RPC has moved! These pages have been kept for historical purposes

Jancis · **03-28-2015, 08:18 PM**

Jancis beams a smile at Ciel, "Lady, please after these humble follower's words, will you share your voice with us alll?"

Ciel Wulfe gives Jonathan's hand a squeeze and then moves up.
"Take the show, Ciel!"

"Hello again, my friends! As I look around there are more and more new faces each time we gather for one of these. Pray enjoy the Celebration."

"There are countless tales, told and written, in which the gods have left us with something important whether we knew it at the time or not. Gifts, lessons, sometimes these things are what they are, and sometimes the two are one and the same. Some of these things might have been born out of a sense of responsibility, while at other times, they were opportunities which came out of boredom, for even the gods become restless now and then."

"There was such a time when Thaliak looked around his massive library, which was also his home, and stood up from the desk at which he had sat hunched for aeons as he scribed down all he knew. And as the god of knowledge, that truly can take a while. He made his way through the labyrinth of tomes, and peered out a narrow window, past the heavenly gardens which sprawled outside, and into the world of mankind."

"He beheld the countless lives spread across many lands and nations, and while things remained relatively stable for the most part, he saw how fights broke out from time to time. Where borders met and resources ran thin, people clashed. Sometimes these fights were over far more petty things, such as wanting several heads of buffalo from a neighbor's herd, or even a sister's platinum dinnerware set."

"Thaliak saw clearly that people would fight each other simply because one had something the other wanted. Some had more than others, and the ones who had more would often push back and oppress those who did not. He sat back down at his desk and sank into deep thought, stroking his beard as he did so. A lesson was needed, and badly. He soon set to work collecting pieces from his library, heaping numerous tomes into one corner. He laid bare every shelf, packed all of the tomes into a sack, and set out into the world."

"And just how does one carry such a sack when it is filled to brimming with all the world's knowledge?"

"Well, he -is- a god, after all. Let's not over think it."

"Thaliak traveled to each of the nations and left them with an equal portion of each of his tomes as a test. If the mortals believed each nation having an equal portion was good enough, would they spare each other further conflict? Or would the realization that each portion taught something different prompt them to further confrontation?"

"Now, just as the gods can become restless, too, they may become sidetracked, but even these diversions are not without some importance. He soon remembered that spending much time among mankind made him hungry, and so he stopped for lunch somewhere in the Highlands and asked only for a dish of fresh fruit and a cup of tea. A young maid fulfilled this request, and Thaliak stared curiously at what was placed in front of him."

"'Milady?'" He asked tentatively. "'Pray, could you tell me, but what is this red fruit? In all my years, never have I seen this in a fruit salad.'"

"The maid seemed stunned, dare I say even -offended-, at her guest's seeming lack of knowledge. "'Why, that would be a tomato. It -is- a fruit, you see,'" the girl scoffed.

"Thaliak smiled at the maid and ate around the tomato, saving it for last. "'You are correct in that knowledge, dear child, however... wisdom is knowing this does not mingle well with other fruits.' Somehow this only seemed to offend the maid further, and she went off to tend to her other duties, and left Thaliak to finish his meal in silence."

"Once he was finished, he looked around for the maid and couldn't find her. He shrugged to himself and left three fresh sprigs of rosemary on the table as payment, and then he took up the sack of tomes and moved on."

"It took an entire fortnight to deliver all the tomes to each of the nations, and once the sack was blissfully empty, Thaliak retired to his chambers to wait and watch again from his window. Time passed and not much changed. As expected the mortals did indeed clash, not for how much the others had, but for the variety of what they were given. Knowledge is power, and whoever possessed all of it would surely have power to not just fix all of the problems and ills of the world, but ruler-ship over all things."

"As the mortals warred with each other and the tomes were stolen by the stronger armies, Thaliak's library slowly restored itself. The same ones he had gifted to the mortals reappeared on his empty shelves while, in the world below, as the tomes were brought together they seemed to vanish as they merge together into a -single- tome which only grew larger and heavier with each one the soldiers claimed from neighboring lands. Eventually, only one of the nations succeeded in bringing all of them together. At last... all of the world's knowledge in one place, where it belonged."

"Thaliak looked around at his now full library and nodded. He ventured forth once more, this time to the nation which had proven victorious, and approached its leaders just as they opened the gigantic tome and found..."

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"...Nothing! Thousands upon thousands of pages, all of them devoid of a single drop of ink or smear of charcoal."

"'What manner of sorcery have you played upon us?!' they cried, pointing fingers at the old, bearded scholar."

"Calmly, Thaliak swept a hand toward the blank pages which caused more of them to turn without ever touching any of them. 'No sorcery, child, but a gift nonetheless, as I had given to all the lands. In trying to possess all they had, you have instead received the gift of wisdom, for no one man, nor one nation, can possess all the world's knowledge.'

'For all the knowledge in the world is worth less than nothing if it is not used for the sake of all who dwell herein.'"

Ciel finishes her tale and sweeps a bow.

Celebration of The Scholar

RPC has moved! These pages have been kept for historical purposes