ROLEPLAY

Who’s afraid of the Dragon?

Enslaver of homins, beast of darkness and fire, the bane of Atys.

Jena and her emissaries tell us to stay away from the bowels of Atys, for therein lies the Dragon, ready to awaken and consume the planet.

Well folks, I’ll tell ya what… not even a stinga-intoxicated Tryker on a bad day will tell you so many lies and tall tales.

There is no Dragon.

I went down into the depths of Atys. I have seen… things. Albino giant mushrooms that glow brighter than Pyr’s fires – but I warn you, DO NOT take a bite no matter how hungry you are. I did and I came back to consciousness several days later running naked amidst a pack of cannibal Cutes. Not a pleasant sight.

But that was not all. There were alien entities of shadow and cold. Streams of sap so pure that the very rocks around it sang and danced in joy. I saw all of that and much more. But no Dragon. There is no Dragon.

There is only that endless path of infinity, stretching out in front of us as we consistently pledge our feeble but inspired allegiance.

I am a Kamist and this is my manifesto.

Your lies fool me no more. Mother of Kitins, poisonous kiss. Your light blinds my eyes.

Conquer your fears and step out into the darkness, the unknown. Ma-Duk is waiting for you.

Why is the Karavan so afraid that we Homins dig too deep into the Roots? To prevent us from unleashing dangerous things like the Kitins? Or is there more to it?

Well here’s a little bit of dusty historical information for you to chew on: when the Fyros dug too deep and ended up stirring the hateful Kitins, there was a door guarding the entrance to the Kitin nest. A door made of a strange and shiny silvery material, not too unlike the same alien material used by the Karavan in their space vessels and strange weaponry.

Could the Karavan be hiding something about the Kitins? Experiments gone awry? Dark secrets and lies?

What about the Dragon then? What is the Karavan trying to hide down there? There is definitely fire in the depths of Atys, the Fyros can attest to that. But what is the real source of this all consuming fire?

Who’s afraid of the Dragon? Of the darkness? Fiction and fabrication, I tell you! Bed time stories to make the pesky children behave. “If you do not go dig your choice resin like a good boy, the Dragon will come and drag you by your feet at night!”

Dear homins, do not fear the darkness. The night is ours.

We are but echoes of the whole, incomplete emotions and thoughts of what might have been, of what might be. Seeking completion but never quite getting there.

In the spiral of Infinity, we are but loose treads, dead ends, rudimentary shells. Transcendence is at hand – embrace Ma-Duk. May your sap flow back into the Planet.

And if you think I have been using too much Zoraï thinking moss… well, that’s probably because I have. It helps with digestion.

I am a Kamist and this is my manifesto.

Published by Eye of the Tyrancha News.

I am deeply shocked to find out that the Kami are servants of the Dragon and that Rikutatis has apparently fallen prey to them.

We've always been saying the Kami steal your soul, and here we have it. Clear proof as any that Rikutatis' body is now nothing more than a shell, a puppet controlled by a Kami.

He went into the Deep Roots as a Karavan Follower, somewhat misguided perhaps, but then he was a Zoraï so one could not expect him to follow the Karavan as perfectly as a Matis does. Still, he was a Karavan Follower when he went in.

Now he comes back out claiming that the Dragon does not exist, that the Karavan are evil and the Kami good, and that everybody else should also go down into the Deep Roots... to undergo the same fate he did.

And his manifesto is a disjointed mix of reason and madness, almost as if his thoughts are clouded... or perhaps as if something else is controlling his mind?

Beware homins, for it is clear to me this Rikutatis is not the reporter we once knew, but a demon in homin form!

It does indeed look like the Dragon burned his seed and turned him into an empty vessel to be inhabited by a Kami demon.

Very sad indeed, and all the more reason to once and for all close off the deeper roots (yay, the prime roots as a whole, as Jena commands) to prevent this scourge from spreading to the general population.

You silly pale faces have a way to distort one's speach in favor of Karavan propaganda. It doesn't make sense. If there had really been a dragon, I seriously doubt that Riku would have made it back alive, claiming that there is no such thing as a Dragon.

The dragon is but a myth, a lie invented by the Karavan to scare us away from the deep roots, mostly because they do not want us to realize what they really are : aliens to our planet. They do not want us to be curious, they do not want us to attain their level of technology, because technology is power, and that power is the only thing that allows them to be superior to us, to dominate us, simple homins. Without that unfair advantage, they are but aliens wearing masks to prevent us from seeing the truth.

Ignorance is slavery. Knowledge is power. Only the ones who are daring enough to brave their fears and conquer the darkness of ignorance to defeat it shall attain true enlightenment. Fools will mistake it for insanity.

Rikutatis, you saw no dragon. There are many things we have never seen that may yet exist. Certainly the Karavan will lie when it suits them but I would not suppose everything they say to be a lie. Dig deep if you will, but dig carefully. You have too soon returned among us to be taken again by something in the deep.

What, Marelli?! Does this mean you're not going to be my wife anymore? I already had a traditional Zoraï wedding all planned, complete with a Kami priest and all. You won't be able to have the position of Main Wife within my harem, due to tradition and all. A Matis woman just wouldn't do. However I give you my word you will still receive all the special treatment you deserve. I eagerly await for your response.

And well said, Sherkalyn! Congratulations on your election to the Akenak, by the way.

uff atyss is upside down... how can we trust this chap...
loves the mantis then...
runs off for a dragon...
now finds some magic kami dust...

shifting techtonics indeed...

time for najabbskins....

Well now Riku dear, it won't do to have a Noble in your harem without having a Taliar and an Akenak too. Call me back when you complete the set.

But I do have a complete set. I have Binarabi from the Taliari and Ricke from the Akenak!

It's true, you can ask around.

So, do you have a favorite date for the wedding?