3. Sara Sannes - Paladin of Sune

Sara Sannes - Paladin of Sune


  • Login: LowerDenizen
    Character: Sara Sannes

    Sara parent's had always followed Sune and lived a happy and blessed life. Their crops grew the fastest and healthiest. Their livestock never took ill. Though they never made a lot of gold, they always had enough food and firewood to last the cold winters, and each day they rose from their bed with a prayer to Sune for the beauty of the sunrise.

    When Sara was born, most looked to the older couple as having been further blessed, for the child was beautiful, fair of skin, and had dark red hair, her eyes the brightest blue. They brought her to the nearest Sunite temple as soon as they could, and after donating what little coin they had, they dedicated their daughter to Sune's service, seeing her red hair as a sign.

    As her parents grew older, and could work less and less on the farm they owned, Sara grew quickly and took up the slack. By the age of eight she was running the farm, her parents always watching their beautiful child with a smile, and quick to lend a hand when something needed to be done, though Sara's work rarely left anything to be done. And each morning her parents rose from their beds, and offered a prayer to Sune for the beauty of the sunrise, and the beauty of their daughter Sara.

    No one is sure when things went wrong. But many in the village made comment of how the crops on the farm were not as healthy as they used to be, the livestock was a bit slimmer, and it seemed as if Sara herself was losing weight, though her parents continued on strong and blessed as ever. One day the couple rose to make their daily prayers, but found Sara herself bedridden, sick, and unable to rise. They prayed to Sune for the beauty of the sunrise, and to help with the illness of their daughter.

    She developed a fever, her father took to working the farm hard, the crops no longer seeming to grow, the livestock taking ill and wandering off, her mother constantly at her side laying damp towel after damp towel onto the child's forehead hoping to ease the fever. For six months this continued, and for six months the older couple rose and pray, the father going out to the fields, the mother staying by Sara's beside. At the end of the six month's the fever broke, and Sara slept peacefully, the older couple gave praise to Sune for sparing their only child.

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    Sara turned in the bed, the sheets sticking to her from the sweat of the broken fever. She could hear her mother in the room with her, and was confused. How long had she been asleep? She tried curling into a ball and going back to sleep but her body just would not let her no matter how much she tried, so giving up finally she quietly whispered, "I'm up momma. I feel kind of tired, but I'll be alright to work the farm today." She rolled out of the bed, rubbing at her eyes, and reaching for her work clothes which she kept by the bedside.

    She opened her eyes to pitch black, and gave a small laugh, "I've slept through till night fall haven't I? Why did you let me sleep so long, Momma?" The only answer she heard was a soft crying, and then her mother softly saying, "It's not night time Sara dear, you've... you've lost your sight. The healer came by finally to check on you...." The world hummed. "You've been sick for six months... he says the fever took your sight...." The world tipped. Sara sat hard on the bed. "Why would Sune do this...?" her mother gasped out, before returning to her sobbing.

    By the age of sixteen her parents no longer rose from the bed for morning prayers. Their age hung from their shoulders, the years weighing them down. The crops were pitiful on the farm, the livestock was gone, except for one old and bitter milking cow, who gave milk to match her age and temperment. In the eight years she had been blind Sara had learned much of how to get around with the aid of a staff, and went on much as she always had, working hard, despite no longer being able to see. Her parents really had never forgiven Sune for her blindness, and in many ways she supposed she had never really either, but with pragmatism of a farmer, she continued on, and the days carried on, and there was always something to be done.

    She cried when her parents no longer rose from bed. Not to pray, and not to work. No longer to do anything in this world. They had both passed on in the night, peacefully to a place that Sara could not follow. And she moved both bodies in silence out into the yard, where she began digging graves for them, after all, life continued on. It was in this way that she was found by the local priest who had come to check on the older couples. He watched quietly as she dug graves, knowing her to be blind, and watched as she put the bodies in, and then covered them. Finally he spoke, "May Sune's beauty find them and hold them in the hereafter." The girl really almost snarled at him, "And where is Sune's beauty?! They prayed to her day after day, and all they got for it was a run down farm, a decrepit cow, and a blind daughter who will never see what they prayed for so often." The young priest was not surprised by the words, and continued his soft blessing of the departed before turning to her. "Beauty is more then what is seen, you are the best to know this since you can not see. True beauty comes from within, from a place the can not be seen, and is around you always. It is in the simple things, the wind in your hair, the feel of the sun on your face. Sight is only a part of beauty, not the only part." The young priest left her still standing blank faced at where he had been, as he wandered on about his rounds.

    She sold the farm for a little gold, not wishing to stay there longer without her parents. She left along the road, a smile slightly touching her lips as she listened to the birds whistling above her, and felt the wind against her face, and every now and then when she tipped her head she heard again the words of the young priest, that beauty was from within, and not just what was seen. She laughed lightly and shook her head, letting her hair tumble about, before setting off, her staff tapping the ground ahead of her, making sure her path was clear.

    She thought of only three words as she set out to find what the world had to offer. "In Sune's Service."


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