The roof, Monday at dawn

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

Once more, Karal was on the roof to say the Dawn Rites. This time, Altra was by his side and so they were near the edge.

Karal stood, eyes closed, because he didn't use them to see, head tipped back to follow the rising sun. As the rays of the sun spread across the island, he spoke the words of the Dawn Rites, the soft, liquid Karsite carrying over the rooftop.

Yesterday, he had said them in hope; today, he said them in thanks.

[ooc: open roof is open.]

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[endsthegame]

"Sure," he said, drawing his head up to look at Karal-- and then at Altra. That was, after all, how Karal saw. "I'm not busy doing anything but sitting down at present."

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

Gathering his robes, Karal dropped to sit near him, Altra taking position in front of him. "And you can sit and listen at the same time," he said lightly. "At their simplest, the Dawn Rites welcome the sun and the morning. But they are more than that. They celebrate not just morning, but that the darkness is gone and the world once more dwells in light."

[endsthegame]

"That's a nice idea," Ender said. He hoped he didn't sound too whimsical. He considered his feet, sticking out from under his blanket, and then Karal again. One furtive flick of his eyes charted Altra's presence oncemore. "We can all use a little light."

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

Karal smiled. "We can, but it is more even than that." How to explain so Ender can understand. "It is the knowledge that these same words have been spoken at every sunrise since those who followed Vkandis Sunlord were only herders high in the mountains, welcoming another day. As those who followed Him grew, as Karse grew, still the same words, in temples and churches all across Karse. And even here, in an entirely different world, still the same words. It joins us to the past and to the present, and even to the future, when hundreds of years from now a Sun-priest will stand in the centre of the Temple and say the Dawn Rites."

[endsthegame]

He had to smile a little at that, and it wasn't even a reflex. He tried to imagine what that would be like, but he found that he couldn't. The closest thing Ender knew of was the ansible, but that was just space. Religion remained a mystery to him. "I can see why you like it," he said, "Although that might be the wrong choice of words."

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

He chuckled. "That would be like saying I like breathing, or my heart," he said lightly. "I'm not sure there are words to describe it. It is simply part of me."

[endsthegame]

He nodded once, his fingers fiddling with the edges of his blanket. "Well," he said, finally, "We survived the weekend, so you must have been doing something right."

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

At that, he laughed. "Even if prayer had made the difference, I couldn't claim the credit. It would belong to Vkandis Himself," he pointed out. "And Vkandis Sunlord will not intervene unless all will be lost, and there is nothing that mere mortals can do to stop it. On this island, He intervenes, not never, but rarely."

[endsthegame]

He smiled another one at Karal's laughter. Sometimes, it was just nice to see someone get the joke, ridiculous as it was. "It'd be nice if that was all we needed to make a difference," Ender replied, studying the edge of the roof. "But 'mere mortals' is what we've got."

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

Karal considered that, then leaned back a little, fingers laced around his knees. "Shall I tell you of a time Vkandis did intervene directly?"

[endsthegame]

"I'm still just sitting, Karal." His intonation made it clear that was a 'yes'.

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

He smiled again and tipped his head back to feel the sun on his face. "Would you like a story of here, or a story from Karse?"

[endsthegame]

Karal seemed genuinely absorbed in his religion, and it fascinated him; he slotted that feeling away carefully, so he could think. "Although I have no idea where Karse is... surprise me."

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

"Karse is my country." He straightened, folding his hands over his knee. "For a long time, a very long time - hundreds of years - it was not a good place. It happened gradually, over many years before that, but it happened. By the time I was born, it was-- the church held iron control, anyone who was different, or who criticised the church, was given to the Flames."

Karal's voice was even, as if he told the simplest of tales, and not the bloody history of his homeland. "Children were taken from their homes as children, ripped away from their parents and given to the church. Demons roamed the night and, but for a few who dared not work in the open, the Church served only itself. Until one day when it all changed."

[endsthegame]

"How old?" he asked. He shifted his fingers back into the folds of his blanket.

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

"I was nine when I was taken. I was twelve when I witnessed the miracle." He wasn't certain which question was being asked. "It was the day of the Fire Kindling Ceremony. Most of the important Priests only looked bored, though, on the Holiest of all of Vkandis' Holy Days. They couldn't wait to get back to the Cloister and the feast that waited there for them.

"The beam of sunlight - called the Lance of Hope - shone through the Eye in the ceiling of the Temple, slowly moving toward the Altar. The false Son of the Sun, the head of the Church who served only himself, stood waiting nearby. As the Lance touched the kindling, a bolt of lightning shot down through the opening in the Temple's roof, out of the cloudless sky, and completely evaporated the False Son of the Sun.”

[endsthegame]

That just brought more questions, and he bit down on the slight flare of bitterness that Karal had had more years than him. That wasn't important, and it was petty.

But something else struck Ender. "He was killed?" he asked, for clarity. "Was it worth it."

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

"There was literally nothing left but the man's smoking vestments and boots. Vkandis acted, and it's not my place to question Him." He paused, then went on, "but yes, it was. In the next moment, every pillar in the Temple had been turned upside down, and the golden statue of Vkandis Sunlord stepped down off the dais and lifted the Crown of Prophecy from His own head and crowned Solaris the Son of the Sun. No woman had ever been made the Son of the Sun, but there were none who could argue with Him. Later, we found that all the children who were waiting to be burned had disappeared, and been returned to their parents. On that day, Karse changed. Everything changed, for the better."

[endsthegame]

"And all it took was the death of one man," Ender said, and his voice held no judgement about that one way or the other. "Your god sounds like a hero." Same tone.

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

Karal was shocked at hearing Vkandis described in such a way, but he didn't let it show. "He is Vkandis Sunlord. He is beyond a hero. He holds His Hands over Karse. If He had not acted, Karse would have been destroyed in the war that came soon after. Instead, Solaris forged an alliance with our oldest enemy, and in turn that alliance helped to save the world."

[endsthegame]

Gods and sunlords. He still wasn't certain what they even meant, but the story sounded familiar to his ears. "And that's really what happened?" He meant for it to sound a little incredulous, but that didn't manage to crawl into his tone, either.

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

"And that is really what happened. I witnessed it, I was part of it," Karal replied, quiet and calm and still.

[endsthegame]

"That doesn't always mean it's everything," he said. He was trying not to be too judgemental, but it made him curious. "If you want, I can tell you a story of a miracle that's been doing the rounds in my universe, lately."

[vkandis-son.livejournal.com]

"Please," Karal said, sitting up straighter, and Altra looked at Ender with interest.

[endsthegame]

"A long time ago, my people were attacked by a race we called the Buggers," he started, "In the first war, we didn't know each other very well, our ships were slow, and in the end, they retreated." He thought of the videos, the ones he'd watched over and over again. "The second time, they came back and nearly killed us all. They broke into our ships and bases and homes and killed everyone. But at the last second, Razer Mackham, an unknown half-Maori commander defeated them in one lucky strike. They left, but everyone knew they'd come back."

Those were the lies. He knew so many of their truths at this point that it dazzled him, and it seemed wrong to tell them: except it was just a story, and he could see it that way now.

"So our people changed. All the countries united to prepare for the next war. Religion was abolished, and families weren't allowed to have more than two children, to prevent overpopulation. We were stuck on our planet, because where ever we'd go, we'd find the Buggers."