A Forgotten Art
From Atlantic Roleplay Wiki
Title: A Forgotten Art
Author: Therin Telamon
If you are looking for ancient secrets about achieving perfection as a mage or warrior quicker than by training it day by day, you have opened the wrong tome.
This book is about an art long forgotten... story-telling.
Sure, sneer at this, laugh all you want. But ask yourself... on the day when you take your last breath, the day your soul leaves your mortal
body, whether it´s in your home, at an old age, or rather soon, facing some of the dangers of our land... look back and see what you will be remembered for... and what you have left behind?
Do not understand me wrong. I do believe that the greatest gifts you can leave to others is being a great person, helping others, making their lifes just a bit easier.
In my opinion, if you make only one person breathe easier for only just one moment, you have achieved more than the warrior or trader who has collected a castle full of golds and diamonds.
And there are so many people in our world, even today, who do just that... making a great effort to help others, teach the younglings, hnading a beggar some gold, or helping out a beaten and robbed warrior some armour or a new weapon.
However, another way to be remembered, or to help many others in the future, is by telling stories.
Not fairy-tales, not lies. The story of yourself, the story of someone you have met, someone whom you have learned from, or who has impressed you.
Or write down instructions on how to achieve a certain goal.
A guide for strangers, new visitors to our world to find their way around. Advice for someone who is trying to improve his skills or become perfect at his craft.
You might feel amused, but write down a song, or a poem about something you have experienced.
Leave something for your heirs, for everyone who will come after you. Not only will you be able to share your knowledge, your experiences. but also, you will be remembered. I remember reading books about crafting bows, about using them... ancient guides on how to master the paladin-spells, books on gathering armour that would best protect you against demons, dragons, titans and all the other monsters you may encounter in Sosaria.
There are many ways of leaving your knowledge behind... there are several libraries in our world, apart from the royal library, the Lycaeum. There is a place that people often gossip about, called "uo stratics" ( I will leave it to you to find out how to get there... it takes a mysterious ancient item called a "browser"... I heard you can obtain those when slaying ancient liches, but I think that is only a rumour ).
There is a newspaper, led by a man called Tony Dobs, and supported by reporters such as Lady Lava.
Maybe you have written something before, maybe you have never tried. Maybe you have never considered writing anything.
But consider this... have you noticed how quickly the stories about the warrior who slew several Balrons at once fade away ? How quickly people forget the trader who had amassed incredible fortunes ?
About the poor being whose only entertainment is measuring his fighting skills with others, while these skills could be put to much better use by ridding our world of murderers and threatening demons ?
A book, if sealed with red leaves and kept by a responsible person at a public library, can last until our world eventually ends.
And there will always be some who hunger for knowledge, who need advice, just like there will always will be those weak-minded who only care about wielding their poisoned daggers, while missing the rich lore, the amazing stories that have happened in our long past, some of which have been written down.
Bards... how many of them I have seen. Most of them only use the barding skills to entice monsters, weaken them and provoke them onto each other.
Have you ever heard of Iolo ? Not only will he be always remembered for being a representative of the virtues, but also because he has given us many memorable songs, together with his late wife Gwenno, like the immortal "Stones".
There might be some people who laugh and make fun of bards who go to public places to sing about mighty battles, fallen heroes and great deeds.
Yet, those people should be ignored, as they are missing so much.
They have no sense for music, for stories being told in a song, for legends being kept alive by a bard who wrote lyrics about them.
And they either are too stupid, or too ignorant to realize that once they pass on to another world, they will quickly be forgotten about, as no one will spread their story, be it in a book or in a song.
You should not be ashamed if you enjoy writing books or songs. Ignore the weak-minded who make fun of you. It is your life, and if you enjoy telling stories, don´t let anyone keep you from doing so.
Ignore those who only laugh, as they actually deserve pity, as they are not able to sense the impact, beauty and dedication of a well-written book, or a pretty melody accompanied by thoughtful lyrics. They have forgotten that there is more to existance than material possessions, competing for the title of the best swordsman, or terrify as weaker players as humanly possible.
Have you heard about the Stranger, who was summoned by Lord British to slay Mondain and shatter the Gem of Immortality, thereby saving our world and all of us ?
Have you heard about Lord British coming to our world from a distant place called "Earth", meeting Shamino for the first time ?
Have you heard about the fool Zog, who almost destroyed our planet by casting the Spell of Armageddon, which he had learned from the mysterious Wisps ? Have you ever heard the tale of Mariah and the Demon, the story of Geoffrey and the Dragon ?
There is so much we can learn from all those stories, even if it only that some forces we should not dabble with, or we will destroy our very world, as taught by the example of Zog.
And the being I just mentioned will forever be remembered for their deeds, just like they have been remembered for so many years, because some people wrote down their story, or wrote a ballad about them, or copied an ancient parchment, thereby making sure that their tale would not be lost.
And you don´t have to be Mariah or Geoffrey or the Stranger to be remembered. Many of us accomplish wonderful things, making our world a more wonderful place. And that deserves to be remembered as well... but it only will be if something writes it down, whether it´s a book or a song.
Also, we have many masters of both crafts and combat skills and arcane arts.
They can help their heirs very much by writing down their experiences, dosumenting their way to becoming a master.
This can help a young warrior, mage, crafter to achieve their goals a tiny bit easier in the future. And it doesnt take a lot... just a blank book, a feather,and a red leaf.
So start today, and write down whatever you like to share. Make people remember you, and enrich the lore of our world with your tales.
Therin Telamon