Marc smirked as she inquired about the legends which, as so happened, did not fill those pages. Regardless, this was an area which he had enjoyed ever since childhood, when he would sneak stories into his room to read when the moon was full. Marc cleared his throat before beginning, not even bothering to open the tome. "I think I have an appropriate tale for you, Ale..."
His voice took on a lustrous and emotional tone as he began to spin his tale, his hands working to aid the effect.
"There was once a vibrant city, ruled by a benevolent king, in which all the citizens lived in ignorant bliss behind the impenetrable defense of their walls. But those same walls served to cage the denizens, creating both utopia and prison. Then came a nomadic woman who came from the northern reaches in search of civilization, who quickly fell in love with a renowned and prestigious Knight. The Knight brought her inside the city, and wept tears of sorrow once he learned of the world outside their walls. He prayed day in and day out that the people be allowed to see over into the outside world, until one day the Gods fulfilled his wish. The walls fell into the earth, and now every man and woman could see the majestic plains and forests that were unknown frontiers until then. However, the beasts soon found the walls that dissuaded them vanished, and the Knight once again wept for the citizens of his nation who began to perish. Despairing over how his first wish turned out, he swore never to pray to the Gods again. However, his lover, the nomadic foreigner, could not bear to watch him in such pain, she began to pray for the safety of the citizens. Three days later, the deaths ceased, and all was right once again. However, it had come at a cost, as the majestic angels that the Gods sent in their stead to kill off the natural predators had done too well of a job. The plains fell brown after the fields were over-eaten by bustling herding beasts, and once again, men and women began to die. After this the Knight could take no more. He banished his lover, and ordered the walls reconstructed. He said to her, 'Begone foul witch, and take your knowledge with you, as it has done nothing but poison the same ignorance that has kept us safe. Take your wisdom and never return."
Marc chuckled as he leaned against the bench. "What a poor couple. But the moral of the story stands; Knowledge is not for everybody. And in a city like Zeltiva, knowledge is currency in and of itself." He reminisced for a moment to when he first read of that story, before shaking off the feeling. He returned his gaze to Ale and gauged her reaction. "So, that's my free story. If you'd care for another, you'd have to come to my quarters sometime." Marc let his double entendre slide, simply smirking to himself as his thought back on the Knight and the Nomad.
Opposite sides of an ever-greater rift... How pathetic. |
by Marc on May 31st, 2011, 2:35 am 
