The Magician And The Moon
At the beginning of time and until a particular point, the moon shone full and gold in the sky every night. This was the way of the night sky until the first magician appeared....
For the sake of discretion, which I am required to maintain, the name of our subject will have to be foregone and the origins and from whence he came are to be saved for another time. The location and exact time of these events have also long since been forgotten by all but a select few, but it is known that he arrived at a rural village during a time of great turmoil and fear when mostly tribes roamed the Earth. This unrest was caused by the greed and ignorance of the ruling, fighting class over the population. The specific foe was this prehistoric tribal-village's chief, Nobo. The Magician was the first one who ever dared to defy Nobo's tyrannical and barbaric disposition toward his subjects and used the Chief's own arrogance and superstition to do so...
Within days of arriving at the commune in which our story takes place, which was fairly well-built due to the harsh demands of the Chief, the Magician became a well-liked figure among the civilians and gained acceptance which was not typical for an outsider. Oddly enough, this weird stranger had the rare trait of being someone who almost always smiled except for rare occasions. This feature was almost unheard of during these times. Even before he was able to fully understand or speak their primitive language, he was capable to the show people he came across practical solutions for day-to-day problems that normally proved to be standard dilemmas. He often did this by using magical feats as metaphors for his purpose. As the entire world around these people seemed magical and unexplained, it was not hard for them to comprehend that someone elsewhere might have these abilities as society had not fully tested the laws of existence. For a seemingly pleasant person, even by modern standards, he knew how to handle the threats of social life as it was then and typically avoided confrontation through applied jest. Over a short period of time the community saw many improvements in their lives in the manner of productivity, organization and, most importantly for the future, story-telling.
With these steady improvements thanks to their new friend, the large population of the tribe began to become unimpressed and insubordinate in thought to their Chief by comparison. When the general change in their attitude became apparent, it was not to be tolerated on any any level and the Magician's death was ordered on numerous occasions. However, each time sentinels were sent to carry out his execution the Magician sent them back by questioning their logic and putting them into a demeanor of guilt and sadness in an almost hypnotic way. Finally the ruthless chief of the territory, Nobo, decided to carry out the deed himself as the newcomer had finally gained his full attention. Upon reaching the Magician in the archaic village square, he discovered the Magician surrounded by friends and followers of whom he seemed to be the uniting factor. Nobo hastily chose this as an opportunity to challenge his antagonist's rash remarks and influence, in front of the crowd. The Magician simply dismissed his claims by stating that he cannot see any evidence of his right to rule whether through the product of achievement or contention. The superstitious chief was quick to point out his birthright ordained by the Gods and symbolized by their observing eyes: The ever-full, evening Moon and the daytime Sun that watched overhead.
The magician now seized his opportunity and endeavored to strike a deal with the livid king. He offered that if the Moon and Sun were still shining in the sky at midday in fourteen days time, that he would submit to be executed at the hands of the Chief himself and that his rule would be justified. To give Nobo further incentive to agree, as part of the bargain the Magician would not speak a single word to any person until either his execution was to be carried out – to which he would never speak again - or the Moon and Sun were no longer in the sky at their designated times by midday of the final day.
As he saw the latter as an impossibility both physically and due to his believed-to-be-implied right to rule, the ignoble Chief bitterly accepted to wait for the outcome. On the other hand though, if the Magician were to accomplish his exploits, Nobo agreed that he would have to leave the village, never to return and he was not allowed to harm or accost any member of the village for the duration of the attempt. Nobo returned to his estate and demanded to have constant updates on the Magician's actions and to be notified immediately if they heard him dare to speak.
The first night after making the agreement, the Magician began to climb up to highest cliff just as the Sun began to set. He reached the summit just as the last rays crept behind the far side of the horizon. He focused his gaze and all of his attention on the Moon all night. To the spectators below his silhouette did not change all night and what he was doing up on the top of cliff was never to be known by them. Still, throughout the night on the hour, Chief Nobo would receive and update as to the Magician's progress. As there was no news each time, the Chief started sleeping easier as the night went on and still received his hourly updates with little anticipation.
As the Moon traced the sky to its far end and the Sun also began to rise on the opposite side, announcing its questioned return, the Magician climbed back down with a smile still on his face as the Moon eventually traveled out of sight and the Sun completely reappeared in the new purple and orange sky. The population was uncertain what had taken place but were reassured by their protagonist's unwavering smile. The Chief also found reason to be in a blissful mood as no change had taken place and his rule was thus justified for the time being. But he was unaware of what the next eve would bring.
As the day went on the Magician got some sleep and went on with his daily errands while having to remain silent despite the numerous skeptical questions and suspicious comments from nearly everyone he came across pertaining to his unlikely, yet great claim. And always was his upbeat disposition was constant.
That evening as the sun started to set, the Magician did not go up to the top of the cliff, for he knew that part of his work was finished. As the Moon appeared in the sky that evening, a small fraction of the right side was questionably missing and it appeared insignificantly less bright to the point that it was doubtful and up for debate. It was so slight and subtle that some took it as hope as the Magician keeping his word, while others saw it as dismissible and believed that it proved to be nothing. The following day the Sun also still shined giving legitimacy to the cynical claims. However, the Magician still went about his day as usual, facing harsher accusations and questioning. His smile was still unchanging. Chief Nobo however, was relishing in the thought of killing the soon-to-be ashamed scoundrel who dared question the authenticity of his leadership.
As the third night approached, the Magician went out to the town square at dusk and looked into the sky and waited for the full nightly heavens to appear so that the subject of his attention could be fully seen. On this night it was clear that there was to be no question: The Moon was missing a great portion of its right side and appeared a pale grey in contrast to its usual gold self. The cynicism was now drowned out and a great deal of celebration and relief took place among the people through the night as their hopes filled and they begin to finally feel that Nobo's unjustified reign was coming to an end. The Chief was shocked, distraught and, for the first time in his life, fearful.
Nobo immediately tried in desperation to have the Magician sought out and killed, but he was not to be found and had not been seen since shortly after the Sun went down that night. The Chief hid his embarrassment to the public's hostile reaction to his morbid attempt to back out of the deal and their enthusiasm to the idea of his exile. Even his own warriors scowled his attempt as they too had benefited from the Magician's presence and detested the idea of taking orders from a dishonorable leader. Nobo hoped that after the final day of the duration of his promise, he would be able to vengefully submit retribution on the whole population for their disobedience once his legitimacy was affirmed. Until this evening he had never seen anyone dare affront him, even ever so slightly. No one was in lack of amazement at the sight in the evening sky and their hopes were filled. But still to the village's dismay, the Sun shined brightly the following morning.
This is the way of the events that took place every evening and day, dusk and dawn for the next eleven rotations of the Earth. The Moon would come up into the evening sky, vanishing one piece at a time each night, while the Sun still rose every morning, seemingly only fulfilling half of the obligation causing the town an emotional disarray. Still it was enough to give the large tribe some hope during the anticipation and it mad the barbaric Chief shutter while knowing there was nothing he could do as the Magician could not be found and his ways were unknown. Such events had never been seen before.
On the fourteenth night the Moon was nowhere in sight. After several hours of reassurance, cheers broke out amongst the population of the village. They immediately demanded the Chief's banishment, but he was quick to remind them that the Sun's presence had not fluctuated and that they would not want to do anything foolish to their “Godly-Ordained King.” So they waited with hope and partial dismay at the thought that the Magician's full part of the wager would not be carried out. But they had to only wait a short while longer before their curiosity was resolved.
Morning came and the Sun appeared as usual in the colorful morning sky to start its daily race from horizon to horizon – a menacing eye of the Gods' still open and validated their King's rule in the minds of the population. As mid-day and the final moments winded down, Chief Nobo felt confident of his victory as the Sun was clearly above them shining down despite the disappearance of the Moon. Even with closed eyes its presence could be felt through the warmth of the proceeding day. At sight of the following morning and the absence of the Magician, the people quickly began to lose hope and felt like they had been taken advantage by a guised friend.
As the morning carried on, an indistinct object was spotted approaching from a distance outside the village. A few moments later it was clear that it was a person approaching them at a rapid rate, beyond humanly possible. As he got closer and more distinct, the person's pace slowed. Within a few moments it was clear that it was the Magician. The whole population rushed his way and met him on the outskirts, meeting him with despair and heavy accusations as they believed to have been let down after their hopes had been built up so much. Nobo even approached. Slowly and with a gloating manner as he planned on killing his foe with his bare hands in a matter of minutes.
But as they approached, some of the large group cried out to the others and pointed to an indistinct object that was slowly appearing in the sky, approaching the Sun and becoming visible by increasingly blocking a portion of its light. The Moon was making a triumphant return in full form and slowly took its place in front of The Sun, mysteriously covering it. Midday had arrived. The Magician had accomplished his outstanding part of the bargain.
After the group had realized the implication of what just happened, they continued rushing toward their victorious friend. When they reached the Magician their attitude had once again changed, while their cruel Chief fled without notice before having to lose face in front of his now-former subjects. And as his only explanation of the several unexplainable feats The Magician relayed to the crowd by means they would understand, “I suppose his actions made your Gods weary to the point where they felt the need to close their eyes to him as one does before shaking their head in disgust.”
Beyond words or symbols, he left an ever-lasting memory of his first feat and a metaphor for the ambitions of his lineage as long as there is a sky at which to look up at night.
This was the world's first encounter with a Magician.
