Marble Figures
A dialogue by Stella Navarre,
in Dark Ages.

- He's in the study? Kay, no need to tell him I'm here, I'll surprise him!

I closed the front door behind me before the servant could do it, and crossed the always amazing main room of that big house. The fireplace was lit. Funny, it's always lit in the winter, no matter what time of the day I go there. Where do they get so much wood to burn? It can't be from the woods in the Northwest side of the property, or it'd be long gone by now. Maybe it's brought from Rucesion, that Isle of Man surely has a lot of wood to be used, at least to those lumberjacks with enough courage to face the legends, their fear, the...

- Milady, this way, please, said the servant, interrupting my line of thought. I probably had been staring at that fireplace for a long time.

- Ah, sorry! Let's go.

We crossed the main room and walked into the corridor. The first door to the right was his personal dormitory, the one to the left was the study. The servant slowly opened it, but before she announced me I made a gesture to prevent her from doing so. She looked at me with puzzled eyes, but nodded and remained silent. I smiled and entered, she closed the door behind me. He was sitting on his armchair, with his back to the door, holding a piece of parchment in one hand and a glass of wine in the other. At the table by his side there was a beautiful marble board with the eight pointed star carved in it; on each vertex a marble figure representing the eight deities. I had seen that board before, but if I remember it right it was always in the shelf with some books, almost hidden. Why did he put it on the little table? That I could ask later. Still unnoticed, I approached the armchair and inclined myself over its back, putting my upside-down face in front of his.

- Happy new year, cousin!

It was so funny! The expression of surprise in his face was unforgettable. He dropped the parchment, but not the wine. No, never would he let his wine go to waste! I set myself straight, walked around the armchair and greeted him properly, hiding my grin with great difficult. Still quite pale, he greeted back.

- By Danaan, Stella, almost killed me! But hello there, none the less, and happy new year. What brings you here so early?

- Just wanted to see how you were doing, and maybe have a little chat, to start this Deoch 8 in a good mood! What's this you were reading?, I asked as I knelt down to pick the parchment from the floor and give it back to him. He smiled.

- Thank you. This is part of a work about the deities. I am sure you are familiar with it. But before we go any further, please have a seat. Setting the glass and the parchment on the table, by the side of the marble board, he stood up and pulled another armchair close to his.

- Here! Would you like to drink some wine? I just opened this bottle from Deoch 4. As you see I am also starting this year in a good way. It was a fine vintage, why not try a sip or two?

- Thanks, cousin, but I don't drink, you know it, I replied as I sat down on the comfortable armchair.

- Mm, that is up to you, it is indeed wonderful, he completed taking the glass to his lips. But as I was saying, this is a piece of one of my favourite philosophical works, ...

- "Reflections on the Interactions Between the Gods", by Chloe Ta'Null, isn't it? You're so previsible, cousin! I'm sure you know all the descriptions in this treatise by heart now.

- Almost. But it is good to have a hard copy, the human memory tends to lose or neglect pieces of important information. And I cannot allow any bias of mine to interfere with what I am doing.

- And what are you doing?, I asked, as he obviously wanted me to do so.

- Ah, I am glad that you asked. See this marble board here? Everything exactly like Bertil and the Apostles tell us, right? Everything we have been learning since our birth about each of the deities' allies and enemies. But what if this traditional idea is wrong? What if this board were like... this?

Taking the piece that represented Deoch from the board, he set it aside. From the opposite vertex he took Gramail, putting the God of Law between Luathas and Fiosachd. He then took Deoch again and placed it in Gramail's original place, between Sgrios and Glioca.

- You made a big backstabbing party here. How can Gramail be allied with Sgrios and Glioca and enemy of Fiosachd and Luathas? And what about Deoch?

- That is what troubles me, and what I am trying to understand. But let us see the question from another point. If the deities are in their original places - and he put the figures back in their places -, is everything perfect?

- Everything as they should be, I guess. That's the way I've been taught.

- Yes, that is the way we all learn. But think of the incongruities. Chloe says Fiosachd is an ally of Gramail because our swift deity here likes the way the laws set new barriers for him, barriers which he likes to break. But why would Gramail like one as Fiosachd, who keeps doing everything possible to break his laws and not get caught? What is the point in the God of Law and Justice being an ally of the Patron of Rogues?

- Perhaps exactly because Fiosachd points out what Gramail did wrong? Any loopholes in the law the Fio guy is sure to find. And because Justice must act quickly and never make much noise about it?

- You have a point, but let us see the other options. Why is Deoch allied with Sgrios?

- Because they are both beings of Darkness, silly!

- Think again, Stella. Why is this the Age of Deoch? - and he took another sip.

- Oh, sure! Deoch betrayed Chadul when he fell in love with Danaan. And he gives us Aislings our Spark, so we can fight Darkness. Heh, you're right, cousin. Deoch represents Creativity, and Sgrios is the God of Death and Destruction. There's no creativity in that! But what about Glioca? She represents love, and that's what made Deoch turn to Light's side.

- That is nearly the same case of Gramail and Luathas. Can a law be written or justice made without wisdom?

- No, so things stay the way they are, right?

- No. We put Gramail back here... And there went Gramail back to Deoch's place. Now, imagine he has always been here. Why are his allies Sgrios and Glioca?

- Let's see... Too much Compassion can ruin Justice, but it sure helps sometimes, because when you give a second chance to a criminal he may become a good person. So Justice and Compassion are natural allies... And Death, mmm... Death is a friend of Justice, too, or the Sgath Pit wouldn't have a purpose, and death penalty can at times be the only way to make things fair, or at least less wrong.

- In a way you are right. But here is another of my doubts. Capital punishment is not supported by many, and it can often be misused. Not to mention Death, in form of murder, is certainly one of the worst possible offences a criminal may commit.

- Which point are you trying to prove, anyway? That Gramail should be here or there!?

He drank the last drops of wine from his glass and proceeded to fill it up again, hitting Cail as he put the bottle back at the table. Luckily the marble deity didn't fall to the ground, it'd have been a disaster. Having saved the God of Nature, placed him back at his position and tasted another sip of wine, he answered.

- Any point, Stella. I want to know which offers less... mistakes, less holes in the theory.

- Ah, of course! Heh, where's the "Treatise on the Nature of the Dark Masters" by that Daravon guy? I'm sure you've read its introduction not long ago.

- Daravon Ragnar, you mean? Indeed, I have re-read his work recently, exactly to aid me in deciding which deity should be by the side of Sgrios. Not only the "Treatise", but also the more recent "Interview with the Beast".

- That I haven't seen yet...

- I can lend you my copy if you want, but you must promise you will not ruin it like you did to "Seimh Bron".

- Not my fault if I cried at the end! And you can't say much, because I saw the marks of teardrops in your copy of "Siren's Fount" too!

- Hmpf! But I did not try to wipe them out of the paper with a leather gauntlet.

- It was the first thing I found laying around... - yeah, I admit it, I blushed.

- Fine, fine, no reason to discuss that now. I already fixed the mess you made in those last pages anyway. - another sip, how come I'm the only one blushing?

- Kay, then. But what were you saying...?

- You asked which point I wanted to prove, and I said I wish to prove neither, rather find out as many aspects of each one as possible.

- Ah, yes, yes! So, back to it. You said that capital punishment wasn't always good, right?

- Exactly. In fact, I greatly doubt more than two in each five people support the idea of capital punishment. Its greatest problem is being permanent; we also have no idea about what happens to the soul of the "punished criminal". It is an arrow shot in the dark: you never know what you will hit, and the chances of missing all the possible targets are too high to be neglected.

- Are you against it, cousin?

- Personally, I am not against it. However, I believe it should only be applied in extreme cases, when there is a large amount of evidence proving that the individual is indeed a dangerous criminal and the continuity of his life may represent a threat to others', and even then only after a fair process of trial.

- But what if death just frees his soul and he can go to a better place? Is that a punishment?

- The death sentence is not exactly a punishment, Stella. It is meant more to remove the criminal permanently from the society, giving no possibility of return.

- Ah, so you don't really care what happens to him, as long as the society gets rid of it?

- In the plain analysis, yes. - the glass visited his lips again.

- You're so controversial, cousin! First you say it's a problem and we should take care before using it for the sake of the punished soul, now you say you're not against it and don't care about this soul. I don't get it!

- It is a problem when used incorrectly, and the correct use is simple: as little as possible, taking all the needed precautions and making sure that the case is indeed one for such a "punishment". Its purpose is not exactly making justice, but keeping order. Any other use of death is not considered justice and only disrupts order.

- Ah, I see. That's true. So, if the use of death to Gramail is so limited, Sgrios can't be his ally. We leave Gramail there, then.

- Not yet. First, let us see the other deities involved in this change of places. Why is the deity which grants us our Creativity Spark an enemy of the Patron of the most inventive class of Aislings? A Rogue is nothing without Creativity! Each new lock requires a new technique, each enemy needs a different approach, each trap can be set in many ways of varying degree of effect. Even to polish a gem or make a haircut a Rogue must be very creative. There is no point at all in his enmity towards Deoch. The same goes for Luathas: Knowledge aids Creativity greatly.

- But then you're only seeing one side of Luathas! You could divide Gramail in Justice and Order but refers to Luathas as Knowledge only. His Knowledge is, above all, static. It's the words that'll never change in those books there, even if we cry over them. It's like that and that's it, period. I guess Deoch doesn't like this lack of movement, he wants things to change! And if Luathas is an enemy of Deoch for this reason, he must be an ally of Gramail for the same reason. I guess it takes quite a lot of wisdom to write a law, and even more to make justice. Plus, Gramail wants everything to be in perfect order, and what's in more perfect order than a book? It's neatly arranged and will never change. Order kept forever!

- Mm, indeed. You brought it to a more complex sphere, which I was neglecting. Of course there are no exact antagonisms between the gods, no absolutely perfect or completely opposite relation between them. Cail's Nature is a constant battle for life, where death makes itself necessary for the maintenance of harmony, the pace of evolution and the very continuity of this same life; if death is necessary, Cail cannot be an enemy of Sgrios. Ceannlaidir's Warfare would be a group of barbarians hitting each other with stones and clubs if not for Luathas's Knowledge. And so on. Therefore we should look at what benefits and disadvantages each of the gods brings to the others.

- Now you're seeing too many sides! You can't even ally Ceannlaidir to Fiosachd and Sgrios anymore because Fiosachd's skills can take down all the strength and strategy of Ceannlaidir, and the death of soldiers ends the war, especially the death of friendly soldiers.

- No, no, that is not the case. Put in specific situations, any deity can adore or abhor what any other preaches. We must see it in the general point to avoid traps like this of Ceannlaidir. Take just the concepts each one stands for, and trace the references to the others. Does Fiosachd benefit from a war? Yes. Can he aid in the war too? Yes again. So, Fiosachd must be an ally of Ceannlaidir.

- Let's do something here, then... - One by one I took the marble pieces from the board and placed them randomly around it. - Start over. First we put Ceannlaidir here. Hee hee, whoever made these things gave his face so serious a look that it's even funny! Well, we put him here. And Fiosachd must be his ally, so he comes... here! - And at the other end of the line I placed the handsome little representation. - We have two, now what?

- Let us assume that Gramail is an enemy of Fiosachd, then. After all, Fiosachd does nothing but break Gramail's laws. So, Gramail must go by Fiosachd's side, but which one?

- If it's here, he'll be opposite to Ceannlaidir, so I guess he must come here.

My cousin placed the figure, which looked more like that guy in Rucesion Hall than the God of Justice, beside Fiosachd, leaving a gap between this new piece and Ceannlaidir. Then he took another sip of his wine. I bet he keeps drinking just to provoke me, because he knows I don't like to drink. But he also knows I like the beverages... Darn, if only they didn't cause so much trouble! Laughing at nothing, saying more than one should, getting dizzy, fainting and waking up with a big hangover and no memory, naah, that's not what I want. Of course, it only happens to those who drink too much, but to me even a single glass can be too much. And I like that stuff, no way I can stop in the first glass! I'd better not take any of it, there's no telling what crazy...

- Stella, are you alright?

- Mm? What? Ah! Sorry. Guess I need some... water! That's it, water. I'll get some at the kitchen, if you don't mind.

- Oh? Surely, go ahead, he said with a big interrogation mark planted in his face. In a few moments I was back, bringing a bowl of water and a cup with me, in case I got thirsty again.

- So... we've got three gods now. What else?

- What about Glioca? What should be her relation to Ceannlaidir, opposition or enmity?

- Opposition seems to mean too little to be taken into account, cousin. Let's work only with alliances and enmities.

- Very well. We have Fiosachd, against whom Glioca has nothing against, nor in favour. Love and Compassion have no place in War, and since we are not considering oppositions, she should be by the side of Ceannlaidir.

- But which side?

- The dilemma falls on Gramail. Is Justice aided or prejudiced by Compassion?

- Aided, I guess...

- I restrain from giving an opinion. In excess it can be harmful, used properly it helps. - same goes for the wine he drank another sip of...

- Isn't Gramail's Order there exactly to control the excess use of things?

- Mm. So let Glioca be put here, then.

And so I put Glioca at the other end of the line where Gramail stood. And, why not?, turned her and Ceannlaidir to face each other. I bet they'd make a nice couple. Hey, they even have a child! Child, that figure of Cail seemed to be well over his thirties. But Glioca doesn't look old at all, how come she's his mother? Maybe Aosdan deities only get old up to a point. That'd make sense, or they'd all be dead by now, a good few eons after the fall of Aosda...

- You are holding Cail, do you wish to place him now? We did not even discuss about him... Perhaps he should just remain where he originally was.

- What? Ah, kay, put him there. But I'm not sure if he's really the opposite of Ceannlaidir. Maybe it's just a father-son conflict... You know, different generations tend not to get along well. But we're not taking opposites in account, anyway.

- Silly. That makes Cail an enemy of Fiosachd. Why?

- Fiosachd doesn't like things in their natural form, so he uses all his tools to mould them to the way he wants it. Cail doesn't like tools and doesn't like things made different from what nature made them. But other than that, I can't think of anything...

- Perhaps we should put him between Gramail and Ceannlaidir, then? Order is imposed by man's law, thus is not natural; war uses tools to cause destruction.

- If we do that, he'd have to be allied with two of the three remaining, which are Luathas, Deoch and Sgrios. What reasons does he have to ally with them?

- The Knowledge of Luathas brings a better understanding of Nature and man's relation to it. But the progress brought by Knowledge can harm Nature.

- Nah, but that's lack of wisdom, has nothing to do with Knowledge. You're getting the road of specifics now.

- Indeed. So Luathas is an ally of Cail. Very well, who is the other? Deoch or Sgrios?

- We only have to choose between Deoch and Sgrios if we put him between Gramail and Ceannlaidir, but I'm not sure if that's the right place. See, the unnatural order of Gramail may annoy Cail, who likes things to solve by themselves and live in harmony, but it doesn't harm nature at all. As for Ceannlaidir, even your fireplace can bring more harm to nature than war, as the goal in war is defeating the enemy, not doing anything against the wilderness.

- My fireplace? Ah, well. Cail goes back to his original position, then, opposite to Ceannlaidir, allied to Glioca and against Fiosachd. Why is he against Fiosachd again?

- We already saw that. Fiosachd uses unnatural tools, Cail likes natural stuff, and so on.

- Indeed. Now, his allegiance to Glioca...

- We can follow Chloe here. The self attained justice of nature carries much compassion.

- I will take your words for it, as to speak of Glioca I admit my bias.

- Fool cousin! You'll never understand anything truly if you go on thinking this way.

- I know, but let us not discuss my errors now. I believe Luathas should be the other ally of Cail, right?

- Yes. By Chloe's words again, Nature is the best representation of Divine Knowledge. But that puts him against Gramail...

- Indeed. And, saying it once again, "law cannot be written nor justice made without wisdom".

- Isn't Gramail the Law and Justice of Man?

- Yes, he said, taking the first sip of his wine after a long time.

- And isn't Luathas the Divine Knowledge, which man seeks?

- Funny you only remembered the "Divine" part now, but yes again.

- So, the wisdom needed to write a law which will put order to man and make justice to man based on this law made by man... Wait, I got lost, and drank some water. That wisdom is not divine, it comes from man and applies to man. "Man" here of course meaning "mankind".

- I see. In the last analysis Gramail and Luathas do not necessarily have to be allied. But why would they be enemies?

- Perhaps exactly because Luathas is allied to Cail. Nature's harmony, the living representation of Diving Knowledge, is nearly the opposite of the law of man, which has it's own wisdom.

- That, and because the place cannot be taken by Sgrios, as he would then be an enemy of Ceannlaidir.

- Kay. These last deities are being a pain to place, heh? Well, let's just put Luathas here between War and Justice and see what happens.

- The Dark Beings remain.

- We can't ally Deoch to Gramail, there's no place for creativity in justice...

- Deoch goes here, then. Ally of Fiosachd, as the Patron of Rogues must be always changing, as Deoch, and adapting to new environments to go on gaining the wealth he so much seeks; and of Luathas because knowledge greatly aids creativity, as said earlier.

- Since we only have one space left, I'll put Sgrios there. Now Deoch is enemy of Sgrios and Glioca...

- Enemy of Sgrios because Deoch betrayed Darkness to carry on with Danaan's deeds, and death leaves no room for creative maneuvers; and of Glioca because...

- Because the perfection of love would leave no room for change either? Who needs creativity in a perfect world?

- That can be it. And as for the allegiances of Gramail, Glioca, as Justice greatly benefits from Compassion, and Sgrios, as Death can be a way to maintain Order.

- We wasted all this time and got to what you proposed at the start...

- We wasted no time, Stella. We developed a plausible new theory for the alignment of the eight deities. We have proven that the dogmatic view we so far lived by can be wrong.

- So what're you going to do now, write a new "Reflections"?

- Perhaps. I can write an essay describing this new formation and the reasons for it.

- Bah. Get real, cousin. All we proved is that we can put the gods the way we want to, and come up with decent reasons for them to be where they are. That's probably what those first guys back then did when they discovered about the deities: found a way to arrange them nicely and make it believable.

- Oh...

- Until the gods themselves come to say who they like and dislike, we can play with those marble pieces for days and write a plausible essay for each variation we come up with. The only problem is that it'd be so boring...

- You are right, Stella. The way we arrange the gods on the board makes no difference. Each Mundane and Aisling believes in what one sees fit, no need to define what, in our condition of followers, should believe in and be aware of.

- That's it. So, let's not break the tradition, right? Now, why don't we discuss something that doesn't take us back to the starting point, and serves any purpose at all?

- Is that what you really wish to discuss?

- Not at all! Anyway, have any new great plans for this year?

Stella Navarre,
Deoch 8, 1st Moon, 1st Sun