December '07 Epilogue

High Voidservant Canaos, Scourge of Edonia, Destroyer of the Radiant Dome of Athkos, Disciple of Ankerth the Empty, Favoured of Euchton, may all tremble before It, huddled frightened in the wings of an abandoned theatre. He was crouched behind the dilapidated set last used there, two years before, in a production of the passion play Weak. Once, he would have enjoyed the irony of being sheltered by the set on which the last hours of Musit, god of hope, were depicted. Now, however, he had not the strength to care.   His followers, his great, dark temple, his plans -- all lay in ruins. Those accursed adventurers and their mangy animals! How dare they interfere with the holy agency of entropy? That they, too, would die, and likely sooner rather than later, did little to make Canaos feel better. He cradled his broken arm, watching his life's blood slowly ooze down his leg from the wounds in his side, and flow across the theatre's floor. He had barely gotten away from the battle, which had quickly turned into a rout, with his own fragile life. He had expended all of his spells. Now whether he lived or died from his wounds was in the hands of Great and Terrible Euchton. It was the difference between continuing to serve Entropy, or succumbing to its holy imperative. Canaos found, to his shame, that he preferred to continue living, and prayed to Euchton for guidance in his moment of weakness.   As he sat, praying, bleeding into the darkness, Canaos heard a faint sound: swish-thump ... swish-thump ... swish-thump. It was coming around the corner of the set-piece. Confused, he looked up, thinking that perhaps this was the answer to his prayers.   Instead, what he saw confused him even more. It was a tawny-coloured rabbit, sitting just to one side of his blood trickle, in a shaft of moonlight from a nearby window, and looking at him with some curiosity. As Canaos looked back at the rabbit through his haze of pain, he heard a door elsewhere in the theatre open, and then close. Suddenly very much conscious of his frail state, and of his conspicuous ceremonial garb, Canaos was seized by fear. What if whoever had just entered were to see the rabbit, clearly illuminated by the cursed moon, and come investigate? Surely they would then see him. He tried to shoo the rabbit away, but it just continued looking at him.   Canaos heard no approaching footsteps, but suddenly a voice spoke from the other side of the set-piece. "Ah! There you are." Canaos quailed, thinking for a moment that the unseen person was talking to him, before realising that he must be speaking to the rabbit. Nonetheless, as a human-shaped shadow fell across the rabbit, Canaos shrunk back into the shadows of his hiding place.   From around the set's corner stepped an elderly man, in a somewhat showy wizard's robe and a somewhat blunted, trough-brimmed hat, carrying a short staff in one hand. He smiled into his chest-length beard, and with a twinkle in his eye said, "How in the world did you get in here?" He was quiet a moment, as if listening to something, then said, "Yes, I suppose it is a nice set. Pity the theatre was closed down."   The man knelt and picked up the rabbit, then, still kneeling, turned towards Canaos, and looked him straight in the eye. "High Voidservant Canaos, Scourge of Edonia, Destroyer of the Radiant Dome of Athkos, Disciple of Ankerth the Empty, Favoured of Euchton," he addressed the priest. "Are you hiding from your final fate? Not very devout of you." The man clucked his tongue. "Well, perhaps I can help you there."   Canaos mustered what courage he could, drawing himself up as much as his pain would let him, and said in what he hoped was still an impressive voice, "You dare to suggest you know the goal of the holy progress of Entropy? I should Unname you where you stand."   The man chuckled. "Ah, but to Unname someone, you need to know their Name. And it's been a very long time indeed since anyone knew my Name." He stood up, holding the rabbit against his chest, absentmindedly petting it. His eyes glinted in the moonlight. "No, I believe I will send you to your god." He raised a single hand and began tracing arcane patterns in the air.   Desperate, Canaos kicked at the supports of the set-piece. They wouldn't budge. As a light blue glow settled around the old man's hand, he shook his head. "That won't work with this set," he said, almost sadly. He knelt again, close to Canaos, letting the rabbit hop to the side. As he reached for the priest with his glowing hand, he said, in a voice suddenly hard and cold, "When you see your god, on Its throne of dust, remember all you have done in Its name, and see what reward it gets you. Not much of one, I'll wager." Canaos was too weak to move away from the slowly advancing hand. "And you tell It that you were sent there by Daniel. And ask It what it is that defeats entropy. Because that is what is coming. And if that doesn't fill It with fear, then It is a fool."   The last thing High Voidservant Canaos saw on the mortal plane was the old man's spread hand gently touching his temples. The light blue glow overcame his senses, and he died peacefully.