Anokatos

''Our wisdom flows so sweet, taste and see.

Look back, sweetling. See ancient death, black winged and brass hearted? Destroyer of breakers of oaths and those who would escape true justice. See his followers, few but loyal. How they emulate him. A scourge from the very gods to fall upon the wicked.

Witness sweetling, how the god’s face changes. Sharp, harsh features grow round and cherubic. Raven wings pale and become swan-white.

As the god changes, so too does his followers. They grow benign, and their numbers swell until they are in every town, caretakers for the dead, priests and scholars.

Now watch the old matron. Watch the contempt grow and fester as she watches these new priests, so soft and weak. Witness the matron drink deep of corruption, planting a seed whose black vines reach through the blood of generations, ensnaring and warping the hearts of the lineage in their thorny grasp.

Look now, sweetling and see the last of the line. Like the rest of his kin, he is a seeker of knowledge. Dangerously so. See him balanced on a precipice, above a gaping chasm.

He fights on, desperate to forge his own destiny, free of a legacy beating upon him like a searing ashen wind. Will he fall, or will he find refuge?

Time will tell, sweetling.''

Papyrus Used Books

Stalking Shadows