The Second Lesson of An-Gho

[Jentos 6906]

T H E  S E C O N D  L E S S O N  O F  A N - G H O

 

 

 

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Spoiler

 

Note: this post is only accessible by draconic beings, and their associated heralds. 

 

And so, in those places that were deep and that were old - in the pits that remembered the first of the dead, and the darkness-that-came-before. In those places that were deep and that were old, did the An-Gho dream of the sun and the moon, and the incessant turning of that great Wheel. In the pits that remembered the first of the dead, the An-Gho dreamed of what would come, of perversion - of objective heresy, in which nothing would crown the world, and swallow its very voice. The An-Gho witnessed the dark, and he held the light, and judged the shadow cast by the flame, equal to its light. The An-Gho wept for this knowledge, for this judgement, for while he beheld the beauty of the consequence, he could not fathom its price. For he saw that men wielded Light, and that men wielded Dark, and that they fell to each other's throats, and that they quarreled without knowing that Light and Dark, are one and the same. I ask of you, burning children and blessed mortals, what is a man ?

 

And so, I bid thee now, put fire to a candle, and watch its singular flame. Watch now how it flickers to the wind - watch how it is a slave to its predicament, for no matter how hot it burns, or how brightly it shines amidst the shadows of a cave, it cannot change its circumstance, and is bound to them. But let the table be crooked, let the wind be too rash, let the one who lit it be too careless, or too cruel, and it can be cast down against a carpet, parchment, or a dry wooden floor. And then what does the flickering flame become ? No matter how far the fire is spread, all flames are alike, and all fires burn the same, the only difference being the scope of that fire. So there is no difference in fire, all is unity - even in strife. So here the An-Gho wonders, how it is that it can be Arbiter, when itself is a flickering flame, among rows upon rows of flickering candles - just as he. So what is a man ? So what is a man ? A man is nothing. A man is nothing but his own disposition, the shadow that bore him. A man is his past, his circumstances - for they predetermine the very nature of his actions. A man is nothing, unless his path is planned. A man is an actor. A man is a cog. A man is a piece. A man is a struggle. A vain attempt. Man stands before Asioth, and the fool will waste his life thinking he can decipher it, while the wise knows he will die having found no answer, but try nonetheless. A man is a journey. So journey well with what you have been given, and count your blessings upon your heart. 

 

    The Fire twists and it turns

    The Fire is never the same

    The Fire flows like a bright river

    The Fire is a man

    The man changes

    The man dies

    The man lives

 

    The man came to the An-Gho

    The man wept for he had lost his name 

    The man clasped at memory with gaunt hands

     The man would not let them go

     The man cried out, wondering what he should do

     That his name was swallowed and lost

     That he was now nothing

    “Die.” said the An-Gho 

     And his command was obeyed

     And a candle was lit

 

 

I am the An-Gho

 

I am Poet

I am Witness,

 

I am Prince among Lords,

 

And I shall see again.