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Message: <blockquote data-quote="kelvahkarain" data-source="post: 1572882" data-attributes="member: 17866">Statments of Faith IAfter some... err... much delay, here is the continuation of Pensy and Astor's mystical adventure!Pendric wasn’t sure he’d ever grow accustomed to the temple. It wasn’t right. A temple was a place of life, the echoes of ritual chanting, light shining through coloured glass. This was a place of decay- crumbling walls, silence, and passages empty of all save darkness. The Temple of the Light. That’s what he’d heard Astor calling it, citing ‘a conversation with Rakor.’ He had said nothing else, trying to pass it off as a joke. Trying to hide his emptiness, his fear. All Pendric could do was stare at the empty wall before him, ancient on even a cosmological scale and think. I already know, Lirus is not the only god, he is but one of many. The thought echoed through his mind, a simple statement of his faith. But there was something... more, a thought he struggled to repress, that was laid bare in this temple which had surely stood long before Lirus ever came to being. So how then could this fact correlate with his statement of faith? It was the answer he now sought, was seeking ever since he heard the news “Michael is resting, and cannot be disturbed,” what must surely have been days ago. A thought came to him, His greatness is not diminished by the presence of older elemental gods. This, this... plane of existence, this has nothing to do with me, with Lirus. The lie he told himself, believed in his heart that allowed him to sleep that ‘night’.     He arose several hours later, rubbing his neck, sore from the hard stone bed. He left his room, content for a day of listless wandering, mind immediately occupied by his thoughts from the night before. It was as he was walking down a familiar corridor that he heard Astor’s shout, “What! How can it be our world, yet not, ‘technically speaking’, our world!” Curious, Pendric followed the voice and entered a room nearby, where he saw an upset Astor and veiled Rakor.     Rakor emitted what amounted to a chuckle and replied, “My pointy-eared friend, I’m afraid it’s a concept you’re not quite ready to grasp. This temple- we are still on the same planet. This is just... another level. Behind the curtain.” Noticing Astor fumbling to form words he didn’t quite know, he answered the unvoiced question, “Think of it this way: This temple could once be seen on your world. What you have called ‘The Blight’ is the land upon which it once stood. The power that... manifest, the Name... that power is gone now. And so we are... here. Behind the curtain.” Blatantly confused, but trying to hide it Astor fell silent.    “What do you mean by ‘name’? When we first arrived here, you called this place the ‘Nameless Temple’. Astor here claims you told him this was the Temple of the Light. Which is it? And what does ‘name’ have to do with this all?” Pendric asked. Rakor stopped for a moment, apparently deep in thought.     Rakor seemed hesitant, speaking carefully. “The Name, the power of the Name... that is what separates me from you, Lirus from the Elder Gods. And it’s what used to separate the God of this temple from them. Names are.. were Being, the very source of power, and existence. The loss of the Name meant the casting down, the demise of the deity.”    Without thinking, Astor interjected, “What’s the name of the god of this temple?”    Rakor, trying to repress his frustration growled, “Think about that one for a moment.”     Astor thought for a moment, brow crinkled, eyes squinting. “Okay, so the god of the temple is nameless, or somehow misplaced its name. Why build a temple to a dead god?”     “Well, you see The Light was not nameless when his temple was built!” Rakor tried unsuccessfully to hide his mirth.     Astor was about to say more, but Pendric mercifully cut him off before more embarrassment could ensue. “So you say this temple was built to honour ‘The Light’? Is that not then it’s name?”    “No, ‘The Light’ is not my deity’s Name, it’s what it... was. In the beginning, or at least as far back as I’ve awareness, the Light and the Darkness ruled over all creation. Always... in a conflict, yet never seeking the other’s destruction.”     “Light... and Darkness? Just like on that door, back at the storage!” Astor chimed in excitedly, making the connection between Rakor’s summary and the painting on the doors which led into the storage area.     “Hmm... no, it wasn’t like that. As I said, they were in opposition, it was a natural opposition. The Darkness brought forth life, the Light took it away. It wasn’t Light and Darkness as you no doubt have imagined them. Yes, it was a dichotomy, but not of morality, good and evil, nor positive and negative. Darkness was Creation. The Light, and I through the Light, Destruction.”     Pendric, visibly stricken challenged Rakor’s claim, “How is it that the Light could be destruction? The Light is...”    “Something quite different than what you would hold the word ‘light’ to mean.” Rakor interjected. “And I may have phrased that incorrectly. While I, through the Light brought destruction, it itself may more accurately be deemed decay.”     “Why destroy? What purpose is there in that, and how is it you are still here?” Pendric asked, still unable to separate the clearly differing definitions of light and darkness.     “Why? It’s what I was born to be. You can’t kill death, and make no mistake: I am the Light, I am destruction and decay in mortal form. But I’m guessing you’re not talking on so simple a level as ‘I am what I was made to be.’ I, and the Light, destroyed because, quite simply, there is only so much room on your world’s surface. The Darkness filled the world with creatures of all types, it was my duty to do away with all but the finest, most interesting creations.” Rakor paused a moment, watching both Paladin and Ranger as they attempted to make sense of his statement. “Does that answer your question?”     “When you mean... are you talking about the elimination of entire species?” Pendric demanded, shaken to his very moral core.     “Sounds very... natural to me,” said Astor.     Rakor examined the ranger, a modicum of respect returning. “An interesting observation. And yes dear Sir Pendric, I do mean entire species. Shocking, no? Just think of the trouble those... usurpers would be in, if only I had the Name.”         “That brings me back to my earlier question Rakor: how is it you are still here, even though you’re ‘the Light manifest as a mortal?’ Would not the loss of the Name result in your own destruction, if the power of Names is as you say?” Pendric asked, carefully choosing his words, avoiding an outburst of protest against Astor’s statement.         “I am the Light yes, but only in the most... ‘profane’ sense of the word. It’s difficult to explain, because your gods are so... incomplete, so flawed. The Light spanned all aspects of creation, from the most sacred, most set apart from normal reality, to myself at the far end of the spectrum, a mortal creature selected as the profane manifestation of The Light. If you’re following me, the name of the Light stood as the most sacred. I am at the opposite end of the spectrum. Thus, I live on.”         Pendric thought for a moment, still not entirely understanding what Rakor meant, nor the division between sacred and profane. Nor could he understand exactly how such a thing as a Name could be lost. Luckily, Astor voiced this question for him, “Wait, how is it exactly that a Name can be... lost? I mean, you knew it didn’t you? How could you, and everyone forget?”     Rakor sighed, obviously frustrated, yet understanding he discussed concepts well beyond your standard paladin of Lirus or ranger of... whatever Astor was a ranger of. “The Name is not a normal word, and as such was not ‘forgotten’. It was removed from this reality, or more exactly cut from it. And before you ask, it was done so by Marusic, the Eater of Names. A fellow with whom I understand you have dealt with on a most personal level, am I right Sir Pendric?”     “I have no idea what you are talking about,” the confused paladin replied hastily.     Rakor laughed, though it was hardly gleeful. “You bear his mark on your hands. You held him in your hands, killed the guard and opened a door I’m sure you’d have rather have left closed.”     “The Eater of Names is a sword?” Astor asked.     “Sort of. At the very least, the sword contained the essence of Marusic. But in his original form, no, Marusic was certainly not a sword. He was my apprentice once, training to become a replacement for The Dark.”     “Your apprentice? Were you not a servant of The Light? Why would you train the replacement of your rival?”     “I was bored with my own apprentices, and really Marusic was an interesting one. I’ve already told you, there was no hostility in my struggle with The Darkness. He filled the world, and I emptied it of those that were deemed lacking. Like I should, and would have done... if only had time, if only they hadn’t acted in concert, and drawn Marusic to their side.”     “Who acted in concert?” Astor asked.     “Those against whom Michael, and thus by accidental association yourselves, have come to this place. The four beings released from their slumber when those hands of yours swung two doors open. They, the manifestations of the Elements, originally created to assist The Light and The Darkness, have ironically become our mutual enemy.”    “So what can you tell us about them?” Pendric asked, fighting off a yawn.     “As much as I am able, though I doubt I will have the answers you or Michael seek. But perhaps we’d best leave them until later. For now, rest, and keep this thought in mind: if the gates holding the Elements back opened so easily for you, it is obviously fate, and not error that forced your action. You are not responsible for unleashing the likely doom of your race and gods, merely the instrument of said unleashing.”     On that note, the ranger and paladin left the room, each going to their chosen places, Pendric his small room, Astor the largest, most open auditorium he could find, to think on Rakor’s words. As they parted company, Astor smiled thinly at Pendric and said, “You know, that wasn’t all that reassuring, now was it?”</blockquote>

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