This short passage is for an upcoming mini campaign decribed in Introduction to Essirene. It sets the shared back story for a group I’ll be running next month.
Listening to the wind howl outside, Gersun poked at the fire sending sparks up the aged chimney. When he returned to his favorite chair, it groaned under his weight. His daughter, Nina, moved over and curled up into his lap, bringing her favorite blanket with her.
“Tell me again about the Silent Hand, Papa.”
“If I tell you, you promise to go straight to sleep?”
“Yes, Papa. But tell the full story or I probably won’t.”
“Ok, then. When I was a young man, I had all these ideas and dreams of being a great war hero, just like all my foolish friends. That was before the war turned. We all thought we were going to do a great service for The Bidu. And in fact, we were. But we had no way of knowing exactly what was to come. All we knew was that the Obbariel were building up a great army to cross the sea and invade our lands…”
“Now nobody truly knows what happened in that tent. We know not how the Silent Hand snuck so far behind enemy lines. But we do know this. Whether it was divine intervention or their own clever actions, they brought an end to the fear that gripped our soldiers.
“We had been under that curse for so long we had become used to it. Eventually you forget it is there and you cannot remember a time when you didn’t have it. When that was lifted from us, it was as being born anew. Strength flowed into our hearts and our arms. We attacked with a vigor and the Obbariel stood no chance.
“The Silent Hand set us free, but it was our swords that pushed the invaders from our land. In those moments we wished we could be brave. We wished we could be righteous. But in the moment you knew you only need protect two people, the soldier to your left and the soldier to your right. You take care of them and they will take care of you. Many of them did die on that battlefield, but none of them let me down.”
Gersun looked down at his sleeping daughter. He slowly picked her up and carried her to her bed.
He pulled a blanket up to Nina’s chin and then leaned down to kiss her forehead. “The Silent Hand allowed us to stand. Because of them, I lived to have you. That is a debt I can never repay.”