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| 4s | Blizzard Entertainment presents |
|---|---|
| 6s | "When Akarat Came to Nahantu" by Matthew J. Kirby, |
| 11s | part of Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred. |
| 16s | Narrated by Joshua Chang. |
| 20s | Here begins the tale of Akarat and the Wolf. |
| 24s | The truth of it is known |
| 26s | by those who cross between the realms of flesh and spirit. |
| 30s | It is our history. |
| 32s | It was given to us by our elders, |
| 35s | who received it from their elders, |
| 37s | who received it from their elders, |
| 40s | who received it from the Dedicants of Akarat, |
| 43s | who witnessed its events. |
| 46s | It is told among the Spiritborn of Nahantu, |
| 50s | be they Umbaru of the jungle |
| 52s | or Teganze of the plains, |
| 55s | but the wisdom contained herein belongs to all. |
| 59s | Many are those who have already forgotten it, |
| 62s | allowing the wicked to exploit it for their pride and their will to rule. |
| 68s | Hearken, children of Nahantu. |
| 71s | Hearken, all heirs of Sanctuary. |
| 75s | Hearken to the true tale of Akarat. |
| 78s | Hearken, ye who have set yourselves above the people |
| 81s | as seekers of the Light and defilers of Akarat's wish. |
| 86s | Hearken, ye who would pave the path of Light |
| 89s | and then collect a toll in Akarat's name. |
| 93s | Hearken to the truth, unwanted servants, |
| 97s | lest Hatred consume you. |
| 100s | When Akarat came to Nahantu, he did not arrive in splendor. |
| 105s | No litter bore him through the streets of Kurast, |
| 108s | and no praise or adoration welcomed him. |
| 112s | He was not looked for. |
| 114s | No prophecy foretold of him. |
| 117s | If even there had been a prophecy, it would not have been believed, |
| 122s | for the people of Nahantu had little hope in those days. |
| 126s | A sickness infected the land. |
| 129s | The lush rainforests and fruitful fields had been overrun. |
| 134s | The beasts had turned wild and ravenous. |
| 138s | A corruption had taken root that spread like a festering canker. |
| 144s | Where the seeds of the scourge erupted, the land rotted and became poisonous. |
| 150s | The blight bent even the peaceful animals toward blood. |
| 155s | It twisted the mangroves, and it scorched the plains. |
| 159s | It seemed that a curse had claimed Nahantu, |
| 162s | leaving its people ruined, starving in despair. |
| 167s | Many Umbaru fled the doom that had befallen them |
| 170s | to seek refuge in strange and distant lands. |
| 174s | Akarat's mother sailed among these emigrants, |
| 177s | and that is how he was later born on Xiansai |
| 180s | to a father of that place. |
| 183s | And so it was that his arrival in Nahantu marked a return of a kind. |
| 188s | At his side was Ysevete, full of hope and charity, |
| 193s | known now as Akarat's First Dedicant. |
| 197s | He and she were friends of old, |
| 199s | beloved of each other since childhood in the manner of brother and sister. |
| 204s | So deep was their bond |
| 207s | that when Akarat left Xiansai, |
| 209s | Ysevete departed with him, |
| 212s | and she had remained his steadfast companion |
| 214s | during his travels in Kehjistan. |
| 217s | Three others also came with Akarat and Ysevete to Nahantu: |
| 222s | Adavin the mapmaker, |
| 225s | the artful Istabela, |
| 227s | and Guilla the strong-willed. |
| 230s | Together, these five crossed the mighty Argentek River, |
| 234s | where the deserts of Kehjistan give way to the twisting vines of Nahantu. |
| 240s | As they neared the far shore, |
| 242s | the waters began to flow sluggish and putrid under their slender boat, |
| 247s | darkened as with shadow and blood. |
| 251s | Akarat held in his hands a small carving of jade, |
| 255s | one of the few possessions he carried with him from Xiansai. |
| 259s | Its luster seemed to dim |
| 261s | beneath the deepening jungle and failing sun, |
| 264s | and he brought the figurine close to his breast. |
| 268s | "Master?" said Adavin. |
| 271s | Akarat spoke with patience. |
| 274s | "As I have said many times before, Adavin, I am not your master. |
| 280s | We are both of us seekers of the Light." |
| 284s | Adavin shook his head. |
| 286s | "Of course. Forgive me, Master." |
| 289s | Akarat sighed and looked to his Dedicant. |
| 293s | "Ask your question." |
| 296s | "What is that you carry?" |
| 299s | The others in the boat held still their oars and fell silent. |
| 303s | Istabela had also wondered about the carving, as had Guilla, |
| 308s | but neither had thought it their place to ask. |
| 311s | Ysevete knew the answer to Adavin's question, |
| 314s | but she waited to see how Akarat would reply. |
| 318s | "It belonged to my mother," Akarat finally said. |
| 323s | "I have carried it with me since leaving Xiansai, |
| 328s | hoping to one day bring this piece of her back to the land of her forebears." |
| 334s | He gazed ahead into the marsh. |
| 337s | "Now that I am here, |
| 339s | I realize that I would not want her to see what has happened." |
| 344s | "There's a sickness on this jungle," said Istabela. |
| 348s | "They speak of it in the markets of Caldeum. |
| 351s | They say the people here brought this curse on themselves. |
| 355s | I always thought the stories were nothing but the superstitions of fools." |
| 360s | "Perhaps they are," Ysevete said. |
| 363s | "My father would say that superstition blames the victim for their illness, |
| 367s | instead of blaming the disease." |
| 370s | "Wise words," Akarat said as he tucked the jade figurine away. |
| 376s | Their boat struck the shore, and they disembarked. |
| 381s | They had not journeyed far into the fen when the Dedicants began to quail. |
| 385s | A choking miasma clouded their sight |
| 388s | and reached into their chests with every breath to squeeze their hearts. |
| 393s | Their strength failed beneath an oppressive weight |
| 396s | that pressed down on their minds, |
| 398s | as if the very jungle hated their presence. |
| 401s | Their feet and courage faltered in the mire. |
| 406s | Only Akarat strode ahead undaunted. |
| 409s | The Dedicants tried to follow him but could not match his pace. |
| 414s | Akarat saw their struggle. |
| 416s | He saw how they trembled. |
| 419s | He bade them to halt. |
| 421s | He sat upon a rotting log, |
| 423s | and then he confused the Dedicants when he began to remove his shoes. |
| 428s | "Can the village healer avoid bloodying her hands?" he asked them. |
| 434s | The Dedicants looked at one another, |
| 437s | then answered together, |
| 439s | "No." |
| 441s | "Indeed," Akarat said with a smile. |
| 445s | "Not a good healer, to be sure. |
| 448s | I would not trust a healer whose hands are clean." |
| 452s | Then he shocked the Dedicants when he stood |
| 455s | and let his bare feet sink into the foul mud. |
| 459s | "To close torn flesh, |
| 462s | to clean an infected wound, |
| 465s | to soothe the fevered and plague-ridden, |
| 468s | a healer must touch corruption. |
| 472s | I do not yet know what evil dwells in this land, |
| 476s | but I think on the wisdom of Ysevete's father, |
| 480s | and I remember that the land is not evil." |
| 484s | He stepped back and forth in place, |
| 487s | squelching his feet in the muck with a child's glee. |
| 492s | "Wherever I dig my soles into Sanctuary's dirt, |
| 496s | I can feel the Light within it. |
| 499s | I am connected to it, even here in this forsaken place. |
| 504s | You are also connected to it. |
| 508s | You must try to feel it." |
| 511s | "May I keep my shoes on?" Adavin asked, |
| 514s | which drew forth an affectionate laugh from the others. |
| 518s | "You may." |
| 520s | Akarat smiled. |
| 522s | "Your shoes are no barrier to the Light, which dwells in us all." |
| 528s | Then the Dedicants quieted their minds and hearts. |
| 532s | They reached for the Light within themselves, |
| 535s | and by its radiance they saw the Light within Nahantu. |
| 540s | They saw that it wanted to flow as abundantly as its rivers and streams, |
| 545s | but its normal courses had been trammeled, strangled, and dammed by the corruption. |
| 552s | "Do you see?" Akarat asked the Dedicants. |
| 556s | "Do you understand why we are here, and what we must do?" |
| 561s | "We understand," said Istabela, Adavin, and Guilla. |
| 566s | But Ysevete said, "I feel something else. |
| 570s | There is something more. |
| 572s | The Light is different here. |
| 575s | It feels as if we move across the face of a deep ocean." |
| 580s | Akarat nodded. |
| 582s | "Perhaps that is because your father came from Nahantu, like my mother, |
| 587s | for I feel what you feel. |
| 590s | I do not yet grasp the meaning of it. |
| 593s | There are many questions I would have answered, |
| 596s | but that will not happen here. |
| 600s | Come." |
| 602s | And he led them deeper into the jungle. |
| 605s | They tried to find and follow what paths they could, |
| 609s | but no trackway survived long |
| 611s | against the greedy vines and the shifting ground. |
| 614s | Any road they discovered soon fell into the swamp |
| 618s | or was swallowed by impenetrable undergrowth, |
| 621s | requiring them to retread their steps and seek another route. |
| 626s | Adavin grumbled his frustration and said, |
| 629s | "I will make a map of this place to aid future travelers." |
| 633s | "Your skill is great," said Akarat. |
| 637s | "But I fear any map of these changing lands |
| 640s | would be outdated before you completed it." |
| 644s | Creatures slunk and hissed and writhed through the waters around them, |
| 649s | hidden but for the spreading of their wide wakes |
| 652s | or the sudden splashing of something large beneath the surface scum. |
| 657s | Biting flies drew blood from their necks and faces. |
| 661s | The webs of great spiders stretched among the branches overhead. |
| 666s | Away in the distance, |
| 667s | beasts howled and roared over the screams of dying prey. |
| 672s | The land resisted them, and the going was hard. |
| 677s | The Dedicants still felt the unrelenting presence of evil, |
| 681s | but the Light strengthened them. |
| 684s | Nahantu strengthened them. |
| 687s | The day died young beneath the jungle canopy, |
| 690s | and the night came swiftly over its corpse |
| 692s | with darkness so complete the Dedicants had never seen its like. |
| 697s | All was shadow. |
| 700s | They had hoped to find a settlement or town by then, |
| 703s | knowing well the danger of spending a night in the open. |
| 707s | Istabela's torch allowed them to press on, |
| 711s | but they had not gotten far when a swarm of hellish rodents fell upon them. |
| 716s | The creatures burst from the trees, large as dogs, |
| 719s | slavering and screeching from blunt snouts. |
| 723s | Before their claws and teeth could find the Dedicants, |
| 726s | Akarat raised his voice and commanded, "Stay back!" |
| 731s | So strong was his spirit and so full of Light was he |
| 735s | that the beasts halted in their charge, |
| 738s | confused, but not yet afeared, |
| 741s | and not yet dissuaded from their attack. |
| 744s | This reprieve gave the Dedicants time to arm themselves. |
| 748s | Adavin carried a bow in those days. |
| 751s | Istabela still favored the knives she hid about her |
| 754s | as she had during her years as a thief, before she met Akarat. |
| 758s | Guilla fought with a staff |
| 760s | handed down through generations of mages in her family. |
| 764s | Ysevete swung a golden mace, its head shaped like the sun. |
| 770s | Akarat wielded the Light and his Flamberge sword. |
| 774s | When the animals regained their courage and made their attack, |
| 778s | they found their quarry ready to defend themselves. |
| 781s | Adavin aimed his arrows true. |
| 784s | Istabela stabbed and sliced with her knives. |
| 787s | Guilla and Ysevete bludgeoned and battered their foes. |
| 791s | Akarat blazed. |
| 794s | The Dedicants fought well, |
| 796s | but it seemed they would soon be overwhelmed, |
| 798s | for the horde were too many. |
| 801s | That is when a mighty Umbaru warrior joined the battle. |
| 805s | Many of the beasts died quickly upon his spear, |
| 809s | which seemed to weaken the bloodlust of the swarm |
| 811s | and broke their attack. |
| 813s | The rodents that could still flee retreated to the darkness. |
| 818s | Before the Dedicants could thank the Umbaru warrior for his aid, |
| 822s | the stranger turned his spear on Akarat. |
| 825s | "What are you?" he asked. |
| 828s | The Dedicants leapt to defend their teacher, |
| 831s | but Akarat stayed them with a calming glance. |
| 835s | Then he sheathed his sword and held up his empty hands. |
| 840s | "My name is Akarat," he said. |
| 844s | "We are but travelers here." |
| 847s | The warrior scoffed. |
| 849s | "Only the foolish and the evil travel in the jungle after nightfall." |
| 853s | "We are not evil," said Akarat. |
| 858s | "But I make no claim about our wisdom." |
| 861s | "Your bare feet in the tainted water speak well enough to that," |
| 865s | the warrior said. |
| 867s | Akarat laughed. |
| 869s | "And what of you? |
| 871s | Are you not also here in the jungle with us? |
| 875s | You are certainly not evil, |
| 877s | and I think you are no fool." |
| 880s | The warrior remained wary, but he seemed satisfied |
| 884s | that Akarat and the Dedicants intended him no harm. |
| 887s | He pulled back his spear. |
| 890s | "I was looking for my brother. |
| 892s | I expected his return today from a neighboring village, |
| 896s | but there has been neither sign nor word of him." |
| 899s | "We could help you search for your brother," said Ysevete. |
| 903s | The warrior regarded her with both surprise and suspicion. |
| 908s | "Why would you offer to help a stranger find another stranger?" |
| 912s | Ysevete replied, "We are strangers to you, and yet you aided us in battle. |
| 920s | Help is needed, so help is offered." |
| 923s | "True enough," the man said. |
| 926s | "If you are sincere, |
| 928s | then I would be grateful for your assistance. |
| 931s | But there is little to be done until morning. |
| 933s | There are deadlier creatures to fear, |
| 936s | and the smell of death will draw them out." |
| 939s | Akarat said, |
| 940s | "Then we will help you search tomorrow by the Light of a new day. |
| 945s | What is your name?" |
| 947s | "I am Tusega," the man said, |
| 950s | and then he looked around them at the carnage they had wrought. |
| 954s | "It grieves me to kill these poor creatures. |
| 957s | In the old stories, they ate only leaves and grass. |
| 961s | They were shy, with a peaceful spirit. |
| 965s | It is not their fault the demon seed drives them mad." |
| 969s | "What demon seed?" asked Guilla. |
| 973s | "The hateful sickness that festers here is not of Nahantu," said Tusega. |
| 979s | "You are right," said Akarat, suddenly beset by troubled thoughts, |
| 984s | for his great and final enemy had begun to make itself known to him. |
| 989s | "This corruption is full of Hatred." |
| 993s | Ysevete, who knew Akarat best and could read his moods, |
| 997s | asked him, "What disturbs you?" |
| 1001s | "Nothing that is yours to carry," said Akarat. |
| 1006s | Then Tusega guided Akarat and the Dedicants to his village, |
| 1010s | where they learned he was a man of high regard among his people, |
| 1014s | both a healer and a leader. |
| 1017s | He invited Akarat and the Dedicants into his home, |
| 1020s | which was filled with all manner of herb, root, and blossom |
| 1024s | for the crafting of curatives and potions. |
| 1028s | "It appears you are a man of great knowledge and skill," |
| 1031s | said Ysevete. |
| 1033s | "The elixirs I brew are but a small part of healing," Tusega replied. |
| 1038s | "What is the larger part?" asked Ysevete. |
| 1042s | "Spirit," answered Tusega. |
| 1045s | "If the spirit is broken, my remedies can do little." |
| 1050s | His words pleased Akarat, |
| 1053s | who believed the Light had guided him to meet Tusega, |
| 1057s | though it would take time for Tusega to learn |
| 1059s | that the Light had guided him to Akarat. |
| 1062s | The next morning, |
| 1063s | they set off into the jungle to search for Tusega's brother, |
| 1067s | and the Dedicants saw Nahantu anew through Tusega's eyes. |
| 1071s | He taught them how to find and walk the driest paths. |
| 1075s | He taught them how to avoid the sucking mud |
| 1078s | in which a careless traveler would sink and never be found. |
| 1082s | He taught them which plants were edible and which would kill them |
| 1085s | within the span of a breath. |
| 1087s | He taught them how to listen for the beasts that would attack |
| 1091s | so as to avoid them and prevent unnecessary violence. |
| 1095s | He taught them how to see the Nahantu that was. |
| 1099s | "Why do you stay when so many have forsaken this place?" |
| 1103s | Guilla asked him. |
| 1105s | Tusega thought for some time before answering. |
| 1109s | "I stay because I can still feel the spirit of this land, |
| 1114s | and it is stronger than the demon seed." |
| 1117s | "I feel it also," said Akarat. |
| 1121s | "I felt at home the moment we entered the tangles of Nahantu. |
| 1126s | It was as if I had found something I never knew I was looking for." |
| 1131s | "Master, what is spirit?" asked Adavin. |
| 1136s | "I do not know," said Akarat. |
| 1139s | "But I know that I can feel it." |
| 1142s | "Is spirit the same as Light?" asked Guilla. |
| 1146s | "I do not think so," said Akarat. |
| 1150s | "But the Light has opened my eyes to spirit." |
| 1154s | They continued their search for Tusega's brother |
| 1157s | until they came to a lonely homestead. |
| 1160s | Tusega wanted to ask if those living there had seen his brother. |
| 1164s | He soon realized that none could answer him, |
| 1167s | for they had all been freshly slain. |
| 1170s | Their mutilated corpses lay in heaps beneath clouds of flies. |
| 1176s | Their blood soaked the ground. |
| 1179s | Istabela knelt over shreds of flesh that had been a child, and she wept. |
| 1185s | For many long moments, no one spoke, |
| 1188s | too overthrown were they by grief and horror. |
| 1192s | Then Tusega found his brother among the dead. |
| 1196s | His eyes had been cut out, |
| 1198s | and his nose and ears had been torn from his face, |
| 1202s | but Tusega knew him by the necklace of beads |
| 1204s | still tied about his neck. |
| 1207s | Akarat and the Dedicants helped Tusega gather up the dead, |
| 1211s | that their remains might be given to the flames of the pyre |
| 1214s | and thereby laid to rest. |
| 1217s | "I am sorry for your loss and your pain, Tusega," said Akarat. |
| 1223s | Then Istabela said, "It's our fault. |
| 1226s | If you had been here instead of aiding us, you might have saved him." |
| 1231s | Tusega shook his head. |
| 1234s | "If my brother had been the one to find you, |
| 1237s | his choice would have been the same as mine. |
| 1239s | He died fighting for his people, without regret." |
| 1244s | Guilla's anger burned for the sake of the dead, and she said, |
| 1247s | "If the people here had fought with the power of the Light, |
| 1250s | they might have lived." |
| 1252s | But Akarat calmed her, saying, |
| 1255s | "The Light cannot stop all suffering and death. |
| 1259s | That is not its power, and that is not why we seek it." |
| 1263s | Then he said to Tusega, |
| 1266s | "If you had been here, you would have died with your brother. |
| 1270s | You are a mighty warrior, |
| 1272s | but you could not have stopped this bloodshed. |
| 1276s | It would seem another purpose has found you before Death could." |
| 1280s | "What purpose?" Tusega asked. |
| 1284s | "We have come to cleanse Nahantu of the corruption that lies upon it," |
| 1289s | said Akarat. |
| 1291s | "I believe you can help us accomplish this." |
| 1294s | "How?" asked Tusega. |
| 1297s | "Who are you to stand against this evil?" |
| 1301s | "I am no one," said Akarat. |
| 1306s | So it was that Akarat taught Tusega about the Light, |
| 1310s | and he bade Tusega to show him one of the demon seeds |
| 1313s | from which the corruption of Nahantu spread. |
| 1316s | Then Akarat and his Dedicants shined the Light |
| 1319s | upon the writhing roots of the Seed of Hatred, |
| 1322s | and not even the great evil within it could withstand their strength. |
| 1326s | The roots withered, and the seed was no more. |
| 1330s | Having witnessed this, Tusega became Akarat's Fifth Dedicant, |
| 1336s | and afterward he guided Akarat and the others through the jungle |
| 1339s | in search of the Seeds of Hatred. |
| 1342s | They faced many dangers together, |
| 1344s | and they survived terrible ordeals, |
| 1347s | and they endured countless hardships, |
| 1350s | but those are tales for another telling. |
| 1353s | In time, some small part of Nahantu began to heal, |
| 1358s | by the Light and by the labor of Akarat and his Dedicants. |
| 1362s | Word of this miracle found its way to Caldeum, |
| 1366s | where merchants turned their eyes southward |
| 1368s | for the first time in many long years, |
| 1371s | toward the richness and bounty of the jungle. |
| 1374s | So it was that a noble and educated youth from a wealthy and powerful family |
| 1379s | journeyed there in search of trade. |
| 1382s | They came to Nahantu not by choice but by obedience, |
| 1386s | resolved to the duties of a life already planned. |
| 1390s | Nevertheless, this youth still possessed a loving heart, |
| 1394s | a curious mind, and a hopeful spirit, |
| 1398s | and upon hearing of Akarat, sought him out, |
| 1400s | already guided in their steps by the Light. |
| 1404s | "What is your name?" Akarat asked. |
| 1409s | "I am Jualin," said the youth. |
| 1413s | By the Light, Akarat saw Jualin with great clarity. |
| 1418s | "You are like an eagle in a cage," he said. |
| 1423s | "You should be soaring in the sky, but you cannot even spread your wings. |
| 1429s | Do you want to be freed?" |
| 1432s | The truth of Akarat's words stunned Jualin, who wept and said, |
| 1438s | "How do you know this about me, when I am a stranger to you, |
| 1442s | and even to myself?" |
| 1444s | "None are strangers to the Light," said Akarat. |
| 1449s | "Can you free me?" asked Jualin. |
| 1452s | "No," said Akarat. |
| 1455s | "It is true you are a prisoner, |
| 1458s | but you are also the jailer. |
| 1461s | I cannot free you when you are holding the key." |
| 1465s | Jualin asked, "How can I do this?" |
| 1469s | "The answer is within you," said Akarat. |
| 1474s | He laid his hands on the young one's eyes, |
| 1477s | and it was in that darkness that Jualin first found the Light |
| 1481s | and saw the world anew. |
| 1483s | That is how Jualin left the market of commerce behind |
| 1487s | and became the Sixth and youngest Dedicant of Akarat, |
| 1491s | joining the others in tireless effort to heal Nahantu |
| 1495s | until at last the waters there flowed once more |
| 1498s | in shades of green and blue, |
| 1500s | and the fruit that grew from the trees changed from bitter to sweet, |
| 1504s | and the animals returned to the places ordained for them. |
| 1508s | The wind and rain cleared away the festering odor of malevolence, |
| 1512s | and once more the natural perfumes of life and death |
| 1516s | rang out like birdsong through the air. |
| 1519s | Every evening, Tusega stood in his doorway, |
| 1523s | breathed deeply, and marveled at its beauty. |
| 1527s | One night he said, |
| 1529s | "There were times when I doubted the old stories. |
| 1533s | There were days when I struggled to believe |
| 1535s | that the land they described had ever existed. |
| 1538s | But now I know our ancestors spoke true. |
| 1542s | At last, |
| 1543s | the Nahantu that the stories remember is our Nahantu. |
| 1548s | At last, the Nahantu of my dreams remains even after I have awakened, |
| 1553s | and I need not fear the pain of dawn." |
| 1556s | Akarat felt glad for Tusega, |
| 1559s | but his heart sat ill at ease, |
| 1561s | as if an unseen adversary stalked him, |
| 1564s | for he knew that such a great evil could not be so easily vanquished. |
| 1569s | He perceived that his work was not yet accomplished. |
| 1572s | "Nahantu is precious," he said to the Dedicants. |
| 1577s | "To me, it is precious above all. |
| 1581s | There is still much more for us to learn here, |
| 1584s | and the things that Nahantu may teach us |
| 1586s | cannot be learned anywhere else in all of Sanctuary. |
| 1591s | But to learn a great truth, we must all be worthy of it." |
| 1596s | This challenge caused the Dedicants to doubt, |
| 1599s | not in the Light, but in themselves. |
| 1603s | Guilla said, "I come from the deserts of Kehjistan. |
| 1607s | I doubt Nahantu will recognize me, for my family has no roots here." |
| 1613s | Akarat replied, "Family is more than blood. |
| 1617s | Home is more than hearth. |
| 1621s | Family can be the people among whom you feel most at home, |
| 1625s | and home can be the place where you build your family. |
| 1630s | You are my family, Guilla, and I am of Nahantu." |
| 1637s | Then Istabela asked, "What secrets have we not uncovered?" |
| 1641s | "Nahantu keeps no secrets," Akarat replied. |
| 1646s | "Truth is only hidden from those who are not yet ready to see it. |
| 1651s | To learn a truth is not to steal it, Istabela, for truth is a gift." |
| 1657s | Then Adavin said, "Master, I have been mapping our footsteps. |
| 1663s | We have yet to explore the regions to the far south. |
| 1666s | Perhaps that is where we should search for this truth we now seek." |
| 1670s | Akarat replied, "Even your beautiful maps |
| 1674s | are merely records of what you already believe to be true. |
| 1678s | A new truth will not be found there. |
| 1681s | You must trust your inner compass to guide you toward the Light, |
| 1686s | for the Light will reveal all truth." |
| 1690s | Then Tusega said, |
| 1692s | "I was powerless to save Nahantu before you came. |
| 1696s | All my efforts amounted to nothing. |
| 1699s | Why would the land trust me now?" |
| 1702s | Akarat replied, |
| 1704s | "Just as the smallest candle flame is made from the same fire as the sun, |
| 1710s | the smallest gesture of kindness is made |
| 1713s | from the same love as the greatest sacrifice. |
| 1717s | Light is Light, Tusega, |
| 1720s | and the Light within you makes you worthy." |
| 1724s | Then Jualin said, |
| 1726s | "You are all much wiser and stronger than I am. |
| 1730s | Compared to you, I am but a child in the Light. |
| 1733s | I am not ready." |
| 1735s | Akarat replied, "Two acorns fell in the forest. |
| 1740s | One landed near a stream, with sunlight all around. |
| 1745s | It took root easily, drank its fill, and grew. |
| 1749s | The second acorn fell on harder ground in the shadows of older trees. |
| 1754s | To drink, it had to dig its roots deep. |
| 1758s | To find the sun, it had to reach. |
| 1761s | Then, one day, a great blizzard came with brutal winds and ice. |
| 1767s | Tell me, Jualin, which tree best weathered the storm?" |
| 1773s | "The second," Jualin said. |
| 1776s | "Exactly so," said Akarat. |
| 1780s | "There can be no growth without challenge, and challenge strengthens you. |
| 1786s | You began your life like the first acorn, |
| 1790s | but then you chose the life of the second. |
| 1793s | Just because you do not yet know your strength |
| 1796s | does not mean you are weak." |
| 1799s | Then Ysevete said to Akarat, |
| 1802s | "With you, all things are possible. |
| 1805s | So long as you lead us, we will be made worthy in you." |
| 1810s | Akarat replied, "But I am also flawed, as you well know, my old friend. |
| 1817s | There is no such thing as perfection. |
| 1820s | We fail, we falter. |
| 1823s | We must reach within for the Light. |
| 1826s | The Light does not falter. |
| 1829s | And I will not always be here. |
| 1832s | Nor will you, Ysevete. |
| 1835s | None of us may live forever, but the Light within us cannot die." |
| 1842s | Thus comforted and renewed, the Dedicants joined with Akarat. |
| 1847s | For eight days they fasted and listened to the Light within them, |
| 1851s | and on the ninth day they journeyed into the jungle, |
| 1855s | guided by an upwelling of spirit as if following a river to its source. |
| 1860s | They came to a clearing in the rainforest |
| 1862s | that did not appear on any of Adavin's maps. |
| 1866s | In our tales we call that glade Nahantu's Gift, |
| 1869s | received with gratitude and reverence. |
| 1872s | Only the Spiritborn know what happened there, |
| 1875s | and we do not speak of it. |
| 1878s | It is too sacred and also impossible, |
| 1881s | for no words are strong enough or vast enough to contain it, |
| 1886s | and it would only be diminished by the attempt. |
| 1889s | This can be said to you: |
| 1891s | after much contemplation and striving within himself, |
| 1895s | Akarat found a realm of spirit apart from our realm of flesh. |
| 1900s | It had been with him since he came to Nahantu |
| 1903s | but hidden from him until he was ready to see it. |
| 1907s | Akarat was the first to cross its border. |
| 1910s | In the Spirit Realm, he found a land that was not a land, |
| 1915s | a place that was nowhere and everywhere. |
| 1919s | He encountered animals and plants and all manner of beings. |
| 1924s | Some of them resembled the creatures |
| 1925s | and things of living matter that Akarat knew. |
| 1929s | Others appeared strange, |
| 1931s | as if they had begun their existence as something familiar |
| 1934s | but had since then stretched beyond the bounds of their earthly forms. |
| 1939s | The perilous beauty of it all awed and bewildered Akarat. |
| 1943s | He wandered entranced until he realized he had strayed far. |
| 1949s | He feared he might be forever lost to that place, |
| 1952s | unable to rejoin the realm of flesh, but the Light guided him back. |
| 1957s | All of this he told of upon returning to himself |
| 1960s | in the clearing in Nahantu. |
| 1963s | The Dedicants struggled to comprehend it. |
| 1966s | "Is this Spirit Realm part of Sanctuary?" Istabela asked. |
| 1972s | Akarat thought long before answering. |
| 1975s | "I think it is as much a part of Sanctuary as the Twin Seas are part of Estuar. |
| 1981s | Land and sea are bound tightly together, |
| 1985s | touching at all times, |
| 1987s | and yet they are distinct from each other." |
| 1990s | "Which is first in the order of things?" asked Adavin. |
| 1995s | "Flesh or spirit? |
| 1997s | Sanctuary or the Spirit Realm?" |
| 2000s | Akarat shrugged. |
| 2002s | "Does the sea confine the land, or does the land hold back the sea? |
| 2008s | I only know that the Light shines just as brightly on the water |
| 2012s | as it does on the land." |
| 2016s | "How long has it been with us, unseen?" asked Tusega. |
| 2021s | Akarat answered him, |
| 2023s | "Perhaps it was formed when Sanctuary was created. |
| 2027s | Perhaps it came into being later. |
| 2030s | I know only that it is ancient, |
| 2033s | and like the sea, it is immense and deep |
| 2037s | and not without danger." |
| 2040s | The Dedicants wished to go there. |
| 2043s | Akarat taught them how, |
| 2045s | and they spent their days treading the Spirit Realm. |
| 2049s | The Spiritborn had their beginning in what the Dedicants learned, |
| 2053s | but so captivated were the Dedicants by their discoveries |
| 2056s | that they failed to notice when evil crept back into Nahantu. |
| 2061s | In the deepest reaches of the jungle, the Seeds of Hatred regrew. |
| 2067s | After Akarat's first journey to the Spirit Realm, |
| 2070s | he often asked of himself why the Light had guided him to find it |
| 2075s | and what purpose he had there. |
| 2077s | Over time, |
| 2079s | he came to know the powerful beings who guarded that realm, |
| 2082s | and he learned much wisdom from them. |
| 2085s | Preeminent among those spirits stood Ah Bulan, |
| 2089s | who came to Akarat one day with a warning. |
| 2092s | Ah Bulan said that corruption had returned to the land of Akarat's mother |
| 2097s | and that the Seeds of Hatred would continue to grow |
| 2100s | until Akarat had found and destroyed their maker. |
| 2104s | Upon receiving this warning, it was as though the adversary |
| 2108s | that had been stalking Akarat's mind and heart |
| 2111s | finally stepped out of the shadows, |
| 2114s | and he understood at last the final tasks that lay before him. |
| 2119s | He thanked Ah Bulan |
| 2121s | but said nothing of this revelation to the Dedicants. |
| 2124s | Instead, he instructed them to build the Vault of Light, |
| 2129s | a bastion that stands in both the Spirit Realm and Sanctuary, |
| 2133s | a place of safety from all evil, |
| 2135s | where those who seek the Light might find protection and peace. |
| 2140s | On the eve before the vault's completion, |
| 2143s | Akarat gathered the Dedicants in celebration. |
| 2147s | They sang, and the Light filled every note. |
| 2151s | They danced, and the Light flowed through them |
| 2154s | from the soles of their feet to the crowns of their heads. |
| 2158s | They shared stories and remembered all they had done together. |
| 2162s | Then Akarat stood before the Dedicants, |
| 2165s | and he smiled upon them with love and joy so great he shined like a jewel, |
| 2171s | and he spake the Valediction of Akarat. |
| 2175s | "My beloved friends. |
| 2178s | By the Light that is in you, I see the Light that is in me. |
| 2183s | We are one. |
| 2185s | Even if we are parted, |
| 2187s | know that you are with me, and I am with you, |
| 2190s | and none can tear asunder what the Light has joined together. |
| 2195s | But there is a power that can divide us if we allow it to weaken us, |
| 2200s | and its name is Hatred. |
| 2203s | Though tonight we celebrate what you have achieved, |
| 2207s | remember that no victory against evil is everlasting, |
| 2212s | and that is why you must always be vigilant. |
| 2216s | Remember that just as rust will patiently corrode the hardest iron, |
| 2221s | Hatred will corrode the strongest hearts. |
| 2226s | Given time, Hatred will corrupt the noblest intentions, |
| 2230s | break the strongest bonds of fellowship, |
| 2233s | and turn the truest paths toward darkness. |
| 2238s | The Umbaru know well what the jungle makes of roads, |
| 2242s | and the merchants of Caldeum know |
| 2244s | how quickly the desert sands erase their tracks. |
| 2248s | Therefore, beware the guide |
| 2251s | who claims to know the only route to salvation. |
| 2255s | Trust not in the scripture of churches. |
| 2260s | Remember always that the Light is not found in a leader to follow, |
| 2265s | nor in a path to walk, |
| 2267s | nor in a law that governs. |
| 2269s | It is not in the road, but in how you find your way, |
| 2275s | and the Light will never leave you." |
| 2279s | Ysevete felt unsettled by what Akarat had said. |
| 2284s | "You speak as if taking your leave of us." |
| 2288s | Akarat embraced her and said, |
| 2290s | "We are mortal, and life is uncertain. |
| 2295s | Each word we utter may be our last, |
| 2298s | and every leave we take may be our final farewell." |
| 2303s | The Dedicants could not imagine their lives without Akarat, |
| 2307s | and so they dismissed any worry he had given them |
| 2309s | and returned to their music and dancing. |
| 2312s | But Ysevete's concern for her friend of old |
| 2315s | would not let her be. |
| 2318s | She kept watch over Akarat that night, |
| 2320s | and when he rose before dawn and went alone into the rainforest, |
| 2324s | she followed him to see where he went and what he did. |
| 2328s | Akarat traveled to the Seeds of Hatred that had returned, |
| 2332s | and where they grew the jungle was again how he had found it |
| 2335s | when he and his Dedicants first came to Nahantu. |
| 2339s | All was misshapen by a black and noxious bile |
| 2343s | flowing outward from a distant, hellish spring. |
| 2347s | Akarat purged the Seeds of Hatred as he went, |
| 2350s | cleansing the land a second time. |
| 2353s | Ysevete would have aided him, though it meant revealing herself, |
| 2358s | but his Light proved strong enough without her. |
| 2361s | When the bile-maddened animals of the jungle attacked Akarat, |
| 2364s | again Ysevete almost went to his side, |
| 2367s | but he needed no help from her. |
| 2370s | Whether serpent, bird, or the mighty gorillas, |
| 2374s | Akarat did not fight the sickened creatures |
| 2377s | but healed them with the Light. |
| 2379s | So Ysevete kept herself hidden from him, |
| 2382s | unwilling to let him go into darkness, |
| 2385s | though her secrecy shamed her. |
| 2387s | The jungle deepened. |
| 2389s | The corruption grew stronger. |
| 2392s | The air that Ysevete breathed seemed to burn her tongue |
| 2396s | with the taste of Hatred. |
| 2398s | The evil there felt close enough to crush her, body and soul. |
| 2403s | She almost turned back in fear, |
| 2405s | but looking to the Light gave her strength. |
| 2408s | She followed Akarat and watched him enter a cave of darkness, |
| 2413s | where she knew dwelt the author of Nahantu's curse. |
| 2417s | Despite Akarat's power, she feared for him. |
| 2421s | Never had she felt evil of such strength. |
| 2424s | Never had her heart and mind been touched by such burning Hatred. |
| 2429s | It surged through the corruption around her, |
| 2432s | ravenous enough to swallow the whole of the jungle. |
| 2436s | Inside the cave, Akarat met the Wolf. |
| 2440s | If it had been a wolf of flesh alone, he would have healed it. |
| 2444s | But the Wolf he faced was but a stolen shape, |
| 2448s | little more than a pelt in which a demon moved and spoke. |
| 2452s | The sound of its voice pierced Ysevete to the bone, |
| 2456s | and its words flayed her. |
| 2458s | She could neither move nor speak for the agony of it, |
| 2462s | but that suffering was not as great as the pain she felt |
| 2465s | at her failure to stand with Akarat, |
| 2468s | though many have come to believe it was the Light that held her back, |
| 2471s | so that she might live as witness to his sacrifice. |
| 2475s | It is said that Akarat's battle with the Wolf shook the land. |
| 2480s | All Nahantu trembled at their confrontation. |
| 2484s | Trees fell, rivers changed their courses, |
| 2488s | and the animals bellowed and trumpeted and shrieked. |
| 2491s | Though Akarat fought hard and well, |
| 2494s | he contested with a deathless foe, |
| 2497s | and he was a mortal man who knew the limits of his strength. |
| 2501s | As the battle wore on, |
| 2503s | he felt in his limbs the weariness of flesh |
| 2505s | to which we are all subject. |
| 2508s | Rather than fight to his last breath and risk leaving his enemy undefeated, |
| 2512s | Akarat ended the battle in the way of his choosing. |
| 2516s | With a feint he lured the Wolf to bite him, |
| 2519s | for he knew its hunger. |
| 2521s | The Wolf sank its teeth too deeply, |
| 2524s | allowing Akarat to trap it in an embrace from which it could not escape. |
| 2529s | Then Akarat set free the Light that filled him, |
| 2533s | and the Light poured forth from him in unforgiving splendor, |
| 2537s | as if the sun had left its seat in the sky and come down to that cave. |
| 2543s | The Wolf howled. |
| 2545s | The Wolf burned. |
| 2547s | The Light peeled the pelt from its face, |
| 2550s | and beneath that its bones were charred like spent firewood. |
| 2555s | When Akarat's strength came to its end and he could hold the Wolf no longer, |
| 2560s | he let it go, |
| 2562s | and the demon fled deeper into the cave, down and down |
| 2566s | until the tunnels touched the realm from which it had come. |
| 2570s | Never had the Wolf known such pain. |
| 2573s | Never had the Wolf known such fear. |
| 2576s | The Wolf would remember, |
| 2578s | and from the soil of that memory, |
| 2580s | its hatred for Akarat and Nahantu would only grow. |
| 2585s | Ysevete raced to Akarat's side, |
| 2587s | where she knelt and cradled him, |
| 2589s | and her tears fell upon his cheeks. |
| 2592s | He had not enough life left in him to speak, but as he died |
| 2597s | he smiled in joy at the sight of his beloved friend, |
| 2601s | and his smile remained on his lips even in death. |
| 2606s | Ysevete bore his body out of the jungle, and there was no lament in any tongue |
| 2610s | that could hold the grief of the Dedicants. |
| 2614s | "I failed him," said Ysevete. |
| 2617s | "We all failed him," said Istabela. |
| 2621s | "I do not believe that is true," said Jualin. |
| 2625s | "I loved him as you loved him, though you loved him for longer, |
| 2629s | and I believe we only fail him if we fail to honor his sacrifice." |
| 2635s | "How should we honor him?" asked Adavin. |
| 2639s | Guilla answered, "Now that Akarat is gone, his purpose falls to us. |
| 2645s | It is our duty to make sure that all are offered the truth |
| 2649s | and protection of the Light." |
| 2652s | "Yes," said Jualin. |
| 2654s | "We must write down all that he taught us, so that we can spread his message." |
| 2660s | Their words roused Ysevete to anger. |
| 2663s | "You would have us write scripture? |
| 2666s | Were you made so witless by your revelry last night |
| 2669s | that you have already forgotten what he told us? |
| 2672s | The path of Light is not the road but how you find your way." |
| 2677s | "Look at us," said Istabela. |
| 2680s | "How can the six of us teach all of Sanctuary?" |
| 2684s | Then Tusega spoke, saying, "Among the people of Nahantu, |
| 2689s | the old stories have safely carried truth from generation to generation |
| 2693s | across the wilderness of time." |
| 2696s | "That is a wise proposal," said Jualin. |
| 2699s | "We will place the truth of Akarat and his teachings within stories, |
| 2703s | fables, art, and songs, |
| 2706s | and these will spread like seeds on the wind." |
| 2710s | Ysevete still objected and said, |
| 2712s | "There is nothing so pure that it cannot be corrupted by Hatred, |
| 2716s | except the Light itself." |
| 2719s | "That is true," said Guilla. |
| 2723s | "And that is why we must make sure the Light is in everything we do, |
| 2727s | to safeguard it against corruption." |
| 2730s | Istabela, Adavin, and Tusega agreed with Guilla and Jualin. |
| 2736s | So Ysevete set the conflict aside, despite her misgivings, |
| 2740s | and together the Dedicants prepared Akarat's body, |
| 2744s | cleaning his wounds and dressing him. |
| 2747s | Ysevete looked for the jade carving that had belonged to Akarat's mother, |
| 2751s | so that he might go to his final rest holding it in his hands, |
| 2756s | but she could not find it, |
| 2758s | and she feared the figurine had been lost to the jungle during his last struggle. |
| 2763s | "Let us place his body in the Vault of Light," said Ysevete. |
| 2768s | "It will be safe there from those who would desecrate it." |
| 2772s | So the Dedicants carried Akarat's body to the Spirit Realm, |
| 2776s | and they completed the Vault of Light around him. |
| 2779s | Istabela devised cunning wards and protections to guard his tomb. |
| 2784s | When it was finished, the Dedicants bid their final farewells, |
| 2788s | but their words were spoken in private, |
| 2791s | and not even the Spiritborn know what was said. |
| 2795s | Ysevete was the last to leave, after spending much time alone in sorrow. |
| 2801s | Then they sealed Akarat's place of rest, |
| 2804s | and there he still lies, in the Vault of Light, |
| 2808s | beyond the reach of all corruption and decay. |
| 2813s | Here ends the tale of Akarat when he came to Nahantu. |
| 2817s | I have allowed my words to be written down, |
| 2820s | though it is not what Akarat would have wanted, |
| 2822s | for such is their importance. |
| 2825s | I do this because of lies that have been written. |
| 2829s | If words are to be a battleground, then truth must take to the field. |
| 2834s | Have ye hearkened to me, |
| 2836s | ye who would pave the path of Light and then collect a toll in Akarat's name? |
| 2842s | You are never so far down a road that you cannot turn. |
| 2846s | Though Hatred may consume you, the Light within you will never go out. |
| 2852s | Let it guide you back. |