In the western reaches of the Lunar Empire, in the shadowed halls hewn an age ago by the slaves of Cruel Carmania, when young vizirs ask their elders who the tall, skeletal man with a smile like a scar is, the one who stands with a scalpel at the left hand of Irripi Ontor, the cutting light of truth, sometimes their teachers tell them the story of the Painsmith and the First Man to Die.
When Admaz, the first man, was a grandfather a dozen times over, after he had lived a long life and seen many of his children's children marry and have their own children, then it was his destiny to be killed by the First Swift Sword. Afterwards he left the world and went down into the underworld. He had a long ways to walk, so he started first thing in the morning and walked until the sun went down.
At the end of the first day he saw a house in the distance and walked to it, and called inside, "Hello, may I sleep here?" A voice replied, "Yes, if you will pay the price." Admaz went inside and the one who lived there, a tall, skeletal man with a smile like a scar, took his shirt from him. He gave him a bed made out of thistles to sleep in and Admaz slept fitfully, troubled by his dreams that would never come to be. In the morning Admaz awoke early, thanked his host for the bed and walked naked on down the road.
He walked all day, and at the end of the second day he saw a house in the distance and walked to it, and called inside, "Hello, may I sleep here?" A voice replied, "Yes, if you will pay the price." Admaz went inside and the one who lived there, a tall, skeletal man with a smile like a scar, took his shoes from him. He gave him a bed made out of thorns to sleep in and Admaz slept fitfully, troubled by his pride. In the morning Admaz awoke early, thanked his host for the bed and walked naked and unshod on down the road.
He walked all day, and at the end of the third day he saw a house in the distance and walked to it, and called inside, "Hello, may I sleep here?" A voice replied, "Yes, if you will pay the price." Admaz went inside and the one who lived there, a tall, skeletal man with a smile like a scar, whipped his back raw and then flayed the skin off of him. He gave him a bed made out of nails to sleep in and Admaz slept fitfully, troubled by the pain he felt all over the skin he no longer wore. In the morning Admaz awoke early, thanked his host for the bed and walked naked, unshod, and skinless on down the road.
He walked all day, and at the end of the fourth day he saw a house in the distance and walked to it, and called inside, "Hello, may I sleep here?" A voice replied, "Yes, if you will pay the price." Admaz went inside and the one who lived there, a tall, skeletal man with a smile like a scar, took out a very sharp knife and removed the muscle of his inner thigh. He gave him a bed of vipers to sleep in and Admaz slept fitfully, troubled by the wounds his grandchildren inflicted on his pride. In the morning Admaz awoke early, thanked his host for the bed and walked naked, unshod, skinless, and mutilated on down the road.
He walked all day, and at the end of the fifth day he saw a house in the distance and walked to it, and called inside, "Hello, may I sleep here?" A voice replied, "Yes, if you will pay the price." Admaz went inside and the one who lived there, a tall, skeletal man with a smile like a scar, put leeches on him to drain his humors, blood, bile, choler, and melancholy. He gave him a bed of lye to sleep in and Admaz slept fitfully, troubled by emotion. In the morning Admaz awoke early, thanked his host for the bed and walked naked, unshod, skinless, mutilated, and humorless on down the road.
He walked all day, and at the end of the sixth day he saw a house in the distance and walked to it, and called inside, "Hello, may I sleep here?" A voice replied, "Yes, if you will pay the price." Admaz went inside and the one who lived there, a tall, skeletal man with a smile like a scar took out a very sharp knife and cut out his liver and cut out his heart. He gave him a bed of boiling blood to sleep in and Admaz slept fitfully, troubled by weariness. In the morning Admaz awoke early, thanked his host for the bed and walked naked, unshod, skinless, mutilated, humorless, and heartless on down the road.
He walked all day, and at the end of the seventh day he saw a house in the distance and walked to it, and called inside, "Hello, may I sleep here?" A voice replied, "Yes, if you will pay the price." Admaz went inside and the one who lived there, a tall, skeletal man with a smile like a scar took out a very sharp knife and went to cut out his tongue and eyes. Admaz motioned him to stop, and asked, "I will ask you to continue after you have answered my questions three. Who are you? Who were the other painsmiths? And what is your purpose?" The man grasped his tongue, said "I am Ikadz the Excruciator," and cut it off. He then opened Admaz's right eye, said "They are also Ikadz, for we are a multitude," and cut it out. He then opened Admaz's left eye, said "I scour the useless trash of their lives from the newly dead, purifying them so that they may reach the underworld and finally dwell in one place, content, empty, and without regrets," and cut it out. Admaz signalled him, and Ikadz cut off his nose. Ikadz then broke his bones on the rack, burned them in a fire, and threw his ashes in the firepit. The dead one slept well that night, and in the morning he awoke early and joyously and ran out the door, leaving his shattered mortal form behind, and ran through the gate of the underworld, where he was finally free of pain, and could dwell, empty and content with himself.
This story always leaves the young vizirs thoughtful.
I hope you enjoyed it!
Loren
+++++++++++++++++++++++23
Powered by hypermail