"The Cogent Soul" Weary from blood loss, and the exhaustion of “The Trials”. You enter the last chamber. Deep within this long forgotten temple, before you stands a Tome. Upon a crystalline dais, it pulsates with power. As you open the book, the walls themselves shimmer. The stone is replaced with lifelike histories, just beyond the edge of vision. The writing is alien, yet familiar. The explosion of sound is so resonant, that you can see it travel through the air. When the dust settles you realize the words...they are speaking to you... Excerpt from "The Sunken Scripts" My name is not important, for I have had many names! Who I am, who I was, and who I will be is no concern of yours. Know this, what you decipher here is meant for you, has been waiting for you, this text has held its place in existence, for you! Impossible, improbable, no. This is destiny! These words are changing you as we speak...yes speak, across time and existence. We have had this conversation before. I do not expect you to remember, for the mortal form you are encased within, can not comprehend it. Insults no, no. I am merely getting to the point. I have oft been accused of being...how shall we say, um...brash. I have been called many things by many fools. Madman, lunatic, heretic, these words taste so insignificant upon my tongue. After all who can gaze into the immortal void and not be...hmm...changed...yes thats it changed. I have seen “The Wall of Scrying”. I have been hypnotized within it. The visions and prophecies have peered into my being, as I looked upon them. Through force of will I withstood all and nothing. In an instant, I lived an eternity. I have transcended! Enough! This is not about me, well not me alone. It is about you! It is about us, all of us. Let me explain. As I said you are entombed in this flesh and bone. You chose it not I. We all do from time to time. For this thing called the “Mortal Life” is an escape, a distraction, a holiday if you will. From what you ask? Omnipresence! The greatness within you is unquenchable. You know of what I speak. Whether it be through force of arms, welding mystic energies, cunning unmatched, or controlling the elements of creation themselves! Your drive, your desire, the will that fuels you. This all stems from one thing, and one thing alone. YOU HAVE A “COGENT SOUL” ! I see you start to realize, what I lay before you. You are superior to the common man. They are but an ember that floats out of the fire into the night air. We are the undying flame! We have lived many lives, on many worlds, in many forms. For our souls are “Cogent”. “We?” You ask. Rest your mortal mind. All things will be explained. There are One Hundred Sixty Seven “Cogent”. In the immortal void we are one. Upon the worlds of fire, water, earth, and air, we are born unto different lands, different cultures, different beliefs. But the soul drives us to venture out. Exploring all corners of the Earth, we seek out one another, for common purpose. Whether it be to build a kingdom or to crush one, to ride out and see what is over the next hill, or to pit ourselves against the greatest beasts and demons this world has to offer. We do what we like when we like. FOR WE ARE “COGENT”! Rest easy my child. One sip at a time, lest you drown in the waterfall of knowledge. This tome is yours. However...before anymore will be revealed to you. You must Transcend. You must “become” One of One Hundred Sixty Seven. To do this you must bare yourself unto “The Wall of Scrying”. If you prove true. Your brothers and sisters will welcome you. For you will be “Cogent”. If you fail, these words will haunt you for all eternity.... As you are released from your trance. The walls are naught but stone. Quickly the shock wave of sound is drawn back into the book, you are knocked flat. Upon your back you see it! “The Wall of Scrying”. Staring into the depths of all and nothing, a figure wavers into view. Laughing, not a mocking laugh, but one of understanding. You stare down at yourself lying on a cool stone floor. Madman, lunatic, heretic. After all who can gaze into the immortal void and not be...hmm...changed...yes thats it changed. To Transcend gaze into "The Scrying Wall": http://www.cogentaoc.com/ You want to BE ME !!!