Journal of Kallun Willendon

[jmecha]

** He tore out the fist full of notes and journal entries that took up the first few pages of his leather bound journal and then began to write**


A NEW LOOK AT THE OLD ORDERS
by Kallun Willendon

Dozens of different monastic orders and traditions stretch across Fearun and it’s history. Some are small circles of no more then a dozen or so members living in isolated monasteries in the wilderness, whilst others include membership within the hundreds and influence events across entire nations. It has become my belief that dedication to becoming more then one is, regardless of inspiration, ideals, or anything else; is what has allowed various different orders and traditions to take steps towards similar goal despite what appears to be a variety of different paths orientated in a myriad number of different directions. Despite numerous difference between all of the various monastic traditions and orders, despite religious and philosophical difference, despite difference in diet, exercise, moral and amoral practices, what remains constant is any and all men and women of said traditions who in earnest strive to become more then they are, in time and through dedication become more then they once were.....

**As the days passed he continued to empty ink wells and go through quills one after another until he had put to paper all he knew about several different monastic traditions, their practices, vows, and philosophy.**

[jmecha]

**His fingers ink stained and his hand cramped from writing, Kallun closed the leather bound tome and leaned back in his chair slowly making and unmaking a fist several times.**


There it was before him, put to page the sum of what lore he held in his head about a variety of different monastic traditions, philosophies, and religions; and none of it mattered. The dietary requirements did not matter; it does not matter if Kossuth flame licks food or water for purity before consumption, it does not matter if you eat meat, or only fruits and vegetables. It does not matter if you pledge yourself in service to Ilimater to serve as one of his martyrs, one of his defenders of the weak and meek; or if you serve as fire incarnate raging across the realms in the name of Kossuth and bringing purity through violence. It did not matter if you studied and trained to develop Grumbar’s mind and body of a mountain, or strived to develop Akadi’s untouchable soul. So many of the trappings of so many of the different monastic traditions and orders including his own were just that, trappings.

**The realization made him feel the fool, and laugh out loud**

[jmecha]

**He looked down at the thick and heavy robes he had worn for so long that they were now held together more by his shoddy stitch work, patches, and trail dust; then what remained of the original fabric**

He thought of the look of disgust Umpurri more then once cast upon him as he refused a share of the spoils, he thought of his request to Mistress Pathra to refrain from having courtly attire tailored for him because his vows forbid such finery and vanity. He thought of how much he had needlessly given up in his lifetime, he thought of how much his belief in false trappings and denied him in his years. Twenty-Five summers without ever having shared a bed with a woman, Twenty-Five summers without owning one fine set of cloths, Twenty-Five summers without having enjoyed such things as wine and spirits, Twenty-Five Summers….most of which with his head securely lodged within his own bottom forge.

**he donned his heavy patch work robes while shaking his head with a grin and promising himself to make use of a tailor next he was in Alaron**

[NESchampion]

((Hitting his rebellious teens? I love it, keep it up.))

[jmecha]

Queen Kendrick spoke of how the wizard Flamstad stole and scattered across the islands her daughter’s play things to prove to the Queen that heroes still roamed her lands, Kallun on a knee before her seethed with rage. Her words were a distant and muted thing as he thought of the fallen Cleric of the Foehammer Ramunas and the slain warrior sworn to the Lady of the Lanceboard Hrut Red Tiger. Only occasionally were his racing thoughts about the fallen interrupted by the voice of Princess Ainea, who’s words brought brief and fleeting mirth to his troubled mind. In time though the Queen addressed Kallun and asked what reward he would wish for his trivial acts of heroics in gathering her daughter’s misplaced toys.

His mind raced with images of the fallen and this Flamstad smugly pleased that he had taught the Queen a valuable lesson in the reality of heroes, and the one thing he wished to request from her was the opportunity to put his hands around this wizard’s throat. What madness was in these people to make it known the Crown of the Realm was in need, when it was not? What insult was it to the dead that they died such meaningless deaths over baubles that belonged to a child and were scattered for no reason other then for others to risk their lives to gather them? What did he want for his trivial heroics? What did he wish to ask the crown in return for his valiant and meaningless efforts?

**With a frown creasing the lines of his taut face he looked hard at the gems on the table and then to the Princess and then eventually the Queen, before voicing as politely as he could his desire for more time to decide the matter.**

[jmecha]

Musicians made music and dancers danced, and Kallun sat at the bar with scowl aimed at the glass of whiskey on the bar before him. The entire affair was disappointment from the gate guards angling for gold to the Queen’s truth of what had lead up to the moment, and when Kallun left the Caer he left looking for strong drink and a soft women. It was a short walk from the Caer to Mistress Pathra’s Dance Hall where Kallun decided he would distract himself with drink and dancers, but instead found himself stern faced and thinking over the events that had lead to this. Flamstad had conjured up a meaningless Heroes Quest that had ended in this mess, but Flamstad was not alone, for everyone had played their part in this stage show of utter nonsense.

Time had passed and the drink sat being watched, and the dancers untouched. Marcus Wands arrived and the sight of him made Kallun tense and ready to fight. Despite the meaningless of Flamstad’s ruse, despite the loss of life, crooked gate guards, and the Queen’s indifference to it all, this Marcus Wands made use of it all to pledge himself to service to the Crown, a Crown that Kallun at the moment would sooner empty his bladder upon then serve. Kallun was disgusted with the lot of them, and here was Marcus Wands newly pledged Court Magician come to sit beside Kallun at the bar and politely point out to Kallun that in future matters of court most Queens are referred to as her Majesty and that Highness is often only ever used in reference to a Princesses.
Then arrived Bu, recently appointed Warden of the Queen’s lands looking like a peacock grooming his regal and rich looking royal huntsman’s cloak, another one all to eager to pledge himself to a Queen and Court that appeared to Kallun’s eyes and mind a bramble of madness and thoughtlessness. Shortly after the arrival of the mumbler came Madeleine posed and ready with words that that had bite and dripped of venom. What was to be an attempt to drown out his misery with women and whiskey turned into an endurance contest.

Marcus drank and spoke of how his foolishness was to blame for the deaths of Ramunas and Hrut, Bu mumbled his clumsy words about what honored heroes the fallen are for having died in such a noble cause, and Madeleine preached on about how great minded Flamstad was and how worthless the dead were, and Kallun hated the three of them for it. Marcus Wands for his needless self martyring, Bu for thinking that questing for the eggs was in anyway an honorable and meaningful death for the fallen, and Madeleine for defending Flamstad while insulting the dead. All he wished for was some respite from it all, a chance to lose himself to some bliss even fleeting pleasures, just to step away from it all for an evening, and instead he found himself surrounded by this circus of absurdity.

** With a scowl he drank down his second glass of whiskey and stood without a word, looked to Marcus Wands on his right and offered a parting nod, and then walked away from the lot of them**

[Riotnrrd]

((well played, sir))

[jmecha]

The water was hot and scented with oils and flower petals, Kallun sat alone brooding in the tub while the whiskey within him and the water around him worked to unknot his muscles and his mind. In time the tension that had been building behind his brow and within his limbs faded as he lounged within the bath house of Sune, and his thoughts leisurely examined the various events that had lead him here.

He wondered about Magus Glorfin within the Mage’s Council Tower of Callidyrr, he thought of all of the mages there and Queen Kendrick’s claim that her Court lacked a wizard save Flamstad who was rarely present. Was the Mage’s Council of Callidyrr not in service to the crown?

Were they in service to the Crown, but failed to serve to the Crown’s standards so completely that Queen Kendrick would claim herself in need of a Court Wizard?

He thought over Marcus Wands and his numerous claims of interest in doing good works for the people, and his expressed desire to serve the Crown while within the Queen’s presence. Kallun wondered what prompted Marcus Wands to offer himself to this Queen to serve as her Court Wizard…..was he over eager? Or was this move a well calculated one? Did it matter to Kallun?

Ultimately he decided that it did not matter, the Queen’s Court and it troubles were not his, nor did he have interest in making them his own, nor were the others. The Queen and her Court could send fools after fools errands, Bu could believe such things a great honor, Marcus Wands will do as he does, Madeleine could go her way, and Ramunas and Hrut were dead. None of it need matter to Kallun and so after examining each of his thoughts about the matters of days past he let them go.

He had sought out the Eggs because he thought solving the riddles of their location and the fetching of such would make for a unique challenge, and they were. Flamstad’s purpose for scattering the eggs mattered none, nor does the worth of the eggs matter.

Bu’s belief that the deaths were honorable mattered none, nor did Madeleine’s that the dead deserved a meaningless end. The men were dead because they misread the riddles, walked the wrong trails on the wrong islands, and fought a foe far greater then themselves and ultimately they were dead, the how and why, and what meaning if any it held did not matter.

Kallun then thought of his own recent frustrations and decided they were born out of expectations. He had thought the Eggs would hold some grander meaning then they did, he had expected the Queen and her court to far more welcoming then they were. He expected the Gate Guards to open the doors of the palace to them, and instead found them attempting to keep doors barred and claim the eggs for themselves. He expected a formal presentation of the recovered eggs to the Queen, and instead found himself in a dining hall deep in the night with a Queen displeased that she was bothered from her bed to be present for such a trivial thing. He alone had created such expectations, and he alone was to blame for his frustrations. The world was as it was, and he had created his own hardships by allowing himself to imagine it differently instead of merely baring witness to what was.

People would blame themselves for things they have done or failed to do regardless if blame need be placed or not, and in the end what was done was done.

People would honey coat the world with praise of honor to acts of dead men regardless if they were or were not honorable, and in the end the men would remain dead.

People would talk themselves up and others down, and ultimately such words and positions only mattered in regards to what people’s imaginations would invest in such.

None of it much mattered and he felt silly for having let any of it bother him as much as it did. Without ceremony he stood and left the bath to begin toweling off and his mind turned to the things that he had before to tend to. There were was the matter of Cult of Cyric hunting members of the Steel Talon Company, the matter of the smugglers and assassins hunting him because of his involvement with Sylvaine’s investigation, there was the matter of making another trip to High Home to bring to the dwarves the Adamantine Ore and gems he gathered for trade as well as making sure the corpse of Kager had been delivered to them. He also had one of Pathra’s service chips he had found amongst Kager’s remains, such should be returned to Mistress Pathra. There was the matter of what debt was owed to him by the Crown here and what he would ask for such to be.

** He methodically dressed himself in rich black silks before walking out of the temple at an unhurried pace**

[thinkpig]

Damn! Really great to see Kallun's story continuing... Makes me really want to get back in game.

[Tegid]

Still enjoying these j. Sorry to hear of Kager.