A translation of an Ascendency text written circa 720 AD.
The first prophet of the Ascendency was born in the northern outskirts of Anshrahat, the capital of the Kingdom of Xhahkhoro. There was much celebration when he was born, as the stars had reordered themselves on the night of his birth into a majestic Karforian oak. This unique constellation was taken as a sign of great fortune by all who were present, and many hopes were placed in the newborn. For the first seven winters of his life, the family enjoyed wealth, fertility, and influence. He was noted to be very playful, talkative, and happy during this time.
Those winters are now known as the Seven Good Years. On the eight winter, the Seven Bad Years began, with Seven Tragedies therein.
The earliest tragedy was madness. The prophet’s father, once a wise and diplomatic man who worked diligently as a magistrate for the king’s court, became afflicted with an illness of the mind. He would enter violent conniptions at the drop of a needle, and find himself unable to tell truth from fiction or friend from foe. He believed that the old gods were commanding his actions, and this led him to make erratic and worthless decisions. The financial downfall of the family followed soon after. They were left penniless and reliant on the charity of their neighbours.
The next five tragedies came in the form of bereavement. During the seven winter period, five of the prophet’s seven siblings passed away. Three of those siblings were lost due to accident, and two siblings were lost due to famine. Some say that the family never fully ended their mourning rituals, dressing in black robes until their dying days, and the prophet changed quickly into an extraordinarily quiet and melancholy child.
The final tragedy was his own angst. The prophet had been raised with stories of godbeings and ancestor spirits. He had been taught to revere them, to make offerings to them, and to respect their dominion over all things. He longed for their guidance, but none came to ease his plight. Thus, on the fourteenth winter, the prophet ran away from his home with the intention of beseeching them directly.
It was widely known that the most powerful of the spiritfolk looked down on the mortal realm from the Holy Mountain of Jehzerai. Although it was forbidden to climb the mountain, the priests would not provide a satisfactory reason to the young prophet. The wealth of the temples had blinded them to the struggles of layfolk. The young prophet filled a small rucksack with supplies and snuck away from Ansharhat to make his ascent.
The climb was long and hard, taking him far above the clouds themselves, but he eventually reached the mountain peak. It was there that he spent three nights waiting, searching, and turning his eyes towards the heavens with no sign of the gods. Although he had run out of food and water by this point, he was determined not to give up. He wanted answers about how he should respond to the many tragedies of his life.
To distract himself from his hunger, he sat down and began to meditate quietly. He analyzed himself, the world, and what might be beyond it. There were no spirits to assist him in this task, only the fortitude of his own mind. Many wonderful realizations poured forth, and these are now called The First Meditations, or The Whispers Unto Heaven.
This world contains a set of Five Great Truths.
From the five truths, we know there are Five Righteous Actions.
The prophet no longer concerned himself with gods or spirits after this, and turned his focus solely towards the material world and the individuals within it. He descended Jehzerai and returned to the city of Anshrahat, but it was as a different person. All who heard him speak were astonished by the brilliance of his words and he soon acquired many devout followers.
They learned the values of self-reliance, introspection, and seeking harmony with the world. They also renounced vulgar emotions and overindulgence in luxuries. Only the corrupt King Mezhrir of Xhakhoro did not like this upset to the status quo, and he attempted to put a stop to it.
The more things that a person has, the less they are content with. Pleasure leads to greed, and greed leads to the destruction of the world around us. The prophet taught that you must reject as many worldly passions as you can if you are to find true stability and clarity.
In Anshrahat, greed was encouraged. Religious ceremonies demanded wasteful sacrifices of food for absent spiritfolk. Festivals were frequently held and frequently decadent, with much drinking and much passion and conflict. The markets were overwhelmed not with an abundance of necessities for common people, but with expensive incense and fine silks that the culture of the time pressured the citizenry into wasting their money on.
King Mezhrir needed greed for his city to thrive as it did in his eyes, and so the prophet was apprehended by soldiers and forced away from Anshrahat. He was sent west, across the great desert, and beyond Lugtar Pass. He was finally allowed freedom in the remote hills of Korvaria, as it was believed that he could be no threat to the kingdom from there.
Nevertheless, the prophet’s influence continued to grow. Many followed him from Ansharhat to Korvaria, or from the towns and villages in between. Many heard him speak and endeavoured to follow his teachings. Korvaria grew for many years alongside the prophet’s influence, and this is how it became the most holy of all cities in the world.
The prophet left us on his forty seventh winter, and in doing so he also taught us his final and greatest lesson: Ascension. By reducing his reliance on materia to the bare minimum, while interpreting the world to its maximum, he had fully mastered his own existence and was able to ascend past the need for his physical form. He is no longer within the materia, but a paradise of his own design.
With this, we know the way forward. Be studious and stoic, learn from the prophet’s teachings, and strive towards The Ascension. You are the master of all things.
Translator's note: The word written here as 'violence' has been interpreted varyingly as 'excess violence', 'unnecessary struggle', and, by the Marimurian sect, just 'killing'.
Click here to return to the CYOA index.