[HQ Ignorance] Re : Scene 68: The Abiding Book, Nochet and The Dead God

[Loran]

Since the discoveries in the Abiding Book, Azhur was feeling very strange, in fact almost sick. Whatever the angle he was considering the object, waves of different and contradictory emotions were blowing with violence in him.
At first he felt an ecstatic veneration for the One Creator and His wondrous Miracles, then he was surprised to see that their own particular story was described there. Seeing the quest for Saint Talor’s weapons mentioned under the title “The Hero Wars” strengthen his determination for the quest nearly to fanaticism for a while. Because the classical version of the Abiding Book wasn’t the sacred text of the New Hrestoli Church, his doubts on the worthiness of the religious teachings of his youth came back strongly, reinforcing once again his agnosticism and leaving him with the impression that he was definitely separated from all the westerner believers of the Invisible God, believing in one god but no church.


Each time Riku accepted to release his grip on the divine manuscript, Azhur read more details. He then discovered something he never felt so intensively before, a terrible and cold rage, growing in him like an worm, eating away all his good and noble education for a thirst of murderous confrontation with Aalmon whom he had sincerely given the title of ‘friend’ and seemed to deserve in return only jealousy, deceit and treason. A lot of details appeared now with a very different meaning: this ability to always slip around moral arguments to acheive a practical solution or a price that someone else would have to pay, like the heroquest he lead and which killed Azhur's pure loskalmi faith, his strange religion about these weird pagan twinstars, a pagan practice which probably deserved a much more critical attention now and of course his disgusting krjalki brother... this permanent indecency, this ever lasting lust, this filthy phalus
 bearer... What kind of mother was Aalmon's mother to give birth to two such dissimilar creatures and who could be the father of such bastards? Who then but the Devil himself?
Then his imagination metamorphosed the hungry worm into a fearful insect with the idea that the perverse moon-illuminated could have faked leaving the Fellowship, possibly just to come back to the seshnelan court and to lure his wife further away. The words in the book described the moral strength of Marianne against the magical temptation of the revealed seseinite, so Azhur tried to calm down but he couldn’t help to feel anxiety toward the tin jewel he had received from the arrolian rider. Would the jewel glitter under the stars tonight? And if it will, what would it really mean? If flawed in some way, should he abandon this magical and only mean to communicate his love to his wife? But Aalmon hadn’t been always bad in the past, could his gift being a sincere untainted gift? Azhur needed the link with the woman he loved so much and the nocturnal, symbolic and chaste rendezvous it permitted. 
At day, Azhur took refuge in melancholic musing on the few innocent and happy times he had with Marianne but at night, doubts were ravaging Azhur’s need for sleep. To deceive his fears and occupy his nights, Azhur studied the Abiding Book more and more, especially when Riku went sleeping himself. He first checked all the details about the Godlearner, trying to build a clear opinion on the trust he could have for the strange sorcerer of the past. Was the man dangerous for the Quest or a real help as indicated by the Luatha? He then read about the spiritual erring of his own faith, looking with great interest if the book was suggesting some excuse, explanation or even possible way to mend his situation. Should he use the Abiding Book instead of his own now broken religious code? His unwanted heroquested skepticism suggested him that no text, even sacred, should ever replace a personal conscience and that during history a lot of crimes were made because
 of doctrinal blindness… but his ever doubting mind answered him that refusing to follow strictly such evidence of the One God’s will would be probably one of the most acute sin ever possible.
Exhausted, but driven by the importance of the holy tome, Azhur finally turned on more technical teachings and looked for the possible spells, rituals and prayers. This book was the primal source of all the modern holy books. Could some teachings have been deeply censored and expurgated by some religious authorities during the centuries? He tried some comparisons with the sacred text of good king Siglat. ‘First Truth’ was the New Hrestoli Idealistic Church’s sacred book, how both books were treating fundamental questions like definition of Sin, place of Joy and Solace and caste mobility?
Probably one life wouldn’t be enough to study all the implications of such works, so at last, a quite funny question came to his mind as if some weird influence from Saint Talor the Laughter was trying with a joke to help him to keep in mental sanity. Will the Abiding Book continue to write the story of the Fellowship? Then how will the book comment their next moves? Will they be able to read their own actions commented? Was it instantaneous, like one person may gaze into a mirror and see himself acting in response? How will the book speak about its own discovery and about itself? 

Looking haunted, Azhur wasn’t very attentive to Eurynome when she described the situation in the Dragon Pass. He felt some compassion for the famished barbarian lands of the Storm (as some of his friends were supporters of the place) and a low hostility against the Moon Empire (probably nourished by his anger against Aalmon the Arrolian). But his mind was more sharp when the question of the Abiding Book’s destination came out. For him, because the book was sacred for all the western faiths, it should go back to the West, but before, and because of the work in-progress related to their quest, it should remains within the Fellowship. Visibly, Azhur wasn’t able to consider that this discovery could be something else than a positive and encouraging sign from the Invisible God.
Finally when the council of Esrolia showed interest for his presence, Azhur shook his melancholic mood and reminded himself “Duty, Chivalry and Equality is my credo! I should represent better the peoples who put their hopes in me. This land is fertile and rich, who knows which role the Invisible God will deserve to these pagans in the future? Let’s show them that the West is more than Ehilm’s last resting place… and perhaps they will tell us something about Ursula, the Babeester Gor priestess who beared Talor's axe during Arkat's time...”
[OOC]
Lev,
- Any answer to Azhur's questions is welcomed... even one single tiny clue! :-)
- Do you thing that reading the 'Abiding Book v1.0' could justify to augment the "Questing" Azhur's psychological trait plus Worship and/or Venerate God?
Loran


----- Message d'origine ----
De : Lev Lafayette <lev at mimesisrpg.com>
À : HeroQuest Glorantha <ignorance at mimesisrpg.com>
Envoyé le : Dimanche, 6 Juillet 2008, 16h44mn 16s
Objet : [HQ Ignorance] Scene 68: The Abiding Book, Nochet and The Dead God


nota bene: Just returned from Gencon Oz! More on that latter...
Meanwhile, something I composed whilst at the con..


Scene 68: The Abiding Book, Nochet and The Dead God

Over the next week, the Acindina makes good speed heading towards
Nochet, the only metropolis in densely populated Esrolia. The Fellowship
chooses a course of open sea in a nor'easterly direction from the
Mournea isles and is only slowed when approaching the famous Kethaela
Bay of the Holy Country when all of the sudden - in indeed measurable to
a metre - the strong so'westerly wind blowing towards the Dragon Pass
region comes to a sudden and complete stop, whereupon Kalen shaking his
head, went below deck to command the engineer to release the Elementals.

During this previous week the Godlearner Riku was below deck, feverishly
scanning the Abiding Book. As a great treasure, lost for hundreds of
years, Eurynome also diplayed a great deal of interest and some full and
frank discussions broke out concerning the book's fate, for Eurynome was
of the opinion that it should be handed to her patron Nauticles the
Lhankor Mhy priest in Nochet. Also interested was King Azhur, for the
book was indeed holy to all pious worshippers of the Invisible God,
Malkion.

To all three the story is well known. One thousand years ago the various
Malkioni faiths were fragmented in various and sometimes contradictory
sects which even led to bloody in-fighting during the Second
Erandinthanos Conference. One heresy, that of the Priest Serozos claimed
a revelation through an spirit entity called Makan, an expression of the
One True God which argued for worshippers to practise Veneration to God
via Priests as intermediates. Despite interrogration by the Dolphin
Guild we was brought before the Conference to explain himself.

Suddenly a hand, quill and book of indestructible binding and paper
appeared from nowhere. A disembodied voice commanded 'Write', and the
hand did so, expressing how worshippers of the invisible God were to
live, how they should worship, what was True and what was Illusion and
how heresies could be reconciled. For a thousand years it has been the
most holy of texts for all who follow the Invisible God.

Reprinted many times, all these doctrines are well known throughout
western Genertala. Yet what has surprised the Fellowship the most, and
has held them in greatest awe is the appearance of a new book, as yet
unfinished. Entitled "The Hero Wars" it recounts the adventures of the
Fellowship from the very day that a brave shepherd discovered fragments
of Kyrmon's Scroll to the most recent encounters. More so, it records
what is seen and unseen; Azhur discovers the depth of Aalmon's madness
and wickedness from the eve prior to his wedding and Eurynome discovers
that the pirates of Smelch are actually in the employ of the Free City
of Khorst.

Taking almost two days, at a pace of a slow moving ferry (for the
Dwarves wish not to exhaust the Elementals), the Acindina makes it
slowly through the Bay. There are very few ship in what is a normally
teeming region and those that do exist are either powered by oars or by
magical means such as this Seshnelan craft. Most disturbing is the
absolute lack of wind - not even the faintest breeze. Even breathing,
although necessary, feel peculiar. Passing through the fabled City of
Wonders one is struck by the silence and inaccessibility of the place.
Once teeming with its golden dome, the exterior is now like tarnished
bronze from a by-gone era.

Eurynome explains some of the recent events in Dragon Pass that have led
to this unusual state of affairs. Over the past thirty years the Lunars
have invaded steadily from the north, first taking the Heortling Kingdom
of Sartar and then the Holy Country. The Pharoah died suddenly some
eight years ago and no replacement was found, leaving the Holy County
vulnerable. A mercenary leader from the west appeared and took some of
the old Satarite lands; named Sir Richard the Tigerhearted, he too was
eventually driven away by the ever-expanding Lunar Empire. From
Eurynome's description he bears a remarkable resemblance to a certain
mercenary captain encountered in the Battle for Segurane by certain
members of the Fellowship.

Two years prior, the last surving Satarite stronghold, Whitewall, fell
to Lunar troops although King Brian is still at large. With the last
surving temple to Orlanth, most senior of the Gods of the Air, in Lunar
hands the very winds themselves stopped and have remained so for two
years. The Lunars openly proclaimed that the God himself was captured
and over time would acknowledge his subservience to both the Sun and the
Moon and may even be released once more.

The Acindina chugs its way in Nochet harbour, a massive city of some one
hundred thousand people, most important of Esrolia and seat of their
matriarchial government. A number of men assist the docking of the ship
whilst women in authoritive regalia approach Eurynome for a report on
the condition of the ship. When it is remarked that a foreign King is
aboard, the women show deferential respect and mention that the Council
will be informed of his presence. Karala gives her fair well's to Knarl
who, without much ado, leaves the boat to head inland to his people.
Talor's Axe feels particularly heavy at this moment with the realisation
that the prophecy of her relationship to the fate of the Telmori has
grown even more. 

In the meanwhile, Eurynome takes the Fellowship to the Lhankhor Mhy
temple, where she has rooms along with her mentor Nauticles one of the
few men in Nochet with any semblance of position or authority (and even
that is most nominal). The elderly scholar offers drinks to all and
seeks reports on the journey, hanging off every word that is spoken. He
is particularly fascinated by the presence of both the Dragonewt and, of
course, the God Learner for the former are most rare in any human city
and the latter were believed to be an extinct people. 

It was the ever-empathic Jareena - and the ever sensitive Icthya (albeit
for different reasons) - who noticed that the people of the city bore
many of the signs of a very modest diet. There was no indication of
starvation, but nobody could be considered of generous girth by any
stretch of the imagination. Inquiring of this state of affairs,
Nauticles sighs. "It is the capture of Orlanth. With the winds dying,
the temperatures have become more extreme in heat and in cold. Crops
have failed - not so badly here is Esrolia I will readily admit - but
certainly in Heortland, Sartar, the Grazelands and parts of southern
Tarsh. The winters have been most terrible there, 1621, 1622.. thousands
starved. Gradually some are beginning to make adjustments of course, but
nevertheless life is terribly tough for the Heortlings and Satarites. If
of course, the Orlanthi submitted this would change.. But I don't think
that would happen. *We* Orlanthi value our independence a great deal,
and have always sworn we will never submit to the Lunar conquest. There
is, of course, rumours of an Iron Ring of rebels leaders who seek to
liberate free the Storm God..."



_______________________________________________
Ignorance mailing list
Ignorance at mimesisrpg.com
http://mimesisrpg.com/mailman/listinfo/ignorance_mimesisrpg.com



      _____________________________________________________________________________ 
Envoyez avec Yahoo! Mail. Une boite mail plus intelligente http://mail.yahoo.fr