------------- College Days – The Faithful and the Faithless

There is no Arrallonian that would dare deny the Gods. They exist. They have appeared to us, saved us, killed us, damned us, and resurrected us. Their priests and paladins are everywhere. The divine power of the Gods can be seen in miracles of true faith every day. To us, the faithless are not those who do not believe, for belief on Arrallon is irrelevant. The Faithless are those who chose not to submit, those who will stand on their own despite the reality of the Gods. They are either the bravest of us, or the most foolish.

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When Saernimil Nightingale came to Ellindimyr, it was as one of the early pilgrims come to hear the word of Irendiel, the Light of Corellon. She dared not hope to become an acolyte of the Seldarine, and never dreamed she would end up studying divinity at Kar’Dhaer. But her natural talents were undeniable and her faith would lead her to become a Militant Cleric. When Squire Barret Leighton left the Church of Bahamut in Carellon to travel to Kar’Dhaer, it was not to study under Dragonmasters, but to learn from the legendary Demonhunter, Hercanos Corthelian. There had been a dark stain on his life, the death of his mother and father at the hands of heinous undead. His faith in Bahamut never wavering, Paladine might be his path, but Demonhunter was his destination. When Aegiea Valloria left the Symballan desert for the newly established city state of Syvasgaard, she had no real plans other than to hone her fighting skills with the best warriors on the continent. Her faith in the Gods had never been strong, for she saw only the manipulations of man that had led to that horrid war. When Zorderf Fritzgrabben slinked out of the swamps of the Khang Empire, it was clear he was more than his Kobold kin. He was smarter, faster, bolder than the rest. The saurian magic that lay dormant in most of his brethren had surfaced in him. He despised the Gods, for they wanted and wanted and gave nothing back, and he wanted it all for himself.

Saernimil and Squire Barret had met in classes, and though they playfully debated their Gods’ supremacy, there had always been an alliance between elf and dragon. Their rivalry soon became a solid friendship. Aegiea had fought them both on the training mats, and though she detested their piety, she respected their fighting skills. Saernimil was turning into a decent Shield-maiden in her own right, and there was no denying Barret’s handsome qualities. The three found themselves in the same armory one day in Draknan-Gar, when a runt lizard entered the store and was almost thrown out for some misunderstanding. Barret, being a natural diplomat, kept the Kobold wizard out of trouble. In so doing all three gained a fast friend.

It was perhaps fate that two who were so devout would befriend two who were not. In time, the four were embroiled in dark deeds and villainy, fighting against Tarkanian assassins and Thunate Jhiccara plots. Like them, the bandits and thugs and necromancers they fought were made up of both the Faithful and the Faithless.

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