The Age of Illumination (revised)

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Though still widely spoken, English had not been a written language for more than half a millennium. Before the Great Darkness men recorded their history in written words for more than six thousand years.

Brother Lazarus was taken in by the monks of the Order of Illumination as an infant and raised in their monastery. Though he memorized and recited all of their poetry and stories, his favorite was "The Legend of the Repository". It told of a place in the Western Mountains that held the key to rediscover this history.

In the spring of his twenty-seventh year Brother Lazarus stood before the Council of Seven. Even in his tunic, his broad shoulders and manly stature were apparent. "Brothers Adam, Joshua, Lucas and I wish to make a pilgrimage to the Western Mountains to rediscover the location of the Repository."

"This is a most unusual request," replied the head of the council. "No one has traveled beyond the Great River for more than two hundred years."

"We know this is true," said Lazarus, "but we are young and strong and believe the potential of a successful journey is worth the danger we may face."

"And what is it that you wish of us?"

"We want you to provide us with a six month ration and supplies to make our journey."

The elders of the council spoke among themselves for several minutes. "We will agree to fund this pilgrimage," replied the council head.

There were no celebrations or gathered well wishers, the team simply left the monastery.

The journey was demanding, up at sunrise, make camp just before sunset, with no break each day became more taxing than the previous. After nearly month, they arrived at the Great River. It was almost a mile wide and the current was very strong. They understood why it served as a boundary.

"We've arrived here four days ahead of schedule," rejoiced Lazarus.

Lucas, the smallest and youngest member of the group replied, "It's true, but I for one am ragged to the bone."

"Perhaps we should use these days to refresh our zeal," said Adam.

"Yes, and consider our crossing," chimed Joshua.

They agreed to schedule their travel days more prudently to insure alert observation of the new territory. During these rest days they built a raft to carry them across the river. As they were building the raft Lazarus remarked to Adam, "Even with rowing, this current will carry us miles further down river. We need to be able to accurately map our crossing."

"When we get to the other side, we can just walk back up river until we are straight across from here" said Adam.

"I can barely see the other side from here. How will we know when we are straight across?"

"I'll show you." Adam untied the waist cord of his tunic. With a stick attached at each end he drew a large circle in the ground. He placed a stone in the center and placed a stone for north and south, and east and west. The he selected two distant landmarks in the terrain and placed a stone on the circle in a straight line between the center and each landmark. "When the circle on the other shore matches this one, we will be straight across."

This lesson renewed Lazarus' confidence that they could reach where the Repository was supposed to be. But that was no guarantee that it was still there. After this Lazarus always referred to him as Adam the Navigator and assigned him the duty of mapping on animal skins their daily travels and landmark references. This replaced the need to memorize their journey.

After their successful crossing they built an alter to mark the place of their new beginning and the journey took on a new excitement. Nearly every day presented new landmark references to be mapped. They discovered and named new territories. Sometimes they would find a new species of plant or animal, and on rare days they would meet an indigenous tribe of nomadic people.

On these occasions Lazarus was especially encouraged because though communication was difficult there was enough similarity in the language to suggest that they once shared a common tongue. It was on such an occasion that they met the woman Laughter. She remembered, as a small girl, traveling with her tribe past something similar to this Repository they inquired about and was willing to take them there. It was a three day journey.

They spied the Repository in all of it glory. Though in places it was in need of repair, the hand hewn stone walls, nearly the width of an arm from wrist to elbow, had stood strong against time. The interior, while in disarray with scattered debris and overturned furniture, was truly impressive. Wall to wall throughout its entirety were shelves filled with books, some as thick as the palm of your hand and others less than the width of a child's smallest finger.

They spent the next three days cleaning up debris and reestablishing some order to the Repository. Then began the task of examining the books to see if they could find some level of understanding to the strange glyphs contained within them. They quickly understood that there were fifty-two symbols, twenty-six large and twenty-six small, that were repeatedly used. They even located a massive tome that seemed to establish an order to their priority. It was called "DICTIONARY". But the way that these symbols interacted eluded them and their understanding was fruitless.

On the seventh day of the seventh new moon, as the story goes, Bother Lazarus found a book called "A CHILDREN'S ALPHABET". On the first page it said, A is for Apple, and it showed a picture of an apple. The second page said B is for Boy, and it showed a Boy. It had twenty-six pages, one for each large symbol. It was the key to the written language...

...and the dawn of a new age, the Age of Illumination.


Word Count: 1000 words