Knightegel: Born of Conflict

Chapter 3: The Manibest

Sorez began his long trek back to the shop with so much still on his mind, but he put on his friendly face and waved to the people around him who knew him. There were many who knew the smithy all over that part of the city. Looking up ahead, a little more than half a mile, he saw the tall spire of the temple to the Manibest gods. While walking the paved roads, he saw six men on horseback, racing past in the street. They were wearing those grey tabards he saw earlier in Simerta.

When he came to the Manibest temple, he stopped and stared at the entrance for a moment. He then took a breath and grudgingly meandered into the large courtyard to the left, where there stood the statues to the Manibest gods themselves. Upon looking at them, Sorez quaintly shook his head in disgust. Their monuments varied in size, all over seven and a half feet tall: meant to belittle those who looked upon them. They were carved out of black stone and arranged in a large circle, with each image facing out so those who gazed upon them could walk around and feel as though the eyes of the Manibest saw all.

Sorez toured each monument, beginning with the one in front of him. He beheld a statue bearing the form of a fleshy, crude beast, having a large bottom jaw with two upright fangs at each end of its lower lip, the large snout of a gorilla, and two large round eyes that appeared lidless. Sorez looked down at the plaque at the base of the idol, which read, Mingolos: god of all living flesh. Next, to the right was a hound with the appearance of a great Dane-terrier mix with sharp ears, in an upright seated position. Beneath him read, Undein: god of survival, the hunt, and the search for truth. After him was a vicious looking beast that took the form of a standing tiger with claws open at his sides. His plaque read, Notubon: god of the animal and spirit of the beast. From there, Sorez continued on to Saganotus: god of the warrior. Protector of all creation. He held in hand a large sword, equal in proportion to a two-handed greatsword, and wore heavy, grungy armor. Then there was Kovutzfern: goddess of the land, sea, and air. The spirit of the earth. She took the form of a woman clothed in a swirling storm. Her long locks of hair fanned out at the bottom, becoming the open wings of a bat. Mingolos, Notubon, and Kovutzfern, appeared to be the larger statues of the eight, implying some greater significance.

First of the last three was Tebanon: god of fortitude and honor. His form was as a man whose body was flat like a wall, having the head of a fox with ears stretching high above his head, forming two towers. The second of the last three was the largest, and perhaps the one that disgusted Sorez most. It was Undiagnon: god of life and death, blessing and curse. The holiest of all Manibest gods. The supreme god above all. His figure was composed of the strong, musclebound body of a man, the head of a colt, the snout of a bison, and horns which stood a bit higher than a foot above the head, curling forward at the top like crowbars, with ram horn ridges along the surface. His lower body was the like of a Minotaur. His face was menacing, with strong, protruding features. He held out his hands with open palms: the right holding a blossoming tree, and in the left, the bodies of a naked man and woman, bent over backwards while hoisted up on three spears rising through their flesh. Life and death. Blessing and curse.

Sorez took particular dis-interest in the image of Undaignon. "Hear now, all who stand before the great herald of Undiagnon, Salun Streif!" Sorez thought as he stared at the statue. He envisioned himself looking up from a crowd at a stage. He saw through his eyes like a window. Upon that stage stood two men before thousands of people, with seven priests flanking them from behind: three on their left and four on their right. One of the two men in front was Dein Bragitesh. He wore a special set of robes, purple, decorated with columns of gold embroidery. The seven behind him wore similar robes but less adorned.

The man Dein Bragitesh stood with was a hard-faced fellow, firm, with a mean, condescending stare that never changed. He had two heavy laugh lines stressing each side of his tightly shut lips. His chin was bold and round. His nose was fairly slim and not very long. His cheeks hugged his nose and lower eye-lids as if to crush them. Everywhere he looked with his piercing brown eyes, it was as though he hated what he saw, and wanted to hate. One could see how he stressed his forehead too much, which was quite a far cry from his clean bald head. This man wore a long heavy coat, similar to a trench coat, but cuffed with steel on the arms and elbows. It was a much darker purple to honor the Manibest gods.