Midnight Oil

Selestra 20th
In preparation for the Festival of Ra, CrIsis met with Fathers Lamriel and U’Selekma, to discuss matters of state and states of mind. It was with heavy heart that on the eve of the Festival of Ra Tyvernos left us, but he announced his intention in front of the holy hierarchy and the scions of Ra. He left his ring with us, taking it off personally, rather than it leaving his hand by godly power or corporeal disseminance.

Arriving upon the heels of the Gnome’s departure, Caminata became the newest member of CrIsis.

Bungo, Cammy and I found kinship while they studied for the short while at the Guild. I even left with them one summer’s solstice to visit the Vequerrel Woodlands. In the last few years they have been helping with the war on oppression and sin. I am wholly convinced that had I not become an acolytal alchemist I would have joined the war. Cammy seems to have joined not on the front lines but with the druids in protecting and sequestering the refugees and pacifists of the Empire.

Adriana is safe! Cammy brought news of her and our child, yet unborn. She learned of the horrors that surrounded our courtship, and perspective on the enemy’s minions from her as she cared for them for a month before coming to CrIsis. It warms my soul to know this.

It would seem that my travel companions do not read my journal entries submitted for the Book of Crisis, nor do they read the letters that I painstakingly write to them in blood, sweat, and tears. I had much more that I could have done with my time while in Caer Itom than pen a letter, the most prominent of which is spend every waking breath with my love. Yet I wrote, so that those I care for were not left without updates on my life. I forget the scent of my darling wife, and nary a jot nor tittle did they spare a shight to peruse.

So YES. I am married. It is the best damn love story I’ve ever heard or read, maybe especially due to its short nature. My Lord and the Lady Luck have had a longer, but not better, story.

We are pregnant. I expect to never see my child’s face until she is speaking and knows that her father was not with her mother for a time. This is barring any sort of Deific Intervention, allowing for some vision or dream.

Xerx’ses, as per usual, was crass and ignorant of the world’s diversity, and was shocked to hear that the Western Empire was home to more than humans living in sin and burning holocaust to Taut. I feel it is necessary for me to speak to him about this.

I said no more than a few scant phrases about my wife and I to CrIsis, before the Eve Ceremony of the Festival started.

Selestra 21 (Supplemental to S. 20, entry written on the morrow)

Xerx’ses and I had an amazing journey into the soul last night.

I arrived at his door late last night, while some of CrIsis was still at the tavern, but most had retired. I knocked, and he gave me entrance. I asked him why he has had a fear and loathing of anyone and anything that comes from the Western Empire.

He told me that ever since he was a child, he had been told stories of the evil empire rising by the end of the Great War. On maps and ledgers all that was depicted was an angry red blotch, and stories of boogeymen to come in the night and steal children. All of the information he received after leaving his Tribe’s underground sanctuary reinforced this prejudice. He had nothing but a single righteous Elf’s word that the empire wasn’t a desiccated corpse of mortals’ spirits and faith.

I listened transfixed. I knew that the reputation of the Empire was horrid, but I hadn’t expected the vehemence the Minotaur had on the subject. He truly believed to his core. I felt I had my work cut out for me, and I did.

I started by speaking about the Temples of Osiris, and the Pyramids, one of which I personally visited. The Temple Quarter of Caer Itom is unrivalled save for Sekti Abtu itself. The lavish temples and churches built to honor each God outpaced everything I had ever imagined. A land whose land was salted for righteousness could not have grown a congregation as loyal and holy as what built those.

I told him of all my travels, and of all of the friends of CrIsis in the Empire. Granted, I steered clear of the Middle Kingdoms for obvious reasons, but my route brought me to good people and breathtaking sceneries.

We spoke of how all mortals are the same, deep within themselves, and they all have the seeds for Greatness, for Good or Ill. I asked him about the Love of his life, and the evil minotaur that he grew with. They came from the same tribe, and grew in the same soil. Does one mean that all Etrinan or all Minotaurs are good? Does the other mean they’re all evil? Of course not. And although the Empire has had quite a lot of evil come from it, including abominations such as the Black Ships, it also has had much good. Father Lamriel, Me, Caminata, the Temple Districts, great warriors and priests throughout the times. Last and greatest, Adrianna Voss.

Xerx’ses came to hit it on the head, and opened my eyes. Everyone is doing the best they can. Whether they have the same understanding that I do or not, they are striving to accomplish the pinnacle of mortal existence. That is the foundation for my Diplomacy. I would never have had that, were it not for a young adult ‘Spawn of the Old Ones’ with whom I have shared so much. It is for that that I will always be in his debt, and will love him long after worms consume our flesh.

>>An excerpt from his Journal, written on Selestra 21st in the 23rd Year of Emperor Voelkian Itomas II, by Azariel, Apprentice Alchemist. Acolyte of Osiris and the Lady Luck.<<
First Picture Credit: Endless Forrest
Second Picture by Displate
Third Picture Credit:LDS.org