<a href="http://www.philome.la/B_R_Sanders/book-and-scripture-aerdh-1/play"> Some have said that the world can be neatly divided into the pure and impure. </a> There are places in the Book and Scripture which posit that these categories are fixed, unchanging. But what if the boundaries between the pure and impure are porous? What if one can [[slip between them|Slip between the boundaries]]?Yes, it happens. It's true. Think about it--you already know that it <i>must</i> be true. Otherwise we, the pure, would not need to ward against you, the impure. If the boundaries were as fixed as many of our priests imply then our pure souls could be near your magic with no worry of getting tainted, of being tarnished, of losing our chance at being reincarnated. Think about it. If the path opens one way, why not the other? Like a thin wall, the sound bleeds through both ways. Neighbors can hear one anothers' words. So. We [[ward|Wardings]] against you. But what of you? What of ways which the mundane bleeds to magic? Well. Scripture speaks of [[purification|Purification]]. How do I know the wardings work? I don't. I have to take it on faith. Such is life. Such, my friend, is religion. You say you've used your magic on a man like me, one who has warded himself, and yet your magic took root. I say, perhaps, he did not have true faith in the Exalted to channel the Breath of God to shield him from your magic. The Book says life as we know is full of mysteries we will never solve. The Book says these mysteries are a test of God to measure our submission to His will. That submission is faith. If you are serious about [[purification|Purification]], you will need to submit to His will. You will need, friend, to have faith. If you have no faith, friend, this will not work. You must trust in His Grace. Can you do that? You must make your choice now. The Lord God, in his infinite wisdom made you an elf. I know not why. Neither do you. You might have been mundane in some life before. But now is your time to decide. Do you have faith that the magic in your blood can be purified? Do you have faith in His mysteries: [[yes|Has faith]] or [[no|No faith]]?I thought so. It's a rare elf who comes calling at Sanctuary for solace. You're lucky you are here in the Port of Souls. There's [[very few Sanctuaries in the Empire which still purify elves|History of Purification]]. Tell me, were you [[born here in Essala|Born in Essala]], or did you [[travel here for the purification ritual|Traveled to Essala for the ritual]]?Ah. Well, then there is little I can do for you. At least right now. If ever you reconsider, if ever you come to see that His scope and majesty surpasses that which we can understand, if ever you desire to throw yourself into that maw of mystery--for that, friend, is what faith is--then seek me out. I believe the magic can be struck from your bones. I believe with my whole heart that you can be reborn as I will be, that you, too, can live a thousand lives after this one. But only through [[purification|Purification]]. Seek me out again when you are ready, friend. When you have faith. <center>***</center> <center>//Without faith, your story ends here...for now, at least. Did you like this storylet? Let me know! <a href="https://twitter.com/B_R_Sanders">Tweet me</a>, <a href="Mailto: [email protected]">email me</a> and I'll keep 'em coming!//</center> Why so few? Oh, many reasons. The ritual is only described in Scripture, not in the Book. Some elements of the church take it to mean, then, that it's not strictly God's truth. That it's conjecture. When the iteration Exalted Rajan three centuries ago called for a more restricted reading of God's truth many such rituals fell away. And, let's be fair, many of your kind are willful. Inconsiderate of the grace the Exalted shows you. There has always been a line of thought in the church that your kind are incarnations of us--but the worst of us, the murderers, the rapists, the blasphemers. Those who need to live rooted and tethered to the corporeal realm as a last punishment to keep from being iterated again. Thus, if God sees you as beyond saving what place do we have to intervene? But I think the question is murkier than that, for if God also laid out purification as a viable option then what right do we have to keep it from those of you who seek it out? What right do we have to keep those of you from possible redemption? Let's get started with the [[ritual|Begin the ritual]].Ah. Yes, well if you were born and raised here then I can see why you would want a chance at a second life. Likely your first one has not been pleasant. That is the chief reason why this Sanctuary--the Essala Sanctuary--continues to offer the purification ritual while other Sanctuaries do not. Because we see the rot that eats at the heart of the Empire from the inside. That rot starts with the frayed bond between you and us, the distrust between the magical and mundane peoples, a bridge that can only ever be crossed if the mundane need not ward because the magical are purified. Let's get started with the [[ritual|Begin the ritual]].Ah, we have more and more of your like coming in to the Port of Souls these days. I am glad of it. A sea change. A reckoning of the cosmic forces coming to bear, I think. I am sure the trip was expensive. I am sorry for that. I think, though, after the ritual takes root that I will be able to secure you employment that will get you back on your feet. Especially if you are willing to stay a while in Essala. Let's get started with the [[ritual|Begin the ritual]].Oh, you have questions about the ritual. Of course you may ask. What are your questions? <blockquote><i>Ask if it will [[rid you of your magic|Rid of magic]]. Ask if it will [[hurt|Will it hurt]]. Ask [[what the ritual consists of|About the ritual]].</i></blockquote>Yes and no. Things are complicated, friend. Short of opening you up and chopping off parts of your brain, there's no way to keep you from your magic. And, even if we did that to you--oh, [[how do I know that|Lab experiments]]? It's better not to ask. Even if we did that to you, your body still craves the land magic. You would waste away without it. God made you a magical creature. But purification can make you behave like a mundane one. The ritual makes it so that you only use your magic when and where it's truly needed. It teaches restraint. Do you have any more [[questions for me before we get started|Begin the ritual]]? No? [[Let's proceed.|Start the ritual]]The Book says lessons are learned faster when taught by pain than when taught by pleasure. But in this world, what doesn't hurt? You're an elf. What hasn't hurt? <i>Knowing what you now know, what do you do? <blockquote>[[Question the Qin priest further|Begin the ritual]] before undoing purification. [[Undergo purification.|Start the ritual]] You've learned enough. Your faith is intact. [[Walk away.|No faith]] This information has shattered your faith.</blockquote></i>That I cannot tell you. No, no--my refusal to speak is, itself, part of the ritual. It's a test of faith. I have told you what I can--that it will bring you solace, that it will bring you purification, that it will bring you into the arms of God, and that he will grant you renewed life from it. As a matter of faith, are you willing to walk into that unknown to get these bounties? <i>Having heard that, what do you do? <blockquote>[[Question the Qin priest further|Begin the ritual]] before undoing purification. [[Undergo purification.|Start the ritual]] You've learned enough. Your faith is intact. [[Walk away.|No faith]] This information has shattered your faith.</blockquote></i>The priest smiles. He takes you into Sanctuary's bowels, into an acolyte's room. you are given an acolyte's robe. Your head is shaved, like his. You are washed, and all body hair is removed. And then the ritual begins. Purification is a year-long ritual. You see and speak to no one but the priest in that long year. You know only that room in that long year. The priest spends hours with you every day, going through Book and Scripture with you, teaching you to read, teaching you numbers. There are sparks of kindness. But there is a great deal of pain. You understand the pain as a form of kindness, that it is in the interst of kindness. But it is still pain. In the hours you spend with the priest--whose name you never learn, but who you come to think of as your father, because you come to see yourself as a new person, as a child in a new life--the priest catches you when you use your magic. And he beats you. And he weeps as he beats you, but he has to do it so you are able to unlearn your elvishness and learn how to be this new thing, this pure thing. A dhirnalli. A thing somewhere between pure and impure, a creature not-quite-magical and not-quite-mundane. As the days and weeks and months pass, the priest conducts small, clever trials. Instances and situations that would have drawn out your magic, on reflex, no longer do. He grins and weeps in rapture, because the ritual has worked, because his faith and your faith both were strong enough, because now you are dhirnalli, one of the purified. One of the faithful. At the close of the year, your left ear is sheared, a final brutal burst of pain. The priest recites a piece of Scripture. He takes a razor-sharp sickle while he recites and cuts through the long, pointed lobe of your ear. On the street, now, they will see you with one long ear and one short ear, and they will know you are dhirnalli: one of the purified. <center>***</center> <center>//This story draws to a close, but you're not the only dhirnalli in Essala. And that might be a story in itself. Did you like this storylet? Let me know! <a href="https://twitter.com/B_R_Sanders">Tweet me</a>, <a href="Mailto: [email protected]">email me</a>. Find more of my interaction fiction at <a href=http://brsanderswrites.com/other-things-by-b/interactive-fiction/">my website</a>.//</center>Well, if you must know, the Exalted, in his multitude iterations, has professed many curiosities about your kind. There have been...investigations. Autopsies. Experiments on...specimens. To see what the limits are for magical individuals. <i>Knowing what you now know, what do you do? <blockquote>[[Question the Qin priest further|Begin the ritual]] before undoing purification. [[Undergo purification.|Start the ritual]] You've learned enough. Your faith is intact. [[Walk away.|No faith]] This information has shattered your faith.</blockquote></i>