on.  Although, by the pouring of this libation, our traditions are Preserved..."


Garrick took the crucible and turned it over the altar, pouring liquid gold into the hollow created by the star.


"...Preservation's teachings help us see the Truth that our faith lies in our hearts, not our words or actions.  Although the world may Change..."


The old man stared in mixed wonder and horror as the molten gold began to cool in the hollow, forming a golden star.  Garrick handed the crucible back to one of his men.


"...Change's teachings help us to Love that which is different, not to fear it.  By the gods, by the virtues, by the teachings of the Golden King, may each guide us through Trinity to salvation.  Amen."


The axemen echoed their 'Amens', followed by a scattering of the gathered villages.  The call was picked up, and eventually even the weeping old man echoed their call.  The Trinity had come to Rathgar, and it had come to stay.

[Iituem]

Retribution
The Third Day of the Twenty-Third Week of the First Year of the Current Age
The Town of Ealdraed's Stone

Garrick crumpled up the Lendan note in his hand and stared at the fire in his hut.  The old man had not stayed silent, he had journeyed all the way to Kaupang to lay his complaint before the Thing.  Garrick couldn't help but smirk; the old man had finally travelled more than three days from home.  In his other hand, he thumbed the simple silver six-pointed star symbol of his faith.  Three tenets, six virtues, and the seventh, Humility, at its heart.  There he had failed.


Reconsecrating the shrine had been a step too far.  Too prideful, too early, and sending the wrong messages.  He had hoped to shock the locals through magic into widening their horizons, but the ways of the North were different from the Old Empire in many ways.


Now a living god, if it be believed, came to war upon him.  Well, Valour was a virtue too and even if he was outclassed the priest knew that he must stand and fight.  Would it make a difference?  Would they care if he showed courage in the face of their ways?  Probably not, probably the clans would simply invade and butcher him in the thousands rather than offering him an honourable duel.  But Hope sprang eternal, even though that wasn't a virtue.


Garrick called in his steward.  "Malcolm, send those troops south regardless.  We might as well honour our obligations to Lord Stonedman, as best we can.  I'll keep my personal guard with me, just the five of them.  We have a bear to fight.


"Whatever happens, though, do this for me.  Build a new shrine to Bear.  If they fight for their god, he must be worth fighting for.  Whether or not our mission fails, that must be respected."

[Iituem]

Revelation
The Sixth Day of the Twenty-Third Week of the First Year of the Current Age

Dawn drew on the sixth day of the twenty-third week of the first year of the current age. At the edge of a settlement where a crime had been committed, a living god approached with one other. The militia came forth, armed and ready to defend themselves, but a slender figure bade them draw back; the priest Garrick of Gladwin.  A young acolyte, Fordir Four-Fingers, and Lord Stonedman, the priest's liege, had gathered to witness the duel.

The youth, red-headed and garbed in simple studded leathers, wearing a belt buckle bearing the mark of a golden six-pointed star, approached the living god. As with the god, only a second followed him, a Common Man - armourless and with only an axe, but scarred from many battles. The youth also held only an axe in his hand. He called out to the god.

"Bear, I have wronged you and besmirched your name. I have sullied your altar and disgraced my honour. I fight to reclaim it, and prove worth of Rathgar."

The youth held out the axe.

"My liege, Lord Stonedman, gave me this axe when I swore to him. I have carried it many weeks, and it is the symbol of my oath to him. It is a weapon of Rathgar, and I fight by Rathgar's laws.

"Whatever else may come, this I swear. Your altar will be restored, and I or those who survive me will never again permit them to be desecrated. I have seen a god, and that is proof enough."

The youth readied the axe, awaiting the god's terrible assault.

A huge man entered the spot chosen for the duel, big and muscular, with long hair and a thick beard, and from what one could spot at the arms, body hair quite resembling his namesake. If there was a man in Rathgar who was a manifestation of the Bear spirit, it was certainly this one, the founder of the realm.  He had a massive two-headed axe in one hand, and his second next to him was equally equipped, though much lighter.

"I'll take your blood and write the apology you owe the spirits unto the ground with it.", he growled as he prepared to attack.


With a furious roar, the Bear and his second charged. Garrick's second, Colette, broke off from the priest to strike the Bear's second from the side. The mobility afforded her by her lack of armour allowed her to get within the second's reach and drive her axe-head through his throat, but did nothing against the massive battleaxe blade that crushed her ribs. Both Common Ones crumpled to the ground as the First One and the God fought on.

The Bear charged and struck with the might of twenty men, but again the simple handaxe and smaller size gave Garrick the mobility advantage. He threw himself to one side and rolled back to his feet, the Bear's mighty axe shattering the stone paving of the road. Garrick seized the advantage and tried to hurl his axe at the Bear, but the god simply batted it aside with lightning reflexes.

Unarmed against a raging deity, Garrick found himself dodging and ducking like a madman as the Bear brought his fury down against the priest. After a dozen seconds of frantic dashing Garrick retrieved the handaxe and spun around, bringing it up against the Bear's throat - to find that the Bear had done the same with his battleaxe.


Both God and First One stood in silence, axes at each other's throat; effectively, each had taken the other prisoner. Garrick spoke slowly, and with care.

"You are a God. These lands are yours. You wish to preserve them, and their old ways. I seek to honour those ways.

"Accept me as a son of Rathgar, and I will spill my own blood to restore your shrine. We both leave, honour intact, or we both die."

The Bear spoke.

"You have proven yourself a man of honour and strength. Nothing more can be asked from a man of the north. And yet you have gone a step further, and you have seen the errors in your ways.

"I and I alone shall restore this shrine with my blood. You and you alone shall witness this miracle, and tell the world about it."

And with those words, Bear withdrew his axe, leaving himself vulnerable to Garrick for but a second, before falling upon his own blade.  Garrick backpedalled away from Bear as the huge man fell upon his axe. He held his own virgin blade in hand as the Bear's blood spurted and spilled, flowing across the ground until the edge of the pool touched the simple stone slab that was the shrine's altar.


Lord Stonedman stepped forth and spoke to the priest and the gathered crowd.

"This has been done with Honour, thus this is done. Learn the lessons of this Garrick and go onto serve Rathgar, and all of the gods who inhabit these lands, well. Honour and defend this shrine that it may be a reminder for all who come what it means to be a god in the north."


As the figures stared at the hulk of the man lying on the ground, a great crack broke through the air, like a clap of thunder, and the air blazed. Eyes turned to the altar, where the golden sigil atop the stone lay in a molten mass.

The shape of the gold, as it bubbled and cooled, was unmistakeable - a Bear.