Eight Arms and the Mask

It is known, of course, that our Red Goddess has had many children. It is also known that Her children have had a pre-existence before their first recognition by the broader world. This is Red Truth , the strongest kind of all, and incontrovertible. So let it be understood, readers and listeners, that the Red Emperor and Great Sister knew each other before they had those names . And when they were young together, above Mernita, they were the youngest of the Goddess’s children. And Great Sister was older than the Red Emperor , and so she knew it was her duty to watch over him.  So when the Red Emperor was very young, and nearly jumped off of the Moon and fell to Earth, then it was Great Sister who pulled him back up and away from the world. And when the Red Emperor almost stuck his little hand into the Baths of Nelat, it was Great Sister who shook her finger in his face and said, “No” and threw a selene into the Baths to illustrate. And as the years went on, Great Sister proved to h...

This story is one that is fairly traditional among those members of the Etyries cult engaged in missionary activity. This particular form, possibly the original, may have been written by a traditionalist, but I, for one, suspect a healthy dose of irony. I copied this out from the library beneath the Grand Auditorium in Torang. A much less entertaining place than its name would suggest. The Goddess's truest followers have always been the lowly of the world. Bandits, street girls, disgraced scholars, queens without regalia, followers of the Wasp God too waspish for Carmanians, madwomen who barter with spirits, slaves. Etyries was a merchant, and who expects much from someone who leads jackasses around by the nose for a living? And yet when she came before the Goddess, in those days when the Victory was fresher than morning dew, she started and nearly fainted, it is said, and the Goddess pulled her out from the line and said, "Here, she is a Natural!" She did faint, ...