BOK00016-LOC.txt

Title: Ark'ay The God
Author: Mymophonus the Scribe
IsNaughty: False
Price: 562
IsUnique: False
WhenVarSet: 
Content:


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[/center]Arkay The God



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 So be it known that the gods were once as we.

 Ark'ay, the god of death and birth, was an ordinary 
shopkeeper whose only unusual characteristic was a passion
for knowledge. To indulge his hobby he became an avid
collector of books on almost any subject he could find in
print. 

 One day he stumbled across a tome which purported to tell
the secrets of life, death, and the purpose of existence.
After  months of studying the convoluted logic, written in
opaque language, he thought that he was finally beginning to
understand what the author was saying. 

 During this time he became so intent on understanding the book
that he ignored everything else: his business started to slide
towards bankruptcy, his few friends stopped visiting him, he
ignored the plague which was ravaging the town, and his
family were ready to leave him.

 Just as he felt that the book was opening visions of new
worlds, the plague brought him low. His family tended his
illness out of a sense of duty, but he slowly sank towards
death. So, as a last resort, he prayed to Mara the
mother-goddess to allow him enough time to complete his
studies of the book.

 "Why should I make an exception for you, Ark`ay?" asked
Mara.

 "Mother Mara, I am finally beginning to understand this
book and the meaning of life and death" he answered, "and
with a little more time to study and think, I should be able
to teach others".

 "Hmmm, it sounds to me like that `teaching others' is an 
afterthought to appeal to me", she replied. "What is the
reason for death and birth?"

 "There are far more souls in the Universe than there is room
for in the physical world. But it is in the physical world
that a soul has an opportunity to learn and progress.
Without birth, souls would not be able to acquire that
experience, and without death there would be no room for
birth."

 "Not a very good explanation, but it does have elements of
truth. Maybe with more study you could improve it," she
mused.  "I cannot give you `a little more time.' I can
only condemn you to Eternal labor in the field you have
chosen. How say you to that?"

 "I do not understand, mother," said Ark'ay.

 "Your choice is to either accept the death that is so close
or to become a god with us. But a god is not an easy nor
pleasant thing to be. As the god of death and birth you will
spend eternity making sure that deaths and births stay in
proper  balance in the physical world. And, in spite of what
you  believe you understand, you will always agonize over 
whether your decisions are truly correct. How do you
decide?"

 Ark'ay spent what seemed to him as an eternity in thought
before answering. "Mother, if my studies are not completely wrong, my only choice is to accept the burden and
try to  transmit the reasons for death and birth to
humanity."

 "So be it, Arkay, God of Birth and Death."