Simon Barrows
Simon Barrows heard the stones speak, and he has not stopped talking about it since.
He was part of a caravan that became lost in the Tinderlands, stopping beside the Stone Circle with nothing left but the certainty of death by thirst. During the night, the stones murmured. Water trickled around the base of the circle. The caravan drank and moved on. Most of the survivors forgot the incident within days. Simon was stunned by it.
He returned alone. He waited outside the stones for days, enduring the Tinderlands heat and silence, until the stones spoke again. He wrote down what he could make out: "Go, find someone else." A reasonable interpretation might be that the stones were telling him to leave. Simon chose a different reading. He took the words as a divine commission and set out to spread the message.
The Cult of Stone has grown around his preaching, still small but gaining followers each year. Simon leads annual pilgrimages to the Stone Circle, where the faithful gather in hope of hearing the stones for themselves. Some do. Some do not. Simon accepts both outcomes with the calm of a man who heard what he needed to hear on his second visit and has never doubted since.
Whether the stones were commanding him or dismissing him is a question Simon Barrows answered for himself long ago. The cult he built on that answer continues to grow.
He was part of a caravan that became lost in the Tinderlands, stopping beside the Stone Circle with nothing left but the certainty of death by thirst. During the night, the stones murmured. Water trickled around the base of the circle. The caravan drank and moved on. Most of the survivors forgot the incident within days. Simon was stunned by it.
He returned alone. He waited outside the stones for days, enduring the Tinderlands heat and silence, until the stones spoke again. He wrote down what he could make out: "Go, find someone else." A reasonable interpretation might be that the stones were telling him to leave. Simon chose a different reading. He took the words as a divine commission and set out to spread the message.
The Cult of Stone has grown around his preaching, still small but gaining followers each year. Simon leads annual pilgrimages to the Stone Circle, where the faithful gather in hope of hearing the stones for themselves. Some do. Some do not. Simon accepts both outcomes with the calm of a man who heard what he needed to hear on his second visit and has never doubted since.
Whether the stones were commanding him or dismissing him is a question Simon Barrows answered for himself long ago. The cult he built on that answer continues to grow.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Simon's founding vision occurred during a caravan crisis in the Tinderlands. Lost and out of water, the caravan made camp at the Stone Circle expecting to die. The stones murmured through the night and water appeared. Most of the caravan moved on and forgot. Simon returned alone, waited days in the empty desert, and heard the stones speak again. He transcribed the words "Go, find someone else" and interpreted them as a mission rather than a rejection. He has been preaching about the speaking stones ever since.
Children
