Special: Texts of the Jewels - From The Desert Sage

Toward the beginning of our journey together, Tira, Bash, and Peter found an ancient text that pointed them to the four Jewels of Edelenn, cities of learning that contained more information to help fight against a growing evil in the world of Vardalon.

The first Jewel was the city of Jama, the capital city of a desert country. There the friends discovered The Desert Sage, a traditional story in the style of that people's wisdom literature that pointed to some new ideas.

This special episode provides the text in a standalone format for easy reference. Here's the text:

From The Desert Sage 

In the shade of the fireblossom bush sat the sage. He pondered its branches, a welcome relief from the sun. “Why do you flourish when all else is waste?” Here was no cool breeze, here no racing stream, only mile upon mile of flowing sand. The hot wind blew, stirring the branches, and in their stirring he heard a reply. 

“I gain my strength from the spreading root, the feet that grab beneath the ground. My arms reach up toward the sky, the smile of the sun. My thorns are sharp and pierce the hungry, to keep my blossoms safe. My blooms roll open in the dawn and drink deep of nightly damp. 

“So must the people of this land be, if they are to survive: strong of foot, embracing the sun, fierce against foe, making much of little. Only in these things will they find length of days. The wise will heed.” 

The Desert Sage found comfort in the desert, feet burned black by sun-bleached sand. No music of the flute to distract from thought; the wind in the sand was music enough. No laughter and merriment to divert from contemplation of suffering; the sun’s dance on the dunes was happiness itself. No call of the merchant to entice the eyes with shining things; in the full heat of the sun a bowl of rice and handful of water become treasure enough. 

I came to him then, sitting by him to hear his tale. In his wanderings the sage roamed far abroad. He left the sands, forsaking the land of his birth. His feet walked distant ways, to the ceiling of the world, to the waters of its end. He spoke to me of things unthought, unimagined, wondrous things no merchant could ever hope to sell in the souk. 

But how his eyes danced in the shade of the fireblossom bush when he spoke of the pillars, tall and crystalline, clear as glass, yet without life. They stood at the four corners of the land, upholding the ceiling of the sky, the realm of the one true god who once wrestled daily with his greatest foe. The pillars, the gifts and remnants of god and foe, master of the sky and usurper, protectors of their being. Those who awaken them, he said, will restore the power of the former music. 

His voice faltered, then resumed. Tall and crystalline, he said, stones fallen from the stars, but their shadows stretched afar, and hid much in their reach. In this world of ours, where there is light, there is shadow; they are intertwined, inseparable. He took my hand, his eyes aflame. Light, shadow, shadow, light; one is not one without the other, yet both are distinct. The wise will heed. 

In his journey, drawn as he was to the pillars yet without knowing, he found pieces thereof, shattered arms of the stars, teardrops of the fallen god and his darksome enemy.  

I sought clarification of these words, but he fell silent. And so we watched the passage of the sun, there in the shade of the fireblossom bush.

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We used an excellent Battlebards music track. If you like what you hear, check them out at battlebards.com. If you sign up for a Prime account, be sure to use our special code, stack, and you'll get a 20% discount on your subscription.

Here are the sound effects we used in this episode:

• Sheikh's Tent - Enchantress of the Sands - Score Music, by Wesley Devore

And now, on with the show-- we're excited to tell a story with you.