Valadain’s Purification

The room is quiet…eerily so. Valadain stands inside a circle of symbols of Malkar, many taken from the temple itself, forming a powerful focus of the god’s energy. A private room within the temple of Gran Breton. The spirit of Malkar the White suffuses everything around; the air he breathes, the thoughts he has, the emptiness of meditative awareness.

Stillness.

Hours, perhaps days, pass and Valadain is only aware of the spirit of Malkar. In this state any anomaly becomes clear, the smallest sound amplified, the slightest movement becomes intensified. It is in this state that you feel a non-Malkarian presence…a spirit from elsewhere…a spirit without a soul, but not without power. It is within the circle of Malkar, yet it is anything but holy. It is raw power, stupefying in it’s intensity, limitless in it’s potential.

“Be calm, priest, I am here at the invitation of your god. I think Malkar the White tests me. I do not think your god trusts me…perhaps he is right to do so perhaps he is not. I am a projection, a spirit allowed to break free of the universal shackles, though a spirit with boundaries, a spirit with restrictions.

“My name is Eshynasa Saroshi and I am the youngest of the Glaennyn. I have been summoned here to help you, though it seems you need little of that from me…you seem to have the measure of the poisons within you. Your god was specific in what aid I could give…but he said nothing of what information I could pass on. The Glaennyn are literal creatures, you see Valadain, and your god said nothing about me helping you indirectly.

“So before you throw your power at these corruptions you should hear my words. Before you burn this vileness from your blood I have words from my master – the Lord of the Glaennyn. He bids you good fortune on your quest to free us all; he bids you the luck of dragons!

“Malkar has a surprise for you, Valadain Raikos. He has hidden your true purpose from everyone…including Willowstar. It is only the talented sorcerer Illiem Runesabre who knows your shadowy heritage…and it is that reason why he has poisoned you. There is a power he (and others like him) do not ever want you to reach – a spell they do not want you to cast. Necromancer, demonologist, all the creatures from the lower planes fear it…more importantly they fear you.

“The small farm in Glenbourne, Estallia was not your first home…and although the Dark Elven attack was not part of the plan it served Malkar well enough to steer you into his path. You see Malkar was a man long before he was a god…a man of unusual power, an enigma that did not quite fit into Grayhawkian society. He became a wanderer, a loner who trod the secret paths and hidden ways to gain his knowledge. During one of those treks he came upon your real parents…and came upon their savage brutality.

“It was Malkar the man that rescued you from those hideous inhuman parents…but I think your god should explain himself there. I will say just enough to furnish you with the knowledge of your ancestry…knowledge enough to understand the reasoning behind your current predicament. Your father had many children from many different women; children he sold to local necromancers and demonologists for sacrifice. Fresh virginal blood was always best and he made a fortune in his dark venture. But Malkar was incensed by what he saw in the dark valley where your father resided…so he took action. Swift, brutal, destructive action. He fought your father and the slavers and guards around him and slew every last one of them, liberating many children in the process.

“What he found made him despair. A series of crude caves where your father had many female slaves manacled to the walls, women of all races, women of child-bearing age. Pathetic, sorry-looking individuals, malnourished and only useful to your father as factories to produce his progeny. Malkar freed them all and wept for two days.

“It was only after two days that a woman in a brilliant white gown found him, found him clutching a small baby to his breast, the baby’s face moist with Malkar’s tears. The woman touched him gently on the cheek and his sadness disappeared. She also touched the baby and smiled. You are a rare man, Malkar she said a man blessed for greater things…a man with a higher purpose. What I have seen has touched my heart and I, in return, will touch your soul. You are blessed, Malkar…and so is this fragile child you have rescued.

“You were that child in the arms of Malkar that day. When the white woman left Malkar he was suffused with a higher calling…a calling that would eventually lead to his ascension. He took you to Glenbourne, Estallia, where you were adopted by a kind Estallian family.

“But there is more. I have not told you the identity of your true father. Malkar has forbidden me…but I am allowed to tell you this: the man was evil beyond belief, evil and shrewd and dangerous. Some of the children were not just sold for sacrifice…some found their way into the studies of the sorcerers they were supposed to die for. A handful became useful to these sorcerers and one in particular showed himself to be more talented than most. Your half brother became a necromancer…the same half brother who poisoned you…Illiem Runesabre.

“I will leave you to your thoughts, Valadain Raikos, I hope sincerely that you and I meet soul to soul – I think we could become friends. Let me show you how the Glaennyn would deal with such corruption…”

The spirit enters your body like an elemental. You shudder at the severe cold that grips your body…you struggle for breath but none will come. A sudden burst of heat fills you…every vein, artery and capillary tingles with welcome warmth. As the young Glaennyn leaves the temple you feel he has taken all the impurities with him.

You are cleansed…

You are Valadain once more…not the puppet of others…