Nemnosti session 0

Nemnosti session logs Session 0 Next

Summary

• Izu meets with Nemnu Ula who discusses religious traning and specifically leads Izu in the direction of the huthajai (Westsouth) path of the Voice of the Dead.
• Ifa learns from her father Zaren Nemni that Nemnu wishes to speak to her. In her meeting, Nemnu assigns Ifa to go to Onighus as ward of Borgegus Ula, where she will continue her training as a Hand of the Dead.
• Marga arrives at Nemnosti as a brand-new acolyte, accompanied by Bura Hazh who recruited her from the village of Hong Sogo in The Ghengom. She meets with Nemnu and learns about Nemnosti and her new role there.
• Alai meets with Nemnu and receives three great gifts from Her: the dimir Ozel, after the new and much-loved Ancestor Ozel Rarduzu; a new status as Her apprentice as a mystic; and an ancient headband that aids in the clarity of mind.
• Kuspir deals with the aftermath of his wife Lamna's death and revival gone wrong. Nemnu summons him to Her and explains that just as it is his duty to serve the ulajeta, it is his responsibility to find a way to carry on with his life, 'until feet fail'.
• Jevai meets Nemnu by chance (?) on the courtyard near Hul Hai, while she is in the form of her Vessel, Veruve Nemni. They discuss the death of Eng-dur Chuchuru and She alludes to a Cataract (levununde), and the notion of an unstoppable event or set of events in the near future that will upend life at the ulajeta.

Session

Session date: January 21, 2024

Negili Reckoning date: IE 754 - 765

Prologue

Welcome, acolytes! When you first come to Nemnosti, one of the first Courses you learn is about the land and its connection to the passing of years. Space is not just space, and time is not just time, but the two are entwined. That is truly, what many philosophers tell us is the meaning of Coherence. You learn that just as the great Pasu River flows downhill, so that the water you stand in flows toward the modern, down to Ai Dandura and beyond to the Gusu Sea, that to travel uphill from the ulajeta, into The Ghengom, even to mighty Momichas, is to travel into the past. It is hard for us to imagine what it is to be our Grey Carver, to experience time at a trickle, each memory carving new channels for Her as she shares in our quickened existence. Each moment passes by, but preserved forever in the sediment of Her spirit. Thus, even as we serve Her, we become part of Her. So gather around, young and old, as we trudge uphill, just a little ways, until we reach the eddies and bends of the rivers as they wend their way down towards today, to tell stories of the Alabaster Lady and Her beloved acolytes.

754: Izu meets with Nemnu and learns about the huthajai path

[NemnostiGM] We begin in the year 754, fourteen years ago. Izu, you are still small, just starting as an acolyte, just on the cusp of fourteen. Of course you know the Lady - you have grown up around Her, in the expectation that you will serve Her in some way.
[NemnostiGM] But today you have been invited to dine with Her, alone. A great privilege, but also, you know it means that She has something of importance to share with you, or to ask of you.
[NemnostiGM] Your quarters, which you share with your sister Ifa, are on the second story of the Nemni iftibal at the east side of the ulajeta. On the far side is the great Temple, connected to the Inner Caves where honoured ancestors lie. And between them is the Carver's Hall, where Nemnu Ula Herself resides and conducts her business.
[NemnostiGM] You know the secret passages that get you from the Iftibal into Carver's Hall from the second floor, and that would certainly be easier. But there's a little voice in your head that tells you that for this, you should go downstairs and then up the grand staircase to Nemnu's own dining hall. Make it official.
[NemnostiGM] As you walk by, the bubun are cleaning the doors and hallways of the iftibal. You pay them no mind, except to step around them.
[NemnostiGM] The main atrium of the Carver's Hall is a great dome, into which the light passes through the golden-brown alabaster rectangles of the domed ceiling, making a dappled and chaotic path of shadows on the mosaic floor. When you were kids, you and Ifa used to dance along the motes of light, as if to keep off the shadowed lines.
[NemnostiGM] Two or three of the tiles are new, since the earthquake, but by this point, all the repairs are done. The Rumirabe make all the thin tiles for the windows at the ulajeta, and their work is unsurpassed. The fine stone, preserved from the elements, encodes the evidence of Unfolding in the sunlight below your feet.
[NemnostiGM] You travel up to Nemnu's chambers, where you've been only a handful of times before, and never inside all the way. There, Her valet, the elderly Limard Nemni, greets you.
* Limard is a man of seventy or more, thin and dark-skinned with a short, well-trimmed beard, wearing the black robes of the Voice with a silver and brown fringe. He smiles as he sees you.
[Limard] Young Izu. The Lady is expecting you.
* Izu bows meekly.
[Izu] Thank you, sir....
[Limard] None of that, now. Not for me, at least.
[Limard] You have never dined with Her before, have you?
[Izu] No. I have not had the honor.
[Limard] Tonight, you shall have the Lady's Morsel. It is a great honour, a ritual we do not often partake of here. And then, She will speak to you.
[Limard] Do you have any questions?
[Izu] If I may... why me?
* Izu seems nervous and uneasy, shifting from foot to foot.
[Limard] I cannot say with any certainty. The Carver does not share Her interests with me, always.
[Limard] But I will say this: you are Her child, just as I am. Your place is here, your home is here.
* Izu nods.
[Limard] Well then, let's not delay.
* Limard opens the door and motions for you to pass through.
* Izu enters the chamber, glancing about herself due to both nerves and curiosity.
[NemnostiGM] You enter the room, where a table has been laid out. At one end, Nemnu is sitting already on a great wooden chair, Her hair done up with fine ivory sticks. A plate of food lies in front of Her, and you see, at the other end of the table, one for you as well, full of nepun dumplings and jishinosi.
* Limard motions for you to sit.
[Izu] My Lady...
* Izu sits where she is instructed.
* Limard goes over to Her and, holding the fork, takes a dumpling and brings it to Her mouth for Her to taste. Having done so, he brings it over to you.
[Limard] Eat this, the Lady's Morsel, which She shares with you on this day of celebration. Eat, Izu of the Nemni, and know that you are much loved.
* Limard hands you the fork with the dumpling on it.
* Izu takes the fork from him and after a moment's hesitation takes a bite of it.
[NemnostiGM] As you eat it, there is a part of you that knows that it is just a dumpling, no different from any of the ones on your plate, or that your mom makes now and then.
[NemnostiGM] There is another part of you, though, that senses a moment of connection, as if somehow She has fed you this dumpling, to nourish your ibu and lemu, your body and your spirit, together.
* Nemnu waits for you to finish your dumpling.
* Izu shivers slightly at the feeling of connection
* Limard goes and sits in the corner of the room to await Her needs.
* Izu finishes her dumpling and waits nervously.
* Izu is thankful it is only one dumpling as she probably could not keep any more down.
[Nemnu] My daughter, you are welcome here. Eat, and we shall talk.
[Izu] My Lady... I thank you for such an honor.
[NemnostiGM] Nemnu, of course, does not move or react. You wouldn't know what a 'pause' would constitute, for Her. And yet you somehow get the sense that She has paused for a moment.
[Nemnu] There is no need to be anxious.
[Nemnu] Nemnosti is your home.
* Izu nods.
[Nemnu] I have heard from your father that it is your intention to seek holy orders. You and your sister both, in fact.
[Izu] Yes. We have both wanted to join the priesthood for a long time.
[Nemnu] The Hand of the Dead is always in need of more soldiers and diplomats and bureaucrats.
* Izu nods.
[Izu] Yes, My Lady...
* Izu seems less than enthusiastic at the idea.
[Nemnu] There are many fathers who would love to have two daughters in service as Hands together, especially two as close as you and Ifa.
[Nemnu] And Zaren-who-is-Ronu has long served me, and I would take his joy as a blessing.
[Izu] I will do what I can to serve him and you.
[Nemnu] Tell me, then, Izu-yet-unnamed, how do you hope to serve me, one day?
* Izu glances around as if caught off guard.
[Izu] I... I don't know.
[Nemnu] Why not?
[Izu] I will do whatever you ask of me...
[Nemnu] That is not what I asked. I do not want you to answer what I want of you, but what you want of me.
[Izu] Of You...
[Nemnu] To be here, at Nemnosti, is not merely to obey for the sake of obeying. You are not a puppet to obey my will.
[Nemnu] It is to have a Silence, a Gap, to fill with your own aspirations in your service.
[Izu] I don't understand...
[Nemnu] Voice Ingo tells me your studies are going very well.
* Nemnu says, almost randomly.
[Izu] Ummm... yes... He has been teaching me things. I know it is of little use but... I enjoy it.
[Nemnu] History and languages, he tells me, are of particular joy to you. These things are of great use. And he tells me also that you have an interest in carving. That would fill my lungs with joy, if I had them.
* Izu smiles slightly for the first time.
[Izu] Junu has been instructing me on that. He is amazing.
[Nemnu] Indeed. So there are many ways to serve, and in all of them, I hope that service to me is as much or moreso a joy to the servant.
* Izu nods.
[Izu] I think I see.
[Nemnu] And so the question of how you can serve best, is how you would like to serve, what will bring you joy.
* Izu looks down in thought for a minute, considering.
[Nemnu] I am not always so able, when it comes to seeing what is in human souls. Even when I was human, it was so.
[Nemnu] But I wonder whether the paths that have been laid out for you, the ones that the world makes available, are not the ones best suited for your future joy.
* Izu feels her heart sink slightly.
[Izu] You believe I should not enter the priesthood?
[Nemnu] I cannot say. But even I have seen that you and your twin are very different people.
[Nemnu] And I wonder whether sometimes your soul sits unseemly in your organs and your bones.
* Izu opens her mouth in surprise. She seems about to say something and then stops herself.
[Izu] Yes... My Lady.
* Izu says after a moment.
[Izu] I cannot explain it.
[Nemnu] You are still new to the way we understand Unfolding. When we teach it, we talk about rivers and worlds and centuries.
[Nemnu] But Unfolding is also at the scale of the human spirit, the lifetime, even down to the moment. Smaller, and yet the same.
[Nemnu] And each life Unfolds in its own way, its own path, often in ways we could not have imagined.
[Izu] How do I find my path?
[Nemnu] I have asked Ingo-who-is-Vestor to be your guide. He will take you to the foot of the huthajai path, to see if it is yours. You know this path?
* Izu shakes her head.
[Nemnu] It is the Westsouth path, a turn in a life, from female to male, for those who follow the Voice.
[Nemnu] I cannot say if it is your path. Only you can take it, or not.
[Izu] I... there is such a thing? I could be a voice?
[Nemnu] It is too soon to say, daughter. I am far too removed from the matters of the human spirit to even know if it is so. But yes, it is a well-trodden path.
* Izu nods, but her eyes seem a bit brighter than before.
[Izu] I think... I think I would like that.
[Nemnu] I eagerly look downriver to see where your path will take you, child. And I know that however you serve, it will be your own choice and none other's.
[Izu] Thank You.

757: Ifa meets with Nemnu and is assigned to go to Onighus as Borgegus' ward

[NemnostiGM] Ifa, you are sixteen, just on the cusp of full adulthood, at the end of 757 of the Imperial Era. The last year or so has been interesting. People interested in politics are discussing the news that the Old Folk in Romaz have held some sort of council that might have implications for the ulajeta.
[NemnostiGM] At home, your sister Lamna just gave birth to her second child, a boy named Rugu. And most significantly of all, for you, you completed your training in the Courses here at Nemnosti, and earned your Lady's Name of Ramarima.
[NemnostiGM] You arrive home for dinner after a day of working with Hand Jesa with the bubun. Your path has never wavered but you find working beside so many who can't respond to you to be tedious at times. Your father is there to greet you.
* Zaren is a tall, sturdy man around forty, who always looks like he has just taken off his armor or is just preparing to put it on. One eye is a little squinty, the result of an old injury.
[Zaren] Ifa, how was your day?
* Ifa smiles brightly.
[Ifa] Good, father. Tending to the bubun and such. How was your day?
[Zaren] Well enough. The boy Kuspir has some promise, you know. Keeps me alert.
* Ifa nods pleasantly.
[Zaren] Lamna chose well.
[Ifa] They do seem happy. What did you do today that required said alertness?
[Zaren] Just exercises, really. Scaling the North Wall with only ropes.
[Zaren] He's a big, beefy boy. Wouldn't have thought he could do it with all that weight.
[Ifa] I think it suits him well. And, if he's putting you to the test, clearly it does.
* Ifa will stop near her father to give him a little hug to show she's just teasing.
[Zaren] Oh, I don't do it. I just hold the ropes.
[Ifa] Okay, probably safer.
[Zaren] So, I have news.
[Ifa] Oh?
[Zaren] The Lady would like your presence, tomorrow morning, in the dawn anteroom.
[Zaren] She spoke to me today about what She needs, and well, She asked me not to say more.
* Lan-phone (~Lan-phonelns5-pool7-088.adsl.user.start.ca) has joined #Nemnosti
* Ifa pauses, taken aback.
[Ifa] She wants to meet with *me*?
* Zaren nods, smiling broadly.
[Ifa] And you can't tell me what about?
[Zaren] She asked me to let Her tell you.
[Ifa] Well, I'm honored, but...wow. Okay. I'll be sure to wake up early.
[Zaren] Do you want me to come with you?
[Ifa] Did She say I should bring you?
[Zaren] No, She didn't say. She asked for you.
[Ifa] Then...I should probably go on my own. She would have said if I should bring others with me.
[Zaren] All right. All right.
* Zaren practically does a little jig.
* Ifa chuckles.
[Ifa] Have you eaten yet?
[Ifa] (Is anyone else around? Our mom, siblings, etc?)
[Zaren] Not yet. Are you hungry?
[Ifa] I should eat now and head to bed early. Let me get something together for everyone.
[NemnostiGM] (all right, go ahead to the next day then)
[Ifa] (Okie doke)
[NemnostiGM] The next morning, you arrive at the dawn anteroom, the small and cozy chamber on the third floor of the Carver's Hall, on the east side of the Ulajeta where the morning light streams in through the mottled windows. The Lady has already been positioned on her settee to await your arrival.
* Ifa will be sure to get up early so she can make herself presentable to meet with Nemnu.
* NemNPC1 is now known as Nemnu
* Nemnu has her hair covered, in a simple mebel, and is wearing a long morning-dress of blue-green. Since the death of her valet Limard early in the spring, she has not had a new permanent attendant, so everything has been simply done.
* Ifa enters at the appropriate time and approaches in a respectful manner.
[Nemnu] Dear Ramarima, Ifa dear daughter, sit next to me.
[Ifa] As you say, my Lady. I hope your evening passed pleasantly?
* Ifa will go to sit next to Her.
[Nemnu] Yes, it was good.
[Ifa] I'm glad to hear it.
[Nemnu] I have a task of the greatest importance for you.
[Ifa] Me?
[Nemnu] You will be going to Onighus.
* Ifa is taken aback, but remembers to verbalize.
[Ifa] I am happy to serve, my Lady.
[Ifa] May I ask why me?
[Nemnu] My brotherly saint, the Old Novice, Borgegus Ula, requires of me a new ward. And so, as many have done, I am sending you, my precious descendant, to serve me there for a year or two.
[Ifa] I'm...I'm honored, Grey Carver.
[Nemnu] I know you have much training still to do in the Hand. And that you had planned to do that at Birgoje, close to home. But I will this of you instead.
[Nemnu] Arrangements are being made by the Old Novice himself to ensure that your continued training at the great temple in Onighus will be assured.
[Ifa] Thank you, my Lady, but...would a Voice not be more appropriate? My brother, perhaps?
[Ifa] Not to question You, of course, just seeking to understand.
[Nemnu] I don't see why. Borgegus has dozens of Voices to serve him at the Maze, his ulajeta.
[Nemnu] And what I need is someone I can speak to from that distance, and as you are among my chosen descendants, you are amply well qualified.
[Nemnu] Besides, your brother is training here, with Voice Ingo, and others. His place is here at the great temple.
[Ifa] As you say, my Lady.
[Ifa] I'm honored and excited for this opportunity.
[Nemnu] Now, I will not tell you it will be easy.
[Nemnu] Borgegus - you will call him Your Grace or Wayfinder - is, like me, demanding. His mind is always busy, full of schemes and workings. Onighus is not a quiet place, and the Maze is at the heart of it.
[Ifa] I imagine that will be quite an adjustment, but I will not let you down.
* Ifa pauses a moment, considering all the implications of leaving for some time.
[Nemnu] I know you will not. You have never done so in the past. I imagine there will be any number of new excitements.
[Nemnu] Perhaps you shall even be lucky enough to meet or work for the Emperor during your time there, who can say?
[Ifa] Me? Work for the Emperor? Truly, you do honor me above my merits, Grey Carver.
[Nemnu] Well, it is not my place to say what tasks will fall to you, daughter.
[Nemnu] But I send you in the knowledge that when you return, you will be prepared to better serve me.
[Ifa] Of course, my Lady. It is a privilege to serve.
[Nemnu] Your kinswoman Sakasa-who-is-Vinda has served in this role before, and she will assist you in your preparations. You will leave in two weeks, no more.
* Ifa smiles at that.
[Ifa] I will make haste.
[Nemnu] I have great confidence in you, Ramarima.
[Ifa] Thank you, my Lady. I...thank you.
* Ifa waits to see if there's anything else, but is pretty sure it would be rude to ask.
[Ifa] (Ifa will absolutely wait until 'officially' dismissed, then run off excitedly to find Izu)

759: Marga comes to Nemnosti for the first time and meets Nemnu

[NemnostiGM] Marga, they told you that Nemnosti was a little place, no more people than Hong Sogo. Maybe that is so. But what they didn't tell you is that is so tall.
[NemnostiGM] All around you, wherever you look, high walls, the walls around the courtyard, and then around this great building with three parts. It's as if everything is up, turning your head towards the sky.
[NemnostiGM] Here it's like you are surrounded by mountains on every side, like some parts of the canyons of Dezloronel, or next to the cliffs at the Degh Ekorre. But there is so much stuff going on here compared to that.
[Marga] . o O (Neat!)
[NemnostiGM] You see one of your kin flying far overhead in the distance, northeast, perhaps towards Momichas itself. You admire the solitude of the great raptor as you try to make sense of what your eyes are telling you here.
* Marga waves.
[NemnostiGM] The woman beside you, Bura of the Hazh, is older than your dad, but not old yet. A few weeks ago she came to the village, spoke with your father for hours in private. Few people can keep his attention for that long, so it must have been something important.
* Limard is now known as Bura
* Bura is a middle-aged woman wearing what looks like an ordinary Ravre juskai, but dyed a wonderful forest green and decorated with fine stitching along the sleeves.
[NemnostiGM] The next morning he told you that you were going to Nemnosti to be an acolyte, that Bura, who he called Zephyr, would return soon to take you away for a long time. You'd heard of acolytes, of course, but you don't even know how to read, and you could never imagine that you would be smart enough for a place like that.
[NemnostiGM] Anyway, you told yourself, it won't matter. By the time she comes back for you, you thought, he'll have changed his mind. Better to just smile for now.
[Marga] :)
[NemnostiGM] But he did not change his mind, and in fact became even more agitated, though whether out of enthusiasm or rage, it's always hard to tell with him. Tocha of the Gago is the Snapping Dog, and you never know when he's going to bite.
[NemnostiGM] But now you're here. Bura is not holding your hand or anything but you get the sense that she has two eyes on you and at least one hand ready to reach out if you misstep.
[NemnostiGM] You are led into the giant building with three parts, right through the middle door. There are bubun everywhere. You've only ever seen a couple of bubun, since there's no Hand temple in the village.
* Marga looks around with unmasked curiosity.
[NemnostiGM] Into a giant domed room, up a giant flight of stairs to a second level that has a hallway running all around the ring, and then this way and that. There is sunlight through the funny stone windows but you've completely lost track of your direction at this point.
[NemnostiGM] At last, Bura stops.
[Bura] Now, you listen here, you are about to meet the Lady, Nemnu Ula Herself, the Grey Carver. Have you ever met a saint before, or talked to one?
[Marga] (loud whisper) Where are we?
[Marga] What? no, haha, of course not!
[Marga] Why does she want to meet me?
* Marga laughs a bit nervously
[Bura] We just left the Grand Atrium of the Carver's Hall, at the center of Nemnosti. The great statues there are acolytes from days long ago.
[Bura] You are to meet Her in order to welcome you as one of us.
[Marga] Alrighty then...
[Bura] All right. The first thing you must remember is to never call Her by Her name directly. Not in Her presence. You must always remember to use the formal register: She, Her, Hers, Herself, You, Your. You may call her Lady or Grey Carver. Never Nemnu. If in doubt, just answer, no names or titles.
* Marga nods quickly
[Marga] . o O (I am definitely going to mess this up, oh boy)
[Bura] The second thing is that She is a direct person. She wants an answer to the questions She asks, not the question you imagine She wants an answer to. Look at Her, even though She cannot look at you. We honour Her here, in all our actions and words.
[Marga] Yes, right, got it, honour all the way!
[Bura] The third thing is that this is not a test or a game. She wanted me to assure you of that particularly. I do not know why, though I can guess. You are coming here to be an acolyte, and to stay, possibly, as with me, for far longer than you imagine.
[Marga] I mean, whatever you guys want :)
[Bura] Do you have any questions?
[Marga] Nope!
[Bura] All right, then.
* Bura opens the door.
[NemnostiGM] You enter the room, which must be a library, since it has more books than you have ever seen in your life. There must be twenty of them just in this room!
* Marga looks around some more.
[NemnostiGM] At the far end, on a great wooden chair on some kind of wheels, is what looks like an old woman, recently dead. But you can feel it even from here - this is Nemnu Ula.
[Marga] . o O (who could ever read SO MUCH?)
[Marga] *gulp*
* Nemnu is bedecked in finery, silver and gold beaded work and a great tiara atop her head. She is wearing an ornate long-sleeved dress in four different colours. She speaks into your head and you can hear Her voice.
[Nemnu] So, you are Marga of the Gago, daughter of Tocha. Welcome to The Grey Silences of Nemnosti.
[Marga] Ummm. Howdy ma'am. I mean, Lady.
[Nemnu] Did you just arrive today?
* Marga nods, then remembers she can't see me.
[Marga] Yes Lady.
[Nemnu] This place is a place of safety. As long as you are within these walls, no harm will come to you. More than that - you will feel safe. You have my word.
[Marga] Thanks!
[Nemnu] My servant Larar, Bura-who-is-Larar, tells me you have very little with you other than the clothes on your back.
[Marga] I don't need so much.
* Marga smiles.
[Nemnu] Even so. We will get you what you need.
[Nemnu] You will have chambers, with the other acolytes, in the lower level here in Carver's Hall.
[Marga] ...Does that mean I get my own room??
[Nemnu] Yes, each acolyte has their own room. It is small, and it does not have a window, but it is yours.
[Marga] Holy talons!! Wow, thanks!
[Nemnu] The day to day life of the ulajeta is not a matter of my great concern or knowledge. But there are many others to help you learn how things work here.
[Marga] It sure seems like there a lot of folks.
[Nemnu] There are.
[Nemnu] Dinel, who is my beloved servant Amasa Nemni, will help you to get accustomed to this place. She will be your first teacher, and you have much to learn.
[Nemnu] For those new to the Courses, learning to read, and the very basics of life here, are first.
[Marga] ..Read? Me? Gosh.
[Nemnu] Yes, and more than that. You will learn about history, about theology, about philosophy, subjects that have strained the greatest minds I have ever known, for centuries.
[Marga] That sounds hard...
[Nemnu] It will be.
[Marga] What if I mess it up?
[Nemnu] You will, surely, make many errors.
[Marga] Will I get in trouble?
[Nemnu] Possibly. But you will not be beaten harshly, nor deprived of food, nor locked away. I promise you this.
[Marga] WOw, not harshly? That sounds great.
[Marga] :D
[Nemnu] But too, the Courses will include familiar things that others will not know. How to avoid sticking your foot in a hole and twisting your ankle, how to tell a branch from a serpent, how to read the clouds for signs of a storm.
[Marga] OH yeah, those are real important.
[Nemnu] And so you will play the role of teacher to the other acolytes in these things, for those who may not know them.
[Marga] . o O (This Lady seems pretty nice for a corpse)
[Marga] Me?? Teach other people? Haha if you say so :)
[Nemnu] One day, Marga-yet-unnamed, of the Gago, I believe that you will serve me. That I will need your service, perhaps far greater than you can imagine.
* Marga can't imagine anyone ever needing or wanting her advice but okie dokie!
[Marga] Well I'll try not to let You down!
[Nemnu] I will need good eyes and good arms at my side.
[Marga] I got real good eyes.
[Nemnu] Now I have a hard question for you.
[Marga] *gulp*
* Marga waits
[Nemnu] What did your father say about me, when he told you you were coming here?
[NemnostiGM] (the answer is: almost nothing)
[Marga] Uhhh... that You were dead?
[Marga] He didn't really say much about You at all I guess.
[Nemnu] I was dead, for a short while, that is true. Now I am not. I awakened as a saint, almost five hundred years ago.
[Marga] Dang that's a long time.
[Marga] Don't you get bored?
[Marga] Uh, You.
[Nemnu] That is why I bring you acolytes here, to keep from being bored. There are always new people here.
[Marga] That makes sense!
[Nemnu] In time, if they stay, they get a Lady's Name, a dimir, which places you within the history of the ulajeta, gives order to the chaos of lived lives.
[Marga] A new name?
[Nemnu] Indeed. Bura here, is known to me as Larar. Larar was of the Ararta, many years ago, and is now one of my beloved Ancestors here.
[Nemnu] But her name lives on, because Bura is like Larar.
[Marga] So... You pick names for us from Your dead friends?
[Nemnu] That is exactly right.
[Marga] Alrighty then!
[Nemnu] I should let you know, Marga, that you coming here, it is not an act of charity.
[Marga] If you like me someday will you name somebody else Marga?
[Marga] YOU. You, sorry, gosh.
[Nemnu] Yes, if you serve me for many years, then I will do so, I promise.
[Marga] Neat!!
[Nemnu] There is one more question I have for you.
[Marga] Alright, shoot :)
[Nemnu] Your mother. Do you wish her to know you are here?
[Marga] My... mother?
[Nemnu] Yes.
[Marga] Huh? My mother's here?
[Nemnu] No, no.
[Nemnu] She is wherever she is. Bemnes, I believe. But she does not know you are here, does she?
[Marga] Probably not?
[Nemnu] Would you like me to have someone tell her?
[Marga] I mean... sure, I guess! It's been ages. I dunno if she remembers me much.
[Marga] She's got new kids I think.
[Nemnu] All right.
[Nemnu] Any final questions for the moment?
[Marga] How do you know my mom?
[Marga] You
[Marga] and... How come my Dad let me come here?
[Nemnu] I do not know her. But I have many servants here in the Pardopasu, and they tell me many things.
[Nemnu] As for why your father made the choice he did. That is hard to say for sure, since Tocha Gago is not exactly predictable.
[Nemnu] But I would say that he was given a strong incentive to do so.
[Bura] Very strong.
[Marga] Good enough for me!
[Nemnu] All right. Larar, take her down and have Dinel take care of the basics.
[Bura] Yes, Lady.
[Bura] Come now, Marga, we'll get you sorted.
[Marga] Thanks, Lady!
* Marga waves as they leave even though She can't see me

760: Alai receives three gifts from Nemnu: a name, an apprenticeship, and a headband

[NemnostiGM] Alai, it is the year 760 of the Imperial Era, but on the island of Kododza where you grew up, it is the twenty-first year of the goddess Gwanoz, and the sixty-sixth year after the Storm.
[NemnostiGM] The last two years here have been an adjustment. You knew that you were smarter than most of the other acolytes, but there was so much that they knew and you did not. You had to learn their language, their customs, their faith, so much that they took for granted.
[NemnostiGM] You learned it from books that two years ago, you could not have read. You learned it and survived, even thrived, among the children of nobles who bought their way in, and Nemni who treated it as their birthright to be here.
[NemnostiGM] And above it all was Her, Nemnu Ula Herself. You have never touched Her once in all your time here, but Her handprint lies upon every word you write and every spell you cast.
[NemnostiGM] And here you are, despite being so tiny at your entrance, and not much less tiny now, at the end of your time as an acolyte. Your time at Nemnosti is not done now, not nearly. There is so much to learn. But it is a moment still, in this downward path.
[NemnostiGM] Today you have been summoned to a formal meeting alone with Nemnu in celebration of this milestone, in the great library on the first floor of the ulajeta. Its exact purpose is not yet clear.
[NemnostiGM] You have spent many hours here, and in the other libraries. Nemnu Herself does not often come down here, but you have been told to expect Her.
[NemnostiGM] You climb the narrow staircase from your room in the basement in the Acolytes' Tombs and head over to the library.
[NemnostiGM] You enter the library and see Her sitting there.
* Nemnu is wearing a long grey altala dress, the kind She has for very formal events. The drabness is contrasted with the rich bracelets and necklaces with which She has had the staff bedeck Her.
[NemnostiGM] Sitting next to Her is Voice Kailas, one of the various priests here, but not one you've ever had much contact with, since he hardly teaches. He has a notebook with him and writing instruments.
* Kailas is wearing formal black Voice robes, probably the finest ones he owns.
[Alai] Ah Lady, I has come az asked
[Kailas] Go ahead and sit, Alai.
* Alai is in a black altala dress, one of her finest, with a bone choker and multiple brass and bone bracelets on her wrists.
* Alai nods and takes a seat.
[Nemnu] I have called you here in private, before I make three announcements tomorrow, publicly. I wanted you to know first. I do not like surprises and I presume you would feel the same.
* Alai tilts her head
[Nemnu] First, I have decided that my name for you will be Ozel.
[Alai] Eh, zurprises? They can be interesting. Zo vhat announcements?
[NemnostiGM] At this, Kailas looks up in some surprise, as if about to say something. Then he settles down, and makes a note in his book, though he does not seem settled.
[NemnostiGM] You know the name, Alai. Ozel was a Deaf mystic who died just a few months ago.
* Alai mulls the meaning of the name.
[Alai] Vhy? Vhy that name so soon, if I may azk Lady?
[Nemnu] Ozel was for many years my beloved acolyte. My friend. Ozel was, to me, what this ulajeta should be, a place for those who would otherwise have no place.
[Nemnu] Because many could not speak to her and be understood, I spent more time with her than any, except perhaps dear Khizmo who loved her so deeply. And those hours, I treasure them all, as I do my time with you.
[Nemnu] It has been my custom, that my names should be let to sit for a while after the death of their first owner, but of late I have begun to do differently.
[Nemnu] Ozel was much loved here, and is much missed. And I want my acolytes to see that they too will be missed, and not just long after they are gone, but while there are others who love them too.
[Nemnu] That is why, so soon.
* Alai nods considering
[Alai] So you know I consider leaving, Lady.
[Nemnu] Yes, I know that. I hope you will not. I know your family wants you back in Luetka. But I want you here.
[Alai] The wallz, they contain much of the world. I feel I need to ztep out... zee vhat is beyond. For myself.
[Nemnu] I am not your jailer, Alai-who-is-Ozel. You are not my captive. You will have these opportunities, in my service.
[Nemnu] You have much more to learn - you are only at the beginning of your training as a mystic, for instance, even as your mastery of the Courses is complete.
[Alai] You, my Lady, 'av done much for me and I vill always remember and appreciate vhat you had done for me. But you zaid three announcements?
[Nemnu] Yes, that is so.
[Nemnu] It is because of my desire for you to stay here and learn that my second announcement will come.
[Nemnu] And so tomorrow I shall be announcing, also, that you shall become, formally, my apprentice, and so the ending of your study of the Courses is not your ending of your time with me. This is an honour rarely granted, and I will admit, I am not always the easiest to endure.
[Nemnu] You have learned much from me, but I would ask if you would choose to learn still more.
* Alai eyes show surprise at the news.
[Alai] Dezire to zee the vorld is not matched by vhat I can learn from you, my Lady. (in Luektan) I am honoured and will gladly stay with You as your apprentice.
* Alai brings her hands together with a jingle and bows formally
[Nemnu] I am coming to understand that in the years to come, I will have great need for knowledge of this world and of things not open to ordinary sense.
[Nemnu] And just as Ozel pursued those things in her life, I see, in your own way, a similar pursuit, in service of the ulajeta.
[Alai] My Lady, You has shaken my vorld vith two announcements, what possibly could be the third?
[Nemnu] Lastly, I have a gift for you. Kailas, please.
* Kailas stands and brings a small object wrapped in silk cloth and hands it to you.
* Alai opens her hands to accept it
[Nemnu] Open it.
* Alai does so
[NemnostiGM] You open it to find a fine silver headband, engraved with inscriptions in Old Ombesh, and with small blue opaque gems around it.
* Alai holds it up examining it
[Nemnu] It is infused with Source. Its power is to clear the mind, to prepare the way for ideas beyond those which you could normally construe.
[Alai] My thanks Lady. I am uncertain of writing. One of my first lessons then.
* Alai smiles considering
[Nemnu] This treasure, I have had for three centuries, and before that, its history was lost, but it is far older. It comes from the time of the Old Omban monarchs, before the Corps, before the Empire, and long, long before me.
[Nemnu] I give it to you, for as long as you live.
* Kailas makes notes in his notebook as Nemnu speaks.
[Alai] I could never ask for zuch a gift from You, but I accept az offered. My thanks. I vill treasure and learn from it.
* Alai sets the headband back into its silk wrapping
[Nemnu] I know that these three gifts: a name, a title, and a treasure - are much to lay upon you.
[Nemnu] Some, perhaps, will think them ill-suited, or even wrongly given. But they are mine to give, mine alone.
[Alai] I vill show all the virtue of your gifts, my Lady.
[Nemnu] That is all I have for today. You may depart.
* Alai stands, gives a another bow of respect and will leave... mind spinning over what she has just been through.

763: Kuspir meets with Nemnu in the wake of his wife's death and revival

[NemnostiGM] Thirty-four days. It has been thirty-four days.
[NemnostiGM] The children know that something is wrong, of course, Kuspir. But how can you explain this to them? You cannot even explain it to yourself.
[NemnostiGM] When Geme fell down the Goat's Stairs, the vultures came to you as soon as they found her. It could not have been long; she was still warm. You wept, of course.
[NemnostiGM] When you heard that the hemeshor had been successful, your lungs sang out and your stomach was still, for the first time since it happened. You wept again, in joy.
[NemnostiGM] And then the screaming, the terror, the fury, the darkness, the touch that burns her, the gaze that cannot be borne. Abjection, utter separation from the human realm. And again, you wept.
[NemnostiGM] Three weepings. And thirty-four days. Your beard is tangled, your eyes red, your lungs empty, your stomach roiling. And now She wants to see you? To speak to you? For what, for pity? For yet another kind word?
[NemnostiGM] For a moment, you consider defiance. You owe Her no attendance. You could, if you choose, just walk out the West Tower, the Captain's eyes upon your back. No one would blame you.
[NemnostiGM] And so you are standing amidst the soft snows of Jinush lying along the staggered bricks of the courtyard, in the only place you have called home these past fifteen years. With a decision to make.
* Kuspir will reluctantly go see the Lady.
[NemnostiGM] You head up the great stairs to the second floor of Carver's Hall. Voice Izu, her brother, is there, in his new role as Her attendant. Of course it would have to be him here.
[NemnostiGM] Izu, Kuspir-who-is-Medimur, your brother-in-law, has been asked to see the Lady in private today.
[NemnostiGM] As one of her stoneguards, it is quite normal for him to visit her alone, without your presence, since, after all, he is one of her guardians.
[NemnostiGM] You are here to make sure he comes.
* Izu looks up as you enter, his eyes somber.
[Izu] Kuspir...
[Kuspir] I'm here. Although I don't know why.
[Izu] She did not tell me her will. Only that she wished to see you. Are you... no, I suppose you are not alright. I am sorry.
[Izu] How are the children?
[Kuspir] Confused. They don't know why they can't see her.
* Izu nods.
[Izu] If there is anything you need...
[Kuspir] Mmh.
* Izu will show him to The Lady's chamber.
* Kuspir will go mechanically to the familiar room.
[NemnostiGM] Izu, you've been instructed not to come in, but also not to go too far away.
* Izu will open the door and close it behind his brother-in-law, then wait nearby as instructed.
[NemnostiGM] Kuspir, you enter the chamber. The Lady looks lovely, as usual, cold and impassionate, though you know differently.
[Nemnu] Kuspir, my guardian, come, stand next to me.
* Kuspir approaches her and raises his fist to his chest in the appropriate salute, out of instinct rather than actual thought.
[Nemnu] I would have you guard me, for a time.
[Kuspir] I am not prepared, Lady. I have no weapon with me.
[Nemnu] You will not need one, I am sure.
[Nemnu] Stand, guard me. I will it so.
* Kuspir will take his usual position
[NemnostiGM] A few moments of silence pass between you. It is still here, in the Lady's presence, but not unwelcome.
[NemnostiGM] Eventually she speaks.
[Nemnu] They say that the worst thing about being a saint is being unable to move. I used to think so, but now, I am not so sure. I propose that it is worse, far worse, to be unable to weep.
[Nemnu] Were you a good student of the Courses during your time as an acolyte, Medimur?
[Kuspir] Weeping only makes your face damp. It doesn't help.
[Nemnu] Perhaps.
[Nemnu] Sometimes the philosophers suppose that we do not grieve, that with lives so long, that we forget how to mourn. I assure you that this is not the case. I grieve with you, my guardian.
[Kuspir] I ... suppose, Lady. She helped me with my studies. She was always the one who could make things clear when I struggled to see.
[Nemnu] It is one of Geme's finest qualities. The ability to give without making the receiver feel indebted.
[Kuspir] And how have I repaid her.
[Nemnu] I cannot say or judge that.
[Kuspir] She says I should have left her dead. Or let her die again.
[Nemnu] We learn to live on, even as others die. And that is not just because death is a transformation. But it is because it is a comprehensible change.
[Nemnu] Death is a sadness, but this is a tragedy.
[Nemnu] I do not ask of you that you weep not, that you rage not, that you beat not against the walls.
[Nemnu] I have only one thing to ask, to demand.
[Kuspir] What is it, Lady?
[Nemnu] And so I have a new order for you, Medimur. And it is merely this: UNTIL FEET FAIL.
[NemnostiGM] The words resound in your head, as if you are hearing them for the first time.
[Kuspir] ...
[Kuspir] yes, Lady. until then.
[Nemnu] You know the phrase already, and many times has it been spoken in defense of this place. I have heard it and known the loyalty of your order, and of many others here.
[Nemnu] But it is more than just an order for war. It is a directive for life. We go on, until feet fail. And some of us, far longer.
[Nemnu] I know this is hard. It may seem unbearable. I direct you to bear it, not because I think you should forget, but because I know that you will remember. Whatever choices you make now, they will carry on with you.
[Nemnu] There are griefs far greater, burdens far greater, than death alone. And yet they must be grieved, must be borne. I have known these myself.
* Nemnu pauses, as if reflecting, and for a moment you get a glimpse of something not in her words, an image of ruin, a sense of shame, of secrets and silences ... and then, stillness again.
[Kuspir] Everyone says I have to keep going - that I have to bear this. But I don't know if I can, if she will never be next to me again.
[Nemnu] Tell me. Do you ever speak to the Captain, to my guardian Fezef-who-is-Momuzai, about his family?
[Kuspir] I don't think I have, Lady.
[Nemnu] I suppose not. I would not think that stoneguards are encouraged to chat with their Pillars about such things.
[Nemnu] Well, I will tell you a story, then.
[Nemnu] In those days, when fos was scarce and after our bubun had been unrendered, there were many who saw us as easy prey. Your order, the stoneguards, were our principal defense.
[Nemnu] And Fezef, my Greatwalker, Captain of you all, was the greatest of all.
[Nemnu] But the Takovengas of the high hills, they were not all like Fezef. And so it was that he had to kill his own brother, the leader of one of these groups of brigands. He was killed, and then brought back to the ulajeta.
[Nemnu] And as one would do with a criminal, in a time when bubun were few, he was rendered. Fezef could have asked, could have said that it was too much to bear. But he did not.
[Nemnu] For seven years, he bore the bustul of the brother he had slain with his own hands, and saw his face every day on the courtyard, as a reminder of what he had done.
[Nemnu] And sometimes, he wept.
[Nemnu] I say all this not because Fezef was a great man, though he was, but because you now face your own weeping days.
[Nemnu] I do not ask you not to weep. But I direct you to go on. Can you do that?
[Kuspir] I have no other answer that I can give, Lady.
[Kuspir] I know my children need me, and that You need me.
[Nemnu] You will not be alone. Never alone. I have directed Izu to start work on a plan. We have always found ways to make service possible, for those who would serve.
[Nemnu] Dear Ozel, now lost these three years, we managed and her life was full of joy. What Geme must bear is greater than that, to be sure. But we will find a way for her to have the richness of her life of service.
[Kuspir] I know I'm not alone. But can you tell me if you can still speak with her? Can she speak with you? so that at least she isn't alone?
[Nemnu] She is a Nemni. And yes, because of that, I can speak into her mind.
[Nemnu] It is not equal, of course. My power does not allow her to call on me whenever she wishes.
[Nemnu] But she is not cut off from me.
* Kuspir nods
[Nemnu] I still think it is perhaps not easy for her. To hear my voice. But I have given her the same direction I have given you.
* Kuspir nods
[Nemnu] And so I ask you, Kuspir-who-is-Medimur: for how long do you serve me?
[Kuspir] Until feet fail, Lady.
[Nemnu] Until feet fail.

765: Jevai meets with Nemnu in the form of Veruve, and learns about Cataracts

[NemnostiGM] In the Negili Reckoning, the month of Dend Aivas is unnaturally short. Just twenty days from start to finish, as if someone had stolen its back-end from it. For your part, though, Jevai, it's been the longest month of your life, Dend Aivas 765, duration: infinite.
[NemnostiGM] It has been seven months now since you saw Eng-dur in person, and six since you felt that stabbing pain in your liver followed by that cold feeling that hasn't totally gone away.
[NemnostiGM] And twenty-six days now since the last new moon, late in Khurar, when you stood amidst the Lanky Stones at midnight and ... he was, well, not there, but perhaps present?
[NemnostiGM] And his words could not have been clearer: Silence is safety. Say nothing, tell no one, be safe. Come again at the next new moon.
[NemnostiGM] But the month has to end first, and it doesn't seem inclined to.
[NemnostiGM] Everyone has surely noticed that you are distracted. Perhaps, perhaps they simply think you are grieving. Good, let them think that.
[NemnostiGM] You are walking across the courtyard towards the Goat's Stairs, to get out of this place for a bit, when you hear a voice in your head.
[Nemnu] Don't react. I'm over here. By Hul Hai.
[Jevai] (Nemnu?)
[Nemnu] Yes.
[Jevai] (Lady...)
[NemnostiGM] You turn and see the stunning face and body of Veruve Nemni, Nemnu's Vessel. And of course, it is not her, but Her.
* Nemnu is sitting underneath Hul Hai, a knife in one hand, a small figurine in the other, taking shape as She carves.
[Jevai] (Should I sit with you, lady?)
[Nemnu] Yes. Don't worry, we won't be noticed. I have ensured it. Come, sit.
* Jevai will come s and sit then
[Nemnu] How are you, Hestur?
* Nemnu asks, not really looking at you, but at her carving.
[Jevai] I.... don't really know, Lady.
* Jevai looks at Veruve/Nemnu, but then also down at the carving
[Jevai] What are You making?
[Nemnu] A figurine of one who will be missed.
* Nemnu hands over the incomplete object and while it's not all done yet, it is unmistakably the face of Eng-dur.
[Jevai] Oh...
[Nemnu] Eng-dur was a good man. Not always a wise man, but always with a strong heart and kidneys.
[Nemnu] You know, I only spoke to him once, ever. He never had much interest in this place. I don't know why.
[Nemnu] It was about you.
* Jevai listens
[Nemnu] He told me, he asked me, to accept you as an acolyte. I was surprised. Upwards and Downwards like to keep hold of their pebbles, not let them drop into the river.
* Nemnu picks up a small stone from the soil around the roots of the ancient platanus, and tosses it the sixty feet or so into the Imp's Pool.
[Nemnu] He did not offer me anything, which is unusual. I was surprised again. Normally when people come trying to get me to take an acolyte, they imagine they are either bribing me or begging me.
[Nemnu] But he just asked, as if asking for a sip of water from a flask. But it was more than that, almost as if saying, it is in your interest to do so.
[Jevai] ...in Your interest?
[Nemnu] Exactly so.
[Nemnu] Now, I should be clear, I do not make my decisions on the basis of what a wild man from the hills recommends.
[Nemnu] My decisions are mine alone. And you have, my dear Hestur, given me no reason to regret my decision, in these past six years. Quite the opposite.
[Jevai] Thank you, Lady...
[Nemnu] But I still do not know why he asked me. Sigillants, you are creatures of secrets, that much is sure. Sharusila certainly had hers. Perhaps you know why he did so?
* Jevai shakes her head
[Jevai] He never spoke of this to me.
[Nemnu] Do you know the Old Ombesh word levununde? It is not so common nowadays.
[NemnostiGM] (you aren't sure - it sounds maybe like something you saw in a book or that you should know, but you don't)
[Jevai] No Lady, though it seems familiar. My studies of the language are progressing, but I have not gained much fluency yet.
[Nemnu] It means, I suppose, a waterfall, but more than that, a waterfall that washes away everything, overwhelming force, almost incontestable. As if breaking through, a gate crashing down, obstructing all vision.
[Nemnu] A Cataract.
* Nemnu speaks the last word with emphasis.
[Nemnu] I believe that we may be on the cusp of a cataract, a levununde, events beyond our control, flowing out of control.
[Nemnu] I wonder whether Eng-dur knew what I still see only dimly.
[Jevai] He knew many things he had not shared with me.
* Nemnu nods.
[Nemnu] I do not know what is happening, Jevai-who-is-Hestur. I hope that if you do, you will find a way to tell us all, before the gate crashes down, obstructing all vision. Before the Cataract which I fear is upon us, or soon will be.
* Nemnu sits in silence for a moment, apparently composing her thoughts.
* Jevai sits with that for a moment, not really knowing how to respond
[Nemnu] This place, the ulajeta, do you know why it is called the Grey Silences?
[Jevai] NO, Lady
[Nemnu] The Silences, I suppose, are the secrets that we all must keep, just to make a life with meaning and purpose. And the grey, it is my colour, you know, it is the color of stone, but also of cloud, and ash, and of fast-running water.
[Nemnu] I keep my silences well, even as I know you do also.
* Nemnu leans over and kisses you gently on the forehead.
[Nemnu] Let us hope we do not regret it.
[NemnostiGM] Until next we gather by the firelight, young acolytes ...