As an orphan growing up in the streets of Ashtan, I used to be one of
Master Epicurus' favourite boys, not just because of my good looks
but somehow he also seems to have considered me unusually bright.
We had many conversations which grew in depth as I became older, and
I still regret the years having gone by so quickly. I have never
quite managed to attain to the same state of ataraxia that he did.
As so many years have passed, I feel free to tell you a story that he
once told me. As the Master himself said, no one would believe me
and if one would ever have te capacity to do, he would have the capacity
to understand as well. Anyway, the man that this story is about is
already long dead.
One day a man with a hood fully covering his face approached the
Teacher. He whispered to him if they could speak in private and,
as he knows no fear, Epicurus consented to meet him in his
private quarters. When they were alone, they man removed his hood
to reveal the worried face of a good friend and colleague. He said:
"Brother, we both know the same things. I know that you know that
you must not tell to anyone that you have seen me. I have made a
horrible mistake. Last week I was alone with a man in Ishtar
Park and we had a discussion on the meaning of the word reality.
I told him that not only is reality more complicated than we think,
but that it is more complicated than anyone ever CAN imagine.
He looked at me somewhat blankly and answered that there is
nothing as simple as reality. What you see is what you get. So I
told him to consider this. Most people would not believe it is
possible by sheer force of will to make a cup of kahwe float up
into the air. Not as an illusion, but "really". I told him about the
methods and underlying principles, and how those must be applied
in a slightly different way to make a shot glass of tequila float, or
an oaken vial filled with exactly 42 sips of the venom voyria and
15 months of durability left on it. I also explained to him that the
somatic components that he was going to witness served merely as
a prop for my concentration, a focus so to speak.
I thought that my explanation was completely clear and compelling,
but his face became even blanker than it already was. Then I went
wrong, worse than I ever have. I said to him: look, this is the way
it works. See? I raised my left hand, uttered a short incantation and
wiggled my testicles in two different directions. As nothing ever works
with complete perfection the cup rose just half an inch higher than
I had planned. Which was not a problem. Only an expert would have
noticed it in any case. I looked at him triumphantly, only to see
that his eyes had glazed over to an expression beyond even what is
usual for the average Sleepwalker. Next moment he started to convulse
and, very coincidentally, died on the spot of a massive stroke in both
ventricles. You see, I had HEARD him wonder how best to alert
the guards without me noticing it."

Penned by my hand on the 9th of Haernos, in the year 119 MA.