Arno and Vocus Arno was the son of Clymus, the king of Phrygia. Years before Clymus renowned for his intellect challenged the god of thought, Egregious, to a game of Zatrikion. He beat the god convincingly and this infuriated Egregious who as a lesser god punished the mortal by capturing his sanity leaving the man a shell of his former self. Egregious hid Clymus' sanity far away in the mountains of Agea. Here it was guarded by the great monster Vocus who claimed his shout could be heard across the lands and could shatter steel. Arno could not bear the sight of his father who was locked in the grip of madness. He sought the help of the oracle of Delphi who told him to search the land for this elusive cave and defeat the monster Vocus. He searched for many months to no avail so he pleaded for the god of travelers Hermes to help his journey. The god taking mercy on him, appeared to him in the shape of a old beggar and gave three bits of advice. First the lair of Vocus lay in the flattest area around as Vocus wanted his voice to be heard by all. Secondly the monsters shout could break a man's ears if he was not protected and thirdly that Vocus' main weakness was his vanity Arno with Hermes's help soon found the cave but before he confronted the monster he stopped at a bee hive to fill his ears with wax to protect him against the monster's scream. He walked into the cave and it was not long before the great Vocus spotted him. Seeing this intruder he let out an explosive roar which shook the very earth and caused the birds living within three miles to let up a great noise and fly from their roosts. The noise deafened Arno and without his earplugs he would has surely perished. Vocus stood in shock as he was used to any one hearing his shout keeling over dead. Arno walked right up to the giant and said to him "yours is truly a great shout but is it the loudest and longest?" Vocus yelled ba ck "of course there is no one louder in the land". "ah but that is where you are wrong" replied Arno craftily " there is someone living in your very cave which can shout louder and longer then you ever could." Hearing this Vocus stormed into the cave, past the jar he was meant to be protecting and into the dark recesses of the cave and shouted " I know you are in here and I can shout louder than you ever can" but all he got back was a voice shouting back "louder than you ever can" Vocus walked even deeper into the cave. Arno seeing his chance ran forward and grabbed the jar. It was full to the brim of sweet succulent honey. Seeing this bountiful supply of wisdom and thou ght he was overcome with a desire to eat the honey and absorb his father's wisdom. He tried to resist but the urge was to strong and he swall owed the sickly honey in one gu lp. Instantly he was filled with thoug ht and the desire to express himself vocally. The god Egregious seeing this atrocity turned the great hero Arno into a raven which instantly took flight cawing harshly as he flew. To this day Arno still flies around the world trying to impart his knowledge to people but is harshly shooed away as a common pest. Vocus is still in the cave shouting at his echo, his will too stubborn to break until his voice dies away completely and only the echoes remain. Ben Meehan
