Eltarki's Diary - Priceless Beauty  

 

I have just come from the temple they call Resplendent. And so it is. I am surprised that I found the will to leave. The beauty of the place and its people could have held me forever. But they hide a secret behind that beauty that I was unable to accept. It is also something I am unwilling to put to paper, hopefully the only such truth.

I did learn something of the temple's recent past. When Erillion sent troupes to Sarith, they also sent a garrison to the temple. The priests were told that they would be brought under the control of The Order. The priests made the garrison welcome, but simply ignored their orders. It seems likely that many of the garrison have disappeared during the intervening time.

The priests told me that they believe in order, for order is needed in any form of beauty. The kind of order exemplified by the City of Bronze is too strict for beauty, too inflexible. And flexible is certainly a word I would use for the faith of Splendor.

Anything they find unworthy they discard. A flaw in a beloved object will never be repaired, the object will just be thrown away. The same is true of all things in the temple, even the priests. The disposal of the unwanted has created an ugly thing that the temple priests seem to ignore, though all of them know it exists. Below the temple is something of a temple of opposite nature. Here the things and beings that have been discarded are accepted for their flaws, even worshipped. The greater the flaw implies a greater orignal beauty. I only glimpsed the world beneath the temple, but for all its filth it seemed no worse than the temple above.

An no, if you are reading this that was not the secret of which I will not speak. Something deeper lies hidden there, and though I only think I understand what is is, I will not voice those thoughts. I will be grateful for the end of this day, which should see me beyond the mountains and the temple should be lost to my sight.