Some more rambling about legends and other neat stuff.
WARNING: Many heroes with funky names and many evil people with funky names. See the end of the chapter for phonetic pronunciation (if you're really that interested).
Chapter Ten
Takuin, the High Priest of Life, stood before the sacred altar in the Temple of Life. His head was bowed in immense concentration; it was not easy to summon Nayru, the Goddess of Wisdom. She was, by far, the most difficult of the three Golden Goddesses to summon. However, her venerable counsel was needed sorely; many of the ancient and revered parts of the temple were decaying rapidly, as though undergoing a time warp of geologic proportions.
[Thee hath summoned my counsel, High Priest of Light. I am here. Speak freely of your quandaries.]
'Nayru, oh Great Golden Goddess, hear my cry,' he pleaded mentally. 'The great and powerful Temple of Life is deteriorating and naught that I do can help it. I ask of thee thy wise counsel, so that this impasse may be corrected.' There was a silence. The lit candles on the altar flickered, as though depicting the goddess's deep thought.
[Thy cry is heard, Takuin, and thee shall not be turned away. We see in part that there shall be one, the Timeless Hero, who shall come and vanquish the dark spirits that haunt our temple. Thy shall not have prayed in vain.]
'When shall this hero come?' inquired Takuin hopefully. The Goddesses knew all and saw all, but something... something in the temple could avoid their foresight and destroy it freely. This 'Timeless Hero' must be extraordinary if the Goddesses were going to send him... or her...
[The Timeless Hero is not ready. Thee must be patient. There is much council to occur between we three before thy plea is placated. We know not of the dark spirits haunting thy temple and thy sleep, Takuin. They escape our minds.]
'Surely, this is bad. Are you sure you cannot?'
[This we know, and thus we say; we do not know of them. Their presence is strange and evil, this is what we know, and only what we know. Thy perseverance in attempting to answer all thy questions is admirable, but we have no time for thy curious interrogation. We depart to the skies, Takuin, and the Timeless Hero draws closer to thee yet.] A great weight seemed to lift off the High Priest of Life's shoulders, and the elderly Hylian relaxed somewhat. If the Goddesses decreed that his temple should be saved, eventually, then he should not pursue the matter.
'I was foolish; annoying the goddesses is something one must avoid,' Takuin thought to himself nervously, rising to his feet. His robe billowed around him like a majestic golden aura. Tucking his arms into his sleeves, he shuffled off to the main gate to see if any visitors had arrived.
The Rock Ring of Doom surrounding the great island often prevented many ships from entering the water beyond it, and the majority of the time caused death and destruction among the crews.
Because of this, rarely anyone arrived at the Port of Infinity, but when they did, there was a wild, hungry look in their eyes that spoke of their quest for the Temple of Life.
According to legend, the Temple of Life would grant revival to fallen peoples of the world. Yet with every legend came drawbacks; the Temple of Life was situated in the center of the world's rockiest most dangerous mountains and cliffs. The path was perilous and death was ever present. Hardly a person made it to the temple unwounded; many died along the way, and more turned back.
But those who continued along the dangerous journey and persevered through the hardships found the temple. It was a beautiful, ancient replica of the Temple of Light, which was situated in the Sacred Realm. The bones of all heroes from bygone days rested in the front courtyard of the Temple of Life.
The legend of the first emergence of a hero was said to come from the heavens on a fiery chariot of chaos. Born from the fallen star, Raveth Lagesia traveled to the Temple of Life and liberated it from the unspeakable evil of Scianei, the rogue Lord of Death. But before this, Raveth journeyed to the Southern Runes, which was a land of its own before Hyrule's birth. There he implored the Fire Dragon to forge him the most powerful sword. Volcanis did, and the ancient manuscripts become hazy there; some say he was the first to find Tsunami, while others claim he took the sword to Avatara to be blessed, and still others believe that the sword was empowered by Ententé. No one knows for sure exactly how the Master Sword received its magical powers, but one thing is certain; it was used to emancipate Shadeius from the grasp of Scianei.
A millennium later, however, the next hero came forth, wielding the Master Sword. He looked so much like the remarkable Raveth that many believed Riken was his son, even though much time had passed. But there was substantial evidence that he was not; born and raised in Kreya, Riken claimed to have found the Master Sword embedded deeply in the headstone of Orbian.
Riken is most commonly referred to as Raveth's Son, but this belief is a chronological impossibility. However, his most noteworthy deed was the Unity of the Realms, which bound the Sacred Realm to the Realm of Eternal Darkness, and made them coexist in harmony with one another. There were followers of each Realm, and many bloody battles ensued to try and enforce their beliefs upon one another. Riken stopped this problem by creating Aounto, the Center of the Unity of Realms, which forced reconciliation between the two divisions of peoples. Nowadays the two religions are scarcely practiced. A rather adequate explanation of the two religions would be the Yin-Yang; one cannot exist without the other. Riken made this so. Aounto serves as the thin line between the two forces.
The list goes on through the ages: Raveth, Riken, Kirin, Orison, Laithe, Rawn, and the last known Hero of Legend was Kiefer, who saved the Ancient Sages from certain doom at the hands of Grineth, when the demon king rose once more from his banishment. Afterwards, Kiefer journeyed to the Temple of Life to join the others in the final rest that awaits us all.
Of all this Takuin knew, and much more; a High Priest of Life had to know all the legends, folklore, and myths of each and every country, sect, and family. Only Ententé granted this knowledge, although it remained unseen through it all.
Dayen, Takuin's faithful young friend, was waiting patiently by the Front Gates atop his devoted steed, the white Djinn. Dayen was the only one who knew the secret shortcut to the Temple of Life; Takuin had told him thus in order to keep tabs on any who might be brave enough to take the perilous path. Dayen could be trusted; the Light Dragon blessed him, and that was enough.
"Hile, Takuin," greeted the young swordsman cheerfully, a broad smile on his smooth features. "How goes it?"
"There is good news, but there is bad news," replied the priest heavily, shaking his head from side to side. Dayen's smile faded and a troubled look replaced it.
"Tell me the bad news."
"No, the good news first. Nayru has decreed the arrival of the next hero." Dayen's face lit up like the sun.
"Aye... 'tis good news!"
"The bad news comes in a set... the first part is that the Temple of Life is continuing to decay, at an even faster rate, and the second part is that the hero who comes to save it... She told me not when he would come..." The young swordsman winced painfully.
"That isn't good, friend Takuin. Shall I try another Cleansing Spell?" The High Priest of Life shook his head again. With his friend his speech became less archaic, to the younger's relief.
"No, Dayen. You should use your magic sparingly. Who knows when the next ship will come, and make it through with Magic Restorative as well. What news of ships?"
"Several more crashed upon the Rock Ring of Doom," sighed Dayen unhappily. "One of them could have made it had they only veered more to the left..."
"Too bad it is far easier to leave this place than to get here," Takuin remarked dully. "Ah well. What is it to me? I am merely the guardian of an old relic that falls apart around my ears. It is not in my place to judge what is wise."
"If every ship could get through safely, the Temple of Life would no longer serve its purpose. Anyone could bring back a fallen friend or relative," snorted the swordsman, reprimanding Djinn patiently. The wild horse was becoming bored in its idle position. "There's a purpose for bad things, Takuin. Surely you know this."
"They could have been innocent," murmured the High Priest, turning back to the temple and indicating their meeting was over. "All of them, they could have been so innocent..."
PHONETIC PRONUNCIATION OF NAMES
Some of these names are more important than others; most are just mentioned in passing and will probably retreat to the deepest recesses of my mind.
The letters/words in capitals indicate which syllable should be stressed. Some of these are not direct phonetic pronunciations, but what the hey, I can't even say some of these names. ^__^
Takuin: Ty-COO-in.
Dayen: DAY-yin
Raveth Lagesia: RA-veth La-GESS-sia
Riken: RY-ken
Kirin: Keer-in
Orison: OR-uh-son
Laithe: LAYTH
Rawn: Ron (Simple, eh?)
Kiefer: KY-fur
Grineth: Greh-neth
Scianei: SKY-uh-NAY
Ententé: en-ten-TAY (Not to be confused with the actual word, entente, which is pronounced 'ahn-tant.')
Shadeius: Shay-DAY-us
Aounto: Eh, say it however you feel like, it's bound to be confused. ^^;;
WARNING: Many heroes with funky names and many evil people with funky names. See the end of the chapter for phonetic pronunciation (if you're really that interested).
Chapter Ten
Takuin, the High Priest of Life, stood before the sacred altar in the Temple of Life. His head was bowed in immense concentration; it was not easy to summon Nayru, the Goddess of Wisdom. She was, by far, the most difficult of the three Golden Goddesses to summon. However, her venerable counsel was needed sorely; many of the ancient and revered parts of the temple were decaying rapidly, as though undergoing a time warp of geologic proportions.
[Thee hath summoned my counsel, High Priest of Light. I am here. Speak freely of your quandaries.]
'Nayru, oh Great Golden Goddess, hear my cry,' he pleaded mentally. 'The great and powerful Temple of Life is deteriorating and naught that I do can help it. I ask of thee thy wise counsel, so that this impasse may be corrected.' There was a silence. The lit candles on the altar flickered, as though depicting the goddess's deep thought.
[Thy cry is heard, Takuin, and thee shall not be turned away. We see in part that there shall be one, the Timeless Hero, who shall come and vanquish the dark spirits that haunt our temple. Thy shall not have prayed in vain.]
'When shall this hero come?' inquired Takuin hopefully. The Goddesses knew all and saw all, but something... something in the temple could avoid their foresight and destroy it freely. This 'Timeless Hero' must be extraordinary if the Goddesses were going to send him... or her...
[The Timeless Hero is not ready. Thee must be patient. There is much council to occur between we three before thy plea is placated. We know not of the dark spirits haunting thy temple and thy sleep, Takuin. They escape our minds.]
'Surely, this is bad. Are you sure you cannot?'
[This we know, and thus we say; we do not know of them. Their presence is strange and evil, this is what we know, and only what we know. Thy perseverance in attempting to answer all thy questions is admirable, but we have no time for thy curious interrogation. We depart to the skies, Takuin, and the Timeless Hero draws closer to thee yet.] A great weight seemed to lift off the High Priest of Life's shoulders, and the elderly Hylian relaxed somewhat. If the Goddesses decreed that his temple should be saved, eventually, then he should not pursue the matter.
'I was foolish; annoying the goddesses is something one must avoid,' Takuin thought to himself nervously, rising to his feet. His robe billowed around him like a majestic golden aura. Tucking his arms into his sleeves, he shuffled off to the main gate to see if any visitors had arrived.
The Rock Ring of Doom surrounding the great island often prevented many ships from entering the water beyond it, and the majority of the time caused death and destruction among the crews.
Because of this, rarely anyone arrived at the Port of Infinity, but when they did, there was a wild, hungry look in their eyes that spoke of their quest for the Temple of Life.
According to legend, the Temple of Life would grant revival to fallen peoples of the world. Yet with every legend came drawbacks; the Temple of Life was situated in the center of the world's rockiest most dangerous mountains and cliffs. The path was perilous and death was ever present. Hardly a person made it to the temple unwounded; many died along the way, and more turned back.
But those who continued along the dangerous journey and persevered through the hardships found the temple. It was a beautiful, ancient replica of the Temple of Light, which was situated in the Sacred Realm. The bones of all heroes from bygone days rested in the front courtyard of the Temple of Life.
The legend of the first emergence of a hero was said to come from the heavens on a fiery chariot of chaos. Born from the fallen star, Raveth Lagesia traveled to the Temple of Life and liberated it from the unspeakable evil of Scianei, the rogue Lord of Death. But before this, Raveth journeyed to the Southern Runes, which was a land of its own before Hyrule's birth. There he implored the Fire Dragon to forge him the most powerful sword. Volcanis did, and the ancient manuscripts become hazy there; some say he was the first to find Tsunami, while others claim he took the sword to Avatara to be blessed, and still others believe that the sword was empowered by Ententé. No one knows for sure exactly how the Master Sword received its magical powers, but one thing is certain; it was used to emancipate Shadeius from the grasp of Scianei.
A millennium later, however, the next hero came forth, wielding the Master Sword. He looked so much like the remarkable Raveth that many believed Riken was his son, even though much time had passed. But there was substantial evidence that he was not; born and raised in Kreya, Riken claimed to have found the Master Sword embedded deeply in the headstone of Orbian.
Riken is most commonly referred to as Raveth's Son, but this belief is a chronological impossibility. However, his most noteworthy deed was the Unity of the Realms, which bound the Sacred Realm to the Realm of Eternal Darkness, and made them coexist in harmony with one another. There were followers of each Realm, and many bloody battles ensued to try and enforce their beliefs upon one another. Riken stopped this problem by creating Aounto, the Center of the Unity of Realms, which forced reconciliation between the two divisions of peoples. Nowadays the two religions are scarcely practiced. A rather adequate explanation of the two religions would be the Yin-Yang; one cannot exist without the other. Riken made this so. Aounto serves as the thin line between the two forces.
The list goes on through the ages: Raveth, Riken, Kirin, Orison, Laithe, Rawn, and the last known Hero of Legend was Kiefer, who saved the Ancient Sages from certain doom at the hands of Grineth, when the demon king rose once more from his banishment. Afterwards, Kiefer journeyed to the Temple of Life to join the others in the final rest that awaits us all.
Of all this Takuin knew, and much more; a High Priest of Life had to know all the legends, folklore, and myths of each and every country, sect, and family. Only Ententé granted this knowledge, although it remained unseen through it all.
Dayen, Takuin's faithful young friend, was waiting patiently by the Front Gates atop his devoted steed, the white Djinn. Dayen was the only one who knew the secret shortcut to the Temple of Life; Takuin had told him thus in order to keep tabs on any who might be brave enough to take the perilous path. Dayen could be trusted; the Light Dragon blessed him, and that was enough.
"Hile, Takuin," greeted the young swordsman cheerfully, a broad smile on his smooth features. "How goes it?"
"There is good news, but there is bad news," replied the priest heavily, shaking his head from side to side. Dayen's smile faded and a troubled look replaced it.
"Tell me the bad news."
"No, the good news first. Nayru has decreed the arrival of the next hero." Dayen's face lit up like the sun.
"Aye... 'tis good news!"
"The bad news comes in a set... the first part is that the Temple of Life is continuing to decay, at an even faster rate, and the second part is that the hero who comes to save it... She told me not when he would come..." The young swordsman winced painfully.
"That isn't good, friend Takuin. Shall I try another Cleansing Spell?" The High Priest of Life shook his head again. With his friend his speech became less archaic, to the younger's relief.
"No, Dayen. You should use your magic sparingly. Who knows when the next ship will come, and make it through with Magic Restorative as well. What news of ships?"
"Several more crashed upon the Rock Ring of Doom," sighed Dayen unhappily. "One of them could have made it had they only veered more to the left..."
"Too bad it is far easier to leave this place than to get here," Takuin remarked dully. "Ah well. What is it to me? I am merely the guardian of an old relic that falls apart around my ears. It is not in my place to judge what is wise."
"If every ship could get through safely, the Temple of Life would no longer serve its purpose. Anyone could bring back a fallen friend or relative," snorted the swordsman, reprimanding Djinn patiently. The wild horse was becoming bored in its idle position. "There's a purpose for bad things, Takuin. Surely you know this."
"They could have been innocent," murmured the High Priest, turning back to the temple and indicating their meeting was over. "All of them, they could have been so innocent..."
PHONETIC PRONUNCIATION OF NAMES
Some of these names are more important than others; most are just mentioned in passing and will probably retreat to the deepest recesses of my mind.
The letters/words in capitals indicate which syllable should be stressed. Some of these are not direct phonetic pronunciations, but what the hey, I can't even say some of these names. ^__^
Takuin: Ty-COO-in.
Dayen: DAY-yin
Raveth Lagesia: RA-veth La-GESS-sia
Riken: RY-ken
Kirin: Keer-in
Orison: OR-uh-son
Laithe: LAYTH
Rawn: Ron (Simple, eh?)
Kiefer: KY-fur
Grineth: Greh-neth
Scianei: SKY-uh-NAY
Ententé: en-ten-TAY (Not to be confused with the actual word, entente, which is pronounced 'ahn-tant.')
Shadeius: Shay-DAY-us
Aounto: Eh, say it however you feel like, it's bound to be confused. ^^;;