Matters of Fate

In these latter days of Qadal, sown with destruction and uncertainty, the hearts of mortals turn to the Void and plead for answers. What final vision does Ácolitus or his Eshan possess for the world? When shall be the end-times of strife or eternal peace? Indeed, what is the meaning of – itself? The answer, long known by the Eshan though shamefully hidden from mortals is that ‘fate’ exists as nothing but a myth. The passage of time, occurrence of events, life and death, and the machinations of the Eshan are contained upon a single continuity of reality. No entity, divine or otherwise, might predict its course. It cannot be reversed or thereafter altered. Why, the dishearted seeker of peace might ask? Why does time bind itself to such a tumultuous lineage? The answer, as only those intimately acquainted with the Eshanic world might describe, is Ácolitus himself. He is the essence of all existence, and the font from which all manner of divine and mortal life derives. No sentient being might travel through time, as the fabric of time and reality is itself bound to physical existence, for Ácolitus is also its font! Simply, the everlasting continuum of time does not reign parallel and independent. The universe is as old as Ácolitus, and Ácolitus as old as the universe. Just as a mortal may not turn back years of youth, the Creator cannot reverse the course of time. This forges lifetimes and history into an unbreakable chain of history which exists beyond the domain of the divine to manipulate. Ácolitus and the Eshan are permanently bound to their decisions and the world they crafted. In this same manner, the future cannot be witnessed because Ácolitus himself has not aged to that point. Quite literally, nothing exists in the future whatsoever. It is a completely blank canvas upon which mortals and Eshan decide their personally created iteration of fate.
The unnegotiable finality of ‘fate’ and the continuum of time conjures ominus specters of the future. What happens is forever done. This is known, but difficult to grasp. The cataclysmic First Feud, the death of Atûn, the Great Conflict, the deaths of Aebaster and Corgastor, and the arrival of Zarthum are a few stains which blacken the historical record. They can never be undone. The spirits and lives lost are eternally
deprived of existence, never to be revived in past or future. In a manner of thinking, then, the conflicts between mortals and Eshan are desparate struggles for survival in an unforgiving world. What must be understood from this understanding is that radical activity and unpredictable choices are not manifestations of stupidity or hubris. The Eshan are ancient gamblers and comprehend the rules of their celestial game with greater saliency than any other entities. They calculate, choose, and allow the course of existence to meander across its infinite canvas.
Among mortals, fate is a matter vigorously disputed. The practice is typically associated with the Eshan, the powers of whom mortals knew little about besides its immensity. Others believe that Ácolitus, the fabric of all spiritual and physical existence, can discern fate and act upon it. A small population of brave individuals have come forth throughout time with claims of clairvoyance. The susperstitious and provincial populations favor these enigmatic figures close to the working of the Eshan. Nations and Eshanic religious officials despise them, as the act is either subversive and dangerous or inaccurate and misleading. Those unfortunate ‘fateweavers’ captured in practice was nigh universally slaughtered. However, something the roles are reversed, and sovereigns make use of fateweavers while the local people might shun their strange wisdom and out-worldly connections.