{"sf1_id":748042,"sf2_id":"JewPMk9m","title":"\"From Whom All Blessings Flow,\" Part A","author":"EOCostello","words":2392,"posted_at":"2014-08-23T20:18:00.000Z","tags":["Adventure","Church","Deer","Elf","Magic","Mystery"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/748042-from-whom-all-blessings-flow-part-a","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/JewPMk9m","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/67/b6/67b6a362-c60c-445a-bf9d-9c19d08ce9ee","description":"#1 of From Whom All Blessings Flow (WW5 #2)\n\nThis is the start of the second story featuring that magick-using roebuck-elf, Cpl. Westersloe Winterbough V. After re-introducing himself in this story, he goes off to visit the mighty cathedral in Albric Tor, only to discover a great surprise in a chapel...","content":"\"From Whom All Blessings Flow\"\n\nBy E.O. Costello\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nCertain of the characters and settings in this story are © J.W. Kennedy\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\n\n(A/\\* 7/15/2013)\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; I've always thought the best time for me to walk around Albric Tor is just after dawn.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; I hear the protesting cries already: \"Who,\" you say, \"is the 'me' that's being referred to?\u0026nbsp; For that matter, what is Albric Tor?\u0026nbsp; And what are you doing up and about when many furs are still in bed?\"\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; All reasonable questions.\u0026nbsp; To start with, the thin lead identity disc around my neck.\u0026nbsp; It states that I am WINTERBOUGH, W 612397 CPL ROEBUCK MEPH.\u0026nbsp; Stated more verbosely, that means I am Corporal Westersloe Winterbough V, serial number 612397 in the Imperial Army of Faerie, a roebuck by species, and a enrolled member of the Mephitist Church.\u0026nbsp; Meaning that I worship the Goddess Fuma, who both defends Hearth and Home, and makes sure that there are furs to defend there.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; Faerie is a realm that covers some millions of square miles.\u0026nbsp; A good portion of that is ruled by the High King of Faerie, who is currently Adler of Albric Tor (more on that in a bit).\u0026nbsp; Adler is a rather elderly skunk, and seems to be a bit on the frail side these days.\u0026nbsp; Granted, I've only met him once, so maybe I got him on a bad day.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; The reason you Lowfolk have probably not heard of our Empire is that we are \"Fairfolk,\" i.e., elves.\u0026nbsp; Your world and our world do intersect\u0026nbsp; physically at points, but there's not a lot of intercourse between the two, and if you'll pardon me for saying so, I'd rather it stay that way.\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; Back to me, if you'll forgive the egoism.\u0026nbsp; I'm about 5 foot 4 inches in your measurement system; 5 foot 8 if you count my antlers.\u0026nbsp; Most days, you'll see me in my uniform (summer uniform, linen dyed light green) with either my short-staff or my elven bow slung across my back.\u0026nbsp; They're the two physical weapons I'm qualified in that I actually use.\u0026nbsp; My uniform itself is pretty sparse.\u0026nbsp; Aside from the rank stripes and wound stripe on the right sleeve of my tunic, you'll find a small gold-and-violet ribbon in the middle button-hole of my tunic, a small silver pin in the shape of an eye on my chest, and on my garrison cap, another small silver pin in the shape of a comet.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; The ribbon and the two pins each bear a relationship to one another.\u0026nbsp; The eye-pin indicates that I am qualified as a magick user.\u0026nbsp; Among other things, I am capable of drowning 300 heavily armed and armoured cavalry furs, plus their battle-ants, at one time.\u0026nbsp; Whether that was done as a planned result of magick use, is not relevant.\u0026nbsp; In any event, that event came about because of a battle about seventh months ago, to the east of Albric Tor, in a little border town called Mossford, where a small group of Imperial Army soldiers and local militia stopped a greatly numerically superior invading force.\u0026nbsp; This was in spite of the omen of a comet that had appeared in the sky in the days before the battle; as it turns out, the ill-omen belonged to our opponents, not ourselves.\u0026nbsp; Hence the wearing of the sign.\u0026nbsp; As for the gold-and-violet ribbon, that's what recipients of the Valour Medal of Faerie wear.\u0026nbsp; It's the highest award for bravery any soldier, squaddie up to general, can receive from the King.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; In my particular case, I got it in part because of that defence in Mossford, and in part for rescuing the officer for whom I used to be a batman from the prison where he'd been held.\u0026nbsp; Captain Sir Jasper Chitterleigh got his V.M., all right, though we had to rush him back to the winter capital so that he could legally get it.\u0026nbsp; They don't award the V.M. posthumously.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; Tucked into the inside pockets of my tunic you'll find, among other things, a small tube of salt lick, a pencil and a notebook, a few silver and copper coins, a medal of Fuma, and a small leather case.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; If I opened the case in front of you, you would see a flash of violet light, a particular three-note chime, and the image of the Crown of Faerie.\u0026nbsp; Makes for a nice show, and usually scares the hell out of any fur that sees it.\u0026nbsp; See, it's what is called a \"Blood Seal,\" so called because it's made from charging a specially prepared gem with one's own blood.\u0026nbsp; No other fur, wielding this item, can produce the same effect.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; Of course, it's not quite the show that scares the hell out of furs.\u0026nbsp; The fact is, a bearer of the Blood Seal has the legal authority to do anything.\u0026nbsp; Absolutely anything.\u0026nbsp; Up to and including killing someone in cold blood, if necessary.\u0026nbsp; I've not had to do that, and I don't know of any of the other Blood Seal bearers having done that, but I have seen a traitor arrested by one, and there's a pretty startling story I heard about what one Bearer did with his \"Authority\" clear across the Empire, while I was tied up at Mossford.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; The Blood Seal, ostensibly, is given to me by His Majesty King Adler, though as a practical matter, I report to his younger brother, His Royal Highness Prince Roland, Marshal of Faerie and field commander of the Imperial Army of Faerie.\u0026nbsp; Unlike King Adler, the Marshal is still in pretty decent health, though he won't be if he keeps putting away the meals he does at the pace he does.\u0026nbsp; I've faced off against dozens of axe- and bow-wielding wolves, but even I'm not crazy enough to tell the Marshal to go easy on the wine and the gravies.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; In fact, on the morning I was describing when I started this yarn (see, I did manage to work my way back), I was on my way into the office.\u0026nbsp; \"The office,\" for me, is a small room in the General Headquarters building down the street from the Royal Palace.\u0026nbsp; Surprisingly, this is a small, one-story building built around a cloistered inner courtyard.\u0026nbsp; At any given time, GHQ probably doesn't have more than a few dozen furs working there.\u0026nbsp; The Marshal doesn't like folks under his footpads, and the invasion by the Grand Duke of Mossford and nearby areas aside, plus a few other scrapes other folks can tell you about, in general, the Empire has been at peace for a long time.\u0026nbsp; They call King Adler \"The Prudent,\" and it's not an unfair cognomen.\u0026nbsp; He thinks that there's a lot more to be gained by negotiation than sabre-rattling (or sabre-using).\u0026nbsp; Right now, the Grand Duke is probably pondering this lesson.\u0026nbsp; That is, when he's not dealing with a pretty upset populace not pleased by the fact that he picked a fight with the Empire and lost.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; My job description is pretty vague.\u0026nbsp; Truth be told, I'm not sure the Marshal even knows what to do with me.\u0026nbsp; He refers to me as a \"troubleshooter.\"\u0026nbsp; I asked him what that meant.\u0026nbsp; One of the other Blood Seal Bearers, a black-furred wolfess named Captain X (seriously, that's her name, or at least the only name that's ever used around her), explained this as \"whenever Winterbough sees trouble, he ought to shoot it.\"\u0026nbsp; I do get the impression that unlike Captain X (a very experienced magick user) or Meadow Grainmaster (the small mouse femme I was teamed up with before, during, and immediately after Mossford), I'm much more of a blunt instrument in the Marshal's paws, rather than the quiet and subtle knife represented by Captain X or Meadow.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; Especially Meadow.\u0026nbsp; I mean, Captain X is pretty large, and you kind of notice a black-furred wolfess.\u0026nbsp; You don't notice a very small mouse-femme, especially one dressed in servant's clothes; Meadow isn't Army, though she still reports to the Marshal for one reason or another.\u0026nbsp; You don't pick fights with Meadow, though.\u0026nbsp; She was the one who arrested that traitor I mentioned above, and she's one hell of a shot with a bow, and no mean battler with a short-staff, even if I can knock her into a pond with one.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; I may be biased, though.\u0026nbsp; She's a very good friend of mine, and I'll be frank in saying that it's only because of the facts that I'm a bit uptight, and that circumstances haven't quite been right that certain, well, events haven't happened between the two of us.\u0026nbsp; It's been made pretty clear to me that any time I'm up for it, it's best two falls of three.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; But that little train of thought is getting away from the point; besides, the Marshal gets irritated whenever he sees Meadow giving me the glad eye or vice versa.\u0026nbsp; I'm supposed to be, as I say, a troubleshooter for the Marshal.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; Getting back to this particular morning: it had rained the night before pretty hard, so the roads and pavements in Albric Tor were still wet.\u0026nbsp; However, the there was still a lingering coolness in the air at this hour, circulated by the mountain breezes that are a big reason this place is the summer capital.\u0026nbsp; Some distance away, you could hear the buzz of the main market-place, where servants at this hour of the morning were probably buying fresh produce and victuals for the tables of their masters and mistresses.\u0026nbsp; For all I knew, Meadow was still in her ostensible role as a servant (to Captain Chitterleigh's widow), and she might be there right now.\u0026nbsp; It would be tempting to go over there and have a leisurely chat with her -- on non business matters -- but that was the kind of temptation that might make me a little bit late.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; It would have been out of my way, anyway.\u0026nbsp; One of the advantages of being a V.M. is that you get a decent monthly stipend, which if you're a Corporal is much better than the \"36 silver a day, once a month\" that's your official salary.\u0026nbsp; Combined with some off-the-books subsidies the Marshal lets me have, I can afford a place that while small, is nestled in the woods above the city, and a short walk past a few of the city's most notable landmarks until I get to GHQ.\u0026nbsp; (It's also near a few of my favourite public houses, too.)\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; Somewhat conveniently, my daily walks to and fro take me past the Cathedral.\u0026nbsp; This is the seat of the Archbishop of the Mephitist Church, and it's a pretty imposing building.\u0026nbsp; It's not like the little temples of my native Elfhame, which is way off to the north of Albric Tor (and is depopulated to the point where I was one of the few young furs, if not the only one, in the entire district).\u0026nbsp; In Elfhame, you can still see (or could, I suppose), very old temples to Fuma that still had images to her.\u0026nbsp; Mossford, same thing.\u0026nbsp; But here in the heart of the realm, they're solidly orthodox, and a bit iconoclastic.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; Which is not to say insensitive to art.\u0026nbsp; The choral and organ music at the Cathedral is first-rate, and let me tell you something, you Lowfolk have not heard anything until you've heard a full, one-hundred-member elven chorus get in voice.\u0026nbsp; As for the artwork, the Church has nothing against intricate design-work in the windows, and some of the glass-smiths are capable of producing designs that almost literally pop out of the glass, in brilliant and varying shades.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; If I'm lucky, and if I've timed things right, usually the monks and nuns of the Cathedral chapter are finishing up the early morning prayers.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; I try to sit in for the closing hymn.\u0026nbsp; I'm a big fan of hymns; always have been, and I know most of the hymnal off by heart.\u0026nbsp; At Mossford, I led what was left of our platoon in a full-throated rendition of \"Fuma's Shining, Sacred Land.\"\u0026nbsp; Good, but nothing compared to when you hear it at early morning service done by the chapter, accompanied by organ.\u0026nbsp; Lifts you right out of your existence, it does.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; Either I'd dawdled a bit, or the chapter had finished slightly early, because the cathedral was empty when I walked in, after dipping a paw into the font and giving myself the Benedicto Interphalangeal (what you Lowfolk refer to -- ugh -- as a \"noogie\").\u0026nbsp; I headed off to one of the small side-chapels.\u0026nbsp; There are so many in the Cathedral, you can pray at a different sub-altar every day for a month.\u0026nbsp; There's even a sophisticated calendar for some worshipers who want to do it deliberately.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; There's a very old one that I like, which is tucked far to the front of the cathedral.\u0026nbsp; In fact, it's one that's not listed in the standard guide-books, in part because it's so small.\u0026nbsp; It's also behind the main altar, so you can't really see it from the main part of the building.\u0026nbsp; Only a few furs can fit in it at once, and the altar itself inside is a slab of granite that's cracked and tilted, making it very difficult to hold a service.\u0026nbsp; Sometimes, if a particularly officious brother is on duty, he'll gently take you by the elbow and steer you toward one of the prettier side-chapels.\u0026nbsp; Another reason to sneak in at the hours I do.\u0026nbsp; I'll pick my own chapel, thank you very much.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; I slipped in, took out my little medal, and was in the process of kneeling down when I spotted something decidedly out of place.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; Before me, crumpled on the ground, lay one of the brothers, face down.\u0026nbsp; Abandoning thoughts of prayer, I immediately crouched down and felt for a pulse.\u0026nbsp; Thank Fuma, Her sacred place was not defiled by a death, but given the fact that there was a wound behind the brother's ear, and it was still oozing a trickle of blood, it was a near-run thing.\n\n  \n  \n\n","series":{"name":"From Whom All Blessings Flow (WW5 #2)","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/748046-from-whom-all-blessings-flow-part-b.json"}}