Word: Gnathonic

 

gnathonic

[ na-thon-ik ]

adjective

1. sycophantic; fawning.

               Barrin grimaced at the crowds as they stumbled over themselves to bow and praise him. Each one begged his attention. He gave them as little as he could. Just enough to not collide with the fawning crowds as he walked.

               “The people love you, I see.” Said Verris, the only man who wasn’t trying to gain Barrin’s favor with excessive praise. “That’s good. It’ll make them easier to lead.”

               “You have an odd definition of love, my friend.” Barrin said, dodging around another of the people.

               “What else would you call it?” Verris asked. “They clearly adore you. I dare say they practically worship you.”

               “Worship is not love. And these people are more sycophants and hangers on. No, they don’t love me. They love my power. They love what I can do and have done for them. But me? No. They’ll forget me within a year or two.”

               “I doubt that. I hear plans for a statue in your honor. That’s not the actions of people who will just forget you that quickly. By the way, what did you do that they treat you like this?”

               “Nothing special. At least not for you and me. I stopped some small warlord from taking sacking the town. Enough saw how I did that and now you get people like this. Those who claim to honor and respect me, but only because of what I can do.”

               Verris looked around. It seemed to him that the people celebrated Barrin like a hero of legend. The kind of person who was immortalized in song for generations to come. Maybe even deified long in the future. But he has seen enough sycophants and false respect to understand his friend’s attitude.

               “What are you planning to do here anyway? Even if this is false love, you can hardly just leave these people as they are.”

               “Why not? I’ve done it before.”

               “Barrin, the last time you left a city in this state, it tore itself apart. I know we can’t stay, but you need to give the people something to stand on.”

               Barrin sighed. He knew Verris was right. Even if they would forget about him the next time some great hero came along, he had some sliver of responsibility for them. He did not like it, but that was the way of things.

               “Fine. I’ll give them a few…” He paused, not liking what he was about to say, “rules and laws. Things to help get them through the coming days. Maybe even help set up a few local heroes that they can actually love and not just give false worship to.”

               Verris nodded. “That would be best, I think. Leaving a legacy never hurt anyone, and it will help these people going forward. No need to save them only to see them crumble under the weight of your memory.”

               Barrin huffed. He hardly cared. Truth be told, he would likely forget about this town even fast than its people would forget him. But his friend was right. A few stories and tales about him would not be so bad. Probably. 

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I'm on vacation! Something I really needed, but never really had the will to do. So yeah, I'm doing this in a different country. Neat.