The life of Melrose of Freidvale does not appear worthy of sainthood at first glance. He was a scribe, a seventh son of the Lord Yuntoth Malbork, who as such had little hope of an inheritance or a landed title, so he intended to enter the priesthood of Saranae in the seminary at Hartgestein at the age of 18 in the year 206 Y.L. He was rejected as a postulant (hopeful priest in the service of the temple) for his refusal to engage in combat or to handle any sort of a weapon. He is reported as having refused in a rather disastrous fashion, throwing his mace behind him which happened to strike the Archbishop of Hartgestein as he was passing by on a visitation. As Mel was a noble's son, he was relegated to the role of temple scribe rather than banished from the faith entirely, as even an Archbishop will think twice before crossing a lord of Malbork. He was sent to the city of Freidvale, miles from Hartgestein, where it was expected he would toil at making copies of holy texts in anonymity until the day he quietly retired from the clergy.
Mel did toil as a scribe for some time, though the years were not quiet. His superiors were continually vexed with his production. The young scribe was slow, sloppy, and perpetually made errors that had to be rewritten. Neither was he well liked by his fellow scribes, who often played pranks on him, such as filling his inkwell with skunk essence or booby-trapping the outhouse so that it collapsed when he sat down on it.
This ignominy did not deter faithful Mel. He continued on at his labors, taking derision in stride as his due. When his Father Superior could not shame the young scribe into leaving of his own accord, he decided to take matters to hand directly. Mel was given an ultimatum - copy an 200 page holy manuscript of Saranae's teachings in 10 days time or face expulsion from the order. While this was humanly possible for an ordinary scribe, for a person of Mel's limitations they might as well have asked him to fly from Freidvale Abbey to the Capital and back in two days. Mel resolved to try, nonetheless.
In what was for him a superhuman effort, Mel slept only four hours a day, ate very little, and wrote every waking minute for the next 7 days. When it was discovered that he had nearly completed his task ahead of time, the other scribes put their heads together and hatched a plan. On the 8th day of his trial when Mel made his way from the tower spire to his living quarters, carrying the completed manuscript pages, his quill, and his bottle of ink, one of the scribes contrived to trip him in passing, sending the manuscript, the ink, and Mel tumbling down the stairs. The results were predictable.
Mel was devastated. All he had wanted was to serve Saranae in whatever capacity she saw fit. Rewriting his work was quite literally impossible now, with only a night and two days left. He prayed to Saranae that night to show him the way, and fell fast asleep at his cot for several hours.
When he awoke, from a dream he could never later recall, he found a quill in his hand that seemed to burn like fire in the morning sunlight, and there were manuscript pages under his face. In astonishment, Mel looked over the work beneath him and found the holy book had been copied perfectly, in his own handwriting, no less! He set the quill down and ran to the Father Superior to report the miracle that had happened. The Father was no less astonished, nor was he pleased. He accused Mel of using arcane magic (an accusation made more ridiculous by the fact that Mel showed no aptitude for magic of any kind) and demanded he reproduce the feat with witnesses by his side day and night. Mel, of course, could not refuse his Superior, and, though he was by now exhausted, assented once again.
On the very first night, Mel again fell fast asleep at his desk, as did his witnesses shortly afterward. When the three awoke, the another copy of the manuscript, in Mel's shaky handwriting, had been completed. The Father Superior ordered the room scanned for magic, and the quill that had appeared overnight in Mel's hand glowed brightly - it was of artifact level. When asked how he had come by it, Mel explained his story yet again, and no amount of attempts to divine lies would prove that he was not telling the truth. The quill was confiscated as an unholy thing (even though it was identified as having a holy aura) and locked away in side a secure chest and sent by carriage back to Hartgestein for study by arcanists. Mel was ordered to copy the book once more, this time with the Father Superior watching and having cast protection from evil over the study in advance. Once more Mel fell asleep, as did the Father Superior some time after midnight.
When the two awoke, the Father Superior roared in anger. The book had been copied in his sleep... all over his face and hands. Every inch of his skin bore Mel's handwriting of the holy words of Saranae. To make matters worse, Mel held the fiery quill that had been sealed and sent away in his hand. It is said that the two had to be separated then and the Father's hands pried from around Mel's neck. The poor Father Superior never recovered from his shock and rage over this event, and he had to be committed to a home for the irretrievably insane and the infirm for the rest of his years.
The writing is said to have never faded from his skin.
The matter of Mel's three miracles (so they have been declared some time ago) was thoroughly investigated by the Bishop, but none could reach any conclusion other than that Saranae had intervened directly on the part of the poor hapless scribe. Mel was invited to rejoin his studies for the priesthood once more, which he declined. He spent his days copying texts with the Holy Quill, sometimes in his sleep, and his writing grew more beautiful with each passing year. Holy texts copied in the hand of saint Mel are believed to bring healing and long life to the bearer. The Holy Quill itself was buried with him beneath a small chapel outside of Freidvale, not far from his abbey. No one has attempted to separate the quill from its rightful bearer since. Saint Mel is the patron saint of patience, endurance, and divine intervention in the face of insurmountable odds. An order of priests known as the Mellites sprang up shortly after his canonization, a band who refused to use weapons, quite unusual for followers of Saranae. Vestiges of the order still exist in scattered monasteries throughout the western half of the empire.
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