All
that defiles comes from within.
Menander
Fragments No. 540
Prologue
A Perfect Society
The sword
was born centuries ago. Its blade crafted out of the finest steel
from the North. The handle was pried from the ivory tusks of giant
elephants from the Dark Continent to the south. Upon its annexation,
the sword decapitated eleven soothsayers and a prophet by order of
Ishmael, King of the lands of Norway. The soothsayers hailed from
the Middle East and were chosen because of their conflicting beliefs.
They were the disciples of the prophet who claimed that paganism was
ending and that one god shall rule all. Finally, high priests from
Gaul were summoned to bless this relic with their mystical rune
stones. The fructification was now complete.
The sword, dubbed the Sword of Omens, would now
make its way to the great palace of Ishmael. The birth of such a
sword came at the suggestion of ancient legends of a sword that could
preempt fate and do its wielder’s bidding. Whoever would use the
sword would be unstoppable. However, with such a great
responsibility would come the need for extensive caution, for if
anybody should ever abuse this blade, he would surely suffer dire
consequences. Ishmael understood this, and it is with such
understanding that he quested for a perfect society.
Ishmael’s
Solution
Order was
the flavor that Ishmael craved; it was also the cause of his
downfall, for it tasted bitter to his subjects. Ishmael dreamed of a
flawless utopia. He dreamed of a society that presented zero
conflict, zero hatred, and zero want. To do so, Ishmael passed a
doctrine that would come to be affectionately called the Solution.
The doctrine called for all Christians and others
that went astray of traditional Norse beliefs to be hanged until
their deaths. It also ordered the extermination of all nonproductive
citizens, men that did not hunt, farm or fight. Most people stood
idly by and watched as their neighbors, even their friends and family
were taken away to what the Thing called “home”. The Thing was
an assembly of chieftains and village leaders that represented the
people, their decisions were approved by the King. Deep inside they
knew it was wrong, but they feared that if they spoke against such
atrocities, they themselves would be deemed nonproductive, or worse,
a nonbeliever. Ishmael had his desired effect; however, the citizens
of his kingdom were at an uneasy peace with one another, for they
were concerned that if they wronged someone, he might one day be
unjustly accused of being one of the damned.
On the
surface, it appears that a fearful community is a controlled peaceful
entity. But at its core, it is a volcano ready to erupt. How long
could the people stand having their liberties taken away so they can
have a paternal figure claim that they are safe, that they are pure?
Revolution
After
years under Ishmael’s repressive regime, a precious but powerful
few came together in clandestine meetings. A tight knit group of
common men, mostly farmers and fishermen, gathered periodically to
discuss the times of freedom. They felt that freedom was more
important than security and that it would be necessary to take it
back. They knew that Ishmael would continually wage war on other
Viking kingdoms as well as the Christians and Muslims until he ruled
an empire so vast that there were no borders. Of the men who dared
to oppose Ishmael, one rose above the rest. This man, Ganesh, was a
wealthy man that benefited from Ishmael’s laws, but he saw what was
being done. It was wrong and Ganesh was willing to give up his
comfortable lifestyle to do the right thing. The others respected
Ganesh for this and would look to him for leadership.
Their word spread
quickly behind the funding of Ganesh, he bought weapons for those who
would follow. He bought slaves and set them free if they would fight
by his side. The Freedom Clan, as they were so dubbed, would destroy
the homes of chieftains and assassinate members of the Thing and
allies of Ishmael. Though no innocent lives were ever taken, Ishmael
spread the word that the Freedom Clan was nothing but lowly
terrorists. This strategy did not work however, as the Freedom
Clan’s propaganda spread across the land and grew greatly in
popularity. Ishmael was never able to track down Ganesh and his
followers, for they were constantly moving and stayed in small groups
so as not to be defeated in large epic battle. After years of
struggle, the movement for reform was so large, that an army was
formed in the name of freedom. This army challenged the royal guard
in a war that lasted but a couple of years. The Freedom Clan began
to diminish in size as their soldiers began to die off or dessert.
Desperate, they would have one final attack on the palace of Ishmael,
all or nothing. The Freedom Clan would either take their liberty, or
have their lives taken.
Preparation
In anticipation of a final, massive attack, Ishmael
summoned Ash, the legendary beast of the ancient order of Draco. It
was said that Ash was the last surviving dragon, the most ferocious beast
ever known. While despised by mankind for centuries, wise men
realized that the dragon were an honorable group.
Ash was reluctant to come, but his intuition
convinced him that no harm would be done to him that day. Ash
arrived at the palace promptly, and for the first time in well over a
hundred years, he spoke with a man. This was a historical event, man
and beast meeting in a civil manner, as equals. Ishmael presented
Ash with a mission that he accepted with a cautious reservation. The
mission was to protect the sacred sword from the imminent invasion.
No matter what, Ash was to keep the sword safe. When Ash inquired as
to why Ishmael chose not to fight the battle with the Sword of Omens,
Ishmael said simply that he decided to retire the sword and to allow
fate to decide the victor. Ash was stunned. He now had much respect
for Ishmael, the feeling was mutual.
Victory
While the army that
Ganesh commanded was not large in numbers, they were large in heart.
The underestimated band of guerrillas fought their way though the
supposed impenetrable fortress and worked their way into the castle.
Ishmael realized that there was no hope and turned to Ash for help
and said, “When I fall, your mission will not yet be complete. You
must take the Sword of Omens and hide. Take all of my riches as
well. The new regime would surely abuse both,” sensing Ash’s
usual resistance Ishmael reassured him, “It is for the good of
Midgard. We must not let the pigs destroy our world. I implore you
to do so. Please.”
Ash responded
dutifully, “Your kind has not been amiable to mine, but I
appreciate your predicament. I will do this, I swear your legacy may
become scarred, but your sword will always be safe.”
“Now be off,”
replied Ishmael, “You haven’t much time. But beware; my
soothsayers have prophesied a godchild. The son of Ganesh shall be
powerful. He will be sent to retrieve the sword and bring ruin to
all I have created.”
“Midgard shall
surely miss your leadership,” and with that Ash took the sword and
headed off to the vault where he saw that all of Ishmael’s wealth
had already been packaged inside of a giant bag. Ishmael had
prepared for the worst and in so doing, he was wise.
It was not long before
the door of the king’s chambers was knocked down. Ganesh came
charging in and saw his target. He knew that since Ishmael was many
years his senior that he would not put up much of a fight, so Ganesh
acted quite arrogant. While removing breastplate Ganesh said to
Ishmael, “The time has come for you to pay for your atrocities. I
will be kind to you, however, in that I will give you a rather swift
and painless death, but I will only grant you mercy if you apologize
for the calamity you have brought to your own people.”
Ishmael was insulted
at such an offering. He wanted to die an honorable death, so he
simply spat into the face of his executioner. To this, Ganesh took
obvious offense. “Damn you!” said Ganesh irritatively, “your
death shall not be so swift.” Ganesh took out a short blade from
his belt and pressed it into Ishmael’s gut; he then pulled the
blade all the way across the stomach of the dying king. Holding
Ishmael close to his body, Ganesh laid him down his gut open and
blood spilling out upon the ground slowly and stood watching his
work.
Opening his eyes one final time, Ishmael let a
curse come out of his fading breath, “May the greatest evil plague
your family.” And with his last words came a final, pathetic gasp
as his eyes rolled back and he passed on to Niflheim. Ganesh bent
over his trophy and closed Ishmael’s eyelids. Upon this sign of
respect, he heard celebration coming from within the castle. His men
came in to congratulate him on his victory. Ganesh realized what had
been done and he smiled.
“Valla!” screamed
Ganesh, “where is my faithful friend, Valla?”
A large man with
massive armor entered the room and with tears of happiness strolling
down his cheek, he laughed. The two men shared a hug and the rest of
the men came and joined in the embrace. Ganesh whispered into
Valla’s ear, “But where is the Sword of Omens”?
“Do
not worry; our men have reported seeing a dragon flying away with it,
damned beasts! I am sure the beast will destroy the precious blade,”
replied Valla confidently.
There
was obviously some uneasy peace, but it didn’t matter because
victory was theirs.
Reign
of Ganesh
Ganesh was now king, but he vowed that he would not rule the way that Ishmael did. Ganesh would be fair and never discriminate against his subjects, and he promised to hear everybody and not persecute opposing voices. The new king truly believed that a kind king could rule the land effectively. As a token of his intentions, Ganesh did not arrest the old guard and execute them, but rather, he gave them a large plot of land to call their own in the North. There, they could live without worry of retaliation from bitter peasants. This was not a popular move, but he felt that the formerly hostile rulers would one day join Ganesh and form a great bond. Valla, whom Ganesh made General, warned against such a move but Ganesh insisted upon it citing that justice can be cloaked at times.
True
Love
Kallima
was
the daughter of a reindeer hunter. One day, she was in the local
market trading furs for potatoes for that evening’s dinner.
Unknown to her, Ganesh was in the market on routine business when,
to his surprise, he spotted the most beautiful living being that ever
walked the face of Midgard. His heart stopped beating and his breath
halted. The world stopped its spin while the oceans quit waving.
Birds stopped singing and wind ceased to blow. For that one moment
of discovery, nothing else mattered. Ganesh gathered his composure
and approached her. She looked at him half afraid, half elated.
Kallima knew who he was, and somehow, she knew what he wanted.
Ganesh took her hand and proposed to her without ever speaking to her
or even knowing who she was. Kallima accepted his overture, and then
they were wed. She was bought from her father for 2 goats and a plot
of arable land.
On
the evening of their honeymoon, they conceived their first child; a
beautiful boy named Strom. Three years later, they would give life
to another boy, Crom. Crom’s arrival was not so joyous, however,
because Kallima died during the delivery. Crom was a weak baby, he
was not expected to survive past the first night, but he did. It is
at this that Ganesh saw that his second born son was a fighter, he
had heart. He knew that in Kallima’s death, came the life of a boy
with a great future. Ganesh swore on Kallima’s grave that she
would not have died without reason, that Crom would be the greatest
man to live. It is with these expectations that he had for himself,
as a father that he could not bare to fail. Even though love came
too easily for Ganesh, it would, ultimately be the very thing to
bring him down. He loved his freedom, he loved his people, he loved
his wife, he loved his sons, and he loved the idea of a perfect man.
Ganesh would never let anything get in the way of these very things
he loved. After the death of Kallima, Ganesh’s public policy
changed. The policy reflected his hopes for Crom. Laws became very
stringent, and unfair. Not only did his domestic laws change, Ganesh
also found it necessary to expand his borders to the south and to the
west, to do this, war with other Viking kingdoms was required.
Ganesh was pursuing what Ishmael had before him, but he did not see
this. It was his dream for Crom to inherit a perfect society.
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