Wahisietel's Memory

This is a book containing a transcript of Wahisietel's Memory, from the Mahjarrat Memories mini-quest.

Transcript:

We have just one figure in Freneskaen legend, paltry when compared to the menagerie found on Gielinor. This is Mother Mah, the mythical figure who supposedly birrther the first of our people in the cradle atop the great volcano. Our anceestors were said to make the perilous pilgrimage to the top of the volcano and speak with Mother Mah, who taught them magic and construction and other secrets of survival. When Mother Mah fell into too deep a sleep, she would dream great hordes of Muspah to attack us, and only the Ritual of Rejuvenation could rouse her and prevent our destruction. When Mother Mah became angry, she would shake the world and cause earthquakesand avalanches, and only the Ritual of Enervation could calm her.

I am not convinced personally the Mother Mah or the Muspah ever existed. Certainly by the time of my bith it had been many thousands of years since a Muspah was supposed to have been seen, and any who made the perilous trek up to the volcano to search for our goddess did not retur. The Ritual of Rejuvenation had become an intrinsic part of our culture, one that I believe served more as a tool of political control than of religious purpose. O f course, voicing such progressive thoughts would have been me next in line, so I kept them to myself. While I cannot deny that seismic activity occurs, I am not convinced that it was a necessary component of procreation, nor that the Ritual of Enervation had anything to do with its natural cessation. It had simply become our custom to breed during earthquakes.

After the Mahjarrat left Freneskae, during our short years of war among the Menephites, we gave no thought to the Rituals. However, once we reached the fortress of Kharid-et, Zaros's offer for us to join the empire triggered yet another debate. When some argued that a sacrifice ought still be made as part of our tradition, a further debate broke out about whether the sacrrifice could meaningfully be performed in the absence of the volcano and marker stone. Zaros seemed puzzled by our debate, but after Azzanandra explained the history and purpose of the Ritual of Rejuvenation he offered to create a replacement marker stone for us and expressed interest in observing.

The Ritual proceeded with an uncommon solemnity in the presence of an actual god, and afterwards Zaros explained what he had been able to perceive of it. In the absence of Mother Mah, whose genuine existence he seemed not to question, he explained that the energies that had been intended for propitation had instead been distrubuted amongst the rest of us. He told us that on this world, without regular sacrifice our energies would wither and we would perish. He cautioned however to perform the Ritual infrequently, and reccomended an interim of five centuries. When I later learned of the syzygy from human astrologers, I recommended this to the others and we have practiced thus ever since. Zaros's replacement marker stone was eventually relocated to Ghorrock, where it remains to this day. I think Zaros's insight into our ways was the most significant factor in our decision to join the empire.