Editing Midnight RPG - Chapter 18.45.2 (section)

== Kyuad ==

''OOC: Again, this is only as private as Shadaar wishes it to be.  If others come after hearing the outburst, Kyuad will simply continue to speak until Shadaar becomes uncomfortable.''

''Also, this is long.  If anyone wants to interrupt, just do so.''


Kyuad seems somewhat out-of-sorts as he silently listens to Shadaar's words.  Waiting a minute or more before speaking again, "I'm... not accustomed to helping in this manner.  When others feel pain, I usually get to work and leave them to it.  But this is something that I think you need me for, isn't it?"

Looking around the forest, Kyuad reaches down after a few moments and picks up a handful of loamy soil and leaves.  "You are correct though.  There is death and decay all around us.  Every living thing dies eventually, and decays to be consumed by Aryth.  This soil here is a testament to the rot that surrounds you.  Every little speck of the dirt once had a life - either as a leaf or as meat on an insect, or as dung from a passing animal.  And now it is dead.

"But does it not still live on?  Does it not still have purpose and meaning?"  Kyuad looks into Shadaar's eyes as he speaks, "This dirt that was once living flesh or vegetation has a new existence as the firmament and nourishment of others that live.  Without death and decay, those that still live would stagnate, starve, and wither into death themselves.

"You have a similar purpose in this world my friend.  The way of all life is born out in your continued un-life, giving you a chance to have meaning still.  What's more, the living things of this world depend on the un-life that you embody, otherwise the Universal Energy that flows through all things would never change."

Kyuad pauses a moment to see if this is understandable to an unlearned person, then continues, "Let me see if I can explain it better.  The energy which I referred to, the Universal Energy, flows through all living things.  It is as if we are each a pitcher with a small hole in the bottom.  As we consume and breathe and live, we are imbibed with fresh energy that originates with Aryth.  But we use it up as well, and once it passes through us it is like the puddle that forms under a leaking pitcher.  Aryth absorbs this energy and re-fills the living with it once it has been filtered and refreshed.  The amount of energy in the world never changes.

"But how does healing magic work, you might wonder?  It is an infusion of '''''new''''' Universal Energy, filling the body with a blessing of raw 'life', which causes wounds to heal and sickness to be cured.  But because nothing is capable of pushing more of this energy into Aryth than there already is; there must be a way of balancing things.

"That is the why the undead exist.  Continuing to live after death changes the way the body processes this energy.  It no longer takes it in and uses it, to empty it out again later.  It now only consumes and destroys Universal Energy.  It's as if your body were now a pitcher that will never be full, no matter how much water is poured in.  But this is not a bad thing - it is just the way of the world.  And it is necessary.

"Because, you see, the more energy that is consumed, the more that magic can create.  If it were not for undeath removing Universal Energy from Aryth, then my spells that cure others of their wounds would be the cruelest magic indead.  The magic would instead call this energy from another location somewhere, removing a spark of life from something else that still lives.

"For those of us who use the magic of Aryth and tap into the arcane energies that flow through the world, undead like you hold the Universal Energy in balance.  But the Shadow needs his own.  The dark god must supply his followers with a constant stream of curative magics in order to maintain his assault on those of us who resist.  To this end, he must secure control over undead at every turn, or he will be blocked from control over the very energies of life.  And the worst part is, he is far more hungry than those like myself could ever be, for in his power alone lies the ability to remove the disease of death itself.  The amount of Universal Energy required for this is ....  more than even I know.

"But you!  Though it feels like a curse, you are a blessing to this world.  You are the decay that brings life to those of us willing to stand against the Shadow.  And you stand with us.  And you are more than just soil my friend, you are a thinking person, capable of moral judgment and compassion.  You can direct your consumption and choose what to decay.  Your very existence stands in defiance against all that the Shadow wishes to achieve.

"Take heart.  This is all new and dark, compared to the warmth under which you were born.  But know that despite all you may be forced to endure, your continued existence is necessary to those of us who oppose the Shadow, and to Aryth itself."  Kyuad holds up Nisse, who looks just as regal and confident as any bird ever did.  As he looks into her hawkish eyes he says softly, "Were it not so, I could never bring myself to ask Nisse to continue her service to me."