The Books of Chzo

[Black Waltz No. 3]

This is from the special edition of the game Trilby's Notes.

[The following pages are samples from the religious texts of the Order of Blessed Agonies, as retrieved from the mission to Clanbronwyn Island. While the ‘Book of Victims’ was acquired piecemeal by Agent Trilby directly from the individual calling himself ‘Lenkmann’, the rest was recovered from a cache of Lenkmann’s personal possessions found in his room.]



THE BOOKS OF CHZO



THE BOOK OF THE PRINCE

Chapter 1

1. It appeared that there were two great lands separated by a sea of ultimate darkness, in which two aspects of the race of Man existed. The first of these lands was the land of Technology, where Man was free to live in Sin and without direction, building himself luxuries of the greatest decadence.
2. The second of these two lands was the land of Magick, where Man was humble and constructive, and where there were many righteous kingdoms of Man and Demon, but the greatest kingdom of all was that in which resided the King, and the King was named Chzo, and all who knew him sang of his glory and of his greatness.
3. And Chzo declared to the Men and Demons of the land of Magick,“Of this I ask you. I will let you exist without my interference. But in return you shall set aside one day of the year, to sing loud my name and bring me gifts for which I will be rightly pleased.”
4. “And that day shall be the eight-and-twentieth day of the seventh month of every year, for this is the day when I am allowed a glimpse of the land of Technology, where the wilfulness of Men makes me much displeased.”
5. Then for ten score years this was so, the King allowed the races of Man and Demon to exist as they saw fit, and on the eight-and-twentieth day of every seventh month the King’s heart was hardened by what he saw in the land of Technology, and the subjects of the land of Magick would be quick to gladden him with offerings.

[Black Waltz No. 3]

Chapter 2

1. At this time there came a man from the land of Technology, and though his wisdom was great and his power advanced, he had the wilfulness of his fellows, and so he was the Arrogant Man.
2. And on the eight-and-twentieth day of the seventh month of the year that would come to be known as the Year of the Arrogant Man, the King was allowed his yearly vision of the land of Technology, and he saw the Arrogant Man in turn gazing upon him, saying
3. “O King, I beseech you, for this land has become corrupt without your benevolent hand, and darkness seeks to envelope us all. I demand of you to cross the border between our lands and make things right, for my power is great, and I have it in my power to control one even as great as you.”
4. And the King was rightly amused, for while the Arrogant Man’s power was indeed great, the King’s power was greater still, and the King said
5. “I will not submit myself, for my power is greater than yours, and not yours to command. Secondly, while my power is vast and my capabilities many, it is impossible for me to enter the land of Technology, for the border is a dark and treacherous ocean I cannot simply will away.
6. “But I will do this for you, O Arrogant Man. For all the bigness of your head, you are still small enough to be spared the rigours of the dark ocean, and I shall rescue you from the darkness in the land of Technology, and you shall live in my household, and here you will learn humility.”
7. And as the King said it, so was it so, and the Arrogant Man did cross the ocean between the lands and commence servitude in the house of the King, and the King brought him before his majesty and he said
8. “Now you must repay me for the slight your arrogance caused me, for despite your insult I love you as I love every Man and beast, and you must learn to take this love into your heart.”
9. And the King took the Body and Mind of the Arrogant Man and separated them from his Soul, and this he placed in a great Tree in the land of Technology, and with this action he announced,
10. “Now you are the Tree, and the Tree is you, and the wood is your Soul. With this gift of separation your body shall not wither or die throughout your lessons. But should any Man in the land of Technology interfere with the Tree that is your Soul on the day that is mine, I shall lend to you the power to confront them, and strike them down with fitting vengeance.”
11. And then he touched the Arrogant Man and filled his heart with his warming love, and the Arrogant Man became the Prince, and he knew the name of the King.
12. And the Prince and the court of the King bowed down and wept and sang with great praise the name of the King, for great and generous was his wisdom.

[Black Waltz No. 3]

Chapter 3

1. And so the Prince who had been the Arrogant Man began his servitude to the King, and the King taught him the nature of Life, and of the true Purification.
2. “For every Man and Beast and every form of Life, there are three Aspects. These three are the Body, the Mind and the Soul, and nothing shall be called Life if it lacks even one of these three.
3. “But through ill deeds and unpious living, the Aspects become tarnished, and with this tarnish my name shall never be known, and the trinity will be cast forever into the dark ocean between our lands.
4. “Only through Purification of the Aspects with Blessed Agony will a tarnished being again know my name.
5. “The Soul must always be Purified first. Only those who have suffered the greatest loss of what is nearest to their hearts will know the Blessed Agony of the Soul.
6. “The Body comes second. Only those who have their flesh teased and torn with blade and fire will know the Blessed Agony of the Body.
7. “The Mind will always receive its Purification last. The Mind is unique in that, while the Body and Soul have only one Blessed Agony, the Mind has three, which must all be experienced to fully Purify the Mind. These three are Tedium, Fear, and Madness.
8. “Only when the the three Aspects are ritually Purified with each of the Blessed Agonies will any Life truly be beloved in my sight.”

[Black Waltz No. 3]

Chapter 4

1. A great many years took place after the Year of the Arrogant Man, and the Prince who had been the Arrogant Man remained in the court of the King and learned many lessons for which he was grateful.
2. Then came the time when the Men of the land of Technology discovered the great Tree that was the Prince’s soul, and the Men said
3. “What is this Tree that blights our land of constructed things? We will not allow such majesty that was not built by us.”
4. And they tore down the Tree, and broke it into pieces, and used the wood that was the Soul of the Prince to make their houses and their trinkets, and the Prince was rightly saddened, and he felt the blade of every saw that brutalised the wood that was his Soul as if it brutalised his very flesh, and the Prince said
5. “By the hands of the wilful Men of Technology I have suffered, and thus I vow shall the Men of Technology suffer at the hands of I.”
6. And the King said unto the Prince, “As you have willed it, so shall I arrange it, and so when the eight-and-twentieth day of the seventh month occurs, I shall permit you to return to the land of Technology and bring down your judgement upon the Men who have wronged you.”
7. And as the King said it, so was it so.

[Black Waltz No. 3]

THE BOOK OF VICTIMS

The Embarkation

1. And so, when the eight-and-twentieth day of every seventh month occurred, the Prince would cross the dark ocean, and he would listen for the cries of the wood that was his Soul being abused at the hands of Man, and he would go there, for his Soul still called to him even across great distances.
2. And wherever he found Man breaking or cutting or hurting the wood that was his Soul to be made into their constructions, he would strike down with great vengeance upon those who wronged him, and they would know the name of the King.

[Black Waltz No. 3]

Victim 1: The Woodcutter

1. The first of those against whom the Prince sought vengeance was the Woodcutter, he who had held the axe that first felled the Tree. The Prince came to him and his son, and he struck the Woodcutter down, and the Woodcutter knew the name of the King.
2. And the Prince turned to the Woodcutter’s son, and he said “You I shall let live, for you are young and are of the innocent, and that you may go among your people and tell them of what I will wrought.”
3. And the Woodcutter’s son fled, and told all of what he had seen, but the Men of Technology are arrogant and his words were unheeded.

[Black Waltz No. 3]

Victim 2: The Innkeeper

1. The second Man who desired judgment was the Innkeeper, who had bought the wood of the Tree and built from it his house. The Prince came to him and his guest, and he struck the Innkeeper down, and the Innkeeper knew the name of the King.
2. And the Prince turned to the Innkeeper’s guest, and he said “You I shall not let live, for once before have I made this warning, and still my Soul aches with what is done to the wood that is my Soul, and I will spare no Man who injures me in this way.”
3. And the Innkeeper’s guest knew the name of the King.

[Black Waltz No. 3]

Victim 3: Frehorn

1. The third Man who desired judgment was Frehorn, who had bought from those who made luxuries with the wood that was the Prince’s Soul, and against whom the Prince brought down the pain of the Soul. The Prince came and struck down the lover of Frehorn, and Frehorn knew the name of the King.
2. And Frehorn said, “I know you now, O Prince who was the Arrogant Man, and I anticipate your wish, and I will devote myself to spreading the teachings you have brought me and the love of our King.”
3. And the Prince was satisfied, and Frehorn called all those who would listen and they formed an Order of Blessed Agonies that would work to redeem the follies of the Men of Technology.

[Black Waltz No. 3]

Victim 4: The Slave

1. The fourth Man who desired judgment was the Slave, who had not been brought Frehorn’s message, and who cruelly tormented the wood that was the Prince’s Soul with a sharpened blade. The Prince came to him and he struck the Slave down, and the Slave knew the name of the King.
2. And the Prince said, “Not one of your household shall I leave alive, Slave, for thrice now have I brought my warning, and any who still fail to heed shall be named as Fool and judged most unworthy in our sight.”

[Black Waltz No. 3]

Victim 5: The Child

1. The fifth Man who desired judgment was the Child, whose father held in his possession the carving of the Slave. The Prince came to him and was at once rightly pleased with what he found, for the house of the Child and his father already knew well the name of the King.
2. And as the Prince watched, the Child was thrown down by his father and broken with the wood of the Prince’s Soul, but as the Child’s Body, Mind and Soul began to drift apart, the Prince held them together, and he said
3. “You are the Child, and to you I grant power, for I see in you the potential that will grant my father, the King, his greatest wish. You shall be not of the land of Technology, nor of the realm of Magick, but of both, and thus you shall form the Bridge.
4. “And across the Bridge the King shall come to bring his message to the Men of Technology. Through you, Child, the Bridge will come, and thus I name you the Bridgekeeper.”
5. And the Prince touched the Child, and he was the Bridgekeeper, and his three aspects were granted power, so that his Soul would join with the Prince’s Soul in the wood of the Tree.
6. And the Bridgekeeper rose up and threw down his father and threw down his brother, and truly did they know the name of the King. And into the house of his father went the Body and the Mind of the Bridgekeeper.
7. And the Prince said “Now I grant you one-third of the power that is mine so that, whatever is to come, your Body shall dwell forever in this house, and your Mind shall forever be this house, and so shall this house be your Mind. All is in readiness now for the Bridge.”
8. And the Prince sang songs of praise in worship of the King, and the love that the Men of Technology would know when the King came across the Bridge.

[Black Waltz No. 3]

THE BOOK OF THE BRIDGE

Chapter 1

1. After ten score years, all was in readiness for the construction of the Bridge, and the Prince watched as the Bridgekeeper stood on both sides of the dark ocean, awaiting

[This is all we have of the Book of the Bridge; just the cover and the first paragraph was readable. The rest had been burnt in a tin waste paper basket. Whether this was done accidentally or deliberately, and whether it was done by Lenkmann or other parties, remains an unanswered question. It’s somewhat inconvenient as I am very interested in reading the full text of this prophecy he spoke of. I shall continue my research into the matter.

-Trilby]

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