| October 2005 | << September 2005 | November 2005 >> |
| Master Rias, Vessel of Books Yet Unwritten |
| Ten Thousand Gates > An Impromptu Picnic in a Starlit, Ancient Arena |
I must stress that I am in no way an agent of the Hunger of this doleful Void, the Hunger for Knowledge. Any misinterpretation on your part is entirely my fault. I wholeheartedly apologise, Bethen, Ulvath, Leli; I would not wish to be inconvenienced by your sharpnesses, nor saddened by your demise.
I have this tale third-hand, you must understand, for all books of Void and Hunger have long been written and rotted to dust; no more will come to pass, as the Voids and their creators are far from the center of all things and far from the attentions of the builders of gates. This is well, for Hungers such as the one beyond the great door would consume all if permitted.
The Hunger for Knowledge, as the others, was bound and chained by the Mindful Imperatives in long ages past. Since that fateful time, it has probed and worked at the chinks in its bondage, each a way to cast cunning lines far across Creation. It has buried its tendrils in dreams, in ancient tomes, in ancestral tales, in the very roots of sorcery, leaving hints of keys to gates forgotten and ways unknown. All promise much, but all lead here - to extinction.
So it is; the stars here turn and turn, and when they are right, forth comes the Hunger to see what its ten thousand lures have caught. We have time yet; tell me of your keys, and then we will go from here to leave nothing but dust and sand - and no little rightful spite - behind.
[ Posted by Reason on October 6, 2005 | Permanent Link ]
| Leli, the Fifteenth Note |
| Ten Thousand Gates > An Impromptu Picnic in a Starlit, Ancient Arena |
Even the wine bubbles with song, listen to it, almost too much to stand still! And these foods, dancing to themselves, where did you find such things? Oh, I wish my closest notes were here to listen and dance!
But are we in danger? Is this what danger sounds like? How strange! Myrelin had said there would be danger, but I did not believe her - all the clashing harmonies are but a part of the Song. Oh, but I should be singing, I should be home! I cannot sing in this darkness, for how can a single note sing the Song by herself?
How can I even be here, hearing music that cannot exist, wishing to dance to what could only be in the Song? This is no part of our Song, there is no melody here I recognize, but these strange layers of harmony in our gathering are so beautiful. How can this be danger?
[ Posted by Reason on October 5, 2005 | Permanent Link ]
| Bethen, the Lost Dream |
| Ten Thousand Gates > An Impromptu Picnic in a Starlit, Ancient Arena |
This Hunger he speaks of is not an entity to be slain by blade or ax, Ulvath, nor to be survived by you or I, this much is clear. Can you not feel it? It is ... awakening. Yes, awakening, and narrowing the path of our dream by the moment.
A suspicion is growing in me regarding the ways and events that have led me here to this Void, as you call it, but you will make that clear, will you not? Leli may find your wine and spiced plates irresistible, but I do not feel your part in this dream path - and I am not so trusting. Are you promising a timely way from this place of death, back to the known ways and spirit guides, or do you merely employ your unusual insight to taunt those who have doomed themselves?
[ Posted by Reason on October 4, 2005 | Permanent Link ]
| Ulvath, the Dying King's Champion |
| Ten Thousand Gates > An Impromptu Picnic in a Starlit, Ancient Arena |
You are as the women of hall and castle with your words, you who know too much of my father's name. A bright day, the sun on good snow, and they would move trestles and feast on women's food, aye and even as the Witch-Queen boils the seas, flays the glaciers and spoils the hunt with rot and heat.
No, I will not eat of your women's food, fine and fancy as it is. If there is a hunger here, some witch-thing of the dark beyond the giant's door, we shall see just how it hungers when cleft in twain athwart my ax! A champion fears no witchery, even rune-bound and flung far!
[ Posted by Reason on October 3, 2005 | Permanent Link ]
| Master Rias, Vessel of Books Yet Unwritten |
| Ten Thousand Gates > An Impromptu Picnic in a Starlit, Ancient Arena |
My, I am pleased to have company; it is always such a delight to meet with the original source, as it were. This is usually a rather lonely outing, you must understand - I had not planned on company, at least not in the immediate sense. But please do help yourselves, partake at will; this spread of wine and cold food springs from a short folio that will be bound to ink and consigned to dusty shelves in all too short a time. I have grown fond of it - especially these, you must try one, Leli of the Choir - and will be sorry to see it pass from view.
But of course, I will certainly try to answer your questions; I imagine you have many. My, ah, collaborator in this endeavor of life grants me a certain perspective on most issues of substance. As to where we are, well, you came here yourselves, did you not? These unhappy ruins, cast in endless night, form one of the more scenic portions of the Voids, but that tells you as little as I said, I don't doubt. As will be widely repeated by those familar with Otense, once she is born and grown, "'where' is a shiftless term, hard to employ and prone to shirked duties." Like you, I could no more act as signpost or guide to our present, sandstrewn location, but I do know the way home.
Ah, no - my home, Leli, I apologise. But why talk about me when we could talk about you? Bethen, dreamhealer and ... Ulvath, son of Ganvir, isn't it? You are shrewd in seeing that this pleasant torchlit picnic is very much more tiny than the Hunger that makes this gloomy Void its home. Please - we are in no immediate danger of extinction, or at least not until the great doorway cracks open at the allotted time. A weather eye on the stars and my trusty eggtimer have yet to fail me, however. I believe we have more than enough time for civilized conversation and to properly pack the leftovers afterwards.
So please, Bethen, Ulvath and especially you, Leli, tell me how it is that you find yourselves here in the Voids, as prospective appetizers for the oldest and most patient of the Hungers.
[ Posted by Reason on October 2, 2005 | Permanent Link ]
| Leli, the Fifteenth Note |
| Ten Thousand Gates > An Impromptu Picnic in a Starlit, Ancient Arena |
Oh, but you have such strange music in your voices, as though you sing of anger and love and hate and joy as all of one, and the notes fall away from you like waterfalls and sunlight. It is such a thing, to shivver my fingers and my heart - oh, I could have found you from far, far across this emptyness and dour and dark of a single note, and I am gladdened that I have.
Oh! But you have stopped! Please, please, pay this simple note no heed and continue. I could listen and listen and dance and sigh and never grow weary!
[ Posted by Reason on October 1, 2005 | Permanent Link ]
