Lee Chang Dong Finds An Oasis

IN A TOUCHING PORTRAYAL OF TRUE LOVE, SOCIAL REPRESSION, AND THE UNSPOKEN YEARNINGS WHICH ARE EXPRESSIONS OF OUR HUMAN NATURE, OASIS IS A FILM WHICH INTENDS TO HIGHLIGHT THE INNER PLIGHT OF THOSE AMONGST US WHO SO OFTEN REMAIN SILENT, MISUNDERSTOOD, AND UNSEEN. The protagonist Jong-Du (Kyung-gu Sol) is a recently released prisoner on the road to reinstating himself into society. We quickly learn however, how difficult it is for Jong-Du to be accepted by a world that only wishes to see him as having fallen; rejecting whatever good may exist in his heart. Jong-Du however is admirable for his dedication to remaining true to himself despite his simplistic nature, or his inability to grasp the difference between right and wrong.We are soon introduced to the one who, despite suffering terribly from cerebral palsy, is able to accept Jong-Du as her own, as he does for her. Here we witness the incredible and unspoken suffering of those who are voiceless and devoid of freedom and love, in a way that the inability of Gong-Ju (Moon So-ri) to walk can only begin to portray. How, or why, is it that something so pure and powerful as love is granted only to a select few? Why must the oasis for some, be unreachable, shrouded in shadow? While Jong-Du is no stranger to prison, Gong-Ju is no stranger to the bars of her own body and mind which keep her incarcerated. But in one another, they each find the redemption and acceptance that the other needs as the fuel for life. The prison walls no longer matter; the oasis is no longer so distant.Gong-Ju must crawl, from floor to bed, bed to kitchen. She relies upon her neighbour for provision of food and general checkups in exchange for payment. While Gong-Ju's brother is able to provide for her fundamental daily provisions, nobody in capable of giving her a life. Life for Gong-Ju exists in dreams, imaginations and in yearnings. Despite her condition, the audience must shamefully admit that she is just another woman inside. The direction (by Lee Chang-dong) of the movie portrays this wonderfully with Gong-Ju's intermittent escapades into ROMANTIC NORMALITY. We find that, while Gong-Ju's physical appearance is something of a detraction for the common people or even Jong-Du's family, Jong-Du embraces her warmly. In a scene where Gong-Ju is forced to witness a lewd and unapologetic sex-act, the viewer is made to understand that the love the two share, at its core, is more everlasting than the lack of emotion and contemporary displays of false love that common people can mostly experience. Who then in society should be the judge of these two individuals if society itself is impure, immature, and unclean?In addition to the themes of love, Oasis does not shy away from exposing how the established framework of society, its rules, policies and expectations, causes segregation amongst men. How little attention do we pay to those for whom redemption and solace can only lie in an empty prayer or expression of guilt? We can admire Jong-Du, for whom redemption means no desire for self-defence, no denial of his wrongs. Redemption for Jong-Du means dedicating himself to helping another who is unable to help herself, perhaps from even purer motives than a first glance may convey. It is his actions, in practice, that makes Jong-Du worthy of humanity, whereas the religion of society openly condemns him. And in contradiction, it is the same society that forces his mindset to degrade, causing him to revert back to the convict that society wishes to see him as. Oasis teaches us that while society may lay claim to one's redemption or status in the world, our soul's pure intent of purpose; its visceral and genuine nature defining our humanity can never be raped, or incarcerated. Oasis can claim to highlight the purity in love, temporary or permanent, the reasons why we laugh with our mothers, embrace a stranger, or to fall asleep with another in ones thoughts. It challenges those self-serving, established modes of thought, the religious ideals, family expectations and lack of spirit within individuals, and asks that we remember what we are capable of. Oasis is simply a beautiful movie about two beautiful human beings, and deserves to be seen for both its story, and its message.By Gaurav Bhalla

Credit: witchcraftforall.blogspot.com

Kevin Annetts April 17Th Update On The Trial Of The Pope Et Al For Child Rape Torture Sacrifice

Store LINK: HTTP://2012THEBIGPICTURE.WORDPRESS.COM/

Joint The whole story Official statement FROM THE PROSECUTOR'S Separate OF THE Global Equal LAW Time OF Legality

Zip No. 3: Thursday, April 17, 2014 - 10 pm GMT

IN THE Query OF THE Populace V. BERGOGLIO, PACHON, WELBY AND OTHERS CHARGED Afterward Generally Young person TRAFFICKING AND Perform Murder

SUMMARY:

The Time adjourns for two weeks on one occasion the unusual satisfied in the Prosecutor's Skin discloses the extraordinary soundtrack of eight witnesses.

Two separate witnesses take out their acknowledged rape and ritual hurting by head defendant Jorge Bergoglio (touch "Pope Francis") in 2009 and 2010.

The Top Prosecutor establishes a sub- concerning the British, Dutch and Belgian disarray families and the disappearances and massacre of Mohawk children at the Minster of England's Brantford Indian urban school in Canada.

Jesuit facts are introduced as firmness detailing the in name only "Magisterial In shape" decreeing papal influence in "Ninth Revolution" ritual exterminate of darling children. The actual facts see Joseph Ratzinger as a fanatic of the "Knights of Heaviness" S.S. sacrificial cult concerning Formation War Two.

ITCCS Theme Secretary Kevin Annett is right and proper to substantiate forward the Time concerning its glimmer satisfied of sessions in antediluvian May to prove witnesses' testimonies from his own work and experience.

A high-level Vatican sensible initiates back point note with the Time and offers key firmness, as Judges characterization extending treacherous Time sessions concerning May.

The Time and its affiliates ghoul court case an Easter Report this Sunday, April 20 and ram town events at the Vatican and Catholic churches across the world. Rev. Kevin Annett ghoul lead a town practice of "exorcism and stand-in" at a high-level Catholic house of worship on that day.

THE DETAILS:

Ensuing eight days of Time mechanism and the institute of the Inhabitant Prosecutor's chest chary the three head defendants, the unusual Equal Law mediation of firmness modish complete child trafficking has adjourned for two weeks, until 10 am GMT on Monday, May 5, 2014.

Start on Tuesday, April 8 on one occasion an opening Time panache the day forward, the chest by the Inhabitant Prosecutor's Separate accessible firmness uninterrupted flanked by all three head defendants with the discussions and deed of child trafficking networks within the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches, and with the practice and disguise of the ritual rape, hurting and massacre of children.

End-to-end with outsized annals, the Prosecutor introduced notarized acknowledgment statements from eight eyewitnesses to these crimes, including videotaped interviews with two son women who assert to squeeze been suffering and raped by head defendant Jorge Bergoglio, touch "Pope Francis", concerning the guaranteed of 2009 and 2010, at horrific cult functions interconnected to the "Ninth Revolution" child charge engage.

"Survivors of these rituals take out darling youthful being chopped to pieces on stone altars, and their shoot at were as a result not here by the participants" described the Top Prosecutor to the Time.

"The survivors concerning the 1960's casement were fake to rape and scrape other children, and as a result cut their throats with religious daggers. Forgotten Pope Benedict, Joseph Ratzinger, Dutch Cardinal Alfrink, and Prince Bernhard were by way of the cult participants, according to these survivors. But relatively, the manager another incidents in 2009 and 2010 involved hardly the actual kinds of ritualized exterminate of darling infants in rural Holland and Belgium."

Added witnesses described their category knowledge of hard work by the defendants to protect the influence of not straightforwardly the Catholic and Anglican church, but the British, Belgian and Dutch disarray families, in the ritual massacre of Mohawk Indian children at the Brantford urban school in Ontario, Canada.

These killings bestride leader seventy go and cart the casement concerning 1942 and 1945 when on earth exiled Dutch Ruler Wilhemina and her family lived in Canada, and participated in Ninth Revolution rituals at the Mohawk Indian school.

Introduced documentation* indicates that, to evade and protect such influence of Dutch "crowned heads" in these cult killings, the Canadian management and Privy Congregation Separate in London approved "extra-territorial invulnerability" to the Dutch crowned heads from all unlawful, polite and fierce command seeing that in Canada. (* The Canada Gazette, Restriction No. 232, December 26, 1942, Ottawa)

Dutch and Belgian disarray participants in the rape and massacre of Mohawk children and newborns included Bilderberger founder Apex Prince Bernhard and Sovereign Hendrick, regular place to Ruler Wilhelmina of Holland.

As part of the Prosecutor's corroborating firmness, secret archives from the Jesuit Supervise were introduced now the Time pictures that take out in obsession the in name only "Magisterial In shape" applicable the answer of every new Pope in the Ninth Revolution charge of new untrained children.

The facts refer to that the Ninth Revolution was arranged by the Jesuits unerringly prior to their theatrical "release" in 1773 and their fabrication three go like of the in name only Illuminati cult, however references are as well as completed to fix child charge rituals at Catholic cathedrals in Rome as antediluvian as the day 1528.

The Top Prosecutor told the Time,

"These archives by a long shot demonstrate a intended necessitate for centuries by the Jesuits to ritually exterminate kidnapped darling youthful and as a result put aside their blood, untrained of a distorted think of deriving spiritual power from the lifeblood of the inadvertent and thereby assuring the supporting neatness of the Papacy in Rome. All Pope was humdrum to and did in fact show in these terrible rituals... These acts are not straightforwardly genocidal but systemic and institutionalized in handiwork, and accusation the Roman Catholic Minster and the Jesuits as a whole, and every Pope being at most minuscule in the day 1773."

The actual array of Jesuit archival facts make indication to a child sacrificial cult recognized as The Knights of Heaviness, arranged by the Nazi Waffen S.S. Segregate in 1933 with Jesuit cooperation. The archives see at an earlier time Pope Benedict, Joseph Ratzinger, as a fanatic of the Knights and as an S.S. Chaplain's partner in crime at the Ravensbruck concentration station in Germany, anyplace he participated in sacrificial income using children restless to the station or kidnapped from supporting prisoners.

The subsequent practice was a methodical Jesuit shoot in Spain, Argentina and other fascist regimes, and one implicating head defendant Jorge Bergoglio seeing that he was a priest, Bishop and front man for the fierce junta in Argentina concerning the 1970's.

ITCCS Theme Secretary Kevin Annett is right and proper to come to light as a highest concerning the glimmer panache of the Time commencing Monday, May 5. Annett ghoul let somebody use wary corroborating firmness and category soundtrack to snag the Prosecutor's chest and the firmness modish the Brantford killings, gained leader twenty go work with urban school survivors in Canada, including concerning his targeted irritation by church and state. (www,hiddennolonger.com)

Meanwhile, in extraordinary appropriate rumor, a advanced Vatican sensible initiated a back point note with the Time continue week in order to proffer key firmness to the Prosecutor's Separate modish its chest chary the head defendants.

The Vatican sensible has requested correct anonymity and warranty, prompting the Time Judges to characterization extending the treacherous sessions of the Time concerning its adjoining satisfied in May.

Categorically, this Easter Sunday, April 20, the Time and its affiliates in twenty one countries ghoul court case a Joint Report to be read at Catholic churches in Rome and dozens of other cities.

Rev. Kevin Annett ghoul lead a town practice of "Exorcism and Thrash" at a of great consequence Catholic capability on that day, and solid ceremonies ghoul be believed at the Vatican and at plentiful other catholic churches. Vindication of the hurry ghoul be posted this Sunday nightfall GMT at www.itccs.org.

Settle efficient headed for serve Time and appropriate rumor at www.itccs.org and www.iclcj.com.

Issued by The Joint The whole story Board of The Separate of the Inhabitant Prosecutor.

The Global Equal Law Time of Legality, Brussels.

http://2012thebigpicture.wordpress.com/2014/04/17/kevin-annetts-april-17th-update-on-the-trial-of-the-pope-et-al-for-child-rape-torture-sacrifice/

How To Be A Successful Teacher

Astrology For Teachers

HOW TO BE A SUCCESSFUL TEACHER?, HOW PLANETS AFFECTS A TEACHING PROFESSION, HOW TO INCREASE THE POWER OF PLANETS TO BE A SUCCESSFUL TEACHER, GEMS STONE TO BE A SUCCESSFUL TEACHER, MISCONCEPTION ABOUT ASTROLOGY AND TEACHING PROFESSION.

A teacher is a person who is a creator. A teacher is a king maker, a teacher is a politician maker, a teacher is a society maker, a teacher is a public maker, a teacher is a maker of nation. This is the importance of a teacher. As a child learn many things from the teachers so teachers has the power to make the best professionals, social workers, politicians, soldiers, kings etc. So it is the duty of persons who are in teaching field that they must give their best to be a good teacher. But it is not very easy. Because a teacher has to deal with different minded students.

MANY TIMES WE HAVE SEEN THAT-1. Some teachers are very famous and are dear of students while others are not as dear in-spite of having good knowledge and degree.

2. In some teachers' class students learn every thing easily but not with others.

3. Some teachers are able to control students easily but some are fail to do so.

This is because some teachers are familiar with the students psychology and they are conversant to handle them. Their planets are also helping them to understand the students and to make positive impacts on them easily.

POWER OF JUPITER OR GURU IN MAKING A GOOD TEACHER:It is a fact that Jupiter is a planet which is necessary to make a intelligent teacher but i want to say that it is not responsible to make a successful teacher!In this regard i want to say that Jupiter is a planet which makes a person knowledgeable but it will not provide the charming personality. It in-fact makes a hypnotic personality, a powerful personality. But it is not enough to deal with students.

This is because very knowledgeable teachers are fail to communicate with students successfully.

This is the misconception that Jupiter is the only planet which helps to be a good teacher. Knowledge is endless. So we have to study every thing in a very dynamic way to understand the truth.

FACTS TO BE A SUCCESSFUL TEACHER:As i cleared earlier that a teacher has to deal with different types of minds at the same time. So i want to say that only a versatile person is able to be a good teacher. And may i share a secret that every teacher is versatile the only difference is that there is a difference of powers.

Over power of Jupiter makes a person egoistic which is a very big hurdle while dealing with children or students. So if you think that Jupiter is creating problem then it is necessary to take some remedial action to balance the energy.

A knowledgeable person with a diplomatic mind is able to prove his or her importance in the field of teaching.

A teacher must be witty, knowledgeable, diplomatic, adjustable, researcher, genial.

In one word a teacher must be versatile because teacher is a creator.

So there is a need of balance power of all the planets in a teacher.

So if you want to be a successful teacher, if you want to be a famous teacher, if you want to be a rocking teacher then you have to work hard to develop your personality as per the need.

ASTROLOGY AND TEACHING PROFESSION:Astrology will help a person to be a great teacher. Through proper analysis it is possible to know that what are the real obstacles in personality and after that it is possible to find a proper solutions through gems stones, rituals or karma-kand, or offering things(daan).There are special occult science process which if done properly then it will increase the desired skills in personality. Self-Hypnosis is a good way of meditation to develop the desired skills in personality. By installing a siddha yantra in house or teaching area it is also possible to attract the divine rays which will help a teacher to teach in a better way. Special kawach are there to increase the power.Special gems stones are used to increase the power of different planets like as Venus, Mercury, Jupiter, Mars etc to balance the energy level.

So use astrology to make your teaching career strong, use astrology to know the hurdles of teaching career, use the astrology to empower your life, use astrology to empower your personality.

Great teaching career, bright teaching career with astrology and occult sciences.

Solutions of Teachers Problems

READ MORE ON:Self Hypnosis For Complete DevelopmentBest Gems Stones For SuccessHow To Be a Successful Manager?

HOW TO BE A SUCCESSFUL TEACHER?, HOW PLANETS AFFECTS A TEACHING PROFESSION, HOW TO INCREASE THE POWER OF PLANETS TO BE A SUCCESSFUL TEACHER, GEMS STONE TO BE A SUCCESSFUL TEACHER, MISCONCEPTION ABOUT ASTROLOGY AND TEACHING PROFESSION.

Origin: crafty-witch.blogspot.com

Training In Lille

61

Originally uploaded by whitneyherrington. We've joined up with Yann and Rita Opsitch and four ACU undergrads to participate in an ecumenical outreach program in Lille, France for our final week here. Here's what we've learned so far: most French people are very suspicious of organized religion and are (rightly, in my opinion) disgusted by the disunity they see in its many sects and factions, all touting correctness. This project on which we've embarked combines the efforts of many churches, Catholics and Protestants together working simply to show unity and to serve the people of Lille (in this case; the project occurs in several other cities as well). We serve free food to hundreds and hundreds of Lilleputians (I must find out what people from Lille are really called!), and, while of course we will answer any questions about Christianity any people might have, we are not here to pull a "bait and switch" on them, but rather to encourage a feeling of goodwill toward the churches here and Christianity in general. Katie and Krista are very happy with their assignment; they've been tasked to kitchen duty, preparing six hundred or so "barbecue sandwiches" per day (but they're nothing like Harold's, believe you me), cutting tomatoes, slicing baguettes, washing and preparing lettuce, etc. They like this job because (a) they're good cooks, (b) they've already made some friends in the kitchens, (c) they're together, and (d) they (mostly) don't have to speak French (convenient, since they only know the following words and phrases: bread and cheese, yes and no, hello and goodbye, cat, turtle, otter, and duck, my name is..., I don't know how to speak French, and apple juice). We think that Ken and I will be trading off with the students between kitchen duty and meet-n-greet with folks. Now to see if it all goes according to plan...

(more on this effort later)

Source: pagan-space.blogspot.com

Npc Companion K9

Another Doctor Who inspired post today. For use with 1st Edition Dungeons & Dragons, Swords color: black; padding: 10px;">K9ARMOR CLASS: 2 [18]HIT DICE: 24 hit points (5 HD)ATTACKS:Laser (150 ft)"Stun" (as per the spell 'Hold Person', 1 target, Save -2, 10 turns)"Kill" (as per the spell 'Magic Missile', 1d4+1 dmg x3 shots, ignores damage reduction)SAVING THROW: 11SPECIAL:Darkvision (60 ft); Detect Invisibility (50 ft); Locate Object (Life, Energy - 100 ft); Read Languages; Immune to Sleep, Charm, Disease, Gases, Poison, and Radiation;MOVE: 9K9 needs a place to recharge or he'll run out of power, and he sometimes experiences technical glitches. Both could help prevent him from becoming an unbalancing element in your campaign if you decide to include him in an adventure.

Origin: paganism-new-age.blogspot.com

Tim Keller On Whether Or Not Muslims Sikhs Hindus And Jews Are Saved After Death

Posted by Christine Pack

MARTIN BASHIR: Do you believe that there is only one God, and that there is only one way to approach that God? TIM KELLER: If....yes, if.....okay, yes, if....I'm speaking as a Christian here.....if Jesus Christ is who he says he is, if he is the Son of God from heaven, if he is, uh, if he really was bodily raised from the dead, and if he was our original Creator, I mean if all that's true, that's what he says, then of course there'd have to be just one way to God, because our souls would need him, or they would shrivel eternally, just like your body needs food or it would shrivel. I mean, the fact is my body here needs food or it would shrivel, that's not narrow-minded to say, that's just the way it is. If Jesus is who he said he is, then our souls would have to get him in order to be eternally full and thrive. And if we don't get him, then we would eternally shrivel. So to say...it seems so narrow, to claim that there's only one way to God, to say that actually precludes the possibility that Jesus is who he says he is. I mean, if he is who he says he is, then that's what we're - that's what we have to say. IF HE'S NOT WHO HE SAYS HE IS, THEN OF COURSE IT'S NARROW..... SO BASICALLY YOU HAVE TO SIT DOWN AND ASK YOURSELF THE QUESTION ABOUT THE FACTS ABOUT JESUS' LIFE AND LOOK AT THAT. AND NOT SAY, "I DON'T EVEN WANT TO LOOK AT JESUS, I DON'T EVEN WANT TO HEAR THE CLAIMS OF CHRISTIANITY BECAUSE THEY SEEM SO EXCLUSIVE." MARTIN BASHIR: So where does that leave the millions of Muslims, Sikhs and Jews? Are they sadly and completely deluded? TIM KELLER: People who never heard about Jesus, or never really got a hearing about Jesus... MARTIN BASHIR: I'm not talking about them, because some of those people have heard (about Jesus). I'm talking about the millions of Muslims, Sikhs and Jews who have heard about Jesus. Where does your thesis leave them? TIM KELLER: Where they are right now, it means that if there's never any change, they don't get Jesus. If he is who he says he is, then, long term, they don't have God. If on the other hand.....all I can always say about this is God gives me, even as a minister with the Scripture, a lot of information on a need-to-know basis. And a need-to-know basis means, "Here's all I can tell you: unless you get Jesus Christ who created you to start with, unless you are REUNITED with him sometime, there is no eternal future of thriving." It just makes sense. Again, I'm trying to go back to this idea that, that, if he is who he says he is, you've got to have him. If right now a person doesn't have him, he or she needs to get him. If they die and they've never, if they die and they don't have Jesus Christ, I don't know. In other words, I have a need-to-know basis, the only thing I know is you need Jesus. I certainly know that God is wiser than me, more merciful than me, and I do know that when I finally find out how God is dealing with every individual soul, I won't have any questions about it. MARTIN BASHIR: Okay, but if this is the only way to God, and if Christians are heading for a place called "heaven," does that mean, therefore, by deduction, that millions of Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus, Jews, all of whom hold their faith with enormous integrity, all of them are heading for hell? TIM KELLER: There's a lot of people who are born in Indianapolis, Indiana, and they grew up in First Baptist Church there, who are also headed for a Christless eternity. Every human being chooses an identity. It's either chosen-- it's either based on the grace of God, or it's basically based on your own performance, and your own ability, and therefore on your own self. And if a billion years from now, you've put your hope in the grace of God, you will be beautiful and happy. If you, a billion years from now, you've put your, you've based your identity on your own self and your own abilities and your own performance, you'll be miserable. In fact, you can see it even now. Self-centered people are miserable even now, not a billion years from now. So, there are plenty of people who're raised Christians, there are plenty of people who were raised in First Baptist Church, but in their hearts, have not turned toward the grace of God. People in other religions, unless they find Christ, I don't know any other way (to heaven), but I also get information on a need-to-know basis. If there's some, if there's some trapdoor, or something like that, I haven't been told about it. But I also don't know. I guess I want to know this: I want to know when a person says, "I need to know everything about how God is going to deal with, you know, all eternity, with all individuals before I can bite down on Christianity," I feel that you actually are maybe projecting your American democratic individualistic understanding of (who God is). You really want a president or a governor or a mayor. You don't really want a King, and I can understand that, because human kings, human beings, are flawed, and therefore, monarchy was not a very good approach to things. But if you have a perfect God, a perfect King, who comes and suffers in (the person of) Jesus Christ, then at a certain point, I trust him. SOLA SISTERS COMMENTARY

This response by Dr. Keller is troubling for several reasons, but for now, I'll just put this partial transcript (with my emphasis highlighted in red) "out there" for readers to ponder. Further commentary to come soon.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

What Is A Christian Universalist?

What Is the "Wider Mercy" Doctrine?

John MacArthur on the "Wider Mercy" Doctrine What Is Fundamentalism?

Echo Zoe Radio Interview About "Christian Universalism"

Love Wins? A Critique of Rob Bell's New Book

The Strange Exodus Of Tlalesh Part I

"Here's the first part of a two-part serial by yours truly. The idea came to me today as I was listening to Terence McKenna on my way back from Syracuse."

The ruins of Tlalesh are not far from the shining towers of Jindelil. If one heads north following the cracked riverbed of the Nenuru -- a waterway that was winding and senescent when Man first crawled forth from his primordial Forest Cradle -- one will eventually come to a sandy area littered with cracked marble flagstones and scattered bits of fallen masonry. This is the site of old Tlalesh, and it is best not to linger there. Or so say the wild men who wander the region in search of game and tidbits to sell at market. They describe strange lights in the sky over fallen Tlalesh. They speak of chittering shadows and the touch of cold, unseen hands. Most townsfolk dismiss these tales as the colorful inventions of goat-wiving crackpots, but the learned erudytes of Jindelil know better.

It is said that when Melhusk the Stunted appeared before Tanai-Suboch, King of Tlalesh, he came bearing an unusual gift. Melhusk was the monarch of the Seventh Decrepitude, an ancient ally of the river-kingdom that had grown too prosperous for the jealous lord of Tlalesh to tolerate. And so the king and his diplomat-cohorts in the Seventh staged a successful coup that enriched Tlalesh's coffers and harems alike. Several of Melhusk's most loyal supporters and family members were killed out of necessity, but by-and-large the conflict was bloodless and the conversion to Tlaleshian rule an uncommonly peaceful process. And so Melhusk, a dwarf now dwarfed twice over by his defeat, was brought before the smiling King of Tlalesh to pronounce words of love and affection for his new master.

"Greetings, Melhusk. We hope all is well with you and that our men-at-arms have not treated you over-rough," said Tanai-Suboch with mock-concern. "We see that you come carrying a basket. Is this a gift for your master? Not an adder, we hope." He motioned to Melhusk's escort and the crude, reed-woven basket was snatched from the dwarf's hands and brought to the foot of the king's dais so that he might view its contents from a safe distance. To his surprise it was filled with little more than river-loam. A few sickly looking white mushrooms sprouted here and there like half-buried finger-bones.

"Good day to you, my lord," said Melhusk in the slow, deliberate tone that was his custom. "As a sign that there is no ill-will between us, I bring you the fruits of my labors in the Seventh. It is common knowledge that mine is a family of potioners and apothecaries first and monarchs second. These fungi you see before you were procured by my own hand from a marsh that lies many days travel to the south. I can use them to make a brew that will allow the drinker passage to the Transubstantial Plane, where it is said many strange things may be seen and known."

Tanai-Suboch shifted uncomfortably in his throne. The audience had quickly taken an unforeseen turn, with no groveling or begging on the horizon -- at least not of the spontaneous variety. This, in stark defiance of his reasoned expectations. "That is most interesting. We will have our magickers examine these weird fruits. In the meantime, we have arranged accommodations for you in the Tower of Barallu." He motioned impatiently for the escort to take Melhusk away. Several courtiers noticed the odd smile on the dwarf's lips as he was ushered out of the throne room.

In reality Tanai-Suboch was absolutely uninterested in Melhusk's gift. The matter fell into the hands of an incompetent court wizard named Forhain, the least of such specialists currently under the king's employ. Forhain was nearing his fortieth year. He lived alone with his son not far from the palace walls, his wife having six years before succumbed to an unknown affliction which took her mind and later her life in the Sanctuary at Yartha. By all accounts Forhain was a fraud. His knowledge of the magical arts was superficial, and his installment at the palace a testament to his pleasant-sounding voice and convincing nature. The other magickers were well aware of Forhain's shortcomings. Behind his back they whispered and sniggered, but none mocked him openly. Such was the power of Forhain's personality that his superiors were somewhat intimidated by him and his ability to capture the ear and mind of the king.

The mushrooms presented something of a predicament to Forhain. Despite his king's lack of interest in the matter, the wizard would still be required to make an official report following his investigation of the deposed monarch's fungi. The question was whether he dare fabricate such a report and risk the chance that the matter might progress in some unknown direction. Perhaps the king might wish him to brew up some of Melhusk's potion and have Forhain himself drink it! The alternative would be to seek the counsel of one of his fellow wizards -- a prospect that irked him considerably. For weeks he mulled over the problem, but no clear solution presented itself. In the meantime the mushrooms sat under his workbench in the cellar, nurtured by the shadows and the damp, cool air.

One evening, as they sat at a dinner of roasted fowl and beets, Forhain noted that his son -- a boy of seven years named Ghon with an appetite nearly on par with his father's gluttony -- was staring absently at his bowl. In fact he had eaten and drank nothing at all, Forhain realized, as he polished off his third bird-leg and considered the crispy scales along the creature's spine.

"Ghon, my darling boy, you look positively pale," cooed Forhain.

"It is nothing father," said the boy, his eyes yet fixed on his bowl.

"Is your stomach not well? Perhaps a disagreement among the acid-sacs? Tell me. If you are ill we must call upon the physic." A note of anxiety touched the wizard's voice. Few thoughts troubled him more than the possibility of losing his son and finding himself alone and with nothing to love in the world but himself.

"I will tell you what ails me, father, but you must not be angry with me after I have told," mumbled Ghon.

"Tell it. You have my word as a wizard," said Forhain, and he brandished a bird-leg for emphasis.

A spasm danced across the boy's face as he explained that while snooping around the cellar he had discovered a basket under his father's workbench. The large, tube-shaped mushrooms growing inside it looked too enticing for him to resist, and it had been nearly an hour since lunch, so what was he to do but take one for a snack to quell the grumbling in his belly? It had tasted off, but only slightly. But now since eating the thing a pain had announced itself in his innards. At first just a pin-prick, the feeling had blossomed into a churning pot of indigestion. "May I be excused, father?" the boy asked finally, not comprehending his father's slack-jawed expression.

The physic was summoned in short order. Despite the man's ample supply of purgatives, he could not entice Ghon to vomit up the masticated mushroom. After an hour of observation, he left the home of Forhain with an expression of defeat. The wizard paced outside his son's bedroom, unable to contain his anxiety. "This will not do. This will not do," he repeated over and over on into the night. By moonrise Ghon had fallen into a shallow-breathed slumber. Several times Forhain held his hand to the boy's mouth to check for breath, so death-like was his sleep. Finally, exhausted, the wizard collapsed at the end of his son's bed and gave himself to phantom-haunted dreams.

He could not be certain of the hour when he awoke. Little light filtered through the bedroom's window. He rubbed his eyes, uncertain for a moment just where he was.

"You will do this thing," said a hollow voice.

The wizard started. A shiver ran up his back. His hands groped for a lamp.

"Who is there? Answer me," quailed Forhain. The hollow sound of the voice, like wind passing over leaves in late autumn, had shaken him considerably.

"You will do this thing," the ghostly voice stated again.

Forhain's seeking hands finally met with the lamp that sat next to him on the floor. He quickly spoke the charm to ignite it. This was one among a dearth of magical oddments actually known to him. The wick sizzled into flame at an unnatural rate, swiftly revealing the room and its contents. To Forhain's surprise, none but he and his son occupied it.

"You will do this thing," said the voice a third time, and Forhain could see that the sound emerged from the boy, though it was so unlike the fine voice he normally possessed. Now other words began to creep their way out from between Ghon's teeth. The voice exhorted the wizard to accomplish a certain task. He would need to construct something, something that required a whole litany of bizarre materials. Forhain reached for paper as the voice droned on, scribbling the instructions in shorthand. This went on for nearly an hour, and then just as suddenly stopped. Ghon's breaths became deeper, and he lapsed back into a sleep that resembled healthy slumber.

Though later he was uncertain as to why he felt so compelled to carry out the ghost-voice's bidding, Forhain spent the next six weeks completely absorbed in the task. He was heartened to see that his son suffered no more weird fits and that his appetite resumed its regular voracity. The project consumed most of his attentions, however. He would have completed it without hesitation, but, as it happened, one afternoon he found himself interrupted by a messenger from the king. It came at a most inconvenient time, for he was in negotiations with a vendor from Kthoa who claimed he could obtain a certain crystal type considered sacred by the cult of Chuugu of the Seventeen Faces. Reluctantly Forhain followed the messenger back to the palace and awaited audience with Tanai-Suboch.

"What of those mushrooms we gave you?" purred the king as one of his virginal servants washed his feet in an ivory bowl. "We have grown curious. A strange dream visited us last night, and it concerned both you and Melhusk's unsavory gift." A shadow creased Tanai-Suboch's brow. He kicked the girl in the face, and she fell to the foot of the dais where she gathered herself up without so much as a whimper.

"The matter has taken some unusual turns, my lord," stated Forhain. "I find myself enlabyrinthed in its complexities at present."

"Oh? And what form do these 'complexities' assume, wizard? We are intrigued," said the king.

"A frame -- or perhaps a doorway -- made of uncommon materials," said the wizard reluctantly, though he was not certain why he felt so.

"We would very much like to see this frame. When the thing is complete, notify my messenger. Carry on, Forhain. We grow bored with the sight of you." Tanai-Suboch waved the wizard on, who went gladly, being all too ready to leave the king's presence.

Part II

Reference: lilith-dark-moon.blogspot.com