The Shockingest of Shocks!

"You sound in good health brother." The Marked one stepped forward, but guards moved in his way.

"Better than I've felt in hundreds of years." This was like seeing a very strange prefight ritual. Both parties knew what was going to happen, but they had their parts to play out in advance of it.

"You can not continue in this way the gods..."

"Screw the Gods, screw the way they have punished me for doing the right thing and stopping you all those years ago." He tossed off his robe and underneath was not a crippled old man but a young one muscular with fresh markings, I could see from where I was that the markings were necromancy, Gods damn Morley. "I have suffered for my people and gotten nothing, we continue to fight against my brothers and I grow old and weary, brittle! And you! You continue to exist long past when you should not have! You should be the one crippled and old and left to rot!" I had suspected my companion was not just a normal Marked One, it was not much of a surprise he was involved with the original brotherhood.  Well it wasn't much of a surprise for me, my cynicism borders on fortune telling with my ability to guess the horrible outcomes.

"You asked for this."

"I DID NOT!" He slammed his fist down and I saw it had left a dent in the railing. "I was told I could govern my people how I saw fit forever! I was told that this would prevent them from having to be slaughtered. I was NOT TOLD that this meant I would be an old corpse governing from a chair I could not leave. I was NOT TOLD the man who had brought the God's fury on us WOULD BE SPARED! So no I did not ask for this."

"And now you bring the wrath of the god's on you and yours, this was a dumb decision." I took note of all the archers, they had their bows strung, and arrows in hand, I never wanted to go out under a hundred arrows but that was looking likely.

"No a dumb decision was coming here with Lorentino, you should have destroyed him when you met him, now his taint is on you and the God's will destroy you. As for me? I don't follow them anymore they are not my God's my God grants me the life I DESERVE! And now I'll grant you the death you deserve."

And so the archers took up their arrows and I cursed how stupid I was for following someone who knew this leader had turned to the bad side. Honestly I wondered what I was even doing there, a question I frequently ask of myself.

The Not So Hidden Red Hand

"So they are just slapping it on banners now?" We were being escorted to the leader of Tizan, the Marked One merely had to ask at the front gate and they let him right in.  That should have been my first indication that things were up, I'd have at least expected some kind of questioning when the executioner of the Gods shows up at your door step, but nope, off to see the leader.

"They have no reason to fear your government here, I don't think I've ever heard of your leaders crossing the sea, nor would they be greeted warmly here." True the Guard had too many domestic issues (still do including people like myself, yes I admit I'm a problem), but still!

"It's so jarring to see it like this." They even had the armor of their warriors adorned with the symbol, I could see why the marked one was afraid, once you subject yourself to a foreign power to the point of wearing their symbol instead of theirs? That's a bad bad sign.

"At least they haven't switched over to fire arms."

"Yeah I'd much rather die by arrows its a nicer way to go." He didn't comment back and we were lead into a large hallway, archers lined the walls leading up to an ornate thrown on it sat a man cloaked in robes I couldn't make out any features, but he appeared to be slumped in the throne, not even awake.

"How old is this leader?"

"Hundreds of years old, he was there at the formation?"

"What?" My voice rose and I noticed one of the archers take notice.

"Oh please necromancer, I don't need to tell you age is no more than a number to some." I have to say it was more than a little creepy how much the Marked One knew about me without mentioning how much he knew. Its like when you lied to a friend and they knew you lied but didn't call you on it until you were acting like they didn't know, you know?

"Wait how old are you?"

"BROTHER HOW GOOD OF YOU TO COME!" The voice boomed from the chair as our escort had gotten to the throne and whispered into its occupant. I noticed my companion tense up at the sound.

"Something wrong?"

"Yes several things, I believe they are about to try and kill us."

"Great." I mean I knew that was going to happen, but just because I knew, didn't make me anymore happy it was about to happen!"

A Thought On Zealotry

You know thinking back on this time in my life I went from one zealot to another. Usually I'm at odds with those who believe in gods will or power.  I guess because I think of myself a god to an extent (I mean I have killed two of them don't mean to blow my own horn but TOOOOOOT! That's the sound of a horn just saying), so following those who just blindly accept their god's will? Yeah screw that noise.

But there I was moving from a devotee of the fire god, to a Marked one who followed a nebulous branch of several hundred gods. I was the play thing of the people I should have been opposing! I tell you its almost like I don't have any set amount of principals and just let the road take me wherever. But thats clearly clearly not true at all, ever...

So anyway the city of the brother we had visited in the country of Tizan was really wonderful. The people of the west have a way to ride the winds (granted them by of course their wind god) and so I could see people moving freely between these huge structures as part of daily life. The building themself were very ornate stone work and were really fantastical, it was like stepping into a weird dream, and such a change of pace from the broken down reconstruction of The Guard, and the belching smoke of Ronerawth. I almost forgot we were there for stupid reasons, but it was hard to ignore with the wide path The Marked One was given (no one spit on him, I would come to find out he didn't do large cities like this one, this was handeled by a local marked one).

We approached a large building that could only denote the seat of government and I saw the reason we were there immeadiately, hanging outside the palace were banners with the mark of the Red Hand.  It was a bit jarring, back in the lands of the Guard that would be a death sentence, but here we were in another country and they were on proud display. With them I could also see troops practicing under the banner their armor similarly adorned. The Red Hand was here, and they were planning on going to war. And it was up to me to stop them, you know no pressure.

The Long Walk To Doom

You know I missed those horses as soon as we were walking. I mean I've done a ton of walking, it always seems to end up my default method of travel. Also on top of all of that I tend to be walking when I'm going to something I don't want to do.  So its a slow method, physically painful, and one full of dread.  Sounds like a date with me (ooh self insult!)

The marked one while not exactly a Mordere of conversation topics (that being he doesn't talk and the whole time you wonder if he's about to shoot you) was not a great traveling companion. He got spit on four seperate times, his entire blood line cursed at least twice, and some young woman nearly came to blows with him.  I tell you being a nameless executioner of the gods really sucks apparently. People also felt the need to curse me, I guess they figured I was some Marked One in training and they had to get those shots in.  Jokes on them I'm marked but in a completely different and shittier way! Wait that doesn't sound as good.

Anyway it was a long boring walk to a very beautiful city that people were waiting to try and kill me at. So like every other walk ever, man thinking about how my life goes that's really sad.

The Reality of Exectioners

We had been riding quietly threw farm country, I could see we were making our way to a village, and from a distance I could see one of the cages The Marked One had talked about, and it had an occupant.  He saw it too and sighed heavily as we approached. We reached the gate to town and the man in the cage started wailing, The Marked one hopped down and tied up the reins.

"You can wail all you like judgement has come and it matters not to me." I could tell it actually mattered to him by the way his voice had changed, where as before I heard emotion in the rasp, now it was just dead, like a prepared speech he'd given several times before, which was probably true.

"Please you have to just let me go I didn't do anything wrong." The man was pretty raggedly dressed, apparently whatever he did included a town beating on top of the imprisonment.

"I'll know in a moment." The Marked One didn't have some kind of power infusion, or weird eye thing or even a flash he just looked at the man and then unlocked the cage.

"Thank you!" He started to walk off and then quick as can be my companion snapped his neck.

"Before you ask, yes its better for them to think they are free if only for a moment before it happens." I wasn't going to ask because it did seem like the more humane way. We had amassed a little bit of a crowd, the villagers did not look pleased to see their executioner.

"Murderer." One called out and spat in his general direction, others had the same idea. It seemed strange that they would be mad at their own justice system, when they were the ones who put the man in the cage in the first place.

"I give you these horses and this cart their owners no longer need them." That didn't seem to make the crowd any less angry.

"I think we should go." I've seen angry crowds, they don't suddenly calm down, if anything they do the opposite.

"That would be the wise decision." We made our way from the gate, the young man's crumpled body and the horse cart the only indications we were there.

"Will they follow?"

"If they are smart they will not."

"Is this how things usually go with you?"

"No, though this particular village I have visited several times as of late."

"Ahh, how do you know they will have someone for judgement?"

"I don't, but again this particular village I personally have had to judge several times."

"I'm starting to rethink this whole Marked One business being good."

"Oh really? Because I was thinking you'd want to sign up, had my speech ready to go and everything." So ended my dream of becoming a marked one. I mean I'm already marked, but I'd rather they be internal failings and not external. In case anyone's wondering by internal I mean within my soul, not like actual markings inside my body, that would be gross.

The Very Seen Hand of Corruption

"You have no name, no possessions and you kill people all the time?" I was trying my best to sum up what the Marked ones had told me (I guess he should just be A marked one, not the marked one, but as will become clear much later there is a good reason to call him the marked one).

"Yes it is a terrible curse."

"Curse? That sounds great." I'll admit I'm not a good person.

"Right of course, my mistake." His sarcasm notwithstanding, it did sound like a decent enough deal, minus the whole dying if you do the wrong thing part.

"So what do you need me for Marked One? I can't imagine its any kind of justice related activity."

"Well yes and no, its politics, something you probably have a bit more skill at then myself." Clearly he hadn't been able to see my whole past or he'd know how wrong he was. "You see the countries are talking of uniting again, though its not being done by their leaders directly, they are being lead by another group."

"Another group that can unite people who hate each other? They must be fairly powerful."

"They are, and you know who they are." He made a fist and my heart sank. "Their logo is of a red fist."

"The damned Red Hand?"

"One and the same, they fled the east and now here they are in the west trying to unite the broken brotherhood (they refered to the three countries as the brotherhood due to them being all related in one way or another), they can not succeed Mr. Lorentino."

"Can't you kill them for breaking your god's edict?"

"No, I'm forbidden from the politics side as I have no standing in the government, on top of that its not against the edict for the brotherhood to unite exactly, the God's just don't want it to happen, but with the interference from the east its kind of out of their hands now."

"And what do you want me to do? I can't exactly show up in the court of one of the brotherhood and demand they break their treaty."

"That's exactly what I want you to do." And with that we rode in silence, because you know I love to fume after being told to accomplish the impossible.

On Men and Being Marked

"So..." We were back on the road, he didn't say much when I got up in the morning, just good morning and we had to get moving, I didn't question it obviously because he spared my life why push the issue.

"How does it work being a marked one?"

"Yes thank you." I always like when I don't actually have to ask the question, because I'm terrible at asking questions.

"When you are found to have committed a crime you are placed out in a cell near the road, a marked one comes by and judges the person, if they are found to be worthy they can avoid their death sentence and they themself can be a marked one, if not they are executed and the marked one moves on."

"So there have always been marked ones?"

"Ever since the split."

"The split?"

He shook his head, "I forgot you easterners know so little of countries outside of your own, and even then I get the impression you know little of those places as well." I would have fought that, but he was exactly true, to be honest I knew little of anything despite being pretty old, its a personal failing. "Once the three countries were one, the gods fearing that this country would go to war with other continents and wipe out their people decided the only way to prevent this would be to break them into three, so they did."

"Wait how does seperating your country into 3 prevent it from going to war elsewhere?"

"When the country was united it was done at great burden to the leader who did it, so the gods just broke up the unification and created 3 nations that are constantly at war, not openly all the time, but the threat is enough to keep them focussed on themselves, and no they don't team up to wipe out one of the others because trust is not something any of the countries leaders have for the other."

"Sounds like your gods are more involved than ours."

"They are, and its one reason we avoid much with the outside world, we fear our gods wrath for dealing with people like yourselves and expanding against their wishes."

"So both keepers and jailors."

"In a way yes. Back to the point of the Marked Ones, the gods decided that to keep the peace, and to enforce their edicts they needed avatars, and who better to carry out their wishes than condemned men, we have no property, our only possessions are what we started with when we were Marked, when I get to the next village I'll have to turn in these horses and the cart, we have no country so we are allowed to move freely amongst the three, but we are also prevented from directly enaging in any side, doing so would break the oath of the marked and would lead to our deaths."

"Killing a marked one is a bad thing I take it?"

"Very much so, as the avatar of justice for the gods we are protected, though not invulnerable, it doesn't prevent idiots from trying as you saw, and not all Marked One's are as adept at combat as I am, but most people do their best to avoid us as again we are the ones who carry out the law."

"Just how many gods do you guys have?"

"Hundreds."

"Yeesh and I thought it sucked with just the Fire God to worry about." The Marked one laughed.

"Oh your fire God is amongst our set as well, I think all the Gods are connected somehow, though she has less power here." One of these days I'll have to ask Valrym about all these gods, if the people of the west have hundreds and the ones in my country have died and I killed one in the other west, just how many damned gods are there and who keeps making them?

"Which brings me back to you sparing me."

"Ahh yes there was that wasn't there."

"You aren't going to make me a marked one are you?" He laughed.

"Oh no, I need you exactly the way you are." And then he was quiet for a bit, because implied threats are the best threats. Still learning about new cultures is fun! Even when they have murderous avatars of justice who are ultimate arbiters of right and wrong and impoverished wanderers no better than beggars! See totally fun!