Item

The Path of Redemption

Book

In a dream, the Great Serpent visited upon me divine visions, commanding me to make five plaques etched with words to guide the faithful lest we become lax in our devotion.

When this work was done, another vision came to me, and in this way the Great Serpent made His will known. The plaques I had forged were to be placed at five sites chosen by Him, and the journey from each site to the next would be a path of redemption and contemplation, that those who had sinned might find absolution.

In accord with the first vision, I journeyed north from the city walls until I'd found the first ordained site. Here I placed my first plaque, and then I prayed for guidance. I lifted my eyes to the heavens and beheld a bright streak across the sky. A falling star had landed on a high peak just to the east, and I knew my next destination.

So guided, I set out eastward, with the city on my right. Along the ridge of the plateau I walked until my steps took me to a tower where lost souls listened to the howling winds. Before reaching the tower, I turned left and, putting the city at my back, descended to the valley floor and up the slope on the far side.

Upon reaching the summit, I placed the second plaque. I prayed again for long hours, awaiting a sign.

The sun was now rising, and when I looked once more into the sky, I spied a long, thin cloud. As I watched, this cloud twisted and coiled in the shape of a serpent, its head facing northwest.

The Great Serpent's will once again made clear to me, I clambered down to the floor of the canyon and turned northwest. I traveled along the path through the valley until I reached a roadside shrine near a small grove of trees and continued west along the path.

Beyond a place where power was taken from the depths, I turned northward along a trail with a mountain rising before me. As the valley widened, I could see a plateau to my left. I had to search around until I finally discovered a cleft in the rocky face that I could climb.

It was an arduous, winding path to the summit, but I was rewarded with a magnificent view. I placed my next plaque and once again knelt in prayer.

I was roused by a mighty gust of wind that stirred the loose earth, causing it to swirl upward into a whirling shape not unlike a pair of dancing snakes. The spinning dust began to move, and I followed.

I spied a path leading south across the top of the plateau with the city before me. Following this, I began descending from the plateau near some water tanks and pumping equipment. Far to the west and south, I could see a high peak that I knew must be the Serpent's chosen place for my next plaque.

I descended into the misty canyons and pressed on, ever west and south, past a place where machines, the purpose of which I did not know, whirred and hummed behind a tall metal fence. Just beyond this was a path that tracked southwest along a widening valley toward a cathedral of stone arches above.

As I went leftward following the path around the arched stones, I continued upward. Soon the trail forked and I followed the left branch ever upward. I passed smaller obelisks of worship on my way toward the summit.

The climb was arduous, but the strength of the Serpent filled my heart and I finally reached the top.

After I had placed the next plaque, I was overcome by the fatigue of my journey, and I passed into slumber. The Great Serpent rewarded my labors with a magnificent dream. I saw great Wayshrines atop the mountains I had climbed, all glimmering with silver and gold.

The last of these was far to the south on a hill surrounded by square blocks of stone. I had not a shred of doubt that this was the place for my final plaque.

Rising from my rest, I tracked west along a treacherous mountain path that curved south and then east. Reaching the valley floor once again, I traveled southeast, trading the highlands for the gentler terrain of the foothills. My sore legs were glad of this.

Past a humble groat farm, past tall flat-topped rocks I walked on, keeping the city on my left as I remained on the valley floor trail. As I passed a set of windmills on my right, the landscape opened up and I spied my target ahead.

Continuing along the trail gently downward, I at last glimpsed great blocks of stone on a distant hilltop. By the Serpent's mercy, this climb was much easier than the shrines of the north and west.

When the last of the plaques was placed, I returned home and slept long, knowing I had done the Great Serpent's will.


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