Where Lies Adventure!

OF GODS AND MEN Chapter 9: Deus Ex Machina             The early morning mist washed over the woodwalk maze that made up the dock of Malthanon’s harbor.  Even though the sun was barely up in the sky, most of the ships that called the dock home had left hours before the sun had risen.  The few ships left; anchored in their stalls; rocked back and forth, betraying the swells of the tide. The peaceful, yet haunting scene on the wooden walkways was mostly unpeopled; save for a few sailors who had missed being staffed on the pre-dawn fishing expeditions.  Cecily led her friends eagerly onto the docks.  On the walk back to the White Light Tavern the night before, she and Tarsus talked heatedly about what their next step should be.  Cecily felt strongly that the answer to their problem could be found on the harbor.  Tarsus was not so sure he agreed.  But without any better ideas, he felt it wiser to trust to a passionate leaning rather than to a belabored decision arrived at throug

OF GODS AND MEN Chapter 8: Two Prayers                  An hour later found Tarsus inside the cathedral of Malthus.   The large, oval room was the base of the GodKing’s palace and, fittingly, the seat of his rule.   This was where the masses gathered to worship their God.   This was where the priests held council and wrote the policies of the city.   This place was the very heart of Malthanon.             Inside were rows upon rows of ornate, ivory pews that ran the length of the cathedral.   They were split down the center of the room by a long, lush red carpet that covered the aisle leading from the cathedral entrance all the way to the dais at the opposite end.   On the dais sat a simple white alter, from which the High Priest of Malthus delivered his sermons, all sitting under a maze ceiling of glass and metal latticework that bathed the room in fractured moonlight. But for all the beauty the cathedral offered, nothing was so magnificent as the g

 OF GODS AND MEN Chapter 7: The Cost of a Quest             Tarsus was captivated.   Malthanon stood before him, showered in the red-gold light of the setting sun.   From atop his horse, he marveled at this glimmering jewel of a city; one he had often imagined, yet one that proved to be greater and more beautiful than anything in his wildest dreams.             At the center of it all was the most breathtaking construction: a palace so vast and so intricately built, that it must have been conjured by the GodKing himself.   Malthus’s castle stood three levels high: an oval dome at the bottom that was the GodKing’s cathedral, above that was the palace itself, and atop the palace was a majestic spire.   The spire shot so far into the heavens, that the top disappeared into the perpetual clouds that surrounded it.             Tarsus had never been to Malthanon before.   He had always dreamed of settling within its walls; back when he was still fool enough to b