The Chianvakst Nation

Lucium,

I am glad that you have not veiled your condescension, it is quite revealing to witness it in full bloom. The heyday of your reasoning thus far has been to marginalize my belief system as a fancy at one point and now as a chimera, without giving any explanation as to why exactly. You should know that this is a typical stunt of the Auren elders, and frankly I expected more from you. It is clear to me you are not interested in a reasonable discussion and I am quite weary now of explaining myself further, so I will move on to other matters. Let us consider this argument closed.

As representative of this continent on my council, I consider it my responsibility to inform you of some news. Take it as you will. As you were away, the Arbora and the whole continent of Altia for that matter has fallen under grave danger. I fear that the Arbora can no longer rely upon the goodwill of its neighbors to maintain its fragil stability, as it appears that the Kyrzeri's are engaged in secret discussions with the rapidly growing and hostile Chianvakst Nation. Ever since the Arboran government imposed the prohibitive salt, seafood, and seatree pulp tariffs a year ago, the economic tension has spilled over into political rivalry. The reports that I have recieved from some of my contacts inside the Kyrzerian council seem to suggest that they are planning to abandon strategic and economic ties with the Arbora, leaving it exposed on a number of fronts.

I have spent a considerable amount of time within the Chianvakst Nation, both before and after the revolution. This recent revolution has produced a political system which is very different than what we are used to, namely an elaborate network of patronage and tradition. They ephatically consider themselves a post-traditional, post religious society, almost dogmatically so. It would be admirable if it wasn't so seductive, intolerant, and dangerous. Dangerous in the sense that their entire ideology has been fabricated and is being imposed upon its people, smothering their once vibrant culture and traditions. I hope you know that the Forming rejects dogmatism of all sorts, both religious and secular. In this matter we stand with the Arbora, a society which despite its flaws, is intrinsically tied to the land and its people.

I wish you well Lucium

Lam

Lam,

I have returned home and united our grandfather's grave with the fruits of my quest.

As children under our grandfather's guidance, I had always assumed you the wiser and more able one to grasp his teachings of the Way, the will of the gods and the traditions of our ancestors. You always had much to say and an insightful opinion about every mote of knowledge delivered to us. I know that you were the more intelligent and eloquent between us, but that same intellect which served you well as a student now binds you to the chimera of your own ideas.

I have not left the Auren, for I just as well as leave my tribe or the blood that runs in my veins.

I have veiled nothing, least of all condescension.

Lucium

Fear

Davood,

 

I should be returning to the Arbora before the third sunset following this letter.

 

There is little that I can do to stop death when it comes for us.  Do not be afraid of it, for it is the final and absolute consecration of a life.  I do not know what it is to have children nor wives, but I imagine it is difficult to escape this fear for them.  You must choose, before the final hour, as all must; are you an Auren? Father? Husband? or are you a follower of the Way, subject to its turns and endings?  When this time comes, and I hope that it will come soon for you, may you choose that which will set your feet aright and guide our people back to the solace and liberty of that which was given to them as a bounty and privelidge from the gods and the Life Tree.   Remember the words of my grandfather whose life reflected eloquently the pulse and breath of an unfettered voyager, spanning the limitless course created by feet tread unswerving, toward that guiding light which captures every wanderer, "Rely not upon the fruits of others, rather bear forth your own and do not taste of your own fruit, rather savor the fruit of others, for their's will be that much sweeter."

 

I have just received word from Lam.  He has attached his heart fully on that deluded creed by which he constructed in defiance of the ancestors and the gods.  I am praying for the wisdom and insight to see him through this but perhaps he must step through this delirium on his own.

 

Lucium

Familty Ties, Pt. 3

Lucium,

It is good that we understand each other. I am relieved that you have acknowledged the dogmas of the Auren order, which is maybe why you have chosen to leave it in pursuance of a personal salvation. I am sure you have communicated with Davood, who despite his courage and conviction is struggling to revive the Tree of Life. Could you not delay your own absorption into The Way long enough to save your people from accelerated entropy and war? Recall the stories of His Holiness Rabina the Krishana. As you are aware, the tradition states that although he was seated upon the throne of immortality, he chose to manifest himself in human form and suffer the indignities of the flesh on behalf of a stricken humanity. Are you willing to don the wayfarers wonderment once again and recommit to the task of collective salvation?

I suppose that your veiled condescension is only a natural reaction to my equally confrontational stance, which I apologize for.

I remember the old days very well, a memory born where the the land ends and the sea begins. It was such a beautiful interplay of celestial rhythms that defined our upbringing. But where you gleaned the lessons of our forefathers, namely conflict and submission, sacrifice and death, I chose to let the rhythms of the world define themselves. I gave myself the freedom to also define, and redefine my reality, according to the limits of my nature which by nature cannot be defined. I feel that I must correct some of the assumptions that are driving your judgements of me.

I too have lived a hard life. While you have hastened forth with sure footing, I have had to redefine the very foundation from which I was born into. It is expected of the Auren to rely on such unquestioned assurances as everlasting life. Is this not an easy crutch to rely upon? Tell me, who embodies a greater luxury? Imagine opening your eyes to a world with no assurances, only the reality of this eternal moment. I do not deny the existence of greater spiritual realities, I am just willing to seize every opportunity along the way. While you see beauty in the process of struggle and detachment, I see it in the spirit of joy and engagement. I am not of the elect my friend. The elect are those everywhere who recognize the game early and without question, and pursue the sycophantic paths to advancement with the frantic vigor of the army ant. Army ants who declare absurd wars over treasure in the name of belief, leaving us in the precarious position we are today.

I left the Auren as an outcast and for 10 years eeked out a life as a lowly and ridiculed vagabond wherever I went. The only thing I could rely upon was continual derision and banishment to the most desolate of places, with only the beasts of the field to keep my company. In every tribe, every civilization that I happened upon, the only goal in life for most people was to escape into a horizon more pure than what surrounded them, and to contest others who's fossils of belief and symbolism differed from their own.

Yet in every place I visited, there were those who could see through the veil of their forefathers. Those who yearned for life and reason just as ardently as I did. After some time I returned to these places and chose a small group to join me in my journey. Eventually the council of 7 was elected, representing all 7 continents within the 3 spheres of influence, and The Forming was born. Yes we have carved out a privileged life for ourselves, but we have earned it. With greater diversity and modernity comes a resilience and synergy not heard of since the Savolian tribesmen took over the Heidin empire. This "luxury" is available to anybody who chooses to reconsider the clogging artery of their perception.

On your final point that we of The Forming speak much and do nothing, it is true that ever since we colonized the Habolin valley, we have avoided the bitter politics that have brought upon this imminent war. Most of our engagement has been limited to recruitment and various mercantile pursuits. Our goal has been to form within ourselves a community that embraces all progressive and open minded currents. We understand that the current orders cannot be reformed; the only thing we can do is to build and strengthen the template for a new global civilization which will gradually take precedence as the entropic process of history reaches it's culmination.

In whatever course of action that you decide upon, I am certain you will make the honorable choice according to the true wishes of our late grandfather, who in his own way has determined the destiny of us both.

Lam

Family Ties, Pt. 2

Lam,

I am deeply moved by your concern for our cousin. You're efforts toward his well-being come as no surprise to me. Though you both are seen rarely among the Auren, for me, your affection has never been in doubt.

I would counsel you to take care with our cousin. His path is not your path. Yet, in truth the goal is the same. My prayer is that by walking different paths, you may together aid each the other more than were you walking together, as the fish, the birds, the flowers and fruit each give sustenance to the Arbora.

I am glad that you have such faith in my ability to lead. I do not. The question of who should lead is still undecided. Although many among out tribe feel that I would be the most qualified, there are others, myself included, who would consider Lucium to be the one our grandfather preferred. However, this may not be. I have yet to discuss the matter with him. I am sure that of all people, he would have been trusted with our grandfather's last instructions for us; just as he was told to undertake his current quest. When he returns, he will no doubt guide us to the right path.

He will however need help. Since the passing of our grandfather, many leaders of the Auren have sought to take for themselves some portion of his power. Some outsiders have even tried to be named Patriarch of the Tribe. Master Airst and a few other allies have secured for me this temporary position, while we try to discern the successor. None know that we are awaiting Lucium's return.

As you no doubt realize this information is dangerous to communicate. I have sent this letter by a messenger I trust. I await your reply from the same spirit. Please destroy this letter after that.

Likewise, keep your love of Lucium, myself and the Auren secret. We may soon find ourselves and our allies beset with corruption on all sides. I cannot speak of it for certain, but Lucium will need all the allies he can get.

your cousin,
Davood

 

Lucium,

How I envy you your pilgrimage to the sacred isle. In my youth I dreamed of setting my feet upon the land and meditating upon its eerie stillness. I had fantasized about bringing back motes of sacred dust to honor the trees which shelter and care for us. But ultimately I am a child of the trees, bound to them and my family as I am bound to my own limbs.

I pray you quest has met fruition. Since your absence the Tree of Life, has given no water. Her vessels have run dry. At first I feared her soul was withering. She would not respond to my prayers, except to ask of you. Large growths soon appeared across her branches. These have varied in color and have begun to bloom as flowers. I do not know what to think. Such a thing has never happened before. All the while her spirit weakens. If you do not return soon, I fear we will all die.

In that vein, your family also needs you. Airst has succeeded in convincing the Counsel of Auren to accept me as a temporary. I pray that soon we can name our grandfather's heir.

your cousin,
Davood

Familty Ties, Pt. 1

Davood,

I thank you for your kind words. Within your unshakable faith, you have always had the touch of a true diplomat, and have avoided the veiled condescension intrinsic within the others. I am sure that you will be successful navigating the rigors of the Auren, and will manifest yourself as true leader in the midst of this impending war.

I mourned our grandfather with my own silent procession. He is well known and respected among The Forming, I have made sure of that. Our counsel oft summons his aura of intention. He was probably the one remaining soul who recognized a varied hierarchy of truth even as he escaped into the narrow drab horizon. He was a conflicted soul, incomprehensible and unpredictable as the Daneod brushfires.

As I am sure that you know Lucien has embarked upon Isle of the Durlakai at the request of our late grandfather. I knew something like this would come about, even if I didn't wish it. He always carried mantle of the warrior poet, an ominous and ill fated quality within the progression of The Way. As we speak, he is consecrating his own destruction, drowning out the song that gave him form out of nothingness.

As the newly appointed patriarch of Abora, I would ask that you appeal that he reconsider his suicide. I am aware of his desire to transcend this realm of injustice, an event that the Durlakai are ever so eager to facilitate (a bit suspiciously). But these methods are surely self defeating. How can the cherry be savored if the blossom is plucked off of the branch, left to wither in a pile of its own decomposition?

I will be summoning our cousin myself very soon. I feel that my words were too harsh in our correspondence before, and I would declare myself a fool if I let our mixed journey end with such sour honey on my tongue. In the meantime, I hope that you consider my request.

Your cousin and friend,

Lam

ahhhh

I just wrote this huge post and it got deleted before I could post!!!! so frustrating!!!

Lucium T'Auren

Davood,
I thank you for your assitance with our correspondence, may the Way guide you.

Lam,

You may have heard that I have set forth to fulfill my grandfathers last wishes, to be entombed with an emblem of the land, and that I have left for the isle of the Durlakai. When I first looked upon the island, it seemed to me that the ocean despised it and sought to destroy it by stiking its waves against the rocks and the land resisted, breaking every assault with stoic resolve. Upon searching the land, I found, in places where the soft sands of its beaches received the ocean's admonishments a harmonious dance of procession and recession. The land and sea carressing one another, as a warrior might train in slow, beautiful forms, so will he unleash this training, striking his enemies and receiving their blows. It is just as life besets us with conflict and submission, debate and consumation. The gods churn in their desires and we circumambulate the sacred.

I was forced to kill many men who would steal from the gods and guard their loot by the emblems of greed and guilt and as the sea broke against the land, so to did these break against my spear. Even as I meted out justice to these men in the neccesity of self-defense, the perview of her truth remained remote from my eyes. Just as the same merciful wind now which fills my sail and whispers to me about the cruelty of these lives taken, the injustice of death that a man may be cut down failing to find his path to the Way in this life, this same wind, would also deliver the storm by which I am destroyed.

Now my parched lips sip the last of my water, three days out to sea in my return. I fear that my end will come now and afford me no greater attainment. This fear, I know to be a fantasm of mortal sight, for the greatest attainment happened long ago and no achievement compares to the shedding of the wayfarer's wanderment, to set his steps aright and walk firm in the light of the Way.

I have meditated long on what your last correspondence. I understand your rejection of the dogmas that have captivated the Auren and the Shogunate, but let not the designs of the weak at heart deflect you from going forth. It is a luxury of thoughtful men, such as yourself, to order the world into beautiful symmetries and processes. But the mountain you preside over is a rock in your heart; a fantasy of the elect amongst our people. You have a sharp mind and an easy life, take care not to be swept up by the sophistication of those who speak much but do little. It is natural to find solace in the uniqueness of a new design, which sets you apart from the injustices born out of a tradition twisted by hunger for power, so to is it tempting to be snagged by the content fancies of them who must distact themselves from their tarrying lives, as they tread water and swim nowhere.

Come my cousin, swim with me in the path of blood and thirst, taste of the sweet waters of sacrifice and death.

Lucium