Obum the Listener
Anu has a number of daughters beside our fair Queens and I would like to tell you about one – her name is Obum.
First, let me describe her to you. She is perhaps the fairest and most beautiful of these otherworldly daughters of our Lady, for her face shines from within with an inner warmth and fire – her glorious smile, behind which lies such compassion and empathy, lifts all fears; and those precious eyes, pools of the sky, that have seen so much.
Her fair beauty is matched only by her fairer heart, for hers is the ultimate sacrifice of love for her mother’s people. She is warm and friendly, incredibly approachable and willing to share her wisdom. Her laugh is a joy to behold, and lifts the spirit even in the darkest night. Her smile is generous, her favour fair and her eyes gleam with the very stars – enough to trap one’s gaze forever.
I spoke to her in the realm of pain, where we joined with her in her fight to reclaim that realm. For this precious jewel is the guardian of perhaps the Lady’s most fearsome realm. For here she presides over the lost and the damned, those that have done the most unspeakable and heinous of deeds against Caledonia and her people.
Their crimes are many, their punishment eternal – long and relentless suffering, night after night, in a cycle of pain and regeneration. But there is a shining ray of light in the dark night, for Obum is there, not only as watcher but as listener too – Obum’s Mercy, hearing the many pleas for forgiveness, providing an ear and a ray of hope to those within – a beacon back to the All-Mother, an intermediary to the Lady’s forgiveness. And if they should prove truly reticent and repentant, and not just pleading for release, who knows – they just might be granted rest.
For she proved to us beyond doubt that those trapped there wrongly will not remain long, as she released our fallen heroes to find their way to their own ancestors.
Obum is not alone, however, in her stewardship. Her long-time and faithful companion, a stalwart Dwarf master smith, accompanies her always. His name is Grogan and the bar at the centre of her realm is his, and we were under his hospitality. And may its barrels last eternally – and may yours also never run dry, should you keep their names alive. Grogan is gruff but friendly, loyal and fierce, his heart firmly behind his charge and his fearsome axe ever-ready to defend her.
The guardians of these dark places, Anu’s bounty and our protectors, are hidden from the world – and their power dwindles when long-forgotten by those outside. So spare a thought for beautiful Obum’s Mercy, spare an ear to listen when need is high, and also brave Grogan, true host and friend, and their powers need not be threatened again. Remember her compassion and his sacrifice, and let them live on in heart and mind forever.
To Obum’s Mercy, the most glorious flower in a field of dark: a sight I would gladly view again, speak with again under the stars, were it not for the fate it would entail.
All Works are © Original Author
(OC Author - Paul Martin)