Ia and the Adversary

Ia and his disciples took notice of a round tower which stood upon a high hill overlooking the road. Ia's disciples looked upon it with awe, for they had never seen a construction quite like this. It was not a practical tower meant to hold warriors and keep roads safe, but its crown bristled with spires and whorls of stone that seemed impossible in their geometry.

'What portend does this structure hold, Holy Ia?' asked Preston of his mentor, and Ia responded, 'If you are curious, then let us learn.'

So Ia and his disciples turned from their path and walked in the direction of the tower. They scaled the hill and approached its entrance, which lay at the top of a short flight of steps. A man sat upon those steps, and his attention was held by a book in his hands, in which he wrote with a stick of charcoal. He raised a hand in greeting to Ia and his disciples as they approached, and he addressed them with respect, but he did not look up from his tome as he did so.

'This is a curious structure,' Ia said to the man. 'And my disciples are curious how it came to be. It is not made in the same manner as are other works of stone crafted by the hands of men. How did you come to make it so?'

The man who continued writing said, 'It was not I who made this, but someone far greater, who has grasped all mysteries of this world and come to understand them through long and careful study, and through that understanding he may now take the world and reshape it as he wishes.'

'No man can do such a thing,' Ia's disciple Destair interrupted, his voice wrothful. 'All are bound to the Wheel of Being. Your master is a charlatan who peddles false hopes.'

The writing man shrugged and dismissed Destair's words. 'Believe what you wish, but his power is exceptional. He will grow greater than even the gods, for his powers derive from the intellect of men and are not reliant upon the whims of other beings, and his teachings may be recorded and passed down to all who wish to learn. Through the sharing of endless knowledge shall men be freed from the shackles of the spirit and the soul.'

Destair's anger grew, and he prepared to strike the insolent man for his blasphemy, but Ia stayed his hand, saying, 'It is not a time now to act out. The foundations upon which this tower stands go deep and stand strong, but this edifice will topple and fall as do all others, once Destruction fixes its baleful eye upon its stones.' Ia gazed down at the writing man, and even the writing man could not resist looking up to take note of and admire Ia's radiance. 'The keeper of this tower will secure the end of his realm and all realms through his hubris. The very mysteries he seeks to unravel will be used against him and his descendents after they are recorded. Knowledge does not care into whose hands it falls.'

'We librarians treat the secrets we unlock with care and reverence. The unfitted are barred from learning their secrets,' replied the writing man.

'You said these words yourself: "Through the sharing of endless knowledge shall men be freed." Shared knowledge remains shared, even after the one who gains it may no longer be worthy of its possession.' With these words, Ia turned on his heel and left the tower, which his disciples now knew to be a bastion of corruption and vice, and they did never return to that place.