Andreas of the Sun

"Within infinite myths lies the eternal truth.

Who can see it all? Nergal, the god of death has million eyes to guard the dead, Battor, the patron of all warriors, a hundred to sweep every battlefield. You and I, only have two."

~ Anonymous

It was the 3rd month of the year, the night sky crept upon the days of spring, bringing the cloak of darkness and the shimmering of the stars with it.

On the outskirts of the city of Piltrum, behind the city walls, in an army encampment, a tall and well built warrior smacks a man tied up. Surrounded with the angry yells of his comrades, Commander Bilker's spirit rose, as he yelled at his captive in between strikes, "Say it! State your business here you dog of the sun!"

The captive chuckled. There was no way he would divulge what he was here for, instead he replied, "What excuse do you sorry sons of bitches even have, for supporting who you do? Even if you don't know who I am, isn't the presence of us, The Church of Lugus enough for you to understand?"

Bilkers spat out a row of curses as he bashed the hogtied captive. "Kill him!" "Burn him!" "MURDER!" the soldiers echoed as they saw their leader beat up the insolent whelp of a man.

"You're no emissary of Lugus, shitstain! You're just a sewer rat, a subhuman trash!" Bilkers roared as he was about to unsheath his sword. The captive chuckled, "Do you know why we are called the army of the sun? Not because we love the sun, because we bring it with us wherever we are!" as his restraints snapped and he stood up.

Patreus was in no manner the tallest, but the presence of his strength was enough to stop everyone, even Bilkers, sword in hand, to freeze.

An unnatural splash of light covered the night sky as the horns blew; a resolute army of 1,000 men marched upon the horizon. Their numbers seemed small but each soldier seemed to be as radiant and strong as the sun itself.

Before anyone could react to these developments, a resolute voice rang out. "I, Andreas of the Sun, lead here my battalion to discuss with you, Lord of Piltrum, the happenings of your dominion, and to humbly request you to free my commander, Patreus the Violet light.

Soon, the Lord and his personal guard marched up to the wall, giving the commander and troops of the Sun God their answer, releasing Patreus and marching out of the gates of Piltrum himself to discuss these 'happenings' with Andreas.

Outside the walls of Piltrum, Andreas and the City Lord spoke, "What is the meaning of this? Why would a Paladin of the greater God, march to this puny city of mine? What have we done to deserve this threat of the Radiant razing us to the ground?" The city lord spoke hurriedly.

"Sire, here we have reports of occult worship, growing within your city. Our intelligence network has also reported they cannot fathom how high up this occult worship goes. This is why we are here, to discuss the verity of this intel. If what we know is true, it is our duty as the protectors of the realm to send all of you to the embrace of gods to relearn that which is righteous and just." Andreas spoke, with his chest puffed out.

"This is ridiculous! What occult worship? What corruption do you speak of? We are straight and true to the gods! And all this business of sending us to embrace of gods? Nonsense! A lesser man would have thought of you as impostors and immediately attacked, but Andreas we have met before, I am familiar to you. Come to my Piltrum and see for yourself, if it is truly the hellhole you describe it to be!" Cried the city lord.

Andreas, a little puzzled by the lord's behaviour, turns to Patreus and asks him,"What are your observations about Piltrum? Is what the city lord saying ring true?" Patreus shook his head and replied,"I wouldn't know Andreas, the imbeciles captured me before I could do any recon! All I heard was insults and the sound of gauntlets hitting my flesh.." Andreas, now even more confused, thought to himself,"Patreus you're as sneaky as can be, yet you were captured by these bumpkins before you could do anything? Who other than those at the Cardinal level have the sheer might to debilitate you?"

Jann the stoic, another one of Andreas' underlings interjected, "My Paladin, if I may say something, can we get the city lord to take an 'oath of the Sun's Child', it may clear out our doubts instantly." Andreas slapped his own forehead, why didn't he think of this before?

The Oath of the Sun's Child, is a sacred oath where the taker of the oath makes a statement and drips his blood on a sword blessed by the sun, if the blood flows down the sword, the taker of the oath is truthful and just, as should be. If the blood sizzles upon contact, the taker has indeed strayed from his path, and must be punished according to his crime.

This oath was most used in dealings with outsiders, and people unfamiliar with the customs of the continent of Feimos, to ascertain whether they followed the Gods or some occult deity. It was only natural that one would not think of this method whilst dealing with vassals of the empire.

Andreas proposed his plan, to which the City lord quickly agreed.

The City lord sliced open his palm and placed it over Andreas' sword, his eyes widened as the blood that dripped unto the sword didn't sizzle. It boiled! "DEMON!" Exclaimed Andreas, and lopped the city lord's head off! It was a matter of seconds and a few signals to communicate to his well-trained troops to charge the city and cleanse it in the name of Lugus.

Before the city could raise its guard the paladin and his battalion stormed the city, swiftly killing off the local militia and the lord's garrisons first, then turning their swords upon the citizens later, none shall be spared in the influence of demons! The cries of the citizens and the smell of their blood filled the air of this now empty city. Its bustling streets covered in blood.

Andreas and his commanders, steeped in blood, yet radiating the glow of justice, finally entered the castle, only to find it empty. Within the courts of the castle that lay desolate, a single person sat on the throne. The city lord, yes, the same city lord who our protagonist had decapitated!

"HOW?!" Andreas exclaimed, "I killed you demon! I cut your head off, how are you still alive?" He growled. The city lord chuckled, "You merely killed the son of my host, dog. Now be a good boy and let me, Carthalus kill you and your mangy pack! A demon needs nourishment too you know?"

The demon pounced towards Andreas and his comrades with the ferocity of a beast, Andreas, always at the forefront of the fight parried the demon's swipe with his sword, Poindexter. Patreus flashed from behind Andreas and slashed at the demon with his shortsword, cutting all the way to the bone. The demon wailed in fury as it stepped back. It's eyes darting across the room, looking for a way to escape!

"Hehe, what happened filthspawn, don't you wish to devour us mangy dogs anymore?" Andreas chuckled. Fwoop! An arrow struck the demon right in its forehead so quick that it's eyes couldn't even register the attack, leaving only a fierce expression on its face upon death.

"Jann you buzzkill! I could've gone a few rounds with the filthy cur! Why'd you kill it?" Andreas turned around, knowing that his trusty underling was the only one to shoot with such accuracy and speed.

"Apologies my Paladin. It's my first time dealing with demons, I couldn't help but want to find out the mettle of my skill against one." Jann bowed in apology, after which he walked up to the corpse and promptly plucked the arrow out.

"Bah! What's done is done, Andy let's go back home now! I'm so damn tired of this crap town!" Patreus, the violet light, and Andreas' best friend complained childishly.

"Alright then, Natasha light the return flare, we already killed everyone, let the bishop decide who will raze this hellhole to the ground and build it anew after we get back." Andreas ordered Natasha, the lightbringer, a priestess of extraordinary calibre. Natasha nodded and jabbed her staff in the air as a brilliant green light injected into the sky, signalling the 1,000 strong battalion that their work was done.