HomePage RecentChanges

I Kappa

κ

“For I have become Shiva, the slayer of worlds.”

Traditional Fragment, source unknown.

Long Count Date: 998.11.92

It was at this moment that the inner door swung open, but there was no more light, she had expected something like Amalthea’s glowing splendor, but, instead, there was even deeper darkness. He uncloaked the orb, and said. “Come, sleep, and by dawn we will have much to speak of.”

He motioned her in, and turned on to a hallway that ran to the right, but rather than running straight it curved back around. She had lost track of which direction it faced. The first door was open and he motioned her in. There she saw something that was, in a quiet way, as spectacular as the luminescence of Amalthea’s home: the entire far wall was a series of panes of glass. It would have cost a small fortune. The grid that it traced out at least twice as tall as she, and could see the sky, a rich blue, and the darkness of the land below. The orb illuminated a flat bed, and she found herself lying down on it without question and simply sleeping.

-

Long Count Date: 998.11.93

The windows faced east, and thus as soon as there was light, she was up like a shot. The faint furring of grey was enough, and she was out and into the hall. She followed it as it curved along the side, light beginning to come through skylights, also made of glass, each cut into three by three. After two turns she came to a spiral staircase made of stone, and she carefully climbed upwards. She found her self in a circular room, with openings, also glass covered, set at regular intervals. The stairs continued upwards, but here sat the magus, reading, and drinking something. Before him was bread and meats, clearly cooked before, and a plate full of fruit. Marchangela stopped.

“It is morning.”

The Magus did not look up but continued to read, but stated. “Eat, learning is the hungriest of work.”

She took fruit, peeled it, and then ate, it’s citrus flesh was clearly what she needed. She then attacked the bread and sausage, finding that, indeed, se was hungrier than she had realized when she had awoken.

Finally after long minutes of chewing he began.

The first thing he did surprised her: he reached under the table, and pulled up a series of flat sheets of paper, bound together with some leather exterior. She had seen thousands of scrolls, but few books, The printing house in the city made scrolls – roughly four times as long as she was tall, on large wheels that were turned by the mill. The wheel was set with the contents of the scroll, and was a bit less than half again as high as she was. The ink was painted on, dried slightly, and was pressed on to the paper by the wheels great weight. Printed pages were not made in this way, and hence books were far rarer.

He looked at her and drew a peculiar breath in.

"I have told you that nothing is foretold. I do not believe I have ever seen a clear example of prophecy, if you mean a vision from the future."

"Then why the fuss over my dreams?"

"Because there are other ways to travel in time than forward and backward." He pointed to the Sun. "That sun is the twin of other suns. And our world the twin of other worlds, and Lucifer is the twin of another world, from whence most spirits in this place come, or they travel through to reach here."

She blinked as if to say "and?"

"This place is one of the gateways where spirits enter, they swirl below the earth hear, and are released slowly into the world. It is the job of the Magus Teloikpolis to watch this place, and guide it."

"And what does that have to do with me? Or my dreams?"

He paused again, fumbling for the right words.

"Your dreams, I think, are your seeing the world which is visible but unseen, the world as it is felt throught the psyches. I believe that you are connected with it, and through it. As are others."

"So I am, so to speak, a compass."

"Yes. The knowledge that comes with this, since psyches often do what they desire to do before they are embodied seems like prophecy, just as looking at someones calendar is like prophecy - it is what they wish to do."

She bit into a bit of fruit and looked back at him.

"And why the fuss?"

"I have to leave as well, on my own mission of 'prophecy'. We should leave together, if you will agree to it."

She stopped and thought. She was not sure how much to believe, and how much not to. But all it sounded like was that she needed to deliver the prophecy of the serpent, and then go to ask the Mad God’s representatives to allow passage. Not difficult, and it involved trips to Latia and perhaps someplace else of interest.

“I agree.”

He smiled. “I was sure you would. Now let me show you something.”

“Wait a moment, before you do, I have one other question. How is it you know I was taken?”

He looked at her, “I am going to show you what you passed through, and whose energies, even now, are drawn to you.”

That was as much of an invitation as she needed. Finally a chance to see something, rather than hear explanations. She received endless explanations at University, but very little in the way of reasons.

He stood up and beckoned to her, turning only once to see that she was moving. He walked down the spiral stairs and then down the hall and down another spiral stair. These rapidly became dark and she had to feel her way along, until finally, imperceptibly, there was a glow again. She felt her self stopped by the palm of his hand. In her other hand she felt him place something.

“Wear these on your eyes.”

She took a moment to fit something over her eyes, and then he swung open a door, into a small hemispherical room. It was a ghastly sight, even through the thick glasses she now wore, the floor was a huge round plate of green glass, roughly 15 feet in diameter, below which was a churning vortex of green water. She thought she saw faces in the foam of the whipping torrent, that formed and then faded, or were obliterated by being pressed on the glass. She thought of the poem Francesca da Rimini and the section of the Odyssey where the souls of the dead are blow about like leaves before the cyclone.

She knew where that description now came from.

There was a roar, and upon the ceiling danced green light that flickered and wavered like curtains. It was a light unlike any other, though most like the cold glow of orbs. He pressed her out and closed the door. “It is dangerous to stay long, there are powers there that we do not understand.”

He finished: “This, is what powers the well, and, it is, the energy, that shall unmake worlds.”