[Mkguild] Heraldic Beginnings (7/7)

[C. Matthias]

Part 7!  And the end of another Metamor Keep tale! :-)

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March 27, 708 CR

More rain came that night and so all morning long 
at Lord Avery's instruction, a long wooden 
platform was erected on the Glen commons. This 
was in two sections, with a smaller raised 
platform toward the western end of the commons. A 
long burgundy carpet was arranged down the middle 
of the longer lower section of the platform, 
while the same carpet was spread across the whole 
of the upper platform. Railings were erected all 
along the exterior of the upper platform except 
for where the carpet on the lower platform was 
adjoining. Several basins of water were set at 
the far end for the washing of mud from paws.

Poles were fixed into the upper platform, and 
stretched between them at a height twice to 
thrice the tallest Glenner, were the green, gold, 
and blue banners of the Glen, each bearing the 
heraldry of two tall trees in full leaf standing 
atop a forest floor of golden Autumn with a small 
lake and mountains in the background. Between 
these, and the centerpiece of the upper platform 
was position a twin throne. Either end was shaped 
like the redwoods that dominated the Glen, with 
the back set of intertwining branches. The arms 
were modeled on the roots that stretched outward 
before sinking deep within the earth and tangling together.

This throne had once sat in the Avery fort at the 
base of the hills overlooking the lake in the 
days before the Curses were laid down reshaping 
their bodies as well as their village. The 
invading army had destroyed the fort, leveling it 
completely to the ground in their push southward. 
While the women and children had retreated to 
Metamor, Brian's father led a force of men to 
harass Nasoj's army only to be cut down an hour 
from his home, leaving Brian and the rest of 
their men to try and outrace the army to Metamor to help make a stand there.

When Nasoj's army was defeated, the new Lord 
Avery had the throne repaired as he and the rest 
of his subjects adjusted to their new bodies. 
Brian was forced to spend much of his time at the 
brewery in the caves or up in the trees with the 
wood mage Burris who was busy using what they had 
to build a more hidden secure life for themselves 
in what was left of their home. By the time the 
artisans had finished repairing the throne, Lord 
Avery saw no need to create for himself a large 
throne room as he was far more comfortable just 
sitting around a table at the brewery to meet with his people.

And so the throne disappeared into one of the 
caves, kept safe for those few occasions when 
protocol demanded ceremony. And that morning the 
throne, to much excitement and awe, the Glenners 
beheld the throne emerging from the caves to take 
its place there on the platform, and in it, Lord 
and Lady Avery sat, their two boys dressed in 
their finest and standing at attention on either 
side. Both carried cushions in their arms, and on 
the first laid Lord Avery's sword, while the 
second held the squirrel's signet ring. Rare 
indeed was it to see all these symbols of Lord 
Avery's noble office together in the Glen 
commons, and everyone gathered to watch.

At midday, the ceremony began. Charles Matthias, 
attired in a suit of chain mail, with only his 
linens on underneath – he had left the vine back 
in his home to keep it from being pinched by the 
armor – stood at the far end of the lower 
platform, where after his paws were washed of 
mud, strode onto the burgundy carpet. Musicians 
played a stately march, with a pair of trumpeters 
blasting a rigorous fanfare. Charles looked 
straight ahead, his snout and face combed so 
thoroughly that not a single strand of fur was 
out of place. Bright torches at either side of 
the lower platform made the black hand-print over 
his right eye glisten with a fiery sheen.

To that march, Charles walked in the procession, 
one hand resting upon the pommel of a sword at 
his side. His family waited for him just off to 
the left and only a few feet before the railing 
separating the lower platform from the upper. 
Standing at that railing, carrying a folded 
bundle in his arms, was Sir Saulius beaming with 
pride, dressed also in his chain mail with tabard 
covering his chest and back, both sides 
proclaiming his coat of arms, a rat holding a 
bundle of wheat in its paws. Once that rat had 
been a dragon, but like so many things, the 
curses had brought a change to how the Steppelands knight saw his duty.

Everyone present was dressed in bright colors. 
Everywhere Charles's eyes glanced he saw a 
prismatic spray of red, blue, green, yellow, 
gold, silver, and hundreds of other gay hues, 
each of them bright and full of cheer. Charles 
wanted to smile to each face he knew that cheered 
him on, but he kept marching, maintaining his 
dignified pace and following the beat of the 
musicians. But next to the colorful panoply 
surrounding him, he felt almost naked in only a 
set of chain mail. And in a sense, he was waiting for his proper attire.

He did offer James a smile as he stepped past the 
donkey, who had one arm draped over Baerle's 
shoulders. The opossum blushed a little in her 
ears as their eyes briefly met. Then he smiled 
even wider as he stepped past his wife and his 
four little children all gazing up at him in awe 
and wonder. Kimberly's expression was one of simple, unselfish delight.

When he reached the upper platform, the musicians 
brought the march to a stop, and both he and Sir 
Saulius faced the throne together. Lord Avery 
remained seated in his throne, his wife at his 
side, paws resting on the arms of the great 
chair, while their tails rested against the 
interweaving branches. In a voice that echoed 
across the commons, the gray squirrel asked, “Sir 
Erick Saulius, has your squire mastered all of the trials of knighthood?”

Sir Saulius, used to projecting his voice on the 
tournament field, had no trouble making himself 
heard now. “My squire, Charles Matthias, hath 
passed all of the trials, milord.”

“He has shown bravery in battle?”

“He hath!”

“He has shown loyalty to his knight and to his lord?”

“He hath!”

“Has he shown compassion to the poor and needy?”

“He hath!”

“He has shown courtesy and honor to all women?”

“He hath that and more!”

Lord Avery's smile took on a slightly odd twist 
as he then asked, “Has he shown faith and 
fidelity to the Ecclesia, and obedience to her priests?”

Sir Saulius's smile widened. “He hath!” Most of 
the Glen were Lothanasi, and so this little 
change must have been arranged by Sir Saulius, 
the rat knew as he listened with both pride and a 
bit of self-conscious modesty.

Lord Avery stretched out his arm, paw opened and 
inviting. “Then step forward and attire your squire as befitting a knight.”

Sir Saulius and Charles took the large step up to 
the upper platform. There, Charles knelt down 
before Lord Avery, keeping his back straight, and 
Sir Saulius came around behind him. Over the 
rat's head he lowered the folded leather draping 
it across Charles's shoulders, before bidding him 
to rise so that he might secure the lacing at 
either side beneath his arms. The tabard came 
down to his knees, and was split in front and 
back just beneath his waist and above his tail.

The weight of the leather tabard felt good to 
Charles, and as he lowered his snout, he could 
see the coat of arms his knight had chosen for 
him and his heart beat faster in delight and a 
determination to bring honor to those colors and 
signs. It was divided into four sections by two 
black lines like window panes. The upper left was 
the largest and was a sandy green with an image 
of the yew, symbol and hue of the Ecclesia. The 
upper right featured the broad face of a long 
sword pointed upward whose quillion ended in a 
stylized profile of a rat's head all upon a 
sombre red background. The lower left was the 
same red and featured a wide-brimmed shield that 
tapered to a point at its base. And in the lower 
right, in white on an ebony face was an upraised 
hand with the palm facing outward; only this hand 
was more akin to a rat's paw than to the human hand of the Sondeckis heraldry.

His faith and his clan were his coat of arms, the 
green of the Ecclesia, the red of the Sondeckis, 
and the black of his rank were there for all to see.

Once the lacing was complete, Sir Saulius 
produced a wooden crucifix and placed it very 
gently into Charles's waiting paws. This he 
clasped before him with both paws, his eyes 
searching the sculpted depths of Yahshua in agony 
and knew that the weight of responsibility he was 
accepting was far greater than any suit of armor 
or any set of colors or heraldry.

“Come forward and kneel,” Lord Avery beckoned. 
Charles did so, dropping to one knee before the 
lord of the Glen, lowering his snout, and holding 
the crucifix to his new tabard. Brian Avery stood 
from the throne and stepped forward to where 
Charles knelt. His two boys followed him. Brian 
took the signet ring from Darien's pillow and 
slipped its massive form onto his finger, and 
then kept his fingers pressed together so that it 
wouldn't slide unbecomingly during the ceremony. 
He then grasped the sword hilt and held it out so 
that the broad of the blade nearly rested upon 
Charles's head. All who watched held their breath.

“Do you, Charles Matthias, before this image of 
Yahshua, your lord and savior, swear to fear Eli and maintain His Ecclesia?”

“I so swear!” Charles declared as loudly as he 
could without aching his jaw or his chest.

“Do you swear to serve your liege lord in valor and faith?”

“I so swear!”

“Do you swear to protect the weak and defenseless?”

“I so swear!”

“Do you swear to give succor to widows and orphans?”

“I so swear!”

“Do you swear to refrain from wanton giving of offense?”

“I so swear!”

“Do you swear to live by honor and for glory?”

“I so swear!”

“Do you swear to despise pecuniary reward?”

“I so swear!”

“Do you swear to fight for the welfare of all?”

“I so swear!”

“Do you swear to obey those placed in authority?”

“I so swear!”

“Do you swear to guard the honor of fellow knights?”

“I so swear!”

“Do you swear to eschew unfairness, meanness and deceit?”

“I so swear!”

“Do you swear to keep faith?”

“I so swear!”

“Do you swear at all times to speak the truth?”

“I so swear!”

“Do you swear to preserve to the end in any enterprise begun?”

“I so swear!”

“Do you swear to respect the honor of women?”

“I so swear!”

“Do you swear never to refuse a challenge from an equal?”

“I so swear!”

“Do you swear never to turn the back upon a foe?”

“I so swear!”

If not for his years serving as Headmaster of the 
Writer's Guild and proclaiming the greatest of 
stories at festivals, his voice would have been 
sore after so many oaths taken; Sir Saulius had 
discussed these oaths in the past when describing 
what knighthood meant as part of his 
instructions; many of them were very similar to 
what he had sworn to uphold as a Sondecki. To 
swear them again in this ceremony, before Lord 
Avery and the people of the Glen, and especially 
before his wife and children, was to set his 
heart and soul before them and before Eli and 
bind it irrevocably. Any failure to abide by his 
oath would be known by all, and censured by all.

“And now,” Lord Avery began after a momentary 
pause to allow the weight of oaths just accepted 
to settle upon the rat's shoulders and upon the 
ears of all in attendance. “Do you swear loyalty 
and fealty to the house of Avery and to the Glen, 
and to serve that house and that land with all 
your strength, with all your devotion, and with all your life?”

Charles took a deep breath and declared it with 
all his heart: “I will to my lord be true and 
faithful; I will love all that he loves and shun 
all that he shuns. I so swear!”

Lord Avery lifted the sword from between 
Charles's ears and pointed it skyward for a 
moment. “Then, as Lord of the Glen and the house 
Avery, I accept your oaths of fealty, loyalty, 
and obedience, and will treat thee from 
henceforth as one of my own. I dub thee Sir 
Charles Matthias, protector of the Narrows, and 
knight of Glen Avery!” He lowered the sword 
touching each of Charles's shoulders once, and 
then placing the broad between his ears one last 
time before setting it back on the pillow held out in Christopher's arms.

Lord Avery then extended his left paw bearing the 
signet ring. “Rise, and seal thy devotion with 
your kiss.” Charles rose partway, and then 
lowered the tip of his snout until his cleft lips 
and incisors were pressed against the inscribed 
face of the ring. As he stepped back and stood, 
the trumpeters began again with their fanfare, 
and all the Glenners attended whooped, hollered, 
and applauded, stamping hooves, hooting and 
baying their delight at their new knight.

Charles smiled to Lord Avery and took a deep 
breath, the crucifix still held tightly in his 
paws. Sir Saulius, a look of serene pride 
crossing every feature, took him by the arm, and 
turned him about to see all assembled. He found 
the eyes of his family and saw how closely 
Kimberly's paws were clasped to her chest, while 
his children all danced and hooted their little squeaks for their Dada.

He gasped in awe at the outpouring of delight and 
pride before him from a people who he had only 
met two years past. But his oaths were heard, and 
while they had accepted him as one of their own 
the previous year, now there was no doubt that he 
was a true Glenner both in word and deed! He took 
several deep breaths, each one fresh as if they 
were the finest gulps he'd ever tasted. His right 
paw reached down and wrapped about the hilt of 
his sword and with a metallic hiss he drew it 
forth and raised it aloft and shouted, “For the Glen! For Glen Avery!”

The clamor and rejoicing echoed between the 
mighty redwoods, that chant shaking the trees 
from roots to branches, the sky pierced with the joy of the Glen's new knight.

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Author's note: The oaths taken came from the 
'Song of Roland' from the early 11th century 
about Charlemagne and his knights.  I hope you 
all enjoyed this tale!  It was fun to write.

May He bless you and keep you in His grace and love,

Charles Matthias


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