"So the people no longer tell stories to each other?  Mothers no longer speak of tales of wonder to their children?  Drunken fools no longer tell tall tales as they stagger home?  The words cannot be silenced.  You may be the only one called historian or tale teller but the tales will be told by others.  You must find new tale tellers.  Why should stories remain the same with each telling?  Stories live as you do, they grow and change with the telling and they should do.  There will always be stories as long as there are words.  You two should accompany me now to the nearest group of dwellings and there I will find you a new breed of stories."

"But.. but, what of the facts, Lord? What of truth? With so many changing stories.. the facts will be lost!"

They both seemed horrified at the thought of others spreading stories.

"Facts?  What facts can you tell me?  Words and stories are not facts.  They are tools and like any tool can be used to hurt or to heal.  Come, we need to leave.  But remember this truth.  A fact is only important if someone wishes to prove something to someone.  When you stop thinking of stories and start thinking of facts the world is a darker place because facts leave little cracks in the world through which monsters can crawl.  No come or I feed you to a Squallaug and before you explain that no such creature exists let me ask you if that is a fact or merely common sense."

Raelis turns and leaves heading for the nearest dwelling.

The two men froze for a few seconds, completely horrified. Being warned by their God was the scariest moment of their lives.

But they followed him. Soon, Raelis came upon a group of huts surrounding a well - a tiny village.

"Enter this village and listen to the people talking, find those who delight in the telling of tales and listen to their voice.  Listen to how they tell the stories and what they tell.  It is a mistake to assume that words define reality, reality defines words."

A nagging thought mkes him shake his head but it soon goes.

"I will remain here, go and listen to stories and then return and tell one story to me."

They left, to speak and to laugh and to listen. An hour passed, and they both returned.

The historian began.

"I heard a story regarding the creation of Litheris," said the historian. "They say it began in darkness and silence until a single word illuminated and crafted the world. That word was LIGHT. They say that's only how we can perceive the word - they say that it cannot be truly heard by any but the divine. They say that LIGHT gave birth to you, and you gave birth to us, the people. This is their tale. They speak of the power of words, of stories, of travellers that keep the realm together.."

His voice trailed off. There was nothing else to report.

The prayer-man started, now.

"I met with the woman named Cale," he said. "She was washing. She told me how she liked to wash in the deepest creeks, but sometimes there was danger down by the flowing rivers. She told me how her brother had gone down there, once, to fish, but never returned. She told me how he was caught by the very beast he was trying to catch - by the Lipterhal, a strange thing that desires our flesh. She told me how she wept for him every day."

"So you have heard words and what do those words say to you?  Do they give facts or not?  Are the facts they do give useful but can they be proven?  The travellers were the sinew of this realm, they kept the stories alive and they roamed telling them.  A story is a powerful tool - it fires imagination and drives the world to believe in great things.  Can you do that?  Tell the stories regardless of truth?  Talk to these people and tell them of your history but seek to make it interesting for that will be remembered.  I will give you a new story by finding the Lipterhal and seeing what it is."

Raelis bows to both men and then starts hunting for the location that had been described.

The Historian and the Servant try to speak after their Lord, but he is already gone. They rush to follow him.

Soon they found 'the deepest creeks'; powerful currents of water ripping through the land. They were more compact, vicious rivers than creeks, though they were only two meters wide.

Raelis walks to the edge of the nearest river and seats himself on the brink and starts to talk.  His words flow over the water, meaningless but forming a slow rhythmic sound.  He lets the volume and tempo  of his words begin to build starting as he does so to describe the meaning of words.  He describes the meanings of the concepts of river, water and sound.

Nothing happens.

Nothing at all.

There seems to be nothing in the water.

The words flow.

Still -

There is something, Raelis suspects. Something there.

Something.

Raelis finishes his description and then nods abruptly.

"If you do not wish to face me you will learn you have no choice.  FIND the object last touched by the Lipterhal.  HEAT this stream so that it comes forth.  These are my words and this is by my name."

Raelis waits for his powers to locate the last object and hopefully drive it forth from the river.

The stream begins to heat, and steam begins to billow forth. Soon, all there is is boiling mud, and nothing -

No. Something.

Slithering in the mud.

Scales in the mud..

Raelis cocks his head at the beast.

"Not precisely aggressive are you."  He mutters.  "Either that or you've got a good sense of self preservation."

He raises both arms and motions to the mud.

"MOVE"  He intones carefully indicating to the mud it should fly upwards and to the side to display whatever is trying to hide

And the thing moves.

It is like a large, red snake - it's glittering scales smeared with mud - but as it leaps at Raelis, he realizes that it has three separate necks, and three separate heads, and three separate sets of fangs. It's eyes are like rubies, and for a moment Raelis has the idea that this thing might not be organic.

--

Elsewhere:

A thousand flashes - a feeling like lightning, but more - ten spheres - a dying tree - a history reversed - blackness -

and Max was there.

(From Xi)
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:57, Mon 31 Aug 2009.

Raelis laughs with the laughter of a thousand tears, his voice booms as he intones the first word he ever learnt in the far bygone era.

"WOUND"

His arms aim the word at the junction of the necks of the beast trying to cut off one head with the flying word.  He ignores Max for the present, his attention filled by the words of combat.

The word sweeps and a head is lopped off. Black blood and yellow puss spray across Raelis, and the snake is upon him, screeching. There is a struggle, and the snake, despite Raelis's best efforts, bit the God once. A sharp pain - as if he were stabbed - on the forearm, and the drawing of blood. The snake, Raelis feels, is venemous..
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:48, Mon 31 Aug 2009.

( you just said the snake bit itself.)

Max glanced around the strange, dream-like landscape. It seemed almost like the mist that followed Ruse around. Take the less trodden path, Max began to explore the area.

Raelis smiles grimly at the snake.

"I can CURE any WOUND you can put on me faster than you can strike.  Talk now or die - I care not which you choose but my words will rip you asunder if I speak them."

Raelis's wounds heal, but the snake only hisses, biting him several more times. He feels the venom flow through his veins, and staggers a little.


--

Max finds the place to be mostly tranquil, a little strange - though in ways he cannot define - and soon comes upon a fast-moving, thin body of water.

Raelis Snarls at the snake and attempts to hurl it from him.

He raises his voice and once more intones WOUND attempting to sever another head from the snake.

The snake is flung, and the word of power strikes: the serpent falls, lifeless, to the ground. The rubies turn black.

Raelis staggers slightly then murmors the words of healing and curing before turning to find the new presence in his realm.  He reaches out to the realm itself and walks amongst its paths towards the being that has entered his home.

He soon stumbles upon Max. No introduction is necessary; they've met.

Raelis looks at Max with considerable surprise.

"Hail, why come you into this realm and place?  What do you seek here and for what purpose do you come?"

Max was busy washing his blade in the stream. "I am Max of Xi, son of Maccus of Tau. I am here to seek allies and adventure, so that I may prove myself worthy of knighthood."