CYOA: The Crusades

Garth was orphaned the day he was born. His mother was a whore, who couldn't afford to keep a child, and his father was never known to him. He would imagine that his father was a fearsome Knight, off defending the realm from evil and the like. Most often he thought his father was a Pirate, an evil man who sought nothing but treasure, booze, and cheap women. Hearing stories of his mother from knights, he believed the latter.

He grew up in the Black Cathedral, the main body of the church as a fry. He would run errands for the priests, bringing them drinks, and cleaning up their little 'messes'.

A typical mess would be a dead whore, while priests told him they became possessed during confession and tried to kill a member of the church. Garth learned several demon charms, secretly hiding them in the rooms. Only once did a demon become ensnared in them, the others were just dead ladies of the evening. The demon was another fry, and unspeakable tortures happened to the young boy in the act of ridding him of the demon. He hardly ate after that, eventually he died. He only ever said one thing, "I miss her."

One night, Garth took a forbidden book from the library and summoned 'her'. She was the most beautiful thing in the world, given form...at least to a celebant fry. She told him many things about the church, all of which he already knew. She fled when he tried to banish her. He never told anyone about it, but she would whisper to him, inside his head. She allowed him to see evil, despite its disguises. She became his familiar, something rare to someone with little magical talent.

He never told anyone about Rosemary. None of the other fry's were as smart as him, nor did they have near as much time as he did. His new insight into the world of evil gave him a head up on the other fry's, and eventually he became a personal assistant to one of the High Priests.

High Priest Rashok was a despicable man, who fancied wine and women, both were illegal for him but he had many of both. Garth soon learned many healing charms, and memory charms, to fix the broken women that left the Priest's room. He made them believe they were attacked by monsters. Vampires swooping down on young maidens seemed fanciful to Garth at the time, little did he know that he would start a war that eradicated Vampirism. Some surely had to have survived, the strongest wanted to fight, while the smartest hid. Many good knights of the church died because of Garth's magic. Many innocent peasants died because of peasant idiocy.

Garth watched all of this happen, from the high room that was his chambers. A normal fry would sleep on a mat in the room with all the other fry children. Garth had his own room, even if it was a closet. They would never check his closet, he was a good little fry. He became friends with many people, all wanted to use the little fry to curry a favor with the High Priest.

The time flew quickly at his new post. He grew to the age of twenty, aging well. Other fry's his age became monks, but a monk does not do chores or work. They pray, but Garth's skills were needed. He was always in demand, his skills of healing grew quickly, but he no longer used memory charms. Eventually, one of the women fought back. Garth was shaken from his sleep by a young girl, no older than fifteen, who had been to the High Priest once before. She had stabbed him, and Garth was the only kind man she knew.
One of the knights, a man with three daughters, two claimed by the church, hid her well. Garth found the High Priest in a puddle of blood, far beyond the scope of healing. Reviving was a different story, and no matter how hard he tried to explain this, the other High Priests demanded that Garth revive Rashok.

To revive is a form of Necromancy, which was banned. Garth knew about it in case of this exact situation, but what was brought back was not always what was wanted. Garth did the spell, with disastrous results.

Rashok stood up, dusting himself off, screaming for the little girl. There was a castle wide search, but no one found the girl. Eventually Garth was left alone, no more questions, no more threats with the ends of swords.

He sank into a chair, and finally got a good look at the High Priest. Rosemary screamed in his head to flee. He didn't take her advice. A demon had possessed the priest, not a desire demon like Rosemary, a demon of rage. Garth was hit once, knocked through two walls before landing on a knight's dinner table. Darkness clouded his mind as he raced to do a healing spell before his lost too much blood. Knights raced towards the weapon racks to fight off Rashok.

Darkness overtook him.

When he awoke, the castle he had lived in was burning. A knight clad in armor, a few monks. Garth. Eleven people survived from inside the castle. Rashok was still loose.

It had been forty-five years since that day. Garth lived in a tent, several others inside. His skills as a healer were still needed, but magic was a waning art. They burned wizards for their practice, even if it helped mankind. Peasant idiocy.

"Garth?"

He rolled over. He wasn't getting up for this.

"Garth?", the voice buzzed again.

"Quiet Rose.", he said, rubbing his arm.

"Garth...."

An odd,uncomfortable sensation spread from his arm, across his back and down to his legs. Sighing deeply, he sat up. The sensation crawled back up his body, to his left arm. He pulled up his sleeve to take a look at his tattoo.

"Morning.", the tattoo whispered, the mouth of a dragon moving as she talked.

Garth picked up a knife. "If that is what you woke me up for, I will cut you from my body."

"No, there's an assassin in your tent. Wake up!"

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Equipped:
Chipped Dagger

Wearing:
Pants
Rose-Dragon Tattoo

What do you do?

Rip some cloth from your pants and equip commando bandana.

I didn't expect to go on a mission. This is on hold for a few weeks until I get back.