Ia and the Thunderstorm

Ia and his disciples found themselves traveling some distance from any nearby village when a mighty storm swept across the skies in a blanket of gray. So fierce was the storm that Ia's disciples could not continue with their journey, and they sought a haven to protect them from nature's wrath. Their salvation was a small copse of willow trees which grew in a glen nearby the road, their swaying tops visible over the small valley's lip. Ia guided his followers to that cluster of trees, which would afford them some protection from the driving rain.

As lightning danced among the gathered clouds and sheets of water fell from the sky, Ia's disciples felt their spirits flag. Creassin approached Ia, who was unfazed by the cold rain, loud thunder, and weakening morale. The disciple asked him, 'Holy Ia, cannot you undo this terrible storm by hastening it along its destined course to sputter out and fall through the Gate of Danimoth which lay open before it, so it can pass through to Destruction and spare us this misery?'

Ia replied in a tone which was as placid as the storm was ferocious. 'Does this small measure of hardship chafe at you? The path you were meant to tread was never meant to be one free of strife and obstacle.'

Creassin shook his head. 'No, Holy Ia, the chill and wet and tumult do not stir worry in my soul. Rather, I ask you because this foul weather hinders our travels and retards the spread of the truth of all things.'

'Sit here and wait with me,' Ia bade the disciple, and Creassin sat upon one of the knobby willow roots which surged up from the soil. A short time passed, and then the sound of other men splashing through the mud and puddles drew near.

Four men clad in armor and carrying weapons of war descended down the glen's sloping wall leading four powerful horses. They were surprised at the sight of Ia and his disciples, but one of the men greeted them with confident cheer. 'A terrible thing, this storm. All travelers come together under boughs during such times, be they of a roof or of a simple tree,' said the man.

Ia acknowledged him with a nod. 'You are worn down from your arduous journey. Creassin, give up your place so this man may rest his weary feet for a while as he waits out this storm.' Ia's disciple did as he was asked, and the strange man seated himself with a look of relief and a word of thanks.

Ia and the man spoke then, first of the small talk which all travelers exchange, but the conversation soon moved to matters of weight and importance, and Ia shared his boundless wisdom with the man who listened with rapt attention, he could do scant else in light of the storm's mighty presence. The man was much pleased by what he heard, for Ia's words rang with truth and scoured away the man's mistaken beliefs that other, weaker, powers could control his life through their laws and their calls to action and their trickery and their secrecy.

As the storm began at last to abate, the man rose from his seat and said to Ia, 'You have proved knowledgeable on matters of the soul and things beyond the material, Wise Stranger. Your king is well-pleased with you,' for he was the lord which tamed the wild lands around his city and keep which he called Clensa after himself. He turned to one of his companions and said, 'See that this man receives an endowment from our treasury, so that he might build a church and shrine in our city and use this place to spread his teachings to all corners of our kingdom, that we might grow wiser and stronger than all other places.'

The man who was king left Ia then to resume his journey along the road, and Ia sent one of his other disciples who was a crafter and worker of stone with him to oversee the construction of the temple which the king had promised. 'See that only the finest masons work at laying the stones,' Ia told him, 'for this building will stand in the king's city until the end of days.' The stoneworker bowed before Ia and swore to follow his teacher's instructions, and he joined the four men in their travels.

Once the men had moved beyond Ia's sight, Ia turned back to Creassin and said, 'The hindrance is no more. Let us now be on our way again.' So Ia and his disciples returned to the muddy road and resumed their wandering.