For a time I am returning to this regular mass time, one I have held at different points over the past 200 years.
The names and faces of Temuair have changed quite a bit over that time. Even the temple itself has changed since the first time I stood here as assistant to the great Deoch high priests of old.
Things change. It is inevitable and an unquestionably good thing even if we struggle against it at times. But while change is good, forgetting is not. I have always intended to use this spot at the back of this temple to carry forward the wisdom of those that are no longer with us.
To that end, this evening I will repeat a legend that was passed down to me when I was but a young acolyte. A legend that I have recounted here many times and do so again in hopes that you, too, will pass it down when I am gone from this dream.
This is the Legend of the Aisling Spark.
~~~~
Deoch was a shifting, shapeless being of Darkness. He held incredible power, much more than that of a normal Dubhaimid creature that crawled the lands at the time. He was one of the favored of Chadul and was deployed not to decimate the enemy but to tempt them -- to lure them to the side of Darkness. If Deoch at the time was a mindless drone like his lesser brethren or not, we do not know for certain… but nevertheless, during his mission he happened upon something unexpected that would change his very nature forever.
For you see, one day Deoch encountered Danaan seemingly by chance. She was cloistered away; no allies tending Her. She was alone, vulnerable, and looked to be calmly working on something that was taking Her full attention. Being the powerful force of Darkness that he was, this would have made a tempting target for Deoch but he did not take the opportunity to attack his vulnerable foe. Something instead compelled him to watch in secret.
What he saw was Danaan pulling threads of Light out of thin air and weaving them into something which Deoch could not see from his vantage point, but still he remained motionless. Transfixed by the Goddess and Her task.
For days... months... years... time passed. This time changed Deoch; Chadul called to him many times. But he did not answer. He chose to forsake his servitude to his Dark Lord instead of pulling his gaze away from Danaan and the mysterious work She had occupied Herself with.
Over a century had passed since Deoch ignored the call of Chadul until one day Danaan disappeared, mysteriously and without warning. In the years leading up to this, Her work had started to become frantic as if She was working against a deadline. Deoch, either through habit or cautiousness, continued to wait. But Danaan did not return. He slowly emerged from his hiding place and stood before the creation Danaan had left behind. It was a Spark of Light. Delicate in its weaving yet strong but it was… incomplete. If something wasn’t done, it would soon wink out of existence. The work Danaan had done would unravel and be lost forever.
Deoch knew he couldn’t let this happen; he had come to love Danaan and this Spark was all that remained of Her. Filled with sorrow at the disappearance of the Goddess he started to work, inspired by the dedication he had been witness to for so long. Although he wasn’t able to see the full picture of how She had been weaving this creation, the decades he had been watching her outside motions… he was certain he could at least approximate Her design.
For us, it would seem not much but a blink of an eye. But in that moment Deoch spent lifetimes completing Her work. A delicate blending of style and form – two very different creators with very different energies – an impossible union of Light and Darkness. When he stepped away, satisfied with what he had done, Deoch thought back on his time watching Danaan and felt contentment for the first time. A brilliant flash enveloped him rebirthing Deoch as the God of Inspiration for his role in giving life to Danaa’s final work: The Aisling Spark.
No comments:
Post a Comment