To say the journey to Su-Wen is long and laborious is an underestimation.
It's North of YoonKao, where the bitter frost sets in to chase away the sun's soft gaze.
Further Westward to the Plains, it is where the civilized world blurs away and the Capital's influence stretches further back outward to meet interminable highways of grass and, well, more grass. Then, a creek. Then, some forest.
Then, out there, it's the unexplored world —full of sound, beauty, rage, and the stuffs of unknown workings.
Then, nothing. Nothing but you, the road, and nature watching from between each blade of grass.
This world was not quite always like this, though.
***
When I was a boy, House Spar was situated just a little ways away from the Capital of YoonKao. We were both wealthy enough that we had an entire family name and property rights to ourselves, but also insignificant enough that we were safe from the prying eyes of the State. So, House Spar lived in general peace.
As a boy, I was no stranger to having the delicate sensibilities of nobility hammered into my head.
My sister Talulah grew up learning how to be a Lady, whereas I learned to be a Gentleman. In the morning, our house instructor taught us basic reading and writing. In the afternoon, the maids lay out silverware and tested our mannerisms. How to open a door. How to bow. How to pick up utensils to eat with. What order to start from.
It was very laborious.
Though, my sister Talulah and I loved to spend the late nights sneaking around the many hallways and rooms inaccessible to us. Our favorite spot was the library.
The library was a Labyrinth filled with books, manuscripts, vital documents, scrolls, runes, and forbidden texts depending on how desperate you were to find them. Though, Talulah and I were still kids. We never got too far down into the depths of the archives to find the super-secret stuff. After all, the threat of getting caught still scared us.
Talulah loved taking the staircase to the higher levels and whizzing through the books on spellcraft and sorcery. I on the other hand loved the ground level, where the books on histories and lore were. Sometimes she'd come to join me downstairs and pretend she was in a magical trance. I'd fall for it. Or, sometimes I'd pretend to fall for it.
There was one particular story that never failed to catch my fancy: "The Great Divines: Origins of the Gods and Their Place in Mankind."
Here's how it goes.
***
Everyone knows of the stories of the Gods, the Divines, the Dread Beings, and the many constellations of deities which constitute the religious pantheons of the world.
The Ashen God Ariole, who faced his tyrannical father in single combat and plunged his heart into the sky with his spear of lightning, scattering it into fragmented pieces which make the constellations today.
The Sea Princess Treya, who foresaw destruction and mayhem from the limitless sky so dear, that her tears drowned the ancient world to create the oceans in which she and her profound people reside as a haven from the coming sky-laden apocalypse.
The book "The Great Divines: Origins of the Gods and Their Place in Mankind" was different though. It's one of the few books that took a seriously intellectual and academic approach to storybooks and Mythology. Also, unlike many books in our library, this one didn't shy away from the pantheons outside of YoonKao. It dared to explore elsewhere.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about the book was that it made a rather confident, bold, arrogant, and perhaps even insane claim.
"Upon deconstructing the underlying psychology behind the Gods, Deities, Spectral figures, and all such machinations of Divine origin, one thing is clear: that the Gods fear mankind."
Being a snotty child, as all children were, I always shared my "newfound knowledge" as if it were my own, without incriminating my sneaking into the library, of course.
"How could you say that, my young lord?" The maids would say, "we exist because we fear the Gods!"
It wasn't until I grew older that I realized the connotation behind the Gods and their fear of the humanity they created wasn't exactly something to be proud of.
No.
This was not said in triumph. Instead, we should fear the Gods in that they fear us.
Now, here's where things get crazier.
"In the beginning, the goddess Kai-Mora was the embodiment of all evil mothers and ruling master of the world. But, the world was empty, and she had no one to tyrannize. So, she birthed the ancient Gods and feasted on their bodies such that they would be too weak to leave. In defiance, the Gods created mankind, and with their faith and worship the Gods grew the strength to overthrow Kai-Mora. They wove from her flesh, skin, and bones the fabric of the universe. But, because the universe was created from Mora's corpse, it was rife with suffering."
Now, this was normal to me. This was an everyday creation myth. But, the author's beliefs were where the insanity started.
"If we believe this true, then this explains the disappearance of the Gods and their abandonment of mankind. Taking off after their cosmic birth mother, the Gods fear their creations growing strong enough to overthrow them. Thus, technological advancement, philosophy, science, civilization, these are all heretic to the religious pantheon of YoonKao and beyond."
The author continues.
"Why else does magic exist? Why does magic always, ALWAYS, precede the downfall of civilization? Did the Gods want to give humanity power? No. Not at all. The Gods and their gift of magic, it is no gift but a curse. It is used to slow the progress of man to ensure it's eventual collapse. The Gods gave magic to humans such that they would devour themselves in hedonism and corruption. The Gods ran from man never to answer its calls because they fear, one day, that prayer would lure them into their grasp."
He continues.
"What, then, should we make of this? Well, it's obvious because we take off after our Godly ancestors. We must do what we were made to do, and conquer our own Gods to become our own Pantheon. What happens when the Gods leave? We must defeat them and make a new world to live in from their corpse, as our ancestors did."
It's insane.
Or, maybe it's true.
Perhaps the book is so insane that it is true. Maybe it is because it is insane that it is true.
I don't know. I'm just a royal who fell from Grace, now a peddler. But, even so, the stories from that library still call to me on some nights. I'm not spiritual at all, but the these ideas come to me in my thoughts from time to time.
For now, all I have is me, my horses, my cargo, my carriage, and a long stretch of road ahead of me. And, one more thing, the moving edges of a windmill ahead.