Beard the Immortal: Of Wolf and Manling (click to read the tale on beardtheimmortal.com)
So, here we are: Beard the Immortal has been picked up for a second season (as Galdre and I have so jokingly come to call the second volume of tales)! It’s a fresh start, to be sure, and a grisly one for our hero who lies eviscerated on the lonely shores of the Isle of the Isenshrike. The bastard won’t die, though. Even as his innards are picked apart by carrion birds (only to grow back, slowly and painfully, like a certain mythological god who had a thing for both aiding mankind and starting fires) and he screams out in the silence of his own mind for death’s sweet, but dishonorable release, the Last Path and Great Beyond still elude him.
So, that sucks.
But on the bright side, he’s had a visitor or two. First came Vel’Naren’s father and his strange ways. That was a bit odd, yes? I shan’t go into that whole business here, however, for it was Galdre’s well-tempered imagination that summoned him thereforth. Ask him about it, will ya? I’m sure he’d be ever so enthralled to bend your ear about such a mysterious man… and who knows… maybe he’ll be crossing paths with our little warrior somewhere down the road.
Now onto another visitor: that dear Old God, Wuthweirgen. How we’ve missed her! I thought it fitting that she should be there when her mancub finally awoke from his terrible near-death after the hell the Isenshrike gave him. After all, we haven’t seen her in a long while. What has she been up to? Well, I’ll let her explain that.
For now, she tells of a horrible twist in the Inner World, a dark age ushered in by the one who calls himself “The Dark One.” Ah yes… that bastard. Who was it that warned dear Beard of his coming? Bergrin the Knowing, if I’m not mistaken, or at least some semblance of the one we used to call the King of the Thorgithen people. Yes, it was in that strange dream Beard had had in the Eastwood before the trees had decided that they didn’t much care for the people of the North (including their exiles, ahem). Did he not also fortell the coming of the Dark One upon Beard’s arrival to the Dream Realm when Slafgeit, being the cowardly mutt it is, drew him there? Yes, friends, I believe he did. But what could Beard have done about such a man (be he a man?)?
Naught.
Our hero was in shambles… and I mean that literally. See here — from Merriam-Webster: SHAMBLES – a place of mass slaughter or bloodshed. Yes, “a place.” Except, in Beard’s unfortunate case, his entire body is that place of bloodshed. NOW ENTERING Slaughteredville, POPULATION: Beard. And did I mention it hurt like hell? The whirling cloud of blades that is the Isenshrike tearing him to pieces, I mean. Rending his flesh, unzipping his guts, splitting skin and bone. That was painful, you see. Oh, and the birds pecking out his eyes over and over again as he lay there, disheveled and semiconscious (but just conscious enough to be enveloped in a thick armor of excruciating pain for days and days and days).
So, that blows.
Not as much as the Stormcoming, however, which we learn about from Wuthweirgen as she tries to rehabilitate Beard, both with food and encouragement. Isn’t she wonderful? Would your Motherwolf have traversed the whole continent of Krytherion, overtake the Stormcoming, scare away those pesky carrion birds, and bring you food for 150+ days before you regained consciousness? I think not. Then again, there can be only one Beard the Immortal (Slafgeit best count its lucky stars for this little nugget of knowledge). But I digress…
Yes, the Stormcoming has, well, come… and again, if we are to trust Wuthweirgen’s words. The tempest and the beast in the waters below it have cut off Krytherion for Beard, which isn’t such bad news except… oh yeah, the Eastwood is still bringing havoc to the great, wide North. Damn. Looks like Beard will have to stay south for the moment as he gathers his strength for what lies ahead.
Hey, that’s a good question… what does lie ahead? Hmm… good question, indeed. I can’t wait to see what Galdre has cooked up for that ominous black ship on the horizon and that damned Tattered Edge which doesn’t want to seem to let go of our hero. Only time will tell, I guess… and by “time” I mean “we” and in due time.
Stay tuned, folks.
P.S. +1 to RAWK! for the Metallica – Of Wolf and Man reference.
