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�� M. A. R. Barker, 1994 The Illumination of All the World, The Radiant, the Glorious, L O R D H N A L L A , THE LIGHT ETERNAL by Ch nkosu hiMar da High Prelate of the Ever-Refulgent Temple of Lord Hn�lla and Member of the Society of the Crystal of Pure Light As Translated by F ru B �Y qer 2 diamonds and such pure crystals as turn the light into a spectrum of a myriad hues. All colours are produced by light passing through light, and hence the spectrum, the rainbow, and the colours of the universe themselves are but Fill the universe with Refulgent Brilliance! the twisting and turnings of Light as it passes Let Changeless Radiance suffuse the Many through the substance of the material cosmos. Planes! Rejoice! The Dark is driven back! his is not to say that we are plain or Give thanks that Scintillating Glory prevails! drab in our costumes; each of the Praise be unto Lord Hn�lla, T fifty-one Aspects of our mighty Lord Master of All! requires different garments, different head- dresses, some like gleaming helmets, others set with gems and plumed with the spectrum-like w plumage of the beauteous Kh�shchal-bird), and still more of designs too numerous and grand ike a battlefield fought over by two to describe here in words. The glyphs of the ancient foes, the Universe is the focal Aspects vary as well, each symbolising the L point for the conflict of the two Great wondrous Being and Substance of our Master's Principles: Stability and Change. The former Forms. To see these things is to fall upon one's strives for continuation, peaceful transition, face with awe, for naught can withstand the and continuing development to the final goal of puissance and majesty of Lord Hn�lla! utter changelessness. The latter seeks change, rebirth, violent alteration, and the continual he temples of our Lord are tall, high- destruction and rebirth of all that exists. This arched, set with windows of coloured opposition is fundamental, eternal, and T glass and precious stones that unforgiving: there can be no compromise. Should transmit the Light in patterns and hues a balance occur, it is but for a moment, a unimaginable to most mortals. Incense smokes teetering upon the brink of still more change, upon high braziers of silver and filigreed gold; still greater attempts to quell that change, and draperies and tapestries depicting the even mightier conflicts along the path to the triumphs of our Lord hang from the pure white Goal. walls; mosaics of crystal and white marble swirl across broad floors; stairways rise in stately e who serve the Stability of Endless grandeur to balconies and mezzanine floors, all Light know that the Goal is ours; the way to the dizzy, arching domes of the W Change can alter all things but must ceiling, decked with murals in all of the hues of in the end subside and become stable. Darkness the artist's palette. At the far end, the great gives way to Illumination. The Supreme Principle nave ends before the altar dais. Stairways of Change, Lord Hr�'�, cannot gain the victory. carpeted with white lead from either side up to His transitions, meaningless flickering, and the double-circle symbol of the God at the displacements cannot be Eternal by their very highest point in the chamber. Worshippers definition! If change is eternal, then it is a attired in white kneel here and there upon mats stable phenomenon, the very antithesis of what of carded, white Hm�lu-wool, adoring the Person Lord Hr�'� preaches! of the Godhead. Silence is ordained for all, unless it is time for one of the six daily e Priests and Priestesses of the God ceremonies. Then there is the sweet sound of of Light garb ourselves in vestments of the priests' chanting, the harmonious antiphony W purest white, adorned with polished of the choir, the mumbling response of the silver plaques, golden medallions, and glittering devotees, and over all the deep, thunderous 3 booming of the Tunk�l-gongs from on high in hen splendid G�nga sank beneath the their mighty tower. Thus it is from one day to waves and was no more, then did the the next, from one century to another, for the W first Tlakot�ni Emperor take up the many millennia since the founding of the Faith gauntlet from the dying hand of the last by the Beatified Pav�r. Priestking. There was never any question of the Gods to be worshipped in the new Second ersons of malicious nature claim that Imperium. Lord Hn�lla and His Pantheon were Lord Hn�lla had no place in the accepted without question, and the Old Gods of P Universe before Pav�r. After all, was he the First Imperium were never brought back. not the first to discover the Gods? Did his Today only scholars recall Their names. pantheon exist before that discovery, or did it coalesce and come into being because of him? he first great battle for religious We know that before Pav�r "discovered" the supremacy was not with the Old Gods, Gods, he worshipped Dark Jr�ka, one of the T but rather with the minions of the names of Lord Ks�rul known from before the Pariah Deities, who had bided their time through empire of Lly�n of Ts�mra. When he first the long centuries of the First Imperium, and "summoned" the Gods, thus, Lord Ks�rul who now struck out to gain converts and seize existed, albeit in another Aspect. Why, then, the sceptre of power. M�shek Tland�nu, "the could not Lord Hn�lla, Lord Th�mis, and the Despot of the South," strove to establish the Others exist similarly, though unbeknownst to worship of The One Other, while in the north the humankind? What great Truth caused Pav�r to priests of what is now Sunr�ya spread the change from Lord Jr�ka (Ks�rul) to Lord Hn�lla pernicious doctrines of She Who Is Not to Be as his favoured Deity? Why did he urge his Named. (Anathema upon them both!) The third colleagues and those in the government of the Emperor, H�rukel N'l�n, began the war with the First Imperium to do the same? When the Siege of Katal�l, of which bard still tell tales. priests of the Old Gods resisted, did not Pav�r Nothing is known of the deeds of the fourth stride forth in his humble, patched robes to Seal Emperor, but the reign of his successor, preach to them? And were they not confounded, Tr�konel I, "the Blazing Light," (ruled 139-195 then converted, by his eloquence? Thus, we of A.S.) is well documented. It was he who sacked the faithful hold that the Gods existed from the cities of the One Other, repelled the Time Immemorial, from the Age of the Egg of the fanatics of the Pariah Goddess, and drove the World itself, and yet they remained aloof from ships of the Hl�ss from the southern shores of us until Pav�r beseeched Them to manifest Tsoly�nu. He it was also who began the present Themselves. Drenched in blood, the Old Gods shrine of Lord Hn�lla in B�y S�, expanded our could not withstand the Light, and so they priesthood to near its present numbers, and mixed their Essences and Substances into the established academies, monasteries, and Beings closest to Their theologies. Lord Jr�ka libraries all over our land. Later, he also further entered into Lord Ks�rul, and his miasmic developed the custom of seclusion of the person temples became ruin, then rose again garbed in of the Emperor within the fortress of Avanth�r. the deep azure of the Prince of the Blue Room. This had been practised since Engsvany�li times Thus did Queen Nay�ri's Burning Ch�tl, the in one form or another; yet it remained for this Blinding Sun, fuse into the Being of our own Divine Emperor to establish the Golden Tower beauteous Lord Hn�lla and so become a part and the rite of K�lumej�lim, "the Choosing of (though by no means the whole) of His Being, Emperors," of which I shall say more below. Glory unto the Gods forever! will now give brief notice of the Aspects of Lord Hn�lla and Their r�les and tasks. I Fifty-one sacred Aspects are listed for Him, although some schools claim more or less. 4 Each Aspect has a shrine in House of Lord Master of Transcendent Contemplation," whose Hn�lla, and celebrations, festivals, and halls are filled with those who wish to meditate commemorations are held for Their worship. and consider the patterns of Reality. Each year These differ from city to city and region to the clergy of Lord Markh�m publishes volumes in region. In Sok�tis, the Fortieth Aspect is the series titled "The Perfect Compendia of represented by a giant crystal called M�ntukoi Answers to Questions of Life and Existence hiJ�r "The Crown of Light,." On certain days the Most Vexing to Humble Beings." These tomes sun shines through a special window-shaft in are filled with solutions to such riddles as "Why this Aspect's shrine, illuminating the crystal like evil?" and "Is Free Will Necessary?" and the like. a veritable small sun itself. The priestesses Those of a philosophical bent can swim in a bring small children who are in need of healing or veritable ocean of wisdom. Being myself a solace to bathe in its rays and be blessed. In devotee of Lord N�ktulen, Lord Hn�lla's tenth Jaikal�r Lord Hn�lla's Twelfth Aspect, called Aspect, "He Whose Eyes are Fixed upon the Baj�n Ke'�n, is pictured as a stern-faced man Light," I confess that much of my learning of many years in white robe and cowl and stems from these wonderful books. Last year bearing a mighty sword. He is the Guardian of my particular favourite was a disquisition that the Imperium and Patron of its armies. On the shrewdly examines the question "Where does first day of each month singing and drumming the darkness go when a beam of light pierces and the blare of militant trumpets attend his it?" The author's reply was a revelation, but it rites. In great Thr�ya stands the Shrine of Lord would be lengthy to repeat it here. Hn�lla's Thirty-Second Aspect, named J�rmochus�n, "the Illuminator of the Dark"; He t is in B�y S�, the Centre of the World is also militant, but more against the dwellers and Capitol of the Cosmos, where the in the lightless places, such as the Worm Lord I K�lumej�lim "The Rite of Choosing of and His Minions. In Jak�lla our temple is famed Emperors" takes place. Lord Hn�lla plays a for its Shrine of the Second Aspect, Chir�shin major r�le is this, since the Stability of the Tul�ngkoi "the Shining Sun," who only accepts Empire is the fulcrum of the balance of the offerings of diamonds, crystals, and purest Universe itself. Many of the Aspects of the God gold, and who gives His devotees the largesse of are concerned with specific rites and surcease from cares and freedom from fear and celebrations of the K�lumej�lim: at least grief. His priests and priestesses go nude, save fourteen Aspects seem to have no other for necklaces, anklets, wristlets, and ropes of functions beyond Their tasks in this lengthy crystals hung about their persons, which make ritual. These are called the "Aspects of the each motion glitter and flash. Oh, the sight Stations of the Choosing," and their images are bedazzles the eyes and sways the senses! On brought out, anointed with perfumed Pur�-oil, his festival days, the 9th of Firas�l and the 4th dressed in costumes of the richest materials, of Trant�r, thousands of widows, widowers, and adorned with gems, and paraded through the those whose Skeins have become tangled and streets for the crowds to admire. sorrowful march in procession to His shrine and pay Him worship. Many miracles occur, souls are hen a new Emperor or Empress healed, and hearts are filled with joy. accedes to the Petal Throne in W Avanth�r, the celebrations are ancient t is in B�y S�, however, that our Lord's and tedious: the heir is led for the first time temple truly flourishes. Here is the Temple into the Golden Tower. He says formal farewells I of the Ninth Aspect, Parsh�lmokoi hi- to his friends and kinsmen, turns his back upon El�tlayal, the Teller of Skeins, to whom come the world outside, and enters to dwell only in those seeking omens and advice. Next to His the company of his Servitors of Silence until the shrine is that of the Seventh Aspect, end of his life. He may bring wives and Markh�m, Tik�koi hiWadh�l pekh�sun, "the concubines (males, if the sovereign be a female) 5 into a special area of the Tower and may have t is after the interment that our most joy of them there at stated intervals fixed by important task begins. Traditionally, the the positions of the planets in the sky. When a I High Priest of Lord Hn�lla leads the High consort gives birth, the ruler may keep her with Council of the Priesthoods. Not even Prince him, have her slain, establish her in a special Dhich'un�'s clergy of Lord S�rku dares to palace or residence according to his desire, or challenge this. The Council Hall itself is within return her to her temple, where she assumes our temple in B�y S�, where it remains sealed the r�le of the Mother of an Heir to the Petal and silent until the death of a sovereign causes Throne. it to be used once again. Twenty daises, in a square of fives, are set around a central golden hen a God-Emperor dies, the Servitors image of the Seal of the Imperium. Our first of Silence carry his body upon a golden concern is to make public announcement of the W bier to the shrine of Lord Belkh�nu Emperor's passing. Heralds are sent on foot or within Avanth�r. There they wash the corpse, by tubeway car where possible, to the farthest embalm it, and wrap it in finest Th�sun-gauze cities of the Empire. Letters are written upon and cloth-of-gold, and perform the first of many sheets of gold foil and embellished with inks solemn funerary rites. In many cases, it is then made of crushed gems. Telepaths are borne to its last resting place in a sarcophagus summoned, and messages are sent out by relay of hardest stone in the catacombs below to those places otherwise unreachable. All is Avanth�r. Some Emperors desire to be done according to a protocol written in entombed elsewhere, as occurred with our last Classical Tsoly�ni in the time of Tr�konel II , "the great Seal, the God Hirk�ne, "the Stone upon Victorious," in 261 A.S. Which the Universe Rests." His desire was to be buried in B�y S�, and this was carried out. any Emperors do not reveal all of their children as public heirs. Those born mperial funerary rites involve Lord M before the accession are Hn�lla's temple only to a minor extent. We automatically candidates, as are those I do have parts to play, rituals to carry deliberately revealed thereafter. Others are out, and counsel to give. If an Emperor is a taken away secretly at birth by the Omnipotent worshipper of our Lord of Light, then our r�le is Azure Legion, the guardians of our Empire, to be commensurably greater, although it is left to given over to patrons who will bring them up, the deceased sovereign's successor to decide teach them, help them find supporters, and on the precise rituals and their sequence. Thus, train them for the arduous rites of the when Prince Dhich'un� ascended the Petal K�lumej�lim. This is done both to please the Throne under the title "Eternal Splendour," it great temples and clans in whose care these was a contingent of his troops that infants are placed and to ensure that our land accompanied the funeral bier down the river is ruled by strong, shrewd, and dedicated from Avanth�r. Since the God-Emperor was a persons. Hereditary rule always fails because worshipper of my own beauteous Lord Hn�lla, we the children of a sovereign tend to become weak, then were called in grand conclave to perform foolish, and sapped by luxury and easy living. We certain final rituals. Then the Council of the hold that our Empress or Emperor must be the Priesthoods was summoned, and the body was strongest, cleverest, wisest, most ruthless, and given over to the priesthood of Lord Belkh�nu, most politically aware of all of the candidates. who is charged with Life After Death. All of the To this end, we seek to achieve this by temples joined in transporting the sarcophagus concealing some heirs until they are powerful to the Portal of the Land Beyond Life beneath enough to be revealed, while those declared to the necropolis on the eastern side of the river, be princes or princesses at birth must heed and so it was immured to await the End of All. their tutors and become strong enough to defeat all such hidden candidates, We thus 6 really care little for "blood" relationship: a clever, and his temple. dedicated outsider who seizes the "Gold" (a symbol given to each putative heir by the n the date chosen for the K�lumej�lim Omnipotent Azure Legion) is just as good a each candidate proceeds to our great candidate as any pampered prince born in the O temple in grand procession. Cohorts of palace at Avanth�r. There may thus be one troops, legions of musicians, contingents of candidate or as many as twenty. Some may priests and priestesses from each temple, "resign the Gold" and not compete, for to foreign ambassadors with their entourages, "accept the Gold" and enter the competition high nobles and notable persons, huge Chl�n- dooms any loser to death. There is no way out. carts bearing Imperial symbols on tall poles, The executioners stand prepared in the choirs of children, and all of the inhabitants of courtyard behind our temple in B�y S�. The the city join these processions according to Omnipotent Azure Legion pursues any who their choices. Factional fighting is severely put would flee, and any candidate who attempts a down by the City Guard and the Omnipotent coup or to bring up troops is liable to be Azure Legion, and the impalers remain busy all assassinated by Imperial agents. Should an heir day. At the gates of our temple each candidate "resign the Gold," however, his life and property stands forth to speak, haranguing the crowd are safe, but never again can he be a candidate and declaring his powers and talents. The Each for the Petal Throne, not even if the Emperor candidate must compete in all of the tests. dies without issue. Such cases have been rare, These involve bravery, endurance, cunning, but then the Council of the Priesthoods must physical prowess, judgement, knowledge of meet to determine which kinsmen of the history and the arts, competence in sorcery, Tlakot�ni clan are eligible and willing to compete. and several other fields. Absolute victory is not In the meantime there is always a regent, always necessary, as in the case of a woman usually a member of the High Council of the who cannot possibly compete physically against Priesthood. Legally, this person must bring a man who has trained for war all his life. In all about a K�lumej�lim in shortest time and can cases, the Council judges. never stand for Emperor himself. The candidates are given time to prepare for the he Tunk�l-gongs roar, the crowds Choosing, and a date is set according to the cheer, the trumpets shriek, and the astrologers' calculations. An important heir T gates of the temple close as the may influence the setting of the date candidates are taken inside. None may view the somewhat, as occurred on the most recent K�lumej�lim save the officials and priests occasion to the unhappiness of certain parties, appointed to do so; else there would be chaos. but the final reckoning is the responsibility of Singers, mimes, dancers, and sorcerers the Council. performing illusions and other tricks entertain the masses outside. Within, all is silent. The ll of the heirs are then summoned to candidates stand upon the central dais in the the temple of Lord Hn�lla in B�y S�. Hall of Choosing, one by one, in order of their A They take up lodgings, and gather their ages. Each declares his intention to accept the champions. Each is allowed a champion in as Gold, then lays a sword, a book, a white many as three contests since no one can be an headband, and one purple Dl�l-fruit upon the expert in all skills. These champions must be of altar. He faces toward each cardinal point in noble clans and are reliably recommended. One turn, beginning with the north, and summons his cannot thus go to the Arena and choose a rivals to appear. One by one they do so, gladiator, or to a priestly college to find the repeating the same ritual. In the case of Prince most experienced mage on T�kumel! The choice Dhich'un�, no other candidate came forth since is often made by the heir's supporters in all were too distant, and he had arranged that consultation with the Omnipotent Azure Legion the necessary summons could not reach them, 7 or that they were unable to reply in a timely the deciding vote. way. ll of this is done with unutterable he sequence of tests is arbitrary and solemnity and dignity. The fate of the selected by lot, as is the order of the A Empire may hang upon an unguarded T heirs. Each is paired with an opponent word, a faulty choice, a parry when one should by a second series of lots. The contests then have struck, or some mistake in calculation. take place before the Council. If a champion is called, he alone may enter the chamber to embers of the Council cannot leave the stand for his candidate, All others are excluded: chamber, sleep, or consume more than no servants, no courtiers, no wives or children. M a loaf of Dn�-grain bread and a cup of Only the guards of the Omnipotent Azure Legion water. When all is over, the winning candidate is are allowed. The tests are done with efficiency quietly conducted back into the Council Hall; the and speed to prevent rioting outside. Each losers are led out one by one to face their doom. candidate must enter all of the tests, using his Most go bravely,, singing their death-songs, but three champions as best he can (in one or as some have been known to require a squad of many as three different contests). burly guards to bring them to their fates. No one speaks until all of this has been finished, hen a candidate has completed a test, and the executioners have departed by another he leaves the room by another door door. Then the hall explodes in applause, W and is escorted, alone and unable to cheering, and shouts of "Long live the Seal!" speak to his rivals, to a private chamber to wait. Two new candidates are then selected and he Tunk�l-gongs sound again -- and provided with weapons, books, or whatever is continue their wild outcry throughout needed. T the night and into the following day. Men and women dress in white -- even those of loss in one trial does not mean that faiths other than Lord Hn�lla's, and there is the K�lumej�lim is lost. Unless a feasting, drinking, and revelry on a scale no one A candidate is slain or so severely could imagine. Usually five days and nights are wounded that he calls for the executioners to passed while the sovereign-to-be makes final relieve him from life, the contests continue. No arrangements, says farewells, and prepares for physicians or healers are permitted, and a the journey to Avanth�r. Then our temple's wounded candidate may have to endure many great, gilded palanquins are brought out of their more tests with nothing but a simple cloth to storage chambers. A thousand slaves are stanch the blood. He can declare himself a loser selected to carry them, and on the morning of at any time, of course, and is then executed by the sixth day the procession sets off toward a speedy and relatively painless method. the Citadel. All along the way folk stand to see their Emperor as he passes, high up like a God , he Council secretly records its scores dressed in Imperial finery and the colours of his for each test. When all of the contests temple. Thousand stand upon the hills behind, T are completed (usually 9, 10, or 12, and the river is filled with boats and swimmers. depending upon the astrologers), the results Legion contingents march with the procession, are compared, and the heir who has won a each bearing its resplendent K�ing-standard. majority of the contests is declared the winner. Trumpeters, drummers, and dancing maidens Abstention is not allowed. If there is a tie, the accompany the march, and caravans of carts vote is taken over again. The contests laden with gifts and goods trundle along behind themselves are never repeated. Should a tie all. Even those who do not favour the new ruler persist, each council member draws lots or his temple join in the celebrations, for who against all the rest, and the winner then casts could be mean-spirited enough to dampen the 8 revelry and the joy? his departed parent. No light burns behind the screen. Indeed, his own hand will be the first to pon reaching the village of Avanth�r, set flame to the lamp there, once he has on the eastern bank of the river, all become Emperor. U disembark, and the new ruler is escorted across the water by corps of soldiers he Supreme Commander of the from the Omnipotent Azure Legion. The Omnipotent Azure Legion then comes prelates, Legates, and other high persons of T forward to divest the candidate of his the State come down to greet him; he is worldly garments, and he is led naked to the escorted up the many stairs into the Great tiny door in the north wall that leads into a Hall of the Petal Throne, where the Synod of the labyrinth of passages and on into the Golden Court of Purple Robes awaits him. He greets Tower itself. Here the last rites of being human these functionaries, advances up to the are performed, and then the Servitors of speaker's station just beneath the solid wall of Silence advance to greet him and escort him translucent, carven petals of delicate-veined within. Once that door shuts, he is no longer a jade that make up the outer enclosure of the mortal; he has become one with the Gods. Petal Throne itself, and bows to the memory of w

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