“Brother Salzaar, I’m afraid we need to talk.”

“From your tone I suppose this won’t be a lively discussion of the texts.”  Salzaar lit a rushlight from the brazier and turned to light the handful of candles placed about his study.

“Much as I enjoy our discussions, and your sardonic humor” Rashaz raised an eye ridge as he said this, “you know as well as I do that we have to do something.  You were there at the ceremony to dedicate the new aspirants this morning just as I was.  Banaar has just gone from being an oddity and misfit to something else entirely.”

Rashaz stopped for a moment and turned to the window and the light of the setting sun to give him a moment to collect his thoughts and courage for he must say next. “You’ve read the same histories of the faith that I have.  Can there be any doubt that we saw the Mantle?  The same Mantle that hasn’t been seen in hundreds of years?  The sign of Bahamut’s favored ones… the heroes and the greatest of the defenders of the faith?  And let us not forget we’re talking of Banaar here… the very same aspirant that we’ve been trying to decide if he even belongs here and now this. What do we do?”

Without turning from the candle he was about to light, Salzaar quietly asked, “Does he know?”

“We are spared that at least. No, neither Banaar nor the other aspirants saw the Mantle of Bahamut as it descended upon Banaar. They were too deep in prayer as was appropriate for aspirants taking final rites.  You and I were the only ones to witness the… the event… the sign… the miracle… I don’t know what to call it.  I would pray for guidance but it appears Bahamut has already made His will clear on the subject and said all He intends to say.  I suppose you’ll be the one to tell him?”

For the first time Salzaar looked up at Rashaz. “I don’t intend to tell Banaar anything.”

The shock on Rashaz’s face was clear. “What do you mean? Surely he deserves to know!”

Salzaar continued on serenely, “I am sure that if the Platinum Lord wished Banaar to know, Banaar would know.  I believe that His message was for you and I alone.  Had He wished the presence of a Mantled One to be public knowledge, He surely could have waited until the public dedication of faith on the morrow instead of presenting the Mantle during the much more private preparation ceremony. As you said, you know the histories. How many of the Mantled Ones lived to die in their beds of old age, surrounded by friends and family?  For that matter, how many had anything you would call a ‘happy life’ at all?  No, Banaar will have enough to face in his life without being weighed down with that particular burden as well.  The Mantled Ones have always deserved every support those of the faithful can give and this may be the last kindness we may perform for young Banaar.”

Rashaz took this in for a moment before responding, “Then you have something in mind for him?”

“We had already decided that Banaar was to take on the role of an itinerant.  Nothing that happened this morning changes that in the least.  In fact, I believe it makes even more sense now.  Before our reasons were simpler… Banaar being the only child and orphan of a couple of mercenaries.  The father was a swordsman of some skill and the mother was a mage of some but certainly no great skill herself.  Neither was of any of the great houses and lacking any close relatives their deaths at the hands of…”

Salzaar paused for a moment before continuing, “Well, the less said of that beast the better.  Simply put, upon their deaths he was brought to our doorstep.  Having spent so much of his childhood amongst humans, it was something like receiving a foreigner into our house.  Try as he might, he never truly was comfortable amongst his own kind.  That alone would make him unsuitable as the spiritual leader for any of our smaller communities and he isn’t temperamentally suited as one of many brethren leading the life of a contemplative in one of our larger temples.  Being an itinerant was and now more than ever is an ideal solution.”

Rashaz interrupted “Surely you should be sending him on to the Great Temple?”

Calmly, Salzaar replied “No. For better or worse Banaar has had the Mantle laid upon him.  What use would it serve for Banaar to stay penned up in a temple, waiting for the cause of his Mantling to appear?  Better that he should go out into the world and prepare himself for whatever is coming. Besides, the less the great houses know of his identity the better. They would not be pleased to find out that the Mantled One is not one of their own.”

Before Rashaz could interrupt again Salzaar continued, “Of course I shall send word to the Great Temple and within a claw of weeks every temple and chapterhouse will know that the Platinum Lord has laid his talons upon the world and placed the Mantle upon his chosen one, Banaar.  Only the senior priests will know the identity of the Mantled One but all of our brothers and sisters will know that one of the faithful has been marked by Bahamut. They shall make ready for whatever great events are coming and prepare for whatever Banaar may need come the day he fully comes unto his Mantle.”

Seeing the questioning look upon Rashaz’s face, Salzaar held up a claw and forestalled him, “The presence of one of Bahamut’s favored ones has always foretold a great upheaval and evil coming into the world.  I doubt very much that anything changed with this morning’s… visitation.  War and death comes, Rashaz.”

“Rashaz, go now and make ready for tomorrow’s celebrations. I feel the need to storm the heavens myself and seek answers for at the moment, all that I know is that something great and terrible is coming and I pray that Banaar and the rest of us will be ready for it.”
 
Player’s Note:
Well, you said this was going to be an epic campaign… so I ran with it.  I deliberately avoided using place names or naming any individuals aside from Banaar’s instructors.  And just as deliberately, I created a number of potential interactions with NPC’s ranging from fellow priests who know that there is a Mantled One but not who, to senior priests who know what Banaar is and may react in a number of ways, to who exactly it was that killed Banaar’s parents and yes, the word “beast” is intentionally vague.

I do not have any intention of the “Mantling” to have any actual game effect other than Banaar’s progression as a cleric.  It is simply meant to serve as a story-telling device to handle his progression into the epic levels.

Please forgive my use of a scene to provide his backstory, I thought it was an interesting method to introduce the character.  If you need or want more information, I’ll be glad to provide it.

Tags: Backstory, Banaar