Landren the Knight of the Old Path, Captain of the Brigade

Immortal Comments

Role

Chapter 9

Water and darkness everywhere. No air.He can see the surface but is too
weak to reach it. Thrashing and flailing, if he could just get one breath of
air!

As he begins to rouse he feels disoriented by the nightmare and is still
confused about where he is as he groggily comes to and sees a wizened elderly
man, no less diminished by time it seems, with a concerned look on his face
trying to steady him. Awareness and confusion set in at the same moment. He
is tangled in the simple woolen blanket that was on him and his legs are
hanging off the foot of a bed that is far too small for him.

"What is your name, son?", the man asks. He starts to answer and realizes he
doesn't know. How can he not know his own name?

Sensing the problem the man says "It is not unheard of for people who survive
what you did to suffer such. It will come to you in time. I can see that
are a goodly man and a hard worker. A farmer would be my guess from the look
of you."

"What did I survive?" he asks even more confused.

"And by your accent I would guess you hail from south of Seantryn Modan. My
name is Jaragh, this is my orphanage that I run. You are free to stay until
you are on your feet again. Beyond that, we can discuss later.For now,
rest." and having said that, Jaragh stood and left the room.

Role

Chapter 8

Over the next few days that passed, Jaragh visited him often and told him of
how he came to be where he was.The field hands of the olive orchard to the
east witnessed a battle at sea between to rival slaving ships. John, as
Jaragh had taken to calling him had been on the one that was sunk and as far
as they knew, he was the only survivor to wash ashore. Despite the crude
branding on his shoulder that marked him for slavery for the Empire, they
brought him to Jaragh instead hoping he could perhaps see this man back to
health and on his way considering what he had survived they saw no need for
him to have to waste such good fortune on a likely short life of servitude
under the likes of the imperials. He had been unconscious for three days
before he had finally woke.

Jaragh explained that he was likely ambushed while alone working a field or
taking wares to the market, as the slavers like to do. How they competed for
contracts with those such as the Empire for slaves, which they would then go
gather and bring back for their payment. Jaragh offered to help him figure
out who he had been and to help see him back with whatever family he had been
taken from and in the mean time offered him a place to stay at the orphanage.
All that was asked of him was to help out around the place, fixing what
needed fixing and cleaning and helping keep an eye on the children. He
happily agreed and passed his days helping around the orphanage and speaking
with Jaragh. Always in the back of his mind wondering about the life that
had been taken from him.

Role

Chapter 7

Two years passed in that fashion. Jaragh became someone he considered a
close friend and a good man that he admired and looked up to. Often they
would talk while playing chess, a game Jaragh loved and that John had taken
too quite easily, even though he had never actually beaten Jaragh. He
learned much with each game and not just about the strategy of chess. Jaragh
enjoyed discussing with John at length about the state of Thera. One
conversation in particular seemed to stick in John's mind above the others,
regarding the current war between the Light and the Darkness of the lands.
Jaragh had said that the Light was not winning their war. That in fact, the
way they waged it only worsened matters. That time of worsening started long
ago, when the Knights of Thera soiled their own name and caused the disfavor
of Lord Cador to disband them. Honor, he said, was the key. They have the
right idea, this modern Brigade, but they lack the conviction to stand alone,
too often they seem like those they war against. When John stated that a
war, using the chess board and its pieces as example, is made up of many and
fought using the abilities of all its troops to their strengths, Jaragh made
a statement that John found enlightening and the realisation of it set him
back in his chair. He made John think by not simply stating, by letting him
understand his true meaning by asking the question "When we play chess, do I
have fifteen other people with me, each designated a piece to move at their
own will? Or am I one man, every piece, master of all maneuvers? Perhaps
why I consistently win our matches is because I do not see myself as a
general over my side. I *am* my side, and my faith in my own self and my
abilities allows me to move with confidence into every position."

John eventually did wrap his mind around everything that Jaragh had said and
began to better understand this great man more and more as the days passed.
And he did eventually beat Jaragh at chess. The next day, after they had
both completed the tasks and chores they had, Jaragh led him out behind the
playground behind the orphanage while the children were all inside. Jaragh
handed him a wooden sword and said, "You have mastered chess, at least in so
far as I know it. I also feel you have deep understanding of my beliefs and
find a kinship with them. I know you to be a good man, John, and now I will
teach you to defend yourself and those around you. Also, sparring is good
fun."

John found that Jaragh talked as much during their training sessions with the
wooden weapons, if not more, as he did during chess matches. The days passed
and John became quite accomplished with weaponry and combat strategy. He
also came to know and understand the concept of Honor. Jaragh was oft to
quote the tenents of the Knights, or Lord Vynmylak, but he favored Lord
Balgrimnr's teachings of asking another about honor being folly. John came
to understand that Honor was not something one acheived. To truly be an
honorable man, you had to strive for it in every action and thought. You
have to let go of any need of depending on another to act for you, think for
you, stand on your own two feet and let your own conviction in your beliefs
be your strength and faith in yourself be your guide. He also develop

Role

Chapter 6

One day while John was sweeping the main hall of the orphanage, he saw a man
he had never seen before leaving Jaragh's office. Watching him leave, Jaragh
interrupted his idle curiosity by inviting him to put down the broom and join
him in his office.

"John, I have the information that you have been waiting for since you first
arrived here. Your name is Lane Farsten, and..."

That is all the further Jaragh got before it all came rushing back. His life
in Arturi, his simple cottage, working the fields south of the village, and
his wife. His wife of only a week at the time of his abduction. He could
see her face so clearly, and remember her touch, he could even smell her
right here in this little office! And then he fainted.

He woke much as he did that first day, in a panick with Jaragh's hand on his
shoulder steadying him."I must go, right away. Lanna must have been
absolutely terrified these past couple of years while I've idled the days
away, not even remembering her!"

"John...Lane, I need you stay calm. I have news of your wife. This will be
hard for you but I will help you through it." "Is she alright? She must be
alright!" Lane asked and exclaimed with a single breath.

"She is fine, Lane. She mourned you for well over a year. And then..."
Jaragh struggled to continue. "And then she remarried just recently." Panic
flared up in Lane. Then the words began to spill from him. "She must know
I'm alive, I must see her. If she could just see me..." and then he trailed
off as he saw the look in Jaragh's eyes. "What else is there?" With a sigh,
Jaragh finished relaying what he knew, which was that though the young lady
did not know it, the mid-wives were aware that she was in the earliest stages
of pregnancy. She was carrying the child of her new husband.

Lane felt like his chest had caved in. The wind was literally knocked from
him. His mind reeled and a sorrow and pain so deep it felt like it was
coming from his bones stole all of his strength. There he sat in that office
and wept while a torrent of different emotions raged through him. Anger at
himself for not doing more to try and find his wife instead of sitting here,
contempt for her for remarrying, jealousy of her new husband, even
frustration with Jaragh for taking so long to discover all of this, and then
the calmness. The calm came from realising these emotions were natural, but
they were not true or right. He stopped weeping. He stood, steady and sure,
not shaking at all though tears still welled in his eyes. "I thank you for
all you have done Jaragh. You have been more of a friend than I have ever
known and I will cherish my time here with you, but I must return to Arturi.
I do not know what I will do when I arrive, but I must go." After a few
moments of measuring Lane with his eyes, Jaragh nodded his consent. As
Jaragh rummaged in his desk he spoke "You have also been a friend to me,
Lane. You are a good man and I do not fear for you returning to your
village. I know you will want to arrive as swiftly as you can, I will give
you coin for your voyage as I know you would not ask for it on your own. You
are welcome here with me any time."

Role

Chapter 5

When the ship docked in Seantryn Modan, he only paused in the city long
enough to buy a plain woolen traveling cloak with a deep hood. The weather
was beginning to chill so it would not seem odd. Then he set out the south
gate of the city immediately. Arturi not being a large village, it did not
take him long to locate her new home. She was hanging linens in the back
yard of the cottage. She was absolutely every bit as beautiful as he
remembered, and just beginning to show.He had to stop himself more than
once from throwing back his hood and running to her. To pick her up in his
arms. He would have given anything at that moment just to press her against
himself and feel her warmth. Then the reality of the situation would set in,
and there might as well have been another ocean seperating them again. She
had grieved and mourned, and likely still did privately. A man had shown her
love again and given her happiness. That would have to be consolation
enough.He did not realise it at the time, but he was silently crying.As
he turned and left, that last image of her, standing in the morning sun,
hanging linens with a light smile and the glow of a mother-to-be about her,
would be the way he remembered her for the rest of his days.

Role

Chapter 4

Landren spent many years alone.Spending months at a time in the remote
locations of Thera that are over run with darkness. The swamps of Ysigrath,
the orcs near the dwarven encampment, the ruined keep. In all of his travels
he either happened across or tracked down many adventurers from the various
guilds and did battle. As time went on he began to realize that the while he
felt he was walking his path well, he was not enough of a presence to be a
visible example of Honor. So he sought out the most well known soldiers of
the Light in Thera. The Brigade. While his station in their ranks is still
tentative he hopes to make a good impression upon them and perhaps show them
the higher path less traveled while at the same time learning from them and
their various faiths.

A man of faith, he is still a man, and as such cannot help but think about
the life he once had and wonder.

Role

Chapter 3

If the war were over tomorrow, what would he do? He had heard the question
before.It was hard to imagine Landren doing anything besides soldiering for
the cause. No more battles. No more blood. There would however, always be
a need for honorable men and women. If Honor were once again well known and
respected, the strength of the Light, of the people, would be able to crush
any attempts of Evil to take root in this world. There would be his purpose
should the war end. He could not go back to crop work, through this war and
his own more personalized trauma, he had found his passion in life. The
specifics of what he would do are unimportant. He would find someway to
offer whatever abilities he had in service of the Light. Even if he were to
return to the orphanage in Balator to spend his remaining days as a humble
janitor for his dear friend, he would still wield the unbreakable blade.

Role

Chapter 2

So much has happened over these years since he had become a squire under
Captain Kavan.

He dreamt while in the Keep of Barovia of himself with his faith as a sword
whose burden he would relish and never drop and woke to find himself blessed
by the Unbreakable Blade and at the same time a full ranking Maran of the
fortress. Overwhelming to say the least, but also reassuring. He carried on
as he always had, adventuring and fighting his battles attempting to hold
himself an ever rising standard.

The years passed and eventually time took Captain Kavan from them. The
members of the fortress carried on without Captain or Marshall.The day came
when he emerged from Organia to find Lord Aarn standing within the fortress.
They were naming the new Captain and Marshall. As Landren arrived, Chokiare
was declared the Marshall. After some time and a discussion with Lord Aarn
where Landren found himself genuinly respecting the dwarven god and himself
as Captain. Given the opportunity to put himself in the forefront and a
chance to truly lead by example, he was excited, despite the work he saw
ahead of himself.

He could not however have guessed how turbulent his beginning time as Captain
would be, a very possible war with the village and the spire on the horizon
and an elf bard named Meyrshal who was a newly named Maran who at the time
refused to accept responsibility for her actions and consequently found herself
outside of the fortress. The war with the village seemingly averted,
hopefully he could achieve the same with the spire.

Role

Chapter 1

Landren has come to understand another wisdom and truth of the path he walks.
If a man dedicates himself to an ideal wholly, and comes to represent that
ideal to the people and inspires belief, he becomes greater than himself. His
enemies may be able to inflict harm into his physical body, but they will
never be able to touch what he represents so long as he holds true to it.
This realization came when the Honorable Cador marked leader of the Knights,
and his general, Lord Shokai came to him to offer counsel in the matter of
the seemingly impending war with the village. They spoke on the matter for a
short time before the Knight Lord gave Landren the opportunity to ask about
their Lord of the Unbreakable Blade (if a god can still worship another). He
was already blessed once by standing in the Azure fields but then beyond his
wildest imaginings, he was taken to the headquarters of the Knights of old.
As he stood there, he saw hundreds of spirits of the Knights long dead,
gazing at him and welcoming him as a brother within their hall. It moved him
to tears. Perhaps Lord Shokai had the wisdom to know the epiphany he would be
granting Landren through the gift He graced him with.

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