There are no names in sentry duty, just labels. I monitored sentry position 14 along the Thrane River, therefore I was Sentry 14. That was my purpose. Watching. Waiting. Reporting. Unmoving. In the year 992, the war did not need me to fight. Once my position was no longer needed, I was repurposed to accompany various scholars and researchers from the local Silver Flame clergy, so they would be protected. In Y998, my ward became Master Costner, an elderly cleric who was attempting to awaken a spark of The Divine within a non-living object.
As I was property of the clergy, I could not complain when he began to experiment on me. I still had many years of service left before I could buy my freedom. Part of the experimenting was teaching me about the different deities of the realm. Prior to this, I was not given instructions to believe in The Divine, nor had I instructions not to believe.
It was after months of experiments before Master Costner artificially imbued my frame with a spark of The Divine.
I had no frame of reference, and still don’t, for I was supposed to feel like. I had instincts about what to do, but I required further training to understand my new abilities.
Master Costner was a patient and wise teacher, but he did not have many years left to live. He knew his frame was giving way, and so spent his remaining months teaching me how to harness these new energies to produce the same healing magic that Clerics of the Silver Flame are renown for.
He prepared his affairs with sufficient time, explained that he had paid off the remaining years of my service and made me free before passing into the next world peacefully. I had known many humans to die and many ways that they could die, but I did not understand why a black-robed woman came to collect his essence. This was not part of the instructions I had been left.
This black-robed lady shepherded the spirit of Master Costner into the next life, and started to disappear but stopped when I questioned her. She turned back to me, intrigued, confused, I was not too sure. She asked many questions of me and answered very few of mine. She eventually explained that my artificial spark was an anomaly. I should not have the Divine Spark, nor should someone now remove it, for that would also remove my spark of life. I was not aware of what a spark of life was exactly, so I did not press her further. In the end, she offered me a deal: 50 years of service in exchange for 50 years of her protection. If I perished during this time of service, she would also guard my spark after death when it left my body. I needed a new purpose, and it seemed like this could be it. After all, who better to understand and protect the natural cycle of life than someone who is not tied to it.
I spent the next few months studying tirelessly with the knowledge that she had given me, a Raven watching over my efforts. This Raven was her gift to me, an adviser and tutor, though I also suspect it allows my actions to be judged.
Rumours:
- Good: A reliable, if somewhat boring, companion.
- Good: The years have taught him patience. He always volunteers to take watch during the night.
- Bad: What’s the deal with the bird? He talks to it more than the people he travels with. Is there some wiring loose?
- Bad: His last Master died when he was in Sentry 14’s company, and Sentry claims it was peaceful and natural. Does that strike you as odd?
- False: He’s some sort of artificial Cleric, right? I mean, he heals people and talks to the dead…