“Thoughts are inconsequential. Only actions matter in this world. One can think of killing all day, but if they turn around and help a neighbor, they are more of a saint than most of you...”
Like the vast, vast majority of Symenestra, Venidus never knew his human birth mother. His birth ended as most of his people’s do... with the death of the person that had nurtured and carried him inside for months and months. His “Web” had come from a very well respected bloodline. The preacher’s family was one of the finest and pure in Kalinor. Venidus came on the tail end of his Web’s renown though. A series of internal strife, failed harvests, and squabbles with other Webs made the Larkspur Web’s renown seem like a distant golden era. So instead of growing up in a relatively influential Web, Venidus grew up in a painfully average one. Unfortunately, the fall from grace caused many of the older generations to put tremendous pressure on the youngsters to return Web Larkspur to greatness.
Venidus Larkspur’s older brother, Denidiv Larkspur, grew to be a tremendous failure. He had an awful temper growing up and Venidus often suffered as a result. Many saw Denidiv as strong and skilled, but within the Web, he was nothing but the embodiment of how far the Larkspurs had fallen. He went on multiple harvests but could only manage to gain a single surrogate twice, both of which he claimed. Venidus’s sister, Sanairas, proved skillful in many ways. She became a powerful hypnotist and climbed the Symenestran ladder of influence. This possible salvation for the Larkspur family ended with a tragic, yet typical, case of overgiving. Sanairas went absolutely insane. The family plummeted back to mediocrity as many Webs attributed their momentary respect to Sanairas’s hypnotism...
Venidus took his sister’s descent into madness very hard. Him and his sister had been the closest of friends and spent many days talking and laughing. Sanairas taught him a lot about life and how to defend himself against attackers. When Sanairas went insane, Venidus would tend to her needs. At first, the boy and his sister could have conversations in Sanairas’s moments of lucidity, but the lucid moments became more and more rare. Soon the future preacher could only tend to the writhing and foaming form of his sister.
Venidus, as the second son, took charge of the Web’s religious rituals. The Larkspur Web practiced an unprecedented amount of these rituals in an attempt to gain special favor from Viratas. By the end of his fourteenth year, the young preacher had memorized the entire Viratassa. He became very well known among Kalinor as a wise and skilled practitioner of the sacred book. Many hailed his worship as uniquely sacred and grave. If a Web’s second son was absent or a Web was comprised of daughters, Venidus was sometimes asked to lead their rituals. These intimate invitations acted as a great testament to his ability.
Web Larkspur warily celebrated their newest achievement. Years of disappointment had made them cautious and bitter. This caution turned out to be appropriate. Venidus had been thinking about the Viratassa more and more. The more he studied it, the more hypocrisy he saw in Symenestran society. Respect for the sentient and blood bearing seemed to oppose the entire idea of a “harvest” which basically exploited other races to further the Symenestra. In addition, Venidus had begun to witness a disturbing increase in violent fringe worshipers whom twisted the vague Viratassa to satiate their bloodlust.
His newfound respect for the surrogates resulted in countless meetings with them. Venidus would talk for hours with the women about life and try to comfort them in the weeks before their imminent death. Some of the women were peaceful while others would fall into deep states of depression. The preacher’s goal was to allow the women to die content, if not happily. This goal could sometimes be achieved, but he witnessed too many die unhappily to squeeze any satisfaction from it.
One of the surrogates changed the course of his life. In an attempt to explain that Viratas valued life and shed blood only to protect it, Venidus learned of Priskil. The surrogate contended that Priskil would be the most appropriate choice to worship if the primary concern was life. She said despite Viratas’s intent, the results of his worship could be misconstrued and used for evil. Promoting Viratas could also spread the misuse despite a core of connection and oneness. Priskil, on the other hand, had no such dangers.
Venidus thought for a while about the surrogate’s words, and one day he announced that he was going to leave Kalinor to wander the world above. This was met with complete opposition. Everyone in his Web said no. Larkspur finally had the respect it had strived for. Losing Venidus risked the greatest humiliation yet. When the preacher explained why he was going to leave, the family went hysteric. First, Venidus wanted to spread the true word of Viratas to the people above. This alone would be respectable to the Larkspur Web, but it was the second reason that annoyed them. The preacher wanted to learn of and explore a deeper relationship with the goddess Priskil who he had come to idolize in his discussions with the surrogates. Venidus wanted desperately to explore the surface world and its cultures. He wanted to find more gods like Priskil and fresh ideas that could cure the sickness he perceived in Symenestran culture. In order to ensure Venidus's offbeat ideas remained hidden, it was decided sending him off the best course of action, and after ensuring his sister’s continued wellbeing, he departed to the surface.
The journey to the Human cities was challenging for the twenty year old. The long trek was lengthened because Venidus had no horse to ride and frequent stops for sustenance killed any momentum. The few people he did meet on the road either treated him with contempt or attacked him. Luckily, his sister trained him to proficiently defend himself and escaped the encounters unharmed. After spending some time in many Syliran cities, he decided to start raising money to create a small chapel in Sunberth. Sunberth offered a unique combination of dire issues and the lack of laws to fix them. Venidus would be killed in Ravok, Syliras seemed like a dangerous place to by a Symenestra, Sahova seemed hopeless, Zeltiva seemed healthy enough, and Nyka’s people had a fairly cemented faith. Though based in Sunberth, Vendidus still makes regular trips to other cities to preach despite the considerable time and danger that travel entails.
His time spent in the Human cities has caused him to take vigilante action in those that permit it (pretty much Sunberth). The preacher believes that spreading the word can help in the long term but that there are issues now that can be cured with crossbow bolts. Venidus isn’t stupid though. He is aware of his fairly average fighting skills and makes certain to avoid stepping on any toes that may belong to those that can kill him. He usually targets smaller and petty criminals. Venidus knows that staying alive ensures he can be vigilant in the future.
Venidus has begun writing a book to act as Priskil’s equivalent to the Viratassa. This would act as a gift for his people, but the book also acts as a reflective journal and faith log. Venidus has only killed men whose name he knows. This shows how serious he is about making sure that those killed deserved it.
by Venidus Larkspur on March 18th, 2011, 9:15 pm 
