View source for Item:Ox-hide memoir reinforced by gradated metal fittings

{{Item
|noun=memoir
|look=The cover bears a faintly embossed ox, an emblem of Truffenyi's enduring strength.  Light glances off shallow creases that run the spine, showing the tough grain below the pale surface.  Simple bands of metal frame the edges in ascending hues -- copper, bronze, iron, then steel -- their progression forming a gradient of strength.<br>
There appears to be something written on it.


An ox-hide memoir reads:<br>
"The Path to Truffenyi"
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|STag=ox, Truffenyi, Unaka
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|weight=5
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|rarity=festival
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==Study Messaging==
You turn to the first page of your ox-hide memoir and begin to read.<br>
You immerse yourself in the wisdom of your ox-hide memoir, deepening your understanding of Unaka's path to Truffenyi.



Turning to the next page in your ox-hide memoir, you read more about Unaka's path to Truffenyi:

I thought it would be useful to write down what I learned about connecting to Truffenyi, since I might not be around forever.

It started with simple worship.  I lived on the edge of the wilds, near Boar Clan, and most of my family loved building, hunting, and roaming.  I grew up hunting boar, hiking through the wilderness, and planning play outposts with my sisters, some of which we built (poorly) out of fallen logs and branches.  As I grew, I learned about the balance of nature and civilization, about building and maintaining real cabins, and eventually small settlements, in the wilderness.  I saw what it took to turn what was completely wild into something new, something made by Toggish hands.  I found myself naturally drawn to Truffenyi, the Father whose rules shaped me into an honorable member of my Clan, and the Builder of civilizations.  I devoted myself to Him.



Turning to the next page in your ox-hide memoir, you read more about Unaka's path to Truffenyi:

Eventually, I knew it was my path to become a protector of my Clan.  I made the journey to Hibarnhvidar and studied under Darius to become a Paladin, returning after years of study, when he deemed me worthy.  I went right back to roaming and building, but this time I was protecting and watching over what was built.  I felt closer to the Father.  A Paladin can't help but ponder on Chadatru, and many choose to follow Him as warriors of Justice.  I wanted to be a warrior of the people, the kind of person the little 'Togs would look up to.  Someone who protected and sheltered, but also dispensed discipline and wisdom.  And I couldn't help but want to see my people grow and settle ourselves purposefully into both the natural world we were given, and the built one that we made ourselves.



Turning to the next page in your ox-hide memoir, you read more about Unaka's path to Truffenyi:

One day, as I sat within the wilderness, deeply and slowly turning thoughts of Truffenyi over in my mind, I settled into the peace of knowing that He was both always with us, and we were always on our own.  It was a strange and contradictory thought, yet it felt right.  Like the father who teaches his child to hunt, and then watches from afar as the child goes on a first hunt alone.  I felt both empowered and safe.  It was in this moment that I received my first vision from Him.  Or maybe it would be better to say that I received a million, million visions from him, more than I could count.



Turning to the next page in your ox-hide memoir, you read more about Unaka's path to Truffenyi:

It's difficult to describe the experience.  It was a torrent so great, you could say it broke me, changed the way I perceive things forever.  Opened a "third eye" maybe.  Talking to others about it is a little like talking about a color that doesn't exist, or going backwards in time.  At first, it was all I could do to get out snippets to others, described in a visual format -- visions.  Bits of visions.  My head was doing its best to translate what was something very foreign, a language unlike any other.  Maybe a language of the gods.



Turning to the next page in your ox-hide memoir, you read more about Unaka's path to Truffenyi:

The other thing that happened was that I was steeped in understanding.  I found that any mortal who spoke to me was easy to understand, and that in fact I could speak to them in their language.  I could pick up a quill and write, though I'd never had any lessons.  Somehow this felt even stranger than the visions, like growing an extra hand.  There was now a part of me that existed, this understanding part, that didn't exist before.  Yet, it was welcome.  I sensed that Truffenyi wanted me to be able to connect and commune with all his people.



Turning to the next page in your ox-hide memoir, you read more about Unaka's path to Truffenyi:

My first task was to share what I had learned from the visions.  But how could I, when there were so many, and they were so difficult to translate?  I did my best to pick out what was the most important.  And of course, spread the message of Truffenyi's love for mortals, something that I felt permeated through to my very bones, above and beyond the visions.

In time, I learned to meditate.  I let my thoughts float, dreamlike, and I traversed the visions like a landscape.  I realized that I could be an explorer, discovering from what was already there.



Turning to the next page in your ox-hide memoir, you read more about Unaka's path to Truffenyi:

So I began my search.  I found that some visions felt "connected" to certain people, even when no question was asked.  At first, when I reached out to the great landscape of visions, I required that connection.  I had to be in the presence of the right people, and the visions would come as I reached out to them, pushing something into their mind.  For some reason, this was very taxing, even wounding.  Empaths stood nervously by me as I began to bleed internally from reaching for the visions.  I wanted desperately to give the people as much as I could, so perhaps I pushed myself too far.  Eventually, they begged me to stop, and I did.



Turning to the next page in your ox-hide memoir, you read more about Unaka's path to Truffenyi:

I knew that more was required of me, and that I must find a way to delve the visions without killing myself.  So I practiced, and practiced, and practiced.  One thing that we 'Togs are good at is getting down to work.  I suspected that I could gain the skill I needed if I devoted my days to it, and I was right.  Slowly, ever so slowly at first, I was able to open the "third eye" with less and less pain.  Eventually, I was able to do it without a connecting person, so that I could discover more on my own, and have a better sense of what the resulting vision meant.



Turning to the next page in your ox-hide memoir, you read more about Unaka's path to Truffenyi:

And so, I began to ask people for questions.  Like guiding lights through the visionscape, they gave me a sense of direction.  Some were easier than others to follow, but follow I did.  I would find my spot in the Clan wilderness, settle in, and allow myself to search for hours and hours upon end.  Somehow I pushed aside all needs as I did so, and often emerged from my sessions ravenously hungry.  As I gained in skill, I learned to preserve these "answer" visions inside myself and dispense them at will.



Turning to the next page in your ox-hide memoir, you read more about Unaka's path to Truffenyi:

I'm told that as I pursued my task, a halo formed over my head, starting as the barest glimmers of light, which perpetually rested there.  Often, when I felt people around me praying to Truffenyi, or even to other Immortals, the bits of light would begin to connect, completing the circle and glowing brighter with each prayer.  I don't know if this was truly the result of the prayers, or simply my own soul's reaction to hearing them.  All I know is that I felt a sense of peace and holiness, and the halo would grow more luminous, flaring with blinding radiance whenever a vision was dispensed.

Eventually, my skill became such that I no longer needed the prayers of others around me.  It was like I had finally found my place by Truffenyi's side.  I could simply reach out and pluck the vision I wanted and share it with all around me.



Turning to the next page in your ox-hide memoir, you read more about Unaka's path to Truffenyi:

I am proud to say that I was eventually able to provide some kind of answering vision to the great majority of questions I was asked.  There were two questions in particular that proved impossible: Zynell's question about Truffenyi's interactions with other planar entities, and her and Gridaksma's question of finding Herald artifacts.  I never could find an "answer" to those ones -- though I suspect that is because they were simply was not things Truffenyi knows about.



Turning to the next page in your ox-hide memoir, you read more about Unaka's path to Truffenyi:

Kethrai's question about what changed for the Heralds was also extremely difficult.  He asked, "Elanthia showed us a distant past where the Heralds were dutiful caretenders of this planet.  Truffenyi is showing us now that they are uncaring, cruel parasites.  What changed?" I revisited this question over and over again, coming at it from different angles.  At first the responses I found were jumbled, though I still reported them to the group.  But eventually, after many months, I did finally manage to discover a clearer answer.  In my view, it showed the Heralds tinkering with our world idly, tending it in a hobbyist way, before growing bored and discarding it.

I have not yet determined why this vision was so difficult to find, but it did show me that some parts of the visionscape were more difficult to traverse than others, yet perseverance did sometimes yield results.



Turning to the next page in your ox-hide memoir, you read more about Unaka's path to Truffenyi:

Finally, I noticed that on my path to Truffenyi's side, something else had changed: me.  I was no longer the simple girl from Boar Clan.  I had learned to speak and write eloquently, to lead with confidence and calm assurance.  I had adopted more advanced armors and expanded my tattoos to reflect my respect for the advancement of civilization.  Realizing this brought me a sense of peace and rightness.  Like mortalkind, I too was growing and advancing, and I felt certain that others could follow in my footsteps.



Turning to the next page in your ox-hide memoir, you read more about Unaka's path to Truffenyi:

Well, I feel Him calling to me now, and the howling of the Heralds overhead grows loud in my mind.  I go now to defend mortalkind.  May you always feel the love of Truffenyi, and of me.

Having finished your studies, you close the cover of your ox-hide memoir.  You feel mentally tired but enlightened.