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Post by SigniferLux on Aug 18, 2013 6:20:34 GMT
Vael's adventuring begun as a simple mission for Sarenrae and her church. What looked like a simple mission of retrieving a holy book fron a ruined church in the wilderness proved to be a much more difficult quest which involved fighting undead and a few necromancers. Though the priests sent there were all strong in their bearing of the light and no undead could ever defeat Sarenrae, so they took no serious damage from the encounters.
During the night, Vael took her mother's book and continued writing.
There once was a wise sage who wandered the countryside. One day, as he passed near a village, he was approached by a woman who told him of a sick child nearby. She beseeched him to help this child.
So the sage came to the village, and a crowd gathered around him, for such a man was a rare sight. One woman brought the sick child to him, and he said a prayer over her.
“Do you really think your prayer will help her, when medicine has failed?” yelled a man from the crowd.
“You know nothing of such things! You are a stupid fool!” said the sage to the man.
The man became very angry with these words and his face grew hot and red. He was about to say something, or perhaps strike out, when the sage walked over to him and said: “If one word has such power as to make you so angry and hot, may not another have the power to heal?”
And thus, the sage healed two people that day.
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Post by SigniferLux on Aug 18, 2013 6:26:30 GMT
Another night, another story Vael would write down. These stories, since she was mostly cloistered in the church, and more specifically her room, came easily and naturally to her, as if Athamia's story writing skill passed on genetically.
There once was a farmer who grew award-winning corn. Each year he entered his corn in the town fair where it won a blue ribbon.
A lone traveler asked him and learned something interesting about how he grew it. The traveler discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbors.
“How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?” the traveler asked.
“Why sir,” said the farmer, “didn’t you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn.”
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Post by SigniferLux on Aug 18, 2013 6:39:42 GMT
It was the day of praising the sun and a high priestes of Sarenrae from a distant monastery have come to the town to grant his blessings to the people.
As Vael went to him for spiritual guidance, she overheard a story which she decided to write down in the book.
A high priest had three students, and posed them a question: “If you had one hour remaining in your lifetime, What would you do in that one hour?”
The first one read and studied, then answered the question: “I would spend that hour studying the holy book of Sarenrae.”
The second one closed his eyes,then answered the question: “I would spend that hour in the ecstasy of prayer.”
The third one looked at the high priest, then answered the question: “I would spend that hour loving my family.”
The high priest looked at his students, stroked his beard, and smiled; “Each of you has given a deep and holy answer.”
But the students turned to the high priest and asked him the question: “What would you do, in your last hour?”
“Me? I would spend that hour, doing what I’d been doing. Doing what I’d been doing, for all of life is sacred.”
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Post by SigniferLux on Aug 18, 2013 6:51:07 GMT
Vael felt useless many times in the church. All she could do compared to the other priests was dance the holy dances of Sarenrae's Dawn. Other priests knew how to cook, clean, and generally how to keep the church in a running state. Being concerned about this incompetence of hers, Vael went to the high priestess and spoke to her about her problem.
The high priestess answered with a story which Vael wrote down in the family's book.
An elderly woman had two large pots , each hung on the ends of a pole , which she carried across her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water , at the end of the long walk from the stream to the house , the cracked pot arrived only half full.
For a full two years this went on daily , with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water. Of course , the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection , and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.
After 2 years of what it perceived to be bitter failure , it spoke to the woman one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself , because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house."
The old woman smiled , "Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path , but not on the other pot's side?".
After listening to this and being inspired, Vael took the path of the warrior of Sarenrae, learning to use her Dawn's dance techniques to fight and also inspire hope to people, both of which were bringing the Light of Sarenrae bakc t othe world, as the high priestess said. A few years of practise later, Vael got the title of "the Dreamdancer".
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Post by SigniferLux on Aug 18, 2013 6:53:56 GMT
It took her years of learning both the martial appliances and spiritual ones to perfect her dance. She grew tired some times, but a story she read in Sarenrae's holy scriptures gave her strength to keep up.
You take a little seed, plant it, water it, and fertilize it for a whole year, and nothing happens.
The second year you water it and fertilize it, and nothing happens.
The third year you water it and fertilize it, and nothing happens. How discouraging this becomes!
The fourth year you water it and fertilize it, and nothing happens. This is very frustrating.
The fifth year you continue to water and fertilize the seed and then… sometime during the year, the tree sprouts and grows 90 feet in six weeks.
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Post by SigniferLux on Aug 18, 2013 7:01:32 GMT
Vael once met a monk of Irori, who shared a story with her that his teacher once taught him.
“Teacher, how do I diligently practice the teachings of Irori?”
“When hungry, eat; when tired, sleep.”
“Is this not what most people do?”
“No, no, no! Most people are not like that. Most people, when eating, are full of thoughts and desires, and when sleeping, are full of cares.”
This made Vael think a lot and reflected upon the matter several times before she understood it's meaning.
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Post by SigniferLux on Aug 18, 2013 7:13:52 GMT
Vael really liked listening to stories, share them and learn more about them, their hidden meaning that she could have not understood, even different versions of many. So she was asking travelers for stories all the time. One of them, an old man coming from the distant mountains where he lived alone, shared a story that he long had the will to share but knew no ears willing to listen, apart from the trees and animals that lived near his house.
A daughter complained to her father about life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of struggling. It seemed that as soon as one problem was solved, a new one arose.
Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a fire. Soon the pots came to a boil. In one he placed carrots, in the second he placed eggs, and the last he placed ground coffee beans. He let them sit and boil, without saying a word.
The daughter waited impatiently, wondering what he was doing. In about twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them a bowl. Then he ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.
Turning to her he asked. “What do you see?” “Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” she replied.
He brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.
Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. She smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. She said, “What’s the point?” He explained that each of the items had faced the same adversity - boiling water – but each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong and hard. But after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.
“Which are you?” he asked his daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?”
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Post by SigniferLux on Aug 18, 2013 7:28:17 GMT
A druid once heard of Vael, the collector of stories, and came to visit her specifically to share a story that a squirel once told him, as he would claim. Of course Vael would welcome any story, and went together with the old druid to listen to his story.
In a clearing, deep in the forest, the trees were having a pre-dawn discussion.
“Animals come and rest in our shade but they leave a mess behind,” said the fig. “The smell on some days is unbearable!” “They show no concern for us because we’re silent,” said the olive. “But I’ve had enough! I’ve made up my mind to drive away any animal that comes here!”
“That may not be a wise thing to do,” said the oak, the oldest and biggest tree there. “The animals are a nuisance, I agree, but they serve a useful purpose. We are all inter-dependent—trees, animals, men . . .”
“I’m sorry,” interrupted the olive. “I’ve great respect for your views but in this matter I will not listen to anyone. I won’t allow animals here any more!” True to his word when a leopard came to rest in the shade later that day, the olive began to shake violently from side to side. The leopard, frightened out of his wits, jumped up and ran. The olive drove away all the animals that came to the clearing that day and in the days that followed. In course of time animals stopped coming to that part of the forest. The olive became a great hero to the younger trees in the neighbourhood and even some of the older ones began bowing to him when the oak was not looking.
Then one day two woodcutters came to the clearing. “Men!” gasped the olive. “Why have they come here? They’ve never come here before.” “If they’ve never come here before it was because they were afraid of the animals,” said the Peepul. “Now the absence of the leopard and the tiger has made them bold.” The olive began to tremble with fear and with good reason. It was the first tree the woodcutters chopped down.
When Vael asked whether that was a true story or not, the wise old druid replied that many stories may or may not be, but what one should search when he listens to a story is not if it's truthful or not but whether it is wise or hides a secret meaning.
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Post by SigniferLux on Aug 18, 2013 7:45:49 GMT
Vael met the monk of Irori once more as he came back from the mountains to bring news from the monastery and some seeds. After finishing his job the monk spoke with Vael and they traded stories.
There was a young student-archer who reached such proficiency in his art that he could shoot an arrow into a tree and then cleave that arrow into two with the next shot. He began to boast that he was a greater archer than his teacher.
One day his teacher, a venerable old man in his 70′s, asked the youth to accompany him on a trip across the hills. The journey was uneventful until they came to a deep chasm.
A single log spanned the chasm. The teacher walked down to the centre of the log, unshouldered his bow and taking an arrow shot it into a tree on the other side. His next shot cleaved the first arrow into two.
“Now it’s your turn,” he said, walking back to where his student was standing.The youth stepped gingerly on the log and very slowly and carefully made his way to the middle. But his heart was in his mouth. He knew that if he lost his footing, he would plunge to his death. His hands trembled as he strung an arrow into his bow. Preoccupied with the danger he was in, he found it hard to focus on the target. Consequently when he let go of the arrow, it missed the tree altogether. Whimpering, he turned around.
“Help me!” he shouted to his teacher. “I’ll fall!”
The old man walked up to him, took his hand and stepping backwards led him to safety. Neither of them said a word on the return journey but the boy had much to think about. He had realised that to be a master of his art it was not enough to know how to control the bow, he had to learn how to control his mind too.
After sharing that story with Vael, the monk taught her a few tricks he knew with the bow and then left for the monastery again.
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Post by SigniferLux on Aug 18, 2013 7:52:18 GMT
A few years passed before the monk from the monastery, Iel, came to visit Vael. This time, since he remembered her love for stories, brought a few books from the monastery containing parables and wisdom. Together they sat and read them, learning from each other's wisdom.
The great teacher, the high priest of the monastery a long time ago, had many pupils. One day, one of them was caught stealing by his fellow-students and they reported him to the high priest. But he took no action against the boy.
A few days later the same boy was again caught stealing. And again the high priest did nothing. This angered the other students who drew up a petition asking for the dismissal of the thief. They threatened to leave en masse if the boy was allowed to stay.
The high priest called a meeting of the students. When they had assembled he said to them: “You are good boys who know what is right and what is wrong. If you leave you will have no trouble in joining some other school. But what about your brother who does not even know the difference between right and wrong? Who will teach him if I don’t? No, I cannot ask him to go even if it means losing all of you.”
Tears coursed down the cheeks of the boy who had stolen. He never stole again and in later life became renowned for his integrity.
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Post by SigniferLux on Aug 18, 2013 7:59:48 GMT
Vael went outside the church, this time with the intent of herself traveling to the great monastery that Iel was always telling her about. As it was the first time she traveled so far, she took with her all her books and blessings from the priests as she could, armed herself, and went to this trip.
Reaching high to the mountains she searched for the place that Iel so many times described her only to find out the monaster was nothing more than an old stone building with many people, too many for it to support, that lived in.
The Teacher had given a discourse on creative thinking. Afterwards his disciples approached him and asked him to set them a problem that required them to think creatively.
The sage gave them a sieve and asked them to fill it with water at the sea, nearby. They were gone for a long time. Finally he went down to the beach to see what they were doing, and found them seated morosely around the sieve.
They scrambled to their feet when they saw him. “You’ve set us an impossible task, sir,” said the oldest of the disciples. “It’s just not possible to fill a sieve with water.”
“Are you sure?” asked the Teacher, picking up the sieve. “Sometimes it helps to step back and view the problem from a different angle.”
He waded into the water and threw the sieve far out into the sea. It sank.
“There!” said the Teacher. “It’s full of water now.”
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Post by SigniferLux on Aug 19, 2013 9:37:28 GMT
One night, Vael thinking of Iel, wrote a story that came in mind.
The monk travelled extensively to learn from other masters. When he was 32 years old, he returned to the temple in his home town. Here he devoted himself to teaching a growing number of disciples. Hakuin was praised by his neighbors as a teacher living an exemplary life.
A beautiful girl whose parents owned a food store lived near him. One day without warning, her parents discovered that she was pregnant.
This made her parents angry. The girl would not confess who the man was, but after much harassment, she named Hakuin as the father.
In great anger the parents went to the monk and scolded him in front of all his students. All Hakuin would say was “Is that so?”
After the baby boy was born, it was entrusted to Hakuin’s care. By this time he had lost his reputation. His disciples have left him. However Hakuin was not disturbed, and enjoyed taking care of the little boy. He obtained milk and other essentials the boy needed from his neighbors.
A year later, the girl-mother couldn’t stand it any longer. She confessed the truth to her parents— that the real father of the boy was not Hakuin but a young man working in the local fishmarket.
The father and mother of the girl went to Hakuin at once. They asked his forgiveness and apologized profusely to get the boy back.
Although Hakuin loved the child as his own, he was willing. In giving up the boy, all he said was: “Is that so?”
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Post by SigniferLux on Aug 19, 2013 9:43:37 GMT
One day, in the mid winter, Vael went outside the temple she lived and decided to travel in the city and the cities nearby. On her trip she tried to study religion, but all she would see from people wh owere not part of the churches in town, or even some who were, was that all they did was give lip service to their Gods and keep all the celebrations, but otherwise only remembered their guide only when hard times came.
This inspired Vael to write a story.
“The teacher made it his task to destroy systematically every doctrine, every belief, every concept of the divine, for these things, which were originally intended as pointers, were now being taken as descriptions.
He loved to quote the saying “When the sage points to the moon, all that the idiot sees is the finger.”
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Post by SigniferLux on Aug 19, 2013 9:57:14 GMT
Vael met a glorious knight in her travels outside the temple too. First time has she seen a man carrying such bravery on his arms and the Light on his blade. That man, going by the name of Alothin Trailblaze, was a paladin of Iomedae, true to her teachings and resembling to her stature.
Vael approached him, seeking to find wisdom from his words, since Alothin was the first paladin of Iomedae she ever met. Through him she wrote a story.
A mouse was in constant distress because of its fear of the cat. A magician took pity on it and turned it into a cat. But then it became afraid of the dog.
So the magician turned it into a dog. Then it began to fear the panther, so the magician turned it into a panther. Whereupon it was full of fear for the hunter.
At this point, the magician gave up. He turned it into a mouse again saying, “Nothing I do for you is going to be of any help because you have the heart of a mouse.”
This taught Vael that, no matter how strong or scary one seems, what governs his heart and how great his courage are was a big part of what he was.
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Post by SigniferLux on Aug 19, 2013 10:15:00 GMT
Vael was lucky, in that although she was nearly always closed in a temple, many wise travelers passed through the place and shared their wisdom with her. And this story was one of them.
To the disciples who wanted to know what sort of meditation he practiced each morning in the garden the teacher said, “When I look carefully, I see the rose bush in full bloom.”
“Why would one have to look carefully to see the rose bush?” they asked.
“Lest one see not the rose bush,” said the teacher, “but one’s preconception of it.”
As a twist of irony, that was the same day when she saw an old woman looking at her from far away. For some readon, that woman's face seemed really old, as if time has been merciless at her...
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