Marion - Days 33-37

--- Day 33 ---

I was concerned about the paladins when I didn't see them arrive back at Waypoint, so I decided to meet them in case they had gotten into trouble and needed assistance. One of the guard volunteered to go with me, but I assured him that I would be safe, and that he was needed more at his post.

The journey took most of the day, and the weather was pleasant and mild, which was anything compared to the temperament of the party once I had arrived.

I could hear the voices of Hrogar, Alcander and Arcadius long before I could see them, their fevered shouts and accusations booming across the hills. One would ridicule and belittle the other before returning the favor, sounding more as rabid animals than law-abiding men. The flames and smoke from a ring of fire encircling the tree cast the three into shadow, their outlines of fire casting them more as demons than angels.

I saw that many of my friends were hurt, so I started looking at and tending to their wounds. They kept discussing what had happened, and what they should do to get rid of the massive tree that was now in front of them. According to the paladins, the female ranger that they encountered was clearly evil, while the tree didn't show signs of evil at all. I started asking if we should go after the true evil instead of the tree, and I was quickly berated and cast down by Arcadius. I started defending myself until I heard my voice crack, and with trembling lips, cast my eyes downward and continued my healing.

I silently tended to the wounds of my comrades, trying to tune out the hatred and fervor that swirled in the air and plagued my mind. I was almost done when I heard Arcadius state to Hrogar that, basically, he was dead to him.

This tore me so much inside... I couldn't believe that I was hearing this from Paladins. The same person that I thought would protect me, and whom I gave an enchanted sword to, was now degrading and tearing down a fellow Paladin for whichever reason. I'm still not sure what Hrogar did to earn such ire, but from how Arcadius was talking, perhaps he killed another lawful good person in the day that I was away. I dare not ask what Hrogar did, I'm sure the others will tell me in time.

---

It was a bright spring morning in the gardens of Point of Origin. My hand lay comfortably in Xavier's as we strolled along the blooming flowers. Paladins and clerics tended to these gardens on a daily basis, and the ever-present aura of righteousness and good permeated the area. It was truly a blessed space, and one that I loved sharing with my beloved. With myself i a lovely spring gown and Xavier in his white common clothes, we looked as angels in the clouds.

A child was running towards us, tattered clothes on his back and a loaf of bread in his hands. Behind him must have been a cadre of Paladins, shouting orders and warning the child to surrender and stop. The child staggered on a loose rock and fell at our feet, his blue eyes wide in worry. The paladins stopped at his trembling form, telling him to get up and face his punishment.

Without his sword or armor, Xavier stepped over the boy, placing himself between the Paladins and the boy. He demanded to know why this poor boy was being chased through the garden. The 'crime' turned out to be one of stealing from a local merchant, one that the boy had done repeated times. It had been routine for them to toss him into a jail for a couple days, thinking that he'd learn that such actions were unacceptable. This never stopped the boy, and he would be back within the jail in hours. As time progressed, the paladins expressed, the boy had learned sneakier ways of stealing from the honest merchants, as well as even starting rudimentary lockpicking.

Xavier stood his ground, however, and said that they would not take the child away today. He gave the paladins a gold, and told them to return to the mechant with coin in hand. The paladins stared him down, as if he had allowed a great evil to be left off the leash, then uttered a word I dare not write down here as they turned away.

Xavier and I brought the child to the clerics, explaining the situation that we had witnessed. Once the boy had been fed and reassured of his safety, he wept as he told of his fate. He had contracted the plague, and his parents tended to him night and day, only to contract the disease themselves. The child, now well and able, tried to take care of his parents, but they both succumbed to the infection. The family trade stopped, the child only a few years into his apprenticeship - he knew only the basic skills of harness making, not enough to sustain his craft. It was only after selling and trading all the family's possessions that he turned to stealing to stay alive.

After much searching, Xavier and I found another home for the boy with another harness maker. The family was pleasant and ecstatic as could be to have another son, as well as a budding apprentice. We check back regularly, and when we do, we see a lovely family and a warm home.

---

I worry very much for the paladins, for I see all of them slipping and stumbling on their way. They're starting to behave in ways that we've been taught not to act. When we see someone in trouble, we're to assist them. If we see a great evil that is destroying life, we deal with it. The paladins should know this more than I, as they have a much stricter set of vows than I do.

They're treating Hrogar like he's an evil to be vanquished. Instead of realizing that he had done something arguably wrong and then helping him, they're belittling him and then stating that they'll no longer help him. How is this good? How is this virtuous? How can browbeating a fellow paladin help him return to his vows, or eliminate the 'supposed evil' that he succumbed to in the first place? When a diseased person is brought in for care, we take care of them and cure the disease, we don't berate him and tell him that he was wrong in contracting the disease in the first place!

If we ridiculed everyone that steps slightly from the path of righteousness, vowing that they are dead to us and denying assistance, it will only be for a few miles until no one walks the path anymore.

It's our duty and our vow to help out those who have dedicated themselves to the light and righteousness.
We pull out daggers that have cut us, not push it in farther.
We create stretchers for those who have fallen, we do not step over them.

This is the way of the paladin, and it strikes me with such great fear that I must remind the paladins of this way, when they should be paragons of these virtues. I've been praying to Kaladis for insight into helping the paladins understand the law-abiding and contractual obligations that they have made with their gods.

--- Day 37 ---

I haven't written for days, I've been too exhausted. We've finally returned to Ismir, and I'll write some here before retiring for the evening.

We've finally allowed the tree to go somewhere that it should hopefully cause no harm. With the helpful suggestion from Ryan, we went to visit the ranger that we met while in Ismir. He told Ryan, Alcander and I about the evil ranger that the paladins met, as well as her motives in the woods. We discussed the predicament about the moving, carnivorous tree, and he had agreed to come with us to see what he could do.

Upon chatting with the tree, the ranger assured us that he had told the tree of a place where it could go far from here, where it could live without harming human settlements. I'm relieved that we could find a resolution here, since I'm not certain that the paladins would have survived if they confronted the tree head-on.

I get the impression from the other paladins that the way we resolved the tree issue was not as honorable as they would have liked, but I honestly couldn't have seen it going any other way. When they talk of destroying the tree, I remember them saying that it had never been evil. I believe it was used as a tool for the evil ranger's purposes, nothing more. We don't crusade against wolves, which are also carnivorous beings that have been known to occasionally attack humans. We instead defend against them as need be - we realize their neutral standing in the world. To condemn a carnivorous tree or wolf as "evil" seems hypocritical in the face of a nice lamb stew simmering in the cauldron.

I also wonder how much the Paladins will forsake in order to vanquish what they believe is 'evil'. They almost gave up their lives to a non-evil tree in their hubris, which deeply disturbs me. We must be careful of our lives and our bodies, because they're not just tools of the gods, but *gifts* from the gods. To throw away such a gift so carelessly would be to insult them greatly - for if we toss ourselves into the bonfire of evil heedless, how can we help vanquish the greater evils of tomorrow?

I pray to Kaladis for wisdom and insight.