IYW/Kqitnar, Llizk, Phfonu

From NexusCrossing

Life exists: dust and mildew fill the air. 
Life contained: bound by wall and shackle. 
Life spent: dark rooms, falsely illuminated through the dancing on a wick. 
Life distraught: dancing ill wanted in this place. 
Life extinguished: dancing, saltating, illuminating. 
Life obeyed: power acquired slowly. 
Life forgiven: judgment, sentence and execution. 
Life remembered: truth comes quickly. 
Life eternalized: mortality defined.   
     -Kqitnar, Llizk, Phfonu-

The first sight was of tomes as ancient as the world. Father and Mother spent a lifetime in this place. Knowledge was to be power. Soon, knowledge became power for the family. Study was all that was known. Soon this room became small, old, too well known. Life was still new, but this room was simple and old. This room in turn changed to a new room, nothing was different, other than the knowledge stored within. When this, too, became small and old, the room changed. This continued for countless rooms, sometimes intriguing, the rooms would get bigger, this was a rarity, and a privilege. Though the room would change shape and size, it was always the same, full of knowledge.

When changing rooms, Father would be absent for a period. This was naught but for a single gift of knowledge. After a few more rooms, Mother would also become absent. Father and Mother would be absent for more and more gifts of knowledge. At a point Father and Mother were absent all the gifts the room bared, only appearing when the room was to change. This became habitual. The next event should be foretold: the eternal absence of Father and Mother. The room was only able to change from one of the gifts, the gift of movement. Continuing to use this gift, the rooms continued to change, until the room became familiar.

The last changing of rooms came when the room changed to that which was the first. The knowledge was old, all except for a single gift. This gift soon became old. The rooms all contained gifts of knowledge, new. This room was no different, except for the only gift of knowledge that was contained. Soon the gift of movement was used, this time to no avail. All the knowledge gained was unable to explain. Though for the first time, knowledge began to do something new. No longer was it stagnant, it was a life of its own. It was my life.

I began to think, understand all that was in my head. I understood everything except for three words: Kqitnar, Llizk, Phfonu.

I began to franticly search through the gifts of knowledge to find an answer to what these words meant. Too franticly. The small light that had always changed rooms, fell. For the first time, light was more than a flicker. I could see the entire room at the same time. This light was not good. With the sight came the death of all the gifts. Soon, I would be no different.

A blinding light flooded around my body, soon broken, then worse. A body was standing over me, but I could not make out who or what due to the flood of light. For the first time, a sound not able to be understood. I only know that of the gifts and the dance. Soon I see black, and my mind calm. My eyes open, to see a room unfamiliar, unlike any I have seen before. My body feels different, almost as if no longer physical. I feel as if I am floating, ended quickly when I here a newly familiar sound.

A body similar to that of Father stands before me, producing this noise. I try to understand the noise, to no avail. The body could tell this, and began to wake a stick over a gift. He displayed the gift; it was like nothing I had seen. The words were large and unaligned, as if they did not belong where they were. I was able to understand what was shown to me. I was shown how to easily respond with movement of my head. Using this, the body and I started to communicate.

This led to learning how to interpret and create the sounds that I had heard. Communicating was much easier at this point. Until now my life was nothing but gifts and rooms, now I have been introduced to a concept of time and life. I came to know my age, or what was believed to be my time since my start. The man told me that from the size of my body that I appear to be here for around nine years. The only doubt that he had was when I was asked how many books I have read. I told them I was unsure, but would predict at least four hundred thousand. He then asked me to justify how I arrived at the number.

I recalled to him that I had been in more than a thousand libraries, all of varying amounts of books. When he heard this, his face went from its normal look to one of amazement and wonder. He informed me that the library that he rescued me from contained seven thousand books and only one had been added in the past three thousand years. I did not tell him that this library was the one in which I was birthed. This did bring to my though of my true age. Why would I come to be nine, if I was here for at least three thousand?

I stayed with this man for a short period, never leaving the room that I was in, this was normal for me. Soon, though, the man tells me that I must head out on my own. I was of age now, and must head to find my place in the world. I was physically ten years of age. I did not argue, it was not my place. I set out traveling to what my feet would lead, taking in everything I could.

It would be twelve years before I stopped for more than a moon cycle. During my travels, I learned from everyone and everything I came upon. Many of the books I had read were written in different languages. They were simple to learn to read, but took much more time to learn to speak and comprehend. After a short time, though, I was able to earn a living as a traveling linguist, translating books and tomes for those who wished. I arrived at a grand castle.

When I arrived, I was quickly employed by the scholars. My skills preceded my body. I was doing well, until the day that I came upon a book to translate. The names again appeared: Kqitnar, Llizk, Phfonu. This made me take my leave to find to whom these names belonged.

This search took many years of my life. Many people, and entire cities, had never heard these names. I then was told by an old man that there was a tower that the greatest scholars dwell. I was told that it stood at the center of the great lake. And thus I set out.

It took me some time to reach the lake finding a small harbor on its shore. There I stayed for a short period while a ship was built that would be able to fair past the shallows. The great lake was calm when I departed and was a simple journey to get to the center. But the tower was not there. I sailed in circles for a month trying to find the tower with no luck. Then the storm came.

The waves swelled and shook the ship. The timbers started to give. With all my knowledge, I realized that I had no way to prevent the destruction of my ship, and myself. A wave came, the ship capsized, and crumbled instantly. I swam with all my might, but it was no use, the great lake had given me my time to find the tower, I failed and did not accept that, and now I was to be punished. The water came over me, and hugged me in its serenity. I took these moments to reflect, remembering all that I had learned through the years.

Soon it came to me; those three names were not just names, but descriptions. Not in a single language, but in multiple languages combined. The names describe me. I cannot let my knowledge of life and power die. The knowledge must continue, that is what creates immortality.

Kqitnar: Knowledge Llizk: Life Phfonu: Power