Garkhan - Quest Journal

[Jezerai]

On the library table, you find a new book.

The cover is made of the finest leathers, but is rough with wear as though it has seen many years of hard use.  Despite the battered exterior, the pages inside are blank and fresh as though milled yesterday.  The leather binding is embossed with gold and bears your name with a pair of crossed swords beneath.

Garkhan, this be yer candidate quest journal. In it, ye should record tha answers ye get from tha members o' Saga as ye ask em the question for your Candidate Quest. Through yer quest ye will come ta know us, jes' as we will come ta know you.

Boudeccai Boru
Friend of Alanni Shortshanks
Mistress of Initiates
Officer of Saga

[Garkhan]

Entry One: 12th day of Mestian, known as Rain.

I suppose I should begin by explaining exactly what my task is, and my own person answer to it. I've been tasked by my new pack to interview three people and find out what they believe about the "evil" races. I guess I should start by detailing what my own person stance is on the subject.

My believe is that "good" and "Evil" are not absolutely defined, but are rather based upon the perception of the person. In my culture, we were raised with the knowledge that there are good spirits and bad spirits. Yet these spirits all must be respected. For it is the spirits of our ancestors that give us strength, wisdom, and protection. Without these spirits, the world would not exsist.

Because all people have spirits, and all spirits are sacred, that means that by nature, all people are good. However, the choices that one makes in life will determine whether your spirit finds peace after death, or if it lingers on after the body has passed away. Thus, it is not the people who are evil, but the choices that they make. Because all races have free will, all races are able to make good choices, and bad.

Yet, because the laws change between different people, so too does the perception of what is right and wrong. In my society, we willingly embrace paths of adventure that many seem to consider "evil". In fact, the one who gave me my knowledge of the spirits was a Necromancer. Yet, there was nothing evil about him. He cared for his people more than any other Ghostclaw I have met. My brother was a Dread Knight, and he was certainly not a wicked, corrupt person. My people are neutral. We live in harmony with the spirits and with nature. We all value honor and respect no matter what profession we follow.

My people are despised by the High Elves, who will kill any Vulmane upon sight in their forest. They demand that we work to great lengths in order to be afforded the basic right to be able to go through there lands without being harmed. Why must we prove ourselves to them, after all we have suffered? It was us that gave men the first warning of the undead invasion of Thestra. And, after we turned on the orc forces, we fought and died valiently in order to turn the tide of the war.

I have seen "Good" paladins swear at me that I am nothing more than a talking animal, and that I was a blight upon the land. I have had rightous people curse me, and even try to kill me. They blame all Vulmane for the actions of the wretched Bloodhowlers. Is this not evil in of itself? Is not trying to harm others who have no desire to harm you of itself an evil thing?

There is indeed a great war between good and evil going on this moment. The fight of the living things against the Undead Invasion is the true war of Good against Evil. To the far south, the people of Qalia face many foes, as the very elements themselves seems to have risen up against us. And in Kojan, a race of otherworldly demon-spirits seeks to utterly destroy everyone. This is the true war against Good and Evil.

I suppose that I should start talking to people in the Saga pack. I shall write again soon.
~Garkhan Ahzmandius

[Garkhan]

Entry Two: 12th day of Mestian, known as Rain.

I did my first interview yesterday with an interesting sort of person. His name is Quzybek, and he is probably the oldest person in the Saga pack. At least, that is what I think. It's hard to tell with the Thestran mage, as he is very cryptic. I started off by asking him if I may ask him a couple of questions. I wrote down what he said as best as I could.

After inquiring if I could ask him some questions, he seemed to fret and replied "Ahem?  Questions?  Oh dear.  What kind of questions?  I haven't done anything suspicious enough to warrant an interrogation, have I?  Oh dear.  I really am from Thestra.  I am!" At this point, he began to wring his hands and act very nervous. I did my best to calm him down, and after assuring him that I was not a member of the Sages Arcane, he seemed to calm down visibly.

I asked him about his opinions of Goblins. His response was rather interesting.

"My opinion on goblins?  Oh dear.  There are quite a vast variety of goblins in the known universe... ahem... I mean the known world, yes?"

This is exactly what he said. I decided not to ask him what a universe was, and tried to be more specific. I asked him about Martok Goblins. He then.... Proceeded to tell me of another encounter with Goblins.

"Well.  Ahem.  They are rather... ahem.. unique in appearance, aren't they.  Somewhat frightening I suppose.  Or that could entirely be a bias I developed during a journey... ahem... long ago... which... ahem... did not end so well. It was my first voyage across an... ahem... uncharted sea."

At this part, I must have dozed off, as my notes seem to continue in a different color of ink, and is dated one hour after the conversation began. Luckily, I hadn't missed much.

"And as I was walking merrily along, I eventually fund myself accosted by goblins! I don't... ahem... believe they were Martok goblins however. But if Martok goblins are of similar disposition... I ... ahem... would be wary."

Again... My notes seem to be written in a new type of ink, and are dated thirty minutes after this last statement.

"Accosted!  They stole everything I had down to my very robe!  I was... ahem... exposed... ahem... so to speak."

After hearing this, I decided it best to get to the point. I asked if he had actually met a Martok Goblin. He scratched his head, and responded:

"Well... ahem... I don't know if I've ever met a Martok goblin.  I may have met a goblin or two, but... well... *shudders*  Goblins seem to be a touch violent, don't they?"

I hope that these notes will be enough for my first entry. I'd rather not interview the fellow again, like him as I may. I shall ask another person about one of the other races tomorrow.
~Garkhan Ahzmandius

[Garkhan]

Entry Three: 18th day of Mestian, known as Rain.

I have conducted another interview today, this time on Orcs. I began by asking a fellow Saga member, Aliana, about what her opinions are on Orcs. She shrugged and replied "Never met one.". This is the second time that I have spoken to a fellow guild member about our enemies, and heard that they had never even met one.

I then asked her what she had heard about them. Her reply was as follows:

"Well, as a blanket statement, I have heard bad things.  But I've heard bad things about Kojani, too...arrogant, stuck-up bastards...yet here I am in Kojani armor."

This was very interesting to me. Is our opinions on everyone so strongly based on what we hear from others, that we judge entire races without ever having met a single person from said race? I then asked her if she believed that there could be good orcs.

"I see absolutely no reason why there couldn't be a good orc.  Would I go to orc lands?  Unlikely.  But nothing says that all orcs are brutal homicidal maniacs.  Take the ones outside their lands one at a time."

I believe that this is something that I have wanted to hear for a long time. We continued to talk about other things for a few minutes before she and I had to go do our own things. Over all, I think that even the few words we have shared has shed some light onto what I personally am trying to learn from all this.

~Garkhan Ahzmandius

[Garkhan]

Entry Four: 20th day of Mestian, known as Rain.

I am kicking myself for not recording my last discussion with Titia regarding her thoughts on Dark Elves, but I will do my best to recall them regardless. During our conversation, I tried to ask her what she thought about Dark Elves, and once again was told that she had never met any before. I then asked her what she had heard about them, and she responded that she had heard that they were a very elitist society, and were rather ruthless. But she then said something that got my attention. She said that humans were the same way. We talked for a little while, discussing our encounters with other races until I had to depart. Maybe this is the conclusion that I should be drawing from all this: That good and evil are not based solely upon the actions of a person, and not their parentage.

A wise man once told me, "It is more honorable to be raised to a throne than to be born to one. Fortune bestows the one, merit obtains the other."

[Lyrima]

OOC:

*standing ovation!*

Fantastic work! Thank you 

[Jezerai]

Hmmm.  Very nice.  But I'm wondering if Lyrima liked it?