Rise of the Champion Episode one. Chapter one

Rise of the Champion Espisode one . Chapter Two

                                                                                              I know the plans I have for you

Plans to prosper you and not to harm you

Plans to give you a hope and a future.

Then you shall call on me, you will pray to me

And I will hear you

You will seek me and find me

When you search for me with your whole heart

Then I will let you find me says the LIGHTGIVER-

Logos from the Logos room at MorningStar Castle.

Chapter Two

Secrets and Slip ups

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Tal rushed down the hall and stopped at the first doorway on the right to get a clean robe from the laundry. The Laundry Mistress, with a chuckle in her voice and an amused twinkle in her eye, she stopped Tal and handed him a freshly pressed dress robe.

“Master Dankard wanted me to remind you not to be late for your Service duty. Remember that you must serve with the dignity and honor of the Scribe class.”

“Of course Mother, I will make you proud, I promise.” Tal kissed her on the check and then tore of down the hall towards his room.

He could hear his Mother bellowing after him. “And don’t you leave those robes lying on the floor. Do you hear? Hang them up for use later. I may be laundry Mistress but I am not your servant you know!”

Even the added pressure couldn’t stop the text Tal had been meditating over all day from echoing through his mind.  It seemed like he could almost hear the LIGHT GIVER saying, “Ask me, Tal. Let me show you great and wondrous things.”

After a quick wash and a not so quick changing of robes, Tal made himself presentable for the service he was to render. He headed back down to the main level and into the kitchen to find the head cupbearer and receive his instructions. Grabbing the golden serving tray reserved for use by the Chief Illuminator, Tal carefully arranged the plates and bowls filled with the meal’s first course. 

The dining room, the second largest main floor room, was to the left of the kitchen. The Chief Illuminator’s table, directly before the entrance to the kitchen, was on a raised dais as was fitting for one of his status.  His elaborately carved chair was in the very center of the table with five chairs on either side.

Three of these, on either side, were occupied by the Chiefs from each sect of the Keepers. To the right were the Chief Confessor, Chief Scribe, and the Chief of the Acolytes.  To his left were the Chief Inquisitor, Captain of the Temple Guardians, and the Head Master Illuminator. The other chairs on either side were normally empty, reserved for honored guests invited to the meal.

Arranged in front of the dais toward the main entrance were six rows of tables. Each Sect had its own table where they would sit and break bread together. It was not forbidden, but highly frowned upon, to fellowship with the other sects before nightly vespers was over. This fostered a continuing learning atmosphere during meal times. Here one could ask their sect mates for help or clarification of the day‘s studies. 

Tal was so deep in thought that his serving actions were automatic and the sounds and smells of the meal were lost to him. All that kept running through his head was, “Is it possible? Was hearing from the LIGHT GIVER as easy as just asking?”

As he filled the Chief Illuminator‘s glass after serving the main course, Tal found himself requesting, “Chief Illuminator, may I ask you a personal question?” 

The Illuminator looked at him with surprise, and after giving him an assessing look, gave a brief nod of his head.

Tal leaned closer and whispered, “Does the LIGHT GIVER answer us when we ask him to show us things we don’t understand?”  The look Tal received was one of shock and outrage.

In a voice that carried around the hall, causing every head to turn and all conversation to cease, the Chief Illuminator said, “Who do you think you are? Are you my confessor? Are you an Illuminator? No! No, I didn’t think so!”

“You were tasked with the privilege of serving me, which makes you a lower level something.  Are you a junior confessor? No! How about a lower level inquisitor? Again, I can see from your face you are not. So tell me, what is your name, rank and classification?”

“My Lord, I am Tal, a Transcription Class Scribe,” Tal replied.

“Aren’t you young for a Transcription Class Scribe?  Wait, you said Tal was your name?”

Tal with a voice quaking with fear answered, “Yes, your Grace.”

“I have heard of you, our youngest Transcription Class Scribe. If you weren’t needed at the new chapel, I would suggest to Chief Scribe Truman you be returned to Novice class.”

Rising from his chair to tower over Tal, Chief Illuminator Hanapo thundered, “Let me explain to you, I will not answer your question for two reasons! First, this subject is one that can only come from the study of the Tainted Scrolls, which I can tell from your face you are well aware of!”

“The fact you still decided to ask it tells me that you are dangerously close to going down the path of darkness! You are not old enough to have studied those scrolls, so where did you hear this blasphemous topic?”

Tal whispered around the lump of fear and doom in his throat, “I am not sure but it has been burning within me all day.”

With a look of disgust and unbelief, Hanapo continued, “Second, even if it wasn’t down the path to darkness, you are not a member of the Illuminator class, so you do not have the maturity to handle the answer.” 

“To save your soul and bring you back to the path of light, I am remanding you to the inquisitors. They will escort you to the catacomb Meditation chamber. There you will spend three hours of contemplation in the effects of the darkness and allowing the heresy of the tainted scrolls to occupy your thoughts.”

“Sit and think about your blasphemous direction, contemplate why you would imperil your soul by withholding where this teaching came to you from. At the end of three hours, I will send my personal Confessor to hear your confession, as well as the name of who has been instructing you in the tainted scrolls.  After your confession, he will bring you back to the path of light with absolution.”  

Then with a snap of his finger, two temple guardians appeared and grabbed Tal. Dragging him from the dinning hall, they headed towards a waiting Inquisitor with the key to the catacombs. None too gently, the guards took their young charge into the lowest depths of the Temple.