Fifty-odd Years

I was exiled on Merdi, the 29th day of Autumn, 541.

From a bumbling exile running around wide-eyed looking for enlightenment, to a (still wide-eyed) apprentice under Diotima’s care. From the poor town-sitting Thoom who once managed to get kidnapped by a drake with Algernon, to a recognized, seasoned (and rich!) Journeyman under Phiros’ guidance and beyond. From a (mostly) quiet fan at the first Slyphonics concert, to having tea with Slyph, J’nder, and Gaia in Her temple, to finally becoming the chainmail-bikini-clad singer’s fiancé almost half a century later (and yes, she still makes jaws hit the ground wearing that bikini, thank you very much). From a blip on the radar to the One, larger-than-life, True Thoom.

A lifetime of exile: physical, spiritual and mental. Stranded and lost at first, my patience was tried, tried again and tried some more (as were my wits upon occasion). Sometimes the burden was too great, sometimes the path too difficult to see, or too difficult to walk. Yet I was pulled back out of my funk too many times to count. Too many people to thank, too many names to list (under what criteria, in what order?)… Again and again, almost giving up, faced with utter darkness, only to be blinded again and again by the light of our little exiled community.

Yesterday, Fordi, the 78th day of Spring, 592, our community smiled on me once again. Yesterday, I was recognized as a Mystic.

There had been hints, of course. Winks and nudges, though as a fashionable Thoom, such occurences are fairly commonplace – and I was merely thankful they weren’t accompanied by a pinch to the bottom or other such displays for which my Thoomishness seems to be a risk factor. After 50 years however, one doesn’t let his hopes go up too easily. And so it was that I got summoned by a few familiar faces.

The drawing seems reluctant to resolve clearly.

Familiar yet awe-inspiring faces, all clad in ceremonial attire no less!

A fairly short chat later, the details of which I would rather not consign here, and I was a Mystic! From there, aside from a quick tour, it was all congratulations, cheers, and… Beer! We made our way back to town for some kegs and shenanigans. A few orgas even joined the festivities, and somehow were polite enough not to steal any of the beer.

Wangah Rah had brought some friends along for the celebration.

Of course, it’s not the end of the journey for me, and aside from catching up on all this paperwork I was given following my promotion, I don’t intend to be any less active as a result of it. A few days to bask in the newfound position seems in order however, and I have received many words of encouragement and congratulation. Geotzou even had his own version of a celebratory party.

At least I'd like to believe it's a party, not simply an acute botanical form of OCD.

I want to thank the entire town for their support, for their friendship, their enmity, their acknowledgement and dismissal, their hatred and their affection. I wouldn’t be the Thoom I am now without it.