63 Ash 120
The Temple of the Fallen Skies
When the sky taxi crested above the clouds, Kala gasped. There were works of art dedicated to and describing the ancient Orkhan temple, but for all their virtuosity, the experience of it with her own eyes was something else entirely. The small craft bobbed along, keeping level with the clouds as though they were merely a ship upon the sea. Even the steady buzz of Kaus' thoughts ceased to spout facts about eberrite to her inner ear as he looked on in wonder. There were stately ruins, but also an impressive array of buildings that remained miraculously unfazed by the passage of time.
The seats of temporal power in Kalzasi had been impressive, but this view gave her a shudder, her soul recognizing the numinous, perhaps. What esoteric whispers still lingered in the halls of this place? Would the Crystal Lady hear her prayers more clearly from within? This was the first time she had felt true awe since leaving Starfall. She could feel the same from Kaus mirrored back over the bond that remained both of their foundations in life.
It was a simple thing to take things for granted in life. The Academy taught the science of magic. The Gods had reached down and given their ancestors transformative wings. For Kala, however, there was a draw to the mysticism of it all. Magic, the Gods — they may be things reducible for mortal consumption, but in her reality, they were too great, too complex, and so while one must use the cognitive skills one was born with, one must also acknowledge the unknowable, the ineffable, and she wanted desperately to know the mind of the Gods insofar as she could. Some had called it hubris; perhaps it was. But for the tiny girl whose brothers could fly, she had always sought to keep up with those who had been given greater advantage, while also recognizing the advantages of her birth. It was a strange tightrope walk, her life. She would fly as close to the Sun as she could, being mindful that her wings were only as good as the wax and wishing of her heart.
Her reverie abated somewhat at the gentle tapping of the skyship's wooden frame with the stone quay. So high above the ground, this place felt more real, more solid under her feet than the ground below did. She wondered what life would be like here, as high as she might go without wings. Of course, she could always buck tradition, purchase a skyship of her own and live the life of a buccaneer. But no...
Dressed soberly for their small pilgrimage, they availed themselves to the directions of a helpful novice, and found their way inside. Perhaps they would take a more formal tour; perhaps they would wander. But first, she lit a candle for her father's departed soul in a small chapel for the veneration of ancestors and lit a stick of incense for the Gods. They knelt side-by-side but cloistered their minds from each other. Sometimes, even though they knew each other's every secret, such a division was a good thing. They were not alone. One could reach out and touch the other for reassurance, but the soul did require isolation at times in order to meditate properly.
"Prayer to speak," she murmured.
"Meditation to listen," Kaus replied.
Time passed. They weren't keeping track. All the same, Kala was a mite surprised to find Kaus still meditating when she was finished. Patient, she waited for him to finish, still kneeling. She watched the faintly blue smoke of her incense and the meandering trail it took toward the open air through a window. Incense, a stand-in for Air. Though she did not engage with her aether, she did pray to the personality she sensed when she worked with Air that it would be the element that answered her when she met her arche.
Her smile was sweet when Kaus looked her way. Their minds opened to each other again, fitting like a hand in glove. They rose and walked out of the chapel to see what there was to be seen.
The Temple of the Fallen Skies
When the sky taxi crested above the clouds, Kala gasped. There were works of art dedicated to and describing the ancient Orkhan temple, but for all their virtuosity, the experience of it with her own eyes was something else entirely. The small craft bobbed along, keeping level with the clouds as though they were merely a ship upon the sea. Even the steady buzz of Kaus' thoughts ceased to spout facts about eberrite to her inner ear as he looked on in wonder. There were stately ruins, but also an impressive array of buildings that remained miraculously unfazed by the passage of time.
The seats of temporal power in Kalzasi had been impressive, but this view gave her a shudder, her soul recognizing the numinous, perhaps. What esoteric whispers still lingered in the halls of this place? Would the Crystal Lady hear her prayers more clearly from within? This was the first time she had felt true awe since leaving Starfall. She could feel the same from Kaus mirrored back over the bond that remained both of their foundations in life.
It was a simple thing to take things for granted in life. The Academy taught the science of magic. The Gods had reached down and given their ancestors transformative wings. For Kala, however, there was a draw to the mysticism of it all. Magic, the Gods — they may be things reducible for mortal consumption, but in her reality, they were too great, too complex, and so while one must use the cognitive skills one was born with, one must also acknowledge the unknowable, the ineffable, and she wanted desperately to know the mind of the Gods insofar as she could. Some had called it hubris; perhaps it was. But for the tiny girl whose brothers could fly, she had always sought to keep up with those who had been given greater advantage, while also recognizing the advantages of her birth. It was a strange tightrope walk, her life. She would fly as close to the Sun as she could, being mindful that her wings were only as good as the wax and wishing of her heart.
Her reverie abated somewhat at the gentle tapping of the skyship's wooden frame with the stone quay. So high above the ground, this place felt more real, more solid under her feet than the ground below did. She wondered what life would be like here, as high as she might go without wings. Of course, she could always buck tradition, purchase a skyship of her own and live the life of a buccaneer. But no...
Dressed soberly for their small pilgrimage, they availed themselves to the directions of a helpful novice, and found their way inside. Perhaps they would take a more formal tour; perhaps they would wander. But first, she lit a candle for her father's departed soul in a small chapel for the veneration of ancestors and lit a stick of incense for the Gods. They knelt side-by-side but cloistered their minds from each other. Sometimes, even though they knew each other's every secret, such a division was a good thing. They were not alone. One could reach out and touch the other for reassurance, but the soul did require isolation at times in order to meditate properly.
"Prayer to speak," she murmured.
"Meditation to listen," Kaus replied.
Time passed. They weren't keeping track. All the same, Kala was a mite surprised to find Kaus still meditating when she was finished. Patient, she waited for him to finish, still kneeling. She watched the faintly blue smoke of her incense and the meandering trail it took toward the open air through a window. Incense, a stand-in for Air. Though she did not engage with her aether, she did pray to the personality she sensed when she worked with Air that it would be the element that answered her when she met her arche.
Her smile was sweet when Kaus looked her way. Their minds opened to each other again, fitting like a hand in glove. They rose and walked out of the chapel to see what there was to be seen.
The horizontal is the line of reason, the vertical is the line of prayer.
Don't worry about your horizons.
Someday, you won't even know it, they will disappear.
