četvrtak, 09.04.2009.
Smrti bogova
Kad sam igrala BG2 silno mi se dopala priča o Hramu Zaboravljenog Boga. Igrač do Hrama dolazi u potrazi za napravom koja rješava jedan drugi dio scenarija i susreće sa sa narodom zasužnjenim obavezom služenju Bogu kojeg su nekada obožavali, a danas toliko mrze da su mu i samo ime zatrli i zaboravili. Avatar Zaboravljenog Boga biva opetovano ubijan inkarnacijom mržnje svojih sljedbenika, a božanska mu narav omogućava uzastopno otjelovljenje nakon svakog novog uništenja. Užasan ciklus njegovih smrti i oživljenja i njihovih uzroka predivan je filozofski paradoks koji zaslužuje pomno promišljanje, a tvorci igre zaslužuju lovorike za njegovo otkrivanje.
Danas sam ponovno, nakon nekog vremena, poželjela pročitati taj divan odsječak pred kojim sam plakala u svakom prolasku kroz igru, ali nisam ga mogla pronaći guglanjem čak niti dijelova originalnog govora koji sam sačuvala u pamćenju. Prekopala sam zato niz arhiviranih CD-a i napokon ga pronašla:
DISEASED ONE: Ah, you wish the exposition. Typical. I should really write it down so I don't have to keep repeating it. Not that we have had a lot of visitors. We are the guardians. We guard the temple. This is very important because every few hundred years someone almost wanders this way. We have forgotten what it is that we guard, we have forgotten how many generations we have been here, and we have forgotten what it is to have a purpose.
PC: But you must be serving some greater plan. Who is the temple dedicated to?
DISEASED ONE: The temple? It has been so long since we have uttered the god's name it has been forgotten by most. What loyalty do we owe a creature that would condemn us to this?
PC: Then why do you stay?
DISEASED ONE: We cannot leave. We cannot even die. We are born again in an endless recycling of our souls. We learn over and over again that we are condemned to a fate we no longer want.
PC: And what is this disease you are afflicted with?
DISEASED ONE: It is the disease of our minds and souls. We grow to hate the power that sustains us, so it rots us from the inside. There is no cure. There is no escape. There is no end.
PC: Yes, I am sure that you suffer from leprosy and it is very terrifying and you will eventually triumph over Despite through a series of contrived coincidences. I will try to release you somehow.
DISEASED ONE: Do what you will; there is no escape for us. We have accepted this. We teach it to the newly young, who then teach it to the old that die and are reborn. The deal which placed us here has been followed to the letter, and we are never to be released from service no matter how pointless the task. You will fail. You cannot help but fail. We know this. We expect nothing other.
PC: You worship suffering like a martyr of Ilmater, but you lack pride or purpose.
DISEASED ONE: I do not know this name you speak of, but even the name of our own god is lost, so it is not surprising. We direct nothing but loathing to the temple now. Take what you will. We are guardians in name only. We might as well be simple mindless skeletons.
(The temple they guarded was marvellous to behold.)
* * *
AVATAR DIALOGUE IN THE TEMPLE OF FORGOTTEN GOD
AVATAR: Whooooo walks in the temple of I? Speak of yourself, you are almost beyond the sight of I.
PC: I could say the same of you. Are you the chief resident of this temple?
AVATAR: I am I. The Temple is I, though it is not safe for even I. The beast does kill my form repeatedly. You have slain it for but a small time. It comes again and again. The beast is a fell deity, for it has more power than I can muster. My legion of followers feed the creature, and I am weakened and fading. Such power the beast has.
PC: You are not worshipped here. Those outside feel nothing but loathing.
Avatar: But they must serve; it is the letter of the agreement. They were to guard and I would provide for their lives. This was to be for all time.
PC: Until what? They die and are reborn to guard against nothing? No one comes.
AVATAR: Then it is little wonder I cannot defeat the beast. It is their loathing and pathos, and it has become their object of worship, whether they know it or not. The time has passed. I have naught here, and will not again. Even the great device has waned in power, and is not so epic a danger as once I thought. I weep for my children. Their hate sustains this place, though they would intend otherwise. Had they not thought of me at all I would have perished, and soon after so would they.
PC: Is there anything I can do to help you?
AVATAR: The letter of the bargain was that I protect the great device until the end of time. The creator races were very specific. I will reinterpret the words, for it is surely the end of MY time. The intent of the bargain was that the great device would not be used again. If it is indeed the 'end of time,' then my last act should be to destroy it. I have not the power to do so.
PC: What would give you the power?
AVATAR: Faith. The belief and conviction of my followers is the lifeblood of power. There must be a way to spur their faith. Open your mind. Perhaps you have knowledge of use. Yes, I see in your mind the way to release this place. You seek the great device for another, though you owe them no allegiance and they intend to kill you. The cause is simple. You will take the great device, the piece that I possess, and you shall combine it with the piece the creature already has. The assembled rod would surely destroy the beast. You must use the item upon the beast, and then return it to me. Use it but once, or you will perish under its power. Tell my people that you carry the piece that I give you that you might deplete it; that you go to restore its components so that it may be disposed of as a whole, not in part. My people must know I intend to destroy it when you return... but more, they must know I intend to end their service. This simple act of bringing the two parts of the rod together will instill a small amount of faith, for an instant. If they are in my presence, such an instant will allow me to destroy the artifact.
PC: I will help you. Give me the device.
AVATAR: Take it, and plant the seed of hope within my folowers. They may not believe you now, but when you return they will perhaps have a spark.
* * *
DISEASED ONE: You return? Why? Why have you come back here? Have you brought back the great device?
PC: I have said it is the will of your lord. It is depleted, and is to be destroyed.
DISEASED ONE: You lie! You must! There is no hope for us here! It has been ages since any sign or change!
PC: And that age is over. Is it so hard to fathom? It is simply time for the end.Entropy does claim all in the end, you know.
DISEASED ONE: This cannot be. You cannot be the herald of change. It is not possible. I... I must see for myself. I must hear the word. We all must.
* * *
DISEASED ONE: There is nothing here. There is never anything here but the stench of our hate.
PC: Your faith has brought you back in his sight. Will you not at least try his name?
DISEASED ONE: That is all you place here. Why should you get a reward for that?
What we placed was earned! We were abandoned to our endless duty while our lord slept! Our faith weakened and we... and we abandoned him, except in curses. The name has not been spoken outside of a curse for a generation. There has been no sign, and there has been no point.
PC: I have given the sign. What will you do with it?
DISEASED ONE: I will... I... Amaunator! Your people call to you! I, Agru Tindul, Sunlord of the Third House, pursuant to your Conduct of Worship contract, do hereby give my voice to your name. We ask... please... we call to you. Please... we have need of you.
AVATAR: I hear. You who have suffered, who still suffer. The time is at an end. Letter of the law states that we guard until the end of time. Our time has ended.
DISEASED ONE: Then... what is left to do?
AVATAR: Nothing. Your task is done. You will all sit by the side of Amaunator in the Keep of the Eternal Sun. The old enemies are gone, and duty is well enough fulfilled.
DISEASED ONE: Praise be to the keeper of time, that he should let it end for the just.
AVATAR: This is the end of things. Rest your mind in my heart. Rest.
