MotB conversations

A fragment of the Garden of Remembering

vo_z05_kelemvor

KELEMVOR
Kaelyn the Dove, leader of the Second Crusade, and formerly one of my doomguides, returned. You are not welcome here, and your grandfather cannot intervene to save you a second time. Your presence is a reminder that I should not have been merciful.
KAELYN
Has anything you have done in your reign been merciful, my Lord? I think that is the question you should ask.
KELEMVOR
Pride is not a shield from me, Kaelyn. Do not test my will in this.
(to Timo)
And you, spirit-eater. You have brought strife to my gates... ignored every warning... allied yourself to a cause whose consequences were plain before your eyes. Do you understand what you risk? Bring down the Wall, and mortals will see that they cannot be held to account for their faith. On that day, mortals will put faith aside. And the gods will bring vengeance upon them all.
Jhaiee nudges Jadzia.
JADZIA AZALL
Nnng. No.
JHAIEE
Come on, I've been reading the logs. I wanna hear you say it.
JADZIA AZALL
That was someone else. Not me.
TIMO
You could have stopped me long before this, but you didn't.
KELEMVOR
You have seen Myrkul, and heard his twisted words. Can you not guess my reason for yourself?
TIMO
You didn't stop me because you know Myrkul's curse was unjust. But if you simply undid it yourself, it would scream to all the planes that a god's judgement had been overturned...
KELEMVOR
...and from that, I am forbidden. But if a mortal undid the curse, it would mean that there had always been a way to end Akachi's suffering.
KAELYN
You play games, and the currency is the suffering of the innocent? If you have pride, at least answer for your actions!
KELEMVOR
Even the gods are bound by laws, Kaelyn.
JHAIEE
...fine.
Kelemvor! You're a shite arse liar!
JADZIA AZALL
Agh, what? What are you doing?
JHAIEE
(marching forward)
Nope, you're making me do this! I'm doing this now!
(yelling)
Kelemvor, you useless fuck, you listen to me when I'm talking at you! I'm calling your bullshite!
You're forbidden? Lack of faith leads to vengeance? Are you even hearing yourself?
KELEMVOR
I once thought the same, mortal, when I first rose to godhood. I granted mercy to False and Faithless alike... and men began to drift from the gods. I saw for myself the error of judging souls with the eyes of a mortal and learned to judge them with the eyes of a god.
JHAIEE
Nope, stop, back up.
You. Right there. You fucked up. You admit you fucked up. You. A god.
(she points at him)
Which means gods can fuck up. Which means you have fuckups that need to be fixed.
JUST FIX THE MOTHERFUCKING FUCKUPS. FUCKER.
KELEMVOR
It's not-
JHAIEE
(turning to Jadzia)
Wait, who said what last?
Jadzia just bursts out laughing.
JADZIA AZALL
(getting ahold of herself)
You.
JHAIEE
MOTHERFUCKING. AAAAA.
KELEMVOR
Excuse me?
Jhaiee gets out a knife and stabs Jadzia, and then just leaves the knife sticking out of her.
JADZIA AZALL
Ow.
Um, I think he was actually trying to answer your question.
JHAIEE
...what question?
There's a bit of a pause as everyone sort of tries to figure just what's going on.
TIMO
Why can't you change this? Isn't that the whole point of being a god, to be able to have this kind of power?
KELEMVOR
I cannot. To overturn another god, annul a judgement that has already been made, that is forbidden to me.
As the heir of Akachi, you had the chance to set things right. To show the planes that some justice - however cruel it may seem - is necessary to prevent the greater evil.
JHAIEE
Huh?
TIMO
You call it justice - I call it cowardice. You are afraid to challenge the cruelty of the Wall.
KELEMVOR
Call it what you will. No god may challenge the judgements of the dead. And your curse is no different.
JHAIEE
What the absolute fuck? Are you seriously saying you have a system where all commits are final, and anything, if ever previously committed, cannot be undone? Are you insane? It's going to keep getting more unstable the longer it goes...
KELEMVOR
Phaemea Andaris, I'm warning you...
JHAIEE
You don't get it. If what you say-
Jhaiee just disappears, removed from the plane entirely.
JADZIA AZALL
Huh.
KELEMVOR
Spirit-eater, tearing your soul from the Wall will not be enough. Myrkul's cruelties are not so easily undone. Akachi's hunger was born of loss - the loss of memory, soul, and self. He can only be freed from his hunger if he remembers who and what he is.
TIMO
Speak plainly. How can that be done?
KELEMVOR
Take back what is yours from the Wall. And then return to Akachi what is his. All that you need... you have already found in dreams.
Timo just does... not get it.
TIMO
...Gan?
KAELYN
We came here to free every soul from the wall. This crusade-
KELEMVOR
You will not. I allowed you to come this far because your companion's curse was unfairly earned. But as you have seen already, I can cast you from this plane with a mere thought...
You will wrest no souls from the Wall, except for his. Until you find a way to battle a god in his own realm, the Wall of the Faithless will stand. You are not that strong, none of you, not yet.
KAELYN
The Wall cannot persist, and even should we fail, the acts done here will serve as a beacon to others.
JADZIA AZALL
No, Kaelyn. It needs to be him.
Kelemvor is the only one who can take the Wall down without multiplying the suffering a thousandfold across the planes, and all we've done here is antagonise him further from the entire concept...
KAELYN
What?
JADZIA AZALL
(shaking her head)
It took me a long time to come around to the reality of this, the true horror of the wall, and how misguided the entire philosophy of its necessity really was. That even the 'good', the 'just', could fail to communicate so completely that all they fall back to is a threat, that if you do not do what they want, bad things will come to you. And that is neither good nor just.
(to Kelemvor)
You were the only reason I ever thought it might be... okay. You spoke so well, so adeptly, with your followers so consistent in their presentation of your teachings, that for a long time, I simply went along with it, thought... it can't be that bad. So many... good folk, all in agreement. They must be right.
But that's just herd mentality. People will go along with a lot of things if it's what they're used to, what they know, and what everyone else is doing...
Jhaiee just randomly reappears next to her.
JHAIEE
You can say 'evil', you know.
The wall, that... thing. It's evil. Unambiguously bad. An affront to happy pleasant things. Rather... not good. The opposite of good. That thing. That thing... that isn't good.
Kelemvor almost acknowledges Jhaiee, and then just... doesn't.
JADZIA AZALL
(smiling a bit at Jhaiee's interjection)
It took years and many people I respect greatly to convince me, and I'm just one person.
(to Kaelyn)
You need to convince Kelemvor, truly change his faith, and that's not going to be easy.
JHAIEE
You know you have a knife sticking out of you?
KELEMVOR
(to Jadzia)
I know you. You were one of my faithful, once.
JADZIA AZALL
(surprised, but trying to cover it)
I... I suppose that's true...
GANN
(to Timo)
Some of your gods really can't keep their followers, can they?
JADZIA AZALL
It was long ago, another lifetime. I've learned much since then, and am no longer who I was.
Still...
One never does truly forget their first love, now do they?
Safiya looks at Timo.
Timo looks at Kaelyn.
Gann looks at everyone, and licks his lips.
JHAIEE
Juicy.
KELEMVOR
But what have you forgotten? Behind all your masks, does anything remain of the one who once served me?
JADZIA AZALL
Just what is it you see when you look at me? Who do you see?
KELEMVOR
Behind the masks, more masks, and behind those... I see pain. Suffering beyond measure. Whoever you were is gone, but for all that remains in masks. You should not be.
JHAIEE
Shit, he actually sees you. Abort?
JADZIA AZALL
And you recognised some of the masks, didn't you.
Timo, I'm so sorry for this distraction. Your suffering, at least, can come to an end.
TIMO
But what do I do?
JADZIA AZALL
Take back your soul. Face what Akachi has become, and make him whole.
KELEMVOR
I warn you... the Wall does not willingly part with its treasures. Even if they are wrongfully won.
Kelemvor exits or fades away.
JADZIA
Trust. Follow the flow, and the dream will guide you through.
GANN
(pointing)
Is that your soul? There, in the Wall?
KAELYN
(secretly horrified)
It struggles, but cannot free itself.
The cat just starts blasting it.
Retrieved from ‘https://wiki.zaori.org/w/index.php?title=MotB_conversations&oldid=4252’

Green is not a creative colour.