Simon Keysmith

Background

Simon Keysmith is a Cleric of the Divinity of Mankind from Paridon, who was first presented in a discussion thread on the Fraternity of Shadows forum[1].

Inspired by the teachings of the Divinity of Mankind, Simon became a Cleric rather than following in the footsteps of his father. He was a wholehearted believer in humanity's potential for perfection and the teachings of the philosophy... and then came the day that a Dread Doppelganger decided it needed Simon's life for a few days.

Abandonment

Simon managed to escape death at the shapechanger's hands, but fell in the river during their struggle. When he washed up on the banks, he was badly injured and called out to people passing by for help. The rich ignored him because he was filthy; the poor ignored him because there was no benefit in helping him for them; a passing Celebrant failed to recognize him as a fellow priest and admonished him, saying that a man who had fallen to such a state should wish for nothing better than death, so that reincarnation might offer him the opportunity to live better 'next time'.

(As a Dread Possibility posed by Rotipher of the FoS, the passing Cleric might actually have been the very Dread Doppelganger who attacked Simon and now wanted to twist the knife.)

Simon finally lost consciousness, only to reawaken in the hovel of a Caliban named Pjotr. In the following days, the destitute Pjotr tended Simon's wounds to the best of his ability, working, begging and stealing to bring him food and medicines. When Simon asked why the Caliban was going out of his way to help him, Pjotr's answer was simply: "Because you need help."

Spiritual Renewal

Pjotr not only saved Simon's life, but managed to help him recover to the point that he could return to his home and his doppelganger-befouled life. Other men might have tried to rationalize the experience and stick to their chosen path, but Simon had been shaken to his very core. The teachings of the Divinity of Mankind denouned Calibans as little more than animals, lacking the potential for perfection. But where so many humans had passed Simon by, unable to see through his physical appearance, Pjotr had cared for him as a fellow living being, unswayed by species or condition.

Simon not only repaid Pjotr by inviting the Caliban into his home, but by treating him as a trusted - even a beloved - friend and equal. He provided Pjotr with every benefit he could, including education... and as Simon taught, he also learned. He learned that there was a potential for perfection in all living beings, not just in humanity. Even as he fell from the path of the Divinity of Mankind, Simon discovered the Divinity in All. His life would never be the same again, but he embraced the change with a glad heart.

Quoth the Raven

Simon and Pjotr make a cameo appearance in The Conferences of Victor Gagné V in Quoth the Raven Issue 28, having rescued Paloma from death in response to an augury. They welcome the dread doppelganger Cleric to the community of the Divinity in All. Worryingly, Simon speaks a set of arc words mentioned to Victor Gagné by an avatar of Brightwell: All Words Will Fade. While this message seems more hopeful coming from Simon, as he only follows it up with the conclusion that Only Meaning Remains, it is unknown how he came to know of them.