Helios
Lord Zee
DX3214
Vec
&
Together Azura and Luis had flown deeper into the interior of Atokhekwoi, discussing and planning as they went until, at last, they arrived at the location that Ihokhe had told Azura about, the current home of the Ihokhetlani, first of the mortal races.
This was rocky and rough lands on the edge of the great mountains, in the distance, the towering western mountains ran as though a massive wall from the northern horizon to that of the south. Small hills dominated the rough lands, often more made of exposed stone then was found in other areas, although likely why the Ihokhetlani were here. They saw the great numbers of the Ihokhetlani, groups of them dotting every hill and around every rock, gathering great masses of stone to form new members of their race. Soul ash was thick here, constantly flowing into new bodies and even a curious interaction with the Ihokhetlani themselves.
There were only a few structures of any kind, and those mostly appeared to be crude approximations of various deities, some of the Ihokhetlani groups crowded near them. Notably, Ohannakeloi’s statue was much better formed than any of the others, although still crude and not really evident of divine work in any sense available to Azura.
Azura could also see that a large number of the Alma she had created which had arrived here after their flight from the pole. Their bird brains were in command at the moment as the first mortals having been made to last and lacking any natural predators meant that seemingly none had died or were at risk of doing so. So instead, the Alma where mostly loitered in the area, staying out of the Ihokhetlani‘s sight and way to avoid intruding on their lives when they were not needed while engaging in a spot of foraging to keep their biological parts running optimally.
Azura did, however, note that not all of the Alma were here. Some had left to seek out sights, and presumably mortals, unseen. Fortunately, they were capable of propagating updates to their abilities and directives between one another and indeed the Li’Kalla seekers had included such an update that they would hand over to any Alma they found, instructing them to stay their hands when it came to claiming people’s souls without permission. Once she was happy with her speech other Alma would do the same with it, bringing her words across the globe to all mortal ears.
”They’re building more of themselves” Luis noted as the pair slowed to a stop above the home of the first race. ”Can your constructs do that?”
“So they are. I was wondering how they were going to make more of themselves. The Alma can, but they produce normal eggs and then the young birds have the construct parts grown onto them by the adults when they mature.” she explained “It made sense to re-use natural systems. I did not even consider that machines could make other machines… or that rock people could make other rock people in this case. I wonder how the ash can tell the difference between the Ihokhetlani they are making and the statues of Gods.”
”Could I do that? Make more?” Luis asked
“More constructs, more Ihokhetlani or of you?”
Luis thought about this for a while before answering simply ”Yes, no, yes”
“You can't make new types but you could have nests of Alma in... Bruna” she did not like calling it that“If you like, maybe I can teach you later when there’s more time? As for more of you. Um. Well there are other whales now I suppose but there are size and intelligence issues there...” she said, the lock seemingly doing its best to give her as little as possible related to reproduction in anything but the abstract “Let's so just say no for now.”
”oh. ok.” Luis responded a touch dejectedly
“It’s a good thing to want to do I think. Fairly certain that I didn’t put that in there either. Se even though I want to table this conversation, for now, I’m more than happy to bring it up later ok? The idea of you, or other mortals, making constructs is an interesting one to think about. For now, though let's stick to the task at hand?” She said gently as she could
”alright....” Luis responded, ”so what now?”
“I’m going to see if they know where Ohannakeloi is and see if I can arrange a meeting with them and him in a bit. You can join in with the conversation with the Ohannakeloi if you like.”
”We’ll see.” he responded, before drifting off from her. Azura sighed softly at her continued lack of social graces before she began to descend towards the area with the statues.
The groups around the statues began to coalesce as they realized Azura’s descent down upon them. As she grew closer a few differences could be made apparently between these Ihokhetlani and those with Ihokhe, decoration primarily, feathers of various kinds, many kinds of plants all placed in between the stones of their bodies. The most decorated few stood apart and in front of the majority, a receiving party.
One spoke after they had gotten into a semblance of order, as the Ihokhetlani prostrated themselves. “O Mighty Azura, Divine of the Wind, how may we humble priests be of service?”
While this reverence once again irked Azura this time she attempted a little tact more in her dismissal of it and with her conversing with the priesthood “I am honored by your greeting dear Ihokhetlani, but rest assured that I do not require you to maintain such a posture as we speak. Please know that while your reverence is appreciated I do not demand it. I have come to tell the Ihokhetlani something and in regards to this announcement, I have two requests. First off I’d appreciate if you could organise a gathering of the people so that I might address them collectively. This need not be speedily arranged as I intend to speak with Ohannakeloi while you get this planned. Do you perchance know where his located at this present moment?”
The group rose to a kneel, the less decorated kept this gaze to the ground. The speaker replied, “While we cannot be certain O Holy One, we believe that he is to be found in the mountains nearby, we have not located him such but the rock formations change too much with too much purpose for it to be otherwise. And we will, of course, accede to your most reasonable request for a gather of the people, may I be so bold to make a request?” A few of the other most decorated Ihokhetlani snapped their focus to the speaker but said nothing at this question.
“Thank you, and by all means.”
“While none would be so foolhardy or unreasonable to not accord to your request, it would no doubt ease some to know what the prime matter of this gathering would be…?”
“The fate of the souls of the dead.” She explained solemnly “That leads us neatly into my second request, that you provide me with council before I speak with all your kin. As you might imagine, it is an important and potentially uncomfortable topic so I would appreciate your assistance in deciding the appropriate way of conveying it to your people.”
The speaker started, “I would be glad to provide any assistance that my mortal abilities could impart to you, Great One. Truly-” Another one of the decorated group spoke, “Truly we would all be honored to provide this assistance O Holy Azura, we first ones are the group before you, except Ihokhe, the progenitor, he is out on a mission and is regrettably far by this time. I fully comprehend the delicacy of the situation and our present council would be delighted to assist on such a worthy and holy task.”
“I would be eternally grateful for your aid.” Azura bobbed her head with this thanks before continuing “I met Ihokhe and his traveling companions earlier. It was he who directed me here. They seem to all be doing well you’ll be glad to hear, and where in sight of the ocean last I saw them. Do you have any place you’d prefer to discuss this?” she finished by asking
“We have no sites more holy than this Great Azura, but it would perhaps be best to hold the great gathering here and discuss elsewhere, we know of a hill just a short distance that would give more privacy to our discussion Holy One.” The second speaker continued, “If your own most holy being would permit it we could go there now and the priests assembled could guide their congregations to gather when the time is right, and prepare them for such a meeting in the meanwhile?”
“This would be most helpful thank you.” she said while interlay growing more and more uncomfortable with each honorific the priest expressed. “Let us proceed there.”
“At once Divine Azura,” the first speaker replied. The journey was short as promised and only the decorated group of five beings came from the Ihokhetlani, the other priests had gone to see to preparations for the gathering. The hill, however, was well situated, well risen and fairly isolated, its sides were quite sheer but that did not seem to impair the Ihokhetlani too much for they had their great height.
“Now then. Death, and the fate of souls.” Azura began, before taking an uncharacteristic moment to find the right words “ The Ihokhetlani are uniquely positioned in that if I understand it correctly, I don’t need to explain the existence of souls to you. You see them and you know that is what you are: a soul dressed in stone. Correct?”
“Of course Holy Azura, as much as any mortal thing is a soul dressed in some kind of body, whether stone, meat, or anything else that the Divinities should see fit to enliven.”
Azura nodded in response and then explained that “This soul can also persist without a body, as all who die do, yet continues to have a conscious mind. The gods, along with untold of other souls that the Architect brought to this realm came from a place where souls existing without bodies is the norm. A place called the void. Here, however, bodiless souls are captured by a Gateway known as the Vortex of Souls and are sent to the stars where Katharsos burns them until they suffer a second death and nothing is left of them but ash.”
A third of the Ihokhetlani spoke, “That would explain where the soul ash comes from at least.” The other four looked askance at the lack of deference but none spoke after. They continued, “Better to have a body of some kind at least, please continue Divine Azura.”
Once again Azura was surprised by their lack of a reaction to the prospect of being annihilated. “Tell me, have any Ihokhetlani ever died?” she asked realising she might know why.
“No, Great Azura. Nothing has yet caused so great a harm to any one of our race’s bodies nor have we experienced deterioration of much of any kind,” the first speaker replied, “Ohannakeloi has explained the concept but we have no experience yet O Powerful One.”
“Ah. While that is good, it does explain why you are taking this news so... casually.”
“Holy Azura, we understand that death will come, we have not yet seen what that is but it will come, that we do know.” The second speaker replied. The third speaker broke in, “Divine Azura, I would urge you to your point, death may be worse than we hoped but it is better than was to be feared. Clearly, you have an issue with the current state of affairs and explaining the current state will lead to some other point that will shock us or otherwise lend purpose to this whole conversation.”
This time the looks received were perhaps a great deal less of askance, and more of questioning the third speaker’s sanity. The third speaker replied, “The Divinity said it was not required and asked for council, I give as I would any who did similarly, clearly this one is not one of the ones Ohannakeloi had great concern over.”
Despite them calling out her attempts to lead them by the nose Azura liked the third one. “You’ve foreseen my aim astute one, so I’ll get to my point. I want to offer the people of Galbar an alternative. I created these constructs” at her command one of the loitering avians flew to their meeting place and presented itself to the mortals “called Alma. If given permission they can crystalise the soul of the deceased into a solid form that can resist the pull of the vortex. To be crystallised is to enter a deep dreamless sleep which I am currently devising ways to awaken the sleeper from. Ensuring that mortals are not lost to the pyres is my priority at the moment, however, so currently, I intend to hide the souls from those that might abuse them in a secret and defendable location.”
The first speaker replied, “Ah, Holy Azura, do you undertake this great work alone among the Divinities? I mean no disrespect of course but it seems odd that the Divinity of Wind is in contestation with the Divinity of Death, and to contest on his own ground and terms seems to be difficult, I would think at least in my own mortal understanding.”
“If I had to I would stand alone in this but fortunately I have the aid of Aseal and also of Aelius, though Virtue currently committed to guarding the sun. I and Asceal aim to gain the aid of others, though the lady of light has spoken with more promising candidates than I sofar. We have been being careful however, to ensure Katharsos does not learn of our opposition before we are prepared to act. That time is almost up now, but I would still appreciate if you kept this to your kind if possible. To yourselves and Ohannakeloi at least. I do not want you to put yourselves in danger to protect this secret, but I believe it would be for the best that we don’t spread this plan around lest it ends up in the wrong ears.” she explained
“As for my lack of cohesion between my domain and my task…” There was a certain importance to this she realised. Patterns were important, they had power in both magical and mundane ways. “The winds are free to roam and do as they please and so should we all be. Free from fear, from pain, from death. Free from tyrants who decide the fates of others without consulting them. As for the power imbalance, the gods are not static in regards to their aspects. I’m Azura of the wind, it is true, but I am also Azura of Soul Crystals and I will use that dominion and all my power to keep those who put their souls under my wing from Death’s embrace”
The second speaker spoke, “Great Azura, I do not believe you will like what I would say, but I shall state it anyway as you and Hase have pointed out the need for getting to the point as it were. If you wish to get the consent of the most of the Ihokhetlani you will need to lie or at least misrepresent the truth, not because of any failing in the Divine, of course, merely mortal fears.”
“I can understand softening or restructuring my telling of this news somewhat to be less. Shocking. But to lie to them? That seems unnecessary and grossly unfair” she responded, more than a touch incredulous at the prospect. Then, realising the damage she might have just done to their working relationship she added more softly “Kindly explain to me your reasoning.”
“Well, truly to be caught in a Divine feud is a terrifying concept to grasp, even more to band to one side of such a conflict, there may be fears of retaliation to a degree. As well while we are no doubt convinced of your ability to find a way to decrystallize a soul, and much better than the other alternative of course as you have spoken, and your protection will no doubt have an unimaginable perfectio-” the second speaker was interrupted by the third speaker or Hase as it were. “My apparently immoral friend here is trying to say that without being able to undo such a thing it sounds a lot like the same second death just without the suffering or contributing to further life on Galbar. I believe they are trying to make a point based on necessity, which only your Divine being may be the judge of I suppose. As we are rather isolated here you do have little need to be concerned over what we might try to say contestation if you chose my fellow’s path.”
The first speaker spoke, “Really now, while we may have some concerns, Holy Azura is in the right here, we are charged to serve the Divines and this is the best action to serve her goals, I’m sure the people would forgive once it is over, they would be safe. To not do so and let their fears rule them now, and potentially allow them to truly die- would that not be the more immoral option?”
“Ok. A lot to digest there.” Azura said slowly, trying to buy time as she mulled over their various points. She started with what was more or less a tangent “So. First off with the soul decrystallization and the resulting state, as a halfway measure it would be relatively straight forward I might be able to combine your own body structure with the construct technology and make a form a soul crystal can control. But apart from that... Yes. I suppose those who become crystallized will need to have faith in me, in us” she left who us was ambiguous “ that a system that can reliably service the demand for revival can be put in place. As for the lies...”
Azura made a strained “Hmmmm” giving away her discomfort with the situations as she worked through it slowly like Luis might, glancing periodically over at his distant form as she did so. Ultimately she was actually less well equipped to make this decision than they were. Certainly, she could understand the fear of being at the mercy of battles waged by those far stronger than yourself but when it came down to it she had little idea how these mortals would react exactly because she did not know them yet. Would bliss of ignorance outway the crime of the lies? It also felt wrong to hand over the decision upon the priests, to give up responsibility for it in the process. She was not sure they would even accept such a state of affairs either. Not all of them. Not yet. She understood the distance between her and mortal people better now at least. It was a sad thing to understand.
“What would you suggest we tell them?” she asked finally, going for a half and half approach of responsibility. Maybe the lie wouldn't have to be that bad of a lie. One of omission rather than deception.
“Speak to them of the concord you have with other Divines in this opposition to Katharsos, Divine of Death. Speak of your decrystallization that it is safe, do not speak of the current lack of means. Give your assurance of protection, you are a Divine, they will believe you and believe your path is right, give them little need for concern and they will take little preferring to trust. We know them well, we taught most of them.” The second speaker finished, the first speaker had nodded in agreement, the third was actively distancing themselves. The other two Ihokhetlani spoke, the fourth, “I agree that what they say is true, they will follow if you speak and give them little reason to turn to the priesthood and ourselves.” And the fifth, “As well we will follow what you decide regardless Holy Azura, we serve and are interested in the other partial crystallization you have suggested as a potential solution.
Hase, the third speaker spoke, “I would not be apart of this, I also know I could not oppose you Divinity, but I must serve my people as well as all the Divines. I urge you to tell them your truth and let time tell on their individual decision, as I do not trust my fellow priests here to make such entirely for them. The problem lies in that you must choose which is more important saving them, as you believe it, or acting with fairness and respect.
“I have no choice in the matter, if you want to save them more then you will override us with ease, whether now or after we’re long dead passed along into whatever matter state follows and what urgency drives you, builds. If you want to act with respect and fairness, then you will inform the people, and then leave them to their decisions as to do otherwise you still choose for them. You care for us mortals a great deal while being so far beyond us that in your love you may crush us. Take what path you will, it was never really our choice, to begin with, we are here and we live by divine decision, we die by divine decision, and we may be saved by divine decision.
“You have asked for council, to convince our people that they should do as you wish, you are not going to have the option to have an unbiased choice on their part, an individual one as informed as they can is the best you can hope for, anything else is searching for something that cannot exist in this world that the Divines have made.”
The words of the four made sense in the long run. It was the easier path, the more supported path, the one that let her achieve what she desired though just a few simple white lies. There would be consequences eventually, but for now, the obedience of the priests would speed up her work. She was doing the right thing after all so what was the price of such a concession in the name of the greater good?
everything
Azura stood utterly still before the assembled four and one for several moments. She failed to process what had just happened, she wasn't allowed too, but it left an impact all the same.
“Thank you for your council.” she finally said, bowing her head in gratitude to the four, before raising and looking at the one, “Hase”
“Yes, dear Divine Azura?”
“Your voice is my voice. Tell them what they need to know. You’ll do a better job than I ever could”
Hase was right. What was the point of saving people if they could not be free? How could they be free if she couldn’t trust them to make their own decisions? After all, having power in the world made her no better at making those decisions than them. She could never forget that. She almost had.
Hase spoke, “I will Divinity. Although, what will you do now? Look for Ohannakeloi?”
Azura nodded. “You know my mind well. I’ll come back after just to check in on things. If you need any more information, don’t hesitate to ask me via prayer. Oh also take the Alma with you if you wish. It will help you however you need.”
“Thank you Divine Azura, I hope your meeting goes well, give him our regards.” Azura nodded and took off, ascending once more into the sky, heading off to see a certain crab.