Tending the Garden
A brash warrior’s violent heart is tamed by an enchanted grove and he becomes it's guardian.
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Ostikar was known throughout the realm as a fearsome mercenary/killer. An orphan who grew up hard on the muddy streets of Kahela, rumors say he took his first life by age seven and that he now has over two hundred kills to his name.
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While headed to his next job, he takes a rest in a grove of trees around the bend in a mountain stream. There is an abandoned shrine, and something about the place inspires peace in his being.
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Leaves an offering for others who were abandoned and goes on his way. Montage of ostikar continuing to kill, but lingering longer at the shrine each time he returns
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One day, he felt no compulsion to depart.
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Rumors of his presence scare away bandit groups -- especially after he counter attacks one such group trying to ambush travelers journeying on from the shrine
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Wounded, he bleeds on the shrine. The stone lantern begins to glow.
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Transformation into a woman with six arms.
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Montage to a year later, he has become something of a monk and the shack she had built near the shrine has become a temple through the increasing patronage of pilgrims who seek her blessing to be safe on the road.