The Chronicles of Bael

The Chronicles of Bael Part 8

Freezeday, Death Week, Sea Season, 1600

My Master emerged from his studies today. He appeared distracted but could obviously sense my need to speak with him. The question on my lips had played heavily in my head for the last week. Why would Lhankor Mhy not send his spirit of reprisal, 'The Brain Flayer', against us for transgressing the dictates of his laws? My Master explained that our illumination not only allowed us to ignore cult restrictions but also made us immune to our God's spirit of reprisal. But we must be careful, he explained, for to flagrantly disobey cult tenets would most surely reveal us for who we are to those who observe such behavior. And we are neither of us immune from another Priest casting a Divination spell to discover any transgression of cult laws.

And then my Master's demeanor changed and he spoke to me in earnest.

"Ours is a most dangerous world. Some say only the strong may rule, I say that only the strong may survive and remain free. Freedom to live our lives as we see fit, in the pursuit of your own desires, is the greatest gift to be treasured and fought for. Your mother and I refused to live by the tenets of our family and chose our own path, but this course is never easy".

"One must always be stronger than the one who seeks to enslave you or to destroy you. Nysalor himself failed in this understanding. Each time that he blocked Arkat's ambitions to destroy him he did nothing to prepare for the next onslaught. Unlike Nysalor, Arkat knew the lesson that I teach you today. Each time he failed to defeat Nysalor he would disappear into the Hero Plane and return with some great magic or power that would allow him to defeat the armies of Nysalor's Golden Empire. When Arkat finally won for himself Humakt's Unbreakable Sword, the Golden Empire was doomed".

"You must be stronger than any who may threaten you, and you must seek this power wherever and whenever you can. Your illumination has provided you with many gifts and you must learn to use them as I have. The greatest of these is the knowledge that you may ignore the Gods in the same way that one might ignore men. Even now, despite your illumination you fail to see what is in front of you. Think".

At first my Master's words made no sense, but he had set me a test, so I sought to follow the trail of logic as my Master had taught me to do. What power cannot be perceived? What power cannot be perceived in an Illuminate? Chaos! To truly understand your subject, you must immerse yourself in it. I could not discern what Chaos feature my Master possessed, it presented no outward manifestation. I thought I should be horrified at that moment of realization but I was not. Perhaps it was my illumination, perhaps envy; perhaps the tide of revelations had numbed my senses.

My Master was proud that I had answered his test, and I believe that he was proud to reveal that the Chaos feature that he possessed had provided him with intelligence far beyond the capacity of a normal man. I had bourn witness to that intelligence and had thought little upon it. Now much was clear, for my Master's academic achievements set him amongst the greatest scholars of Lhankor Mhy. Yet the pride in his face revealed one more thing to me, was it the pride in his inhuman gift that had ensured that we had never found a home at any of the Great Temples, forever to be a Wild Sage? Perhaps not, perhaps this was a reflection more of his philosophy of personal freedom.

Before I could ask him how he had acquired this Chaos gift, my Master interrupted me with this disquieting statement.

"Bael, it is time for you to undertake a quest on your own".