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The First Scroll of Baan Dar
By Arkan
What follows is a translation of the first fragment from a series
of vellum scrolls found in 3 Alabaster jars sealed in a cave. The
discoverer was a nomad wanderer somewhere on the shores of Lake Vread
in the Province of Elswyer. I can neither vouch for nor deny its
authenticity or veracity - only that the scrolls, as such, DO exist.
Read and judge for yourself:
Baan Dar, The Legend... Thief, Warlock, ShadowMaster, Ruthless Assassin,
Undying Avenger, Dark God, Robber Baron, MasterMind of Nefarious
Plots. All these things and more are the Legendary Baan Dar, he who
is called The Bandit God. But what is the Truth?
Baan Dar, The Man is a much more simple and complex being. I pen
this tale as I slowly die of old age and a mortifying arrow wound.
I cannot decide if the truth will add to or subtract from the legend
that is Baan Dar, nor if the original Baan Dar would want the truth
to be known. Therefore, I will leave this tale hidden when I am done
and gone, and let Fate (which was ever Baan Dar's true master and
motivator) decide.
I was a child of 12 Seasons when I first met Baan Dar. Orphan of
a Slaver raid during one of the many inter-provincial border wars.
Living by my quick wits, nimble fingers, and the grace of Lady Luck
in the back alleys and byways of my birth city. I had just "liberated"
a loaf of bread and a few small apples from a local street vendor
in the Bazaar on the edge of the city near the tumbled outer wall,
and had withdrawn down an ill-lit alley to feast on my bounty when
I was beset by an older band of my ilk. The older and lazier variety
which were want to engage in the easier and less dangerous art of
stealing from the stealers.
There were 5 of the bully boys who had decided they were more deserving
of my booty than I, and they were beating me half to death with staves
in between bites and laughter at the time. Lying on the ground curled
up into as tight a ball as I could manage, trying to protect my head
and groin, I heard a quiet voice ask if they were not "more suited
to go down to the wharf and take food from your brother rats, or
would you care to try your tricks on game a bit more your size and
number?"
Since my "companions" had become otherwise engaged with the newcomer
and had for the nonce ceased thumping, kicking and cuffing at me,
I looked up to see a dark shadow of boots, cloak, and chainmail hood
leaning against the wall at the end of the alleyway.
The others, being what they were, took this as a challenge to their
manhood - and easy prey to their superior number with a promise of
coin of the realm as added reward (else the first part would have
been overlooked). The leader of my band of playmates suggested that
the stranger take a leap off the mentioned wharf unless he wished
to join me there when they were done with their evening meal.
Having drawn chuckles and courage from his underlings, he then proceeded
forward with staff at high port. I'm not quite sure exactly what
followed, but within a short space of time, Lead Bully was lying
in the dirt with a thrown dagger in his chest, number two bully had
lost three teeth to a boot (I still carry them in a leather pouch
as a keepsake), and number three bully was brought short by his own
staff applied forcefully up between his toes (the two big ones!).
Bullies four and five thought better of the entertainment and departed
rapidly for parts unknown.
Baan Dar picked me up, dusted me off, and dragged me round to a near
tavern where we shared a meal and a mug. I attempted to thank him
for saving my life. How can I ever repay this favor, I asked? His
reply was short, to the point, and has driven my actions in life
ever since...
"THE PROPER WAY TO REPAY A FAVOR, IS NOT TO - PASS IT ON INSTEAD."
Things having not progressed well along the lines of health, wealth
and welfare for me until that point in my life came upon a sudden
change that night. I later learned (along with MANY other things)
that Baan Dar had decided to take a direct and immediate interest
in me because my situation reminded him very much of the bad start
his own life had taken, and the odds he had faced to survive it.
On that night he took me under his wing as a kind of apprentice.
He saw to it that I learned weaponcraft and stealth, that I learned
to read and write! He took me along when he traveled for the next
year. I served as messenger, valet, packmule, lookout, cook - many
things. I saw other towns, cities, races, provinces, and broadened
my view and knowledge of the world far beyond belief. He taught me
both morals and coldhearted ruthlessness - and when and how to apply
each as the ethics of the situation required.
At the end of the year, he gave me good dagger, and decent horse,
the 3 teeth, and leave (nay, Command) to make my own way in the world
from that day forward - but to remember all I had been given, and
to attempt to pass such a gift to another when and where I should
find need and opportunity. That I have done, several times... as
I assume he has also, and as I hope my various charges have after
me (and they theirs).
Thus has the Legendary Baan Dar been seen time and again in various
lands of our world at numerous and the same times in days of need.
Thus also is the description so very hard to obtain and track - for
in truth, there have been, and continue to be, many Baan Dars in
the world. The most valuable lesson he ever taught me was that "for
Evil to triumph required not so much that many bad men to do wrong,
as for One good man to fail to do what was right." We only hope that
our combined and concatenated efforts have produced enough single
men and women that will not fail to do the right thing, regardless
of current local, morals, laws, religion, creed, or lure of coin
of the realm.
The Legend grows still. Of the Dark Avenging Blade on the Wings of
Night that make no sound. The Patron Saint of the Lone Wolf. The
Thousand Eyes and Ears, the Hundred Arms direspectful of Time or
Distance. Undying, Master of Disguise, Man of a Thousand Faces, Shapes
and Sizes, Gentle, Rough-Edged, Gay, Stern. All the Mystery of the
"Man Unknown and Undying"... not a single man nor God at all, but
a string of seeds sown upon the land and left to grow into a forest.
How to reconcile this truth with the tales of cruelty and the gangs
of "Baan Dars" or "Bandits"? Some are jealous Thieves who take the
name only for the cloak of mystery and hope of hiding in it's Shadow.
Others are tales twisted to reverse by those justly served by Baan
Dar's unfettered by technicalities of law and custom. Some are backsliders
drawn of the true path by temptation and returning to their old ways.
Many are the things that any one Baan Dar cannot answer for, as others
did the deeds in the same name. Some are tales of fishwives, made
up to scare the child into doing what is wanted. Some are left as
part of the "Mystery" that is both cloak and shield to the hidden
purposes - a case where the fear of the tale serves to save the need
of arms or action.
But, by and large, the true Baan Dar is a string of beings taught
to act upon what they believe in, and stand to take the yoke of needed
action upon their own shoulders.
Don't fight if you can avoid blood or war, But if you must make War,
do so with all your Heart and Might. Leave it at Threats if Threats
be enough - but never make threats you are unwilling to carry to
conclusion if required. Use all the arts at hand. But ever keep the
true purpose in mind. Stand Tall, but never forget how to bend your
knee to help another.
Note:
The rest of the scrolls are tales and tellings of various parts of
the Legend, some as passed from Bard to Bard, some as the true tales
underlying the Ballads. These fragments are still to be translated
and debated. This fragment, however, contains the kernel of the Revelation
and the true source of the questions surrounding the Baan Dar Legend.
What Say You, Reader? For myself, I do not know... but God or unrelated
string of linked souls as laid out here... I do know that Baan Dar
IS a force in our Land and Lives, and one that gives Hope to many
that need it, and pause to many I despise.
- Arkan, Scribe of Daggerfall in the year 2E24
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