Kevin's Watch

Ah, my Wife, I hope you are right. But I have my doubts. Argothoth, what role will Love play in a world filled beyond capacity by your Undead? I do not see that such a world would have need of me...

There, there my dear. How could you be upset with your wife gaining in power?

Bhakti wrote:Ah, my Wife, I hope you are right. But I have my doubts. Argothoth, what role will Love play in a world filled beyond capacity by your Undead? I do not see that such a world would have need of me...

just think about the love between two immortal beings... the love in the normal life is doomed to die with one or both the lovers... i'm giving to creatures the chance to love each other for ever...

Murrin wrote:Eternal (un-)life: the eternal potential for fear, pain and unhappiness.
I gave to the dead peace and comfort everlasting. How have you improved upon that by returning them to the world?

Fear? Pain? My followers are immune to diseases, to pain and to cold, and much more things...
They can stay in the lands that they had loved for so long time... i'm simply realizing the true wish of a mortal being...

Life without life--what is the worth in it?

Those who reside within my realm are those that have chosen as much. Chosen rest, once they have had enough of life. You would deprive them of that choice.

Murrin wrote:Perhaps I could remind you, Argothoth, of words you spoke a long, long time ago:

Shortly after he first came into the world, Argothoth wrote:Hail to All Deities!
I would like to precise that no one of my followers would animate dead followers of any god. it seems to my eyes that another evil necromancer is doing that blasphemy. I will make him stop such heinous actions!

I would like to say , in addiction, that you are free to act however you wish against those evil beings, infact be an undead does not mean one is my follower. I invite all who want to stop those creature to join my actions against them.

Best regards,
Argothoth

(Emphasis mine.)

I mean the way a poor necromancer could "use" undeads. I'm not using them, i want only to give them the true life. I had the power to do so and i did it.
What else could be the goal of the existance of an undead god? See the fact that i reanimated the dead followers of other gods was inevitable. Sometimes sacrifice something (even an oath) is the price to pay to achieve something greater!
Can't you see the perfection of my creation?

Well done, Argothoth. I was only too happy to send you most of my power to fuel your ritual. Now that the world is flooded with undead, I can complete my plans. It is time for me to act. I grow weary of suffering the company of idiots. Malice has risen.

Our brethren, this speaks to the very issues that we have been contemplating of late. What right is it of ours to make the choice for our followers as to whether they live or die--or live undying? What right to cause pain or pleasure at our whim? The strife between the gods should remain between the gods, and not be brought to where it harms the innocent.
We, Maeror, have given our followers a creed. Those who find it to their liking may choose to follow it, and enter our faith. Those who do not, may choose other faiths, or discover a path for themselves. We will not force them to it--though it is only natural that we will encourage them, for we see our path as a true and good one. We will not bring our followers to war if an argument rises between ourself and another god; we will only strive to prevent such conflict from reaching them, and to defend them when war comes.
Our choices in the past, though we knew it not at the time, have brought us toward this. When given the power over the dead, we allowed the dead to choose their fates. When confronted with invasion and war, we strove not to fight, but to turn the attackers aside.

We understand that this is not the sentiment that many of you hold, but it is what we have come to believe. The way of Maeror is to bring an end to suffering.
That being said, we know that it is not our place to dictate the ways of other gods. Those who have chosen to follow a god's faith know what it is they choose, and that choice also is to be respected. It is when an action is taken that removes all choice, that deprives all of the freedom to choose between peace and conflict, or between death and undying existance--that is when we will begin to question, and even oppose, the will of our fellow gods.

Bhakti wrote:Ah, my Wife, I hope you are right. But I have my doubts. Argothoth, what role will Love play in a world filled beyond capacity by your Undead? I do not see that such a world would have need of me...

Your time here as coming to a close. I look forward to a world without Love.

Ahhh . . . I will enjoy mutating my enemies.

:::shuddering at the thought of Malice totally rising:::

m'l-rd Nor Yekith, I admit I still fear. I have tried to have an open mind regarding your idea of beauty, and admit I am failing. But you have the divine right to do as you wish in your lands. Just please, keep it within your borders..

In the meantime, there are still three Hatching candidates left...

Reena

Tenacity. It was what separated Reena from her peers. Although outwardly her refusal to accept that she had not Impressed on the Hatching Grounds looked like simple denial, a manifestation of deep grief, inside her steely resolve would brook no obstacle to getting the dragon she so fiercely desired. Now her steps clicked audibly on the stone flags as she loped easily through unfamiliar regions of the weyr.

“Somewhere in this g-ds forsaken warren, there has got to be a dragon with my name on it,” Reena mused. Thrusting aside an arras that blocked her way, she descended a passage. “Someone should get these dusty carpets out of my way,” she said half aloud.

As if in answer, a distant rumble came from the end of the corridor, but it didn’t sound like any cleaning crew she had ever heard. Her pace quickened.

A ruddy torchlight colored the end of the passage ahead. As she reached it’s mouth, she noticed the lintels and threshold were of better stone craftsmanship than much of the rest of the weyr. It seemed she was entering a more ancient, or more sacred, space. Reena stopped.

Ahead of her lay an impossibility. This dragon was huge. And it was ORANGE. Well, maybe strawberry blonde. In her limited experience, Reena didn’t recognize the eerie effect of torchlight on golden scales. She momentarily suppressed a shudder.

Just then the dragon stirred. Rolling slightly, it brought a large foreleg over it’s head, draped it across it’s eyes, and settled back snoring. It was strange how such a huge and formidable creature could still seem so placid and domestic. As Reena watched, the creature’s vast sides bellow in and out. She began to feel a strange comfort drifting over her mind. “This one seems so snuggly,” she thought to herself. “I’ll just creep in closer for a better look.”

The feeling of serenity increased with each step. Without really meaning to she found herself right up against the dragon’s shoulder. From this vantage the golden aura of the scales became more apparent, and Reena became entranced with the way a seemingly translucent scale could still glow with a light from inside. In fact, it wasn’t gold at all, it was clear white. And only seemed golden the way the sun seemed golden in the sky.

She had to touch one. Surely it would feel like the petal of some impossibly delicate flower, or a razor thin chip from some jewel of dazzling brilliance. But just as her finger would touch the hide, her sense of peace vanished and was replaced by the feeling of light pressure upon her spine and abdomen. She found herself girdled by two very large claws. Then a deep earthy voice rang out inside her head:

“Do I know you?”

“I…I…I…”

“You are Reena from the outlying provinces. You smell different. You mean me no harm, and may actually mean me much joy.”

“Why, OK…

“Are you a Queen?”

“More like the Queen Mum. I’ve done my duty a score or more years already, and so I get my naps in the afternoon. But you appear a reason to wake up!”

“Oh, I hope so. In fact, I know so. We’re going to have such good times – how rude of me! I have forgotten to ask your name.”

“Coranalla. Although the young ones sometimes call me Aunt Cora.”

The sleepy, peaceful feeling was beginning to settle over the room again.

“I have all these great ideas and plans,” Reena said settling comfortably into the crook of a foreleg. “We’ll go exploring, and we’ll fight for glory and honor, and we’ll bring peace and justice to all of the lands…”

“Of course we will darling, right after our nap. But then, I never saw any military solution that didn’t end up as something worse. And as for politics, they can be a blessing and a curse. But rest now, and we’ll eat in the evening.”

Reena saw the sense in this. There was something very important she was going to do, but a little rest and food would keep her all the sharper focused for the next tasks. As she drifted slowly away, she thought she almost heard singing, but couldn’t quite make out the words.

O-gon-cho wrote::::shuddering at the thought of Malice totally rising:::

m'l-rd Nor Yekith, I admit I still fear. I have tried to have an open mind regarding your idea of beauty, and admit I am failing. But you have the divine right to do as you wish in your lands. Just please, keep it within your borders..

I may, if Bhakti submits to my desires. But to Lord Adamorn. I did not alter the borders. Oh, is the big guardian of Eiran going to punish me? Oh please don't; I could not stand a lecture. Save your sword arm for more urbane pursuits, like climbing out of the grave you dug.

Nor Yekith wrote: I may, if Bhakti submits to my desires.

:::whispering:::

Please, m'l-rd. Drop this. Bhakti is my oldest and dearest friend in the Pantheon. If you could learn to tolerate his existance, I believe he would attempt to do the same...

Nor Yekith wrote:But to Lord Adamorn. I did not alter the borders. Oh, is the big guardian of Eiran going to punish me? Oh please don't; I could not stand a lecture. Save your sword arm for more urbane pursuits, like climbing out of the grave you dug.

:::gasp:::

m'l-rd!! You made an agreement!!

One thing you will learn quickly sister is that few of our brethren keep their agreements.

O-gon-cho wrote:Please, m'l-rd. Drop this. Bhakti is my oldest and dearest friend in the Pantheon. If you could learn to tolerate his existance, I believe he would attempt to do the same...

I can no more tolerare Bhakti than I can tolerate an annoying fly. But you see, Bhakti will be the one who will engineer his own ruin. He cannot avoid it. I merely will profit from it.

Nor Yekith wrote: But to Lord Adamorn. I did not alter the borders. Oh, is the big guardian of Eiran going to punish me? Oh please don't; I could not stand a lecture. Save your sword arm for more urbane pursuits, like climbing out of the grave you dug.

I would advise you to consult Occams Razor, Nor.

(thats the closest I could get to a smirk.)

My thanks, O-gon-cho, but Yek is a lost cause. I want peace for all of Eiran. What could be better for a Loving atmosphere? As that goes against all of his principles, we are naturally opposites. Which is why he has often acted against me and sworn my destruction, although I have never desired anything other than for us to simply leave each other alone. Alas...

However, whenever he does whatever he is planning, he will learn the true strength of Love. Even the Allfather misunderstands this, calling my "greatest power" something else.

Norn wrote:One thing you will learn quickly sister is that few of our brethren keep their agreements.

Twice now.

One time each for each neighbor to the south. Both times trust broken...

Bhakti wrote:My thanks, O-gon-cho, but Yek is a lost cause. I want peace for all of Eiran. What could be better for a Loving atmosphere? As that goes against all of his principles, we are naturally opposites. Which is why he has often acted against me and sworn my destruction, although I have never desired anything other than for us to simply leave each other alone. Alas...

However, whenever he does whatever he is planning, he will learn the true strength of Love. Even the Allfather misunderstands this, calling my "greatest power" something else.

Your Will be done, my brother and closest friend. I have always trusted your guidance, and expect you are correct in this as well...

Kadanur and Lattar

Since they had first arrived, Kadanur and Lattar, followers of Melirelle, had found it expedient to rely on one another. With adjacent quarters and similar styles of dress and fighting, to some of the other candidates they almost seemed like brothers. They ate together, sparred together, and in general kept to themselves. There had been some speculation, utterly without foundation of course, but it was better not to ask questions to which one didn’t really need an answer.

With such an efficient co-dependency, it was perhaps not entirely surprising that neither Impressed at the Hatching Grounds. After two days, neither had found a companion elsewhere, and folks were beginning to talk. Thus it was a matter of some interest when Master Kavi suggested a formal presentation of Kadanur and Lattar to the assembled dragonage. The dragons would parade in order, and each one would introduce itself to the pair. In that way it was hoped that at least one would find a suitable companion. An event not considered impossible, in large part because of the recent Impressions of several older dragons among their fellow candidates.

When the appointed hour came around, Lattar and Kadanur sported their best leather jerkins and gleamed with a high polish. They stood in review in fine aristocratic bearing and magnanimously deigned to let each dragon approach.

After a good half hour of this, some of the pride had faded from their faces and the spit polish was gradually being replaced by dust and perspiration. Hardly a flicker of interest had been in evidence. Kavi shook his head sadly. These two weren’t open enough, despite his best efforts, and all of this tomfoolery was a waste of time. He was on the verge of calling the whole thing off. But he hesitated to do so for fear that the weyr might be embarrassed.

A momentary delay in the line caught his attention. Two of the young blues has become impatient with the ponderous formality and were gently nudging one another back and forth out of place. Kavi was miffed but not overly surprised: most dragons were known neither for patience nor decorum. Still this was no reason to stop the review…

Yes, the two humans had decided to go and investigate the disturbance themselves; perhaps they were growing as tired of the observed theater as the dragons themselves. He couldn’t quite see them from here, but it looked as though there were some kind of conversation taking place.

Meanwhile, down on the sands, Kadanur and Lattar had come upon the young dragons almost unnoticed, and now stood face to face with the source of the distraction. Or more properly, one might say, face to face to face to face as the four had squared off in what threatened to be a very short tag team match.

Suddenly, four pairs of eyes widened at once, with a shock of recognition. The crowd of onlookers recognized what was happening and surged forward muttering like the wind, even as the ushers were distracted by the breakdown in the procession.

Both Kadanur and Lattar and the blues, whose names were Blunt and Kronek, were oblivious to the new excitement in the atmosphere. As one they surged forward and a large cloud of dust obscured everything. There was little sound but the rushing of the wind, and the dust had not yet cleared when two shouts of exultation were matched with two joyous dragon bugles, as two dragon/Rider pairs mounted simultaneously skyward.

Kavi turned towards Weyrleader Sio, “I had thought they might Impress brothers, but only one of them is a member of my weyrling class and received the gift of between. This shall prove interesting indeed.”

Bhakti wrote:However, whenever he does whatever he is planning, he will learn the true strength of Love. Even the Allfather misunderstands this, calling my "greatest power" something else.

Ahhh the credo of the weak; the morality of slaves. To think, when strength, will and intelligence fails that somehow love will win. Love is but the selective desire to control and need something or someone. It is not some mystical force that will ensure the weak and downtrodden will be protected. Weak people like yourself deserve to be trodden on and destroyed.

Do you want my vision of the future? It's a boot pushing down against a human head. As if love would help then. All love will do is fill one with notions of honour, justice, and greater things so as to push aside feelings of inferiority. If you can imagine a rose tinted world, then the weak are all the more easier to crush.

That all you are, Bhakti. An ideal for the pathetic.