The Plea of The Empty

## Context

The following is the official recount of the meeting that transpired between Sirthi, head priestess of Audeos and Hitryn, head priest of Veastavyn, shortly before the unification of Azunel. This meeting supposedly led to the inclusion of the cult of Veastavyn into the Audean pantheon.

## Content

In the auspicious days of the final victory against the lesser gods, Sirthi, blessed and hallowed her name, advanced atop the mountains trails, and the ground did tremble at her passing. These mountains once guarded by the alliance of free believers, a gathering of lesser gods, each detestable in its impotence. Yet despite the weakness of its parts, the alliance had defied the will of the faithful with greater vigour than any could justify. Though the alliance fell, as all who oppose Audeos shall, Sirthi searched for the secret that had fueled its opposition. In her righteous search one thing stood out above all, one name uttered in confessions, in final prayers and in solemn odes: Veastavyn. All pointed to this god, hidden amongst the unwashed mass of the alliance's deities, who had guided its victories and granted its unjustifiable strength. Sirthi had steeled herself for this expedition to the hidden centre of the god, accompanied by the Audeos' greatest fighters and strongest psionics. No matter how great the power of this Veastavyn would be, the followers of Audeos would tear it down all the same.

Yet as they marched upon the trails, ever closer to the centre they sought, Audeos' champions found no figthers to impede them, nor powerfull psionics to twart them nor tricksters to deceive them; all that they encountered was austere monks watching them uncaringly, silently. Nor did they find grand temples or towering monuments; only the simplest of dwellings and amorphous sculptures which could be confused with any boulder were it not for their unnatural sheen. With every step, the tension grew. If the grasp of Veastavyn was so light even so close to its centre of power, what darkness could hide at its core? What enigmatic power could it contain? Even so, they marched right on, till they did reach that dreaded centre, and saw only more of what they had already found. Nought but unremarkable structures and unremarkable Zuhl met their eyes. Only with great effort could one identify the central structure as different from all others, one which with some imagination could be interpreted as a temple. From the confusion arose Sirthi, and shed did bellow in righteous anger over the clear deceptions at play and did demand the champions of Veastavyn to reveal themselves and meet Audeos' wrath. Even at this, ever-present silence overshadowed all else. Yet just when Sirthi prepared to drive Veastavyn's lackeys to attention by divine force, a solitary figure did approach from the central structure and exclaimed in a gentle yet firm voice: "In Veastavyn's hallowed name, I welcome thee, bringer of our divine oblivion! If it may please your god and mine, I seek a last audience to mark our sacred passing!"

And then within her, Sirthi's curiosity overruled her wrath; if the head of this sorry collection was bold enough to address the emissary of Audeos and praise his own destruction, perhaps there was merit in hearing his words. "You shall have your audience, grim one, but you shall use it only to divulge how you and your cabal led and strengthened this sorry alliance. Once you have received your mercy of prostrating before Audeos I shall grant the oblivion you welcome." Was the response of her holiness. The servant of Veastavyn accepted her demand, but cautioned that "I can give no answers to questions which are falsely asked, no matter how fiercely you desire them." It is at this that Sirthi began her inquisition of Veastavyin's holiest.

"Do not play me for a fool or receiver of deceit; I know what you are and what you have done! I have witnessed a thousand confessions from a thousand adherents in your petty coalition, confessions attributing to you great victories and triumphs, confessions granting honour to your god's name beyond even their own. It is you who drove the alliance against our faithful and you who bought them years of defiance!"

At this accusation, the empty one merely shook dismissively and responded: "Zuhl blessed with coming oblivion may say what they wish and honour who they want, but our status is not a thousandth as grand as you assert. We did not lead the alliance, nor were we even a true part of it. Polities and alliances are fleeting and we are obliged to no cause but Veastavyn's. We sat at their councils and followed their armies only because it was them who owned this land and it is our duty to bring Veastavyin's doubt to those who rule the lands we inhabit."

All in Invith told her these words were nothing but brazen deception, but a small part wondered whether they may instead by an audacious truth. "Yet how can it be that you are credited with the alliance's triumph at Havlyn? From the maws of the soldier, the general and the champion it is said that you brought this triumph, that you let two thousand Zuhl prevail over eight thousand of Audeos' chosen. Do you deny these confessions? coming from the maws of so many?"

"We were there at the battle, it is true, but we provided no soldiers and led no Zuhl. Our only act was to argue the battle should not occur."

"Why would they credit you with this victory if at your choice it would not have occurred? Why did you wish to prevent this battle?"

"We did so because it was the prevailing opinion that the battle should be fought, so we were compelled to argue against it, to bring doubt where there is resolution. Not with deceit, as you may wish to assume, but with the facts as they existed. At first, we argued that the groves at the army's east were open to surprise attack, one which would bring about the armies sure destruction."

Perplexed, Sirthi remarked: "But our armies did move to strike the army from that route, only to be ambushed themselves! You claim to have argued using a weakness which did not exist?"

"It did when we raised our objection, but they adjusted their plans to account for that, so instead we argued that they would fail because they were setting up upon a hill, a mistaken tactic that allowed your own psionics to smite many in your path before."

"And yet they set up behind the hill when we arrived. I take it that they moved in accordance with your critique?"

"Indeed it was so, therefore we instead argued against it using the faulty composition of the reserves, then using the poor position of the artillery and then using the lure of retreat present for the soldiery."

"And when we fought, all these things were immaculate on their side. You truly did bless them with victory for all your denial, brazen one"

"From a certain point of view, I concede that we did. Though I mourn that day as a great failure of duty towards Veastavyn, for the alliance remained resolved and their minds were not swayed to doubt."

"You brought your masters victories such as that and you claim not even a shred of pride?"

"The only true achievement we strive for is is to break certainty; a good devotee may lead others to reconsider their course of action entirely, a truly blessed paragon can immobilize others entirely with doubt. You and the alliance only look at the times where our acts of worship strengthened them, yet our real triumphs will be remembered as their most monumental failures."

This display of piety and dedication impressed holy Sirthi and it appeared to her that Veastavin's servants were a greater people above the rest after all. "Your adherence to duty is a thing from which many could learn, empty one. This knowledge satisfies me and Audeos on this day. You may now prepare for your destruction."

"Even after what I have revealed to you, you still wish our removal? Do you not consider that the strengths we provided for the alliance can be the strength we provide to you from today into the future?"

"Did you not yourself welcome your demise mere minutes ago? Why are you grovelling for your life after wanting to discard it so casually?"

"My welcoming of our demise has not changed, o harbinger of ambition, nor do I grovel for my own life or that of any other here. The destruction you promise would indeed bring all here great completion, to be brought back to the void where our guide resides. Yet, because you are determined in bringing our destruction, it is my eternal duty to appeal to your doubt regardless of my desires. Each of us has a duty to Veastavin we cannot forfeit, we live because our lives are bound to this duty regardless of the completion that destruction would bring. I must therefore implore you to consider what you discard; our order can be the whetstone upon which your sacred ambition sharpens, we can alert you to all threats hidden in your desires that elude your consciousness, we can be the solemn voice that challenges your aims, even when no other would dare."

At this, Sirthi stood and contemplated. Such slavish adherence to doubt and apathy was in its very nature antithetical to all that Audeos proscribed, for their views were the death of ambition! And yet, what would it matter, if their creed strengthened the ambitions of the faithful? Yes, they may challenge righteous authority. Yes, they may sway some to abandon their ambition. But when one cares over the optics of authority over the wellbeing of their ambition, they were not worthy from the start! And any who would discard ambition in the face of mere words never had the resolve to follow Audeos' holy directives to begin with! And with these thoughts, it became clear as the skies to Sirthi why fate had made her meet this lowly cult, with no land to call its own nor the desire to trump any other faith. Here lies a tool for the greatest god's desires, here lies the crucible of ambition.

After a long pause to tend to these contemplations, Sirthi spoke once more: "It appears it was right that you became leader of your adherents, empty one. It appears Audeos never intended your destruction, only your servitude. I shall return here in due time, may you use this time to contemplate your future service, the triumph of today and the disappointment of your survival."

"It is as you wish, great one. To bring such doubt and reconsideration to the champion of resolve and ambition truly is an auspicious achievement I had not been able to hope for. I see that attempting to sway you once more will be nought but an act of hubris, and thus I shall resign myself that our destruction will not come today, nor for a myriad of days to come."

And at these last words, Sirthi departed, her task complete. And as she and her followers marched back down the mountains over the grounds already cowed by their descent she did order her chroniclers to record this exchange to commemorate this grand day upon which the final god ascended to the service of the master god.