It has come to it now. The end of my life. I have not lived to see my dreams fulfilled, though I have hope and faith still that the Kehex people will triumph. The Queen Emerita, they call me, and my detractors call me the queen who failed her duty, who gave it over to her son rather than rule herself. Well, now my son’s rule will be legitimate in their eyes. Now I pass…
Thus, in the year 1291, came the end of Larias Mayanas, Queen Emerita and once-Queen of Kehexou, long before the occupation of Kehexou and the signing of treaties that would both achieve her goal and deny it.[1] But the Path of Larias Mayanas, as she had been known, was not over. A Kelia woman had fled from her husband’s beatings into the mountains above the city of Keliosir. She had not accepted aid when it was offered, and now she was pregnant and bleeding and near both birth and death. And just as the final darkness of death took this unnamed woman, her body forced out a crying, wailing, blood-covered baby who now had no memory of her time as Queen of Kehexou.
Garis was a foundling girl, discovered next to her dead mother by one of the Guides.[2] He had brought her to the House[3] and there she was raised among the dozens of orphan children and children whose parents were too poor to feed them. The Guides took in many of these such children and raised them to the teachings of the Path.[4] Some would become Guides themselves, while others would leave the House and disperse throughout Kelios. The Path was different for each individual.
Yet it was obvious from the beginning that Garis would become a Guide. She was naturally inquisitive; she thirsted for answers to all the difficult philosophical questions practically from the day she learned to speak, and sought to understand the core differences between the Path and the Path of Knives and Plows,[5] and why both might be correct together. She displayed a finesse for coming up with answers to all the thorny questions her teachers and Guides could throw at her. Some called her a prodigy. All knew that she would, one day, understand more of the will of the Path than all of them.
”What is the Path?” she asked one day, long into her education. It was a question rarely raised even by Guides themselves, and a sign of her increasing maturity.
“The Path,” the Guide began, “Is the road we all travel. In some ways, it is a will for good that works in this world, but sometimes the Path manifests itself as evil. However, the Path leads ultimately to a world of Perfection,[6] and it is because of this that we seek to guide all to the Path, that the goal of the Path might one day be achieved. Does this answer your question?”
There was a pause while Garis considered the possibility. “No,” she stated, after a moment, “It does not. You have told me of the Path, and of the Guides, but not what the Path is. Does it have a will? Does it govern other wills? Is it controlled by other wills? Have does it manifest? I could ask more.”
“You are hasty, little one, but I will answer your questions. The Path has no will. It is not a thing or a being, as many others religions try to describe it, and characterizing it as such is the flaw of such religions. The Path does not govern wills, nor is it governed by them. It sits outside the world of human endeavors as a beacon of hope for Perfection. It manifests in all actions undertaken, for all actions will be somehow a part of the Path.” At this, he rose “And now, Garis, you have other lessons. I know you could teach calligraphy yourself, but it is your duty to attend. I also have things to attend to.” He followed Garis back into the indoors of the House.
[1]Larias was far too old to be alive by the time Khemri attacked. She also abdicated in one of my stories before last turn.
[2]Priests of Alse.
[3]Monastery-temple of Alse.
[4]Alse is “Path” in Kelia.
[5]The Path of Knives and Plows (Kelia name pending) is a philosophy very similar to Alse that is also common in Kelios. It focuses on striking balances between all types of actions. Because it believes that violence is necessary to counterbalance nonviolence, much of the military follows the Path of Knives and Plows. (This is not because it is a military cult but rather because its followers are more inclined to join the military.)
[6]Perfection (Kelia name pending) is the “heaven” that Alse says will come at the end of the Path, i.e. when the world ends. All souls will be reborn until Perfection is reached.
Poor story, I know. I'm losing my touch at religion stories. At least this religion is fairly unique, I think. It's not nearly as Taoist as it sounds, if you look deeper.
Also, Garis is not going to be an important person. I just thought the continuity was an interesting idea, and it helped present the Alse idea of reincarnation.
