Ia and the Stonecarver

After they had found lodging and Ia's disciples were free to do as they wished for the day, a man who made his living by carving and sculpting stone hawked his wares from near a trolley he owned in a city Ia and his companions were visiting one afternoon. They were stone effigies of an uncaring goddess people in those lands worshiped at that time. While they were expertly crafted, their merest presence offended Ia's disciples who had gone out to wander the city's streets. Destair, chief among that group, approached the stonecutter and engaged him, but none of Destair's arguments could convince the stonecutter to relent in his beliefs nor cease in offering his idols for sale.

'Very well,' said Destair then, and he threw a purse fat with coins into the dirt at the stonecutter's feet. 'Here is enough to buy each and all of your carvings. Deliver them to me, for they are mine rightly purchased, and I may do with them as I will.'

But the stonecutter refused Destair's money, and although this obstinance did chafe at the disciple greatly, Destair feared violating the city's laws in pursuance of Ia's work. So when he, disappointed at his failure, returned to his lodging for the evening, Ia took immediate note of hia demeanor and asked, 'Why do you appear so troubled?'

'A man selling idols in the shape of a figmentary goddess refused to let me treat with him,' said Destair bitterly. 'When I offered him money to buy them off his cart, he refused me.'

'What would you have done with them?' Ia asked, and Destair replied, 'I would have fed each through the Gate of Danimoth in turn, until none remained, so awareness of his cruel matron would be lessened and her memory would grow so much closer to being forgotten.'

'And was he in fact an ardent of this matron as you claim?' Ia asked. 'Did he bear a sigil about his neck or upon his body which claimed him as hers and her as his?'

The disciple recalled the man's appearance for a moment. "None that I saw,' replied Destair.

'Then is it any wonder he reacted in this way?' Ia asked of his disciple. 'He is not inflexibly ardent in his belief, like some we have met. He is a man whose livelihood depends on the making and selling of stone crafts. His passion for his work prevents him from offering it up to those who would destroy it.'

'He profits through the perpetuation of lies,' Destair answered. 'And this deceptive behavior must never be condoned.'

'A man's ignorance is not his own fault if he has been deluded for his whole life. Offer all the chance of redemption and a glimpse at the truth. Do not tell anyone they must not create carvings of this stony woman or that one, but instead provide a chance to create carvings in the service of great ends which the enlightened recognize to be nobler.'