Fathomably, there is a wide distinction between those who now inhabit Selahktia, and those who used to rule it. Even before the New World Era, there was plentiful reason to dislike the Selahktian government, despite there being a somewhat more freeing identification among them.
The Selahktian government, while collectivist in its pursuit, was still inevitably corrupt with the ways of the Tornun standardization. For one, while Knomnolites were accepted into Selahktia, many of which had very little rights compared to their countrymen. This was distinct from Tornun, because in Tornun, being a Knomnoltie was grounds for death. Knomnolites whatsoever were not tolerated among the Republic, and many families during this projection were hunted aggressively to ensure their presence was forever ended among Tornian soil.
Many of these families coagulated together, however, and many were portioned to small, nomadic tribes in an effort to find sanctity south, either in the Selahktian or Undatan borders. Knomnolites were never accepted in these countries however. While they existed coincidingly with the inhabitants of Selahktia and Undata, both nations had a disproportion between ethnic groups by an alarming rate.
Knomnolites among Selahktia were often treated as scum, and had an aggressive stance against them from the very start. While their right to life remained true among Selahktia, it was a hard life to live with many, many roadblocks along the way. Undata was even more unforgiving. Killing a Knomnolite was illegal in either country, but among the Undatan rural population, it was often seen as a sport with the law enforcement doing very little about it. Indeed, there are instances where Knomnolites were lynched were often met with either a few months of probation, and sometimes no repercussions at all.
As I embraced myself among the Executio, learning their ideals and skilled Tagonic craftsmanship, I had begun to learn a separate picture of them. From the start, Hre had told me to forgive all premonitions -- for “[I] do not know, and cannot make sound judgment.”
As a researcher, my job was to uncover the unknown. While I was not a sociologist by any means, my life now lay within the hands of these people, and if I were to survive, I had better learn their ways.
The Knomnolites, though heavily persecuted, are a proud and resonant culture. They originated from the elder culture of Knomnolatia, wherein many different sects of this culture intertwined to make the backbone of the Xiqen Empire.
The Xiqen Empire had ruled over the entirety of Ciphrus for over two thousand years. It was the only state known in history to have complete control over the planet, although its rule was entirely out of imperialist feudalism, and did not reflect the independence of the inhabitants at the time. As such, the Empire eventually collapsed, forming scattered city states all across the globe. One of which was the originals from the Normatia culture, who eventually developed a uniquely supremacist viewpoint, after finally fighting back the Xiqen incursion.
This ideology likely stemmed from the fact that, as aformentioned, the Xiqen Empire was largely multicultural. Many of the facets of the Empire were curated by a multitude of cultures -- though those which rejected the religiously baked Terrasque narrative were casted out into the oblivion of colonialism.
This religious overbearing, mixed with the perception of multiculturally based expansion being a harbinger of the destruction of their own ways of life, the peoples of Normatia aggressively pushed back against the Empire’s rule. Eventually, after a century of fighting, the Normatians reacquired their independence. This act of resistance sent shockwaves across the entire planet, and soon others grew resistant to the Empire’s rule. Eventually, the Empire crumbled around the year 10,000, which led to the third civilization to rule this planet with imperial dismay: The Tornun Republic, hosted by the descendants of the Normatian conglomerate.
Among Tornun’s founding were the inscriptions for Normatite Race Theory, which therein conjured expansive lies about their enemy cultures, directing them into a social caste system from which they could not escape, and eventually ensuring dominion across the entire planet through masked means.
From there on, this global dominion offered a policy against the Tagonic arts in an attempt to kill that shared characteristic among the planet which was shared by so many cultures. Many hidden arts of Tagon were hidden from the public eye, the most notably being Terokon (the ability to control another’s Termoyl cells), and so much of that knowledge was lost to the cultures which once revered them.
The Terrasque is a beauty to uphold among the center of the world. It is sentient, has anthropomorphic emotional stimuli, and a directive among its chain of existence. Evermore tugging, the concise direction and origin of this wonder of nature is uncertain. Every day I grow closer to it however, as Hre consistently brings me to meditation meetings which take place directly within the Deep Forest, the Terrasque's domain. Indeed, for such a place renowned for the disappearance of travelers galore, much like his demeanor it is nothing short of incredible that he can freely converse and maneuver amongst this dense forest without so much as a delay.
As I spoke to Hre more over the months, I had learned that this was a man with no trouble, simply because the world was in trouble. He had spoken to the Terrasque, as though it were a long, lost friend. His demeanor among the planet was not one of fear and hatred, as so many had succumbed to, but love and honor, which was seldom found in this world. Hre’s existence was solely for the fortune of the inhabitants of Ciphrus, and seemed to withhold any and all amount of self gain. I deeply respected Hre, and so we grew to be close friends as time went on. In many ways I saw him as my teacher, one which I have never had in my entire life -- the best teacher I’ve ever had.
It was with Hre where the first connection was made with the Terrasque. It came to me in a surreal light, having distributed me on an external plane, of which I had no direction. One moment, I was sitting amongst the forest, and the next I was in nothing short than a place unraveled among time.
There, we had spoken, and it had felt too as though I had been in a reunion with a longtime friend. The Terrasque understood the pain I had felt, the indescribable anxiety that came with the ignorance of my family’s whereabouts. The world I knew, grew up and learned within was now gone -- and a new one had sprung about. What I had not anticipated was that the pain was not so easily self associated. The Terrasque too, had felt great pain. It understood the pain of all those around it, as the war waged on, the disease continued to take lives, the intricate small atrocities among all people across the planet. The Terrasque understood all of these circumstances, for it was ultimately connected to us in a fundamental, personal way; it understood and experienced the emotions of all inhabitants on Ciphrus since the time of its creation. Yet, the Terrasque appeared… relatable. It had emotions, a personality, and much like you or I -- a soul. It seemed to be, though, that the soul and mind of the Terrasque was quickly fading. It could not take the trauma of this catastrophe, and so it felt as though there was only one way to stop it: ending its own life.
This understanding was given to me, and I was quickly relocated to my original spot. My posture had been the same, and after I’d relaxed, I felt a great pain in my back as though I’d been out there for hours. Indeed I had, as Hre had remained by my side until the episode was finished. The interaction by my relation however, only appeared by a rough estimate to be around fifteen minutes.
This interaction had answered many questions before, namely about the First Colony. Evidence of what has been known as a “Tagonic Cascade,” has been found in records before, including one which coincides with the rough chronological estimates of the First Colony’s existence. The cause of these, whether as a result of independent work or the Terrasque itself, was unknown. It’s likely, based on my interactions, that the Terrasque has attempted suicide several times before, and are perhaps linked to these Tagonic Cascades.
For months, Hre had uncovered the true secrets which lie well within the Deep Forest, of the Undatan Mountains. He had told me about the significant power of the Terrasque, its unique ability to bend time and space at will. Indeed, he believed it to be a god, but did not revere it as such. Instead, Hre had explained to me in great sorrow, that he had believed the Terrasque to be nothing more than a lost visitor, aching to return home.
Hre’s suggestion implied that it was perhaps extraterrestrials long ago who had given all-kind the upperhand in evolution -- the gift of Tagon. These crackpot theories were enticing to believe, but I needed more evidence in how to explain all of it. I knew, too, that my evidence would lie deep in the heart of Olor Mountain, but with the world the way it was -- and me now finding myself allied with what were once the enemies -- the proposition of an expedition seemed even more unlikely; that was, until an old friend arrived in person to the Executio’s humble abode.
Ganymede had visited the Executio hideout six months after my arrival. The Executio didn’t have any of the astronomical radars or transmitters under their control, a majority laid in the vast deserts of the Pillar and northeastward. This took upon the Third Humanity to instead visit in person, and there I was able to meet and speak to Ganymede for the first time in what felt like an eternity.
Ganymede spoke of the atrocities of the I.H.M.D., and its attributes thereof. It wasn’t long after the initiation of the Mediators, robots of varying complexities designed by the Humans as a means to reestablish order to Ciphrus, that the I.H.M.D. had shown aggression instead of cooperation. The communications between the Third Humanity and the I.H.M.D. were severed, and so they turned to the second-most prominence within the region: the Executio.
Ganymede in person was much unlike anything I’d ever seen before. Her entire body was mechanical, and she was unusually tall and slender, which she later described as an innovation for adjusting for low gravity situations in long term space travel. Nevertheless, she kept on her feet marvelously, though with long strides.
Ganymede, Hre and I spoke into the long hours of the night, discussing the various aspects of the situations at hand. Ganymede had learned much about the origins of the Terrasque, arriving at similar theories at which both Hre and I had. She, too, believed that the only way to delve into the truth of what the Terrasque and its origins was to unravel the hidden city beneath Olor Mountain.
I write this now as the end of my tangent. This was a mere exploration of my experiences revolving around the concentration of power within the world which we call home. From the many stories, experiences, and emotions I have felt, there is a distinct mode of sonder within my mentality.
My perception lies in the idea that throughout these revelations and pondering, there lies a riveting conclusion which both the good and bad people of my life reinforced: the universality of suffering.
In our lifetimes, the suffering which accounts for our ideas and lifestyles determine the causality of our actions. We are individuals, living lives underneath a scope of the choices we make. Those choices can be stripped away by an overbearing authority, or united and reestablished with those of free mind and soul.
In all of this suffering and destruction, I have found that other worlds too must feel the burdens we bear. There is no greater element to the life of ourselves than what is the individuality of our perspective suffering, and thus the world knows too, that it suffers individually.
One world, one planet in one star system across an endless ocean of the cosmos where those who exist among the stars do in fact exist -- we can yet determine the direction of our civilization through a series of inconsequential misfires and consequential trial and error. Now it is known to me, that the real aspects of life are just as certain as the concepts they represent, and so the world as we know it is merely an automaton piloted by chaos; too, are the other worlds which surround us in this infinite cosmos, slaves to that of uncertainty and time.
In the end, and this end, I merely state that my experiences are of an inexplicable and indeterminate dimension. They cannot be compared, and nor can yours.
If I am to conclude this gesture with any sort of morals, it is to explain that my experiences hold no weight to anyone else’s. This is a recollection, a creative essay designed to inform and reflect. I leave this information to the endless bounds of the eyes that see them. There is no locked knowledge.
