Nex del Vida
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Quest for the Roots of Unity: A Vaguely Trigonometric Tale
Hello, and welcome to my first kind-of-educational story. It is centered around the subject of trigonometry, and if you've ever read the Number Devil you know what I'm going for. However, rather than just blatantly having someone teach someone else math, I will attempt to integrate trig naturally into the story. Here goes.
Chapter One
Real Line
Soh Katoah sat nervously on a hard chair in the anteroom, shifting from foot to foot. He had never been to the palace before, and the regal decorations and solemn sentries unnerved him. He walked over to one of the guards. The man was tall, and dressed in the silver and red cloak of the Trigonomętrian Empire. His shoulder plates were spiked, his chest plate carried the insignia of the Empire—a circle with a cross through it—and he was holding a Degree Staff. This was the least of the Circle Staves, the weapons used by the royal guard and named after Unit Circle, the royal palace. The second of the Staves was called the Radian Staff, carried only by the king’s personal guards, and the most powerful was the Full Circle Staff, wielded only by the king Beta Theta himself, and then only in times of battle. The Radian Staff was said to be almost sixty times stronger than the Degree Staff, and the Full Circle over three hundred fifty times stronger. The King was a very powerful man.
The guard looked up at Soh. “Yes?”
Soh gulped. “I… I was wondering if King Theta will see me soon.”
“The King will see you when the King will see you.” The guard looked stonily at Soh. He nodded and stepped back, tapping on his thighs to alleviate the boredom that came from half an hour sitting in an almost unfurnished room with six men who wouldn’t talk unless directly spoken to, and then not much at all.
After a few more silent minutes, a door in the opposite side of the room opened and a messenger entered. “Soh Katoah?” he asked. Soh rose hesitantly. “You may enter.”
The boy walked across the room and through the door, the messenger shutting it behind him. He followed the man down a long hallway and into the throne room, called the Origin. King Theta was sitting in his ornate throne, looking bored. Five guards surrounded him. These were his personal guards, the carriers of the Radian Staves.
The king glanced up at the messenger, eyebrows raised, and asked, “Who might this be?”
“This is Soh Katoah, Your Circularity.” At the mention of Soh’s name, the king bolted upright. He was a tall, large man with a thick build. His face was weathered, a white-and-grey beard covering his chin and cheeks. His eyes were an imposing grey, and seemed to see the entirety of whatever he looked at. Soh felt small in his presence.
“Ah! Of course, of course. Come here, boy.” There was no trace of the languid slothfulness that had seemed to overwhelm the king just a moment before. Now he was the picture of fascination, leaning forward, eyes bright, and hands extended. Soh bowed, confused, and walked forward.
“Your Circularity, I…I’m afraid I don’t quite know why you have called me here. My family and I are simple, law-abiding farmers… I am very sure we’ve done nothing wrong.”
The king chuckled. “No, Soh. You have done nothing wrong. Please, come with me.” The king rose, stepped down from the pedestal on which his throne was located, and beckoned the boy with two fingers. He walked towards a door in the side of the room, and the guards followed. Reaching the door, King Theta turned back around and shooed the guards away with his hands.
“No, no. I wish to talk to this boy alone.”
“But Sir, we are not permitted to leave you alone. This boy could be an assassin.” The king laughed again, this time a small, grim one.
“Not permitted? By whom? If I remember correctly, I am the king, and therefore whoever ordered you never to leave me alone is under my authority. Besides, Soh is far from an assassin. I know. My father helped create him.”
Soh frowned. Helped create me? What does that mean…?
The guards sighed and stepped back, and Soh followed the king into the open doorway. The king closed the door after him, and the hallway beyond it was plunged into blackness. “Soh Katoah,” the king said. “It’s been a long, long time since I’ve heard that name.” A light flared, and Soh saw that the king was holding a torch.
“You… you’ve heard my name?”
“Oh yes, my boy. Yes indeed. I am going to tell you a story now, as we walk. It will be hard to believe, but I need you to listen. And when we get to where we are going, you will be told an even more unbelievable tale. It will all be proved to you eventually, though.” And the king began.
“Many years ago, before I was born, my father was the king. His name was Alpha Theta and he was a great man, many times greater than me.”
“Oh, Your Circularity, I doubt—”
“Be quiet, boy. Don’t interrupt. My father was a great man, and influenced many Empires besides this. He was considered by many to be the most powerful man in the world, and this was why he was called on. No… I suppose chosen is a better word. Yes, my father was chosen by the Gods.”
Soh stopped walking. “By the Gods?”
“Yes, Soh. The Gods. This is where my introduction gets hard to believe, so bear with me. You see, the gods exist. Not,” he added, raising a finger in response to Soh’s open mouth, “’exist’ as the church would have you believe. They are not metaphorical, all-powerful entities. They are simply beings, like you and I. Well, not exactly like you and I, I suppose. They are not made of flesh and blood, but of an ethereal substance known as Function. You do know what Function is, yes?”
“Ah… Function? I have heard of it in legends, yes.”
“And you will have to learn that legends are often more real than they are told to be. Function exists, yes, but not in our… well. We arrive. I will let you read the story for yourself.”
The flickering red light from the torch illuminated a thick, wooden set of double doors. Soh caught a glimpse of the wall and realized it was stone, covered in patches of dirt. We must be underground, Soh thought. I didn’t notice the path angling downward.
The King pushed open the door to reveal an enormous chamber. On the far wall as an ornate cabinet of sorts, its two doors shut. In the center of the cavern was a stone table with a chair at either end.
“My father took me here when I reached my eighteenth harvest,” said the king. He motioned for Soh to follow him, and walked over to the cabinet in the wall. Upon further inspection, it was etched with beautiful designs. Though most of the carvings were random, three distinct shapes appeared over and over: what was obviously a man, something that looked like a tall, thin shadow of a person, and a cloud of wispy threads. Soh frowned at the patterns and turned to the king. He opened the doors of the cabinet. Inside was a single scroll of parchment, covered with small, neat writing. The king lifted it out of its holder and placed it on the stone table. “Sit.”
Soh sat in the thick, high-backed stone chair. He looked down at the parchment. “This is the whole story, the same I read when I was taken here. Read it and read it well, for it is an incredibly important document. You may not understand some of the terms involved, but read on—it will be explained to you in time.”
The boy began to read.
Since the planet of Mæth was formed out of the whirling dust of the Lo’Jick solar system, there have been three sentient races that walk upon it. These were the Humans, the Gods and the Demons. The Humans and Gods lived together peacefully, and occasionally interbred; this interbreeding created the Demons.
The Humans, Gods and Demons coexisted for many thousands of years. The Gods were beings of light and thought, while the Humans were of flesh and bone. Their offspring were combinations of the two, neither one nor the other. They helped each other discover new technologies, live more comfortably, and explore the surface of their world. It was a peaceful life.
One year, however, a God was born by the name of Wallis Cardan. He saw the Humans as inferior. While the Humans were masters of metal and wood, the Gods held much knowledge of the arcane energies of nature, known as Function by their race. Wallis decided that the Humans and the Gods should not coexist. He gathered followers and, using their Functional force as well as his own, split the Gods and Humans apart. The Gods were relegated to the Imaginary Line, an ethereal dimension that Humans could only theorize about, while the Humans themselves stayed on the Real Line. The Demons were flung into the Complex Plane, a strange mix of the two Lines.
For several thousand more years the races lived separately. Humans forgot that the Gods and Demons had ever lived with them, and began worshiping the Gods and fearing the Demons. The Gods reveled in this worship and occasionally spoke to the Humans. They could not directly interfere with the Real Line, however: the dimensions were too thoroughly split.
The Demons stayed in their Plane. They never interfered with anyone but themselves: after the Transformation, no Humans and Gods reproduced. The numbers of the Demons stopped growing, and since the Demons were infertile no Demon children were born. The combination of flesh and Function rendered them immortal, though they could still be slain by sword or Function. Thus they never ventured out of their Plane, for fear of being killed.
Life in the separate Lines was not nearly as interesting as it had been when the races existed together. The two dominant races could not use each others’ knowledge, and so intellectual growth ceased. One young God, studying the ancient texts describing how Mæth used to be, realized that it would be to both races’ advantage if the dimensions were restored. Wallis and his disciples were long dead, however, so they could not reverse the Transformation, and no one else knew how the Function had been woven, so no one could unweave it. This God knew, however, that for a Function to be cast, the caster must create a Root. The Root, if found, could be used to reverse whatever Function had formed it. The God searched for many years in the Imaginary Line, but could not find the Root. He knew that Wallis would not have put it in the Complex Plane—the Demons were far too powerful, and if they had found the Root the Function could have easily been reversed. He realized that the Root must be in the Real Line. He dubbed these Roots—for there must be more than one: such a powerful spell must have had at least three—the Roots of Unity.
He communicated his findings and theories to the other Gods, and they agreed that the dimensions must be restored. However, the Gods could not touch the Real Plane, only communicate with those in it. They also realized that a mere Human would not be able to access the Roots—Humans had no magical ability, and could not use Functions. The Gods deliberated, and decided to do what they had never done: they would hold a commune between the three races.
They reached into the Complex Plane and informed the Demons of this. At first the Demons were horrified—if they ventured out of their Plane, they could be killed. The Gods explained to them that if the Planes were restored their numbers would continue growing, and the Demons were swayed. Both races chose a representative that would support their race in the commune. They then looked into the Real Line and chose the Human they would communicate with. The Human was the most important part of this, they agreed, because it was in their Line that the Root had been hidden.
For their Human they chose a powerful king by the name of Alpha Theta. They reached down from their dimensions and touched Alpha’s consciousness, gently at first, but then insistently. After much doubt, they convinced him of who they were. They related the situation to him. He was astounded: he had no memory of the Transformation. Humans did not have the mental capacity of Gods or Demons, and so had forgotten even the myths. Eventually, though, he agreed with them. The Gods suggested that they imbue a Human with magic, so that he could use Functions. The Demons objected: they believed that a Human body would disintegrate if exposed to Function. The Demons themselves were what the Gods wanted to create: a melding of flesh and Function that would be perfect for finding the Roots and utilizing them, if they were able to step out of their plane.
The races thought long and hard for many days until the Demon had an idea. He believed that, since the Demons’ bodies were of both flesh and Function, they could share their bodies’ knowledge with the Humans, so that a Human body could be equipped for Function. So it was decided: the Humans would contribute the body, the Demons would bestow their knowledge upon it, and the Gods would give it Function.
And thus Soh Katoah was conceived, the child of all three races. Human in body; God in mind.
The king was looking at Soh, waiting for him to finish reading. When he looked up, his brow was furrowed. “This… this is me.”
“Yes it is. I realize it seems… impossible, likely more so than it was for me. I am not the one it describes. However, I suppose that you are the one prophesied to find the Roots.”
“But… I thought you said this was the same story you read when you were eighteen. I wasn’t born then, was I?”
“No, my boy. This was a foretelling. Note that the text reads ‘conceived,’ not ‘born.’ You were conceived in the minds of these three great races, not in the body of a woman. It took many years for the Gods and Demons to find a way to create you. And look here,” he said, flipping the parchment over. On the back was a short note, written in large letters.
On Soh Katoah’s sixteenth harvest, bring him here. We shall tutor him.
“Tutor...me? What does that mean?”
“You have as much knowledge of this particular part of the text as I do. This is your sixteenth harvest, yes?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Then we wait.” The king walked to the other side of the table and sat down, looking up at the ceiling of the stone room as if the expected guests would materialize and float down. Perhaps they will, thought Soh. And perhaps the king is insane… this all seems too crazy.
“No, human. Your king is well within the boundaries of sanity.” Soh jerked his head up, afraid that Theta had heard his thoughts. The king straightened.
“Ah… did you say something, sir?” Soh asked nervously. If it was indeed the king who had spoken, he would be in a very large amount of trouble—calling the patriarch of the most powerful empire on the planet insane.
“No, Soh Katoah. We spoke, not your king.” This was a different voice from the first, and it seemed deeper. After some thought, though, Soh realized that it wasn’t deep, per se, but… separate, as if the throat that had spoken it was made of a different material than human ones.
“We? Who is we?” Soh asked, trying to ascertain the origin of the voice. It seemed to be disembodied, however, coming from no specific point. The king looked confusedly at the boy.
“Who are you speaking to?” His eyebrows wrinkled, then came apart. “Are… are they here?”
“I do not know.” Then, addressing the newcomers, “Who are you?”
“I am a God, and my companion is a Demon. We are here to train you.” This one was harder to describe, more alien. If I had to describe it, I would say it was… whimsical, Soh thought. “And indeed whimsical is a fair word to describe us.”
“Did you just hear my thoughts?” That was a scary idea indeed—strange, otherworldly beings hearing everything that passed through his head. The king was still looking very confused, but had lapsed into silence.
“I suppose that would be the phrase for it, yes. But do not worry. We can only sense those thoughts that you address to us. Your king cannot hear us because we are not addressing him. We will now.” Soh sensed a small shift in the atmosphere of the room, a changing. “Hello, King Beta Theta. It has been a long time since I have encountered one of your bloodline.”
The king jumped up. “You are the Gods?” His eyes were wide and a small smile touched his lips, and he was frantically looking around the chamber for the speaker.
“No, King. I am a God. And this,” there was a sense of indication in the room, an invisible person pointing to another invisible person, “Is a Demon.”
“Hello, King.” The king was grinning in earnest now
“What my father said was true! You do exist!”
“Of course we do. And now that Soh Katoah is here, we can all exist together.”
Soh spoke. “Excuse me, God. The manuscript said you were here to tutor me. What will you tutor me in?”
“This Demon and I are here to train you in the art of Function.” Soh looked at the king, who nodded.
“I told you, boy. Function exists.” Soh shook his head in disbelief.
“When will this tutoring take place?”
“Now.” Soh felt a jerk on his arm and looked at it. It wasn’t there. No… no, it was there, but it was less there. It was made up of tiny, dark threads, so dark as to be almost invisible. The threads began to work their way over his upper arm, so fast that he could not so much as shake the appendage. They spread to his shoulder, and then to his chest. He saw them congregating around his heart, and then the continued their rapid covering of his entire body.
“Soh will be returned to you in time, King. To tutor him in his body’s knowledge of Function, however, we have need of transferring him to our Plane.” And before the king could respond, the tendrils reached his head, and Soh was taken into the Demons' world.
< Message edited by Nex del Vida -- 12/16/2008 13:07:22 >
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