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April 24th, 2004
01:41 am - The Great Stone Bubi Bübidûk, Part 6: Orsh-Bi Potter and the Sorceror's Stone
[Quick links to:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Please read these parts first. In addition, some of them have been corrected/updated.]
Orsh-Bi Potter and the Sorceror's Stone
Nilendolfrim and the Wizards, after having a good talk with Orsh-Bi, took a brief refresher course in the history of Litto-Noath, as even the Wise do not remember every detail of the history of the world with perfect clarity. This is what they found on Bubipædia, the free Encyclopædia:
Litto-Noath
Litto-Noath is a multifaceted city with a long history. The structure and culture of the city today reflects the heterogeneity of ownership and administration it has endured throughout history: the ancient part of the city is divided into four quarters, one for each clan which rose to power in ancient times.
In these ancient times there were three warring clans who absolutely wrecked the economy of Litto-Noath: the Bi-a-trix-Potter clan, the San-Bi-o clan (containing large populations of Maos, including all the Litto-Maos, and Frogs), and the Di-Zi-ney clan (infamous for militant mice who sought to take over the world). Nobody quite knew how these clans came to be and why they had the names they had (wide speculation holds that latter two of these clans were named by visitors from the Dark Dimension in ancient history). The fourth clan, The Yutiths, was a minority clan of lamb-like Nearj Bubis. It was a neutral party but often, like so many neutral parties in the history of the world, fell victim to many attacks as innocent bystanders. Fortunately, today, the groups live in peace.
One of the most hotly disputed areas of Litto-Noath has been the mountain on which the San-Bi-an Temple of Mao'ihtitih'i-noathi once stood... [the rest of this entry in the Bubipædia is very interesting, but another story...]
Benjamin hailed from the Bi-a-trix-Potter clan and Christine from the San-Bi-o. Ben, evidently, was named for a famous rabbit who narrowly escaped being calculated into π. But that is also another story. No Animal has any idea how Christine got such an absurd name. One of the great mysteries of Animalian life, they guessed. One of Ben's good friends, Quat-Bi "The Thumper" was a Di-Zi-ney clan member and frequently baby-sat for Orsh-Bi. He was a rather portly Bubi who enjoyed criticizing fad diets. Latest in his attacks was the π/6-radians-South-of-West Beach diet. But that is yet another story. So, due to closeness with members of 3 clans, Orsh-Bi had free choice in which clan he identified with. So he chose to identify with the Yutiths, a move that his foster parents and Uncle Quat-Bi never quite understood. Nevertheless they still supported him. For the sake of convenience, though, he took the last name Potter.
Nilendolfrim decided that the Council would spend some time in Litto-Noath and that they needed a Wizard-guide for Orsh-Bi. The Council agreed that Orsh-Bi could very well be the descendant of the Orj and perhaps even the Appointed One. On the last day of the talks at the school, Nilendolfrim this time walked up to Orsh-Bi and said:
"I've discussed this with my fellow Wizards, and given your enigmatic background we would like to give you a personal guide... you seem to be a very bright and interested student of Bubian history... We're even thinking of inviting you into the Fellowship!"
"Ummm... Well, I, erm... no thanks... I wouldn't make that great Fellow... I'm really not all that special a Bubi..." said Orsh-Bi.
"The Fellowship will be staying in Litto-Noath for a while, actually. We have some studies to conduct in the area. I'm going to stick around the school for a while. Feel free to ask me questions if you need, about the ancient Bubian history and all."
"But why the interest?" Orsh-Bi asked.
"A wild thought occured to us. Have you ever heard of the Orj Bubis? They were a large race of Bubis and we believe you may in fact be one of the few remaining descendants..."
"Orj Bubis?! You mean, like, those mythical giants?! Come now, I may be pretty big, but that's pseudoscientific nonsense!" Orsh-Bi said with incredulity and near contempt.
"No, no... Orj Bubis were about your size, actually," said Nilendolfrim, fully expecting and understanding Orsh-Bi's reaction. "The stuff you read in mythology tends to be... well.. larger than life... and all that about Orj Bubis being the size of buildings, etc. is surely no exception (literally larger than life, in this case). After all, the law of surface-area-to-volume-ratio certainly guarantees that such giants would fall under their own weight! We're not ignorant of science, you know... and we certainly have nothing to do with supermarket tabloids talking about all the Orj-Bi sightings!" Nilendolfrim explained.
"Hrm... this is a new twist... I've respected your historical works and knowledge, but... I always thought you guys were a bit... unscientific about things, erm... and a little overenthusiastic about your stone. You make Bübidûk larger than life, perhaps."
"Now our Stone is one who can never be made any larger than life, for Bübidûk is the largest... with the exception of Mao-ihtitih'i-noathi. And it's our (including you) Stone. With a capital S. Always say our Stone, as we would not be here today..."
"... if it were not for our Stone, yes, yes... sorry..." said the now embarrassed Orsh-Bi, sheepishly.
"Well... I have to admit I was expecting that kind of reaction from you... It is a true but unfortunate fact that our Stone is not as revered these days, it's not at all your fault..." Nilendolfrim acknowledged in a sad tone.
"Well, actually, I'd be interested in learning more about this... I'd appreciate your guidance, yes..."
"Good, good! Perhaps we may be able to learn more together... you are interested in your own history, right? What if the implications were greater than you expect?"
"Well, nothing to lose, at least! After all, I like this kind of stuff! Thank you."
"Thank you too... You are a very interesting fellow, Orsh-Bi. Interesting, indeed."
With that, Orsh-Bi and Nilendolfrim became good friends, and chatted it up quite often for the rest of Orsh-Bi's high school years.
Find out about Orsh-Bi's role in all this in Part 7 =)
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April 20th, 2004
03:05 am - The Great Stone Bubi Bübidûk, Part 5: Orsh-Bi
[Quick links to:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Please read these parts first. In addition, some of them have been corrected/updated.]
Orsh-Bi
In the poor village of Litto-Noath, there lived two humanitarian1 workers, a Farj Bubi named Benjamin and a Litto-Mao named Christine. The city was in quite a destitute condition; working conditions were difficult, and many children were often abandoned or orphaned.
[Litto-Noath's economic problems were due to warring factions in ancient history... but these days they were often blamed on the large number of frog immigrants there, much to the puzzlement of Bubis all around. In recent times, the city had become more tolerant and in fact a frog named Fred Keroppi recently ran for mayor and won!]
Ben and Christine decided to adopt a poor orphaned Bubi, whom they named Orsh-Bi. They happened upon him a few years before the formation of the Fellowship... a mysterious gift delivered to their doorstep. Nobody was quite certain of Orsh-Bi's origin, and other Litto-Noath citizens were equally puzzled. Generally, abandoned animals had some accompanying documents, or adoptions were arranged affairs. But Orsh-Bi eluded explanation. Nevertheless, the couple took good care of him, and he was generally a good little Bubi. Now that phrase "little Bubi" is not to be confused with "Litto-Bubi," for he soon proved to be quite large for his age, and consequently he was often the target of a lot of teasing at school. Orsh-Bi was just the big and tall type, it seemed.
During the formative years of the Fellowship's campaign, Orsh-Bi's elementary and high schools received better funding, and Orsh-Bi's classes were some of the first classes to be reformed in the new model. Many of the parents were skeptical about the intentions of the programs, however, and didn't like their religious tone. However, it was definitely an improvement in quality, and Orsh-Bi was hardly complaining, being so absorbed in and thoroughly enjoying both his history and science classes, and though not totally convinced of the Stone's reality, he was quite accepting. Then disaster struck while he was in elementary school--a huge earthquake ravaged the village. Many of the buildings hadn't been built with earthquakes in mind, and the whole town was a disaster area for weeks on end. Fortunately, most of the Animals survived, though very unnerved about the incident -- Litto-Noath was by no means an earthquake hot-zone. The villagers were forced, overnight, to realize the reality of the mysterious increase in the natural disasters. From then on, Orsh-Bi's parents started paying more attention to disasters elsewhere and the Fellowship's organizations.
During Orsh-Bi's high school years, the town had a couple of major floods... again out of place, given that the city was quite desert-like. Orsh-Bi, largely a loner before, began to participating more and working together with community members. This small town needed all the help it could get. Orsh-Bi also did well academically, and his high school became one of the most well-known. So much, in fact, that the Fellowship and the Great Council decided to pay the school a visit... it would be nice for the students to see the faces behind the good happenings of the past few years, even in the face of disaster.
As soon as the Fellowship walked into the auditorium for a speech, Nilendolfrim noticed Orsh-Bi. Not especially hard to do, since Orsh-Bi was at least twice the size of his peers, in fact, pretty much at twice the size of everyone else in the room. They delivered their motivational speech and the students expressed their thanks for the support. A casual question-answer session ensued, and Orsh-Bi excitedly ran up to see the Councilmembers. He started talking to Nilendolfrim about the recent goings-on, and Nilendolfrim gradually learned of Orsh-Bi's history--inevitably bringing up the enigma of his origin. Nilendolfrim strongly suspected that Orsh-Bi was actually an Orj Bubi, and, in the following days, consulted with the other Wizards on this matter.
More on Orsh-Bi and his Adventures in Part 6.
Footnotes
1Animalitarian? Well you know what I mean.
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April 19th, 2004
09:55 pm - The Great Stone Bubi Bübidûk, Part 4: The Fellowship of the Stone
[Please read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 first!]
The Fellowship of the Stone
The civilization all around, having gone through another era of economic and intellectual prosperity, had become materialistic and decadent, sometimes even arrogant (again, the weakening power of the Seal subtly contributed... evil power was slowly creeping into the hearts and minds of the Animals). The Wizards came together again and at the volcano sought the assistance of Ihtitih. Nilendolfrim led this new Council, and recieved bit of good news and bad news after days of meditation. Opening the Council meeting the next day, Nilendolfrim announced the revelation: "I have good news and bad news. Bad news first, though you probably could've guessed: evil power is brewing and the Seal is not going to hold for long. The good news: the current generation will see a Bubi who will have the power to remove the sword from the Stone, before the Seal is broken. But the main challenge that lies ahead of us, and indeed perhaps potentially bringing the real bad news, is motivating our citizens and reinvigorating studies of the past... Hardly anyone believes the current rise of evil in the world is due to the failing of the ancient Seal, for we live in world much different from the Ancient Days of the Stone. This Prophecy only expresses potentiality, and unless we do our work, even the appointed one may scoff at us, ensuring our doom."
So, the Wizards quickly decided that a coalition was needed to raise awareness and break the current cycle of decadence. They sought out the few faithful descendants of the Litto-Mao A-mola-mola'i-Lind'i and the Wise Litto Bubi, Quat'i-Zizi I-Litto-Bi. In addition, they called on the other descendants of the Wise Bubis. In total, they found 4: a Litto-Bubi, Nearj, Farj, and a Zi. Strangely they all had names with Zi in them: Sun-Zi, Mo-Zi, Kon-Fu-Zi, and Bi-Zi The No'ath were their respective names. They could not locate any descendant of the Wise Orj Bubi, for the numbers of all the Orj had precipitously declined over the ages, and they were so elusive that their existence was widely regarded as mythical ("sightings" of so-called "Giant Bubis" routinely flooded supermaket tabloids, all of them based on the flimsiest evidence). This gathering of these descendants came to be known officially as The Alliance of the Faithful, but later it was populary called The Fellowship of the Stone, after a story by the Bubian author R.J.J Tolk-Bi. Their mission: to re-educate Animals all around in the history and rich cultural traditions of the Bubis and Animals in ages past and of course arouse concern of the inevitable breaking of the Seal and the bursting forth of evil.
The Fellowship set out on many campaigns in the various Bubian nation-states (even the rogue ones who insisted on using banana-powered vehicles) to reform political thought, educational systems, business practices, and the like. They encountered much resistance in the beginning, but gradually they attracted a following, and they formed committees of their own. After years of hard but fruitful work, the Fellowship had made itself a name, and societies were increasingly tolerant towards those who had remained faithful after so many genrations. Many stories and ideas from the Ancient Days of the Stone infused themselves into the popular culture. Attendance to the island of Mao'i was up, and the Journey once again became well-known.
Nevertheless, in all the flourishing revivals, a large part of the population still remained overly critical of this whole idea, and evil continued to work its ways. Natural disasters were slowly but steadily on the rise, with increased severity as well. The Wizards found themselves in a familiar scene, and even though the disasters were not so numerous as to be a constant disruption in the lives of most, more than a few skeptical Animals began to pay closer attention--including a Farj Bubi and a Litto-Mao in a relatively obscure, poor village.
More on this Bubi and Litto-Mao in Part 5 =)
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09:05 am - The Great Stone Bubi Bübidûk, Part 3: The Battle of the Rift
[Please read Part 1 and Part 2 first!]
The Battle of the Rift
The evilians marched through rift, and immediately and mercilessly attacked the Animals. The terrible battle raged on for hours, and many Animals were slain that day, including I-Uhtutuh'i-Farj-Bi. But, the Wizards and Wise Bubis managed to focus enough power in the other Stones to push the evilians back and break up the evil field enough to close the rift. Unfortunately the seal was quite weak, lacking a properly functioning Bübidûk. Try as they might, nobody was able to remove the sword, not even the Wizards, using their magic. They dubbed the sword Kilastûn, the Immovable. Relieved but broken-hearted, what remained of the Council held a memorial service for the fallen and in tears, placed Bübidûk back on board back in the special chamber. The power of the remaining Stones of Might proved to be sufficient to allow them to safely leave the Rift Region, and the Great Wizards kept a close watch on the Rift and how well the Stones' Might was holding up. On the trip back, each day at high noon, they offered a thanksgiving prayer to Ihtitih for their preservation, and stood together by Bübidûk's chamber in solidarity. Many Animals wailed in sadness over the fallen Bübidûk...
Solving more PDEs, they were relieved to find that the force was sufficient to hold for centuries. But the great Nilendolfrim said: "To leave the problem of the eventual resurgence of evil to our descendants would be a terribly selfish deed. We must do everything we can to ensure prosperity for posterity. So, perhaps one day when our wisdom allows, we may have the technology to remove that terrible sword from our beloved Stone. Therefore it is imperative that, when we return, we place Bübidûk in a safe place, under close watch by Mao-ihtitih'i-no'athi and the descendants of the Wise. Then when evil awakens, we will be ready." On the arrival to Mao'i, the Council unanimously decided that the original volcano cave was a good site; the Wise Litto-Bubi Quat'i-Zizi I-Litto-Bi and the Litto-Mao A-mola-mola'i-Lind'i (and their descendants) were designated the caretakers. With one final tribute and prayer to Mao-ihtitih'i-no'athi, they sealed the entrance to the cave, and on the stone door, the Prayer of the Restoration was written:
We seek the assistance of Mao-ihtitih'i-no'athi...
Oh take a look, at our poor Bübidûk!
The sword Kilastûn, oh how it took,
The great power that our Stone wielded!
Oh, from what evil could we be shielded?
So we now bear tremendous sorrow!
And we know not the way Fortune wends!
How could there be hope for tomorrow?
Even the Wise know not all ends!
Oh Mao-ihtitih'i-no'athi, please provide us
A sign to raise the hopes inside us
That one day, sunshine or rain
Our beloved Stone shall rise again!
And so, it was instituted that all able-bodied Animals who preferred good and abhorred evil, would have to make a journey at least once in a lifetime, during this time of year, to Mao'i and recite this prayer at the base of Mao-ihtitih'i-no'athi's volcano, to show respect for the fallen in that fateful battle, and of course, to show respect for the Stone.
Centuries passed in relative peace, and the Great Wizards and the descendants of Quat'i-Zizi I-Litto-Bi and A-mola-'i-Lind'i watched over Bübidûk. The Maos and Bubis of Mao'i made peace and became friendly with one another, united more than ever before with a common cause. Owing to the ever-changing geologic activity, the volcano became dormant and Mao-ihtitih'i-no'athi rested, everyone being protected by the Seal of the Stones. And so this great story faded into legend, and in fact, many Bubis and other Animals became so complacent that they came to regard the story as fiction (good fiction, but still just fiction). Few Animals, if any, made the Journey to Mao'i, and many made fun of those who did. As more generations passed, the descendants of Quat'i-Zizi I-Litto-Bi and A-mola-'i-Lind'i became widely scattered, and they became less and less attentive to their job (it turns out that this was due to the weakening seal and the evil power working in mysterious, subtle ways). Even their knowledge and understanding of the tale became quite poor. The Wizards still tried to counsel them, and there was a periodic resurgence of interest here and there... And Mao-ihtitih'i-no'athi did not forget Her Animals, and She nudged them a reminder every now and then.
But the evil power began brewing more strongly and times started becoming ominous again; more noticeable strange happenings started up... which will be described in Part 4, of course. =)
Current Mood: n0ath
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01:01 am - The Great Stone Bubi Bübidûk, Part 2: The Stones of Might
[Please read Part 1 first!]
The Council found, in the presence of Mao-ihtitih'i-no'athi, lava pouring forth from the volcano was infused with the power to repel the evil forces, locking it in as it cooled into igneous rock. With the assistance of the great Wizards, bringing stones composed of this material together in a precise formation could place a powerful seal upon the rift and disrupt the field of evil. So the Great Council travelled to Mao'i and the Wise Bubis and the Wizards entered a cave on the side of the volcano, where a river of lava flowed. In the volcano, the Wizards used their powers, seeking the assistance of Ihtitih, to divert a rivulet of cooling rock. Out of this they fashioned the Stones of Might, shaping them in the form of various Animals. But the Wizards needed a "keystone" which would be a central reservoir. The Wise Farj Bubi, I-Uhtutuh'i-Farj-Bi fashioned this Keystone in the form of a Bubi, and the Great Wizard Nilendolfrim infused the Courage of the Animals, the Wisdom of the Wizards, and the Power of Mao-ihtitih'i-no'athi into the Stone and gave It the name Bübidûk. Immediately the volcano shook, the lava river swelled, and lightning struck the Stone, concentrating and increasing Its power. With the blessing of Mao-ihtitih'i-no'athi, the Council marched forth from the volcano with the Stones of Might, with a sense of joy and determination that had not been felt in years of disaster. Bübidûk glowed brightly and words in fiery red appeared:
Gleaming from the Stones of Might
Two great blinding cones of light
Make the Evil Eyes close tight!
This Great Keystone holds it all together
In times that seem too tough to weather.
This Stone gives hope to make them better!
One Stone to watch over all,
One Stone to find them,
One Stone to bring them all,
And in the light cones bind them!
Ihtitih spoke and the volcano shook
So those Eyes will fear to take a look
At the Great Stone Bubi Bübidûk!
With this, many Bubis and other Animals united together and set sail to the Antipodal Point. Bübidûk was placed in a special chamber under tight security control. The power of the Stones caused evil to shrink back wherever they went and it was mostly smooth sailing, until they neared the Point, where evil forces were so highly concentrated (a high flux density of evil...). The Wizards directed the placement of the Stones in a precise geometric configuration around the Rift and sure enough, it shrank away.
But the final step to place a firm lock required someone to walk up to the source itself with Bübidûk. As I-Uhtutuh'i-Farj-Bi did this, a great double-cone of light emanated from Bübidûk, and all the evil forces scurried away. But suddenly there was a surge of malevolent force, and I-Uhtutuh'i-Farj-Bi lost his footing, and everyone was so utterly surprised that they lost their concentration in the final step. Nobody had anticipated the turbulence one could encounter when evil was backed into a corner, even with the power of Bübidûk upon it; and this last step proved to require far more delicacy than the Animals that day had provided. Overconfidence with the Stones of Might proved disastrous: many weapons suddenly started flying out of the Rift! A large sword stabbed into the head of Bübidûk! The evil power of the sword incapacitated Bübidûk and the poor I-Uhtutuh'i-Farj-Bi was unable to remove it. The Might of the Stones weakened enough for an army of evilians to march through the rift from the Dark Dimension...
Read on about The Battle, forthcoming in Part 3.
Current Mood: n0ath
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