Silence

When Maral had completed her training, they headed for the City of Enlightenment. As they traveled, Wisdom recounted the city’s history. Its birth had been beautiful and messy. A group of Scribes, seekers of Wisdom, formed a community to delve into the ancient books in order to discover hidden and forgotten treasures of truth. They were excited and passionate about their good purpose.

Over time the Scribes became more preoccupied with the thrill of discovery than what they were actually discovering. They found that digging out real discoveries was time consuming and laborious. Slowly, they began to lose sight of Wisdom as they looked for short-cuts. When she tried to guide them back to the path of reason, she was rejected and permanently dismissed.

Obsession was welcomed into their community to fill the void left by the absence of Wisdom. Obsession showed them how they could manufacture artificial discoveries. This was more thrilling than genuine discovery because they were the authors of this new “truth”.

The benefits seemed to be endless; they found they could create these “discoveries” in a remarkably quick and comparatively easy manner. They began by warping history and truth- which provided many more opportunities for “discoveries”.

Obsession was allowed to take control and dictate the protocol of life. He quickly led the Scribes into the bondage of silence. No matter how controlled an environment Obsession created, through debate some genuine truth could leak out. Obsession couldn’t tolerate this, as truth would shatter the illusion that their work was great and lead them once more to Wisdom.

Though they have made a huge impact upon the world with their books of doctrines, theologies, and scientific breakthroughs, the impact had been harmful rather than positive. What the world had acknowledged as truth, these former seekers have now stolen and lost.

As they approached the city Maral noticed that Wisdom appeared uncomfortable. “What’s wrong?” Maral asked.

“The silence, it screams in my ears.” Wisdom said furrowing her forehead. She called out many names but her voice rebounded as if she was in a canon. “Maral, I can go no farther. I have been walled out of this city. Will you go on?”

Maral was shocked, “Me? Without you?”

Wisdom said, “Listen for my voice; I will be with you. You can do this. But it is your choice. Will you go?”

“What am I to do?” She looked at the intimidating city before them. It was too big. She considered saying no. It felt safe to say no.

“Liberate the city.”

Maral’s mind spun with a million negative scenarios. She looked at Wisdom and drew confidence from her steady look. She didn’t trust herself, but she trusted Wisdom- and Wisdom was asking her to do this. Maral nodded, “You will be with me?”

“I will be with you.”

Awareness

That same day, a father of one of the children discovered the rapid disappearance of his children’s allowances. He went to inquire. When he saw Quinbi, he remembered the newspaper report of the desperate plight of the Eldren.

He took Quinbi to lunch and asked her about her story. Little by little she began to give details of what her people faced, until the gruesome details poured from her like a flood. In a trancelike state, she spoke of witnessing the insatiable beasts of hunger and violence. The mass killings and horrible atrocities were constant realities in her land. The haunting hunger left none free of torment.

The unclean water, gathered from contaminated tiny puddles, caused much suffering and often led to painful deaths. The young were the most vulnerable to the illnesses arising from the dirty water. Wave after wave of children’s deaths washed over Ta’ Bough.

She recounted the disturbing memories of impotently trying to comfort the inconsolable mothers who had lost all their children one at a time and memories of children who had lost both parents- but were too dehydrated to let tears fall.

When she explained about The Taker and his daughters the entire restaurant fell silent. The wait staff and cooks stepped out of the kitchens to listened in. The business of the restaurant ground to a halt. Spellbound by the reality so different from their own, the customers looked at their discarded, half-eaten meals. In the presence of this story they felt shame but, more than that, a compassion and a determination to do something.  

Everyone had read the news report of the Eldren, but everyone assumed it was the responsibility of the government to handle so great a problem. Suddenly, they each thought of something they could do. Each had a unique skill, job, or amount of influence. All had resources they could spare. Their excess could have a great purpose.

Awareness was birthed; it did move a mountain. This awareness began with one girl who asked a question and gave what she had. She was the tiny pebble that started an avalanche of good works. It was a strong, swift moment that changed the landscape of Ta’ Bough entrenched in suffering. Hope survived and spread.

Pebbles if you hear coins jingling in your pockets click here to change the world. 

The Girl

Quinbi was devastated. It had been days and still there was no help offered. The government appeared to be mired in debate. Endlessly they discussed the ramifications and procedures on how to deal with this issue. Meanwhile, lives were lost on Ta’ Bough. The newspapers had splashed her story on all the front pages, but awareness had moved nothing.

She was sitting on the steps of the government building waiting, waiting, waiting. The population of Babalonia swarmed around her, all happy, comfortable, safe. It was so different from the home she had left.

Her eyes filled with tears at the memories of her family in the happy time. She longed to get back to her island to die in the place where they had. Her failure to generate help for her people threatened to crush her. She couldn’t breathe.

“Are you ok?”

The soft voice made Quinbi jump. Through her tears she could barely see the young Dwarfish girl. “No,” Quinbi whispered. She was able to slowly take some deep breathes.

“What is wrong?” The girl asked with the innocence that is only found in children.

Quinbi looked at the girl, she was possibly 7 or 8. She was dressed in fine clothes and looked happy and well fed. Quinbi had no wish to burden this innocent one with the pain she struggled with, “I miss my home.”

“Is it far?”

And on and on they talked. The little one asking simple questions and Quinbi answering in similar simple fashion. Finally, the girl stood and handed Quinbi all the coins in her purse. There were three. “To help you get home,” she said smiling broadly.

Quinbi hugged the girl, “This will help so many people in my homeland. Thank you.” The weight of failure began to crack as she rolled the three coins in hand. 

The girl ran away happily convinced she had done something wonderful. She told her friends and soon returned with more children. They all handed over the coins in their pockets. Quinbi was overwhelmed by these children’s generosity.

She was collecting quite a horde of small denomination coins. Though Quinbi understood the reality of the massive amount it would take to meet the need, she still felt these children with their coins were making a great impact. As if they were throwing their coins at the Taker, inflicting great damage. Quinbi couldn’t wrap her mind around this illogical notion but decided to rest in this good moment.

The Taker

Quinbi stood before the podium nervous and afraid. The government officials and news reporters waited impatiently for her to begin. She was the first Eldren this generation had seen.

The Eldren had once been of Elvish kind. Many ages ago, a small band of Elven split from the main group. They withdrew in protest of the values of the time, which they felt were corrupting Elvish moral fiber. These changed their name to Eldren, thereby renouncing their identity as Elvish, and relocated to the large island, Ta’ Bough. There they remained until this Eldren, Quinbi, washed up on the shores of Babylonia, terribly malnourished.

“I have come to plead for my kinfolk. We are in great peril.” Quinbi began sounding older and more confident than she actually was, “Our land has suffered a series of disastrous tragedies. The rains, which have been inadequate for years, have now stopped entirely. Crops have failed. These have been terribly lean years, but no worse than we have survived in the past. However, these days are unlike any other we have experienced.

A violence, with its instruments of death and torture, has settled upon our island. Its servants are the insurgents, a group of wild-minded Eldren who lust for power and the freedom to inflict suffering. They are vicious and without mercy.

In the course of their madness they have destroyed or poisoned the wells that have seen us through past lean years. In our land, there is only fighting and blood, no food or clean water. Still we struggle on, being a resilient, strong people. But we desperately need your help.”

She could clearly see those who occupied the seats of power weighing the benefits and costs of wading into a war-torn country teetering on the brink of famine. She felt failure nipping at her heels.

Desperation caused her voice to quiver, “Lack has been in our country for many years. It has slowly been building its strength; always it calls to the Taker. Now, he stalks our country. Hope is still present, though weak and fading. She keeps the Taker at bay.

Unfortunately, his twin daughters Give and Give have been besieging our land. They are a howling evil. The elder daughter consumes the physical strength of her victims, while the younger the mental and emotional health. When they have driven all Hope from the land, it will collapse. Then the Taker will have a legal right to invade.” She shuddered, “He consumes all life. It is a slow and horrible death.”

The room was silent; no one moved. Then the clock struck the hour and her speaking session was over. Everyone moved at once. A Sprite reporter yelled over the noise and confusion, “We will make your story known. Awareness can move mountains.”

A rock dropped in Quinbi’s stomach. She had failed.  

WOM

Four generations ago the WOM took stock of his extraordinary, long life. At that point in time, the affairs of the world were in good order, the wars between men and the battles with darkness were over. There was almost universal peace. So, without any fanfare, the WOM stepped out of the public eye and began retirement.

Deep in the wilderness of Annulus was an abandoned grotto. There he built his dream house, which contained a bulging library, his prize possession. He settled down, applying himself to rereading every volume.

His life was one of contented solitude for a very long time. Until a hungry plague awoke and consumed many lives spanning the planet. The dire need of Truth ignited a faint remembrance that there had once been a WOM, wise old man. They did not recall the valiant deeds in all the wars or his renowned wisdom as he led nations, but they had a vague notion that he could do the impossible.

The WOM was discovered in his comfortable chair lost in a book.

Presented with the problem he was able to analyze the plague and locate a cure. Soon it was repressed and forced to return to sleep. The fame of the WOM spread, as did his reputation for being unconventional and, frankly, slightly strange.

Once the crisis had passed the WOM was happy to remain in his comfortable grotto with his books for company, as well as the occasional visitor. They were always sick or had some kind of complaint and looked to the WOM for help. The WOM considered himself in partial retirement. 

The day Bello, the Giant, arrived that changed.

Bello suffered from a mysterious sickness. As all who come to him are, Bello was warmly received and thoroughly examined. The prescription entailed traveling deep into the wilderness, to the Hidden Valley. His cure would find him among the flowers.

Though greatly frustrated by the ridiculous instructions, he swallowed his annoyance and followed them. Butterfly-like creatures that lived in that valley swarmed him as he entered it. A huge hairy spider, previously unnoticed by Bello, jumped from the folds of his clothes. It tried to escape but the butterflies caught and killed it. Then they landed upon Bello. Painlessly they drew all the poison out of his body.

He returned to the WOM to excitedly recount what had happened. But was interrupted with urgent instructions to return to the valley. He was to transplant some of the flowers to his village. The Fallen, what Bello thought was a spider, is an old evil. They are usually unseen; they slowly fill their victim with poison- and they never travel alone. They are impossible to kill without the Honor, the creatures that look like butterflies.

Bello did as instructed. The Honor followed the flowers and killed the Fallen.

At the sight of the Fallen, the WOM knew he was embarking into a new season- post retirement. It was time to check on the condition of the world. 

New Food

Through all the days of lessons, Wisdom fed Maral always the same simple meal of bread. If Maral was completely honest… the bread was abrasive and strange when she first ate it. Knowing it wasn’t polite to mention it, she remained silent. Also, there was so much more to think about that she really didn’t have time to consider the food at any length.

Over time, she became used to Wisdom’s fare. When she found herself actually enjoying it and looking forward to meals times, she asked Wisdom about the bread.

Wisdom explained, “It is an especially odd bread. Though at times it may be bitter and others sweet, you are to always eat it all. It will become part of your make up.

This bread contains many mysterious, wonderful benefits. It will make you physically stronger and more flexible. It contains properties that can enhance your sight to see things clearly and improve your hearing to penetrate to the heart of issues.

If you consume enough of this bread, it can shape and mold your shoulders to be able to carry large amounts of weight yet;  be soft enough to welcome a long cry. Your hands will become gentle, strong, and able. It can even give you a firm resolve to always help others in need. And by this, your thoughts will be taken off yourself. Your life will become one of rich quality and worthy of great things and mighty deeds.”

Wisdom smiled; as she spoke, Maral had been taking larger bites from the slice of bread she had been given. Wisdom knew this slice contained much bran, which made it a challenge to get through with enjoyment. Wisdom’s heart melted a little more at Maral’s sincere soul. 

She continued with a caution, “Whenever you stop eating this bread, the strengths and abilities gained from it will begin to fade. At times, you will be tempted to combine it with other foods- or even just add a few ingredients from other sources, but it will dilute the power and become ineffective. Beware, there are many imposters but you will now know the difference. You have tasted the authentic bread.

It takes time and effort when you first chew this bread to develop a taste for it. The more you eat, the more your appetite for it will increase.”

Maral smiled and took another huge bite. 

New Skills

Maral loved Wisdom. It was marvelous not to be alone. There was a great comfort in knowing she didn’t have to stumble around trying to figure everything out on her own.

At first, Maral dominated the conversation. She rambled at length about herself, her successes, her failures, her fears, her hopes, and her concerns. Wisdom patiently listened to it all, knowing that with all seekers, it’s hard to begin learning to utilize the necessary skills of waiting and listening.

It took a few days for Maral to notice she hadn’t given Wisdom an opportunity to speak. Maral found silence difficult in the presence of Wisdom. Though she would try to wait on Wisdom, she would find herself again breaking the stillness. When she spoke hesitantly and looked sheepishly at her, Wisdom knew she was on the brink of understanding. Wisdom remained silent, allowing Maral to stretch her new-found skills.

Wisdom applied her best efforts toward not looking amused as she watched Maral squirm, working hard to develop the ability to wait. Each day she was able to stretch farther until her ability to wait had matured to the desired length.

At that point, Maral had achieved the ability to listen and understand that which Wisdom had to share. Wisdom began by revealing smalls truths, and with this, Maral’s worldview began to expand. Missing links in understanding were being filled in; while other firm facts she had believed all her life were exploding before her.

Wisdom was pleased to see Maral was like a sponge soaking up all the information given to her. When confused, Maral would ask thoughtful questions until she grasped the concept. She quickly advanced in her basic understanding of the ways of Wisdom. When she reached a concept that was contradictory to the way she was raised, she would take an appropriate about of time to process it. This allowed her to come to a true understanding rather than either quickly dismissing the notion or blindly accepting it.

She didn’t have mastery over all the topics but enough to move on.

Wisdom moved on to deeper topics. She instructed Maral in the ways of the strange fire. This was a topic Maral greedily listened to. When the day’s lessons would come to an end, Maral would badger Wisdom to reveal more. Wisdom knew this information needed time to digest and would refuse further instruction that day.

This was a wonderful season of growing and learning. The days were sunny and the troubles were few.

Unmarked Seeds Part Two

Ida examined the small packet. She felt she should follow the elder’s advice but she didn’t. The elders were of the wisest in the village but were at times considered by some as being narrow minded and overly cautious. After all, the history books had been terribly vague; perhaps these seeds held something wonderful.

Holding the packet felt exciting and wild. Her mind wondered over the course of her life; thus far it had been predictable and rather dull. These seeds held the promise of mystery and adventure.

They began to emanate a tantalizing smell; impulsively, she planted just one seed from the packet. Once done fear started screaming in her ear. This was forbidden, she could be found out. She ran to the lip of the Yar and threw it in, but as she held out the packet she couldn’t force herself to let go- and she didn’t.

In the days that followed, she would struggle with, and eventually cave, to the temptation to plant another seed. Always either fear of being discovered or guilt from disobedience, would force her to the Yar to get rid of that which was forbidden. Each time, however, she waited a little longer before disposing it. Slowly, the guilt was being silenced.

At this point, she thought she hadn’t done any harm; however, unbeknownst to her, the pollen from each sprouted plant had a seed-like quality. This substance spread into the neighboring woods. There an entire forest of forbidden plants was thriving, completely undetected.

When she only had a few seeds left, she determined that these would not be thrown away. They swiftly grew enormous.

As the time drew near for the plants to bloom, she wanted to bring someone else into her secret. Though completely resolved in her course, she was a little afraid of the unknown. After all this time, she was still a little afraid. After careful consideration, she chose her oldest friend, Amelia.

When Amelia entered Ida’s house and saw the huge, strange plants her first impulse was to run knowing this was wrong. But, the pleas of Ida to stay… and her own secret desire to discover why these plants were forbidden, kept her there.

The large buds began to open. The first thing that Ida’s mind processed was that the delightful smell she had enjoyed for so long, had turned rancid. Dread filled her. She tried to uproot the plants- but it was too late.

The blooms exploded releasing large, iron brambles, tightly packed thorny vines. They were alive and breathed.

Terrified, Amelia ran screaming from the house, the brambles pursued her into the open of the village. Shrieks from all the neighbors could be heard as they encountered the horrible objects.

Shocked, Ida looked at the destruction and chaos she had introduced to her village. Now, she saw how ignorant and foolish it had been to think what she was doing would not affect anyone else. The guilt and shame of knowing that she  had welcomed this madness, nurtured, and then released it, began to suffocate her. She wept.

Unmarked Seeds Part One

The peace of the small Sprite village, High Top, began to deteriorate the day the Grimlak arrived. Grimlakin, also known as children of Chaos, are sly, dark little creatures. Hard to spot, but easy to see by their aftermath of mayhem and destruction.

This Grimlak tailored its mischief especially to the Sprite’s love for all things that grow- it left packets of unmarked seeds.

The villagers who discovered these packets considered it extremely odd that they weren’t labeled- and that they came from who-knows-where. Though they wanted to plant them, they instead were brought the packets to the elders.

The elders, known for their cautious restraint, consulted the history books at length. They held tightly to the belief that all mysteries could be solved by referring to the past. In this case they were proven correct for among the dusty volumes was discovered a heavily faded chronicle describing a similar circumstance with mysterious seeds. Planting them was expressly forbidden, but the reason for this had been blotted out by moisture and time.

Guided by this information, the packets of seeds were thrown into the Yar, a massive chasm located south of town.

Daily, packets were discovered; daily, they were disposed of. The offended Grimlak decided to move on- after one last attempt. He targeted Ida with the last packet.

The Grimlak noticed this young Sprite appeared to have many acquaintances, but no close friends. She had no love interest, no hobbies, did nothing extraordinary. Ida was ordinary.

When she noticed the packet of seeds; she quickly picked them up and hid them. His success thus secured, the Grimlak left High Top.

To be continued…

Wisdom Found

Maral knew it was her. Wisdom was standing on the rise of a hill looking out on the horizon. Wisdom did not look extraordinarily beautiful as Maral had imagined but neither did she look common place. She was ageless, not old but certainly not young. There was a completeness about her that both drew and repelled Maral, who felt flawed and broken by comparison.

When Wisdom turned and looked at her, Maral felt her destiny change.

Wisdom had been standing on the hill thinking about this generation with a heavy heart. It had been such a long, long time since there had been a seeker. As she had always done and would always do, she walked her path and did her work, but there was a resistance from this generation that made her weary.

Turning, she noticed the young Gnomish girl watching her from the bottom of the hill. It was unmistakable- the girl could see her. The girl’s appearance communicated that she was a wondering wayfarer. In fact, she was a mess, covered in the dirt from the road. Her forehead glistened with sweat. Her hair was disheveled; her cloths stained and torn. Her left ankle was wrapped in dirty bandages.

Weariness began to slip off Wisdom’s shoulders and tears filled her eyes as she watched this girl draw near. With each step the girl took, Wisdom could see her more clearly. She had experienced many troubles. She had been touched by Grace and Mercy. She had been in the presents of the strange fire. Lastly, Wisdom studied her eyes. This girl had fire inside her.

Wisdom knew this girl had the potential to change the world.

Maral stood before Wisdom uncertain and nervous. All she had thought about for so many miles was finding Wisdom, now that she had she didn’t know what to do. Wisdom smiled, transforming her countenance from one of sober study to friendly welcome.

Maral felt herself relax, “I was told to find you; I’m Maral..”.

“I am very glad to meet you. There is much to do. Come,” Wisdom led Maral along the path, thus began a new phase in Maral’s adventure.