Shining in the darkness

[mr duncan]

Bleak dreary and gray were the skies over Baldurs Gate. His spirits were already dismal being so far from home, the weather only made it worse. It was not even a wild passionate storm like those that occasionally swept across the city of Bezantur, but a hopeless and vast cloud of drizzle that he could tell had been droning on for days

The wagon carried a small group of easterners, Thayans making the last leg of their journey westward. Most recently they had come from the city of Westgate and while most people would be glad for a journey of that length to be coming to an end, at least one member of the entourage was not happy with their arrival

Infantryman first class Az'zzam of Bezantur had exotic mulani features like the others from his homeland, but in place of their bronze tan he had skin black like coal or soot and where they had neatly cut short black hair his brilliant orange fire hair flowed backwards and up away from his face behaving more like the fire it resembled than natural silky locks that his eastern people were known for

With an unsatisfied snarl he stepped off the wagon and down to the earth of the western end of the world, his foot sank down in to the muck and mud of the road. In a civilized land the road would be paved... in the east the road would be paved. Here his foot sank into the ground and sloshed muddy water around as he turned to pick up his gear from the back of the wagon.


Perhaps I should have joined the marines


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High priest Draelec was not a kind man, but he also was not a cruel man... in Thay this meant that he was pretty much a kind man. He was bald as was the custom of so many of the empires elite citizens, his only hair was a neatly trimmed beard that grew along his jawline that had turned gray many years before Az'zzam had been born


Az'zzam, the black skinned temple orphan tried to listen to the high priest... or at least tried to act like he was listening. The little boy respected the power the older man wielded but he cared little for the lectures on how he should show more responsibility and focus on his chanting and prayers

Prayers were boring, and so was chanting... and chores and study time and-

There was a sharp slap to the back of the young black skinned boys head

'Are you listening to me Az'zzam?'

He sighed 'Yes, holiness'

'Born with so many advantages, so many gifts and you squander them like a drunkard playing dice with his pay. Is that what you want to be, Az'zzam? A worthless man who drinks or gambles his worth away?'

'No, holiness'

The old man put his hand on the genasis shoulder.

'Az'zzam... listen to me. Men are nothing. At best a man is a spark in the dark empty and ignorant universe. A life is a brief flash of light that is gone almost as soon as it is noticed... gone to be replaced by other brighter sparks'

The boy already knew this, and was sure that his role as a temple orphan would make him no more known or remembered than any other spark or ember that drifted up from a fire to burn and flicker out

'You can be so much more, boy. People notice you for your hair like fire... but it is the fire here' The priest tapped his bony wrinkled finger on the boys black chest 'The fire here... it can light up the world and cast back darkness'

The words felt good to hear, but Az'zzam still did not plan to start caring about the chants... or his chores

'Yes holiness'



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Walking through the city gates and on to paved ground did little to improve his mood. The gray sky still poured its relentless drizzle and it seemed as if it had been doing so for weeks on end. Every wooden building was swollen and cracked with dry rot or stank of mold... or both

The lamps were not lit with magic but with little sputtering flames that barely kept flickering in the constant wetness. It was dismal in every way, mundane and grimy. The soldiers slouched at their posts and it looked as if none of these westerners had taken care to clean themselves in weeks

They must think the rain keeps them clean

Most of them milled about like homeless dogs, and dressed in rags. There was even one man wearing a wolfs head for a hat. He wanted to sneer at the savages, or to laugh at them... but he was here to stay and serve the empire as a guard at the enclave in Baldurs Gate. Somehow he would have to make do with this terrible wet moldy hole... his home



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The temples main worship service was over but most of the families there stayed, and would stay in the temple for a few hours more. Though the seven year old fire genasi did not know it, a good deal of politics were done in the hours after a prayer service. They called it 'Fellowship' but it was really plotting, a kind of plotting that only those who came to give praise to Kossuth could share in

During this time Az'zzam should have been sweeping the floors in the rooms of the priests who lived in the temple and collecting the robes to be sent down to the washerwoman but he was instead sitting outside the temple on one of the top steps of the great black pyramid and looking out over the sprawling city of Bezantur

Soon he was joined by another boy about his own age, he climbed the steps of the pyramid and had a smile that children wear when they are about to get away with something they should not be allowed to do

'Do you have a fire to light this?' The boy asked him

'I always have fire'

The human child looked at him as if expecting the genasi to use his hair to light the pipe. Az'zzam spoke again

'What is that?' He said nodding at the pipe

'It is called Kif, or hin leaf. Sailors smoke it a lot... I took it from my father'

He reached for the pipe and the other boy gave it to him, putting his palm over the bowl of the pipe he caused his hand to heat up and start the brown leaf on fire. The other boy quickly reached back to take the pipe again

'I am Agatii of the Sorono' The human boy said as he inhaled from the pipe and took a seat next to the black skinned boy. He offered the pipe to the other and Az'zzam took it only after a second of hesitation. He figured if it burned then it was not all to bad for him

'I am Az'zzam' He said back and toked on the pipe


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The bald Thayan walking in the back of their group stopped to catch his breath and addressed him

'Soldier, can you carry my pack? I am exhausted'

Normally he would have not helped someone carry what was not his responsibility to carry, even if they were an apprentice wizard and on their way to being one of the Red Wizards of Thay... but Az'zzam had known this young apprentice longer than he had known anyone else and the strange and unwholesome nature of the west was making him much more charitable than usual towards his countrymen

He took the heavy wet sack of gear from the wizard and slung it over his shoulder with his own gear. Agatii was clearly relieved and picked up his pace to match the other Thayans

'My thanks Az'zzam' The other Thayan said, trying to be more friendly and less formal in response to the favor

'Quite alright apprentice Sorono'

'You can call me Agatii, friend' He said as he caught up to the genasi carrying two packs of gear

'As you say, apprentice Sorono'


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Pressure over the last few weeks had grown steadily, from the high priest... the temple guards and even the cook. It was clear that as he approached his seventeenth birthday that he would have to make a choice soon

Weapons and sparring had always suited him, and this choice was at least more appealing than the imperial marines.

The recruiter was a professional looking solider, short cropped white hair and heavily built like someone who had spent many years with his sword. He spoke to the genasi with a serious tone that spoke of logic and inevitability

'Well son, you will have to be trained like every other solider... but no... no there is not a lot of marching and taking orders in the enclaves. Think of it like... an advanture. Sure there will be superiors, but everyone in the empire has someone to answer to'

'I get that, I just have no love for menial chores or marching in formation' Az'zzam said, repeating himself

'Two years. A two year training camp with the legion and you can put all the regimented marching behind you. Life in the enclaves is very different from life in the legion... especially if you shine above and beyond'

The genasi was still hesitant, he really did not want to commit to anything at all. Being responsible just did not seem like his thing. The recruiter kept speaking

'Now we are prepared to make you a first class infantryman at the start. That means you will get a big weapon like a greatsword or two handed axe and be a little more free on the battlefield than the soliders standing in rank and file with their weapon and shield. Normally we do not offer that to someone before their third year of service to the empire... but your high priest here says you were trained by the imperial champion Goric, is that right?'

Az'zzam nodded

'Well it seems like an insult to a great man like him to let such training go to waste, and your high priest has written this letter of endorsement. I think you could do a lot worse with your life than to enter the imperial army with a first class rating'

Az'zzam nodded again, still keeping silent as the solider kept talking

'Just two years, hard training and we will sharpen you in to one of the finest soldiers in Faerun and after your training term is up your assignment will be at whatever enclave needs you most. The empire has enclaves in all the far flung and exotic cities in the world and they all need soldiers'

Az'zzam still kept his silence

'It is time to make something of yourself, son. I can not make you sign the paper, but I can promise you a more interesting life than sweeping floors and collecting tithes here for the temple where you have been for the last sixteen years. Do you think it is about time to do something with your life?'

The genasi moved, he leaned forward and signed his name with the quill at the bottom of the contract of military service

'Welcome to the imperial army, young man'


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The enclave was tiny. It was located in what passed for a mansion here in the western world but to his eyes it was just one more little gray box of a house that blended in with all the other houses of wealthy merchants in Baldurs Gate


The Thayan conscripts, infantrymen of the third class... all stood sullen and slouched almost as bad as the city guards he had walked by on his way through the city. It was miserable. The yard was at least full of little red flowers he recognized from his homeland... and once inside some of the lighting was familair magical glowing and even some wizards fire mephit servant lurked in a corner but for the most part the insides were as much of a disappointment as the rest of the city

With no one coming to greet him he made his way up the stairs with the other arrivals from Bezantur and found an unoccupied cot. Sitting down he kicked off his metal plated boots but his eyelids turned heavy before he could even start to get out of his armor

Yes, I should have joined the marines





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Was hard to get back in to writing, thanks for reading if you did


J

[Aitana]

Really great stuff John. Glad you are writing again. I have always enjoyed your contributions to the Library, and this is no different. I will try to wait patiently for more, but be prepared I will be asking. ;P

Always a pleasure playing with you!

Dani

[Brokenbone]

I enjoyed it, thanks for sharing.

[MaskedIllusion]

Very nice, I loved the last story I read that you wrote, and it seems this will be more of your awesome writing. Can't wait to read more.