Chapter 188: A Soul-Warming Gift
The Knowledge of Premiesta was graceful and wizened, although not to the stage of decrepit age. He bore himself much like Redell, a stately oak, strong against the weathers of time. Two long horns arced from his temples, and their small branches and glowing leaves seemed to rustle in astral winds. His skin was dark, earthy tones of life and nature, and his hair hung in long braided tendrils from which a small dark purple flower sprouted, every so often. By his wrists and neck, where the skin was thin, Nara could see the texture of veins, almost like leaves, patterned just beneath the surface in faintly glowing weaves.
“Dryad?” Nara asked, perhaps a bit insensitively, but she could not help her curiosity.
“Something like that,” Knowledge said, a little wry. “It is not their name on this world, but the mystique of your world’s fabrication is not dissimilar to the nature of these beings.”
“I thought gods were supposed to look like the local population?”
“If we choose to. There is not many of the local population that would care for my presence, so I chose something that you wood appreciate.”
Nara couldn’t help the twitch of her lips. Had that been intentional? “So, the Harmony couldn’t get rid of you all completely. Here you are, lurking below the surface, alligators in the deep.”
“To be compared to an alligator is misrepresentative of our nature,” Knowledge said with a chuckle, knowing her misrepresentation was entirely intentional and unserious. “Lurking, perhaps, is not. We gods are a facet of nature, a manifestation of magic in the right conditions. You cannot be rid of gods, if you cannot be rid of their corresponding nature, or the magic which permits them.”
She was in for it, a lecture on the nature of gods. Aliyah was missing out. “What do you mean?”
“Suppose there is a planet with no atmosphere, no wind, but with an adequate level of magic. There would be no god of wind, for there is no wind. There would, however, still be a god of the earth if the planet is terrestrial, and not gaseous.” He spread his hands. “The gods are not inherently manifestations of sentience, although some of our natures reflect higher level concepts of sentience.”
“Like Knowledge, or Liberty.”
“It is so.”
“So, if you still exist,” Nara said, staring curiously at the god, “why is it you never appear? Surely, with appearance, enough would ‘see and believe’, so to speak? I know I’ve once said I’d ‘see and believe’, although I guess I don’t believe in that way exactly either. I’ve seen gods and I still don’t worship.”
“Territory, as you may well know, Nara, is not as casual as it appears. You know yourself of inviolable domains,” Knowledge said, pre-empting his next explanation.
“The soul.”
“Although Harmony may be a false god, the ability to claim domains had never been a sole power of the gods,” Knowledge explained. “Although in ways souls are not equal, such as their capability to exert their influence over reality, the inviolability of a soul has always been sacrosanct, so long as the Will to maintain it in inexhaustible. As you would say—not entirely equal.”
“So, we all have the right to an inviolable soul. But not everyone has the tools and will to maintain it?”
“As you say. A soul without the capabilities to attack their attacker finds themselves at a disadvantage. Will is eroded, and the attacker prevails.
“The Harmony is a collection of many wills, and many souls. They have claimed dominion over Premiesta, and their territory is as inviolable as their Will is strong. We could attack if we so chose—we are not without our weapons, but there would be little point to appeal to a people unreachable.”
“And it doesn’t bother you? Don’t you want to be worshipped again?”
Knowledge laughed, and Nara could feel a mixture of complex emotions. Not longing, not really, Knowledge was a god, and didn’t long to be worshipped. But in both worlds, Knowledge was a pragmatic god, even if Nara felt this Knowledge had more of an aspect of wisdom of the elders, the teaching passed along through generations, distilled to their inheritors. Stories and storied; woven in their fable-like history.
“I am Knowledge. Whether or not I participate in the cultivation of knowledge is secondary. My authority exists as long as the preservation and pursuit of knowledge exist. I am content to watch, if that is what is to be the fate of this world. However, the road of time is unending, and civilization is compelled to wonder. Could The Advent outlast the concept of Knowledge, and the lifespan of this world? May time bear witness.
“Civilizations rise and fall. Once, in Erras, there was Manistrengja. The Kingdom of Moon set beyond the horizon, and in its place, the Kingdom of Snow and Frost rose, sun glittering over pure snow. The Advent has lasted many millennia, and may last many millennia more, but greater threats than they lurk within the cosmos, and no shore is safe from the tides.”
No shore was safe from the tides. Nara thought of Earth.
“Gods change with the tides,” Knowledge continued. “Should all rivers dry, leaving only the expanses of sea and desert, the god of rivers would change, perhaps joining the god of seas. The primordial gods are not one to care for the preservation of their nature, as their existence reflects nature itself. Unlike life, there is no force of self-preservation. Their priests, therefore, are more important to their will and vessels of their power.
“Gods of concepts close to humanity find their nature closer to humanity,” Knowledge continued. “Dominion adores politicking as it is his nature, and is a master knowing how to establish rule, and how to rule effectively. It matters not what form of rule that rule takes. He exists, as does kings and councils, leaders amongst followers, and democracy and tyranny.”
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“Not that I don’t appreciate this discussion on the nature of divinity—I do, be the way, that wasn’t sarcastic—how is it you’re saying so much to me? Knowledge of Erras was rather tight-lipped,” Nara questioned.
Knowledge smiled, relaxed. “As I exist my authority exists. I have had nothing to use it on. The Advent is quite dutiful in their pursuit of Knowledge, even without my guiding hand.”
“So, you’re spending your budget on me.”
He chuckled. “An inelegant way of saying so, but not inaccurate. It is not without purpose. I am proof.” His statement was important in a way Nara did not understand yet.
“Proof of what?”
“Proof of The Advent: their accomplishments and their control, their ideals and their rejections. Your Knowledge, knew, of course, only what those of the Advent knew of the Harmony. Not many have seen The Harmony itself, and fewer understand the lack of gods. Knowledge may hypothesize, but it is not something she knows, and therefore not something she can share. Fewer here have seen us gods at all, or have the capabilities to call one to tea,” Knowledge said, amused, as he raised a gently steaming cup of crystal leaf tea to sip on it. Who knew if gods ate, but Nara could hardly be his critic. She didn’t need to eat either.
“So…when I go back, this will all become something she knows.”
“This meeting is definitive, Nara. Soul Communion is without deceit. This is pure knowledge, with no disinformation, and no illusion.”
“You think then,” Nara hedged, “…that this technique is something I should not share with them?”
Knowledge gazed warmly, perhaps enjoying his tea more than he should. He hadn’t had company for a long while, besides other gods, but there were only so many of them. “Promises kept aside, of the short-term, a pact of non-interference to your world and Erras could save both of them. The question of whether that is worth the price of what you give to them forevermore? Two worlds spared, left to accept the consequences of their own choices, for good or for worse, but how many more with no option but to resist, submit, or perish?”
“I’ve never been one for the greater good.”
“Perhaps. But you also believe in the right to autonomy, of yourself, and of worlds. What is your right to make the choice, not for Erras, who will make their choice, but for your own world? In this instance, it is prudent to consider the ‘greater good’.”
“Shit.” Nara pressed fingers to the pressure points near her eyes. Knowledge was being kind about it, but he had more or less admonished her for being thoughtless. If she was dealing with actions with wide-spanning consequences like this, she should care.
Knowledge’s mouth quirked in a wry smile. “Dominion would say it is your right to choose. You are in this position, by merit of your own choices and abilities, and your own capabilities of thought and invention. As the one in this position of power, it is your right to choose. You only have to bear the consequences of that choice. However, as Knowledge, there are moments where you are the only one capable of making the choice. Sometimes, the power may be in your hands, and no one else’s.”
Nara looked up at him, cocking a smile. “Are you sure you aren’t Wisdom?”
“Wisdom is one sort of knowledge,” he said sagely, with a wry smile. “Consider, that the time to make era-changing choices is when you have the power to bear era-changing consequences.”
“The power to follow through,” she said thoughtfully. “You’re saying I should put it off until I’m higher rank.”
“Waiting is a choice in and of itself, with its own benefits. Erras waits to build their forces against the Advent. There is a cost to waiting, but what is gained may be more than what is lost. You can never know what decision the right decision was, but you can be sure that this decision is beyond your rank. It may not always be possible, but today Erras can step forwards as you step back.”
She narrowed her eyes. “This all sounds suspiciously like I may need to step forward for Earth.”
Knowledge shrugged, but his eyes were keen. “I do not know what the future holds, nor what is the right answer for your world. You know very little of your world; I cannot give you better ‘wisdom’, as you would say.”
Well, yes, she was definitely ignorant of Earth. “So you can only guess.”
He spread his hands. “As you say.”
In his hand, an orb manifested, swirling with transcendent light.
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Item: [Information Command: Expression] (transcendent rank, legendary)
Classification: Consumable, magic core
Description: The authority to control the expression of information.
Effect: Gain control over the expression of your information, as well as the expression of information in your perception.
Uses remaining: 1/1
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“What is this?”
“A soul-warming gift.”
“What are you getting out of this?” Nara asked, full of suspicion. Really, this meeting had been going swell, but gods always seemed to have some sort of agenda…although that may inherently be part of their nature.
“Suppose you were a god,” Knowledge began with a smile of grandfatherly humor, “on a world were knowledge prospers yet oversight is unwanted. You have authority—currency, to alter reality—and nothing to use it on. Along comes a neighborly outworlder, who has invited you for tea and snacks and friendly discussion.” Knowledge gestured towards the door, “If you opened your doors once more, you may find other gods bearing gifts.”
“Oh, gods. Plural? Tried that once, never again.”
Nara took that as her cue to leave.
*****
Once she had metaphorically ushered Knowledge out the door of her soul, Nara was besieged with a sudden, soul-deep exhaustion. While soul communion operated on the basis of equality, being on an equal level with a god, sitting around a table discussing divine happenings, was presumptuous of a mortal of her power. Souls may have access to the same basic, equal rights, but there was always a difference in will and authority. That she had lasted this long against the singular divine attention of a god, undiluted of his absence of all priests, and on a direct line unfiltered to her soul was testament to the brutal workout she had already given her soul.
She managed the faint concentration needed to sequester her lute before her vision faded to black.
At least she was already on the bed.
*****
The pink-gold light of Premiesta’s morning sun kissed her eyelids, gently pulling her from a weary and deep slumber. On the edges of the windowpanes were an etched diffraction, scattering rainbow light that dappled the room in fantastic hues reminiscent of the light of Harmony. Harmony lived in all of Premiesta, and in their worlds beyond this, a god living and breathing together with its people.
A god of the people, for the people, and made with the people.
Nara sat still, meditative, allowing her appreciate her existence as it was: The scenery and architecture of a world far beyond her, crossing entire dimensions; their varied trees with their feather-petaled flowers and soft aromas; the healthy bustle of a waking city, students chattering with their friends, guardians and normal students alike, adults relaxedly enjoying a quality brew, and browsing the news at crystal-cast stations; public and private transportation moved, blood through the arteries of a city, yet the air tasted pure and free of contamination.
This could be for Earth, for all its faults and benefits. The question was, did the benefits outweigh the faults? What was morality in the face of prosperity? And what was ethical against the decisions of the government?
Her life was miraculous, Nara decided. For all its trials and adversity, she had her companions and triumphs. She had already seen what she could scarcely comprehend seeing a few years past. A life of wonder, danger, of different cultures, of friends and enemies.
She bade Premiesta goodbye, thanked Conchordia for its welcome.
And she left.