**Lessons of the Mother Scorpion**

             Though I possess no heart,

I know now that it is the heart that possesses me.

              I exist only for the Wyrd.

       Nothing matters but Glomdoring.

 

 

From the Darkness I gaze upon the basin, my shoulders heavy with the

burden of the future. I am tasked with the fate of the Glomdoring,

besieged with the needs of the many: eternally aware that the rising

dawn of my existance relentlessly approaches, and the shadow I have cast

upon the world will diminish and fade. The young, the new bloods, the

legacy of the Merciless Forest rise to serve, into the cold and unknown

Night they stride, to champion the greatest of causes. They live,

breathe, and die for the Glomdoring, and they will know nothing else.

Yet they are blades still unrefined by the forge of adversity and

strife. They stand upon uncertain legs against the armies that would see

our end.

 

From the Darkness I strike, to fulfill my purpose. My armour shall

shield their flesh, my venom shall scourge their foes, my blood shall

spill for their lives. They will grow confident within my shadow,

sturdier upon their feet at my side. Their burdens will be lessened by

my presence, and their bodies less bloodied by my suffering. Such is my

pride, my purpose within the Glomdoring.

 

To the Darkness I return, to watch and to wait once more. They will

stumble and inevitably fall, and fall they must, but I shall never be

far. Though my mortal shell is a fragile one, my time despairingly

short, my spirit shall endure within the veins and minds of those that

come after me. My existance is to serve, to ensure they are fit to

inherit the Wyrd and the Glomdoring. They will go stronger than I ever

was or will be, and in time, I shall be obsolete. My talents eclipsed,

my lessons passed on, my essence exhausted. And then I shall rejoice.

 

Such is my duty, for I am scorpion.

 

** The Scorpion's Loyalty**

 

 

A scorpion is an adherant of absolute loyalty and lives by a simple

rule: nothing comes before the needs of those within her care. Her life

is one of service, and in many ways, in service to those less capable

than her, and in turn, must humble herself. This is because the

perception of the scorpion delves deep into the future, and she

understands better than most her own mortality. It is this understanding

of her limitations that is the foundation of her service, and in turn,

the foundation upon which her loyalty is built. The scorpion considers

chiefly, and often times exclusively, their needs. She is supremely

passionate about those within her charge; she is a hard and often times

cold teacher, for such is the way of the Glomdoring, but she will invest

her own life into them. The mother scorpion is deeply empathetic to the

needs and emotions of her own, though she will rarely, if ever, show it

as such a bond can prove to be a weakness exploited. She will watch both

her charges and their enemies with caution and a predatory awareness;

she will become intimately aware of the patterns and personalities of

both, and position herself ever within striking distance. She will watch

in such a way that her charges are often unaware, or perhaps simply so

familiar with her gaze that they no longer take notice.

 

However, such loyalty can be so defining that it is often times

blinding, and a scorpion can be the first to lose perspective of the

larger picture as her focus is so intently upon her singular purpose.

Though the scorpion possesses a keen intellect and awareness, the

politics of the basin can be difficult to grasp for her, for they often

encompass the needs and wants of those that are otherwise of little

concern to her. Those who identify with the scorpion will often times

find themselves on the outer fringe of politics, widely considered as an

extremist, and in many cases one who seems matters in the over

simplified world of black and white. To the scorpion there is that which

is Glomdoring and that which is not; that which benefits her charges,

and that which does them harm. She will struggle to see the grey that

lies inbetween and clash with the diplomats and politicans of the

Glomdoring who are typically more fluid and flexible. Indeed, within the

political arena, the scorpion will often clash with the more subtle and

cunning members of the Path of Fangs such as the Viper and Widow, and

must strive to ensure these bonds remain strong.

 

** The Scorpion's Legacy **

 

The Glomdoring will endure long beyond the scorpion's time. Though she

may achieve great heights and accomplish great things, her deeds will

fade in time, and the Glomdoring can not survive upon the softening

whispers of legends past. Such is why she is so supremely invested in

those she takes as her charges, she understands that on the small scale,

she will endure through them, and upon the greater canvas of history, so

too does the Glomdoring. The scorpion understands that life is fleeting,

yet the Glomdoring is eternal; that which we do today has no meaning

unless it affects tomorrow. It is the greatest aim of the scorpion to

pass on everything they know; for that knowledge to be absorbed in its

entirety, added to the collective knowledge of the forest, and surpassed

absolutely by those within her care. For though we are wary to become

obsolete, a scorpion understands that to become obsolete is to have

fulfilled their purpose. There is no greater honor than to be eclipsed

by those that once required your strength to stand. To serve the

Glomdoring is to forever pursue the next step; even when we have walked

as far as our mortal shell will take us, those that we have taught will

continue down the path we have forged. The scorpion will prepare them to

inherit the Wyrd so that they may ascend beyond the highest peaks of her

own achievements, and the Glomdoring will be better for it.

 

A teacher must be wary of pride. Though we accomplish great things, and

the greatest of teachers are those that have accomplished the greatest

of things, we must remember that pride is not the way of the Glomdoring - it diminishes that which we pass on.

It is a barrier through which our knowledge must past, one that will

taint and warp the otherwise pure tenets of Glomdoring and the Pack. We

must not pass on perspective, but rather we must grant those that follow

us to find perspective of their own. There is a fine line between

tradition and stagnancy, and each new generation must be granted the

freedom to find their own path within the Wyrd. Ours is not the job to

direct them, but grant them the tools and knowledge to find it

themselves. The scorpion must remind herself that her way is not the

only way, and that though they may possess a part of her, her charges

are to become more than her, and so too must their perspective be

greater than hers. Adaptation is the way of the Glomdoring.

 

** The Scorpion's Sacrifice**

 

There is no growth without sacrifice, and the scorpion understands that

to gain anything, something must be offered. The burden of nurturing is

a heavy one, one that will require formidable sacrifice from those that

adhere to the ways of the scorpion. When a scorpion takes one as their

own, they take upon all of their burdens, needs, and failings, even

before their own. Her flesh shall shield them from a blade, her blood

shall be a sacrifice for their lives, her time shall be devoted to their

growth. She must set aside her own life to adopt this purpose if she is

to fulfill her role within the Merciless Forest. As a scorpion carries

her fragile young upon her back, so too will those that identify with

her carry the pains of their own upon their shoulders. Hers is a heavy

mantle to bear, but it shall harden her resolve, invigorate her body,

and drive blood through her heart. She knows that as they grow stronger,

so too does the Glomdoring, and as the Glomdoring grows stronger, so too

does she. The cycle serves one purpose, to perpetuate the perfection of

this forest.

 

The mother scorpion understands that her own must stumble and fall

before they can stand once again, and though it will cause her great

pain, even wrath and rage, to see them bloody, broken, and dead, these

things are temporary and through suffering and adversity they will grow

stronger. Though she must guide and teach, she most not shield them

absolutely. Though she must suffer blows for them, she must allow them

to suffer their own. It is a delicate line to walk between nurturing and

carrying. Should she allow them to stray too far from her gaze, to

venture out on their own too soon, they may yet be incapable of

withstanding the formidable storms of the basin. Though they are of

Glomdoring, allowances must be made for those that seek to grow and

better themselves. However, she must be careful not to stand too

closely, to allow her charges to become reliant on her strength and

experience as a substitute for their own. The Glomdoring does not suffer

weakness and fraility, it will show no mercy to those that have been

coddled. A mother scorpion knows that each step after the first is a

step further away from her and her care.

 

**The scorpion's venom**

 

Indeed, it is true that no life is worth living if it can not be

defended. Many will see the mother scorpion as a frail predator; one

that has dedicated themselves so completely to the care of others, so

encumbered by the lives of her charges, that she has not the time to

refine her own skills and sharpen her own blades. They will often doubt

her talents as a warrior and consider her more adept as a teacher. The

scorpion knows, however, that her own talents guard the lives of her

charges. A mother scorpion has a venom most potent, and knows that

though the teeth of the wolf and the claws of the panther are dangerous

weapons, her single and planned sting will be equally as deadly. Her

keen senses that she has gained from protecting the young, the patience

she has learned from teaching the inexperienced, the endurance she has

gained from carying their burdens, all have tuned her into the deadliest

of strikes. She will wait calmly for her enemy, she will grapple, dance

and distract them, she will shake off their blows with her ebony armour,

waiting for the perfect moment. Hers is not the savage battle of claws

and teeth, but the subtle search for the opportune weakness. The

scorpion does not miss; she does not waste her venom, she does not grant

an opportunity for an injured escape. The scorpion will forever imprint

in the mind of those that strike out against her young: there is no fury

like that of a mother defending her own.

 

The scorpion must be wary of her own wrath, however, for it can consume

her completely. It is true that her wrath, as it does Mother Night, will

serve her well, though it must be reigned in or else it can consume it.

It is easy to to become consumed by one's own fury, certainly when the

inexperience of those within the scorpion's charge are targeted out of

spite for her. It is a danger for both the scorpion and for those within

her care, as there are those who will hold great grudges against her for

their inability to defeat her, and so they will seek out those in which

she has invested herself. Her own are, in many ways, a part of her.

Their blood is her own, and to spill it is to spill her own. Though she

adheres to no moral code, such attempts on her own are a display of

unforgivable weakness. Though she will be tempted to be the first to

charge into battle, she must remember that to do so blindly will

accomplish little but the death of herself and still the one she

attempts to protect. There are times when she must bottle her wrath and

allow it to ferment, wait for they opportunity to present itself, and

strike out with such fury and retribution so that those she stings will

be forever reminded of such a wound should the seek to act in such

cowardice again.