work. This ‘power’ is essentially Godlike. (And God said, ‘Let there BE light! And there
WAS light.’) The King james version is poetic, but some of its translations are highly
questionable. The West Saxon translation (eighth century) uses the word ‘Geworcht’ (‘Make’ or
‘construct’) instead of that oversimplification ‘BE’. This suggests that there’s a certain
amount of effort involved in the process.
I say unto thee that the world was
truely made with a word,. For the
Seven joined together and spake the one word – Be
And the world was.
I say again, in the speaking of the word was the world made, and
all that is in the world was made thus. And Truly, I say unto thee
also, thus may the world be unmade.
* This is that ‘unmaking’ business that we finally prohibited.
For in the day that my
brothers and I join again and speak the words – Be Not – in that day shall
the world perish.
Infinite is the power of the word, for the word is the breath and
soul of the mind, and as I have taught thee it is in the mind that all
power lies. If thy mind have power, put that power into the word,
and that which thou dost desire shall come to pass. But if thy mind
be untutored or if it should be that thou falter or fear or doubt, the
greatest words of power shall avail thee not – for with thy mind and
with the word must be joined the will. And thus has it ever been.
It has come to pass that I must now go from thee and our paths
must part. There is discontent and turmoil abroad in the land, and if
it should come to pass that my brothers and I were drawn in to this
conflict, our contention would destroy the world. Thus, that we
might preserve the world and that we never again be forced to raise
our hands against our beloved brother who has been maddened by
his afflictions must we go from this world.
In sorrow I go from thee, but know that my spirit will be with thee
always to aid thee and to comfort thee.
As I leave thee, I charge thee with a duty and lay upon thee a
heavy burden. Verily, my beloved Disciples, thou art not as other
men. Together have we sought out wisdom that we might more
perfectly understand the meaning of the power of the word. That
power is with thee, and thy minds have been bent to its use. Upon
thee therefore falls the duty of preserving the world now that I and
my brothers must depart. Some will remain here in this Vale to seek
out further the meaning of the power of the word; others must go
forth into the lands of strangers and use the power of the word to
preserve the world and to stand as a barrier against my brother until
the appointed one shall appear who will do that which must be
done.
It will come to pass that some among thee will sicken of this
endless burden, and with will and mind and the power of the word
will they cause themselves to no longer be – for it is a simple thing to
say ‘be not’ and to perish. For them I grieve, knowing that which is
to come to pass.
And behold, one among thee shall bend his mind and will and the
power of the word to exalt himself above all men, and he too shall
perish, and I grieve for him as well.
In parting I abjure thee, seek not to pit thy will and thy mind and
the power of the word against my brother Torak. Know that he is a
God, and though thy mind be as strong as his and thine
understanding of the power of the word be as perfect, his will is to thine as is
thine to that of a child. Know that this it is that makes him a God. In
the invincibility of his will is Torak a God, and in that only. In the
day that thou seekest to raise thy will against the will of Torak, in
that day shalt thou surely perish. But more than this – if it should
come to pass that the power of the word be raised against Torak, no
power that exists in the endless starry reaches of the Universe can
save the world. For I say unto thee, if Torak in his madness turn
mind and will and the power of the word against thee, shall the
world be shattered, and the shards thereof scattered like dust among
the stars.
Lest ye grow fearful and disconsolate at the enormity of thy task,
know that the Orb which I have made hath the power to curb the
will of Torak. For it hath confounded him, and not without cost hath
he raised it against the world.
r
td it shall come to pass that in a certain day shall come the One
Whu to use the Orb, and if he be brave and pure, shall Torak be
overthrown. But if he falter or be tempted by the power of the Orb,
shall Torak overcome him and recapture the Orb, and then shall the
world be Torak’s forever.
But behold, the madness of my brother Torak is a disease and a
canker unto the Universe, and if it should come to pass that he
prevails ‘m this, it must be that my brothers and I raise our hands
against him, for the madness of Torak unchecked shall rend the
Universe even as he hath cracked this world which we made and
which we love. And thus will we come against him with the most
fearful power. In sorrow shall we pronounce the dread words -‘Be
Not’ – and our brother Torak shall be no more, and, as it must needs
be, this lovely world also shall be no more.
Guide well therefore the child and the man who is to be the
Appointed One and prepare him for his great task. Know that if he
fail, Torak shall conquer, and my voice must be joined with the
voices of my Brethren to speak that final – ‘Be Not which will
unmake all that we have made. And, though it will grieve me
beyond thy power to understand, I will bend all of my mind and all
of my will into that fateful word, and this world will shimmer and
vanish as morning n-ust beneath the weight of the noon sun.
Thus I leave the world in thy keeping, my sons. Fail not in thy
duty to me and to the world.
I will go now to seek pleasant fields among the stars and shaded
pathways to strange suns; and, if all passeth well, shalt thou join me
there when thy task is done.
– And, so saying, did Aldur turn and ascend into the star-strewn
skies, and no man hath seen him more
THE BOOK OF ULGO*
* Once we started on this particular Holy Book we began to see all kinds of possibilities
beyond the original intention of providing background for Relg. And when we expanded
the Ulgos into the Dals, the Melcenes, the Morindim, and the Karands, we had
constructed much of the non-Angarak population of Mallorea.
Note This is the famous southern copy of this disputed work. It differs in
certain crucial details from the seven other fragmentary copies, and is
considered by certain scholars to be a corrupt, third-hand copy with no
historical or theological value. It is, however, the only complete copy
we have, and provides the only clues we have to the understanding of
the enigmatic Ulgos. How it came to be in the possession of the
Dryads in southern Tolnedra is, of course, a mystery
At the Beginning of Days when the world was spun out of Darkness
by the wayward Gods, dwelt there in the silences of the heavens a
spirit known only as UL. Mighty was he, but withheld his power as
the younger Gods combined to bring forth the world and the sun
and the moon also. Old was he and wise, but withheld his wisdom
from them, and what they wrought was not perfect by reason of
that. And they had despite unto him that he would not join with
them, and turned they their backs upon him.
And it came to pass that the younger Gods wrought beasts and
fowls, serpents and fishes, and lastly, Man. But by reason of the
withholding of the power and the wisdom of UL, it was not perfect and
was marred. Many creatures were wrought which were unseemly
and strange, and the younger Gods repented their making and tried
they to unmake that which they had wrought so that all things upon
the world which they had made might be fair and seemly. But the