Eternal
Year 75
“Seems hard to believe that we haven’t had any major conflict in over a decade.” Talia says.
“What is harder to believe is that I stopped missing it. But I imagine the major powers are too busy fighting over the Quala region to worry about us as usual. I mean you’ve got the Empire of Nalin, Drog Son of Mog’s Horde and even the Felkan Kingdom all annexing portions of it.”
“Who do you think will win it?”
“The Nalin Empire will probably take most of it. Their new ruler Tarna is very ambitious as she started laying groundwork to invade Quala soon after Brenda’s suicide…which was pretty suspicious anyway. I’m sure Drog is ambitious too, but predictably his son Og will soon challenge him for leadership and they’ll resort to infighting as usual. As for the Felkan Kingdom, I believe the only reason why they started eating up land from Arat to Quala is to initially stop the on going anarchy that was starting to cross over into their borders. I think when they finally reach borders with Nalin, the expansion for them will halt and then it’ll be a long stand off…history repeats itself again.”
“You sound a bit concerned.”
“Well, I’m fairly confident that we won’t be attacked anytime soon, but as I said, history repeats itself and you’re always going to get that one leader that’s determined to prove themselves no matter how foolish the odds.”
“Even against a chosen one of a god?” Talia chuckles.
“Especially against a chosen one of a god, even if only to claim they defied the divine.”
“Is that what you would’ve done?”
“Of course.” You laugh. “But as I said, I do not believe an attack will come in our time. It’s going to come after us, I don’t know how long, but the shadows are going to have to be prepared.”
“Dendrin, will look over them as he always has.”
“I sure hope so, because I can’t do it forever. I may be an Eternal, but I’m not eternal. I’ve been studying some of our members as a potential successor, but I’m still not sure if any of them are up to the task.”
“You have? I didn’t know.”
“Well unless Dendrin tells me himself who he wants as his chosen, it’s sort of up to me and nobody has told me they’ve been speaking to him on a regular basis either.”
“Actually you never told anyone either until years later.”
“Yeah, but that was a little different…besides I’m also pondering a more permanent solution to our potential safety issues.”
“Oh? What’s that?”
“The Ritual of Ascension”
Talia is a little taken back by your statement. The Ritual of Ascension was supposedly passed down from Dendrin himself to the first Shadow Master, telling him that it was only to be used if he felt the shadows were ready for it.
The results are not entirely clear on what it does, but what Dendrin explained is that it would unify the shadows to his own realm forever. Not just in a spiritual sense, but in a very real physical sense. The shadows essentially would become REAL shadows. Incorporeal and no longer susceptible to the weaknesses that most beings suffer. At least that’s what you think happens.
Obviously no Shadow Master ever felt this way for any reason. Even during the time under the Empire, it was never seriously considered as a solution to the problem, which gives an indication to how this ritual is viewed with more awe and fear than anything else.
Still, the procedures of the ritual do exist and they have been written down. Dendrin passed them to the shadows obviously believing that one day it would be used so you don’t see why you shouldn’t consider it as an option.
In the meantime Talia has gotten over her surprise.
“Well, if you believe that we are worthy and ready, then I will certainly follow you in performing this ritual. I believe everyone will, there is no question about that. You have lead the shadows through some of the toughest conflicts in our long history. You’ve even returned from death itself because Dendrin believed your work here was not done. Perhaps this is why.”
“Heh, I never thought about that before. Still, perhaps I should consult Dendrin about this before making a final decision.” You say.
“Of course. Obtaining his guidance in this very important matter would be essential.”
Later that night you pray to Dendrin and go to sleep fully expecting him to see him soon…
But nothing happens.
You do this night after night until four months go by, and still you get no sign. Dendrin not speaking to you for month or even years on end is nothing new to you, but in every instance where you’ve directly requested his guidance he has always appeared. Not this time.
You start to wonder if him not appearing is a sign that maybe you shouldn’t go through with this ritual. Of course maybe this is one of those decisions that’s so important that you need to make it for yourself. Are you ready? Do you consider the rest of the shadows ready?
You know everyone now is a loyal worshipper of Dendrin and have an equal amount of faith in you as well. You really don’t see how they could be any more ready than they are now. They won’t fear the unknown no matter what it is, as long as they trust in Dendrin. Becoming one with Dendrin seems like it would be ideal to most in the order, though perhaps you have a few reservations about it for a few reasons, but then maybe that’s why the ritual has never seriously been considered in the past by other Shadow Masters.
Maybe it hasn’t been just you. Maybe they all had their doubts about Dendrin’s plan. Maybe it’s just a natural thing when it comes to being “a leader.”
You don’t fear death. You’ve always accepted it from the first time Mistress put the boot to your chest and demanded that you beg for your life to the time when you stood your ground against Cyrus without fighting back. You always believed you were going to die (well permanently anyway) either in combat or through some sort of violence, but it’s starting to look like you’ll end up dying as an old man in your sleep. Nothing wrong with that.
Your concern is what exactly happens to you after you perform this ritual? Are you dead? Are you alive? Are you something else? Will you still be on this world? There are so many questions and one of them is will you be better off in this form, or is death better?
You already assume that when you die, you’ll be in Dendrin’s realm. That being your understanding of how death in the service of a god works. What makes this different? Would you just be speeding up the process in some sort of mass suicide?
The fact is, you won’t know unless you go through with it.
“Seems hard to believe that we haven’t had any major conflict in over a decade.” Talia says.
“What is harder to believe is that I stopped missing it. But I imagine the major powers are too busy fighting over the Quala region to worry about us as usual. I mean you’ve got the Empire of Nalin, Drog Son of Mog’s Horde and even the Felkan Kingdom all annexing portions of it.”
“Who do you think will win it?”
“The Nalin Empire will probably take most of it. Their new ruler Tarna is very ambitious as she started laying groundwork to invade Quala soon after Brenda’s suicide…which was pretty suspicious anyway. I’m sure Drog is ambitious too, but predictably his son Og will soon challenge him for leadership and they’ll resort to infighting as usual. As for the Felkan Kingdom, I believe the only reason why they started eating up land from Arat to Quala is to initially stop the on going anarchy that was starting to cross over into their borders. I think when they finally reach borders with Nalin, the expansion for them will halt and then it’ll be a long stand off…history repeats itself again.”
“You sound a bit concerned.”
“Well, I’m fairly confident that we won’t be attacked anytime soon, but as I said, history repeats itself and you’re always going to get that one leader that’s determined to prove themselves no matter how foolish the odds.”
“Even against a chosen one of a god?” Talia chuckles.
“Especially against a chosen one of a god, even if only to claim they defied the divine.”
“Is that what you would’ve done?”
“Of course.” You laugh. “But as I said, I do not believe an attack will come in our time. It’s going to come after us, I don’t know how long, but the shadows are going to have to be prepared.”
“Dendrin, will look over them as he always has.”
“I sure hope so, because I can’t do it forever. I may be an Eternal, but I’m not eternal. I’ve been studying some of our members as a potential successor, but I’m still not sure if any of them are up to the task.”
“You have? I didn’t know.”
“Well unless Dendrin tells me himself who he wants as his chosen, it’s sort of up to me and nobody has told me they’ve been speaking to him on a regular basis either.”
“Actually you never told anyone either until years later.”
“Yeah, but that was a little different…besides I’m also pondering a more permanent solution to our potential safety issues.”
“Oh? What’s that?”
“The Ritual of Ascension”
Talia is a little taken back by your statement. The Ritual of Ascension was supposedly passed down from Dendrin himself to the first Shadow Master, telling him that it was only to be used if he felt the shadows were ready for it.
The results are not entirely clear on what it does, but what Dendrin explained is that it would unify the shadows to his own realm forever. Not just in a spiritual sense, but in a very real physical sense. The shadows essentially would become REAL shadows. Incorporeal and no longer susceptible to the weaknesses that most beings suffer. At least that’s what you think happens.
Obviously no Shadow Master ever felt this way for any reason. Even during the time under the Empire, it was never seriously considered as a solution to the problem, which gives an indication to how this ritual is viewed with more awe and fear than anything else.
Still, the procedures of the ritual do exist and they have been written down. Dendrin passed them to the shadows obviously believing that one day it would be used so you don’t see why you shouldn’t consider it as an option.
In the meantime Talia has gotten over her surprise.
“Well, if you believe that we are worthy and ready, then I will certainly follow you in performing this ritual. I believe everyone will, there is no question about that. You have lead the shadows through some of the toughest conflicts in our long history. You’ve even returned from death itself because Dendrin believed your work here was not done. Perhaps this is why.”
“Heh, I never thought about that before. Still, perhaps I should consult Dendrin about this before making a final decision.” You say.
“Of course. Obtaining his guidance in this very important matter would be essential.”
Later that night you pray to Dendrin and go to sleep fully expecting him to see him soon…
But nothing happens.
You do this night after night until four months go by, and still you get no sign. Dendrin not speaking to you for month or even years on end is nothing new to you, but in every instance where you’ve directly requested his guidance he has always appeared. Not this time.
You start to wonder if him not appearing is a sign that maybe you shouldn’t go through with this ritual. Of course maybe this is one of those decisions that’s so important that you need to make it for yourself. Are you ready? Do you consider the rest of the shadows ready?
You know everyone now is a loyal worshipper of Dendrin and have an equal amount of faith in you as well. You really don’t see how they could be any more ready than they are now. They won’t fear the unknown no matter what it is, as long as they trust in Dendrin. Becoming one with Dendrin seems like it would be ideal to most in the order, though perhaps you have a few reservations about it for a few reasons, but then maybe that’s why the ritual has never seriously been considered in the past by other Shadow Masters.
Maybe it hasn’t been just you. Maybe they all had their doubts about Dendrin’s plan. Maybe it’s just a natural thing when it comes to being “a leader.”
You don’t fear death. You’ve always accepted it from the first time Mistress put the boot to your chest and demanded that you beg for your life to the time when you stood your ground against Cyrus without fighting back. You always believed you were going to die (well permanently anyway) either in combat or through some sort of violence, but it’s starting to look like you’ll end up dying as an old man in your sleep. Nothing wrong with that.
Your concern is what exactly happens to you after you perform this ritual? Are you dead? Are you alive? Are you something else? Will you still be on this world? There are so many questions and one of them is will you be better off in this form, or is death better?
You already assume that when you die, you’ll be in Dendrin’s realm. That being your understanding of how death in the service of a god works. What makes this different? Would you just be speeding up the process in some sort of mass suicide?
The fact is, you won’t know unless you go through with it.