Tobias: A Vignette From Long Ago
#15 of The Lead Crown
A powerful glimpse into Tobias' past, written by the ever-talented Tiyu a while back.
Tobias is a member of an adventuring party in the steam punk universe of "The Lead Crown", a reader-driven story series by comidacomida. Tobias was created by and belongs to me.
"...Thus became she First Lady, Mother Wenya. The Wisdom of the Spirits she held in her bodies Wenya and Wild, thus also was First Lady the First Shaman. So traversed First Lady, with the blessings of Earth Mother, across the lands of our primal mothers and fathers to teach them the Bonding Stone Ritual..."
Tobias Severna shut the book with a disgruntled firmness, earning the pronghorn scholar a resounding 'shhh!' from various students in the University's library. Though the pronghorn scholar had no doubts as to the accuracy with which the author, distinguished University professor, Y.M. Gaspé, had described Tribal customs and their use of medicinal herbs, he could never stomach Gaspé's excessive use of romance._ Good grief! Even the lore Mother told me as a child was never as grandiose as this! _ Setting the tome aside upon the carrousel, he leaned back upon the chair, pinching the bridge of his muzzle as he sighed. He fixed his gaze upon the high vaulted ceiling, gathering his thoughts, whereupon his blue eyes fell onto the University's emblem, "Progress and Truth".
...Truth..The Truth, unvarnished and plain, to pursue and defend to the death. Such a noble endeavour was not only the University's aim, but for Tobias, a personal cause as well. He smiled, at once noting the ironic parallel between his goal and the selfless martyrs of the Church. Ah, if only Father, devout Mehnzilian, could come to the same conclusion, how much more content he would have been, instead of the frigid and violent reception he gave to Tobias upon receiving news of his admisssion. The pronghorn exhaled sharply at this, grimacing. Did it matter, after all? Father had always been distant and strict; for him, the Church had always held precedence even over family
It was a boon then, that certain Tribal groups were matrilineal, as the one his mother hailed from. Of course, with Grandmother being forced to attend the Church's 'Grand Lehsunian Tribal Reformation', Mother had been distanced from her Tribal roots, but not gravely so.
The stag smiled now, with veritable joy. Mother was warm and kind, where Father was cold and strict. While Father was cruelly harsh, Mother was guidingly firm. Indeed, while Father gave them a house; it was Mother who made it a home. She instructed Tobias in rudimentary Tribal tongue, bestowed upon him the Lore, and had shown him the Secret Grove, a collection of curative herbs known only to the Tribes. Even now, as in the days of his fawnhood, the knowledge of his ancestral ways was his jealously guarded secret, almost as if he was a 'Two Spirit', living in the bustling metropolis of Lehsunia, yet aware of the Tribal methods.
An inopportune cough returned Tobias sharply to the present; he had a paper to compose before the day's end.What lay beyond was two days of rest, and Mother was coming to fetch him by eve-tide! Rolling up his sleeves, he slammed Gaspé's seminal work open once more, garnering another sussuration of 'shhs!' as he began to write in earnest.
Lady Severna strolled up the avenue to the University. She had never been one for sedans or carriages, despite their convenience, especially today, it would have been overly conspicuous. Already, she felt as if surveyed, even with her efforts in mingling with the bustling crowd. Could they have...? No, she calmed herself. No, none could have known of what she had just discovered. It was a Truth, and one of significance for the University to know, but she was very certain that only her own eyes had been privy to It.
Nevertheless, she began to pick up the pace, feigning an air of non-chalance .Her heart leapt when the University's grand Gates of Knowledge rose into view-Sanctuary!- and how it sank when brute, strong talons grasped her shoulder. She was whisked to a nearby alley, whereupon she was was deftly gagged and bound. When she came to from her daze, she found herself seated upon a soapbox against a cold brick wall. She stiffened, and further still upon hearing the dreadfully soft clack of talons upon cobblestone .
"Well met, dear Lady Severna." _They had known about it, too! _
Here, she thrashed against her bindings as the scaly bulk leaned over her- "Forgive our incivility,'' The dragon stooped suddenly, red eyes staring into her blue ones, "but We do believe you possess on your person an affair of ours."
_This was the University's domain! Surely someone would notice the Church's trespassing! _As if sensing her thoughts, the dragon smirked, replying thusly : 'Ah, but my dear Lady Severna, God's reign is all about us...''
From behind the dragon fanned out some University students. "Some wiser students have found their True Calling...''
The doe thrashed harder in rage as the dragon chuckled, signalling the advance of his underlings...
Tobias rose away from his toil, gasping. The gas-lights had been lit; evening had come and gone, and Mother was nowhere in sight. Here the stag stretched his cramped limbs- he had finally finished his paper! Strange....Mother was never tardy; perhaps she was outside? The pronghorn gathered his belongings before clopping out the library, heedless of the incessant 'shhh's'. A crowd immediately without arrested his passage, and by dint of natural curiosity, he began to push through the mass...
An ink bottled shattered as leaves of paper fled into the air, dispelling the terrible calm as a young pronghorn, trembling furiously, cradled the frigid, body of a doe in his arms. 'M...mother?!'