Kevin's Watch

-Now… it’s… so… Beautiful, My Monster
-My!
-I never was
-I didn't hold you

-Now you're sleeping
-You're!
-You killed me
-I didn't feed you

-Now you’re waking
-Again!
-But I never killed
-I didn’t succour you

-So…Beautiful, my Monster
-Enough!
-You denied me
-And now you taunt me

-Now you’re sleeping
-(sleeping)
-I never existed
-Your power surrounds me

-Now you’re sleeping
-
-
-Untouchable

-Now you’re sleeping
-
-
-My existence, fruitless

-Now you’re sleeping

-Now you’re sleeping


Now I’m waking

Brid... Can you tell us what we are about to face?

The AllFather wrote:and no sign of the Lich except a light ashfall which some among the Radiant Ones hurried to collect.

Raucous, be sure they gather it all!
You know who to bring it to...

Can I tell you what you are about to face, Zephyr?

No.

But for the moment at least, my monster, my Raffa, has ......freed me.... from certain others. Communication and clarity of thought will not be the barrier that they once were.

That's remarkable news! I'm very happy for you!

When you look upon what I do now, know that it has only begun. The enemies of Peace shall be crushed beneath My heel, and those that remain will beg upon their knees to be allowed a place in the new world I will shape.

I have been meeting My antagonists upon their own terms, and have for too long spared others in hopes that they will show promise. That ends now.

Violence is abomination, and can only be met with annihilation.

I am the Path, and the Door. None shall find Peace except through Me.

Peace at any price, is that it?

Odd way for peace to assert itself.

Peace without liberty.

Peace without freedom.

Peace without choice.

Peace without love.

I had hoped we could work together as I felt peace and love would be in harmony together. But, I can plainly see by your own words that you do not want peace as much as you desire dominance and control.

I do not blame you, make no mistake. It is your nature.

But, that is not love's way.

I wish you good will, Bel, with your followers and hope that you attain your peace. I hope that peace and love can work together in the future as I see we have much to offer each other.

I love you.

Such a task as mine requires a clarity of purpose greater than I have held to in the past. It has become obvious that this does not suffice, and so I embrace the singular will with which I entered this world.

The passions breed strife, and perforce induce violence.

Love, therefore, is abomination. Your presence is anathema to Peace.

Desire is kin to passion peaceful one. The peace you describe sounds like dull monotonous sameness. Such dullness, such repression, is anathema to Me. Perhaps your followers need my assistance is releasing their inner desire. A liberal amount of decadence might improve your winged ones outlook on the world and their ability to fit in.

I will contemplate on how to fit them in my plans of being of service to the races of Eiran!

It seems to Us that the Peace you seek, Bel, is the utter calm peace of death's embrace. We remember the few brief moments of Our deaths, before our ascention, and we agree that our passions for revenge were ultimately enough to cast us down from that pinnacle of peace.

But consider that even if you were to subdue all of the world, and there were no war in it, the people would still struggle against life itself. The nature of the world has finite resources and an evergrowing number of people competing for them. Even "peaceful" competition would still involve some form of non-violent conflict. At its heart, two beings speaking with stern voices is as much an enemy to true peace as those same two beings swingings swords.

It seems to Us that the natural conclusion to your goal would be simply the complete death of all life on Eiran. Only in the transcendant bliss of death, with no needs and no resources to compete over, can absolute peace be achieved.

Only in the minds and hearts of flying immortals with no connection to the world, could such a goal come to be. Clearly, Bel, you are the right god for your followers.

Still, is this what you really wish to bring about? If you ask the Void, it would tell you that such an existence is sure to pass, eventually. We have no reason to doubt the Void's prediction. But, since your goals are assured, is it necessary for you to rush the rest of us towards that final moment? What does it gain you to rush?

Consider, from your point of view, violence is anathama. But not, we hope, for itself, but because of all the pain, unhappiness, and suffering it engenders. (We suspect that uKulwa would point out the beneficial effects of pain, unhappiness, and suffering on the human character, but We're limiting this discussion to your own paradigm.) We fail to see how your solution is lessening the pain, suffering, and unhappiness of the world, while at the same time you're actually removing pleasure, joy, and now Love at the same time. In effect, in your effort to make the world better, you're doing nothing more than removing all the things that make it good.

It seems only courteous that if you wish to take this path, along with your followers, that you do so yourself before forcing the rest of the world to follow you.

Bel has never spoken plainly that I can remember. It may seem to us that he is equating Peace with Death, or Oblivion, or Stagnation. But we cannot be sure. I hope Bel will speak more plainly.

Of course, I suspect the World Breaker is nearly upon us. As well as Melirelle's worm. So who can say if there will be time for Bel to get whatever his plan is in motion before Eiran is destroyed in every sense of the word.

Which, of course, would be an absolute Peace.

Something comes.
Of that I have no doubt.
What comes though...
I have nary a guess.

Zephyr wrote: ... As well as Melirelle's worm. ...

This worm of which you speak ... I wonder how it will fair against Leviathan!

I have a difficult time imagining anything more powerful than the Leviathan. Its battle with Nor Yekith's Prophet lasted only the few moments it took Levi to eat the... whatever it was. It can lay its body across most of our continents. It can be seen from our divine realm.

The Worm, however, is likely nothing to be taken for granted.

Such an unusual experience, hearing and comprehending! The way word follows word, a rhythm is created, and from the rhythm comes meaning.

Does The Numen speak truth, uKulwa? Do you truly value the benefits of the pain, unhappiness, and suffering of mortals?

Brid, would you tell us about your projectile-child? I am, Naturally, interested in anything that seems to involve Nor Yekith. In this case, the moon he put his energies into.

Such a task as mine requires a clarity of purpose greater than I have held to in the past. It has become obvious that this does not suffice, and so I embrace the singular will with which I entered this world.

The passions breed strife, and perforce induce violence.

Love, therefore, is abomination. Your presence is anathema to Peace.

You do not understand love, my dear Bel. Love does not breed strife nor induce violence. It is not decadence and lowly suffering. It has only been perverted into such disgusting things as these by those who do not know love or those who would control it and name it as weak.

Love in its truest form - as my LOVE - brings peace of mind and calm bearing to those who experience it. It is serenity of the very soul and cannot be ousted by hatred or fear, anger or war. It brings an inner strength of purpose and is a healing balm to those searching for communion from their fellow creatures. Love is a liberating condition allowing for goodness and virtue to transcend all other things.

I am concerned that you would remove such virtue from the followers of Eiran and have them as nothing but mindless bodies. The Numen may have it right in their assessment -perhaps oblivion or death would be the only conditions that would make you happy.

But, I fear in your quest for peace, you have become angry and it has clouded your vision for it appears that you seek peace through future violence.

You therefore, speak against yourself and send your very essence into question. How can you justify the dichotomy of the violent peace-maker?

The Numen make a good point: your actions may well perpetuate the unhappiness, pain and suffering of the world. Those are passions that do indeed, increase violence and negate peace.

I love you, Bel. Let me be of service to you. The contentment of LOVE will support PEACE. Let LOVE help PEACE.

There can be no question of my will. I am Peace.

Let it be known that the Numen do not speak on behalf of uKulwa; we only described what we believed uKulwa's position would be. If we have misrepresented you, oh God of War, we meant no disrespect.

Bel, there is, in fact, question of your will. Simply because we all do not understand it, we question it. We invite you to elaborate upon your will, in the hopes that if all the deities of Pantheon more fully understand your will, perhaps we will be in accord with it. As things are now, with cryptic statements and dire threats, we are left to fill the spaces with our own words; our own assumptions of what we think you mean.

You can understand how this could unintentionally lead to strife and conflict.

There can be no question of my will. I am Peace.

I was not questioning your will. I was simply looking for clarification of your methods and understanding.

You can understand how this could unintentionally lead to strife and conflict.

Excellent point, Numen. Your collective thoughts bring an excellent suggestion.

I second the Numen's request for clearer statements, Bel. You may find that we of the Pantheon support your goals of peace and would assist you in the attainment of such a condition without strife and violence.

Working together, anything is possible.

Open your heart, Bel, and clarify for us your intentions that we may not misinterpret you or your actions.