• Intro
• Chap I
• Chap II
• Chap III

Chapter One: Ashuta, the Goddess of the Land

3rd Dynasty Arkaya, era of the Master’s Return (4179 B.I.). As told by Stosh (Khoorlrhani archives).

Paen  traveled east, deep within the jungle to the Genian ridge, the highlands that separated the old lands of the Bantu, and Ki-Qui in the East, from the new kingdoms of Genia in the West. The Goddess of the wood and jungle lands was summoning him, and so he traveled, out of the thick and into the snow capped mountains, where she would appear to him in her human form.  Paen rode on the back of Quanon, his white horned  mehra, who was Paen’s old friend and traveling companion of many years.

Once he arrived, Paen quieted his mind so that he might find Ashuta’s subtle form, the goddess form of the jungles and forests, and all that lived within them.   This form was too subtle for most to notice. Mortal men could not remember the Goddess Ashuta, much less recognize her, and catch any kind of a glimpse of Her. Paen, however, noticed her form from an early age.  Ashuta’s image appeared to him in a waterfall when he was an adolescent.  Her image never faded from his memory. He fell in love with her so deeply that everything reminded him of her.  Paen recognized her face in the mountains, in the trees, the oceans, and everywhere.  Her beauty was the face of all beings recognizing each other as the same one.  He loved her as the central art of his life, and thusly he always remained in her divine domains.

Paen was like no other man of his time. He was the last of his kind, a man sensitive to the land, to the beings that dwelled within Ashuta’s jungles.  Paen drew no distinction from one life form to the next, but saw all as the expression of Ashuta’s play within the jungle lands.  It was this diamond of understanding, this submission to her where he was not of himself, entirely separate, but rather of Her Self  entirely, that made Paen the Master in his life, in his human form within the forest which was only the goddess herself!  With humor, Paen understood that Ashuta was his Master, and he loved her dearly. With his perfect love for her, he saw beyond the boundaries of his mortality and recognized himself as the Goddess Herself who was boundless, timeless, free, and happy beyond words!! Paen knew all beings as this same boundless and free energy —all seen through his diamond eyes and felt within his surrendered heart.

Finally, Paen steered Quanon by a nearby river.  It gushed and roared with the deep flow of snowmelt.  Paen followed it to where it bent into an enclosure of trees, over which Paen could see a large waterfall in the distance.  Paen ducked his head beneath low hanging branches as Quanon traversed along a wet and stony bank where Paen could eventually see the Goddess dancing in the mists within the waterfall.  He dismounted and went to her. When he came near, she laughed and kissed him with mist and air.  She smelled like lavender and offered him fruit.  “It’s so good to see you my love.” She said. They sat for a moment gazing happily at one another.

Ashuta then told Paen: “The time now has come for you to pass on what I’ve shown you.  You see me, Paen. Your love is pure and obvious, but a dark time is now upon the kingdom of men. The men of the forests can no longer recognize me as you do; not even in their dreams do they remember my name.”

Paen’s eyes widened with this news and his heart grew heavy in seeing such sadness come over his true love.

”They have busied themselves in foolish personal efforts, those of their greed and lust, and have cut themselves off from my love.  They are lost, creating wars with one another in my many names.”

Paen’s eyes were like saucers.  To hear such things!

“The advisors to the  Tahs have turned away from the truth and now use my teaching for their own pursuits.  If they are to continue, they will destroy themselves.  Oh…I cannot bear that they live without knowing their true nature.”

“You, Paen, are the only link they have to me, the only bridge for them to cross, and now I must send you forward to teach them.”

Paen waited for her to begin her usual giggling. Surely she must be joking.  She must be playing a prank, he thought, but no sign of a joke was to be seen.

“But… what… how shall I teach them?”  Paen wondered.

“By showing them how to be true warriors. By teaching them what they want to learn the most, the art of power, of war.”

Confused, Paen frowned and shook his head.  Ashuta sensed this, smiled a soft grin, and continued.

“You are to teach the Khoorlrhani what I’ve shown you, but through the art of combat.”

Paen laughed loudly, and slapped his knee.  Now he knew she must be joking.  This was just another one of her drawn out tricks.  Paen said:

“But Ashuta, how can I do this? I know nothing of these things, Master.  I am not qualified to be a swords master for soldiers!”

From Ashuta’s extended arm, a clod of dirt was thrown into Paen’s face.  She sat on a moss-covered rock and wrapped herself in a beam of sunlight to dry off.  She shot a hard glance at her shining friend, and said, “Oh my love such insane questions you ask, such stupid assumptions of limitation, for you know in your heart of hearts of this to be my play in which all that is required has already been given.”  And Paen spat mud out of his mouth and nodded.  He knew this was true since everything, including his own body and mind, was of Her.

”This is the role I give you Paen,” She giggled, “Master Paen,” and she giggled more, “Master of all warriors!” she exploded, slapping her own knee, and Paen erupted in laughter as well. He then could not help himself from asking, “But Goddess, why show them the art of combat? This will only make them fiercer fighters, crueler and more destructive!”

Ashuta giggled again, and then tried to hold a more serious composure for dramatic effect, “It is the natural plan, my bright bean! Your role is your duty. You are to offer completely what you have, what I’ve already given you, your mastery of the fighting arts, to serve their Tah.

Through dedication to the art of fighting, they will grow frustrated by its uselessness, frustrated by their own perception of limitation and begin to yearn for that central art form, which has produced your vision, your diamond eyes, has produced the mastery of your life and will serve as an example for them to follow.  Once they yearn for that, for diamond eyes with which to see, they will once again be on the path of recognizing me, of recognizing themselves.

“With you as their servant, they will exhaust their efforts of war more quickly and their attention will be restored, toward me, toward their original nature.  You must teach them a great code of balance and severe discipline and hold them to you.  They must do this in order to see their error.  You must drive them hard, down the path they’ve already chosen.”
And so Master Paen considered this, seeing the lines of the drama play out in his mind, for a long moment then said,

“I see, but so much bloodshed.  Is there no other way?”

“Oh but it is a necessary lesson, for in order to see me; they must love me, only me, and want me, only me, with every fiber of their being.  With that love, the heart opens, and then my form becomes obvious, standing within the arches of men’s hearts.  Then a life truly has direction! The blood of all beings flows toward me, through me, my darling one, I heal all things. I restore it all; purify it for it is all my heart.”

“You must go forward. Tell everyone you meet, simply, that you are the master, and I will come forward within you, animating you, making the truth of your statement obvious to them.”
Paen nodded.  He understood that as an agent of Ashuta he could not fail, but as a man cut off from her grace, he was a mere lump of formless clay.  He knew to walk the line for her was his purpose in life, and that as a character in her plays his mission was to serve her.

“You must take great care in another most important task, Paen, to teach the children of the Tah in the southern land.  They must all directly receive what I’ve shown you for among the terrible six of his sons, the sixth will prove to be most promising.  That one is your greatest pupil; the one who could carry on your task should your form fade before the play is complete.  This is what I command of you, my servant. Now, go.”

Paen bowed before the goddess.  Her figure was clothed only by the greenness and blueness of the rivers and trees.  Her beauty affected him and brought a smile to his face; However, Paen, though confident and obedient, felt his heart sink feeling that his days of peace within the embrace of Ashuta were over. Gone were the days of effortless abiding in her name.  He must remember her, and this was his test.

As Paen left, he noticed two items by the shore of the river, protruding from the earth.  One item was a curved scimitar that shone with a silvery brilliance that Paen had never seen before.  Its handle was of tightly wrapped golden threads and of embedded turquoise stones and shells, and its blade was broad, sharp, and reflective. Paen’s eyes widened as he marveled at the sight of it.

“I offer you this sword. I call it Maburata.  It is my reflection. Take it with you. Let it serve as a reminder of your love for me, for with it, you will never miss your mark, and will always stand as an example for men.” Ashuta said.

The second item was a scroll tied by a length of leather.

“This is for you to place into the hands of the Southern Tah’s hands.  This must be done only by you and it must be given to him directly.   Once his eyes look upon it, he will see himself.  You will bring truth back to his land, for it is he who leads men into the darkness.”

Paen humbly accepted the Goddess’s gift, the scroll, and the terms. He considered the task at hand seriously and having understood, journeyed twelve days back to the western regions of Genia.  He prepared himself to live in the towns of men.

Paen had only a few belongings, the clothing he wore which was a beige and red kaftan drawn at the waist by a yellow sash, a worn pair of sandals strapped with leather midway around his thick shins, a pot for preparing tea, a large leather water bag, a large green cloak which served as his nightly bedding, and a small sack containing fishing hooks, a net, tea leaves, a small dull knife and a small iron pot for cooking.

Paen was not particularly tall. In fact, most men of the land were at least a head taller than him.  His build was average. He was thin, but tough and lean from frequent climbing and hiking in the highlands and in the jungles, and his shoulders were slightly broad, which was good for the birds that often perched on them when he rode on his mehra.  Paen’s head was almost perfectly round and bald, and his skin was a dark brown like most men in and around Genia.  He was however, if he ever encountered a traveler, often mistaken to be of the Cwa tribes from the lands beyond the southern ocean for he was hairless, had no beard, and took on a reddish tone when too long beneath the sun.  A straight row of white teeth spanned his wide mouth as he smiled and rode his mehra under the sun.  He did indeed have the features of a Cwa, but Paen had the heart of a mountain dweller, his lungs and heart powerful and efficient.  Paen was of the lands less traveled, of turquoise skies full of cirrus and nimbus clouds, of yellow grasses against steep forever climbing hills, and of snow capped mountains and torrential rivers.  His tribe was only nature itself, the one great clan which included all tribes.

• Intro
• Chap I
• Chap II
• Chap III