Featherface


"Mokuzai..."

A whisper of wind rustles the leaves in the surrounding wood, a hint of the stormy weather outside, but within this realm it is calm and warm. Mokuzai looks up and sees clouds rushing overhead like time-lapse photography. In front of him a tea kettle nestled in the coals of a dying fire begins to whistle. A face covered in feathers appears in the steam wafting through the air with a mocking expression and a breathy voice.

"Mokuzai..."

The old lore-singer grunts and waves the steam away with his hand before picking the kettle up and pouring himself a cup of tea. "Can't I drink my tea in peace," he says.

The steam reforms into the laughing face, "I'm afraid not, old man. You made your choice back in the Chantry. No peace for you."

Mokuzai pays no attention as the voice goes on, "You've seen the madness that is The-One-Who-Unravels-Mysteries. You've heard his ridiculous prophecies and his slanderous accusations. Do you intend to pay them heed old man?"

Eyes made of steam narrow as they examine the Prill before them. Mokuzai sips his tea, looking at a leaf blowing in the wind. The sky begins to darken and the face speaks again with a prickly tone.

"If you've any sense you'll quit this foolish game. The mana in you needs to be returned. Feed yourself to your Kyo-Tee-Shee, and have it done. There's your answer to the riddle of peace!"

The wind gives a great sigh and the light returns to normal, while the face of steam puffs out one cheek and then the other, bored.

"Seriously, you're going to be in here for a long time with me while your friends take you safely to Omexon. This will be dull if you don't at least participate in the conversation. Surely you have questions. Who was The-One-Who-Unravels-Mysteries, Featherface? Why did he set up this whole prophecy, Featherface? How did Elder Winter get this mask? Where did this staff come from? What's the cataclysm, Featherface? Why does the Wandering Star, wander? C'mon..."

The mountaintop is tranquil while Mokuzai sips noisily at his tea with a little smile turning up the corners of his mouth. The floating mask, the one called Featherface, or in the old-tongue, The-One-Who-Opens-Doors, waits impatiently...

6 comments:

Mario said...

"You seem awfully starved for conversation, One-who-opens-doors. You seem awfully concerned with my course of action, especially for one who retreated beyond the horizon, leaving the plight of Karia in the hands of your fostered children and invaders from the stars. I have been witness to horrors beyond the scope of anything I've heard about even the KyoTeeShee. Horrors with a name only the antithesis of life itself, a cataclysm, could have. And you suggest I simply roll over, die, and allow myself to be consumed by the very KyoTeeShee that has expressed an interest in eating said Enemy? Combine that experience with the testimony of your captive in the Sealed Chamber, and it builds a very compelling case against just about anything you say. So tell me, One-Who-Opens-Doors; Why should I believe anything you say? Why should I trust your counsel? Why should I trust the counsel of anything other than my own mind, hmm?"

Mokuzai sits back, a slight smile smeared smugly across his weathered features.

"No more statements without a convincing argument. No more vague threats or prophecies. If you want me to continue to converse with you, you're going to have convince me you're worth listening to."

Aric Clark said...

"Ho-ho! So prickly.

No matter. Trust isn't necessary for a conversation. I have no reason to really trust you, either, since you seem to be furthering the madness of The-One-Who-Unravels-Mysteries. As far as I can tell you intend me and my kind harm - which would be a grave mistake.

For example it was me who gave the mask to Elder Winter. It was also me who left the staff in the care of the Council at the Grand Chantry. Aren't you curious why?"


Therefore I have an interest in learning more about you, and you would do well to take this opportunity to ask your questions. Doubt me and dislike me as much as you want - I KNOW things. Things you have no way of learning.

Mario said...

A point well made. Very well, no harm in humoring you I suppose. So why did you leave the staff and mask behind? And for that matter, why did I see the staff in the vision of the trial in the sealed chamber?

With the clues we are following, the steps we are taking, I cannot help but feel like a rat following a trail of bread crumbs. What is it you're trying to guide us towards, hmmm? And please, no more vague prophecies of cataclysm.

Aric Clark said...

Ah good, we get to the point. I left the staff and the mask because I was curious. You see, Heresy like the lies spouted by The-One-Who-Unravels-Mysteries is dangerous precisely because it contains a kernel of truth. I wanted to see how deep the truth would go in this particular Heresy.

I left the mask because it belonged to the Heretic and I hoped it would lead Elder Winter to certain discoveries - which it did.

I left the staff, which was mine and thus in the vision you saw the staff in my possession, because it would allow me to communicate with you as I am doing right now; to observe from a distance and judge the progress of this tomfoolery.

You don't like vague prophecies of cataclysm? But how can it be otherwise. In the dawn some unraveled themselves for the sake of others, who then unraveled themselves for yet others, and so on down till now - the dusk. It will all come unraveled soon, unless we are wise enough to resist.

That is why you must cease. You are set on a path which will hasten the unraveling. When Dusk is finished then we are plunged into night.

You feel like a rat following bread crumbs, you say. You are wise, but the crumbs are not mine. They were laid for you by The-One-Who-Unravels-Mysteries. I'm telling you to turn back. The bread leads only to a trap that will snap your neck.

Mario said...

What of the Oni then? What of the quest for peace? Are we to simply let the Oni wreak their destruction upon Karia? Are we to simply lie back and let the waves of Cheldrun exterminate and enslave the Karians and turn the face of Karia into an industrial wasteland?

I want to listen to your counsel. I want to believe your interest is purely in our best interests, but this... this cannot be! Do you understand? It is not the way of the living to simply give themselves over to oblivion! It is not the way of any people to simply give up what they cherish and love!

If you want me to abandon my path, to turn my back on all I hold dear, you're going to have to convince me that the aforementioned atrocities will not come to pass, or at least that there is another way to stop them. My ears are open, One-Who-Opens-Doors.

Aric Clark said...

Sigh. Indeed, the instinct for life is strong. I cannot blame you. You were created that way - to desire to live. Perhaps it was our folly.

However, the Oni are the inevitable consequence of the unraveling. We have been unraveling too long and questing for peace is just another way to ensure that all comes completely unraveled at last. The destruction of Karia is preferable to the unraveling. Though you probably do not believe me.

I will not try and persuade you any longer, though I remain willing to answer you questions. You will not like my answers, I fear. Before I leave you in peace though, I will state my purpose as clearly and simply as possible.

In the very beginning before the Oni. Before Karia. A choice was made. That choice was to unravel. Unraveling meant life, but it also meant eventual destruction of that life. Unraveling leads to the Oni. To resist the Oni, to protect life - this will hasten the unraveling, which will end everything. All that lives. Not just Karia, but throughout the stars. It is a small sacrifice to make, if we succumb to the Oni so that the unraveling will be forestalled.


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