arif_conversation

Djinn, I must be honest with you. I am here because I am no longer welcome in Fist. The Mouth of Bam[1] labeled me a heretic. I understand if you cast me out now, but if you bear my sacrilege a bit longer you will more of the truth and can cast me out then, heh.

Good. You have heard about the Crusade? That Fists’[2] the “spear” strategy[3] has failed? The “shaft” has been broken and in fact the “head” is trapped? Perhaps you don’t know about the huge effort being planed for the next couple months to push through and rescue the encirlced. I’ve seen the orders, many will die but fewer than if we abandoned the “head” to the Kjore. What is known only to a few is that after that operation is complete the Mouth of Hlark will announce this failure is proof he was mistaken in naming Kjore as The Enemy. But he wasn’t wrong, not exactly. The “spear” strategy was the failure. A failure before the first footsoldier was called to duty. There is no head, no central leadership to destroy, at least not on Dirt. I argued this and refused to accept the Mouth’s renouncement. Those are the basis of my heresy.

Oh, it’s horrible Djinn. The Mouth will make his announcement and resign. His replacement will curl Fist up on itself. While Kjore rampages, defeating the other nations piecemeal. In the end comming for Fist. We won’t survive it’s onslaught alone, none of us can. It is doubtfull we can even standing together. But it will slow the comming of the end and that is all that is needed.

Vervigis, I shudder to recall my time with that thing. But Hlark hasn’t complained so it must be ok, eh? I knew I was right and would fail my duty to Hlark submitted myself to trial and imprisonment. I needed to get away, far and fast. Vervigis was in Bam on some sort of diplomatic mission which he luckly abhored. His aide was easy to enlist once he understood it would aggrivate the High Clergy. He’s familiar with this area, something about experiements in his youth. I begged him to explain no furthor. Well the short of it, quicker than a camel can spit in your eye he teleported us to these badlands. I bid him thanks, farewell, and wishes we’d never meet again.

Well, soon after I got myself into that trap. Not having a whole lot to do other than look like a fool mid leap. I prayed to Hlark and thought, and prayed. Every concisous moment for days I prayed. And Djinn, he answered. Oh! It was glorious. Words fail to describe it. Hlark spoke to me. No I wasn’t halucinating, his every word is seared into my memory. One day I will add to the Words of Hlark but for now it is enough to know it’s the truth. He confirmed what I had suspected and explained about The Enemy. Our enemy is the Kjore, the demons themselves. The cults, priestestess and the other obminations are tools. Horrid tools we must battle again and agian. But nothing more than warmups to the Final Battle against the demons.

The Mouth’s divinations were accurate. The spear strategy is sound, as it must be, having been taught to us by Hlark. It was the Fists intepretation of how to apply it to Kjore that was wrong. The head, the demons, are not in Kjore, they are elsewhere, out of reach. Hlark could not explain where, he did say the answer will be found by those not of Fist. That the nations would rally behind a small group of unlikey composition. That this band of heros would be the forefront of the Final Battle. Djinn, he said I would know this group as they would be the ones to free me.

[1] Bam is one of the tightly connected city states that comprise the nation of Fist. Mouth of Foo is the highest cleric of Foo, where Foo can be a city, town, hospital, army, etc.

[2] Fists here refers to the Fist of Hlark and his top planners, the military leaders of Fist(the nation)

[3] Spear, drive a column straight into the center of Kjore lands. Find the leadership (that the top-down thinking Fist knew had to exist) and obliterate it.