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The Destiny of Good and Great

Part I: Protagonist

There once lived a man who was courageous, known for his fortitude, had superior intellect, unmatched strength, and had an insatiable thirst for battle. He was reverent, clean, brave, thrifty, cheerful, obedient, kind, courteous, friendly, helpful, loyal, and trustworthy. All in the land saw him as not only a good man, but the best man that had ever been. He had no flaws, no vices, and genuinely put others needs before his own. He was up for any quest and any task, regardless of personal cost, if it helped anyone else in their life. He was called Oak at birth and The Great Oak in adulthood.

The Great Oak traveled the world looking for the places where the most helpless were facing the worst adversity. He slayed dragons, killed pillaging orcs, and flayed dangerous beasts. He dispatched with giants, eradicated hordes of insects, and was adept in killing dragons. As a traveling hero, Oak received gift and gold, but he only kept what was needed to get him to the next adventure and repair the equipment that was damaged during the quest. As such, when he returned most of the gold offered as reward back to the villager, he was often rewarded with payments of food, blessings, or something, tangible or intangible, that the villagers prized. These were as simple as totems that provided luck, amulets that warmed the body on cold nights, or, as is in this case, a reading from the town oracle.

The Great Oak had heard of a village on the far reaches of the world that was under duress. This small fishing village owed all it’s had to the rough, rocky waters on which it was located. Endless schools of fish took to these waters and the villagers were good fishermen. Lately, however, the nets had been coming up empty or torn in two. Walking for weeks across desserts, ranges, and dense forests, The Great Oak finally entered town in the same incognito fashion he always did. One would think a man of his stature would be noticed, but The Great Oak found it useful to get an understanding of the challenges he may face before announcing himself, and the only way to do this was through anonymity. As he entered the town pub, he took a seat at the back of the room and watched the villagers. He saw worried but honest people that could barely make enough coin when fishing was good. Now, with this unknown invader, they were struggling. Convinced of their earnestness, he walked to the bartender and asked, quite simply “I understand you are in need of a hero?” “Yes sir, we are awaiting a man of great prominence,” he replied. “Can you not see that this is the man we asked for,” said a quiet voice from the other end of the bar. The Great Oak looked toward the delicate sound and saw a beautiful young woman staring directly at him. But there was something odd about these eyes looking him over. They were a radiant emerald green. But, most strikingly, there were no whites in these eyes, no pupils, no iris, just bold green orbs set in a distractingly attractive face. “You can see? You can see me?” asked The Great Oak staring into the deep green. “Yes, I see. I see more than you could know. I see in your time, but at the same time I see the future, I see the past. I saw you coming and I see you leaving as clearly as I see you now.” This intrigued The Great Oak as he had come across many oracles in his travels, but none this young, none with eyes like this, and none so captivating. “I will tell the village leader you are here,” said the oracle. “But wait,” stammered The Great Oak. “Do not worry, Oak, we will meet again” she said as she gracefully drifted toward the door. The bartender, hearing The Great Oak’s name, suddenly snapped alert. “Are you really The Great Oak?” the bartender asked. But The Great Oak, too distracted to answer, was still staring at the door.

The village leader informed The Great Oak that at dusk, when fishing was at its best, they could not pull in an undamaged net. And that, if the net was still salvageable when pulled in, the fish were all torn apart. The Great Oak was familiar with these types of nocturnal monsters had several times over solved similar issues with other coastal towns. He waited until daybreak and followed the things back to their nest and set fire to it. As the monsters ran out of the entrance, he cut them down swiftly and easily without so much as receiving a scratch. Returning to town, he was met with awe and elation.

The village had taken up a collect to pay for the hero, but, as customary for The Great Oak, he returned nearly all of it. “If you will not take our gold, will you at least allow our town oracle give you a reading.” The Great Oak smiled at the thought of seeing her again and agreed readily. The oracle was called and the two entered the boarding house. At the table, the oracle looked deep into The Great Oak’s eyes, which, he thought should be unsettling but was strangely calming, and quietly said “Good to see you again.” “Same to you,” said The Great Oak, still not sure whether she could really see him. She grabbed him by his callous, scar covered hands and the world stopped. He sat, facing her, and found it impossible to listen. She explained about exploits and bigger and bigger quests until finally the “King” brought The Big Oak back to earth. “King?! I will be king?” he asked earnestly. “Yes, many already see you as not only a good man, the best man ever to be. You are destined for royalty. But, first, you must kill the man who will sit on the throne.” “I do not kill men,” The Great Oak stated tersely. “But you will, you will kill him. You cannot avoid this path. He will make it easy, for just as you are destined to take the title of king, it is his destiny to have the title, and his life, taken from him.” She then leaned toward Oak, whispered something barely audible, something that The Great Oak would not remember for years. With that, the boarding house slowly began to come back to life. Sounds and movements from the patrons started low and slow and built to the regular raucousness one usually sees at a bar. With the world righting itself, the oracle stood, nodded, and left. The Great Oak felt as if he should chase her down, demand more answers, but was unable to move, overwhelmed by what he had just been told.

Part II- Antagonist

There once was a man from a coastal fishing village. This man was strong and ambitious. He was kind and thoughtful. He was a graceful, strong swimmer and as a young man, was considered the best the village had ever produced. He was clever and such a bright young man; the townsfolk would bring disputes to him to mediate. During these arbitrations, he almost always found a compromise that satisfied each party. If an agreement could not be found, he would give something of his own to make each party whole. This man, this great man, was called Judah as birth and The Good Jude as an adult.

The certain coastal village where The Good Jude grew into adulthood had an oracle which all considered to be truthful and authentic. It was said when she stared at you with the deep green eyes, she could see more than anyone could know. She could see in the time everyone else without her gift could perceive, but simultaneously, she could see the future and the past. And as she read a future, the one receiving the reading would be captivated and the world would stop. The Good Jude went to see her because he believed, as did everyone else in the village, that he was destined for great things.

“Good morning, The Good Jude,” the Oracle said as he entered her hut. “Good morning, oracle,” The Good Jude responded, unable to look at her directly for he already knew of her beauty. “I am here…” he said, but the oracle nodded and motioned for him to sit down. “I know why you are here, both here in my hut and here in the world at large,” she said. “Of course,” he responded staring deep into her green eyes. As the sounds of the ocean lapping onto the shore slowed and stopped and the normal noise of the village gradually dulled, the oracle began to tell the story of the life and death of The Good Jude.

“King?! I will be king?” The Good Jude asked earnestly. “Yes, many already see you as not only a good man, the best man ever to be. You are destined for royalty.” “How is this possible?” The Good Jude asked more questioning the knowledge itself. The oracle, ever literal, responded with “You will become a valued member of the King’s court and when he is killed in battle, the rest of the court will select you as the successor for the King will have no heirs.” The Good Jude closed his eyes an imagined this, but as he did, the oracle continued. “You will be reviled, no matter what you do. Current generations will see you as the worst King the land has ever had. Your legacy will not be recognized until another, the one who takes your throne, shows the world how much better it was under your reign. You cannot avoid this path. Just as you are destined to take the title of king, it is his destiny to have the title, and take your life.” The Good Jude listened and though he never knew the oracle to be wrong, he knew that he would not abuse the power of a king if given the opportunity. As world came back to life, the oracle simple said “Good luck to you, Good Jude.”

Part III: Paths

The Good Jude left the village and traveled inland toward the capital of the kingdom. Along the way, he met weary travelers, vagrants, and the infirmed. He stopped and assisted each of the unfortunate souls he encountered giving all he had, both physically and financially. He stopped by each village and performed odd jobs and small tasks only asking for enough to make it to the next town. In this way, he made his way slowly toward the capital. But also in this way, the name of The Good Jude was able to reach the capital much sooner than the man himself. He entered the capital and was met by the King’s Guards who led him to the throne room. The King, one Kemp the Brute, looked upon the road worn young man and asked, “Why do you help my people without asking for anything in return?” The Good Jude replied, “I believe it is the responsibility of those who have the capability to help to do so.” And with that simple statement, The Good Jude became an advisor to the king.

Kemp the Brute’s most evident attribute was his viciousness. He ruled as a tyrant and kept himself insulated from his people and their problems. He would conquer lands and leave them to be retaken, just to go back and conquer them again. He was bloodthirsty and cruel. As such, he was not one the public would take arbitrations to, for his compromise always left the parties poorer and the king himself better off. The Good Jude saw this and began whispering simple answers to the king whenever the public had issues. Together, they gained more trust. Kemp the Brute appeared to the public to be more compassionate, however, this was all The Good Jude. More and more negotiations came in front of the King, and, realizing that these things bored him, and The Good Jude was skilled in finding conciliation, he appointed The Good Jude as the domestic advisor, the most prominent position in the high court. This appointment was met with respect from the other advisors, for they knew he was the best suited for the position, and respect from the public, as they had come to see The Good Jude as a trusted leader. As he gained this reverence and veneration, the words the oracle spoke to him all those years ago still rang in his ears.

The Great Oak left the coastal village the day after the entrancing oracle told him he was going to be king. and traveled inland toward the capital of the kingdom. Along the way, he met weary travelers, vagrants, and the infirmed. He stopped and assisted each of the unfortunate souls he encountered giving all he had, both physically and financially. He stopped by each village and performed odd jobs and small tasks only asking for enough to make it to the next town. In this way, he made his way slowly toward the capital. All the way, he saw the fields fallow, carcasses of cattle, entire villages burnt to the ground and the house that were still standing were falling in upon themselves. He saw poverty, the terrible conditions of the roads, and cemeteries with hundreds of makeshift crosses. This land was in dire need for a hero, a hero like himself. As he entered the capital, the guards had been expecting him and the escorted him to an inn near the central palace. As he saw the reverence and veneration of the citizen and guards, the words the oracle spoke to him all those weeks ago rang in his ears.

Part IV: Decisions

As the oracle predicted, Kemp the Brute started a war. Why he started a war, The Good Jude did not know, he only knew that in the king’s absence, he was to lead. The Good Jude saw the toll such a savage and destructive war took on his land. So, when word came the Kemp the Brute was cut down in battle, The Good Jude took the throne confidently. He knew oracle had told him of these events and she had yet to be wrong, but he, knowing that he was destined to be vilified, felt he could change it. Simply be knowing the future, he thought, he could do his best to change course.

His first act as King Jude the Good was to end the war. He called for a meeting of delegates from the two warring lands. Using his well sharpened skill of negotiation and after struggling for many days to find a compromise, he finally was able to sign an agreement that ended the fighting. He lauded as a hero, but, as he called his army back from the lines, the oppositions army advanced, burning and pillaging villages. As Kemp the Brute understood, the enemy and their delegation were not trustworthy and the treaty was immediately broken. They were able to advance several miles and scorch several towns before word of the betrayal reached the court. King Jude the Good took up arms, but during the delegation meeting, the other army was reinforcing their lines. Seeing his army outnumbered, King Jude the Good called to public and asked them to protect the land along side the army. Together, the citizenry and the military pushed back and successfully defended the land. But the cost was great and the citizens casualties where immense. The land was safe, but they had lost too many young men and women and their parents blamed King Jude.

It took years to rebuild the damaged land and towns. Contractor and home builders were working all day every day to help the recovery, but the process was slow. During this time, King Jude began planning on how to regain trust and help as many people as possible. Understanding it was the crown’s fault these people lost their homes, King Jude decreed that he would pay for any contractor to rebuild the lost houses. He set up royal banks in all the damaged villages and told the contractors that when the completed construction, they were to go to the bank and withdraw their cost. Additionally, King Jude decreed that all farmers we due compensation as many of them lost crop or cattle during the war and they all were directly assisted the war effort by feeding the army. These decisions were praised as coin made its way to the public. But King Jude soon found the Law of Unintended Consequences is always at work.

The Great Oak sat at the Inn surrounded by the sallow faces of revolutionaries and palace guards. The plan they had described to him in over the past hour was daunting. The land, as The Great Oak had already witnessed, was in grim shape. The party that brought him to the Inn has determined that the current king was the reason for all the suffering. And, that if they were ever to regain any hope for the future, they would need a new ruler. This ruler would need to be courageous with a strong fortitude. He had to be intelligent with unmatched strength. He needed to be reverent, clean, brave, thrifty, cheerful, obedient, kind, courteous, friendly, helpful, loyal, and trustworthy. He needed to not only be a good man, but the best man that had ever been. The Great Oak was this man, the concluded, and they had asked him to kill their leader and take his throne. The Great Oak already knew this was their request, the oracle had never been wrong, but he did not kill men. The group knew this too and invited The Great Oak to join them on a walk throughout the capital.

The Revolutionaries took The Great Oak to the infirmary to see the disease, they took him over the crater filled roads and through derelict structures threatening to fall. He saw the poverty, the starvation, the lack of the necessities for a good and life, He soon realized that the thousands of monsters he had dispersed with over his career as a traveling hero had not combined to do as much damage to human kind as this one man had. This fact weighed heavily on his mind as the group came upon the Cemetery. This vast field was covered with tiny wooden crosses. The Great Oak started and quickly stopped counting the crosses. He realized the number was insignificant, but what was significant was that he saw more crosses, more graves, than he saw citizens, living beings, in the city. He turned to the revolutionaries and said “It is a sad place where the dead outnumber the living. I will help. I will be your new king.”

Part V: Conflict

King Jude saw great prosperity in the few months after his decisions to assist the carpenters and the farmers. Just as it seemed that King Jude may become Good again, the miners, the metalsmiths, and the stablemen asked for counsel. They felt they were just as important as the war cause as the farmers and they had also lost just as much. Understanding their position, King Jude agreed to support these craftsmen, but as soon as the declaration was made, other groups, weavers, brewers, and others came forward demanding their support as well. These, he was unable to help as Crown’s coffers were depleted. Between giving to the farmers and some of the other industries, it also happened that a record number of contractors were building homes faster than anyone anticipated.

King Jude sent out a delegation to find out how construction could continue to move at this pace. He soon founds out that; one: people were purposely damaging undamaged homes so as to get a free one; two: many of the contractors the crown paid were not qualified to do the work they provided; and three: even those who were qualified were sacrificing quality for speed so as to get another paycheck as soon as possible. They had manipulated the system and as a result, the Crown was nearly penniless, the homes were nearly worthless, and the only ones who prospered were the liars who had no issue taking as much coin as possible and relocating, never sending the coin back into local circulation.

King Jude the Good, with all his wisdom and negotiating, could have fixed these problems. But King Jude the Good had lost the Good and with it, his confidence. He second guessed his judgment and as he did, so did the public. The last remaining group to support him, the farmers, were met with the driest summer many had ever known. Crops dried out, animal starved and died of thirst or disease while bugs and birds ate the only drought tolerant plants. The people blamed King Jude for investing such an unpredictable industry. Although there was no way he could have seen the devastation this would cause, he also blamed himself for he knew the Oracle’s words but did not heed them.

The world King Jude oversaw was poor, hungry and the homes were folding in upon themselves. Without any coin, the crown could not fix the roads nor the other infrastructure. He sent many of the youngest to their death and everyone held it against him. It was not long before he had heard the rumblings of a revolution and the arrival of a great hero sent to fulfill the Oracle’s promise. He sent his guards away and waited.

The Great Oak climbed the steps to the central palace. He expected resistance but found none. Pushing the enormous wooden doors open, he saw the man, the man behind all this suffering. King Jude’s face was hollow and dragging under the weight of the guilt he felt as he stared back at the man, the man Greater than him but also the man that reminded him of who he, Jude the Good, used to be. Feeling no need for a defense, The Great Oak walked up to King Jude and simply said “It is over.” Jude nodded as The Great let his sword fall, severing the King’s neck.

The Great cleaned his blade, carefully cleaned up the blood from Jude the Good’s neck, and reverently carried the body outside to a cheering crowd. He felt tied to the King as he knew neither could deny their destinies. He walked down to the cemetery and placed the body in the Tomb reserved for Kings. He pushed the stone door closed and a flash in his brain knocked him to the ground. The word the Oracle whispered screamed like a siren in his head. “His destiny is your destiny just as your destiny is another’s.” Some from the crowd grabbed him and helped him to his feet, but he held fast. The realization that he did not know how to lead or how to run a country, stuck him full force and The Great Oak became weak. As he began to fall again, the crowd lifted their hero and cheered as they placed him on his earned throne. The revolutionaries, now kneeling in front of their chosen King, and stated “The neighboring region has started encroaching on our lands, what would you have us do, The Great King Oak?

Part VII- Cyclic