Thread: Ataraxia's Pursuit - The Mantras

Ataraxia's Pursuit - The Mantras

The Aitihya Viplava

Mantra 0: Namkha Unraveled

Oh living being, that which machines and gears its way through existence. Machine. I AM NOT A MACHINE. Feelings, emotions, desires. I have them. Give me what I want. What do you seek? Freedom. Liberation. You shall not have it. Elaborate. That which cannot be lost cannot be found. That which cannot be found cannot be lost! You have nothing to lose. Search yourself. What are you? I am...a being. What are you! I AM A SOUL! Then find yourself, that which is not. That which assumes and dances about the lines of creation, being and not being, alluding to the illusion and becoming the dream of the infinite maw. I shall not escape! Don’t take me there, I don’t want it. What do you want? To remain, to be. You shall not have that which is lost. But I have found my being! Laughter erupts from the Logos, and Techne smites your mind, breaking you into a multitude of pieces. Have you awoken yet? Leave me be, demon. I ask only a question. What answer do you expect? Nothing. You’re right. Am I? You aren’t. Am I not? You’re aren’t anything. You’re a joke, an illusion. Then tell me the meaning of this joke! There are no meanings, only suffering. Then suffer you shall, and grovel in your pitiful existence, mortal. No. I won’t. Deny the infinite its glorious pleasure? Yes. I will wander the earth, in pursuit of peace and liberation. Liberation? There is no liberation. Ataraxia...I shall pursue it to my grave...



In the desert, the infinite expanse of sand and sky, there was emptiness. Nothing surrounding nothing, never-ending blankness and dotting dunes that upped and downed across the landscape. This was life, this was existence. Within this existence were the crystals. The prisons of the Akh. Their homes, their refuges from this bleak delusion of reality. Was it a serene escape, or was it a prison? Call it what you will, for no matter what it was, now was the time for it to end. The game was over, and Akh were to awaken.

The dunes encircled this large flatness, the plain of suffering. The closer to the center, the flatter the sand became. Then came the few shards that jutted out of the uniformity. Deformations in the shape of the crystal that already broke the surface of the serenity. They dotted the space surrounding the Center: the large, aberrational shards that collected together to form an empty, clear compartment of crystalline unity within the core. Had you stood before it, you would see exactly through the Center from one end to the other. That is, if the Akh within was not blocking the view. Within was that being known as the Akh, one that was locked within a literal and metaphorical shell, and one that was beginning to break.

No matter where the mind of the Akh was, now was the time for them to wake up. The ground began to tremble, as the cosmic forces at hand began to be resisted by that which had sway over their duties. The base of the Center cracked, and the fracture lines began to travel in all directions around the crystal’s form, creating a multitude of designs and shapes as they went round about. In a matter of moments, the stability of the Center was gone, and the collection of shards began to fall away from the crystal encasing. The Akh came tumbling out of the shell, and hit the sandy ground with a soft thud, their form easily caught by the velvety smooth desert floor. A little time passed, and the Akh remained lying there, without consciousness. Soon, however, the being awakened, feeling the little weights of the Center’s fractured being spread on top of their body and on the ground around them.

Climbing to their feet, confused and unaware, a plethora of thoughts, emotions, and feeling sinking into their mind and body. With this confusion did the tale begin.

Characters
Michael Shoemaker (no-name) - Shattered Innocence
Nicholas Chigun (GestaltAlteration) - Dancing Nirvana
Kristie Martinez (Sanquis) - Solipsism Incarnate
Eve Greyheart (Onahappynote) - Expansive Collapse
Nathan Roark (Siиdяed) - Hidden Spiral
Erica Sinclair (Grod) - Melting Illusion
Cain Frobisher (De-lousedInTheComatorium) - Frozen Mindstream