“Notes on Raki” by Bralbaard Hammerfishes, written in 801. The most terrible stories are still told about the first rampage of Raki, the mad lion tamarin man. Stories about the weremammoth curse, or the fell ones he created that today plague many parts of the continent.
Stories of grief, for the hundreds, maybe thousands of deaths he caused, either directly or indirectly. Yes, it is generally agreed that when Raki disappeared the world sighed in relief.
But over the last decades there have been rumors that this was not the end of it. Rumors about a secret cult that was conspiring to bring him back from death. Rumors that said this cult had succeeded and that Raki was out there plotting and brooding in the shadows, waiting to strike. Rumors that have been ridiculed by the nobility and many public figures, who have said that these stories are nothing more than attempts by priests to rally the gullible masses behind their religion, or by others who want to abuse the fear of the people.
I would however urge the reader to be cautious in dismissing these rumors. There is strong evidence that they are based on truth. There is highly credible evidence that Irthu Bladebroken raised the mad monkey king from death over 32 years ago. This is both supported by forensic evidence from Monkeycurse, and by confessions from Irthu Bladebroken himself. On top of that there have been many reliable sightings of the monkey king over the last three decades.
The only reasonable argument I have heard that is used to dismiss this evidence is the following:
“If the Monkey King has returned from death, why is the world not burning?"The answer to this, I can not give you. I fear that only Raki himself might know the answer. In fact to illustrate this point, I will end this note with a short, but popular story that is often shared by poets and entertainers:
What lies deep below our feet?
The answer depends on who you ask.
Ask an elf, and he will tell you:
“the fertile soil, from which trees grow, and flowers bloom“
Ask a dwarf and he will laugh at the elf and say:
“below that soil lie caverns vast and deep, filled with gems and metals of great value”
a learned scientist may scoff at the dwarf and say:
“there is theoretic evidence that there exists a great magma sea far below the caverns, warm molten rock that none can pass”
Ask a priest and he will say that science does not have the answer:
“Our faith tells us that uncountable demons live in hell below, between chasms of unimaginable depth“
But what then if you ask all of them what lies at the bottom of these chasms?
The elf, dwarf, scientist and priest would all agree that only Raki knows.
(OOC: So that was short.. I was going for a stroll through hell but failed to notice the steam demon on the level above me. It did not end well)