The Story
"Watch as the sky below us becomes darker; such is the way of all time, long until after the end."
"You mean 'until the end'?" "No, for during the end there will still be sky; only after will there be something different." "And what will that be Moqsui?" "Only those who are building it know. So much is beyond our understanding; there are far more questions than answers.
"But aren't questions the way one becomes wise?" "Questions are a way of how one gains knowledge, but there are more ways than asking of things people cannot know. Take time and sit, Piluxia, and listen to the sounds echoing from the edge of what is, there you will find more knowledge than in any collection of parables."
"But Istuie, how will I know what to hear?" "Child, I am not so old as to be called 'flame-bearer', nor am I so wise. Simply let come what will come, what is important will allow you to divine it and remember it. Make not the effort to sort out what is and what is not necessary, all is important, or it would not exist."
"Tell me of the Nature, Mosqui." "What do you wish to hear?" "Why are we encouraged to be creative, yet some things stay in 'tradition'?" "You speak of time." "Yes."
"Not everything must be so complicated when it can be simple. We speak of 'what was' because it was the period before our ancestors, when none can recall song or story of what happened; this is a time older than the stars above. We speak of 'what is' as the time that we have our first story from all the way up until 'the end', which could perhaps be better called 'the change', when everything that is and was will become a part of the time we call 'what will be'. No one knows what lies upon the other side of 'the end', but there is something, there must be; what is simply cannot vanish into nothingness, the cycle does not change for the smallest ant, nor for all of what is."
"Tell me of the spirits, Mosqui." "What have you heard, daughter?" "Some say that not all who journey on become part of what will be, they say that some stay with us."
"Some do stay behind; some as guides, or as protectors, and some as maleficent, what some call 'demons'. No one knows why some stay, perhaps it is all part of what must happen, perhaps there is something else causing it that we do not know of, something not written or passed down, something left over from what was, but one day it will become clear when what will be comes."
"Tell me a story, Mosqui." "What story would you like to hear?" "Tell me of Axyen." "Ah, Axyen Iiliopyxs; Axyen the Wise."
"Legend tells of a wanderer with no village, one who survived only for himself and by himself. He was born without sight, and his family hid him for fear of exile from the Onclei, the Council, for in their own spiritual blindness they saw such things as curses.
"One day as a child, Axyen wandered from his home, stumbling over root and stone, following the sound of running water to the river where the Onclei held court. Upon seeing the family rush to claim him and hide him, the Onclei demanded the truth of him. When told he was blind, the Onclei ordered him sent off, but the parents refused and promised to keep him hidden away. But the Onclei would not agree and wrestled the young Axyen away to throw him into the river. As he was about to be cast away, this boy uttered the word "Kaluuma", which no one had ever heard before. When asked about the meaning, he simply replied that the wind had told him. The Onclei did not believe in such things and cast him away as unclean.
Years passed as Axyen grew and wandered the width and breadth of Iora, surviving and learning with each passing moment of wakefulness and dream, until one day he chanced back upon his former village. The Onclei were summoned at once and gathered to prohibit him from returning, but instead of anger or resentment, Axyen only called for an answer; he asked of the gathered elders, 'What is it that carries all things in its own measure, yet cannot be seen of its own?' No one could answer for they had long forgotten their ancestors' knowledge. 'The wind,' said Axyen, 'the wind which is the movement of what there is that surrounds us. We are all a part of something greater, something to which we all become, something below this dirt under my feet and above the sky over my head. This something is called "Kaluuma"'
"And those that had gathered marveled at how a blind man could see this. 'I have seen more without sight than many with a thousand eyes because I thirsted to understand. I was spoken to through the rustle of leaves, the feel of a fallen tree as I traveled its length to cross a river who spoke its own through the spray against the tree. They have told me of what was, and what is, and what will be.' The Onclei became worried and cried against him, 'Who are you to teach us of such things?' Axyen only said, 'I am one who listens.' At this, all fell stunned. 'This knowledge was not given to me for vanity', Axyen declared, 'it is given to anyone who turns to the grass and asks of it, or to the songbird, or to the very sky above.'
"That moment was the beginning of our people, the moment that we were reminded that knowledge is to be spread and that ignorance should not be scorned, but given to understanding. Many years later, Axyen grew tired and all gathered around him by the river one last time. He said to all of those, 'For too long we have misunderstood when one of us leaves this way. This is but another journey, one that takes us into what will be, where there may be different mysteries, or there may be complete understanding. I look forward to this, to continue to grow in knowledge is something that must always be present in one's mind. To feel right to root on one stair and cease to learn is foolish, for existence itself is a lesson; every step, every breath, every motion, every sight, sound, touch, feeling, all of what is exists something to be learned.'
"The last word he spoke was the same as his first, 'Kaluuma', which became not only our word for all of what exists, but also a word of greeting and parting. Axyen's life is where we mark the time of 'what is', it was a return to our knowledge and wisdom, and should we ever stray again I believe that another like Axyen will come to remind us once more."
"You mean 'until the end'?" "No, for during the end there will still be sky; only after will there be something different." "And what will that be Moqsui?" "Only those who are building it know. So much is beyond our understanding; there are far more questions than answers.
"But aren't questions the way one becomes wise?" "Questions are a way of how one gains knowledge, but there are more ways than asking of things people cannot know. Take time and sit, Piluxia, and listen to the sounds echoing from the edge of what is, there you will find more knowledge than in any collection of parables."
"But Istuie, how will I know what to hear?" "Child, I am not so old as to be called 'flame-bearer', nor am I so wise. Simply let come what will come, what is important will allow you to divine it and remember it. Make not the effort to sort out what is and what is not necessary, all is important, or it would not exist."
"Tell me of the Nature, Mosqui." "What do you wish to hear?" "Why are we encouraged to be creative, yet some things stay in 'tradition'?" "You speak of time." "Yes."
"Not everything must be so complicated when it can be simple. We speak of 'what was' because it was the period before our ancestors, when none can recall song or story of what happened; this is a time older than the stars above. We speak of 'what is' as the time that we have our first story from all the way up until 'the end', which could perhaps be better called 'the change', when everything that is and was will become a part of the time we call 'what will be'. No one knows what lies upon the other side of 'the end', but there is something, there must be; what is simply cannot vanish into nothingness, the cycle does not change for the smallest ant, nor for all of what is."
"Tell me of the spirits, Mosqui." "What have you heard, daughter?" "Some say that not all who journey on become part of what will be, they say that some stay with us."
"Some do stay behind; some as guides, or as protectors, and some as maleficent, what some call 'demons'. No one knows why some stay, perhaps it is all part of what must happen, perhaps there is something else causing it that we do not know of, something not written or passed down, something left over from what was, but one day it will become clear when what will be comes."
"Tell me a story, Mosqui." "What story would you like to hear?" "Tell me of Axyen." "Ah, Axyen Iiliopyxs; Axyen the Wise."
"Legend tells of a wanderer with no village, one who survived only for himself and by himself. He was born without sight, and his family hid him for fear of exile from the Onclei, the Council, for in their own spiritual blindness they saw such things as curses.
"One day as a child, Axyen wandered from his home, stumbling over root and stone, following the sound of running water to the river where the Onclei held court. Upon seeing the family rush to claim him and hide him, the Onclei demanded the truth of him. When told he was blind, the Onclei ordered him sent off, but the parents refused and promised to keep him hidden away. But the Onclei would not agree and wrestled the young Axyen away to throw him into the river. As he was about to be cast away, this boy uttered the word "Kaluuma", which no one had ever heard before. When asked about the meaning, he simply replied that the wind had told him. The Onclei did not believe in such things and cast him away as unclean.
Years passed as Axyen grew and wandered the width and breadth of Iora, surviving and learning with each passing moment of wakefulness and dream, until one day he chanced back upon his former village. The Onclei were summoned at once and gathered to prohibit him from returning, but instead of anger or resentment, Axyen only called for an answer; he asked of the gathered elders, 'What is it that carries all things in its own measure, yet cannot be seen of its own?' No one could answer for they had long forgotten their ancestors' knowledge. 'The wind,' said Axyen, 'the wind which is the movement of what there is that surrounds us. We are all a part of something greater, something to which we all become, something below this dirt under my feet and above the sky over my head. This something is called "Kaluuma"'
"And those that had gathered marveled at how a blind man could see this. 'I have seen more without sight than many with a thousand eyes because I thirsted to understand. I was spoken to through the rustle of leaves, the feel of a fallen tree as I traveled its length to cross a river who spoke its own through the spray against the tree. They have told me of what was, and what is, and what will be.' The Onclei became worried and cried against him, 'Who are you to teach us of such things?' Axyen only said, 'I am one who listens.' At this, all fell stunned. 'This knowledge was not given to me for vanity', Axyen declared, 'it is given to anyone who turns to the grass and asks of it, or to the songbird, or to the very sky above.'
"That moment was the beginning of our people, the moment that we were reminded that knowledge is to be spread and that ignorance should not be scorned, but given to understanding. Many years later, Axyen grew tired and all gathered around him by the river one last time. He said to all of those, 'For too long we have misunderstood when one of us leaves this way. This is but another journey, one that takes us into what will be, where there may be different mysteries, or there may be complete understanding. I look forward to this, to continue to grow in knowledge is something that must always be present in one's mind. To feel right to root on one stair and cease to learn is foolish, for existence itself is a lesson; every step, every breath, every motion, every sight, sound, touch, feeling, all of what is exists something to be learned.'
"The last word he spoke was the same as his first, 'Kaluuma', which became not only our word for all of what exists, but also a word of greeting and parting. Axyen's life is where we mark the time of 'what is', it was a return to our knowledge and wisdom, and should we ever stray again I believe that another like Axyen will come to remind us once more."