Thomas Daal, Hero of Light stared over the burnt city of Montrello, about fifty leagues up the coast from Istan. It had once been one of the most modern cities around. It had begun with magically sliding plates that were generally improved until the whole city had easy to use public transportation and shipping. The people of Montrello worked with Mages and Ritual Magicians the world round to develop and test new means of transport that were then sold and produced in other cities, but nowhere was there so much open innovation as Montrello. Or at least there had been. Followers of Istania, Theadus, Zon, Rokke, and Halspus had made this place an independent wonderland full of new ideas. And now....

  Now this wonderful place of progress was nothing but a hollow shell. With his keen sight given to him by his now Mastered 'Hero's Senses' Thomas was able to pick out the stray limb or odd piece of clothing of those buried in ruined buildings. Similarly his nose was filled with the stench of burning and rotting dead. Efforts were being made by the few townsfolk who remained, but the army had long since moved on to Istan after the first attempts to take the capital had gone so poorly.

  Thomas's heart ached. He felt betrayed by the God who had by his own words picked Thomas solely for his ideals and his artist's heart. This was nothing Thomas would ever want to paint, but the image of this place would stay forever in his mind. He braced himself against the wooden railing of the camp lookout tower feeling weak as his faith in his god wavered.

  “Why my Lord? Why this? Why were you so desperate?” He wondered aloud.

  Commander Volkstead joined Thomas at the railing. He was a tall man, graying and wrinkled early in his years giving him a fragile appearance that was anything but true. He had doffed his helm some time ago and it hung on his belt by its straps near his sword and shield. The Commander was a lifelong Militiaman who had personally seen more patrol hours that any commanding officer Thomas had ever met. He was relatable and of common birth, but the men respected his word the moment they knew his name if they did recognize him at a sight.

  “It is hard to tell Thomas. We must have faith that Theadus had reason enough for these dire actions to be taken. I've had a look through the reports and this place is probably the worst of it. Word spread from here and people surrendered instead of fighting as they did here. That or they fled.” The Commander replied including his review of current reports into the conversation. Thomas felt the man's unease and worry with his high Insight attribute.

  “So they drew a line here? Not only the followers of Istania, but men of our own faith and that of the other gods?” Thomas asked soberly.

  “Yes Thomas. They fought to the bitter end for their ideals. It took some digging, but several of the men in the lower offices hid reports of the truth. They fought back, but only to defend the city. As the orders were to secure Montrello as quickly as possible and move to aid the main assault on the capital city it was the army that pressed. There was no counterattack made by the people of the city. They were crushed by heavy mage and ritual craft with no thought to loss of life. The surrounding villages were treated just as badly or worse. Officers were told to suspect any follower of Istania for corruption or possession after the temple was raided and that was all the more veteran and zealous soldiers needed to start killing them in mass.” Volkstead answered in a steady voice.

  Thomas hung his head.

  “Any troop who didn't come with us from the capital is dismissed. Send them home. Begin...begin recovery efforts. Food, water, building supplies and shelter for those displaced by the fighting.” Thomas ordered.

  “Yes sir. I've already ordered as much to my officers. You'll see those men moving back onto the ships in the morning.”

  Thomas nodded and then eyed the Commander.

  “What's wrong Steven?” Thomas asked. He didn't know the man very well, but knew he was kind hearted.

  “The reports Thomas...” Volkstead replied as if it were being dragged from him. “I was looking for any report of my niece's return in addition to what you asked of me. She held the rank of Priestess and had command of a militia unit near Istan. I had been hoping to locate her.”

  “What was her name?” Thomas asked.

  “Clarissa Volkstead. My younger brother's eldest girl. She's got a good head on her shoulders.”

  “I will keep an eye and ear open for her.” Thomas assured the man. Just that was enough to give the man a little more ease in his shoulders and more clearly to Thomas's Insight.

  “Please if you would Commander see to the men. I have much to think about in how we proceed from here if there is to be any hope of restoring Theadus's relationship with the other Gods.” Thomas said. It was a good enough excuse to have the man politely bowing and heading back down the ladder in moments.

  Thomas sighed and fished a hand into his bag. Sure in the knowledge that he was away from prying eyes to see he pulled out the book Lyrica had hidden for him. It was the first time he had since leaving the capital. The first thing Thomas noticed inside was copies of the collective reports detailing the efforts of his team protesting the gathering and arming of military forces against an allied nation. Each was worded quite strongly and each seemed to have an equally well worded reply by none other than Light Bearer Daybreak himself.

  He had threatened each one of them with the charge of Treason against the Empire just for questioning the Gods actions in the Hero's absence. Thomas had to wonder if his God had even been allowed to see the letters. Surely Lyrica, who Thomas had spoken so highly of so many times to his Lord, would have made an impression. Her idea to personally search for whatever matter had Theadus so on edge was exactly what Thomas would have suggested too.

  As the Hero of Light it was his duty to do so. He would have gone forth and bore the hate of the entire church of Istania to clear or condemn them even if the effort put his life in danger. That was the kind of faith Thomas once held in his God. And now...and now he wasn't sure of anything.

  The people looked upon him with fear in their eyes. They saw Theadus's armies and the hammer in his right hand when they looked upon Thomas. Thomas would be their shield, and lantern against the night, but his Lords actions had made the people more afraid of the light now than the shadow. It made his stomach turn. He had at least done some good so far.

  It had taken something out of the Hero that no potion or magic spell could cure, but he had faced down some of that fear and hate already. It would only get harder to keep smiling as he tried to undo the damage, and more than ever he found himself wishing for the guidance of the very Goddess Theadus had killed. It left his mind running in circles. He could never find the answers to why things had happened this way; even when approaching the God himself, and the Light Bearers like Lord Twilight who was more sympathetic to Thomas's way of thinking.

  Thomas turned through the pages until he passed through the index and went onto skimming the meat of the hardy tome Lyrica had left him. It was packed with notes and journal entries, sources, and references so he went slowly so as to not lose any of the sheets to the wind. The book itself was originally some kind of instructional guide to high grade sealing and purification magic. Thomas knew enough of ritual work to put together some of it, but much of it was over his head in that it dealt with effects he didn't know existed. Once he picked that up he doubled back to the first pages for a real read.

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  A note in the first page held a tingling sense of magic and a strange hand that stuck out to Thomas's eyes and mystic senses.

  “Read carefully and learn well my daughter. The time may come when you, like many before you, are called to seal the forbidden tomes and prepare our nations against a greater threat than monsters in dungeons or raiders from the sea. -H”

  Thomas blinked at that and moved onto the first page. The introduction went over the various ways to detect corruption in various forms, active, and inactive corruption forms, and some basics in handling blood and material that may have been tainted. 'Tainted in what?' Thomas had to ask.

  He got his answer on the next page.

  “The First Purification Ritual: Consecration through Fire and Ash.”

  Using flowery old terms and phrases the book entailed the knowledge passed down by the first tribes to walk Ballenlight. It told of the ancient practice of burning all the bodies of the fallen so that the Undead might be denied another corpse to rise to their side. Thomas had known of the Undead, but had never thought to how or when they had been contained within the dimensional seals of the various Tomb Dungeons known to the world. He skipped to the next page ignoring various notes on other types of corruption that could be cleansed with pure, magical fires.

  “The Second Purification Ritual: Consecration through Running Water.”

  This ritual entailed how wonders of the natural world, rivers and streams, could be used against certain magically potent entities and creatures. It even included a basic ritual to summon rain to aid the caster in banishing a spirit from the realm of the living. The tome explained it in a great many words, but as Thomas read he came to understand that 'Rogue Spirits' could not cross running water, and could be destroyed by being forced into streams or caught out in the rain. A note was attached to this page as well written in Lyrica's hand. It read:

  “Natural rain will wash away all forms of corruption as long as the rain comes from another area that is pure. We are fortunate in living in a large archipelago for this reason. The heavy rainfall has carried away much of the corruption that would have otherwise grown thick, and the seas have long acted as impermeable borders other corruption that may exist in the world.”

  Thomas flipped to the next page and read.

  “The Third Purification Ritual: Salt”

  This entry went on about how to shield a home from spiritual invasion and how to contain a spirit using simple salt. It seemed that the purer the better, but it was a curious inclusion to Thomas's mind. He read through it and moved on.

  “The Fourth Purification Ritual: Iron”

  Like Salt before this entry detailed how certain strange creatures could not stand the touch or presence of iron. Much like the entry on water before it seemed these creatures while normally deadly could be easily destroyed with Iron. Thomas began to understand now. He had fought creatures such as the Undead who had a known Bane to Divine, Light, and Fire magic. The first ritual as it had been called by the book simply detailed humanity's first records at using that bane to effect. This entry about iron seemed much the same though he had seen little of the creatures described to have this bane.

  He skipped ahead going through countless entries of banes including one for Silver weapons. That was interesting, but none of these pages contained notes from 'H', Halspus herself, or were written in Lyrica's flowing hand. He went on until he found one included with a loose page of notes.

  “The Purification of Flesh and Blood: Demonic Corruption” It read.

  Thomas stared at it. He was startled as far as he knew Demons could not be readily summoned into the world of Ballenlight. It was something he had been learning before all of this happened as it seemed the war in the south was against a people that could in fact deal and entreat with certain demonic entities. Strange illnesses had arisen that affected not only the flesh, but the mind and spirit in strange ways. Nightmares one could not wake from were the most common, but there were also much worse afflictions that had appeared from wounds made by cursed blades or strange magics of the strange island folk.

  A loose page of notes was written in a strange hand, and the page and ink looked old. It was held there with a clip of others however and seemed to belong. Thomas turned his gaze to this note.

  “Begin first by washing the body in clean water. Lightly soap and salt the water. Light prayer or purifying incense made of the Celesbar Tree's bark. The inner scrapings are the most potent, but simply burning the bark itself will do in a pinch. In a square or circle around the patient light matching lanterns or torches so that they are surrounded and speak to them of what they most wish to be in the depths of their heart. It's most important that they wish to be pure. If the night clouds allow in the light of the moon to touch the flames of the lanterns.

  Next call to the Pathfinders and pray that they might spare a flame to consume the corruption within the soul. You will know you have succeeded when one or more of the lanterns' flames turns the blue gray of the moon. Do this each night until they come, or better yet send for me. -Istania

  Her notes included a diagram of the ritual itself, and how to shed the light of the moon properly with each phase of the moon. Her instruction varied largely from the torturous bloodletting practice detailed within the pages of the book itself. The various small and smeared notes in the diagram written by Istania the process seemed to suggest the new method worked much more than the older method. He read on until the next subject change came.

  “Exercising a Possession.” Came next, then “Cleansing a Corrupted Shrine.” And “Cleansing a Demonic Idol.” Then on to “Capturing a Demon in a Shrine or Idol”. And on and on. The reading included references to old folk tales, tribal stories, and ancient practices even including dances and warding rituals to keep away or put certain 'evil spirits' to rest that hadn't yet changed wholly into demons on their own. Thomas didn't know what to think of it, but Lyrica had said he would need it. Something seemed to click in his head and he found himself putting the book away carefully. He stared down into the camp where Light Bearer Daybreak's Eldest Son had held command of the army. Thomas could feel the man's frustration from where he was up in the tower, but that didn't stop him.

  Thomas jumped from the fifty foot tall tower to the ground as one might jump down from a wagon startling several soldiers nearby. Thomas bid them a polite apology with a bow of his head and brief gesture of the hand as he strode toward the tent. Inside a guard challenged him, but found that the Hero's hand was quite the force to try to speak through. He burbled something probably very indignant as Thomas went inside.

  Melbar Daybreak was pacing behind his desk in a fancy scarlet coat with coat trim, and his tent was lit by more than twenty gilded lanterns. He put on a mask of control upon the Hero's entrance, only cracking slightly as Thomas came inside with his bodyguard's face under his hand, but welcomed him to sit with an off handed gesture.

  Thomas released the guard and simply stood before the desk of the camp Commander.

  “Yes my Lord Hero?” Melbar asked, his voice just barely hiding the contempt from his face that was so visible to Thomas's insight.

  “Have you found anything to justify your crimes here Commander?” Thomas asked outright.

  Melbar sneered at him openly.

  “I answer to my father Light Bringer Daybreak and Lord Theadus Hero. What I have is orders to--”

  Thomas cut him off with a sharp wave of his hand.

  “Have you found evidence of corruption within the Temple of Istania? As I understand it was the last hold out and refuge for the forces that set against you here. Did you find anything of use? Did they use anything of corruption in their last defense of their lives? Something that might clear our Lord of the Charges the other gods might put against him?” Thomas asked, his voice serious and gruff. Melbar was potent only by the vastly powerful title jobs that had been given him. He had no Militia Job leveled to a high degree, or even the Scholar or Student of Tactics job under his belt. Everything he knew and did was provided by his advisors, each picked and trained sycophants in their own rights. They would do anything for the Light Bearer's good will.

  Melbar hesitated.

  Thomas pointed a finger at him, and Melbar nearly jumped like Thomas had drawn his sword.

  “You have. I will see it now.” Thomas commanded.

  “You have no right. It is secured and will stay so until it is returned to my Lord Father.” Melbar said, trying his best to puff out his chest and stand taller. It really was a pathetic attempt at bravado. Thomas made no game of playing people around by their size or stature, but there was something about Melbar that always made him seem smaller than he really was. Was that why he always took strange stances and tried to lord himself above everyone all the time? Was it some kind of mental sickness? Thomas let out a violent sigh for himself and the man at any rate.

  “You will show me or I will rip your tent and hide apart until I find it.”

  Hours later Thomas closed his eyes at his desk in his own tent on the other side of camp. He set down the book that seemed for all intents and purposes to have been made solely from human skin. His stomach rolled with unease. His mind fought with images of the kind Goddess and what he had just witnessed in the pages of this book.

  He had to ask why in the name of the Light she would order something like this kept away and sealed? There was no purpose to something so vile and repugnant was there? Halspus, the Goddess of Magic and Learning always frowned on the destruction of books and knowledge, but surely this article could have been long ago seen from this world. Thomas looked at the low fire in the center of his tent that would do nicely for such a parting. He was sure Lyrica's book had explained that most any corruption could be wholly destroyed if committed to a pure and proper fire.

  As much as he didn't like it he had proof now. Some little proof, but it would surely grow. Commander Melbar had hidden away other secret reports meant for his father that detailed other temples holding Grimoires and books such as what Thomas held now. He thought knowing for sure would settle things in his mind, but it only brought more questions to mind; most of them starting with a loud and clear 'Why'.