What is ... the worth of a man?
What value(s) that man should have to be regarded as a human being?
For eons, we have asked and seek to know the answer to these questions only to find ourselves be even more beguiled from the apparent truth.
But then, what is the apparent truth that has eludes us in our search for the worth of a man?
In the times that has preceded, now passing and that would come to pass, man has been measured by the wealth, knowledge, power, stature, standings and strength that one has.
These values that lie within have always been set by the values that lies outside of our physical being.
Yet still, man is also valued by one’s piety, adherence to the faith one holds, the virtues that one has and the kind of kindness that one posses.
These tactile and abstract aspects of a man vary with the passing of time.
These aspects the ingredients that made the plot for the story of the Demon Prince’s godfather – The Beguiled Father, who was found murdered by the sentries of The Town of the Kings of the Universe to be as it is.
The Beguiled Father is the father in law of the Jester of the Castle of Herbs. A stern-faced man, a little higher than five foot tall, a Mason-master but the most important thing of all, a loving father.
So loving that, the Beguiled Father would only at the smirk, smut, slyness and shriek of his beloved offspring.
He was married for 30 over years to the Guardian Maiden of The Palace of the Earth-brown Ivory Tower, and trough their union, they were blessed with four child, the beautiful Maiden of Mannequins, the sturdy Architect of Arcs, the stout-young Magus of Applications, and the slender Lady Morning Sun.
The beautiful Maiden of the Mannequins wed the Jester of the Castle of Herbs, master of the Sword of the Dark Enlightenment and practitioner of the Chant of the Darken path some six years back.
Their tales of romance is not of the sort that would bring gleaming smile to a sadden face of a child who has just read a scripture of heartening union, but still it is an intriguing tale (something that I will tell later in my life).
For the first four years of their union, the Hands that Dealt Destiny’s Deck has not graced them with the cry of a child, nor do they have neither the love of Lucre nor the Sanctity of Cognationis with each other kinsmen.
Even so, it does not mean that Lady Amororis smile not on them; it’s just that the smile of Amororis does not serve as the fertilizer that would strengthen the relationship between generations.
Four cycles of the seasons have past; changes occur with the birth of Little Round Eyes, crown jewel of both the Jester and Maiden of the Mannequins, just three months back.
She became the parchment that patched the worn and thorn cover of her family’s rotting dining table.
But then, a wound cut so deep would forever leave a scar.
A scar that taunt the sanctity of the Beguiled Father’s heart.
As have been mentioned, the Beguiled Father is a very loving man. It is both his blessing and his curse.
A blessing because that love have built his family a home, given his off springs a future, brought fortune to his house and attract the charm of friendship to him.
A curse because that same love become a thorny chain that bound him from the respect of his children, made him cower from even raising half a note of voice to right their wrongs fearing that they would left him.
And all of his children, except Jester and Maiden of the Mannequins, knew and make use of this curse. They make use of it well.
It weakens the essence of the Beguiled Father, up to the point he was enslaved by the ghouls and effigia herded by the lust of man, and those that roam free in a place seen not by the mortal eyes.
It becomes worst and worst for him.
The only drop of cure for the curse that have befallen him come in the form of the Guardian Maiden of The Palace of the Earth-brown Ivory Tower, The Jester, The Maiden of Mannequins and Little Round Eyes.
Even so, the cure is not for free. It came with a price tag, except for the Guardian Maiden of The Palace of the Earth-brown Ivory Tower. She is a cure promised be the Hands that Dealt the Deck of Destiny.
But such a pity that even she could not stop the vile venom of the curse of love from inching so slowly yet so steady to the Beguiled Father’s heart.
(Just a note, the Guardian Maiden should be a reminder to all men and all women how great is the title a Wife is. Value it.)
If only, the other three cure is as free as the Guardian Maiden. The fate would be very much different.
As afore-mentioned, the birth of Little Round Eyes has patched the worn and torn cover of the Beguiled Father’s dining table.
She has brought both the Jester and the Maiden of Mannequins the humility and humbleness of being a parent and a child. Before her, even though that both of them love the Beguiled Father very very much, both saw him as a meddlesome figure in their married life.
They have always perceived the Beguiled Father’s love as a barrier for them to be independent as a couple. Though it has not been verbally or physically materialized, the dark aura of that perception could always be felt, especially by the Demon Prince.
It brought turbulence thunderous intangible storm to all of their once calm and serene existence.
Humiliated and humbled, by the innocence of a child, both Jester and the Maiden of Mannequins changed their way. But the wind of change comes too little to late for the sails of the Beguiled Father’s departed heart.
His heart has departed so very far, that on the Day of Sacrifice, it anchored at the Port of Dread. There the Port Masters took and hid him from the eyes of mortals. That was the last anyone saw him alive.
That day, the Beguiled Father went out for his evening walk, some that he has not done for more than a while. A speck of happiness could be seen in his sad eyes. Maybe, he has felt the true sweetness of his love, or the divine love. Nobody knew and no body would ever know.
The disappearance of the Beguiled Father, brings storm of sadness and fear to the Guardian Maiden, the Maiden of Mannequins and Jester.
Bewildered and confounded, they seek the Demon Prince for assistance.
As the will of the mortal hands are limited, they seek the help of an Oracle of the Broken Path and a Mage of the Inverted West and together with the Demon Prince, they trudge the Planes of Falacy.
There all truth unfolds as told in the passages prior to this dot.
The Unseen told the three, of the Beguiled Father sad tales and they told them not to wait for his return as he has accepted the Devine Hands invitation to his eternal home. A message is sent to the ones he would be, and now have, left behind.
To the ones that I love,
know that I love you more than love is meant.
though we part in manners that would make a man rent the tears of the blind,
my love would still be one of a kind.
I leave and would never come back.
I left a legacy that no storm would wreck.
Lower our heighten heads.
So that our chest no longer be spread.
That and only that be sent to the Beguiled Father’s family.
But man is in essence thinking beast. His family would not lower what should be lowered, and pave their broken path.
They heavily believe in the will of man.
Failing to find him, they turn to the Linen White Mages and Sages of the Rainbows. No matter how many have failed them, trick them they still believe that the will of man is great.
Until that day, 5th dawn of the Month of Purification, the Beguiled Father is found lifeless, meatless and undignified.
Answering the question of … what is the worth of a man.
- ‘tis the tale of the Demon Child, ended till another end -
- Glossary -
1. Sword and Chant – the things that we used and say to show where our forehead lands.
2. Lucre – greek (if I’m not mistaken) god of wealth
3. Cognationis – literally it meant kindred
4. Amororis – love
5. Dining table – an analogy that require a wee bit of thinking
6. effigia – ghost
7. Planes of Falacy – another dimension
___________ooOoo___________
oo(O)oo
the chairs, the table and the cloth we dine on
(my gift to those who are fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers and sisters)
On the chairs, the table and the cloth we dine on,
mama serve a sumptuous meal,
a sumptuous meal made form the hunt that papa kill,
the hunt that papa brought back on heavy old wheels.
On the chairs, the table and the cloth we dine on,
papa carved the luscious veal,
while mama kept our hunger vigil,
so that our little tummies feel no shrill,
till we have the night’s fill.
By the chairs, the table and the cloth we dine on,
papa stood on the site with his pipe lit,
cleaning blood that his hunt has spilled,
and chasing out the winter’s chill,
so that we feel no gritting frill,
after we had our night’s fill.
Round the chairs, the table and the cloth we dine on,
mama walks with a clean white cloth,
cleaning our mouth from filthy froth,
while kissing the sleepy eyes under the brows.
To the chairs, the table and the cloth we dine on,
we haste a bow and a cheery bye,
and wish the leftovers tomorrow they will dry,
that tomorrow again on you we dine,
with the meals mama made so fine,
made from the kills that papa find.
O chairs, table and cloth we dine on,
we trust that tomorrow would also be fine,
there you’ll wait for us to dine,
when we wake after the sun comes to shine.
___________ooOoo___________
oo(O)oo
In another time,
another tale will come.
maybe,
of the things,
the Demon saw as a Slave to a Slave.
but for now,
the Demon would only want to rest.
___________ooOoo___________
oo(O)oo
_______THANK YOU_______
_______O_______
