Eternal Beasts

Lorecraft

In the blizzard's shadow Jared felt his madness recede, replaced by a clarity of mind he had never before experienced. He fought the impulse to sigh in relief and focused instead on the stream of images that poured into his mind, returning memory and awareness to him.

It had all started with the healer accidentally unwrapping the tight bundle of magically protected thoughts, memories and learning placed deep inside his mind. Meant to gradually train him for his fated role, the bundle exploded into an unprepared mind and through an unwilling and damaged body. 

The result was pain and overwhelming mental duress, creating a state of madness. He existed in that state of madness from that day to this, just over a full Ethaeron year of insanity, living like an animal and going on all fours eating bugs, plants and the odd small rodent, drinking rain and melt water to stay alive.

Thankfully the madness had prevented him from feeling the elements's bite and rain, snow, cold and heat had passed over him with no notice, as had the seasons. Unfortunately his restored memory didn't yield how he had recovered his mind after such a long time, or what he was supposed to do now that sanity was returned.

What Jared did know, however, was that his situation was now tenuous. His madness, and its protection gone, he shivered as the cold touched him once again, reminding him he once again was vulnerable to the elements. He had to find better shelter and clothing, or repair what he already had, or he was going to suffer.

A quick search of his restored memory for help swiftly yielded an unexpected bonus: his brain was now replete with wilderness lore, survival skills, appropriate technical ability and knowledge. It was as if he had absorbed the information he had perused amongst the Watcher's pages. Mentally Jared shrugged. An answer to how didn't matter. He had what he needed to survive, something he didn't have when he first arrived unexpectedly on Ethaeron. If he had any hope of living through his destiny, whatever it was, he had to use that knowledge and use it now.

Pushing himself back to his feet, Jared shook himself. Time to get busy. First, after closing the door, was a quick search of the small space. That yielded an old knife, the handle rotted and the blade nearly hidden beneath a rusty crust, a few other odds and ends with little use, a handle-less axe, also heavily covered with rust and weathering, and a heavy file.

When his hand fell on the file, hidden beneath a heap of rubble in one of the corners, Jared nearly laughed out loud. The odds on finding such a useful tool in the filth filling the ramshackle hut were astronomical. With the tool, and his new-found knowledge and skill, he'd be able to restore the edge on the knife and axe both. Knocking the dirt and rust from the file with a pair of good, solid knocks on the floor, the young man began to do just that.

With a new handle on first the knife, then the axe, Jared set about to repair the hut as best he could, despite the weather and serious lack of resources. After that a fireplace, complete with chimney to warm the hut's interior, bow and arrows to hunt with to obtain skins, which were then tanned and sewn together with gut to replace his clothing. 

By the time the winter storms hit with their full fury, the young man had finished his repairs and preparations. He smiled with satisfaction as the winds howled around the hut and he remained dry and warm inside, a crackling fire in his makeshift fireplace cooking a pair of rabbits brought down with a sling crafted from the tattered remnants of his pants.

So began Jared's awakening to a new life, a life far from the settlements, and completely removed from Earth and the luxuries he had grown up with. But not far from knowledge and wisdom; each night he spent several hours in meditation, recalling page after page of embedded information from the Watcher. And each day he put his growing store of knowledge and skill into action, building supplies, reinforcing his shelter and scouting the immediate vicinity close and around the burnt-out farm.