WBJ – La lettre de Luriel

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Dear friend,

I took a look around Oséamune as you have asked. I fear that I can’t be as useful as you surely hoped I would be. Since I come from a kuruka branch, which as been separated from their roots long ago, there is not much of a comparison I can do. Please refer to our good Doctor Seriel which investigated kuruka society in detail.

Nonetheless, I did my best, and I may have some news which could provide useful. There is one benefit of being kuruka: if I meet someone from my species, they will open up like a flower. I’ve encountered a being called Kavi. A strange woman to be sure, of kuruka origins, a half-blood indeed. She told me a lot about Oséamune and its past when I mentioned my ignorance of my own race. She seems to have the power to see the near future. At least, that’s the impression she gave. Aloof, her favourite words were ‘ineluctable’ and ‘I simply know’.
A half-blood is something I never knew was possible due the magic nature of kurukas which makes them incapable of reproducing with humans, or any other living being.

It depends, Kavi said to me.

Long ago, kurukas came to Oséamune. The same as you, Kavi said. Outsiders. Who didn’t fit in in their society. Who left on their own accord. Who were cut from their roots. Vieno has an Ally which makes it impossible for them to survive between kurukas. Cinaéd has been humiliated for theirs. Kurukas can be brutal in their kindness. Kavi agreed with me on that point.

Now, there seem to be three ways which lead to the existence of taikas. The name taika itself is confusing. It can refer to the kurukas themselves, even if it originally was destined for the half-bloods. It nowadays seems to be a general word for ‘a being somewhat in relation with magic’. In this message I will use the word taika only for the half-bloods.

The first way is the most reasonable one. It includes the presence of elbhs. I do believe Ennael already presented a hypothesis of elbhs being present. I sincerely believe her. She has to know after all. Elbhs can be able to reproduce with humans or kurukas alike depending on the moment they pulled out of the ritual of becoming an albh.

The second one is called Meilin. The kuruka who’s name oséamuniens used for their god of fertility. Even though the god seems to be a fusion of different taikas and kurukas alike, Meilin had indeed the most ungracious Ally a kuruka could ever imagine. The same as the god. Fertility isn’t the most glorious Ally one can have, and Meilin escaping kuruka society for their own sake makes a lot of sense even to me. It also enabled them to bear children. Kavi assured that Meilin was her tané. She is a direct descendant of the god of fertility, which also makes her some millennials old. Maybe she’s even older than you are, my friend. After all, all those kurukas in Oséamune parted from their roots way before your creation. How ironic, indeed, that the roots have caught up with them in the end, isn’t it? It seems that we are all doomed, even if we parted ways long before the genocide.

The third way, alas, I have the most difficult of times to grasp. It is absurd. Grotesque. Lio, which is now the god of protection, played a big role in this. They were indeed a person people would turn to for protection. And for healing. And medicine. Lio had made it their life’s goal to understand life itself. To create, so to say. I know this topic interests you more than anything else, but I didn’t get anything more out of Kavi in that regard. But to create means to first understand. And thus, Lio had the most powerful knowledge of all the kurukas who migrated to Oséamune. For centuries, people would turn to them to get help. Doctors would plead for assistance if they didn’t know what to do. And kurukas came … to become human. In some way. Because Lio did end up so skilled in their trade that they could change the body of life forms. They were a master to an extent that they could change a kuruka’s body to resemble a human one … and function as a one as well. Don’t misunderstand me. This will not make a human out of a kuruka. It will only transform their body to look and function as one. Kurukas would be able to eat, but still not have the necessity to do so, they could sleep, breathe, taste. Reproduce. At their own, Lio managed to do what millions of years of evolution have done to the kuruka society you hunted down. It would take Lio decades or centuries to do so ; to transform the body of one single kuruka into a human one.

Both kuruka cultures adapted. Oséamune’s because they wanted to get closer to their human friends. Yours, because they needed to hide, and to be less kuruka. The result is the same. But the timespan is a different one. How ironic, knowing that Lio’s Ally is indeed time. This makes the whole situation into a grotesque mess of absurdity I never taught to be possible.

So there you have it. Kurukas with human bodies reproducing with humans. Elbhs. A kuruka of fertility. And the newer generations which stumble upon Oséamune in hope to find shelter from the organisation, oblivious to the fact that Ennael is your most talented hunter and has declared this place her playground. You know as well as I that you cannot make her change her mind. I am not aware of the details of the project she submitted, nor the budget she required, but I am convinced that you’re going to accept. I will go even further: you already did, and you’re just waiting for me to tell you how great a plan all this is, to agree to it officially. Great it is, indeed. Great in its genius and insanity. But both come often hand in hand, do they not? Ennael reminds me a lot of Raerel, in a different domain. The two specialise into making some people go through hell itself in order to achieve a greater subjective good. I heard she required his assistance in the infiltration. The two of them together will be the worst kurukas could hope for, but the best Oséamune could ever want. But you already figured that out the day you picked up Ennael, didn’t you? So why do you make me write so much?

As I visited the city, I sensed the presence of a lot of … taikas. They are still there. Kavi said that they were hiding too. Scientists in Oséamune did exactly the same as your Guardians: they wanted to understand magic. The life forms kurukas and taikas are. They experimented. And so taikas hide.

I asked Kavi what did become of the ancient kurukas. Lio and Vieno are probably still around, Kavi said, Valiès has been a victim of Oséamune’s scientists. We should be able to find their files, somewhere, I reckon. Maybe you should ask the young méray Ennael fished out of the disaster when she first discovered the place. What was their name already? Ah, yes, Wilhelm. The poor thing that tripped and let loose a virus. Kavi does not know what did become of the other gods. Cinaéd asked for a human body. He may still be around. One would figure that ancient kurukas should be easy to track down with the magic detectors. Alas, if they decide to hide, they do so well enough that even I am unable to sense them out.

So, my dear friend, I don’t know if I told you what you wanted to hear. I will not take part in the final decision concerning this project. Ennael’s arguments are solid. Erandel should be delighted to hear this, since that also means gaining a source of revenue and wealth to invest in further projects. He likes to complain about the money so much after all, maybe he can now grant everyone the budget they want for their research. How is he? I didn’t get a chance to see him for some time. Did he grumble? I’m sure he did since he’ll read this letter with you. Let me trade you to a cup of elderberry white tea to make up for my teasing, Erandel. They seem to like tea, here. And pastries. I should treat you to one of those, they absolutely look delightful, even in my eyes. I am sure you would love them.

So, yes, the organisation can do high profit, and I have enough faith in Ennael to bet my life on her success.

But do never forget what this profit means: the organisation will ruin thousands of lives present and future in this world too. Human lives. It will rob the kurukas once again of a safe place. The projects of its members are going to become more and more of a dubious ethical nature. It is a dangerous plan. For the citizen of the city, and for you. You never wanted it to turn out like that, didn’t you?

Never forget that you authorised all of it to happen.

I ask of you:

How much more guilt can you endure before breaking apart?

If you are able to answer this question, you know if you should sign or not the project

Your friend,
Luriel

Written in Oséamune on the 49th valar 3357


Ecrit pour le  World Building June 2017 – peuples et races