Tales of Midbar: Secret Priest

Eleprin quickly sobered up. “All right. Nobody knows this so don’t tell anybody. I’m the avatar of Tianamet.”

“What!” said Breeze.

“She was really never a goddess,” said Eleprin, “just a mage on the starship which brought humans to Midbar. Her memories and personality were recorded in associates which were placed in a statue until Breeze transferred them to this body.”

“What!” said Breeze again.

Eleprin continued, “They were supposed to be transferred to a constructed clone without her own personality but something fornicated up. Tianamet was a Yohoist and converted to Winemakerism when Breeze put her in me. That’s how I know so much about Yohoism. That also, almost certainly has something to do with why Mildras and Aublelma became the avatars of Strumeg and Denadria on the day of the Minris disaster. Anyway, speaking as a Yohoist from before Winemakerism appeared, I’m completely convinced Yoho’s avatar fulfills all the prophecies about the anav priest, except the ones by Orbraag, who I knew personally.”

“Was that finding an answer you don’t like?” I asked as we walked from the hotel to the bus stop.

Dwendra gave me a rather cross look and said, “That didst not exactly looketh good for Trulism either! Why wast it left unto me to defendeth Yohoism?”

Eleprin and Dwendra had got into some rather technical arguments about Yohoist doctrine and history.

“Trulism doesn’t really claim to be better than other religions but then looks down on Winemakerism and Nuhara for claiming they are better, which is a bit hypocritical.”

“Thou didst not answereth the question.”

We walked in silence for a bit, then I said, “I don’t think I can defend Trulism, I’m not sure I ever really believed in it the way you believe in Yohoism. I suppose it doesn’t help having a father who says everything is symbolic. You want me to be a Yohoist priest but I’m confused about the relationship between Yohoism and Winemakerism but I think that’s more important than the relationship between Yohoism and Trulism. I suppose I really need to study these scriptures everybody keeps talking about.”

“Thou hast never readeth them?”

“No, well just the odd bit in religious studies in school but that was more to demonstrate the differences, or similarities between religions. Actually I’m not sure what the point was, I think my school just uses religious studies as a way to waste our time between proper lessons. Of course we all read the bits about people having sex with people they shouldn’t and the violent bits in the Nuhara scriptures everybody wants us to ignore and think it’s a peaceful religion.”

We stopped at the bus stop outside the Cascade Hotel.

“I hath been asked to meet somebody, probably Benai Nibeyim leaders, the night after next, that art the night of the second day of the conference, at the Vineyard Shrine.”

“I know.”

“How long doth it taketh to get from Laraget to Minris without teleporting?”

“A couple of days I think, it’s a long way, some of it on twisty mountain roads. You can’t save much time with trains or boats.”

“Then to be there without people knowing we canst teleporteth we really needeth to leaveth Laraget about now.”

“Want to spend the night in the Vineyard doghouse?”

“It art as good a place as any.”

Dwendra’s ex-fiance sat opposite me, staring at me with hatred in his eyes. Dwendra had insisted on going back in time and talking to some Yohoist priests. Somehow we wound up with the ex-fiance, who’s name was Frawnnil, a couple of his friends, who were also priests, an older priest and a Holy Woman.

“We need to understand why Winemakers are wrong about Yoho’s avatar,” said Dwendra. “It’s important if we are to save Yohoism.”

She was speaking Semic but I could now understand it.

“How could anybody be born on Earth after the nuclear war?” asked Frawnnil.

“In the future there’s an explanation for that which I can’t explain to you,” said Dwendra.

“Haven’t you read the Book of Scholars?” asked Frawnnil.

“Of course,” said Dwendra.

“We know Dwendra knows a great deal,” said the older priest. “I think we need an argument other than the obvious.”

Frawnnil gave him a cross look.

“Some people don’t accept the authority of the Book of Scholars,” I said.

The younger priests and the other Holy Woman (who I think was engaged or married to one of the young priests) looked at me as if I’d claimed Yoho was homosexual.

“That book was written by the greatest Yohoist scholars who’ve ever lived on Midbar!” said Frawnnil.

“But it isn’t scripture,” I said.

“Scripture was written by prophets,” said Dwendra.

“Most scholars are nibeyim,” said Frawnnil. “They also based their writings on the Scriptures.”

“My father’s a nibey,” I said, “he’s a Trulist who thinks gods, korbarim and morals are just symbolic.”

“Well Trulists basically just make up their religion as they go along,” said another young priest.

“I knew you were unworthy of Dwendra!” said Frawnnil.

“I don’t agree with my father,” I said.

“What’s bothered me about the Book of Scholars for some time,” said Dwendra, “is that it tends to take a few words from scripture out of context and then constructs an argument that reverses the meaning of what Scripture says. For example, it quotes Arts seven nineteen, ‘Soft music soothes and calms the mind,’ to argue we should only listen to soft music but the full quote is, ‘Soft music soothes and calms the mind and prevents you from seeing and opposing the growing evil.’ Therefore the context suggests it’s bad to listen to soft music. Also Sacred Songs seventy five sixteen says, ‘Worship Yoho with loud drums, trumpets and gongs.’”

The priests and the other Holy Woman stared at her for a few seconds.

“The Winemakers totally ignore our festivals and replace them with ones based on Malgaric,” said Frawnnil.

Malgaric was a religion which had been widely practiced on Earth long before humans had developed space travel but had been largely forgotten, except for a Trulist sect which had assimilated its deities. Malgaric also had some rather exciting myths which many knew and had been used as the basis for many movies and shows.

“They accept some teachings,” Frawnnil continued, “like not committing murder or adultery but they ignore the laws about not eating snakes! How is that logical?”

“I don’t agree with Winemakers there,” said Dwendra, “but in the future there’s a sect which follows all the teachings of our scriptures but believes in Yoho’s avatar and also follows his teachings. Anyway that still doesn’t answer my objections to the Book of Scholars.”

“You expect just to look at the message as its presented in scripture and your interpretation should make all of scripture consistent?” asked the old priest.

“Like duh!” said Dwendra. “That’s only logical! Yoho’s word can’t contradict itself so any interpretation that makes it contradictory must be wrong! Similarly you must look at the context, you can’t omit bits that reverse the meaning, like the bit about soft music preventing you from opposing evil!”

“Scholars are more intelligent than that,” said the old priest. “They can tease out messages which aren’t obvious from the text.”

“I believe hidden messages are there,” said Dwendra, “but they can’t contradict the face value message or anything clearly stated in Scripture! The face value message can only be discounted when there is no meaning. Sometimes nonsense is a clue the passage contains a hidden message.”

“Something else you’re forgetting,” said the old priest, “or perhaps you didn’t know in the first place, is the opinions of Scholars override the words of Yoho and the prophets.”

“What!” exclaimed Dwendra.

The old priest proceeded to tell a story about how a group of scholars had voted against Yoho, who accepted their decision.

“That story isn’t in scripture!” said Dwendra, crossly. “Yoho’s omniscient and infallible, whatever he says must be right! You might argue about the interpretation, or honestly misinterpret his word but deliberately going against him is a sin and voting makes no difference!”

“If you follow that logic,” said the old priest, “then you must reject the Book of Scholars, in which case, it will logically be very difficult for you to reject Yoho’s avatar.”

Dwendra stared at him, clearly very angry, then she turned to leave, “I know somebody who knows a lot about Yoho’s avatar. We shall ask him!”

She stormed out the door and I felt her teleport.

“What are those bursts of power?” asked the old priest.