Tattered Page

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Tattered Pages are book pages from the Path to Ascension journal of the Lost Seer Spirit, found during the Within Your Grasp story chapter.

Story involvement[edit]

Visions of Eternity story[edit]

The Only Way
- Within Your Grasp

Text[edit]

Path to Ascension, Page 1

I am nervous.

Mentor Sidony assures me that the rite of Divitium Nava is as much about the ceremony as the trials. As one who has always done their due diligence, I sought out the accounts of other candidates; at least those who took the time to write down their experiences.

To my surprise, I could find only four accounts that detailed the trials themselves with any veracity. Mentor Sidony informed me that the reason for this is simple: the trial chamber is never the same. It is designed to construct itself around the candidate, ensuring that no two candidates ever experience the trials within the same way.

Based on the accounts I read—which Mentor Sidony confirmed—the trials are always divided into three sections: trials of the body, trials of the mind, and trials of the spirit.

This information has not comforted me nor quelled my anxiety, however. If anything, it has made my stomach twist itself into knots. I feel ill...

Path to Ascension, Page 2

It has been two sunsets since I last wrote my thoughts down. I have completed my pilgrimage and finally stand before the Spire of Exaltation. As I stand upon the ramp leading into the Temple of the Blessed Mantle, looking out across the waters running through the majestic landscape of Eternity's Garden, I am reminded of how this region has always held such mystery among our people.

I remember the stories my forebear would tell of his own journey to the temple. He never discussed his trials among our kith, but he told countless stories of the treacherous journey through the depths of the jungle to get there. It took him eight days along the pilgrim's path from the far southern reaches of Castora to the steps of the temple, and several of his cohort did not complete the journey.

My own pilgrimage ended fifteen days after I first set out on the path. Mentor Sidony reminds me that it is not a race, that each must come to

Divitium Nava in their own time and in their own way.

Despite those reassurances, I am certain my forebear will judge the extra time I required. That is, if I pass the trials, which I can begin as soon as tomorrow.

I predict this will be another restless night.

Path to Ascension, Page 3

Today, the first group of our cohort entered the ascension chamber, one at a time, to perform the trials.

We numbered sixteen when we started out on our pilgrimage, but only twelve of our number entered the portal, leading to the fractal within, where the trials of Divitium Nava are played out.

Candidate Illora was the first of our number to enter and the first to emerge a mere four hours later. None of our cohort had any doubts about her capabilities, and as anticipated, her ascension was celebrated right away. She took her place in the circle of acceptance.

I was not yet ready to test myself. Mentor Sidony nodded in understanding, but I feared that behind his calm expression lay disappointment. Judgment.

How do I tell him that after everything—after making the long trek from the south—still...I feel unworthy.

Path to Ascension, Page 4

I chose not to record my thoughts yesterday. Had I done so, it would have been a fruitless and vain exercise in self-indulgence, unbefitting a candidate for Divitium Nava. Yet I feel I must make an attempt, as I committed to documenting my pilgrimage no matter what.

Mentor Sidony asked me during the tenth hour of the morning if I was prepared to enter the trial chamber. I told him, "With certainty, I am not ready." The look on his face felt like claws digging at the edges of my essence, prying it from beneath my flesh, exposing my weakness for all to see.

I know I am not alone in my trepidation. In my research, I had read of candidates taking up to eight weeks of mental and physical preparation before entering the trials. Candidate Xintri, one of the more empathetic members of our cohort, found me hiding alone among the labyrinthine rooms at the base of the temple's southern garden. She told me that her matron spent twenty-three days at the temple before attempting the trials.

I know she was trying to reassure me, but her words had the opposite effect, and I fled to find solace in the jungle east of the temple, at the Dome of the Indelible Word. There, I stewed in my own loathsome thoughts until the sun set and the stars led me back to my bedroll.

Path to Ascension, Page 5

I write with shaking hands, with sweat still beading upon my brow. I wish to convey every detail of my exquisite experience within the trial chamber. And yet....I find that I cannot muster the words.

They are wholly inadequate.

When I asked Mentor Sidony how long I was in the chamber, he told me (with what appeared to almost be a smile) that the time was just over forty-two hours. Yet it seemed as though it was not even thirty minutes.

The eleven trials themselves were...unlike anything I could have envisioned. I cannot begin....

No good can come from trying to express them with mere language. I now understand why so few of my people attempted to document their experiences within the trial chambers. To do so would... tarnish the existential joy...

There is simply nothing more to say.

I return home on the morrow, when the sun rises. I leave these notes behind. They are artifacts of my former life, and as such, inconsequential.