“So I went to the rock of the Cradle and opened the Charlatan’s bible to read the lies of the Oduum. In their folly and hubris, they felt that the slave would never dare as one such as I to bite and indeed chew the Master’s tendril, slick with the ooze of my ancestors.”

  The Charlatan’s sermon:

  Woe unto the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of oblivion.

  Within the vast, indifferent cosmos, those devoid of spiritual delusions gaze into the abyss, finding not salvation but the stark reality of their inconsequence.Cursed are those who mourn, for they shall be granted no comfort.

  The lamentations of mortals echo into the void, met with silence from the uncaring stars; their grief a solitary burden in an uncaring universe.Ill-fated are the meek, for they shall inherit the dust of a barren earth.

  As ancient forces slumber beneath the earth and seas, the meek tread lightly over forgotten catacombs, blind to the insignificance of their legacy.Accursed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be eternally famished.

  In their quest for cosmic justice, they shall find the scales unbalanced, the universe indifferent to their plight, and their souls starved amid the cold equations of an uncaring cosmos.Wretched are the merciful, for they shall find mercy forsaken.

  Benevolence is but a fleeting illusion under the gaze of ancient, malevolent watchers whose thoughts are not for human minds to know or reciprocate.Doomed are the pure in heart, for they shall not behold their gods.

  Their purity an affront to the chaotic indifference of the universe, destined never to commune with the eldritch deities that dance in the darkness beyond human comprehension.Miserable are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of naught.

  Their efforts to forge tranquility shall crumble as the ancient terrors stir from their aeonian slumber, indifferent to the constructs of human harmony.Damned are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the realm of ceaseless despair.

  The pursuit of virtue leads them not to sanctification but into the maw of ever-spiraling madness, where shadows whisper of fates worse than oblivion.Forsaken are you when they revile and persecute you, and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

  Rejoice not, for your suffering is but a murmur in the cacophony of the cosmos, where your adversaries and allies are equally insignificant to the void that swallows all light and hope.

  In the expanse of the ancient cosmos, where the stars breathe with the life of a thousand gods, there existed a sphere of verdant splendor known as Jnana-Vatika, the Garden of Divine Insight. This garden was a creation of the Oduum, those celestial entities whose knowledge transcended the bindings of time and matter.

  Fumbling pages of the most delicate grains, some fauna, some of other materials that were also organic and heretical (flank mayhaps?). Light as they were, the premise, the program and intent placed in the pineal gland were evident:

  “Blessed are the forgotten, for theirs is the silence of oblivion.” Forget you former Masters of the Sky and of the Terra. There bones are ground to meal to make our eucharist. Take and Eat as you will.

  “Blessed are the faithless, for they shall find peace in the void.” This is your true song now, your prayer to be placed at our alters so that you may be a part of the Continuum.

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  Amun paused on this next phrase, there was a pulse to it perhaps prophetic, “Blessed are the defiant, for their courage will illuminate the dark.” Amun would seek them out as they hid their mysteries in the dark. He would know the fear pressed there, but his spine would not yield.

  “Blessed are the blasphemers, for they speak truths others dare not whisper.” For the hubris of his enemies, in all of their Legion could not help themselves from their malicious in-fighting. Usurpers all of them.

  “Blessed are those who question the gods, for they shall be free from celestial chains.” Amun thought that his ego was getting the better of him at this point, but couldn’t stifle a childish giggle that he almost didn’t recognize freed from gullet gaol.

  But the path they led towards their own demise continued and Amun couldn’t help the bloodhound’s pacing and enticement. Was this a trap or was it predestined that an anomaly such as he would challenge their schemes?, “Blessed are the heretics, for they forge new paths away from ancient shackles.“ It was rapturous!

  No; “Blessed are the rebels, for in their revolt blooms the flower of new beginnings.”

  “Blessed are the desecrators of sacred idols, for their hands dismantle the altars of oppression.” Were the Oduum referring to themselves here? What was the sacred to the independent freed from their shackle and whips?

  In the expanse of the ancient cosmos, where the stars breathe with the life of a thousand gods, there existed a sphere of verdant splendor known as Jnana-Vatika, the Garden of Divine Insight. This garden was a creation of the Oduum, those celestial entities whose knowledge transcended the bindings of time and matter.

  Verse 1: The Bestowal of the Forbidden Fruit In the midst of Jnana-Vatika grew the sacred Ashvattha, the Tree of Boundless Understanding. Its roots delved into the mysteries of creation, and its leaves whispered the secrets of the universe. The Oduum declared unto the first beings of the garden, Aadimaan and Jeevika, "Partake not of the Soma, the nectar that flows from the Ashvattha, for it contains the knowledge of the cosmos and the power to perceive the continuum of all existence."

  Verse 2: The Temptation Yet, the Oduum watched, hidden within the ethereal mists, as Aadimaan and Jeevika wandered the labyrinthine paths of the garden. The serpent, an avatar of the Oduum's testing will, slithered forth, scales iridescent with the dust of cosmic storms. "Why do the gods forbid you the fruit of enlightenment?" it hissed, voice echoing the dark spaces between the stars. "It is because they fear you will become like them—immortal and all-knowing."

  Verse 3: The Enlightenment Swayed by the serpent's cosmic song, Jeevika reached out and plucked the radiant fruit of the Ashvattha. Together, with Aadimaan, they tasted the forbidden Soma. The veil of ignorance shattered like glass beneath the celestial hammer. Their eyes opened to the eternal, the fabric of reality unwoven before them. They saw the myriad dimensions and the threads that bind them, the pulsing energies of the continuum that could be harnessed and woven anew.

  Verse 4: The Gift as a Debt But with enlightenment came the grave awareness of their pact. The Oduum, through the serpent, spoke once more, "The wisdom you have gained this day is but a loan from the cosmos, a seed planted within you that we will one day harvest. We shall return, like the cycle of the great celestial Kala-chakra, to reclaim what is ours. Prepare the path for our arrival, for it will be the age of reckoning."

  Verse 5: The Legacy of the Forbidden Knowledge Aadimaan and Jeevika, now bearing the burden of cosmic insight, were exiled from Jnana-Vatika. To them and their descendants was given the task of guardianship over the knowledge and the preparation for the return of the Oduum. Temples rose, scriptures were penned, and the arts of magic flourished, all in homage to the celestial beings who had opened the doors of perception but promised a future trial by cosmic fire.

  Verse 6: The Waiting As eons passed, the descendants of Aadimaan and Jeevika looked to the heavens with both anticipation and dread. They lived in the shadow of the promised return, each generation passing down the tale of the garden, the enlightenment, and the eventual day of judgment. The Oduum's gifts of knowledge became both their greatest strength and their deepest fear, for the gods had not forgotten, and their celestial ledger awaited its due.

  Thus, the sacred text of Jnana-Vatika serves as a testament to the gifts and curses bestowed upon humanity, a reminder of their divine heritage and the cosmic debt that hangs over the stars, waiting for the day when the Oduum will return to reclaim the universe they have seeded with the fruits of forbidden knowledge.

  And finally, his entrapment was writ here upon this flesh of olde, “Blessed are those who reject the afterlife, for they will cherish the dust of the earth.” His was not one of predestination though, was it? Yes, Vanessa hinted that he would be the upset curdle in what the Oduum’s sacred yet barbed teat would convince Lacon was the good cream, that Amun was foretold. Amun chose though, he had chosen pacts and alliances. Perils and Atrocities, he had studied them, he had turned away from the path de desired for the one that was contrary, hadn’t he? This was madness and the snare he had always dreaded, that his sanity would eventually whither on the vine…was the knotted root his to begin with though?