Vale

Vale
The Disgraced Gaoler
Theme song: TobyMac-- The Elements

"Take a breath, and I exhale slow
I wasn’t made for this kind of cold
This ain’t the kinda place that you wanna know"



One of the greatest punishments that could be handed down in ancient Gaoler society was disguised as an honour.
The announcement was always accompanied by great celebration, attended by an aspect of the Icewarden himself, but the smiles and cheers were false and forced.
It was to become a Hunter.
Locked away in the ice for eternity until a threat arose that was deemed great enough to have a Hunter unleashed on them.
Sure, if Hunters were really just locked away in ice, it would be fine. We did similar things every few summers.
But everyone knew what actually happened to the Hunters.
They went in as themselves, and came out... to spare your mind, let's just say "various forms of insane".
We all knew, and feared it.

Imagine an eternity in which you are deprived of all senses but two.
Your sense of touch. And your sense of time.
You cannot see. Cannot hear. Cannot move. Cannot breathe. But -- as a Gaoler -- cannot die.
But by our Father's icy a**, is it cold. So cold you can't feel. So cold it hurts.
And there is no mercy of sleep for us, for if we could sleep our imprisonment would be over in the blink of an eye.

It's just dark. And cold. And, even as an immortal, you begin to wonder if the imprisonment killed you, if this is what death feels like. Even a Gaoler isn't designed for cold like this, and we are born and raised in the deepest depths of the Fortress of Ends.

I would tell you what I did to deserve such a fate, but the memory has been stolen from me, locked away so deep in my mind that it only resurfaces in visions and nightmares.
Everything from before the darkness is a blur to me, so much so that it took me moons to even recall my own name.

Vale.

Besides that, there is little from that time that still seems real.
I was only awoken mere seasons ago, given my assignment.

"Stormhollow."
That is his name.
The dragon I must find.
I must find.
I must find him!
I-- no.
I'm sorry.
I got carried away.
I did indeed say that we all come out a little... beyond ourselves.
And yes, I did see the change in how you look at me just now.
You can't hide your thoughts from a Gaoler.

He is a tundra.
One of Father's favourite children, turned traitor for another god.
He was imprisoned much as I but he escaped.
He got to escape.
I didn't.
That alone feeds my mission, my desire, heart so cold it burns-- with rage.
How dare he, a dragon that actually deserves it, escape the centuries of torture I endured?
And not even because Father decreed.

The answer is he will not.
He will not escape.
I will not fail in my mission.
You do not want to know what happens to Hunter Gaolers that fail to take down their targets.
I do not want to go back.
I cannot go back.
I would rather die than face what I know will be waiting for me.
I know Father's punishments are fair and just, but... the punishments handed down by my Gaoler kin... by my former order, the ones I betrayed...
I will permit myself to have a moment of weakness and tell you honestly that I feel scared.

But what I feel does not matter anymore.
In the darkness, I realised that it never did.


The Warden's Mantra
(Brackets indicates a word or line that is omitted by those who owe allegiance to other flights)

Father of frost
Guardian of the southern lands
(Faithful champion of Sornieth)
Unchanging, unfailing, unshaken
Hold fast to the darkness within your children
So that we may stand, unchained by our vices

Bless us with your eternal patience
So we may be patient towards those who wrong us
Shield us beneath your (mighty) wings
So we may find providence in the wasteland and shelter in the storm
Warmth in the mountains and brotherhood in the battlefield

(When the southern wind blows, may we find our place among your people)
(One with the exalted Fortress, to challenge those who would deny your might)
Until the day the cold reclaims.