Novels2Search

Ravens

It wasn't too hard for Johan to find the small chapel dedicated to Knuth. After asking a few people on the way, he managed to find it easily.

It was the size of a large house. There wasn't a steeple, but rather, it seemed more constructed to be durable, as opposed to looking really nice like the churches that Johan was used to seeing from Ambevelance.

The grey stone brick stuck out against the browns and occasional splashes of color that the other buildings had. A wooden double door reinforced by some sort of grey metal, likely iron, maybe steel, Johan guessed, stood open to the outside. He could see a slot where one would put something like a board or a rod to reinforce the door even further on the interior side of it.

As he walked into this vault like structure, he saw a wall that wrapped around the door, he could also see a outline of a door that seemed to only be able to open from the inside, to the right of his current position was a small gap in the wooden veneer of the wall. It seemed almost like a sight he had seen in movies showing people visiting prisons. It had a design such that one couldn't get through it without talking to someone through the small window.

Johan approached the window, finding an older man with grey hair sitting behind it, reading a book. Johan waited for a small period of time, then the man set aside his book, making sure he had slid a piece of paper in to act as a marker for his page.

"Hello, young man. What have you come to this repository of knowledge for?" The man asked.

"I've come to seek knowledge on a specific subject. I have come here to learn about objects and creatures that symbolize the pursuit of knowledge." Johan responded.

"I see." The older man responded with a small on his face from Johans answer. "You wish to learn about the pursuit of knowledge? If you would satisfy my curiosity, could I ask why?"

"Well... I'm a mage, and I am preparing to make my first Construct. I wish to symbolize my lust for knowledge and understanding. I discussed it with a fellow mage, and they suggested I come here, to the temple of Knuth, to research it. I am quite frankly not too knowledgeable about the gods however, so I was going to look into some stuff regarding that, while focusing my search on Knuth to learn more about what symbols are associated with him, and specifically what is associated with the pursuit of knowledge regarding him." Johan explained.

"Ah, well, if you wouldn't mind, how about we have a discussion? I am a priest, and as you are seeking knowledge I, as a follower of Knuth, would be glad to assist you. I promise you, I will not distort any facts, and I will try not to show any biases towards any knowledge I give you. Knuth is a god of Knowledge and Truth after all. Even if the truth is horrendously ugly, he will still keep it."

"That will be fine with me. I find it easier to have someone teach me anyways, usually when it comes to magic the authors like to do a lot of exposition, I'd be almost certain that many books about theology are similar."

The older man laughed at that a bit. "Yes, you are quite right, and those that don't do that are always really dry. One really can't win on that front. Alright, wait just a moment, I will open the door." The older man stood up, and left the small space that Johan saw through the opening. A moment later, there was a click, and the handleless door opened smoothly without so much as a creaking sound.

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"Alright, come along." The man held the door open, and Johan followed him into the interior. Once inside, Johan found that the interior was massive, it was also filled with shelves of books. It went far beyond what was previously seen from the outside. Johan was certain it was spatial magic, and quite strong spatial magic at that.

"Whoa."

"Impressive, yes?" The man chuckled a bit. "Don't worry, I was the same when I first saw it. Alright, let's sit here." He sat at a small table with only 2 chairs, gesturing for Johan to do the same.

"Alright. But really. How much magic would be needed to do all this?" Johan asked while still looking at the vast library that surrounded them.

"Haha, well, that's to be expected. This place was... I'll say enchanted, by Knuth himself. All his churches receive this treatment, even the smallest of them."

"That's amazing. I wonder if it's possible to get that strong one day myself..."

"Oh, that's right. You saying that leads me in to our first topic. You say you know very little of the gods. Do you know of the 3 factions?"

"No, I don't."

"Alright then, let me explain it to you. The 3 factions of the gods. It's not divided by who wants what, but rather where they come from. There are the Natural Gods, those born as gods. That is where most of those who rule over the elementals are from. Then there are the Infernal Gods, those from the demonic realms who have risen to godhood over time. Lastly, there are the Mortal Gods, those who were born into the mortal plane, and in some way grew into godhood. This is the category Knuth resides in as well."

"Knuth was human?"

"At some time, though no one knows whether Knuth was human or if he had belonged to one of the various other races. He is believed to be the first Mortal God. We do know for a fact that Knuth is the first person to ever be able to use magic. He had to of been born before the first age of chaos where multiple realms started to merge with this one. That is the time that the various mortal races came into contact with each other for the first time, after all. But, I'm getting a bit off track here, You want to know about Knuth specifically, right? I'll start there then. Knuth was the first mage, which is why he represents knowledge and understanding. He was said to have a black bird as a familiar, in this day and age, that bird is believed to be a raven, thus being a symbol representing the pursuit of knowledge, but some believe it may have been a monster of some sort. Back then it was much easier for mages to get a familiar as they had no need to summon them, various realms coming together does that. Sorry, sorry, I'm going off again. It is believed that Knuth is entirely neutral amongst the gods, though it has been demonstrated in the past that he actively dislikes when people choose to remain ignorant." The old man paused for a while.

"Is that all?" Johan decided to ask

"Well, for the most part. Knuth is an odd god, there is less known about him, than any of the rest of the gods. Which is interesting to me, given that he isn't one of the natural gods, but he was once mortal."

"Perhaps records were lost of him. It is believed that he lived before the first age of chaos right? I know that knowledge is usually lost when people are put between survival or death. it's also quickly lost between generations if trouble lasts long enough."

"You are right, and that is also exactly what many others say too. I hope that one day you will speak to him, perhaps then he will answer some of our questions."

"Huh? What do you mean by that?"

"When you get to the level of an Archmagi, you will be spoken to by Knuth. No one knows what he speaks about with those who manage to get there, they never tell anyone, they just tell others that it had happened."

"Ah, It'll be a while then. I haven't even gotten my first Construct done yet. I think a raven will work for what I want to use though. After all, it's always fun to learn new stuff."

The old man smiled kindly. "You would make for a great priest of Knuth."

"I might, but first, I need to get done with what I am doing now. After all, knowledge is only useful if one stays alive long enough to use it. Alright, I should probably get going now. I need to get my Construct made. Getting close to overflow."

"Alright. Remember, feel free to seek knowledge where ever you go." The old man said.

"I'll keep that in mind." Johan said before walking through the doors. It was now a bit into noon. Hopefully it wouldn't take too long for the rest.