TOL HONETH: This peculiar piece was produced by a melancholy monk at Mar-Terin in the late 27th century. Though he steadfastly maintained until his death that these were the actual words of the grieving God, Mara, it is easily evident that this mournful work is rather the product of a mind diseased by solitude, racial guilt and the continual wail of the wind in the barren trees near the monastery.
The unfortunate history of the destruction of Maragor and the extermination of its people is a moral burden which the Tolnedran Empire must bear. We must not, however, lapse into hysteria as a result of our sense of guilt. Rather we must resolve never again to turn to such savagery in our quest for advantage and profit.
Truly, the spirit of the God Mara stands as a continual remonstrance to us; and, balanced against the proverbs of our own beloved Nedra, provides every decent and right-thinking Tolnedran with those bounds against which he may measure his conduct.
EEEE – AAAAY! EEEE – AAAAY!
Oh Weep for Mara whose people are no more.
Sorrow,
Sorrow,
Grief and Woe
The people are destroyed, the elders and the children.
The men are cut down, and the women, fountainhead of race and blood and kind
are slain.
The people of Mara are no more.
EEEE-AAAAY!
EEEE-AAAAY!
Sorrow
and
Sorrow
The people of Mara are no more. Cursed then is the land.
Betrayed am I by my brothers.
Betrayed land of the Marags shall be forever
Accursed. My hand shall be raised against it. No fruit shall it bear to outlanders.
No rest or sleep shall they find there.
Madness only shall they reap
among my empty cities.
And I will raise an army of the dead
against all who come into this land. Blood and death to all who profane my sacred altars.
EEEE – AAAAY!
EEEE – AAAAY! Sorrow!
Sorrow!
Sorrow! O, weep for Mara, whose people are no more.*
NOTE There are some 1800 proverbs of Nedra. The few presented here are a random sampling containing the general spirit of the advice of Nedra to his people. The fact that Tolnedra is the dominant power in the west is silent testimony to the efficacy of Nedra’s advice.
1. Kill not. Dead men cannot buy from thee.
2. Steal not. Give full measure, and thy customer shall return.
3. Covet not. Keep thy mind unto thine own business and thou shalt prosper.
4. Store up thy goods against thine old age. Prepare for adversity, and be prudent in thine expenditures.
5. Be bountiful unto thy children and unto thy brother’s children so that they will be bountiful unto thee when thy vigor is diminished.
6. Bribe not the tax-collector. If he will betray the throne, will he not betray thee also?
7. Adulterate not the coinage nor shave away fragments therefrom. The coin thou sendest away today shall return unto thee tomorrow, and then whom hast thou robbed?
8. Dabble not. Select thy wares and become conversant with them. Who can know both shoes and jewels at the same time?
9. Deal in the very best thou canst afford. Who will buy from one who hath no faith in his own goods?
10. Be patient in thy dealings. Courtesy and wit are gold. Anger and spite are brass.
11. Cheat not. Thy customer will remember thee and shall never return.
12. Revenge thyself not on him who hath dealt falsely with thee. No profit is to be found in revenge.
13. Be ever watchful of the servant with ambition. If he is stupid, he will steal from thee. If he is clever, he will supplant thee.
14. Traffic only in tangible things. Who can weigh the wind or measure a promise?
15. Store up gold. Time cannot tarnish it, nor fashion cheapen. Trade thy gold only in the certainty of bringing in more.*
Unto his Disciples*
TRULY
I say unto thee that the world was made with a word. For the Seven joined together and spake the one word – Be –
And the world was.
I say again, in the speaking of the word was the world made, and all that is in the world was made thus. And Truly, I say unto thee also, thus may the world be unmade.† For in the day that my brothers and I join again and speak the words – Be Not – in that day shall the world perish.
Infinite is the power of the word, for the word is the breath and soul of the mind, and as I have taught thee it is in the mind that all power lies. If thy mind have power, put that power into the word, and that which thou dost desire shall come to pass. But if thy mind be untutored or if it should be that thou falter or fear or doubt, the greatest words of power shall avail thee not – for with thy mind and with the word must be joined the will. And
