Dolosus Codex
From Changeling Venue
WORK IN PROGRESS: SUBJECT TO CONSTANT CHANGES
Contents |
Preface
A Letter from the Author
Here within the pages of this work, the truth shall be revealed and then hidden once more, for in this life we are fashioned from the fleeting and the eternal; the infinite and the void. There are four questions that if answered both truthfully and in their entirety shall bestow the reader with a fundamental quality of the divine. These queries are in fact a fundamental aspect of everything. Four questions which can and do reveal the truth and the basic nature of all that exists. For these are the most dangerous questions ever conceived. And yet, this is not my great work, nor the compilation of my wisdom; to believe these words to be a window into my soul is fallacy. For this work will lie to you. It will be up to you; the reader to decide where the lies end and the truth begins. Even now this work lies to you, even before you turn the first page. In truth, it is lying to you at this very moment.
Prologue: Understanding
The Word
"In the beginning there was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." ~ John 1:1
It is quite surprising that despite the religious diversity and intolerance in these words, certain currents seem to traverse through each of them. Chief among them is the concept or the idea of the “Word.” For some religions, gross reality is a lie; a delusion or dilution of perfect ephemeral matter. Existence endures not as ordinary matter but as eternal concepts, or perfect ideals. Gnostic religions and religions from Asia are chief among them. For these beliefs, the world around us is imperfect and flawed.
For the Gnostics, matter is the lowest and furthest emanation from the divine. A corrupted state that needs to be ignore since it is completely temporal, while the soul and spirit are eternal. For many Eastern religions, the world around us is an illusion. That what we see does not actually exist except as concepts and ideas within our mind and soul. It can be viewed anywhere from a potential trap for the soul to something that is a tribulation that must be overcome.
Even many sciences today are beginning to come away with the idea that the world is not as static and planned as we see it, that what we see can be shaped or altered by how we see it. Humanity has a fascination with giving things names, a belief that by pulling the world apart and naming every facet of it will somehow shield us from the ignorance of the past.
And yet, Humanity has revealed something on an internal level. The concept that by finding a thing’s “true name”, this will somehow grant them power of it. The universe is built upon the Word and with the Word you will be able to reshape the world on a fundamental level. Even if Humanity doesn’t remember how, there are those that do remember and have never forgotten. Those that do remember use that power without impunity.
"Words are the litmus paper of the minds" ~ Terry Pratchett
The mind is the center of human consciousness, it is something that needs information to develop and absorb the world around it. Words help to shape the mind and give it form and structure. With an addition of a new world the capabilities and abilities of a mind to understand the world around them expands. Without words or concepts the mind becomes limited. The shape and form of it is nothing more than a mere stump that requires a great deal of effort to reshape.
Words become a way to test the ability of the mind. Moreover, words can be used to discern the limits of a particular mind; what stirs and coalesces at its very core. Since every mind becomes built upon several core words, these words shape and color every new word that enters a person’s mind. By changing these core words, you can literally reshape a person's mind on their most fundamental levels.
"The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use the words." ~ Philip K. Dick
Long ago, the birth of language fundamentally changed the nature of humanity and in turn many things came to pass. When humanity unlocked the power of words, the ability to abscond and distort reality came with it, as did the ability to reveal and clarify. We know them simply as lies and truths. But such simple definitions harm the true fundamental meaning of what both words truly mean. Telling a lie or revealing a truth creates ripples that echo across consciousness. These things are living breathing forms. Each one ripples out reshaping the world around it in different and very profound ways.
Why is that? Each changes the perceptions of reality and the natural progression of unfolding events. Some ripples smooth over easily, their changes temporary. Other ripples dramatically reshape everything around it. Let us take a simple lie. Someone (i.e. Charles) is given directions and one of the critical directions is intentionally change, they are told to go right instead of left. The lie is simple. Yet because he was told to go in the opposite direction, he misses an important meeting. The simple lie altered the path of Charles’s destiny. The alteration of his fate ripples out to effect the fates of all those that would be connected to him.
The Wyrd
It is the power of Words that gives humanity the ability to manipulate and ultimately alter fate if one so chooses. Several religions, philosophies and societies know fate by many different names. The most relevant for this work will be the term “Wyrd.” Wyrd is the representation of how anchored something is within the great tapestry of the world. Even with only a minor understanding of the Word and the Wyrd, you will be able to alter the world in your favor.
So why is the Wyrd important? Understanding Wyrd can tell one how attached they are to a given thing, object or entity. An object or person with little Wyrd has a very low impact on events and the greater world around them. An object or person with high Wyrd can literally rewrite entire portions of the tapestry of fate and the world around them. What is often overlooked is the fact that a series of events often have their own specific Wyrd. Once someone is able to understand how theses tapestries work they will also be able to manipulate the body of the tapestry itself.
Manipulating the strings of the tapestry is more of an art than a science. One must be able to choose an event and person and predict the broad strokes of what will happen if altered. Let’s go back to the previous example of a Charles and his receiving wrong directions.
The meeting Charles missed was supposed to be the event that sent him down his proper path in life. While at this job, he would have met the person he would have married, settled down and would have had children. By missing this opportunity the course of his fate had been changed. Who he would have been was altered. Now the course of his life is changed forever. Some may look at this and believe that no one has any free will and that our entire lives are predetermined. Point in fact, they would be right as well as wrong.
The Fallacy
Some people believe in Free Will that we are the ultimate determiners of our destiny. Some people believe in Predestination that our entire lives are destined to end in a single result. The people believe that you can not have both. Since Free Will and Predestination mutually exclude each other. This is incorrect. They do not exclude the existence of the other.
The tapestry of fate includes each path. The many multitudes and variations of each event and path have already been laid before you even drew breath. It is up to us or those that know to manipulate Wyrd to direct those events or walk on a path. So how does one learn how to manipulate Wyrd?
In order to do that, you need to learn how to uncover your own Wyrd. Once you uncover your own, you can learn to uncover the Wyrd of others. Then you can begin to manipulate the tapestry and start to direct the channels of Wyrd to your own goals.
So how does one learn to uncover their Wyrd and learn to manipulate it? This Codex will be able to help give you the simplest tools. As stated earlier manipulating Wyrd is more of an art then a science. But every artist needs tools in order to create his works of art.
There are many different numbers of tools that described for the work. Yet they can easily be simplied down to four categories which help to define and help you identify your Wyrd. These categories are the Fleeting, the Eternal, the Infinite and the Void. We will go into details about these four categories later. But it must be restated do not forget the power of Word. Word and Wyrd are linked. Since any words you use will change how much mastery of Wyrd you may develop.
First Chapter: The Fleeting
The first tool of learning to manipulate is called the Fleeting. The Fleeting has many different names, describing each of them in different ways. The Fleeting represents temporary things. These are tied to things like desire, fire, birth, spring time. The Fleeting has its own codes ethic and behaviors. Since all that is Fleeting will eventually pass, die, or be sated.
The Fleeting can be embodied by one of Four Great Questions. This question is the “’’Question of the Heart’’”, known as “’’What do you want’’”? The question embodies everything about desire. Fire is its elemental tie. Fire exists to want to consume. It is the ‘’Question of the Heart’’ is temporary. For what you desired yesterday is not what you desired years ago.
Many of you may disagree with that. Thinking and believing that you still desire something from years ago. Take a moment, and truly think about that desire and remember back to Word. In order to correctly think of desires and the answers to the ‘’Question of the Heart’’ you must clearly state what you desire. No lies. No deceptions. Face inward and look into the deepest recesses of the heart and clearly identify want festers within the depth of your heart.
Only by facing the chambers of your heart with complete honesty can you ever hope to attempt to answer the ‘’Question of the Heart’’ and without do that. You can never learn to manipulate Wyrd nor answer the three remaining Great Questions. Some may ask why answering the ‘’Question of the Heart’’ is so important.
The ‘’Question of the Heart’’ is the core of one’s motivations. Everything that you are currently can be traced back to this question. For the Fleeting, influences how you see the world, how you recognize opportunities and which opportunities you go after. Someone who’s “Question of the Heart” leads him to greed, find that what was greed years ago is not the same today.
A greedy heart can not be sated on the things it was once sated before time ago. It always needs more. The Fleeting of this individual will always look to the bigger and better. Making him looks for the options that will sate his greed the most, no matter the level of risk or consequences that come with it. Whether or not these choices are good for him or can lead him to his eventual destruction.
It is because Fleeting is the motivation of the Great Questions. Learning what you truly want it allows you to understand why you do the things you do and how you can react to certain stimuli. The process of learning to manipulate Wyrd requires you to take a step back from yourself. Without taking a step back you can never, learn to look at the tapestry of fate. The tapestry is to wild and too vast. To look at a tiny fraction of it is to become a pauper among princes.
Tapestry requires looking beyond the target to see the myriad possible connections. If you learn how someone will react to things you can begin to predict the course of actions one will take. If you learn how to step back from yourself you can learn to see yourself and stop yourself from making mistakes or see when events are aligning to direct you upon a current course. While everything is predestined, it is up to us to decide which of the myriad paths laid out before us that we wish to follow.
The element of fire embodies the ‘’Question of the Heart’’ because of the power that fire represents and its own nature. Fire can be described as desire incarnate. Fire seeks to consume to grow and sated itself. To burn until it can’t burn anymore and that it will die out. While it is true that fire is not sentient it does respond like any sentient to the proper stimuli.
This is the same with any heart. Fire requires three things to sustain it and grow. Oxygen to breath. Fuel to consume. Heat to sustain it. Anyone who has see a fire or taken a moment to student the nature of fire can see how each of these items plays into continuation of the flame. With enough Oxygen even a small amount of heat and fuel and ignite. With enough of fuels, a small fire can burn for ages. With enough heat, a fire can hibernate even when all available oxygen and fuel have been burned away. If all three are given to abundance the flame spirals out of control becoming an inferno. Wild and unpredictable. Desires can easily follow along this path.
The wants of the heart need three similar things. The inspiration to imagine. The ability to attain those wants. The time necessary to achieve its wants.
