Honesty - Mariah and the Daemon
The old man smiles and watches the children collect at his feet. The young, attentive faces only seem to wait for a story, and while his grip on his walking cane gets tighter he thinks about what he could tell them today. The impatience grows, and soon enough a little redhead demands: “Tell us a story!” The old man nods slowly and with a smile on his lips he asks: “What story would you like to hear today?” Discussions get loud, several names of tales are said, when suddenly the bright voice of a little girl cuts through the chatter. “Tell us the story of Mariah! Tell us the story of Mariah and the daemon!” The old man grins and as nobody of his auditors seems to have objections he finally nods. “Good, then, listen to me, because today I will tell you a tale about one of the most powerful virtues ever – this is a tale about honesty, and how this honesty even defeated a vile daemon.” He leans back and his voice gains more and more strength while he is talking. And so, finally, he starts his story…
It is said that one of the most important virtues of a young, aspiring mage is curiosity. Curiosity is what drives the young mages to learn more, and curiosity is what awakens the thirst for knowledge deep within those aspirants.
Mariah in her young years was one of them – ambitious and curious, and so it was her own curiosity that led her into a dangerous adventure. She was on one of her journeyman travels when she was told about a mysterious place, a certain grove that had a reputation locally as a perilous and haunted place.
The tales in the meantime made Mariah curious, and so she went out to visit this place. She walked on for a while, maybe wondering if all the stories she had heard were nothing more than mere fairy tales with the sole intention to scare little children, when she suddenly heard a soft, deep and not un-pleasant voice behind her. “Now, now, young mage, you wander far from the safe byways!”
Mariah turned, and when she saw what stood there her first thought was a rather foolish pleasure that she did not start or cry out. Quickly realizing that she was in trouble she pushed away those thoughts there. In front of her stood a huge, red-skinned, muscular creature, seemingly hairless and with burning eyes. On the back of the creature she could see a pair of almost grotesque wings and she was sure that a derisive grin flitted over the terrifying face of the creature. She knew at once that the creature in front of her could be nothing less than a daemon, one of those vicious and mighty travellers from strange and infernal realms, which sometimes stray into ours in search of blood or mischief.
“Good evening, Sir!” Mariah greeted the daemon and her voice only gave away the idea of a shiver. “I hope I am not trespassing!”
“Not a bit of it,” the daemon replied with its strange, soft and almost too smooth voice. “I scarcely meet any visitors here, so I am quite pleased to see you, little mage!”
Mariah had, as so many others, never encountered a daemon before. The years of studying seemed to pay off right now, though, as she had studied the nature of daemons and similar vile creatures. Her thoughts moved fast, and soon enough she came to the conclusion that if the horrid creature had wanted to do her any harm she would be dead already. No, she was convinced, the daemon had more subtle, and very probable more cruel plans with her.
"If it's company you seek, perhaps I can propose a diversion," Mariah said, her mind racing. She knew that she had to be careful, and she knew that every mistake could be her last. The creature was blocking her path and after all she was sure that she was not fast enough to flee by foot, and after a painful moment of thought she remembered that daemons were said to be amenable for certain games of skill or chance, and so she hoped that she could maybe distract the daemon with even one of those from less pleasant endeavours.
“A diversion, how delightful!” The daemon growled softly and his burning eyes were set on Mariah. “What do you propose?” he inquired to know.
“Let us play the Challenge Game,” Mariah answered, suddenly gathering hope that she would probably survive this adventure again.
The Challenge Game, you must know, is a game that the young mages in Moonglow regularly play to entertain themselves and practise their minds in some sort of contest. Many generations of mages have played this game already, and although the nature of the game is simple it can turn out to be a quite complex and challenging game. Basically the Challenge Game works like the following: Each contestant asks the other one a question about a difficult or abstract matter, and the other must answer promptly, and with complete honesty. Hesitation or evasion results in loss. In this way are the players taught to face the Truth within themselves, and discern it in the words of others.
The old man stops his story, relishing the tension in the faces of his little auditors. For a short while nothing is heard while the children think about what they have heard so far. Eventually one of them requires to be told what happened next. Before his question is even finished he is interrupted by another one: “The daemon ate Mariah! It killed her, I am sure!” “No, they played the game, I am sure!” “Who won the game?” “How did the story continue!” The man smiles warmly and after a while he waves with his hand and immediately the chattering stops and attentive looks are set on the old man. “Well, then, young friends, let me tell you how this tale continues…”
“An audacious choice!” the daemon chuckled and Mariah wondered if there was smoke ascending from its nostrils. “What are the stakes?”
"My life, of course," she replied, trying to appear self-confident. "If you win, you take it, and if I win I keep it."
“Plainly spoken, but I expect no less from a mage. I accept, and as the challenged party, I will begin the questioning. Little mage, do you fancy yourself wise?"
Secretly Mariah let go a relieved sigh, as this question was a rather common one, and so she had been prepared for the answer. “I seek wisdom, which would be a vain endeavour if I were already wise. I have always thought myself clever, which has sufficed so far." Mariah answered calmly, and her reply did not visibly impress the daemon, yet it did not challenge it too.
It was now her turn to ask, and after a short moment of thought she decided to go for a philosophical question. “Daemon, which is greater, Truth or Falsehood?”
The daemon smirked, which was a terrible sight, and answered with a sign of hesitation: “Truth is a mighty oak, the king of the forest. Falsehood is the tiny worm that eats away at the inside of the oak until it is toppled by an errant breeze." This indeed was an excellent answer and despite her fear Mariah could not help but admire it.
"Little mage," the Daemon asked, "Why did you choose this game? You are young, and I am immortal. Do you fancy your 'cleverness' might suffice against my eternal insight?"
Mariah took a deep breath and replied: "I am mortal, and my mind is my own. My Truth is my possession, and I view it at will. You are bound by your supernatural nature and must act accordingly. Your Truth is a dark room without windows or doors, and you can never see it, for it imprisons you. This is my hope, and my advantage."
The daemon snorted loudly and it was obvious that he disliked her answer, which was as she wished when she prepared her next question: "It is axiomatic that Truth can exist without Falsehood, but Falsehood can never exist without Truth. Tell me then, how can you hope that evil will ever win?"
The daemon looked at Mariah for a long, painful moment with when he finally answered a trace of laughter could be heard in his gently growling voice. “I’ll show you how!” the daemon bellowed, and with these furious words his enormous claw descended upon Mariah to take her head. The young mage certainly thought that everything was over now, at least she would die a quick, painless death. In the very last second though, the fist of the daemon stopped and Mariah could anticipate the foul, corrupt smell of the creature’s skin. Mariah had won the game, and the daemon was well aware of it. Now, as cruel and dishonest daemons might be, they still have a certain code of honour which tells them that once a challenge is accepted they are bound by its terms.
So the daemon howled furiously and his eyes seemed to blaze with an all consuming fire, but eventually the creature moved away a few steps from Mariah. Although its massive figure dissipated Mariah could still anticipate the dimension, and then, suddenly, the daemon was away and all it left behind was the smell of cold smoke and sulphur. Mariah in the meantime, happy to be still alive, turned around and quickly returned to the nearest village, and from that day on was somewhat less curious about rumours of haunted, cursed places.
And this my friends is the tale that shows us how one of the virtues, Honesty, can even defeat one of the strongest evils known in the lands of Britannia.
