PreviousIn accordance with the covenant grant grant Eve the Rabbit's Blessing of speed and awareness.
Already have that.
im more in favor of keeping eve free from sickness and infection.
I mean sure we already would probably do that anyways but having it as part of a covenant should make it easier on us. and if we give her a pendant to use to spread the faith, she is technically giving more than we are. (cuts of hair, AND taking time out of her day to preach)
so keeping eve from getting sick is fairer, because sickness and infection is probably going to be an issue in the wars, and since she wants eve home safe one day, this is likely to be more favorable.
also consider what happens when the other soldiers notice eve never gets sick. we might get new converts because they see that we are willing to grant protection.
+1
Also send a messege to Eve recognizing her strength and ambition. As well as inform her of her mothers covenant as well as her new boon. We expect nothing but greatness from her.
+1
instead of giving her mom a blessed object wouldn't it be easier to just bless her?
You accept the covenant and the hair vanishes. You take a risk and expend some of your power to speak to her.
"MORTAL, MOTHER OF THE CHOSEN, HEED MY WORDS. I SHALL KEEP THY CHILD FROM SICKNESS, AND FREE HER FROM DISEASE. I SHALL MAKE THY HAIR SHINING, AS THE WHITE DOE'S HAIR SHINES. AND IT SHALL BE A SIGN OF THE COVENANT BETWEEN I AND THOU. BUT DO NOT CUT OF IT UNTIL THE FIFTH DAY OF THE FOURTH MONTH. FOR THE OTHER MEN SHALL WONDER AND THEIR WIVES BE TAKEN WITH ENVY. THEY SHALL ASK THEE FOR A LOCK, BUT DO NOT GIVE IT. TELL TO THEM MY NAME AND LET THEM KNOW MY WONDERS. AND DO NOT RELENT ON THY VOWS OR TURN BACK. THEN I SHALL BLESS THEE AND THY DAUGHTER AND MAKE THEE GREAT."
She comes near to fainting after this message but by will, keeps consciousness. She prays to you again and tells you she will keep the vows with diligence. In response you expend a bit more power and her hair grows back to half its former length, no longer black or graying but a brilliant white - the white of snow and rain-less clouds. You leave her astonished at the fulfillment of your promise and return to Eve.
Just as you arrive, Eve and the other soldiers arrive at the fort. It is a wooden, walled structure built into and over a hill. There are several watchtowers outside the walls and one large one in the center of the fort. Behind the wooden walls, are small thatch huts and larger wooden barracks. Eve and the rest of the recruits are led into one of these barracks. There are stiff wooden cots. Logs of light fall through the round windows and meet at the floor. The captain and the squad leaders leave. And the recruits are left to rest and get settled. Lunch is later and training begins at noon.
Eve takes the bed closest to the bathroom.
"What're you think they gonna teach us Abel?" Eve doesn't respond at first, forgetting her alias. Then she turns to face Gezaru, a fellow recruit. He is short like a child, and he is younger than Eve by two years. His limbs are long and thin and his head a bit too large for his neck. Eve turns back to her bed.
"I don't know"
"I'm scared. Look at my hand, Abel, its shaking!"
"Mmm"
"You aren't looking, Abel. Look!"
"You'll be fine Gezaru."
"Really? I don't know. I mean, my father and his father and even his father were all great warriors, you know?" He does a mock sword lunge. "Of course they all died in battle. But they were great, all of them. I don't if I can...you know...you know?"
"You'll be fine." Eve finishes laying the bedroll on the cot and begins to pick off bits of dust and lint.
"How 'bout you Abel? Got any warrior blood in you?"
"No."
"No? What, just farmer through and through?"
"Yes."
"Don't inspire much confidence do you?"
"He inspires more than you, toothpick" A taller, and (Eve notes with some embarrassment) more handsome recruit walks up and slings his arm around Gezaru's neck, playfully choking him.
"Getoffme Suha, you play too much."
"Come on Gez, let's see some of that warrior blood, is it red like the rest of ours?"
"Getoff!" Gezaru flails against Suha's grip, at first in vain, then his head shoots back and catches Suha on his nose. Suha falls back, tears streaming from his eyes and a line of blood falling to his lips.
"Shit! You alright Suha? I didn't mean to-" The rest of the recruits begin to cheer. Suha puts a up hand and waves Gezaru back.
"Ugh. Its fine. Its fine. But watch yourself Gezaru of the house of Madu, you may have three generations worth of war stories, but this Suha (he points to his chest) will have songs. They will sing songs about me." He looks up dramatically and the other recruits laugh. Eve doesn't laugh, but a smile breaks on her lips.
Later, after mealtime but before noon, Eve finds a chance to take a nap. You appear in her dream and give her images of the events regarding her mother. She wakes up in time for training, feeling a little homesick and guilty. She and the other soldiers are gathered into even ranks facing a short, muscular man with scars across his entire face and body. One of his eyes is covered with a piece of gauze which keeps coming loose, so that he has to stop and fix it every few minutes.
"I want to say something before we start." He paces back and forth through the ranks looking and sizing up each recruit. "Some of you have wives. Others, daughters. Some of you have mothers, still living. But all of you, each and every one, have a responsibility." He stops and fixes his gauze. "And what is that responsibility? Why are you here? You are here because those people are important to you and you must return to them. And some of you will return to them. And some of you won't. This is the way of the world. But, and mark me now, none of those people will be there to meet you, if we fail." The hand goes back to the gauze. Adjusts.
"The enemy is strong and merciless. The enemy is hungry and thirsty. Hungry for your land, thirsty for your rivers. Do you think they will spare your wives? Your daughters? Your mothers? I want you to remind yourself of this. Today. Tomorrow. Every day and every waking moment until every last one of them is lain longways below the ground." Adjust. Pause.
"I see many of you are farmers. War is not like farming. Your hands are used to planting and pulling out, sustaining and giving life. I will teach your hands to war. I will teach your hands to make bleed. I will teach your hands to destroy. I will teach your hands to take life. Are you afraid?" He stops next to Eve, in front of Gezaru and grabs his hands. You note that they are not shaking anymore. "But your hands are not afraid. Because they know who the enemy will spare, and who they will not spare." He stops again. Claps hand on eye. Then, "March!" and the soldiers begin to march.
The first few weeks are the hardest for Eve and the others. They aren't given any weapons or equipment. They are forced to walk in formation, think in unison. Their bones and muscles are forced into strength and resistance. And in their hearts, the fear of death and the fear of loss are sharpened and twisted into valor. Gezaru has it hardest, his small demeanor make him the frequent butt of the squad leader's insults. Yet, strength, ancestral or otherwise, sprouts in young Gezaru and he is not put down by harsh words. Suha, succeeds in almost everything he does, he is indefatigable and the strongest among the recruits. He is often given the hardest tasks and just as often takes them of his own accord. Eve does poorly on the exercises requiring brute force or endurance, but shows incredible prowess when it comes to agility, flexibility, reflex and sight. Even Suha cannot match her in a footrace.
On the fourth week equipment is handed out according to each person's aptitude. Eve is given a bronze short sword and a short bow and quiver of arrows. Her unnatural powers of observation and keen eyesight does not go unnoticed and she is assigned for further training as a scout. Gezaru, to everyone's surprise (most of all his own) is assigned as squad leader. Suha is assigned to be Gezaru's lieutenant and sub-squad leader, much to his own chagrin. Talk of his "peasant birth" begins to spread throughout the ranks, until Gezaru personally reprimands the recruits for spreading rumors. Whatever enmity may have existed between Gezaru and Suha was dissolved and they regarded each other as friends.
From the fifth week onwards, Eve is separated from the rest of her company as she learns to ride, hide her presence, live off of the land, read military formations, spot high value targets, intercept or disrupt enemy communications, shoot a bow, swing a sword, and even to speak, read and write in several different languages. In a period of 12 weeks, she is fully transformed. Her high performance on all tasks (except for the languages, in which case, she was unable to get rid of her accent) allows her to lead a scouting party of her own, a company of five men, including herself.
Eventually, orders to reinforce the front arrive at the fort and the soldiers, still fresh but now fully trained, march into war. In all this time, you keep a ready eye on Eve, assisting her whenever possible in small ways, ensuring her privacy so that she is never caught and assuring her success in all she attempts. She will ride with Gezaru's company as an auxiliary force, providing him with eyes and ears on the battlefield. She is happy with this outcome, to be among those she knows and, you sense, loves.
Meanwhile, at home, Eve's mother is able to start a small congregation, consisting of waiting mothers, daughters and wives, most them part of the old village. They meet every week at her home to pray. They have also taken her vow, to ensure the safety of their own sons, fathers and husbands. And when the time comes they fulfill this vow with her.
MP Up! Eligible for new powers! Several of them go around the village preaching your word, one of the most outspoken is the dissenter that once questioned Eve. Her boy, only 10 years of age, volunteered despite her pleas. The other villagers are not so entranced with these preachers. But you are too far away to sense their thoughts and plans.
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Topic: You Are a Minor God (Read 111821 times)