The Sacred Word of Ephia

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[An ornate and decorated book with gilded embellishments with the scent of dry, dusty paper and myrrh]

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[OOC - Regular Text:]
[hide]Well known to you, O' sons of B'aara, is sin a-plenty, and yet, seldom do we hear of purity, save for our knowledge of what is assuredly sinful, and therefore, what isn't! Many in the great ash wastes know of the brilliance associated with Ephia's Well and its resplendent water, but few know of the true majesty of Ephia herself! How may we indulge greedily, ignobly supping of such a sacred unction with nary a thought of Ephia herself, the very source of it? Many have heard of the Chalice, but few its true origins. We begin at Ephia's youth.

Ephia was the first daughter of B'aara, our Mother's very first creation of life, melded in Her most holy image in flesh. Indeed, Ephia was so holy, that to witness her was far too splendid for all that beheld her fairness. In her first breath, she turned to face the barren dunes, and the very mountains and clouds did weep at her arrival, for there was no beauty in their realm, yet there stood before them something grander than all the gold, silver, jewels, and pearls of the seas and earth. And they knew then, for they had such wisdom in the ways of time and dreamt long of B'aara's whispers of creation, that the fair beauty of Ephia's mortality shall wither. For all that is living shall die, and they could not bear the loss in grief.

Ephia, in her boundless love, inherited from her divine Mother, at once leapt to embrace all the weeping rocks and the grieving sands. She gazed upon the shimmering seas and raised a hand high to grasp at the clouds above to love them tenderly. T'was then that she spake softly with a voice so hauntingly beautiful, so lovingly soft, that it stilled the howling winds in envy, and would too the silkworms for they shall never weave such sacred majesty. "Do not weep that I shall die, for in death and life there is equal beauty. And my daughters and sons shall craft edifices greater yet. The waste shall be green and gold, marbled shall be the palaces, and blest shall the land be forevermore in peace and mirth eternal. So it shall be. Weep not. Weep not."

And yet they wept and wept for twelve months long, for they knew her words to be false. There shall be no fairer than Ephia, and there shall be but war and terror to come. And B'aara's sweetling Ephia was yet naive and young in the ways of the wastes, and none could dare to tell her of the Arch-Devil's hate and his wicked, terrible power. And so they wept.

In the beginning, Ephia, curious of the vast wastes, traveled far and wide. And it was in the dunes that she saw Warad as he wandered, and upon seeing him went still with fright. For it was the first time she beheld one other than rock, sand, sea, or sky. The Wanderer held his traveling-stick to her and whispered softly; "Child of the Queen, fear me not. Take my stave, and keep it close to your beating heart. For it shall keep you safe on the strait of your accurst destiny. Farewell." And he left her swiftly, for the Wanderer wanders alone.[/hide]