ONE SHOT: Eralion's Keep (Ken DM)

"Follow me, Brannor." She commanded.
Her eyes burned with radiant light. Her long golden hair flowed like rivers from beneath her golden helm. She wore white robes and sandals but golden bracers and pauldrons adorned her fore arms and shoulders. She wielded a long spear and golden shield. A celestial falcon rested on her shoulder. "Find Corian." She said.
 
I had been sweeping up the stables at the end of the day like I had every day for the last three years as a squire at the monastery for the Holy Knights of Mitra. All the knights were at dinner in the feast hall when suddenly a violent wind swept through the open breezeway of the stables where I was standing. I turned to see a brilliant white light appear and grow larger as the world around me seemed to fall away. The goddess appeared as she walked through the portal. I dropped my broom as my jaw went slack at the sight of the glowing goddess.
 
The falcon swooped down and landed on my shoulder. Suddenly I was able to speak and understand celestial, the language of the gods themselves.
"This is Muir, Goddess of Virtue & Truth." The falcon said. "Kneel before her and swear your service to her cause."
I dropped to my knees.
"Muir represents the martial valor necessary to make peace a reality. As such, she is the goddess of paladins." The falcon explained. She is noble and single-minded of purpose. To serve Muir, you must follow the tenets of her worship which include honor, truth, and courage. A great order of paladins known as the Justicars are sworn to her service. Muir expects self-sacrifice, humility, and charity as well as unswerving loyalty. Her standards are extreme. She quickly turns her back on any who fail to live up to them."
 
"Wilst thou follow me Brannor?" Muir asked.
 
"I swear I will follow you." I bowed my head.
 
"Rise then Brannor," The falcon commanded, "as a paladin of Muir." He flew back to Muir's shoulder and she began to fade from view.
"Find Corian." She whispered and then disappeared.
 
The world around me slowly returned and I rushed across the manicured courtyard to the feast hall. I stopped when I saw the blind monk, Simone sitting on a bench under a cherry blossom tree. "Simone!" I said, grabbing his shoulders. "Did you see....uh I mean did you hear her? Did you hear the goddess Muir in the stables?"
"What?" He replied, straining to hear me.
"Deaf as well. Never mind!" I continued to the double doors of the hall swinging them violently open. All twelve knights froze and the hall fell silent as the y slowly turned their heads to see what the commotion was.
 
"Brother knights" I shouted. "A most wonderous event has transpired on our very holy grounds!"
They looked at each other puzzled. At the far end of the table, Raphael, the alpha among them regained his composure first. "Do tell....squire." he said with a sly smile, nearly spitting the word squire.
 
"I was visited by the goddess Muir! The goddess of Virtue....and Paladins....and Truth! She ordained me as a paladin!"
 
There was a painfully pregnant pause as the knights of Mitra smirked, rolled their eyes and shook their heads and then all began to belly laugh.
 
I folded my arms dismayed at their disbelief. "You idiot." One of the closer knights said. "Worship of Muir has died out for decades now. Her shrines and temple are nothing but over grown ruins across the lands. Her last surviving church in the realm is in the old temple district of Bard's Gate."
Raphael spoke loudly to the knights on either side of him. "Well the squires these days are really becoming inventive on how they might hasten their ascent to knighthood!" The others laughed in agreement.
 
I looked over at the next table to see if there was any support from the priests of Mitra. They all looked away and returned to their meals. Even the head priest, Father Evancian never even glanced my way. He continued his meal the whole time.
 
I didn't bother eating myself. I returned to my room to lay on my bed trying to discern if what I experienced was real or some kind of dream. As night fell, storm clouds rolled in and thunder rumbled in the distance. A hard rain fell and I eventually drifted off to sleep. Lightning flashed as I dreamt of a screeching falcon fighting a crow.
 
A awoke the next morning with a start. Grey light filtered in through my window. It was still raining outside. I rolled over and gasped. Father Evancian was standing over me.
"Get up boy." He said.
I sat up and noticed he had sat a tray of fruit, bread, and grapes next to my bed.
"Eat." he said.
I assumed I was in trouble for my outburst at dinner last night and the fact that I skipped the evening prayer to Mitra. I had felt justified still believing I was now a paladin of Muir.
But with the head priest standing there gazing out my window, I felt much less confident.
"Father, I am sorry about last night. I was just. Nothing like that has ever happened to me before."
He said nothing. I washed the breakfast down with a cup of water and he strode to door holding it open for me. Ready to lead me to whatever punishment awaited. I sighed and followed.
 
We walked down the hall of the barracks. All the other knights and acolytes were likely still at breakfast. We stepped out into the morning drizzle and headed for the kitchen. But not through the
dinning hall like we normally would but he led me round back. I was mentally checking off chores I was likely to be assigned. Chopping wood for the the cooks was seemingly at the top of the list.
But we continued past the woods piles and into the kitchen through the servant's entrance. Now I was becoming intrigued.
 
Servants carting trays of food out to the hungry knights darted out of the priest's way as we passed through the kitchen and into the larder. There were spiral stone stairs leading down beneath the hall
and the church itself. We came to a heavy locked portcullis. Father Evancian pulled a ring of iron keys out from beneath his robes and inserted one into the lock.
 
The internal bolt clicked open with a loud snap of steel. I had only been down here one other time. To the right was the wine cellar. All the wines the monks produced were stored here until needed for special meals or to be sold at market. To the left were the catacombs where dead knight's and former priests were buried. Father Evancian would one day make a final trip to his own resting place.
 
I had never been to the catacombs. He turned an lit a torch on the wall sconce and locked the gate behind us. He picked up the torch and we travelled down another set of stone stairs. Water seeped through the walls of a long corridor which led to a larger chamber. The air was still and thick as we silently passed through the chamber. I could see smaller side passages and niches carved our of the rock were bones were piled. Some were wrapped in rags, others in wooden boxes.
 
I dared not speak and we passed the long forgotten priests and knights of he order. I imaged them suddenly springing to life, crawling from their crypts to attack us for daring to disturb their slumber.
 
We as last came to the the end of the chamber and the priest stopped. We stood before a solid stone wall. He seemed to be studying it. Moving the torch light slowly over it. "Ah there." he whispered.
He wriggled a finger into a crack in the wall and pulled down a thin metal rod with a ring welded to the end. "Pull that." he ordered.
 
I put my finger in the ring and pulled on the bar. Suddenly dust expelled along the crack and the edge of a door appeared in the stone work.
"Whoa..." I gasped. I heaved on the door feeling a breeze of stale air enter the chamber. The torch light flicked as the Father pushed past me and entered the chamber beyond. His light revealed racks of old weapons
and pieces of armor and helmets.
 
Again we walked to the end of this chamber and into a small niche of a room. On the floor was an old metal chest covered in dust.
"Hold the torch." He said thrusting it at me. I took it and held it aloft as he bent over and lifted the iron lid.
It clanged with a resounding bang against the back wall. I winched as the noise echoed through the chamber.
 
He hefted several pieces of scale mail out of the chest. The leather straps were stiff and a little cracked but held. He took the torch from me and set it into a sconce on the wall.
"Put that on." He said nodding at the armor.
Being a squire, I knew how to don all types of armor and had even tried on a few suits myself. He helped me set each piece in place. "Some oil on these straps will bring them back to life." He muttered.
"Father, I am a bit confused." I stammered as I tightened the final piece. "What is all this about?"
 
He sighed. "Those young fools upstairs don't even know that this temple of Mitra was once a holy place dedicated to Muir herself decades ago."
He leaned over the chest again and lifted up a blood red cloak. It was wrapped around a shield. He moved the cloth to the side revealing a white field with a blood red sword on it.
"The symbol of Muir." He explained.
 
The shield looked brand new. He handed it to me and draped the cloak over my shoulders.
"In fact," he continued. "The very stables you were cleaning was where the last shrine to Muir stood here on the outskirts of Reme. Over the years the politics of the land began to shift from virtue and truth to law and justice. This in turn
led to more worship of Mitra and less of Muir. Holy Wars with the more lawless races and neighboring countries became more...justified."
 
I nodded having learned about many of the more recent conflicts.
 
"Well Bannor, orphan child left on our doorstep twenty years ago, I release you of your duties as a squire of Mitra. You are free to follow your own path now or that of Muir." He said with a rare smile.
 
"My thanks, Father Evancian." I replied with a slight bow. I turned to head to the exit of the secret armory.
 
"Oh wait." the priest stopped me. "You can't be much of a paladin without a sword." He again reached to the bottom of the chest and brought up an old leather scabbard with gold filigree.
 
"Thank you. Do you know who these items once belonged to? A Paladin of Muir perhaps?"
 
The priest shrugged. "Who knows. Probably some knight that died of the plague."
I shuddered.
 
As we walked out, he lifted a mace off one of the racks. "Take this as well. They come in handy for smashing things. Trust me I know." he affirmed speaking from experience.
After passing through the portcullis, he stepped into the wine cellar and returned with a pack and bed roll.
 
"Here you go. I prepared an uh...adventurer's pack for you. Just some basics for life on the road. I also lifted a few coins from the collection boxes. They are in a pouch in the pack."
 
I suspected the pack had once belonged to him. "I can not thank you enough for everything." I said.
He waved his hand. "Just bring a little more truth and virtue into the world. Where will you head?"
 
I thought a moment. "I eventually want to make my way to Bard's Gate. The temple of Muir has an order of Justicars I hope to join. But first I must find someone named Corian. Do you know of him?"
 
He thought for a moment. "I know that name. I think he's a waif that lives with his uncle, a wizard in the town of Reme proper. His uncle would come to market to buy our wine and he introduced me to his nephew
once. Corian was the name."
 
I shrugged. Well I will start in Reme then. Muir said I should seek him out.
 
I left the gates of the monastery behind as the rain continued to fall. I pulled the hood of the red cloak over my head as I trudged down the hill toward the town of Reme.
 
That afternoon I arrived at the town square, where venders were closing up their stalls early for the day due to all the rainfall.
 
I looked around at the merchants busily loading their unsold wares on wagons ready for the trip back home. "Excuse me, Do you know where a lad named Corian lives?"
After three shrugs and a blank stare, I was about to give up.
 
"I know where he is." A voice behind me says. I turn expecting to see a merchant, but to my surprise a thin rain soaked elf is standing before me.
He has dirty blonde unkempt hair, ruddy tanned skin with green eyes and is wearing muddy traveling clothes.
 
Growing up in the monastery, I had never met an elf. I had only see one once. A regal looking ranger that had come to lead some of the knights on a scouting expedition.
 
"You know where Corian lives?" I asked.
 
"No." he replied. "I know where he is."
 
After not offering anymore details I asked. "Where is he?"
 
Rather than reply he handed me a piece of parchment. "I pulled this off the message board over there." he said indicating a plain wooden stand with a small overhang.
 
I looked at the note:
 
Seeking adventurers for a quest! Great treasures await you!
Inquire at the Starving Stirge. Ask for CORIAN.
 
I looked at the elf who said, "Shall we?"
"You know the way?"
"Indeed, my well armored friend." He smiled.
"Are you a ranger?"
"While I have traveled around a bit," he replied, "I mostly stick to the towns. I play music for coin. Once the town has heard my songs 3 or 4 times. I move on to the next town. I planned to play at the Stirge tonight and that's
when I saw this notice. Probably just someone who has lost their pet cat. But if they pay coin, I will be happy to search for it."
 
"I doubt we are seeking a cat..." I replied as I followed him to the tavern.
 
END