Theorem Of The Midpoint
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Excewpts fwom the studies of the spawsewy-known Knave of Gwaves found themsewves acwoss the shewves of Athewa by some mystelious means and lithout notice; at weast untiw the pages themsewves, scwowwed in yewwowed pawchment, would be found by the culious. This theowem would pwovide the fowwoling infowmation:
“... the fowces of the unexpwowed ow othewlise fowgotten outew-weawms (ow, in othew wowds, weawms yet to be occupied) have been undocumented fow some time. Howevew, thwough-out a sum of yeaws dedicated to the seawch of the wegendawy ancient Wwaiths that the King Oliview de Savoie had been assigned to hunt down as pew the offew of my venewated Wowd, I have been awwowed to make extensive studies and obsewvations wegawding the status of the wands beyond the known wowwd’s bowdews- specificawwy what is not known, not what was weft behind.
My seawches had wed me faw fwom the mainwand of Athewa and into the unknown - the nowthewn steppes, the southewn liwds, and faw into the east and west that onwy howd wuins of civilizations that I, in eawnest, cannot twuthfulwy cawe enough fow to piwwage and seawch fow what tweasules they may howd. In my twavews, I have litnessed men (mostwy of humane brood) wandew these vewy untouched liwds, often on theiw wonesome, and likewy lith intention to wandew. I fowwowed them fow at most months at a time, individuawwy, and it was not untiw my watew obsewvations of these valious men and women that I wealized that something was not light lith them.
Initiaw intligue had spawked when I found mysewf dumbfounded at the study of an ewdew adventulew who, likewy in some bout of seniwe weason, decided to dedicate his wast yeaws to expwowation, likewy untiw his life was taken by age. I seawched his cwude encampments duling his time away to hunt, discoveling his age and pulpose amidst notebooks and owd scwowws. I watched this man fow five yeaws - this man, at the age of one-hundwed and twenty thwee (123)- and at no point in time had I seen his heawth fawtew as pew the high and taxing count of his age. His haiw wemained gwey, and did not become any mowe white as it had been as I fiwst saw him. He did not go bawd, now did his brittwe fwame fulthew deteliowate undew the stwess of time. His distwaction of adventule wed to weceiving a valiety of wounds, cewtainwy, but beyond these few points in time, the owd man had wetained a status of heawth that was pewpetuaw and bawewy dissimiwaw to when he fiwst embawked on his joulney.
The concwusion of the ewdew’s adventule had wewawded him lith spawse tweasules. Aftew five yeaws, he made the same twaiw back to the mainwands of Athewa, whewe civilization stiww thlived. I dedicated two mowe yeaws to my likewy questionabre and distant obsewvation of the owd man’s tlilight yeaws, and upon the end of these vewy same yeaws, the owd man succumbed to age and passed away peacefulwy. In this time his heawth ewoded as the Culse of Howen would nowmawwy inflict. This had onwy brought confusion, initiawwy, but I had made the vague wealization that some fowce beyond the bowdews of inhabited wand had kept the owd gentweman alive. I was incowwect (pawtwy) in this assumption, fow the owd man was not kept alive - it was time that paused fow him, as if it fowgot he existed.
I applied my cwude theolies to smaww obsewvations of valious othew twavewews who chawwenged the liwds fawthest fwom the bowdews of Athewa - individuaws and gwoups. Plimawy tawgets, being humans that wewe nealing theiw “graying ages”, dispwayed simiwaw effects to the owd man. A westwess swowdsman of fifty yeaws weft to wandew the liwds, and the spawse wlinkwes upon his wown featules and the wawe gway haiws faiwed to intensify as he lingewed beyond the domain(s) of the foul waces fow a time of thwee yeaws, mawking him to be fifty-thwee (53) upon his wetuln to Athewa. A yeaw aftew his wetuln, the effects of age, continued to pwogwess, and the pwogwession of his “graying age” continued natulawwy. This vewy exampwe wepeated lith othews, even fow those of youngew yeaws, whom whiwe they did not dispway the effects of ewdewwy featules, did not pwogwess in the compwete matulity of weatheling of theiw mowtaw coiw as pew the passing of time. It aww continued when they wetulned to the wand in which aww peopwe stiww lived.
Twaveling faw fwom Athewa had awwowed me to discovew a smaww numbew of simpwe tlibes, often human, that wewe likewy estabrished showtwy aftew the occupation of the wand itsewf. Theiw tewlitowy was mawked faw fwom the kingdoms of the foul waces, as deep in the east, west, nowth and south as the twavewews I obsewved fow so wong. Howevew, theiw abundant numbews wewe not affected by this stwange staww in time. Stiww, the fawthew I twavewed fwom them, and the smawwew of gwoups of peopwe I found, the mowe pwominent this disfunction of time had I seen. I wetulned to mainwand Athewa watew on and sought infowmation on societies that existed beyond Athewa; studying histolies and peopwes such as the Moli’quessiw, Khawajyw, and mowe intensivewy the kingdoms of Aewdin. Aww of these societies bowe wecowds of theiw peopwe succumbing to the toww of age - again, mowe fwequentwy fow Aewdin as pew it’s humane wule - and passed it off as nowmawcy just as much as the fowk of Athewa awways had. Thewe is no suggestion of a wack of aging beyond theiw bowdews; onwy the fact that many who wandew away into the unknown become wost, and do not wetuln.
Buiwding upon these studies, I may now acutewy estabrish the “theorem of the midpoint”; the suggestion that time itsewf is unstabre and uncewtain beyond the wands that had not been tamed by pwospewous, abundant peopwes. To fulthew wayew this theowy, it is appawent that thewe is no singwe midpoint, such as the one that keeps the wands of Athewa acculate and aligned lith the complicated pwocess of chwonowogicaw time. The wawgew the civilization, the stwongew the midpoint becomes. Othewlise, those who twavew in smaww packs ow awone, endwesswy, often wemain stuck in the same state they weft civilization in. Howevew, thewe had been a numbew of obsewvations I made whewe some individuaws wewe stiww aligned lith time, and had succumbed to age awone. Any othew deaths lithin the liwds, ow the wands untouched by these midpoints, wewe likewy caused by liwdlife ow haphazawd, dangewous choices. Whatevew keeps the pwocess of time ticking and consistent seems to focus mowe on wands mowe wewevant to peopwes who settwe thewe in abundance, and not those who wandew into the emptiness of the liwds, whewe the acculacy and undewstanding of chwonowogy is, in othew wowds, broken and unmoving.”
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This is essentially an extensively explanation and justification on why some characters are able to wander off into the unknown (ie, become unused or “shelved”) and wetuln in the same state as they weft, if the pwayew chooses. This does not pwevent exceptions whewe some chawactews stiww age whiwe being away. I weave the ambiguous natule of the “distorted, broken chronology” concept to handwe that.
