PCs: Cathak Mas, Cynis Chu

Synopsis: Monk and heretic talk religion, freedom and responcibility.

-Cathak Mas-

An attractive young man with short, messy red hair stands before you. His dull red eyes seem to lack any enthusiasm what so ever. He is wearing a red jade reinforced buff jacket with wolf heads breathing fire carved into the shoulders. The symbol of House Cathak is carved into the center of the armor also. Strapped to his back is a wrackstaff. While the blunter side is made of blue jade and carved to appear like an ocean funnel, the opposite end is of red jade and depicts swirling flames.

-Cynis Chu-

         Cynis Chu stands relatively short, a half a head shorter than most individuals; his overall build is athletically slender, with nary a spare ounce of flesh to spare. He moves with the easy grace of a willow in a breeze. His scalp is shaved smooth, emphasizing his high forehead. His eyelashes are light brown and thin, arching pencil thin over large and luminious hazel eyes; dancing with inner joy. His nose is patrician, pointed sharply. His ears are set close to his head, his lips are full, his teeth straight.

         He is dressed in a simple green and brown wool robe, laying loosely over his frame except where it is cinched around his waist with a brown wool belt. Where it parts, you can spy a fine green jade chain mesh armor. Slung across his back is a bow, taller than the man carrying it- unstrung, it reaches to nearly eight feet tall. The haft of the bow is slick and smooth and a rich green as well, with a clear gem set near the center. Crossed across the bow is a long necked sanaxian of very fine worksmanship, it's dark wood well polished. A quiver of arrows rests against his left hip, and a satchel hangs over his right shoulder. His only shoes are simple leather sandles.

         Around Chu is a faint smell of springtime; of storms and new life, of flowers and fresh mown grass.

---

    The Trakar lands is not the first place Mas had exactly planned on going to. He would much rather continue training his troops back at Greyfalls, and more importantly, meditate on his newest in-development charm. However, an order is an order, so he came to Trakar with a scale of troops to protect a temple in construction, of all things. He is talking to a young monk, sighing deeply. "No... No... And no, for the last time, take your religious speeches somewhere else... Go convert someone else." His eyes are blank, devoid of emotion and personality.

Cynis Chu hmms, rocking back on his heels. "Preserving your soul for a future Exaltation is of greater importance than converting the villages. After all, as it says in the Awesome Book of Hesiesh, 'Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life.'" He's taken on a stubborn aspect, arms cross. Past lecturer, past busybody, he's gotten roots set down now.

    Ugh. Not another one. Monks breed like rabbits, celibacy be damned. His face is blank as Mas turns to Chu. "Hmmmm... Another one? Just what is your name, monk?" He stretches, knowing a stubborn monk when he sees one. This could be a long, long assignment.

"Cynis Chu, brother of the Second Coil." He bobs his head, then gesture broadly. "But look- you said the Order was corrupt, but we're helping the people of Trakar. These people are haunted by petty gods demanding undue worship- with the Order, they people will be better off, happier. How can you object to that?" He nods, probally to himself, at the last.

    Mas looks at Chu with a shrug. "I don't object to helping people. I object to forcing a people to learn a religion that is run by corrupt elder monks seeking power and enforced by the overzealous." He says blankly, not a hint of emotion in his voice.

Cynis Chu hmms, and leans against a wall of the unfinished shrine. "If they were corrupt, wouldn't they not bother helping people, but just trade one extortion scheme for another? Wouldn't they demand to be worshipped? I mean- look," he points at his own shaved head. "Wouldn't corrupt people have /hair/? Corruption is a far more difficult form of vanity than hair, after all."

    Mas stares at the man. "What does hair have to do with corruption? I have seen bald people handle in slaves and do the strangest of drugs. Hair has little to do with it." He sighs deeply and looks. "I am not saying all are corrupt, but many elders are."

Cynis Chu shakes his head slightly. "But based on what? I mean, you could claim the Inner Sea is sweet water instead of salt, and it wouldn't make it so. So, what makes, say, the Mouth of Peace corrupt?"

    Mas looks at Chu and shrugs. "Based on personal experiences, Brother Chu. I have watched monks extort peasants for a religious tax that they couldn't afford. I have seen monks kill for even the slightest of insults on them. To say that a religion makes people better is a lie. Religion and morals have connections, but there is no need of religion."

Cynis Chu shakes his head slightly. "That's like reaching into a barrel of apples, which you know are sweet and good, and finding a rotten one. And from that one, crying out- The apples are corrupt! The rest of the barrel is still full, and just as good as it was before. Better, actually, for the removal of the rotten one," he says. "The Immaculate Philosophy helps people know how to live righteously."

    "All it takes is one sickly calf to spread disease." The Dragonlord says plainly, eyes still devoid of much care for the topic. "If you wish to help the peasants and those who seek guidance, then, please, do so with my best wishes. But me? The Order has no place in my life, nor mine in its."

Cynis Chu shakes his head slightly. "If I saw you sick, I would tend your illness. If I saw you blind in the night, I would lend you the light of my lantern. How can I see your spirit sick and your eyes shut and do any less?"

    Mas shakes his head and rolls his eyes. The first sign of emotion yet. "What you call sickness, I call freedom. What you call blindness, I call another way of seeing."

Cynis Chu pfts at that. "And now you sound like a child. Freedom requires responcibilities, to both yourself and others, or else you're just the Ostentatious Peasant, living in material comfort without the real wealth of spirtuality- to provider a greater dimension to life beyond the simply carnal."

    Peering at Chu, Mas seems a bit annoyed at him, although not angry. He is a hard shell to crack. "I am responsible for many, many people. My life is that of a strategist and a Dragonlord. My life is dedicated to tha cause, but my personal thoughts and feelings are my own. I have that single right. It is the little freedom granted upon me... And I could only hope to envy the peasant, whom can live without such burdens."

Cynis Chu shrugs slightly, seeming to become less concerned even as Mas starts to light up. "Oh, naturally. You help to guard their lives, but what are those lives worth? You lead others, but where are you leading them, and why? You're free, but have bound yourself in these heavy chains of duty- but duty to whom? To blood? To a cause?" He shrugs slightly. "You lead people to death, and hope their lives are well spent."

    "I lead them because I was born to lead them." The strategist says with a sigh. "I am skilled at war, so I help to end them. I know not where I lead them, but that is not my place to ask. I am the strategist, not the bureaucrat or the House of Cathak. I go where I am ordered to go. No more. No less."

Cynis Chu shakes his head, a bit sadly. "This is your freedom? Fetter of blood and fate?"

    "I find freedom in my thoughts. My life is theirs, but my beliefs my own." Mas replies bluntly. "I do not half to agree with what my commander says, only that I trust him for being the better person... Surely my beliefs do not matter if I am being led by one strong in -your- faith."

Cynis Chu shakes his head at that. "They matter all the more, from the top to the bottom. To claim that a tower is study because it has a top of jade and a foundation of clay is to ignore the weakness of the tower." He pauses to consider for a moment, then tries, "So, suppose that you had a soldier leading a talon. And he said to himself, 'I know better than the commander; I see more clearly, and my beliefs are my own. I will march with this army, but follow only what orders seem just'. Would he not be more of a hinderance than a help? And would not the soldiers he lead be led astray and into disaster and dishonor?"

    "Yes, he would be a hinderance. But if he were to ignore his own beliefs in favor of his commander, as per chain of commands, it isn't a problem." Mas says quietly and carefully. "I know you seek to help me, but your help is, in fact, a hinderance to one like me. I have all the spiritual guidance I require, and anything more will only weigh down my purpose."

Cynis Chu mhms. "A purpose that you said, just moments ago, was entirely subordinated to the greater good of a bureaucrat giving you orders, who follows a faith that you reject."

    Mas nods. "Yes. A bit hypocritical, I know. Although, I don't really consider Zuriel a bureaucrat and he is not a corrupt person either. I trust his judgement in all things and serve him thusly." He stares at the monk, emotionless as a hearth fire.

Cynis Chu pauses, then gives Mas a careful once over. "So, why reject one set of constraints and accept another? Why be a soldier and not faithful? I mean, the later I can almost imagine- I suppose after stumbling around blind for so long, the thought of firelight is painful. But why not embrace your 'ultimate freedom' and reject all authority?"

    Mas casts Chu a wary glance. "Are you suggesting that I /abandon/ my duties and reject /Lord/ Zuriel's authority?"

Cynis Chu shrugs. "Why not? You reject the Mouth of Peace, and I'm sure that Lord Zuriel would say that the Immaculate Dragons are greater than him, and have a better authority over all, Exalted and mortal alike. If you really had any courage to your convictions, you would have walked away from everything long ago, and wandered into the wyld places of the world. But you're spoiled; you enjoy your position and your authority enough to make that unappealing." He points out, towards the east. "Freedom lies that way. Why are you still here?"

    Mas now stares down the monk, a nerve being hit. "I was a soldier to the Vermillion Legion, Chu. I had many opportunities to seek my freedom while in a legion that gives no authority. I do not -enjoy- commanding or sending troops into battle. I do it in hopes that it makes the world alittle safer."

Cynis Chu's eyes grin a bit, but there's only a frustrated angry frown on his face, and a frustrated, angry note in his voice. "Of course you enjoy being a Dragonlord; why else would you remain such? You clearly have no interest in the actual goals of the army, both explicitly and implicit in your acknowledgement that Zuriel will bring a faith you believe is corrupt to the people you want to help. You claim to serve, but find your honor in service." He continues to point eastwards. "You said you want freedom? It lies to the east. Go, or at least give up your lies to yourself; you don't want freedom from anything except the responcibility to take both the credit and blame for the good and the evil that you do."

    Mas blinks a few times and shrugs again. "Hmm. Alright." Two of the guards with the man look at each other in utter shock. Alright, what? He yawns deeply and reaches down to put a pack over his shoulders. "East isn't really my direction though. Too much chaos that way. I am more a north-northwest direction sort of person."

Cynis Chu shrugs slightly. "Fine. Good. Go." He adjusts his aim, half turning to point north-westerly. "May you find your freedom in the wyld places of the world."

    Mas offers a small smile and does a small bow before whistling. A large dragon, about a head taller than a horse, runs up to him. "Give my regards to Brother Nerus." He says before mounting up on the large creature, which blows a small smoke ring and shakes its head.

Cynis Chu waves towards the mounted exalt, and his dragon, before resuming his work on the temple. "Blessings of the Dragons upon you, Cathak Mas. May you find a rightous truth, and cultivate both your breath and your soul for your next life. May you find your place in the Hierarchy."