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Letter to Spiritual Workshop Organizers
Posted: 12 Jan 2007 01:35 PM |
*Letter left with Winky at Brandibuck's Hole in the Ground Inn for the organizers of the spiritual workshop the next time they happen to pass by. It is written on a scroll, the letters inside are neat, near newspaper printed style yet handwritten and the scroll itself is wrapped close, sealed by red wax with the stamp of a Serpent and a Vulture overlapped.*
I was unfortunately unable to attend the coordinated event you have arranged. Nevertheless, I have an interest of sorts in some of the things that may have been said, and would be quite grateful if you could provide me either in person a summary of the most interesting arguments or with a written transcript of the discussions.
I am willing to reimburse your time, effort, and any other inconvenience you foresee from such a request. I may be reached at the Four Winds Inn, simply leave a letter to Uwe. Should you accept my offer, please inform me ahead of the means you will provide the information, as if it will be in person, I will require to make arrangements to bring along a scribe to take notes.
Malviki |
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Re: Letter to Spiritual Workshop Organizers
Posted: 13 Jan 2007 06:33 PM |
Emma, pajama-clad and bleary-eyed, traverses the short distance across the common room of the Inn to wash up, offering a weak smile in the direction of what her sleep encrusted eyes presume is Winky. The comforting aroma of the hin weed tickles at her nostrils; odd, she thinks: the Black Pearl carries similar smells, yet there is a mote of underlying decay to them. Here, they seem natural, and soothing.
"Ey miss, yer spake last eve, ded ya'?" Winky asks, returning her smile with a somewhat more assured one.
Emma nods, pulling a toothbrush from a small, self-sewn toiletry bag.
"There's a fella what wants ter nah what evrywun ded say. Says he'd like a text if folks was takin' notes. I'd say most fellas was jes' 'ere ta get their minds off wot 'appened, 'en wasn' doin' much writin'. Do yeh 'ave any notes?"
Emma looks down at the papers in her hand, then to the washroom, then back to the papers. They are soft and dog-eared, and she'd had a different purpose in mind for them; her speech was hardly of any literary value, but if it brought hope and light to just one soul, perhaps it was of some value.
She hands the papers to Winky with a shrug. They read as follows:
I have been…invited…to speak to you today about two faiths, one of which I do not hold to, and one of which pervades my being. To those who wish a long exposition of the God Midoran, I extend my sincere apologies.
He is the God most worshipped where I hail from, but He is not my God. The actions of His followers are by now infamous, and I’ll not play apologist, nor can I offer explanations. All that I can say, in defense of some who followed Him, is that, in the aftermath of the massacre near my home, Paws, many Midoran priests converged on the town and brought back the villagers who had died so cruelly at the hands of followers of the elven God Tarik.
They were caring men, those priests, and I will always be grateful to them, regardless of the frightening sins that came prior and later. Paws could have become a ghost town, it’s children orphans, but for their efforts.
So ends my discussion of Midoran, such as it was.
So…the Fair Sister Vilyave. I would start by saying that I am neither a priestess nor am I…typical…of her followers. I don’t sing, I don’t husband mammal and avian, and I don’t stand before you with the obvious…gifts…that so many of Vilyave’s followers have.
Faith, however, is personal, and I stand before you to relate how –I- interpret my faith. I believe that we all have a soul, and that we are the sum total of the kindness we bestow on others. I believe that, in death, the Gods shepherd the souls of their followers to a place without strife or despair, depending, of course, on the God…malevolent Gods ostensibly don’t offer such a comfortable retreat.
I also believe, though, that, for me, life is the first part of the cycle that ends in Vilyave’s embrace, that living life to the fullest is a duty, and an honour bestowed on us by the Gods. Life should not be taken…for granted.
Much is made of the Vilyavian emphasis on beauty, which I see in some of her followers as divinity reflected on the face of the mortal. A beautiful person inspires others to be all they can be…though…I…personally…don’t accept…an emphasis on vanity. That is merely my view.
I see beauty reflected in the crooked smile, the wrinkles worn into an old face from too many years of smiling, the babe suckling at his mother’s breast. I see beauty in the healer, the protector, and the martyr. I see beauty in acts of kindness and courage, in the denial of self for the good of all.
I’m neither historian, nor philosopher, nor theologian, but –I- believe that the Goddess I worship, the Goddess of the Four Winds, of birds, of freedom, and of beauty, wants nothing more than happiness for all of us. When her Sisters threatened to destroy life as we know it through Their war in the cold lands, it was She who intervened and brought us all back from the precipice. All three Sisters had to work together with the most majestic creatures of existence, the…dragons…to heal the scars and wounds that the older Two had inflicted.
I do not believe She is all-powerful, or all-knowing. I believe we…are…created…in the image of the Gods. They can be fickle, They can be arbitrary, and, as sacriligious as this may sound, They can be wrong.
I believe Vilyave cares, cares for the world, cares for her followers, cares for the creatures both wild and tame that are shepherded by druid and ranger alike. I do not believe she sees Her followers, or any mortals, as tools to an end, but as an end in and of themselves.
I believe She loves us, without equivocation, and it is that love that inspires me. As I said at the start, faith is personal, and my interpretation of my faith is my own, and perhaps wrong-headed.
Nonetheless, it is this faith that defines so much of who I am.
((This isn't exactly what Emma said, but it is what I had intended her to say )) |
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Re: Letter to Spiritual Workshop Organizers
Posted: 15 Jan 2007 12:26 PM |
*A clipped note is left c/o Uwe at the Four Winds*
It is my understanding that a scribe was present during the meeting. While I did not catch his name, he was of dwarvish ancestry and possessed of a greenish tint. Track him down and you will likely find your transcript.
RV |
True solace is finding none, which is to say, it is everywhere.
-Gretel Ehrlich |
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Re: Letter to Spiritual Workshop Organizers
Posted: 15 Jan 2007 01:38 PM |
Walking into Brandibuck's Hole in the Ground, Malviki sits at the bar and beckons to Winky with a knowing move for his usual; a glass of wine.
"So, do you have any news for me?"
"Oh. No Malviki, just this one written piece from one of the attendants."
He passes the notes from under his bar to Malviki. As he unfolds them looking up to Winky with a slightly raised eyebrow.
"And who are these from?"
As he hears Emma's description he smirks to himself, but opens the notes none the less, giving it a brief glance at some lines of the text and then folds them up neatly, walks to the fire and throws them in. Walking back to the bar, Winky gives him a curious look.
"Not what you were looking for Malviki?"
"Faaaaaaaaaaar from it."
Smirking once more he downs his wine and heads to leave, pausing at the door to toss a couple of gold coins in Winky's direction.
"You will let me know if anyone else shows up."
It was more a statement than a question as he turned to leave not waiting for an answer. It was time to head to the Four Winds in case there was something there for him. |
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Re: Letter to Spiritual Workshop Organizers
Posted: 22 Jan 2007 07:38 PM |
| Reading the note left by someone signed RV he mutters to himself. Green Dwarf? What's next pink Elves? He marches out of the Four Winds bemused. He only knew one Dwarf and he wasn't green. This was going to be a wild goose chase. Perhaps Kalid would have better luck, she seemed to be able to track people down effectively. |
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