Story Time
Jan 13, 2016 8:35:51 GMT
Post by vaultofheroes on Jan 13, 2016 8:35:51 GMT
Origins of Telridia
By Andrew Racine Jr.
My name is Ezumi, and I am dying. After seven hundred and twenty seven years my body is dying of old age. I'm not sad about my impending death. I hope my next life is one of learning and enlightenment. For my people believe that we are stuck in a cycle of rebirth spread across time and space. We believe the only way to break that cycle is to reach a state of enlightenment in one of our lives. Upon breaking the cycle we reach a state of existance or non existance where perhaps we are no longer bound by the mortal shackles that limited us in our previous lives. This is what we strive for atleast. By writing my story I hope to leave something for others to learn from. Perhaps even I will learn something from it after writing it in this life or another.
In my life I've known many pleasures and pains. I've also know much joy and sorrow. I have no regrets from any of them, for each has taught me something. This story is a compilation of those lessons. My race are known as the Elthari, and we live the longest out of all the species that inhabit our known world. I myself have lived longer than most of my people, which is why I take it as a duty to record my life in this story.
My story begins with my birth, for I was born into a nomadic tribe known as the Ithmar. We started out as hunters and gatherers. My earliest memories are from this stage in our development as a society, and so this is where my story begins. The morning brought with it the dawn of a new day, and responsibilities. It was my duty to search for various fruits, nuts, and vegetables that grew in the surrounding forest that we dwelt in for the time being. I was not yet old enough to join the hunting party, which was a right of passage into manhood for my people. At the time I couldn't wait to become a man in my people's eyes. I was eager to prove myself, and my chance to do so would come sooner than expected.
My sister and mother had started gathering early so that our tribe would have more to eat for the nightly feast. I woke at my usual time that morning and rushed to join them only to find that they were not at any of the usual spots. I grew concerned when none of the other tribe members had seen them in hours. But one piece of information I had gotten from my best friend Zalexi led me to believe they had wandered away from the gathering groups in search of new gathering spots since the current ones were running low on resources.
Zalexi was beautiful in my eyes even as a child. We were both at the youthful age of twelve and we were pratically inseperable. As I stood there awe stricken by Zalexi's beauty in the morning light she spoke, "Shall we search for your mother and sister Ezumi? I'm sure they are alright, but perhaps they need some help gathering berries." I replied with a stutter, "Yes, that would be much appreciated Zalexi." So we set off on our little adventure, not thinking of asking for permission from the adults.
We wandered through the forest for what seemed like an eternity in search of my mother and sister. While we searched we held hands and spoke to each other about various things. Zalexi looked to me and said, "Ezumi...do you think I'm pretty?" She pursed her lips together as she waited for my response. I hesitantly replied, "Yes Zalexi, I like the flowers in your hair. Purple is my favorite color too Zalexi." She smiled and said, "Thanks, you're so sweet." I felt all warm and fuzzy inside, and didn't want to let go of her hand.
Suddenly we heard a woman's scream up ahead, followed by the sound of a beast making aggressive noises. We released our grip on each other and ran towards the sounds. We reached the source of the sounds to find my mother and sister fighting off an imethil. An imethil is a long, furry, and elegant creature with a small horn protruding from its head. Its fur is the color of the night sky, and its horn has a silvery hue to it. The imethil let out a primal roar and lashed out towards my mother and sister with its claws. All four of us were stricken with fear, but I knew I had to do something.
I began to quiver with fear, my body almost paralyzed. Something inside me however managed to make me move and pick up a large stick laying on the ground. I ran between the imethil and my family. I then began swinging madly with the stick at the air between me and the beast. I screamed, "Get away!" The imethel lashed out at me and showed me a mouthful of razor sharp fangs. I then brought the stick down on the imethil's head with all my might. The beast let out a sound of pain. The confrontation went on for what seemed forever. We exchanged hits, and I grew tired. My body was covered in cuts from the imethil's claws and horn. Eventually the beast ran off into the woods to seek easier prey, and then I fainted from loss of blood.
I awoke back at the camp to find my wounds had been treated. My family and friends were leaning over me with tears in their eyes. When I openened my eyes Zalexi gave me a rather tight hug, which was painful but made me happy at the same time. For the first time in my life I had experienced a duty of being a man, which was to protect anything he should care about. In this stage of my life it was my family and friends that I cared about.
Looking back I see that there is no right and wrong in life. I think that there are just beings trying to survive and live with what they are given. The beast I encounted that day was not evil, it was just either hungry or protecting something of its own. Maybe protecting something as simple as territory. Then again perhaps what makes something wrong is the negative emotions it causes to those around us. But then why did the creator make right and wrong? Or does right and wrong even exist beyond mortal representation. In the grand scheme of things does it really matter? Some of the parts of our faith derived from this. Whenever you inflict pain and/or suffering on another being, you must experience it yourself in this life or another. You must understand how it feels to be on both sides of the story.
Why did the creator make life full of conflict, pain, and suffering? What is there to learn from it? Perhaps it is just something to give life meaning, or maybe to avoid boredom. If life was full of just good things, then what would there be to overcome and learn from? What would our purpose in life be besides indulging in bliss? So in my interpretation, good and evil exist to give purpose to us. Then again, maybe we are just a source of amusement for the creator or beings beyond our comprehension.
Sometimes I wonder if we are just components that are a part of something greater. The way the blood and organs of the body are a part of us, we are a part of a greater being. We are performing functions that we may be unaware of to sustain the body of the greater being.
Do not hate the imethel for what it does, for it is just doing what it has to do in order to survive. It was given the tools needed to do its purposes. Cunning, stealth, and bodily components are all a part of its design. Its behavior, like us, is also a part of its design. Therefore, do not hate your fellow Elthari for what they do. We are all doing the best we can with what we are given. Our minds, bodies, and spirit are all different. We are all given different roles to play in this grand performance. Evil and the wrong should be met with compassion and understanding, but also with appropriate action.
Mercy comes in many forms, a quick death, correction, or inaction. There are many more forms, but for the sake of my sanity lets keep it simple. Punishment however is not mercy, and is not correction. Punishment is an instrument of revenge. Revenge is a natural thing to pursue, but as logical beings we should strive for compassion, understanding, and mercy. After all, the best revenge is living your life well despite all the horrible things done to you. Find comfort in knowing that we must all walk in each other's shoes. Find comfort in knowing that we must experience each other's pain and suffering. Unless you are ready to grant the ultimate mercy, forgiveness. Perhaps forgiveness will lead to mercy for yourself as well, and the cycle of punishment will be broken.
No matter what we all inflict pain and/or suffering on another being at some point in our life. This is an inescapable fate as long as we exist with these current limitations and factors of life. Maybe that is why the creator seems absent in our lives sometimes. By taking action as a powerful creature would negate pain and suffering for one or many, but cause it for others. Granting the desires of one, could inflict pain and suffering on another. We wish for the love of that special girl in our lives, but we deny that special love that girl could give to another. While there is a winner, there is a loser. It is almost selfish to desire anything, therefore we must be that much more grateful when good things happen to us. Know that everything comes at the expense of something or someone else.
By Andrew Racine Jr.
My name is Ezumi, and I am dying. After seven hundred and twenty seven years my body is dying of old age. I'm not sad about my impending death. I hope my next life is one of learning and enlightenment. For my people believe that we are stuck in a cycle of rebirth spread across time and space. We believe the only way to break that cycle is to reach a state of enlightenment in one of our lives. Upon breaking the cycle we reach a state of existance or non existance where perhaps we are no longer bound by the mortal shackles that limited us in our previous lives. This is what we strive for atleast. By writing my story I hope to leave something for others to learn from. Perhaps even I will learn something from it after writing it in this life or another.
In my life I've known many pleasures and pains. I've also know much joy and sorrow. I have no regrets from any of them, for each has taught me something. This story is a compilation of those lessons. My race are known as the Elthari, and we live the longest out of all the species that inhabit our known world. I myself have lived longer than most of my people, which is why I take it as a duty to record my life in this story.
My story begins with my birth, for I was born into a nomadic tribe known as the Ithmar. We started out as hunters and gatherers. My earliest memories are from this stage in our development as a society, and so this is where my story begins. The morning brought with it the dawn of a new day, and responsibilities. It was my duty to search for various fruits, nuts, and vegetables that grew in the surrounding forest that we dwelt in for the time being. I was not yet old enough to join the hunting party, which was a right of passage into manhood for my people. At the time I couldn't wait to become a man in my people's eyes. I was eager to prove myself, and my chance to do so would come sooner than expected.
My sister and mother had started gathering early so that our tribe would have more to eat for the nightly feast. I woke at my usual time that morning and rushed to join them only to find that they were not at any of the usual spots. I grew concerned when none of the other tribe members had seen them in hours. But one piece of information I had gotten from my best friend Zalexi led me to believe they had wandered away from the gathering groups in search of new gathering spots since the current ones were running low on resources.
Zalexi was beautiful in my eyes even as a child. We were both at the youthful age of twelve and we were pratically inseperable. As I stood there awe stricken by Zalexi's beauty in the morning light she spoke, "Shall we search for your mother and sister Ezumi? I'm sure they are alright, but perhaps they need some help gathering berries." I replied with a stutter, "Yes, that would be much appreciated Zalexi." So we set off on our little adventure, not thinking of asking for permission from the adults.
We wandered through the forest for what seemed like an eternity in search of my mother and sister. While we searched we held hands and spoke to each other about various things. Zalexi looked to me and said, "Ezumi...do you think I'm pretty?" She pursed her lips together as she waited for my response. I hesitantly replied, "Yes Zalexi, I like the flowers in your hair. Purple is my favorite color too Zalexi." She smiled and said, "Thanks, you're so sweet." I felt all warm and fuzzy inside, and didn't want to let go of her hand.
Suddenly we heard a woman's scream up ahead, followed by the sound of a beast making aggressive noises. We released our grip on each other and ran towards the sounds. We reached the source of the sounds to find my mother and sister fighting off an imethil. An imethil is a long, furry, and elegant creature with a small horn protruding from its head. Its fur is the color of the night sky, and its horn has a silvery hue to it. The imethil let out a primal roar and lashed out towards my mother and sister with its claws. All four of us were stricken with fear, but I knew I had to do something.
I began to quiver with fear, my body almost paralyzed. Something inside me however managed to make me move and pick up a large stick laying on the ground. I ran between the imethil and my family. I then began swinging madly with the stick at the air between me and the beast. I screamed, "Get away!" The imethel lashed out at me and showed me a mouthful of razor sharp fangs. I then brought the stick down on the imethil's head with all my might. The beast let out a sound of pain. The confrontation went on for what seemed forever. We exchanged hits, and I grew tired. My body was covered in cuts from the imethil's claws and horn. Eventually the beast ran off into the woods to seek easier prey, and then I fainted from loss of blood.
I awoke back at the camp to find my wounds had been treated. My family and friends were leaning over me with tears in their eyes. When I openened my eyes Zalexi gave me a rather tight hug, which was painful but made me happy at the same time. For the first time in my life I had experienced a duty of being a man, which was to protect anything he should care about. In this stage of my life it was my family and friends that I cared about.
Looking back I see that there is no right and wrong in life. I think that there are just beings trying to survive and live with what they are given. The beast I encounted that day was not evil, it was just either hungry or protecting something of its own. Maybe protecting something as simple as territory. Then again perhaps what makes something wrong is the negative emotions it causes to those around us. But then why did the creator make right and wrong? Or does right and wrong even exist beyond mortal representation. In the grand scheme of things does it really matter? Some of the parts of our faith derived from this. Whenever you inflict pain and/or suffering on another being, you must experience it yourself in this life or another. You must understand how it feels to be on both sides of the story.
Why did the creator make life full of conflict, pain, and suffering? What is there to learn from it? Perhaps it is just something to give life meaning, or maybe to avoid boredom. If life was full of just good things, then what would there be to overcome and learn from? What would our purpose in life be besides indulging in bliss? So in my interpretation, good and evil exist to give purpose to us. Then again, maybe we are just a source of amusement for the creator or beings beyond our comprehension.
Sometimes I wonder if we are just components that are a part of something greater. The way the blood and organs of the body are a part of us, we are a part of a greater being. We are performing functions that we may be unaware of to sustain the body of the greater being.
Do not hate the imethel for what it does, for it is just doing what it has to do in order to survive. It was given the tools needed to do its purposes. Cunning, stealth, and bodily components are all a part of its design. Its behavior, like us, is also a part of its design. Therefore, do not hate your fellow Elthari for what they do. We are all doing the best we can with what we are given. Our minds, bodies, and spirit are all different. We are all given different roles to play in this grand performance. Evil and the wrong should be met with compassion and understanding, but also with appropriate action.
Mercy comes in many forms, a quick death, correction, or inaction. There are many more forms, but for the sake of my sanity lets keep it simple. Punishment however is not mercy, and is not correction. Punishment is an instrument of revenge. Revenge is a natural thing to pursue, but as logical beings we should strive for compassion, understanding, and mercy. After all, the best revenge is living your life well despite all the horrible things done to you. Find comfort in knowing that we must all walk in each other's shoes. Find comfort in knowing that we must experience each other's pain and suffering. Unless you are ready to grant the ultimate mercy, forgiveness. Perhaps forgiveness will lead to mercy for yourself as well, and the cycle of punishment will be broken.
No matter what we all inflict pain and/or suffering on another being at some point in our life. This is an inescapable fate as long as we exist with these current limitations and factors of life. Maybe that is why the creator seems absent in our lives sometimes. By taking action as a powerful creature would negate pain and suffering for one or many, but cause it for others. Granting the desires of one, could inflict pain and suffering on another. We wish for the love of that special girl in our lives, but we deny that special love that girl could give to another. While there is a winner, there is a loser. It is almost selfish to desire anything, therefore we must be that much more grateful when good things happen to us. Know that everything comes at the expense of something or someone else.