'One of the objectives of my travel to the westerners {could also be translated as "unenlightened people" or "barbarians" or (if you are in a nasty mood) "subhumans"} was to collect their various views of the phenomenon known as illumination. The people outside the empire of splendour are of course of many different cultures and all have different opinions on what the meaning of illumination is.
In the far west I spoke with a great priest and powerful magician. It is obvious that he is a man of great wisdom and long education. It is thus a pity that his mind is unchangeably set in an inflexible mode of thought which admits no new ideas and which makes him unable to examine an issue from mor than a single direction. This obviously makes his views flawed no matter how deep his learning is, but I still present them as a contrast to the others which I will detail.
He claimed that illumination is nothing but an illusion, or perhaps rather a dangerous derangement, spread by evil people impersonating false gods. He said that illumination takes away its victims clear sight of reality and condemns their souls so that they cannot reach salvation.
In the lands of central Genertela I spoke with an old Storm priest who was also a worshipper of their god of law and learning {Lhankor Mhy}. While I wouldn't call him educated he still possesses a deep knowledge of the spirits, myths and thinking of his people. What must be kept in mind is that his views are coloured by the great fear and hatred his people have for chaos.
He said that illumination is the way to reconcile with chaos. Since this means admitting that chaos has a place in the world it is in itself chaotic. He claimed that illumination is often involuntary and always leads to great distress and misery for the victim. Since all chaotic things are hated and hunted illumination is not well known in his lands and it is difficult to study as the illuminates do not want to be known as such.
In the empire of the red moon I talked to a priestess of the moon goddess. She was young, but had been taught the philosophies and secrets of the red moon since childhood. She is very bright and well versed in debate and sophistry. She was also very persuasive and tried to convince me of the truth of her ways. While I am by no means a great mystic I have studied enough of the wisdom of emperor Da Long Da {Daruda} to be able to keep my head level and not succumb to her mental seduction.
She claimed that illumination is the way for us mortals to reach the transcendent world, just as logic and magic is the way to control the physical world and worship of the gods is the way to interact with the divine world {my interpretation of what Greg said at the RQCon}. All these are equally true and valuable in the red moon philosophy and she meant that her people are the only ones who have understood that illumination is the final key to the greater universe.
As for the rest of the world I have never visited the great southern land so I know nothing of the people there. In the East Isles people didn't seem to care about illumination at all.
Now, my conclusion is that illumination holds little interest to the empire of splendour. The refusal of the sage from the far west to acknowledge the world around him makes his views impossible to translate to our divine order. We do not share the great fear of chaos with the Storm people, so the reconciliation their priest spoke of would not mean the same to us which it does to them. The moon priestess division of the universe in three parts, with different approaches is artificial as any student of draconic wisdom knows.
Of these views I would say that the reconciliation is that which holds most promise, for the chaotics that is. My guess is that a chaotic being who reaches illumination could loose its raging hatred for the ordered world. If that is true, illuminated chaotic creatures could perhaps be useful in the divine order as manifested in our empire. However, since chaotic beings are generally both unpredictable and dangerous I do not think it is feasible to subdue them by importing this philosophy for that express purpose.'
This is an abridged version of the report by Red Tiger to the exarch Eyes Deep and Far who is the overseer of foreign cults and imported philosophies. It is by no means the first Kralorelan text about the phenomenon, but Eyes Deep and Far obviously wanted an assessment from an individual whose skills and background he knew himself.
/Nils W
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