Perspective

CHAPTER 31 – III

The following is an excerpt from Victor Strife’s Lineal Champions of History, a book chronicling the known history of the Champions of Light and Dark, pieced together by the Vicars Salamander throughout the centuries…

Victor Strife’s Lineal Champions of History
Circa 11870-11900 Champions Era (1870-1900 AD)
Champion of Light #498: Denosi from France
Champion of Dark #498: Linne from Germany

Born in France, Denosi was mother to Carenf, who was mother to Aricame. Born in Germany, Linne was mother to Geryman, who was father to Stievo. All Champions. Linne also birthed Glendan (father of Carenf) and Urissa (mother of Geryman in a most unspeakable of unions). In twelve thousand years, It is unknown if the Championship bloodlines have ever converged so succinctly as this.

Both women were born in 1870. Both struggled to harness their supernatural powers and were thus tormented and tortured. Never in harmony, their brief and violent lives were chaotically discordant. It is no coincidence that the Franco-Prussian War ignited in the year of their births, reshaping Europe and laying the seeds for the wars to come in the next century.

Linne gave birth to Geryman in 1894, the first of her three children. This appears to have been a breaking point for her psyche. She was perhaps holding things together to the best of her abilities beforehand, but it was at this point that her darkness asserted itself. Though she would still birth Glendan and Urissa, it was her husband who raised the children and provided for the family. Linne would disappear for weeks at a time and would return rambling incoherently about enemies and treacheries. In her mind, demons lurked behind every expression. Benefit of the doubt was never extended. She saw the world as a hostile place and she injected as much hostility back into it as she could.

Denosi seemed to have the opposite problem. Whereas Linne’s inner agony arose despite a loving husband, three healthy children, and nary a material want, Denosi was struck by miserable luck at every turn. The people Denosi cared for were struck down by disease and/or mutilation. Endlessly loving, she felt the world deeply…raw. And the world let her have it. After one too many losses, she decided to withdraw, attempting to protect herself by relinquishing any ambition for happiness or love. But it could never last. Human interaction, in all of its beauty and complexity, continued to seek her out. Love once again found Denosi, and though she knew it would be ripped away in the most painful of ways, she succumbed to its fleeting euphoria. It resulted in the birth of Carenf in 1899. And it likely resulted in her confrontation with Linne the following year.

In 1900 Linne left her family once again, only this time they left her as well. The Father and three children fled, embarking on a harrowing journey to America – one that only the children would survive. The exact inciting incident that led Linne to seek out Denosi is not known, but as with all such Light-Dark Champion relationships, it was inevitable. What is known is that Denosi’s husband was the first to die, adding yet another piece of evidence that the world really had it in for Denosi. The two Champions met and both died. Not much more is known beyond that.

In death, the world did offer a fig leaf to Denosi. A neighbor rescued one-year-old Carenf from the carnage. Knowing a bit of the curse that seemed to dog Denosi, the neighbor wanted more for her orphaned daughter. Carenf was given a new start in the new world: New Orleans.

Objective-Subjective
Thoughtless gestures misinterpreted
Concrete realities cemented
Conversation, carefully scripted
Unspeakable, feeling resentment