Saul Aurora - Musings, blessings and prayers

(Author's note : Not really a story line. These posts sometimes link with the romantic course in the Lathandrite's life, where he goes through events with women, but also where he preaches to any turning to him, or where takes (past) things into consideration in his own unique way. Any poems are self written, often in the light of Lathander / The Morninglord.)





"I loved our time together, my wife. And I'm certain you are watching all this from a good place, with your long red hair blowing in the wind. There will always be regret that you left this world, but never shall I give up the memory of what we had."

Saul briefly glanced over his shoulder at the Twilight Rose, his eyes like ancient glacial ice, filtering out and absorbing red and yellow light while reflecting the beautiful blue hues of a glacier. A moment later he made his way to the boat that would take him to Baldur's. His night watch awaited...

After he watched the delivery boy carrying his letter running off, Saul turned around to the Fields of the Dead once more.

With every large step he took towards the sinister plains, his self-confidence seemed to grow even further, almost spurring him to chase even more challenging limits. He invoked the light that radiated from his frame, the energy surrounding his body creating a field that was his biotope and his calling, the splendorous light pushing back the darkness in an even greater circle than before...

When the next morning his ship left Baldur's Gate towards the mouth of the River Chionthar, Saul turned and faced the rising sun coating the water with light. The wind ruffled his seemingly metallic hair. Mesmerized, with the heart at his throat, and with the early golden light full on his face, he watched the sable moon directly above it.

A long time ago Saul had learned that beauty wasn't just the face one was looking upon. More than anything else it was the light one carries in the heart.

When he returned back to the post he had volunteered for, a Watch at the Fields of the Dead north of Baldur's, he smiled as he softly whispered to himself. "Oh, Anika... you really would have embraced her gloriously at the very first opportunity..."

Saul's smile radiated such peace that he could practically turn an undead with it. How else could it be when a certain person was ascending the imaginary staircase of faith and hope...
His body felt as if on fire, like a bright sun had appeared within... and he knew, he would have to tell her soon...

By the way how she had touched him, not just with fingers or lips, but above all else with her words and how she expressed her feelings..., even after this short period with her, he could tell it would hurt if he’d ever lose her. That… she could come to pass before him… was a high possibility.

Deep down inside he knew it some day would… but that day was still far from now...

He lowered the pages written by her to his lap and looked up at the rising sun.


Saul whispered as he tilted his head further skywards. “Grandfather, I’m really grateful that You brought me back from the darkness right after my ‘awakening’...” his voice grew ever so soft,” ...and right after my almost-quietus. For I would never have seen this amazing light so many years later. I do wonder at times if You or Lord Lathander have forseen this. If so… it is a wonderful gift as I would never have expected to feel like this since…since her.”

“I know it demands a lot from Yourself to come from the place where You are, but I like You to know that I miss You as much as I miss our family. I hope one day to have the privilige of introducing You to the woman who makes me feel so warm, so bright, and who touches me so deeply that even just her presence makes me cry tears of joy for the exquisiteness I may behold in it. I will not say that I have never been dwelling on my loss in the past as I know since a while that with every passing comes a new beginning. What I can say now is that I am grateful. I never have felt so honored, and never would I have expected Anika, even after her passing, to receive so much respect and honor from the new woman in my life.”


The memory of what happened to Anika, what he had experienced... briefly caused tears to spring into his eyes as never before had he witnessed a life ended so cruelly, so beyond comprehension. It was comparable with someone who had maliciously smashed the life out of a cage filled with defenceless rabbits… before taking their bloodied bodies from their warm shelter and cracking their skulls under a merciless boot… just to make sure. Between all the other casualties he had taken her body in his arms, but all the life within had disappeared as if in thin air. No words of goodbye, no last exchange of love. All he could do was to hope and think she had died in faith, and with the knowledge that everything between her and him has always been alright.

He remembered his rage… he recalled his mistake… he had memorized that moment when he faced the one responsible. And then, his awakening, as if Lathander had chosen him on that very moment to remove the thing that had caused so much pain from this very world. But not before...

With the faces of so many innocent children, soldiers and his wife in his mind, with his blood like a raging river coursing through his body, and without waiting for reinforcements he had attacked the lich, and died...
But not without killing the monster first…


How he had done that, Saul still didn’t know. He only recalled a heat boiling up from the core of his being, a flash of blinding light, the consciousness of a divine presence that was like a fire snake shooting forward, and then… and then nothing anymore. After that, and he assumed just when he was getting on the verge of going away, the ground that was his existence evanescing, his great-grandfather came ‘down’ swiftly to save his youngest descendant who was back at the time twenty years old. Saul also still recalled the words, but he had no idea if they had been Lathander’s right before he received the blessings to destroy the Undead, or his great-grandfather's in order to call him back. Or maybe he had just been delirious.

Saul softly murmured the words in celestial as the sun shone warm upon his face.
“Thou shalst be my Lyght if thyne soul shynen bryght. Return from thyne walk in darkenes and clense the lande from the beastes upon. Restore what ist now as it was in the begynning, and I will lift up mine iyes unto thy who cometh to helpe.”


As he took the pencil from the delivery boy who was standing next to him, and started to write a reply, he smiled weakly about something. She had asked him never to change and remain the man who she was learning to know. There was one thing though he was willing to give up on. One major change for him, for her, for both. He had no idea if it would be possible, and he had no idea how big the impact was of his great-grandfather’s actions when he had ‘recalled’ Saul, when he brought him back...

But the semi-Solar was certain of this thought though.
He would be willing to sacrifice that part of him that created the longevity typical for his race… Desrah seemed all worth it...

Saul smiled, watching a moment at the two unknown adventurers who were merely passing through the region. He took an extended hand of each in his, creating a circle with the pair, and blessing them with the final words he so hastily had had to come up with...


"If all we do would be without purpose,
every new start would know an early end.
We’d never learn what’s beneath the surface,
and there would be no honor to defend.

An everyday devotion is key,
a plan together a display of wisdom.
Deep roots make a strong tree,
what you then build together…
… is your kingdom..."


He smiled warmly as he saw a single tear rolling down the woman's cheek, her eyes focussed on the man next to her. He let go off their hands and nodded once. "Congratulations... may Lathander shine light upon the new adventure you have started together..."

The man turned to look at him and Saul chuckled soft. "Yes... you may kiss the bride..."

Early in the morning, at the farms north of Baldur’s Gates, some farmers and their children were gathered in a circle around a man with peculiar blonde hair. Some may have recognized him, yet he was dressed in a decent yet sober brown robe, his armor standing near a fence, the metal still unpolished and slightly dented as he had only just returned from his ‘night watch’.

His voice was soft yet carried clearly across the spot.

“Faith is holding onto the hopes and dreams of tomorrow,
as after every darkness awaits the birth of a new day.
And with dawn’s light comes life,... new life.
Can there be a more beautiful way to start a day...
than to feel the warmth from the sun rays onto our faces?”

The solar descendant turned his gaze to the sky brightening in the east.
Then, he looked directly at the ground.

“Below our feet it appears only dark and full of death,
but if you at the end of the day can smell the dirt on your hands…
you realize that the soil is actually full of life,
and that dawn will shine upon it as life will be reborn from darkness.”

“We have to have faith, even as the more cooler winds start blowing,
even as it now only seems dirt,
all depending on the way on how you look upon it.
But the soil is an endless mass of energy when you invest in it,
and blessed with His light, the miracle of the seed only requires labor,
and will be once again waiting to sprout…”

Those otherwordly blue eyes looked now at each and one of those gathered around him.

“Without your proper care... we would have no community,
without your proper care... we would not know new life,
without your proper care... health would turn into disease,
without your proper care... we would not reap the benefits from His light and His warmth.
Alone you can be strong, but with His teachings and together... we are stronger,
and you can have a better tomorrow…”

Saul Aurora murmured a few words of gratitude as the first rays of the sun started spreading towards them. Slowly, long shadows began to appear and everything around them began to take shape.

Saul's smile was as bright as the sun...

One morning in Beregost, a man dressed in a sober yet decent brown robe was holding an outdoor mass. The breaths of the people surrounding him were like silver pennants in the cold air as the first rays of the sun swept down the fields near the Morning temple. There wasn't much birdsong to serenade the new rising sun, but there was the crunch of frost underfoot, the whisper of crisp air and finally also the man's voice carrying over those gathered.


"Be aware that even light creates shadow,
shadows lead to illusion, doubt and worry.
Darkness exists, we shall not deny that,
but never establish oneself there…

True light comes from our Lord and one’s heart,
it gives birth to our form and confirms reality.
Let truth run in your footsteps,
face the darkness, and rise above it…

This dawn can be your new start,
to work, to live, and to never be afraid to start over,
to perfect yourself, to do what really matters,
and to create a solid foundation that is your life…

Use what you have, do what you can,
and pray to our Lord Lathander.
May your dawn be filled with true dreams,
real magic, and beauty beyond measure..."

The light of the sun glistened off the water, turning the blue into a pure silvery white that was so bright it was impossible to see the smooth rocks underneath. The sandy river bank was alive with cackling ducks, the feathery plume heads of the long reeds hanging down and away from the breeze, causing the vegetation to sway elegantly.

The ship bobbed gently on its moorings, and on the back of the deck stood a man wearing nothing more than shorts. He was fairly tall and muscular, without the slightest trace of corpulence, and that his body displayed the combative tendency of an athelete, representing speed, strength and power, was beyond question. His sharp, penetrating gaze was focused upon the light spectacle in front of him.

In majectic silence Saul lowered his head a moment, gold-like hair falling unkempt down his forehead over his glacier blue eyes. His prayer moved away from the spoken word towards silence.



Holy Father,

Never before have I fought to practice or demonstrate my strength, but always from the genuine thought of beauty, love, truth and also justice. Through Your guidance and training I have become Your Vessel, Your mirror of Light, and till the end of my time I seek to help You glorify what Your name stands for. Today I pray for Your guidance once again, so that I persist and perfect myself in Your teachings.

Darkness... is settling itself around here as comfortably as if taking place on a sofa. It is even able to find devouted souls who offer the corrupted fuel it requires, just as if it were merely drinks and food. It is not easy to watch what people think is right, or at least what they think doesn’t hurt. All the while darkness spreads itself, first like a single drop of ink in clear water, followed by more drops and coloring it so dark until no more light can reach the bottom.

This darkness gives birth to evil, moral evil, and if not stopped we will move to a world in which a problem becomes normal, and where normal becomes a part of new... other teachings. Human suffering, humiliation, murder… what is normally considered injustice will then become acceptable.

Father, lend me the strength and Your energy, guide me and help me discover what my role in this can be. I will be Your torch and plunge with Your light in this darkness, pretty much like I will in the water at my feet blessed by the splendor of Your radiance, the source of life and goodness...

My Lord Lathander, Your name shall forever be upon my lips. Please rise up and shine over the world as we may need Your light even stronger. Accept this confession that is merely my concern, for I will never allow this to change me as well. We can only grow stronger through the wildest storms… and in the end… there will always be another dawn…



Saul opened his eyes and with divine grace he dove from the Twilight Rose and disappeared in the water. Air bubbles rose to the surface in a clustered way with every exhale, his strong core enabling him to swim fast below the surface as he effortlessly crossed the river with powerful strokes…

And no one could see his smile that came next…

The what seemed to be a knight seated on a mighty warhorse, turned around for one last look at Baldur's Gate, the water next to it, and to a certain ship in distance. The wind rose from behind him and the banner on his lance snapped smartly. His armor shone like as if it had just been polished, catching dawn's light, and casting a bright golden glow around him. Chain mail stuck out from underneath his protective plate, his forearms and hands protected by steel gauntlets.

As tresses of his golden hair caught the sun's first rays, they glimmered as vibrantly as the armor the man was wearing. His glacier blue eyes peered in the distance before he put the helmet he was holding under his arm back on. He pushed the helmet visor down, obscuring his face. The white golden headgear with a plume dancing along with his banner, covered his entire head.


Armored fingers closed around the reins and moments later the glint silhouette of the Dawn warrior standing atop the high ledge was gone.

Later on he would be spotted on the road north towards Waterdeep.


Saul dug his heels deep into the side of his mount, and sped down the path, not stopping anymore to look back. He did however do something he hadn't done in a long time.

Under his helmet... tears silently rolled down his cheeks...

Saul held up his hand and waved once at Captain Thatcher as he left the Twilight Rose, a perpetual warm smile lingering on his face while his mind drifted a moment off to elsewhere...

Farmers of Beregost had gathered around their agricultural equipment, and around a man who had returned to their midst. Saul Aurora, now featuring a sunbright cloak of the Order of the Aster, had taken up a role as Guardian of the Morning Song temple. But he had never forgotten the fieldworkers around, and the workers had not forgotten about him. Although he wasn't a priest really anymore, he had accepted with pleasure the invitation to preach and to bless their land.


"Life... is something that seems to befall upon us,
but above anything else... it is how we respond on it.

Just like our lord Lathander sends forth his light,
so that we will not wander from the task at hand.

A task without His light is a dream, a fantasy,
but a task without one’s commitment can turn into nightmare.

Let what hinders your task become your task,
as a difficult path leads to a beautiful life..."

Many months later...

The knight leaned forward in the saddle and patted the horse’s neck. The elegant, white stallion tossed his head, his beautiful mane flowing along his silken neck. From his high-strung steed the rider lifted his glacier blue eyes and looked down the path that lead towards the farms and small cottages just outside Beregost. He marvelled at how that single, monotonous trial widened and merged into a colorful flower-dotted road, the part up ahead a sunny, open patch in the forest. Sunlight filtered through the trees, highlighting the still present autumn leaves on the ground, fauna and flora all around triggered by the message nature brings, warmth, growth, light…


Spring had arrived, and all around the fields in the distance trees budded with fresh leaves and wool-like blossom. Everything looked new and different, even the kids he knew around. Their faces were bright and filled with happiness, their voices spilling laughter and their shouts infecting the surroundings with joy. Some even seemed to have shot up several inches during the bit of time he had been away. The smile already upon his expression broadened and easily worked its way across his face and into his eyes, filling them with warmth.

He just got back from Waterdeep where he finally had managed to sell his parental home that has been empty ever since he came to this region. Copper street number five now was owned by a blacksmith and his family, and once more the fireplace was filled with warmth there, even though its comfort was delivered to another family than the Aurora’s. But past was past, his parents were no more, and neither was the one woman he had ever married in his life. They were in the light now and he had to move on, without ever allowing them to escape from his memories.

A house… was just a house, taking hands and labor to build it. His gaze shifted to one particular cottage in the distance, featuring such an amazing flower garden that it stood out against all the rest. Only a heart truly can build a home, and is the happiest when it finds peace in that place. Then, he perceived something, or rather a someone who made him feel like heaven, solid, warm and everlasting. Myla… just as refreshing as spring, as brilliant as those playing childrens’ hearts, and definitely the person he wanted to build a home with… was waiting. Had she noticed him? He couldn’t tell. Only one way to find out.

Under a sky of azure blue that hung overhead, the armored man in shiny armor tapped his horse’s flanks, and steered his mount along the wide bridle path in the direction of that one particular place in his existence that had become important...
...

Saul held the infant up with her little head in the first light of the sun. The parents and a few villagers stood around him, and somewhere in the back with a child at every hand stood Myla. The Lathandrite smiled as he glanced at the ring upon her finger before he addressed the people. The temple and their faces were cast in the golden light of dawn, his eyes shimmered like arctic crystals.

“Children... are precious in every way as they are the light in every home and view things with perfect clarity. They can teach adults what they have lost long ago, like for instance showing us how to be happy without having a reason…,” he snickered faintly,”... And also how to fight tireless for something.”

Soft chuckling rose up from those gathered.


“They are like flowers, all different, and wherever they bloom… so does hope. Let them bloom so they are not afraid for the darkness and closed off. Allow yourself to be surrounded by a magnificent garden, as what is in it is key to creativity…” his cheeks glowed some when he sensed Myla’s eyes on him as he preached about reproduction,”... as well as to a new and bright future. Help them become successful human beings, and never cease loving them remorselessly. They’re not a dream, but the start of a string of endless possibilities.”


He lowered the infant and handed her back to her mother. “Go in peace, and never forget how precious you are,” he murmured softly as he wiped some fine wisps of hair on the child’s forehead aside. “Welcome in the light, Cinadra.”

The Lathandrite known as Saul Aurora who had taken up a role as Guardian for the Morning Song, also was often seen on the land around Beregost.

One day he was found amidst farmlands and their respective farmers. His voice was not loud but carried clearly over the entire field as the mist that drifts away slowly with the impending dawn, leaving nothing but dew in the grass and corn.


"The days are getting colder and darker,
but that doesn't mean our hearts can't be warm and bright.
Even the smallest display of love is more precious than a diamond,
and the warm and the radiant will be like Lathander's light.

Attracted by the promise of warmth,
not money and not power,
as a brother, as a sister,
and not from somewhere up a tower.

As darkness comes, so will a warm heart.
mark this season as the advent of charity and compassion,
help your fellow man, and turn it into an art.

And if this very day isn't a fulfillment of your goals -or- needs,
then let it be a promise for another day, another dawn,
and don't let it be overgrown with weeds..."

Saul sat outside in the garden of the theatre, the sun washing the place with a golden glow. Aside from birdsong up ahead in the trees, it was so silent it was as if the grass seemed to whisper. Saul's gaze was upon the sky though, his hand over a text in book spread open in his lap.




Upon overhearing stones crunching under a pair of boots, the Aasimar's gaze shifted to the gravel path behind him. And with birds that twittered in the low bushes on both sides, he rose from the bench and awaited his lady's arrival with the kind of smile that could warm the very soul.

He held his hand out to Freya in an almost formal greeting, but were one to look closer and be sensitive to it, they would likely perceive the flip-flops in man's aura...

Like it were a beneficial shower of rain, dawn’s light, first stretching to the heavens, poured through the branches over the pair, and brought warmth to arms and bodies. What had been seemingly without shape, now was clearly outlined as Lathander’s light swept over the surrounding evergreen land like muted wind, raising moisture from the soil in a brief, steamy fog. The longest of nights had passed, and now, each new day, much... much earlier, the rosy-red fingers of dawn turned to gold. The spring sky put on that kind of face where the only possible response was to remain silent, just as it was supposed to be with a many-splendored event.

As rays of light raced over the land, neither able to defeat the other, sweet songbirds began performing a concert that elicited feelings of joy and happiness to any humans and local fauna present. The shallow valley below brightened with both light as well as music. Saul’s broad shoulders were mantled with light as he sat up, and then his whole body came up out the darkness that was a stack of cloaks and blankets, and stood on the new shore of the day just by the edge of the valley. He gazed out over the spectacle before he turned back to look down at the woman still asleep. Sometimes, when he was looking at her, he had a hard time to believe she was real, and this was exactly one of those moments.

And he wasn’t just considering her physique, or shapes and curves, but he also had come to compare her with nature. Her eyes, now still closed, looked like water in sunshine, and her hair framing her cheekbones, flowed like a pristine, enthralling river down her shoulders. Not a trickle, but a stream that moved listlessly across the underlying surface, adorning said porcelain-like and now seemingly glowing curves. Just like the awakening nature, she was fresh in appearance, and breathtaking to all who had the privilege to see her like this. It made Saul’s heart beat like as if he had climbed a steep hill in order to behold a promising view. He was aware of the several, deep mental breaths he had to take during each occassion where he witnessed her in this state.

He also realized that these little trips with her to this spot in nature were his treasure, a sanctuary from the sometimes busy hubbub of life. The locals flowers on her chest looked even more real, like as if some artist had painted them on her body in order for them to never wither, their perfume, carried by the sultry breeze even more hard to believe. And then it struck him,... it -dawned- on him why he was fascinated by this entire fantastical picture that was as if from a children’s book,... with a princess at its center. It was glorious. Silently he thanked Lathander for the hunch before he went to lay down again. Saul cherised the woman he had taken in his arms once more,... with a mysterious, and slightly excited smile hovering on his lips...