[RPG] [BT] [Avalon]: The Doubts of a Bastard

[Jamie Cheyfetz]

The next days found Péché in a daze.  She had dreamt of finding her
father her whole life.  She had left all she had on Atamara on a quest
to find her father.  She had started down the road of an adventuress
and struggled at the outset, living off rats and whatever she could
scrounge in the mountains for quite a few months before she got the
hang of it.

But now, her quest was almost done.  What she had always thought as
the hardest part was now done.  She had found her father.  But as was
becoming more and more apparent, that was the easy part.  She now had
to confront her father.  Her original confidence that she would be
accepted in loving arms had steadily been ripped away upon reading his
history.

For the thousandth time in the last couple of days, she re-read the
paper of his history.  A Duke a mere 8 days after he arrived on the
island.  General 17 days in the realm.  Ruler not long after that!
Her father, a Prime Minister.  What was she compared to that?  She was
a bastard.  How could her father accept her?  It was still a remote
possibility.

And then the last:  <i>Founded the religion "Eretzism".</i>

A religious leader.  It was one thing for a political leader to accept
a bastard.  It was quite another for a religious leader to do so.

She wandered the city of Cteduul and when the throngs of people became
too much, she moved to Henhower and then on to Zod.  She knew she was
moving towards her father's realm.  Eretzism had a large following in
Enweil and he was still a Noble of Enweil.

Word came to her of monsters in Tey Gren.  She longed for the days
when all that worried her was finding the next group of monsters and
putting them down.

After wandering in a daze for some time, she found herself atop the
great Stronghold in Zod and looked across the land.  Her gaze went to
Piwani.  She knew there was a Temple of Eretzism there.

<i>Where do I begin?  Is it even worth trying?  What are the chances
he will accept me?  None.  How could I have been so stupid?  A dream
of a little girl carried into adulthood is what it was.  What did I
think?  He would accept me with open arms?  I'm a bastard!  What am I
other than shame brought down on his family?</i>  Her face fell into
her hands and she wept for the umpteenth time that day.

Who could she go to for advice?  She wished her mother were here.  But
what would that help?  She wished Korkut were here.  He was a bastard
himself, what would he know of Prime Ministers and religious founders?
 She wished someone were here.  Anyone to save her from the task ahead
of her.  By the time she had stopped weeping, it was dawn.  She faced
it alone.

She made her way back into the streets of Zod and wandered them aimlessly.