King Edward, Part XIIAnonymousèÒ) @ío} } Ù–`èx!N%°)j.Ø2g7³;‰@UDÐGsK"OùýKing Edward, Part XIIùýý The dragon had paused, so Edward interjected, "Mother and I have beendiscussing the nature of the gods recently, Akatosh, and sheöthinks that poetry would be a godly activity. What do youthink about that notion?" "I am not so certain that one can attribute anything to thegods, Edward. They are another example of an unboundedproblem, of course, but also, their characteristics are justnot very well known to us." "But surely one can determine things about any being that isa god?" Akatosh replied, "I do not think that we can, at present; theyare not like the Daedra, who have a nature that is with them attheir birth. That is, the Daedra capabilities are inherent in them, and not are the result of anychanges that have occurred to them." Willow interrupted: "Akatosh, we can determine that the gods have a few basic characteristics, can't we?" Edward added "Of course, Akatosh - they are powerful beingswho can perform acts that are incomprehensible to us. Thatin itself must signify their difference."ö Akatosh nodded and replied "I understand your point ofview, but to a farming community on Tamriel in our southernlands, that could also describe how they would perceive me.Perhaps this is attributable to the fact that they seldom seea dragon nowadays, but it also does not mean that I am agod ... neither does it mean that I am not a god." Willow giggled, and said "Of course you're not a god,Akatosh" and Edward, smiling, nodded agreement. Akatosh replied "How do you know, Willow? I can understandthat you would guess that I am not a god, particularlysince I am a dragon." He grinned, and then continued "Buthow can you know that I am not a god?" Edward scoffingly replied "Well, I know that I'm not a god anyway. And I've certainly never seen youperform any godly acts, Akatosh - you also don't seem tohave any worshippers about either." The Companions were smiling and generally agreeing withthis, but Akatosh responded "But that does not mean that Ihave no worshippers, nor does it mean that I cannot performöany godly acts - it just means that you have not seen eitherof these. I am not yet certain that gods and goddesses requireworshippers to maintain their existence. And as I said, Ican perform magic that would look like 'godly acts' to manyTamrielians." "But the gods must have worshippers, Akatosh" said Aliera,"That's how they get their ... sustenance, or whatever it isthat allows them to continue ... to be godly. Husband, youmust know more about this subject. After all, you made agod of your brother S'ephen." "I did no such thing!" Moraelyn responded, with a touch of indignation. "His godhood is between him and hisworshippers, among whom I am numbered. I did establish atemple cult in his memory. Anyone with the worldly meanscould do as much for anyone, living or dead. That alone isnot enough. Maybe it helps -- facilitate matters, but I think it's not really necessary. I know no more of it, but ifyou want my opinion--" he paused politely for confirmation that it was indeed still solicited, asöelven etiquette demanded if one were giving opinion atlength. He continued. "There must be something, well, godly, in theperson's soul or essence or whatever part it is that does notdie with the body. I know not whether that capacity is innatein the person, from birth or conception, or quickening ...whene'er it is that soul and body are wedded for a lifespan, or whether great deeds and great generosity might breedit, enlarging the soul and transmuting it, so to speak. We all change and growwith each passing day, with every breath, some more thanothers. What else is life about?" He went on without pausing for an answer to his rhetoricalquestion, probably for fear that he might get one. "Inother cases, gods seem to arise from a locality, amountain, or a spring, or wood, or a collection of localities, such as Tamriel itself. Places, like persons havesouls, some greater than others. This place might produce agod or a daedra -- or maybe it already has one or more. As itchanges, so do its gods and daedra, I think. Maybe they canchoose to resist the change or aid it, if propitiated."ö He looked at Akatosh inquiringly. The dragon had stoppedfighting the new gods, he said, but would he go so far as toworship them? "That speaks to the question of whence godsarise, but source is not nature: of that I know as little asthe rest of you, maybe less, since the question does not trulyinterest me. The gods are; my worship of them benefits me andmine. It is sufficient." Akatosh did not respond immediately and Aliera refused to be distracted, "But suppose such a cult were established and worshippers providedfor one of small and mean spirit. Would that spirit notbecome a god?" "I suppose it might be done, if one were determined enoughand had a sufficiency of means to pay worshippers toperform rituals without -- spirit -- behind them. Maybe that'swhere small, mean gods come from, wife. Or maybe daedra?Maybe I'll raise a cult to thee and see what happens." "Are you calling my spirit small and mean?" Ali glared athim.ö "Only by comparison -- you don't fancy yourself a goddess, do you? You might make a daedra,though. The experiment might be a bit too chancy. Could I just mourn youfor a century or two instead?" "Mm. I'll think on it. What about you? You've deeds enoughalready to qualify for godhood, surely ... although if youplan on many more such you may not outlive me." "I'm doomed to be R'Aathim, living and dead. It's godhood of a sort, but what a sort! Don't begrudgeme my long life span. Think of me doomed to eternity in thegloomy Ebonheart council chamber listening to the eternalwrangles ... small wonder the dead R'Aathim pulled theplace down on the live ones twenty years ago, thus causing mybrother and my mother to join their number. The dead R'Aathimmust have welcomed the century and a half of respite whilethe Nords held Ebonheart." "But your brother S'ephen was killed too, as well as yourbrother King Cruethys, and S'ephen wasn't R'Aathim, beingöyour mother's son and not your father's, if I have the storystraight -- that's why he got his own temple," Edward said."So why did they kill him, too? The story sounds very daedricto me." "You'd have me justify the ways of the gods to you, wouldyou? I think they act for ends we cannot see, and slay thejust and the unjust together -- not that I'd label any of myKin as either -- not altogether. We see only the means -- howcan we judge? Gods too face choices; I do not think theirpower supreme. They can overrule nature on occasion, as canany Mage, yet they, like Mages, are in the end bound by it --and their overrule must answer other rules still -- and inthose rules, whate'er they be, I think lies the answer to yourquestions. I think it's not something men and women may knowwhile living." Akatosh smiled and replied "It is not so easy to describe thegods, is it? This is true even though, myself included, eachof us thinks that we have a mental picture of what godlinessmeans. On the other hand, the gods and goddesses certainly do exist - and I also believe that there is aconnection of some sort between them and the Daedra, andöanother connection between these entities and the power associated withperforming magic." "The priests of Julianos have been calling this power'Magicka'" said a stranger who had joined the group. Akatosh replied "Greetings bard. Please allow me tointroduce ... Geoffrey, a ... wandering poet who has beenvisiting our village for these last few days." TheCompanions greeted the wood elf newcomer, some rising to their feet to do so accordingto their individual customs, and then all resumed sitting(actually sprawling about) and conversing. "A number of priests are theorizing that the gods andgoddesses live on another plane, as do the Daedra - there is some debateamongst these priests as to whether they share the same planeof existence, or whether each has their own. And some of theAlessian priests are claiming that we can visit thesealternate planes in our nightly dreams" added Beech.ö Edward asked "Why doesn't someone just ask a goddess or aDaedra about this?" Geoffrey chuckled and replied "Most of us are not able to beso thoughtful when confronted by one of these beings, Edward. Also,there is a common belief that the gods and Daedra are asreluctant to discuss their own natures as dragons are toreveal anyone's True Name." Edward looked quizzically at Akatosh, but Beech stated toGeoffrey "Well said, Bard" ... and that pair shared the slightest of smiles. Beech then said, "Do you know what the Resolutions of Zenitharhas been saying about the gods and magic? This magic power,or Magicka, is just the power generated by the existence of,well, existance itself. When it becomes focused by livingbeings through natural processes, then it becomes accessible to the gods andgoddesses as worship power, which is the next level ofMagicka. After receiving some from their worshippers, thegods can then concentrate it up to god-level power - theötrue Magicka. The gods themselves can't generate the mid-levelMagicka, since they are dependent on it for their own existence, but they can 'convert it' to Magicka, which canthen be used by mortals to cast spells. This Magicka isusually dispersed widely across the planes but there areareas of greater and lesser concentration due tointerferences with the dispersion process." "When a goddess loses worshippers, her inflow of mid-levelMagicka is decreased, so she in turn produces less god-levelMagicka. With less Magicka under her control (for providingto worshippers, or dispersion), her influence is decreasedin the mortal planes - of course the converse is also true. In the extreme, she receives nothing, and is relegated to astate of Stasis, barely existing from the ordinary Magickagenerated by her few remaining Consecrated lands, zones ofinfluence, and so on." Beech continued, "On the other hand, Daedra receive veryspecific, or 'modified' mid-level Magicka from a fewmortals with specific areas of interest, and these Daedra arenormally tied to very specific circumstances. Because of their nature, they gain much more power from theirsmall worship base, but the gods, with their much broaderbase, generally have greater overall power, even thoughthe amount of concentrated worship that they receive fromany one source is much less than a Daedra's. Most of the Magicka that the gods'process' is dispersed into and throughout the universe, nolonger under their control, thereby making it available foreveryone. It's not really something they do consciously,but as a natural process that happens automatically - in other words ... just because they are divine." Aliera said, "I would think that Magicka is simplyavailable to sentient beings, although the gods and Daedracould facilitate its usage. I would think that the gods andDaedra have other influences on us as well, because noteveryone has spellcasting ability! Maybe in those'alternate planes' it's actually existance, and notsentient entities, that radiates Magicka, just as the starsgive off light in our dimension. I just assume that Magicka is'out there' in the ether, or maybe sentient consciousnessesautomatically tap into an alternate plane as they sleep.I think that everyone has some supply of Magicka, but mostödon't know how to use it very well, or else they adopt a way of life that inhibits or forbidsits use. Maybe certain gods and Daedra serve as facilitatorsfor the entire process; that is, both obtaining and usingMagicka? But how do priests heal and cure and bless? IsMagicka involved at all or do they invoke their goddessesdirectly?" Ssa'ass said, "I am not ssssure that Magicka isss usssed;perhapss there isss yet another capability involved here.Thisss capability would be unknown at thisss time, and maybeeven unsssenssssed... but I feel fairly certain thatsssomehow it is a godly 'force' that they are employing." Then Geoffrey responded: "Ssa'ass, I believe that Magickafills the universe of planes. All things are infused withMagicka to one extent or another. In this regard Magicka isattracted to some people and things over others, and somepeople with talent or training can control and evenrelease Magicka in new forms. There may be other sources ofMagicka available by tapping into alternate andotherworldly planes. There is also the possibility ofalternate planes that are entirely void of Magicka.öRegardless, certain beings of great power, such as the godsand Daedra, can not only control Magicka, but can see,absorb, and transfuse Magicka to and from objects andpeople. By employing this ability, worshippers of thesebeings are sometimes capable of greater acts of Magic thanthey could accomplish otherwise. Also in this way, some itemssacred to powerful beings can be said to be holy, withadditional amounts of directed Magicka provided by gods orgoddesses." "Magic items fall into two main categories by definition.Items that draw on the surrounding Magicka to createspell-like effects, and items that hold Magicka in reserve fortheir own internal effects. Normally magic items whichabsorb Magicka, giving increased abilities to theirwielders, only affect themselves and are considered to useinternal Magicka. In some areas where great amounts ofMagicka have been used, the surroundings may be completelydevoid of it. This of course negates the ability of beingsto produce magic effects in these areas, although gods andDaedra carry their own supplies of Magicka, as do magicitems that do not depend on the use of surrounding Magicka."ö Aliera said, "We've been investigating some rumors andstories concerning something that might be calledanti-Magicka. I think the presence of a powerful Daedra withwhom you weren't in 'tune' could cause interference withspellcasting - maybe even cancel out existing spells.Perhaps particular Daedra simply favor thief or warriortypes. Or some goddesses, and their priests, might frown on'competing' magic in certain areas, for example inlocations dedicated to them. So then unauthorized spellscould interfere with their rituals." Willow asked, "Can Daedra supply Magicka? And how aboutboth a god and a Daedra being nearby? - wouldn't they sort ofnullify each other's powers? This might be the cause of theanti-Magicka effect." "I've experienced an anti-Magicka zone myself" insertedMith. "It felt a lot like the effect of casting a spell likeDispel Magicka. At the time, I thought that a truly powerfulspellcaster could still effectively cast spells, but their resulting power would havebeen much reduced. I didn't get a chance to test this out though" added Mith with a smile.ö "We can also assume that certain powerful spells,creatures and even magic items might actually drain thesurrounding area of Magicka," replied Geoffrey. "This couldbe extended to places where great amounts of magic energywere once gathered and expended, for example in ancienttemples where great spells were cast, or battlefields wherepowerful mages contested. Perhaps certain metals or stonescould act as absorbers of Magicka, allowing for whole structures of anti-Magicka zones. If so, you mightbe able to wear a amulet made out of anti-Magicka materialand gain a good advantage against spellcasters. Perhaps the purity of the material used would allow forbetter and better magic resistance". Akatosh spoke: "Dragons have long been interested in theanti-Magicka effect, naturally enough. We have found someamulets that appear to act as Magicka absorbers. They mightcontain something like Negative Magicka, in which case theywould attract any 'stray' Magicka floating free in thelocal area. They are made of a stone, or mineral, resemblingmarble - it is very rare, but could be extracted, andshaped by skilled craftsmen. For example, I'm sure that thedwarves could have worked with this material. They might have madethese amulets - or even that statue that I once saw ... it wastaller than any of you humanoids. Regardless, in thesemountains we have found deposits scattered throughout thehalls and tunnels at random, sometimes deep within thewalls. Consequently, one appears to go in and out of theseanti-Magicka zones of varying intensities, with little or nowarning. I have been imagining that this material worksalmost automatically; it seems to 'reflexively' absorbMagicka if given a chance to. However, we cannot rule out thepossibility that they have been magically charged somehow -perhaps this happened long ago, but the charge has somehowremained." Moraelyn asked, "Would the amulet affect its wearer, orwould he be immune?" "Maybe a blocking spell could be developed, and then cast,to shield the wearer from the effects of the substance." Moraelyn then asked, "But Akatosh, getting back to ourearlier discussions - what do you think of the speculationsöconcerning the connections between the gods and goddesses,Daedra and Magicka?" Akatosh replied, "I think that there are many truths that we do not know, and perhapsthere are some truths that we are not meant to know." Moraelyn asked with a smile, "All right then, I've alwayswanted to know this - considering the shape of your mouth and teeth, how do dragons manage to speak the humanoidlanguages so clearly?" Akatosh paused, and then carefully responded, "Why, inmuch the same way that we can fly, even though our wings are notnaturally strong enough to support such heavy torsos." "Speaking of dragon flight and sunsets..." Mith said,rising to his feet and squinting into the red-gold eastern sky,"We have a vistor, Dragon Lord. That's not a bird." Akatosh's head came up and he too scanned the sky. Tension grew in him, and one by one the Companions rose, watching asöthe distant dot grew nearer and resolved itself into thelargest dragon they'd seen yet. "Ma-Tylda!" Akatosh exclaimed, "She deigns to bestow herpresence on us!" His wings lifted and unfurled, and theCompanions broke and ran for cover as he took flight. Thetwo dragons wheeled through the sky, spouting great gouts offlame against the purpling sky. "They're fighting," Edward cried, "what does it mean. Who isMa-Tylda?" "I don't know who she is, son," Moraelyn replied, "but theydo not fight. You behold a dragon greeting ceremony." Thepair alit beyond a rock outcropping out of sight. "Should we go greet the stranger, too?" Edward asked. "Nay," Mith said. "They'll let us know if our presence iswanted -- look, even the other dragons stay away." It was true. Dragon heads had poked from the caverns to witness the event, but none of them had takenwing, and now they were retreating to their hoards within.ö The Companions ambled back into the meadow together andbuilt a fire as a chill wind had sprung up. The elves sang anevening hymn to the stars, deftly weaving the dark elfversion with the wood elf form. Aliera added her voice to theirs, but Matsand Edward and Silk and Ssa'ass sat listening silently.They couldn't manage elven music of this kind. Geoffrey hada particularly clear sweet voice, Edward thought. Akatosh returned presently, smiling in satisfaction. "Ma-Tylda's going to join ushere, at least for awhile," he said. He was actually glowingin the dusk, each scale giving off a golden radiance. "Is she your queen?" Edward asked, feeling very small andhuman. "She -- just is. Maybe she'll want to meet you all some day. I hope so. Until then, well, I don't talk about otherdragons, you know." To which Edward blinked in surprise and then surmise, and thediscussion dissolved into jokes and songs for the remainderöof that clear and beautiful evening. ö