17 Prezbeg, 143CZ
It's been a wild few days. The good news is I've arrived in New Coztlinacan. The bad news is I was arrested by the Ivory Truce when I went to the Temple of Order to register as a visitor to the Empire. I never got an explanation for my arrest, but it didn't take them long to find out I had elvish blood which just made things worse. They took all my things and threw me in a cell for several days. I was down there long enough I became convinced they'd forgotten about me; but when someone eventually did come to get me, it wasn't one of the guards. Instead, a disguised benefactor gave me my things, unlocked the cell, and led me out in the dead of night past some unconscious guards.
At least, I think they were just unconscious.
In any case, we're now holed up in a tiny secret room in a building, the location of which will remain secret. My savior is apparently an agent of the Jade Coil, and promised to answer all of my questions once we're out of the city. She said she may even have a story for me, which is exciting, but not as exciting as the food I can smell. I'll get back to this when we're out of this cursed city, then I'm getting out of these damned swamps. It's far too hot for my liking, in more than one way.
Legend of the Betrayal, retold by Malitzin, transcribed by Yunha Cheng-yo, 18 Prezbeg, 143CZ:
It was during the Emperor's Enlightenment that we struck. During the height of the Festival, when the Golden Liar was entrancing the populace with his honeyed words, our sacred Fang of Truth revealed himself to the traitor upon the throne. His golden robes and scales turned the hallowed color of emerald as he drew his dagger and attempted to plunge it into the Emperor's heart. At the very same instant, followers of the Truth revealed themselves throughout the city and began to attack its guardians, preventing them from coming to the Emperor's aid.
It was the perfect moment and a cunning assassination attempt, but in all his enlightenment, the Fang was still a fallible mortal. At the moment when the blade should have pierced the traitor's flesh, a blast of heat and light threw the Fang back from the Emperor. It is known that he and the rest of the newly birthed Jade Coil made it out of the city that day against impossible odds after this event, but few know the truth behind this fortune. I only know because my mother was there.
The way my mother tells it, there was a second god that day, and it wasn't the Emerald Serpent that came to our aid, much as she wishes it were so. A blazing light filled the sky when the God Emperor struck the Fang and enveloped our glorious leader in protection. Immediately after, a figure wreathed in pure, blinding daylight stood between the Fang and the God Emperor, staring down the Emperor with defiance right there in the square.
The God Emperor began to shriek in wrath, his form twisting into a giant serpent as everyone assembled dreaded the manifestation of his anger. Great searing rays began to form in the sky, descending on the city to bring death and destruction for this insolence, but they would never reach us. Warmth surrounded the Jade Coil across the city and whisked them away before the rays could reach the ground. There's no telling how many devout followers of the Emperor died that day, but my mother said not a single one of our own was burned by that golden child and his tantrum.
As for where this...entity my mother called a god took our people, you'll know soon enough. The important part for now is that he took our founders to their new home, a place they could hide without fear of the Empire finding them for the near future. It still hasn't been found. But that wasn't the end of the story, because the entity was still there in the jungle with them. She said that once her eyes adjusted to the blinding light the god looked much like a male elf, only more beautiful than she could ever have imagined and wreathed in warm sunlight that looked like wings. She couldn't tell if he was clothed.
He was looking down on the Fang with an expression my mother didn't recognize, but she thought it might have been somewhere between pride and disappointment. When he spoke, she swore his lips didn't move, but the voice echoed powerfully to all gathered around him, most of whom were looking on in awe and nearly blown back by the force of it. She remembered what he said perfectly, even all those decades later when she told me the story:
"I have brought you to a place the Empire will not look for you. My magic will keep you safe until you can defend yourselves in this hostile land, but know this: you fight tyranny, but you fight it for the wrong reasons. One day, you will realize your 'Truth' is the same cruelty you fight against, and you will weep for your decision. I will not punish you for your folly this day, but I beg you to turn from this evil envy. Tear down the Empire not to claim it for yourself, but to create something new. Something better. I dearly hope that you will one day make the right choice."
When these words were finished, the light around the entity flashed brightly, blinding all in attendance for a few moments before the light faded, taking our savior with it. What happened after that is pretty much history; that spot became our order's new base of operations, and it still stands today. From there, we've been harassing the Empire and weakening it, but clearly we have a long way to go before we can bring the whole thing down.
Now, I know what you're going to ask: if this other being saved your people from the Emperor's wrath, why are you following Nyzlacanallan and not the savior? I've thought about that myself after my mother told me the story, and I think the pure truth is that the Jade Coil has strength in its numbers. If anyone who knew this story had abandoned the cause that day, we wouldn't have a leg to stand on against the Golden Host. It hurts to say it, but faith to Nyzlacanallan is the only way we're going to ever gain a foothold against the Empire because there's no way every Jade Coil agent is going to convert at once to this other "god". That's not how faith works; jade eyes, that's not even how people work.
So yes, I'm grateful that...whatever he was saved my mother and the other founders, but I can't listen to what he said, not if I want to make a difference. In a perfect world, maybe... but the real world cares about power, not ideals.
First of all, yes, that's right, the person who came to my rescue is the same one that supervised me in the Temple of the Sun in Still Vigil. I didn't realize it until she pointed it out, which is disconcerting, but she assured me she had a very elaborate illusory disguise. I'll take her word for it. Just goes to show me that the Jade Coil is very good at what they do; I mean, I wouldn't even be writing her name if she hadn't told me it was okay. I don't exactly fancy being poisoned for blowing her cover.
That said, finding out her identity makes the presence of the heretical text in the Still Vigil library a bit easier to explain. In fact, she told me straight to my face that she already knew I was coming to the Empire and had not only planted it there for me, but also orchestrated the gossip that led me to the library in the first place. It all sounds awfully convenient, but I don't find it hard to believe that there are Coil spies in Mektara or Yancua - especially Yancua. I'll just take her at her word, because otherwise I can feel a headache coming on.
Moving on to the story she gave me, I feel like she answered most of my questions already because she has already asked them of herself. I'm not about to play contrarian with her anyway, the Empire is bad news and needs to be taken down a few notches. Let me be clear, that doesn't make me want to join the Coil, despite her lovely conversion speech after the story, but I'm rooting for them all the same. Even if their god isn't any better, I can only - to quote the entity I believe to be Amatoquitlana - "hope they will one day make the right choice." But I'm hardly the one to ask about religious matters in any case, I'm horribly agnostic at the best of times.
As for the entity as he appears in this tale, it seems to be a blend of what we've seen previously. The vengeful nature and incredible power present in Meneshka's tale and the legend I covered in my last entry are present in this one, which tracks; especially in the latter case, since the legend proceeds immediately after this story if the timeline is to be believed. However, he also stops long enough to give those he saved a warning, which fits with several previous entries. I do find it interesting that there is no insinuation of trickery to convert those he spoke with, but it might be argued that he had to rush off again prematurely to take care of Coztlinacanallan's temper tantrum back in the capital in the aftermath of the Betrayal. Or perhaps the Jade Coil's faith in Nyzlacanallan protects them from such things, who can say?
All the descriptive themes are consistent with not only prior entries, but also the second half of this story, including the description of wings, though Malitzin's account says that they were less physical and more magical in nature. Otherwise, it is a male figure that looks like their understanding of an elf, or presumably a human. I suppose the specific mention of his beauty is unique to this tale and Ilkoya's, but that's neither here nor there; the point is, the description is still consistent in both his magical abilities and appearance besides the wings. The teleportating others thing is new, as is his apparent telepathy, so those should be noted.
I'll have to apologize for such a scattered notes section this time around and edit it later. I'm currently writing this in a hollow tree as I try to keep leaks from the driving rain from soaking my notebook. Every time I keep thinking this place can't get any worse, it starts to rain harder or the already sweltering heat just gets more oppressive. Malitzin says we're going to find a sanctuary of elves in the swamp where we'll be relatively safe, and then she's going to get me out of here. She says she's taking me to the Jade Coil headquarters, which is apparently in another dangerous location, but it can't possibly be worse than here.
