Role

Chapter 7

These are times of heavy storms, waves of hardships that seem to pass over me
more frequently than ever. The winds have been swirling all around as of
late, as if the world was quickening, becoming more difficult to track my
fate with confidence. The Village grows stronger. And yet somehow the mark of
Lord Fjarn carries me forward, as I know in my heart this to be the way. By
the words of Fjarn: it has been foretold.

I meditate often on my destiny, a vision revealed by the winds. There I stand
alone amidst an endless battlefield, littered with carrion as far as I can
see. The corpses utterly surround me, the aftermath of something so immensely
powerful, beyond comprehension. And I am there in the center of it all, a
lone survivor, for reasons I do not yet understand. Did I cause this? Are
these corpses of my enemies? I feel a sense of terror, but there is also
something strangely peaceful about it.

I wonder, are my friends among the dead? I hope this is not true. Yet I fear
that it is.

As these thoughts weighed heavily upon me, a dwarven voice echoed down from the
heavens. Lord Thror speaks of a test, of a gamble I might make with my own
life. He speaks of even greater hardships ahead.

As if I were unaccustomed to hardships! As if I believed in luck! This is my
fate. It has been foretold. I say, Let the storms come, and with them bring
the winds to guide my wings!

As the Village grows strong, they have beaten me down. It seems for now the
winds guide their victories, but I trust that their time will pass. In time,
air and water shape even the greatest mountains simply through perseverance.
We are no doubt in this together, our fates interwoven as part of something
much larger, something spanning great stretches of time. It seems there is
something important that I am moving toward, that much is evident.

I have only recently come to realize what this may mean-- that which would
cause the great violence that has been foretold as my destiny-- and it
troubles me greatly. For now I only speculate, and I shall not write of it nor
speak of it to any mortal ears. In time I will know if I am right and shall
elaborate further.