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Post by Father Arzen on Jan 20, 2011 14:42:08 GMT -5
1. Open to anyone who would fit in.
2. The usual.
3. OMNOMNOM
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There had been much need of him since news of the impending vampire invasion spread. It seemed that suddenly everyone had need of a priest now, suddenly wanting God on their side when they were so uncaring before.
Like now for instance. Father Arzen peered from one end of the moat down to the other, seemingly deep in thought. There were a couple of guards clamoring behind him, watching him eagerly, as if some great show was going on.
"Do you suppose he'll have to bless it in multiple places, or can he get it all in one go?" One asked.
His lips twitched in amusement before he turned back to the matter at hand. He was not really thinking about how best to bless the moat- after all, blessing water was no true problem for him. Rather, he was wondering if he should really be doing it. Should he be aiding in a war effort? Even if the effort was against unholy creatures? That was something he needed to think about.
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Post by Markus Selder on Jan 20, 2011 20:03:32 GMT -5
((Gonna steal the guards for a couple lines, hope that's all right...))
Markus knew for a fact that he didn’t like Cados. Since childhood, his parents had always warned him that the biggest city with the richest royalty would always have the worst thieves. Thankfully, he’d been able to avoid the city most of the time, but this trip hadn’t been so lucky. The only other traveler who’d allowed him to accompany his travels had insisted on making an afternoon stop in Cados, which left Mark at the front gates, torn between obeying his parents’ memory and satisfying the demon of curiosity. (Thankfully, he had a few encounters with slightly-strange vampires to quell the latter.)
However, the price of stilling his mother and father’s souls was that he was stuck outside the city gates which, oddly enough, seemed a little short on guards. The deficiency was easily explained by the duo of soldiers by the moat, squirming and watching something...
Markus, with nothing better to do until his ‘chaperone’ returned from his errand, shuffled forward to stand a few feet from the guards’ side. They seemed to be watching someone by the moat, a priest if the robe was any indication. “What is he doing?” he asked, glancing sideways at the guards, then back to the man by the moat. The priest was staring fairly intently...”He’s not going to jump, is he?” Mark gasped.
“No,” one of the guards replied absently, still watching. “He’s going to bless the moat.”
“Try to bless the moat,” the other corrected.
“Bless the moat?” Mark echoed, entranced. Partly to himself and partly to the priest, he asked, “You can do that?”
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Post by Father Arzen on Jan 20, 2011 20:15:29 GMT -5
Father Arzen straightened as he heard the disbelief behind him. "I don't see why not," he remarked simply. "God has given us the gift of water. He can bless it whether it be in a bowl in the church, or right here in this moat." Well, it made sense, right? Well, he might as well do it. It wasn't as if God would smite him for trying if He did not want the moat blessed; He was quite forgiving after all. He crossed himself before he closed his eyes, whispering a prayer to himself before he went forward, walking on the water to stand in the center of the moat- this of course wasn't any work of God- he was a water mage. He made the sign of the cross over the water. There wasn't going to be anything flashy of course- that's not how blessing water worked. "Father, I call upon you to cast thy blessing over this water. May it guard the city from harm and protect your children." Speaking of which... He looked over to Markus. "I have not seen you attending mass... Are you from around here?"
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Post by Markus Selder on Jan 20, 2011 20:32:50 GMT -5
Markus shrugged. Reasonable enough, but a moat had an awful lot of water to be blessed...Would they need more than one priest for a job so big?
His doubts immediately dissipated at the priest’s first step onto the moat; not into, onto. Mark stared, amazed. Was that some sort of work of God? It was incredible, he walked on water like magic–
Oh, right. That might explain it.
Mark locked eyes with the priest for a moment, then shook his head. “No, I’m traveling,” he answered. “...Why would you bless the entire moat?”
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Post by Fabala Moonlance on Jan 20, 2011 21:37:02 GMT -5
"Courage is when you're afraid,
But you keep on moving anyway...
Courage is when you're in pain,
But you keep on living anyway!"
Fabala, now back in her regular attire, was quietly singing as she walked down the road towards the city gates. Her fingers glided along the strings of her mandolin, playing a simple melody to match with the lyrics.
"We all have excuses why...
Living in fear something in us dies...
Like a bird with broken wings,
It's not how high he flies,
But the song he sings..."
She smiled softly and opened her mouth to continue when she saw two figures up ahead, by the moat. Her brow furrowed as she let her mandolin fall, gripping it by the neck with her left hand. She was fairly certain she recognized the taller one...but the smaller one was unknown to her.
She closed the distance between them in a few moments' time. "What are we doing here?" She asked, studying both of their faces. "Wait...Father Arzen? What are you doing out here?"
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Post by Father Arzen on Jan 20, 2011 21:43:26 GMT -5
"Why?" Arzen stared at him a few moments, wondering if he knew what was going on. "The vampires are marching on Cados. I must do everything I can to help. Although I'm sure God will protect us," he was quick to add.
He heard a song in the distance and he looked over to see Fabala. He smiled at her gently. "You have a lovely voice, you know." He quickly went on to answer her question as he walked a little ways to a different part of the moat, bobbing slightly on top of the water as he made the sign of the cross over it. "I'm blessing the moat."
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Post by Markus Selder on Jan 20, 2011 22:02:48 GMT -5
Vampires? Mark was surprised, but not overly so. It would explain the sudden increase of his own vampire sightings. (He couldn’t really picture Ashemir in an army, however. Draven and Vicktor, sure, but Ashemir didn’t look the part.) Just another reason to be on his way as soon as he could.
From the trail came another voice, a more cheery, singing voice. He turned back down the trail, watching the woman approach. Probably a bard, and it seemed she had already met the priest, Father Arzen. “Uhm, so, you two have met?” Markus asked, temporarily setting aside the vampire issue and putting a smile on his face.
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Post by Fabala Moonlance on Jan 20, 2011 22:05:39 GMT -5
Fabala shook her head. "It's really nothing special, but thank you, Father." She answered, smiling softly. At his response to her question, though, she looked rather confused. "Blessing the moat? Why do such a thing?"
She then turned to Markus. "Yes, we met in the Cathedral a few days ago." She offered her free hand. "I'm Fabala. Yourself?"
( fff. *writer's block* )
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Post by Father Arzen on Jan 20, 2011 22:29:28 GMT -5
"I'm blessing the moat to help protect the city from the vampires," Arzen explained calmly. "And what brings you here?" He had to raised his voice to carry as he moved to yet another part of the moat, blessing that as well.
His eyes traveled to Markus. "Oh, and allow me to introduce myself. I am Father Arzen."
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Post by Markus Selder on Jan 20, 2011 22:50:16 GMT -5
Markus glanced between the priest and the bard, then politely shook Fabala’s hand. “I’m Markus.” Ha paused, then added, “Markus Hunter.” Now was as good a time as any to start borrowing Draven’s last name; from now on, he assured himself, he was Markus Hunter, and he was most definitely an only child with absolutely no relation to any fellow named Malcolm.
Repeating his little mantra (and assuring himself that he was lying for a good cause, and that he had Draven’s permission to use the name, so there was nothing to be guilty about), Markus watched Father Arzen continue along the moat, nonchalant as one could be. Markus, still pretty impressed, followed along, strolling down the short alongside the water-walking priest and watching the moat-blessing. “I-is it working?” he asked nervously.
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Post by Fabala Moonlance on Jan 25, 2011 22:23:02 GMT -5
Fabala's eyes widened severely. "...Vampires? What's happening that involves vampires? I mean, sure, it's nice to have up defenses and stuff, but...what's made you want to bless the moat now, specifically?"
Turning back to Markus, Fabala smiled and let her hand fall back to her side. "Nice to meet you, Markus." Hunter...hadn't she heard that surname before? She felt like she should know it, but couldn't remember where or when she had heard someone say it...
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Post by Father Arzen on Jan 29, 2011 19:02:31 GMT -5
Arzen sighed slightly at Fabala, not because he was annoyed by her, but because he didn't really want to tell her. "I'm not sure if this is common public knowledge, but... The vampires are marching on Cados- or so I was told. That's why they asked me to bless the moat." He gave a small nod.
"And it is indeed a pleasure, Markus. I only wish that you could have come to Cados on a more happy occasion. Perhaps it would be best if... You both left, before it's too late."
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Post by Markus Selder on Jan 29, 2011 20:25:19 GMT -5
So the vampires were planning to attack, whether the citizens knew of it or not. Markus shivered. Lucky he didn’t plan to stay. Abandoning the city was a bit rude, but it was a much better option than sticking around and adding himself to the death toll. Hopefully the moat would help...
“Leaving would probably be the safest option,” Markus agreed, concern painted across his face. He could only hope the priest and the city would fare well. He glanced towards Cados itself, hoping to see his fellow traveler return soon. “I have to wait for my companion, however.” He glanced between his two new acquaintances. “I assume Father Arzen is staying, but what about you, Miss Fabala?
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