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Kayn knelt in the green dimness of the forest glade. Overhead, the branches of a stolid oak moved gently in the breeze, new spring leaves rustling softly. The trill of woodland fowl wove into the liquid voice of a nearby stream. A contemplative trance filled the man as he prayed to the spirit of the world for guidance. Like his other brothers, Kayn found the deepest tranquility within the wilds. Towns and cities only served to muffle the voice of the Goddess. He had a weighty decision to make and only through meditation in the wilds of nature would he be assured of making the right decision.

Kayn had followed many paths in life. He had been a necromancer/assassin for a short time and decided that was not suitable for his soul. So, he had dropped that role and become a pure mage, wielding the etheric energies with deftness and aplomb. During that time he had also become a tiller of the soil, bring to fruition the bounty of the earth. That had been deeply satisfying but he wanted to do something more, something to help the realm. After discussing things with his brothers, he had decided to become a Virtue Guard. There were two branches of Virtue Guards in the world and he had to choose one.

Order Guards were Queen Lissar's own Knights of the Realm. They swore an Oath of Service and fealty to her and her word was their Law. They were a fellowship that gained honor and virtue through their actions but were unable to use the virtue on themselves. They must bestow it upon their comrades. Thus, Order Guards were a tightly knit group that relished organization and held the highest standards of behavior among themselves. To fall below the stringent guidelines of the Order Guards was to risk condemnation from their fellows and be subject to a loss of Virtue. But, an Order guard would humbly accept the denunciation and punishment and strive to become better than before.

Chaos Guards relied on no in-depth organization or tight knit fellowship. They respected and loved Queen Lissar but they focused their allegiance on the Land, the world itself, rather than upon a single human being. The virtue they gained was theirs alone. Chaos guards, like Order guards, patrol and protect the Land but they do it out of an innate sense of self determination and decision. A gathering of Chaos guards was indeed an occasion and they laughed at the thought of swearing an Oath to anyone or anything. They lived to serve the Land.

Kayn lifted his head to gaze up at the sky and the clouds. The scent of the fertile earth surrounded him and was a balm to his mind. A beam of sunlight lanced down through the covering branches of the forest canopy and illuminated a forest glade just beyond him. He gazed at the gentle grasses and flower swaying in the light breeze. The pressure of his knees on the sward, the transcendent sunlight illuminating the land, the scent of the wind, the life cycle of the fauna, this was all real.

Kayn had only heard old tales of the Queen. He had never seen her or heard of her appearing in public, in recent history. Many monarchs were like that, they stayed closed away in their keeps and palaces as if they were afraid of the Lands they ruled or the people who revered them. Queen Lissar might not be like that but she certainly was a vague personage, a mere name in the histories, an amorphous entity. But, even if she was less of a non-entity, would that matter?

It was the realm that was important. That is what the Queen ruled and strove to drive evil from in the beginning. The Land would stay forever while humans live their short spans of life and pass away. The world was suffused with the magic of nature and the presence of the Goddess permeated every atom of it. It wasn't the beautiful material world that was so important either, for there was a special quality to the Land that Kayn had never seen in any other place he had been. This ethereal, unquantifiable quality was the deciding factor. It would matter naught if there never had been a Queen or if she never returned from where she was hidden. She was not what was truly important.

The breeze caressed the branches of the trees and breathed a soft susurration through the swaying grasses and stems of blooming flowers. Kayn smiled gently and took a slow, deep breath as he pledged his life to the good of the Land.