A letter to Norwick
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((This letter – written in Common - is meant for the everyday citizens of Norwick, to be read aloud and recited at small gatherings or inns as letters once were in our world. Adventurers with close ties to the farmers, common craftsmen, etc will likely hear of it. For those not in the know, Raisa has been working on Norwick’s farms ever since Lofundil asked her many IG years ago.))
_From Raisa of Rashemen, ethran of Bhalla-Chauntea, Archdruid of the Circle of Quercatha Terr, High Priestess of Spellweaver Keep.
To the good people of Norwick, friends, comrades, embers of light in dark days, a stronghold of justice in unjust times.
It fills me with pity for the better writer to know that anyone should read this, the writing of a goatherd’s daughter who has never been a day without the stains of good soil on her hands. Of late, that soil has been your own or your neighbor’s, so I hope that you forgive me this intrusion.
My friends, since the crystals retreated far underground, you have all done well. The fields are ever alive, the granary full, and the larders ever stocked. I ask that you remember to whom you owe your thanks for this gift. I pray each day that the Earthmother shares her grace with you and yours. I pray you remember we are all her children, nurtured at her breast, surrounded by the bounty she bestows out of the love she has for even the least of us.
When we speak of the gods, my friends, we often speak as though they walked the face of Toril as we do. In truth, some were like us even before the Time of Troubles, but we should not forget that they also walk worlds we cannot fathom. Tempus and Uthgar do not ride into the fray upon horseback, though their presence may be heard in the roar of the berserker or seen in the fear of an enemy’s eye. Chauntea does not hand us each shock of grain at harvest in her blackened hands, but through her grace alone we receive each kernel.
I write this not to frighten you into piety, but to remind you how valuable we must be in the eyes of our gods. We have all been placed here by the same forces that forged mountains, birthed dragons, and set the seasons in motion. When you see the finely dressed merchant from the north or the sorceress who summons beings of another plane, know that their gains matter little compared to the life we have each been granted. And if their share is little treasured, it can easily be lost.
This is what I ask of you. Remember that all living things are the child of a goddess. Every citizen of Norwick relies upon the grain or animal of the field. Though the powerful may forget their debt, we do not have that luxury. Remember that we have been set upon this rock with intelligence and insight. We have the power to raise life from dead earth, and there is no greater miracle than this.
Some of you say dark times are upon us, and I do not blame you for it. Friends, remember that we have been given a world in motion but in balance, a world shaped like a wheel. The passing of seasons is but the passing of spokes. The passing of gods is but a full turn. We may be tempted – like the ancients – to reap more than we have sown, to fight our battles without righteousness so that we might win today, but it is only by resisting the temptation to return our enemy’s lack of honor that we create a better world for our children. When the wheel turns, those who find themselves out of balance will undoubtedly fall as they have in every age. Darkness always gives way to light.
May you find peace. I hope to see you all as High Prayers of Harvest draw nearer.
In faith,
Raisa_