Tamriel Data:Fascicle 5-12

Book Information Fascicle 5-12
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ID	T_Bk_Fascicle02PC
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The Testament of the Church-Mothers
Fascicle 5-12
Nascence and Sequence

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5. In the space of the Hours there came to be two new spirits, and the first of these was Arkay, First-and-Last, and he came forth from the Will of Akatosh to impose order, and let the world surge in ordered striations, and also he came forth from the Will of Mara, who first thought of things to be.

6. And Akatosh loved his son dearly, and said: "In this place, I have found what I have made myself, which is the lattice that twists and shakes spirits from their slumber. Yours is the place by my side, and for you there is a place, and it will be the place of your choosing, to shape and forge the world, and shape and forge yourself, as all things must shape and forge themselves."

7. So Arkay regarded the revolving Waters that his father had wrought, and saw how thing came to be, and how they ceased, and how there was no limit to this, and no order, and there was no cause, and no consequence. And this displeased him, and he said: "Father, from the nothing you have made something, saying, "This is", and saying, "I am", and it is good, and I love it dearly. Yet you have neglected to bring these things to bear, and show them each other, that is, themselves, and how one thing may bring forth another, as you have brought me forth through the Waters. Yet one thing may be, then cease to be, and be without cause nor consequence. For it seems to me a great and good thing, to be of consequence. Let us therefore initiate the shape of things, in which one thing may be cause to another, and one thing be the result of another."

And the Shape of Things was to be a Circle, which is a pleasing shape, and all things did come to follow its path through the Void, to be, and to grow, and to diminish, and to be again, and to bring about this cycle in others.

8. And the Waters did wheel in different ways at Arkay's feet, for he was the King of Circles, that is to say, the story of Life and Death in the beforetime when Life nor Death were known to the Divines. And so Arkay was the keeper of things to come, and this was a secret sorrow to him.

9. Another spirit came to be, and this was Mara, the Mother, and she came forth from the idea of growth, of how the spirits did coalesce and grow, and from the love Akatosh had felt for the spirits yet unborn. And also she was born from the workings of Arkay, who dreamt of the Beginning and the End, and in this then she was always the Beginning.

10. And she was twin to Arkay, born in the same space of the Hours, but while he grew enamored with the Circle's gentle tyranny, Mara shied away from it, saying: "I know this path, for I can see its circumference, the whole breadth of the walk of the world. It leads back only to the Beginning, which is a pleasant place, but the path of your making is long and tortuous. Better to stay, and nurture the place of one's choosing, and I choose the place of Life, and from my feet will spring the place of Life".

11. At first Mara found solace within herself, filling the empty, and the life she brought forth rose from the waters and threw itself down to become a dream of the earth, which gave solace to the spirits, and was a place to rest and gather strength, to build homes and lie down to rest, and lie down to give pleasure. And then Mara came unto Akatosh and elected him her love, whom she taught to drain the stones.

12. But Arkay refused the warm and heavy land, and lived on the waters which carry the dead, and he looked at the valleys of the earth and saw graves, pits that swallow life and keep it. So all who seek rest and refuge from Arkay's circles look to bury themselves in the earth of Mara, to cling to the mother. But the wise man will follow the river to life's end, where he will find life anew, and true and joyful it will seem to him. Those who bury their bones in the earth are held for but an hour's breadth, for in all things Mara's grasp will slip, and they too will follow the Waters.

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