| Berig | Created on Wednesday, 08 February 2006 18:47 |
| *:Alizarin |
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I was with my mother at the fish market when I first saw the Unseen. At five, I was more fascinated by the sharp pincers of the scrabbling crabs than the salmon packed in miso that my mother was haggling over. I made my way in fascination to the odd shaped creatures with protruding eyeballs climbing over one another in their barrel. I could hear them scraping away inside, trying to break free. At five years old I was barely able to peer over the side of the barrel. I had to stretch fully over on my tippy toes to see. But I was very careful - I knew that if I leaned too heavily onto the side of the barrel it would be in danger of falling over. Therefore I wasn't at all sure what had happened when the barrel suddenly pitched over, sending two dozen large crabs scrabbling all over the cobbled stone floor of the market. I landed on my bottom, the barrel wobbling on the floor beside me, and their were crabs everywhere. My mother immediately grabbed me, lifted me to my feet, and walloped me on the bottom. "For shame!" she scolded. I sniffled and did my best to hold back tears, for I was sure I hadn't caused the barrel to tip over. Just before she raised her arm to spank me again, I spotted a skinny man with yellowing teeth grinning maliciously at me. He stuck his tongue out at me and I immediately knew he was the one responsible. "He did it!" I cried. "The skinny man there!" My mother looked where my finger pointed, but she didn't see anything. "There's no one there. Haven't I told you about telling stories?" she demanded, before walloping me again. And thats how I learned that there were evil creatures afoot that no one else could see, and to speak of them would only cause me harm. So I grew up painfully shy and misunderstood by all around me. The village children used to love mocking me. I went to great lengths so that they would never find me alone. There was one who took particular pleasure in causing me harm. I prefer not to record the details here, as I believe some things are best forgotten. I only mention it here because Corlenah seemed to be under the control of one of the Unseen creatures. A grey shadow followed her wherever she went, and seemed to grow in size whenever Corlenah was up to mischief. At fourteen I went insane. Or at least that's what everyone said. I, Alizarin, went completely, uncontrollably, irretrievably insane. Quite suddenly one day, without warning, I fell to the ground, my body writhing and twisting most horribly. I began drooling and muttering and shouting nonsensical words. I spoke to beings that no one else could see. From my perspective, of course, things were quite different. Time seemed suspended, so that the weeks I was restrained with ropes to my bed seemed like mere hours. My body may have been in bed, but my mind knew freedom for the first time in my life. I flew, across darkness and light, through milennia. I saw things, visions, wars and peace and birth and death. And when the visions finally stopped is when they came. They varied in appearance, some young, some old, men and women both. Some scarred with battle, some with the stains of ink upon their fingertips. But all had hair the color of brilliant autumn leaves, a red that rivaled the sunset. I spoke with the specters of men and women from times past who, like me, had the ability of Sight. For the first time in my life I understood that it was not a curse, but a special gift, and a duty I had to work for good, against the evil that Unseen do. Unseen are malicious, manipulative, and very good at controlling the behavior of ordinary people. It is up to those of us with Sight to counterbalance the evil they do. I learned that I was next in a long line of "Curie" family members. The current family head, and the one tasked with finding others to carry on the tradition. Meaning of my family name (Curie): Curie - visionary; bringing to light that which is Unseen. My weakness is that I'm a little too vulnerable to what others say about me. I've spent so much time alone, the bad apple, the sore thumb, the person everyone thought was crazy, that I guess I've begun seeing myself that way too. So I'm going on this vision quest because I know that I can't afford to be vulnerable. The one thing I have to know is who I am, good or bad. I have to accept myself, because if I don't, it's just another soft spot the Unseen can target. So I'm heading off into the night with my incense and a pear (incense for meditation, pear for a snack) to try and get this vision quest thing started. When I find a likely spot I start a small fire within a circle of stones (if everything works right I won't be able to keep an eye on the fire so stone circle is a must). I also light the incense in a small brass container, and seat myself on the ground and begin to gnaw on the pear. Crunch crunch chew chew. Yummy pear juice running down my chin... and BAM! The air is golden and fresh, and I'm in a glorious field of flowers, yellow Alizarin flowers. There are butterflies and dragonflies zooming by and it's just so beautiful I feel as if my heart is going to burst. A single Alizarin petal drifts into my hand, and I put it into my pocket. Zoom! Change of scenery. Same field, but it's fall, and Alizarin plants appear dead, there are no flowers left. But there are people here to harvest the Alizarin roots. They are big and brown and crusty (the roots, not the people). There is a small root on the ground by my feet and I kneel and pick it up and put it in my pocket. Splat! I'm in a room full of women with their hair tied up in kerchiefs. They speak a language I don't understand, but I see that they are pouring big pots of red liquid into vats. I realize they are making Alizarin dye. Some of the dye has been placed in little jars. I pick up a small jar, and put it in my pocket. Splash! Woah! My stomach is not liking this vision. Up and down, left and right, I can barely keep my feet. I recognize where I am right away though, in the belly of a ship. There are huge bales of red cloth ready to be traded to faraway ports. I find a small throwaway square of cloth in a corner, and pocket that as well. And when I blink my eyes, I'm once again seated in front of the fire, and the incense makes me want to sneeze. I empty my pockets of their contents and spread each item on the ground. First I lay out the square of red cloth, then the flower petal, the piece of root, and the small bottle of dye. I am like the yellow Alizarin flower, I realize, full of promise and joy. Yet within my soul is the hardened Alizarin root, scarred by life hidden under the ground, in the darkness. Scarred and hardened, a core of impenetrability. Perhaps not where the beauty lies, this root, but where the promise gets fulfilled. From the root comes the red Alizarin dye, which represents my purpose in life. It is my path to affect people wherever I go, much as the dye colors that which it touches. And like the dyed cloth on the ship, so too must I go and travel the lands, to faraway ports. Where ignorance prevails and Unseen lurk I go, and spread healing. This is who I am. This is my purpose. I contemplate these things until I've finished eating my pear, and then I put out the fire and head home. |
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