Roidira sighs and waves her hand. All but Bahram and Zeta fall to their knees, shuddering.
“This is basic; essential! How can you be open to Enlightenment if you cannot even grasp this? Do not let it be said that I am unmerciful, however. Empty yourselves of what you have learned!"
At Bahram's words, Roidira smiles and claps softly.
“Better. Thus you have learned the true significance of emptiness. Tell me, as good Roidirans, then, do you believe in nothing?”
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Sulana winces as the energy flows through her and glares at Roidira.
She speaks of knowledge, yet the only answer that pleased her was fake flattery. She speaks of worshippers, yet drove her own cultists into despair. I don’t know what this is; it’s clearly more powerful than us, but it’s no goddess.
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Sulana still doesn't believe that 'Roidira' is a goddess, but playing along seems to be the only way to get answers right now.
"The 'good' Roidirans outside seem to be trying to believe in nothing. But...I don't think it's actually possible. If they really believed in nothing, they wouldn't be waving signs outside of the city. They wouldn't be doing anything. They'd just...lay down and let themselves die."
No matter how powerful this creature might be, Sulana can't entirely keep the bite from her final words. "So no. Maybe I'm no good Roidiran, but I most certainly don't believe in nothing."
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Driven to his knees by this powerful force, the dwarf wrestles in his own mind at understanding these philosophies. After a moment, he believes he's figured out where these teachings are trying to direct those that will listen. While he still has faith in the natural world of Golarion, Aulurius does find some truth in these teachings. "I believe that turning away from other beliefs is a belief itself. It's finding knowledge where other faiths instruct you to turn away."
Usually headstrong and sure of himself, the druid is clearly troubled by this powerful presence.
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Sayuki growls as she stumbles to her knees, shuddering as she shakes her head.
But that which softens the dwarf hardens the kitsune.
"I... am not here for Enlightenment! If it means casting aside all that I hold dear, I want no part of it!" Her nostrils flare, even as she is unable to bring herself to look up at Roidira.
"One day me, my wife, and our daughter will be nothing but dirt and dust, but there will be meaning in that we have lived. Even a deity such as yourself cannot take that from me!" she hisses.
"Then let those whose minds are closed to the possibility of Enlightenment be closed."
Roidira gestures dismissively at Sayuki.
Roidira smiles at Aulurius.
“Now for my final question: is true knowledge even possible?”
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Bahram strokes his beard, thinking about this one. He's not really sure if this is truly Rodira it not. Could be. Might not be. Either way, he had been given some interesting conversation.
"that's an interesting question. You hear about omniscient beings. Gods, such as yourself are thought to be all knowing. That sounds like true knowledge, but The subjects of our knowledge are always changing. Nothing remains constant. As soon as we think we might know all there is to know about something, boom, it's different and we have more to learn. So I'd say no. True knowledge of a given subject is not even possible."
Bahram finishes with a smug smile, thinking himself rather clever with that answer.
That sounded pretty good. That's bound to impress her, Even if it's not the answer she was looking for.
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"There is more to know than can be known. And existing knowledge is all relative to other existing knowledge. So, the only way true knowledge is possible is the journey to discover our own true knowledge?" Aulurius' grasp of this philosophy is still tentative at best, but he feels this will satisfy Rodira's final question.
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Sulana is massively out of her depth, but she still tries. "True knowledge might be possible, but that doesn't make it attainable. At least not for us. But it doesn't really matter, does it? Like Aulurius said, it's a journey. Whether or not there's a final destination, the journey is what's important."
When Sayuki speaks, you all hear her. She is present, and yet absent.
Roidira smiles and exhales, as if a burden had been lifted.
"Good. You begin to understand, at last. Now let us test the deepest rafters of your minds."
“Now, you may drink from this fountain of enlightenment,” she says, as she gestures to the pool beneath her feet. “Sup on the knowledge that shall shatter all you hold dear,” she says, with a strange edge of intensity. “All of you who would seek enlightenment, step forth.”
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"If this is eternal nothingness, then no reason to keep my thoughts internal, I guess," says Sayuki, unaware that she can be heard. She shrugs, if able. "I wonder if this is one of those dream situations where I can imagine something and make it real?"
Sayuki focuses her mind as much as she's able and imagines an overflowing fountain of sake.
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Until now Sulana hadn't realized that Roidira had done something to Sayuki.
"Sayuki? Sayuki can you hear me?" She grabs Sayuki's shoulder and gives her a (mostly) gentle shake, then looks up at Roidira. "What did you do to her?"
While waiting to see if Roidira will answer, she considers the invitation. 'Shatter all you hold dear,' that sounds like what happened to the cultists. We need answers, but is it worth the risk?
She hesitates, then takes a step forward. "May we drink one at a time? I'm willing to go first."
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Bahram looks from Rodira, to the water, and then to Sayuki and Sulana.
Oooh. This might be too far. Did something bad happen to Sayuki because she wasn't strong enough? Could something good happen to me because I passed some sort of test?
His brow furrowed he begins to walk forward while still looking at Sayuki. As he kneels down to the water, his eyebrows shoot back up and he casts detect magic and concentrates in the water itself.
It is clear that Sayuki does not hear Sulana's pleas, nor does Sayuki respond to being jostled. It is as if her mind is someplace else.
"Sayuki has closed herself off from the possibility of Enlightenment" says Roidira. "But if she accepts that she dwells in the darkness of ignorance, she will see her way back to you."
Bahram, Sulana, Aulurius and Etna kneel at the water's edge. Zeta stands back. Etna is the first to drink.
The water is redolent of mulled wine and the sting of narcotics. You feel a sharp pain as the water goes down. And then, you are floating in a dark and silent void. In this silence, a telepathic presence presses itself upon your mind, “I am not, and I have never been. Lesser minds construct reality from ephemeral illusion, forcing the trappings of existence upon that which has never worn them. All the void can grant are echoes.”
The rest of you see Etna clutch her stomach and cry out in pain. But she remains kneeling at the water's edge, looking into the pool.
Etna does not respond to Bahram's question. She stares into the water; like Sayuki, it is as if her mind is elsewhere.
Sayuki does a little dance. Roidira seems to be slowly fading away....
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Sulana looks dubiously at the water. "Maybe she's having a vision of enlightenment, or maybe she was poisoned. Either way, I don't like this. I was willing to give it a try, but I definitely don't think all of us should. Assuming whatever happened to Etna happens to Aulurius and Bahram, that's four unresponsive people. We still don't even know what happened to the cultists! If they come to spouting nonsense about how nothing means anything, I'll..."
You'll what, Sulana? You can't fight a creature who renders people senseless with a wave. You can't heal a broken spirit, or whatever it is that's happening to these people. You're very, very good at shooting things...and absolutely nothing else.
"...I'll drag them back to Katheer and find someone there who can fix it," she finishes lamely. And mostly to herself, as Zeta is now the only other conscious person in the room.
For now, she waits and hopes that 'Roidira's' disappearance will lead to her companions regaining their senses.
Your dwarven constitution is unaffected.
Roidira speaks, “You are not Roidirans. Did you all really think to take me for a fool? No matter. Hear me now, for no one, least of all my wretched faithful, shall ever believe you: I have no use for followers. Where I now walk is beyond your imagining, beyond the realm of your comprehension. So-called “Roidirans” became what I despised: inflexible dogmatists who put posturing performance before the pursuit of truth. Instead of walking Roidira’s Road as a way of life, they thought of it as a road with a destination. So, I gave them one: this place, where I could crush their stupidity in one fell swoop. They think signs with childish drawings that mock other divinities are my way? They think my path is one of street brawls and shouting evangelism? They are worse than you, lower than you, for they know less than nothing. Emptiness was not to be an end in itself, but a beginning. These fools,” she gestures to the mute Roidirans, “never understood that. Thus, I took from them the one thing they loved most. Myself. What I do now is beyond their comprehension, as it is beyond yours. Farewell.”
You crease up in pain as the water reaches your gut, but you do not pass out. You see Roidira, fully corporeal, standing before this very pool in some lost age when the shrine was better maintained, polished and swept with reverence. Standing in the pool, she produces a long, curved sword. Leaning her head back, strong arms skillfully manoeuvre the sword until its point presses into her starry robes. With a single breath and thrust, she runs herself through and dissolves into the pool, a shower of white feathers fluttering down before all fades to black.
Aulurius and Bahram drink the waters. Aulurius grunts once. Bahram cries out and clutches his stomach. Both of them stare blankly into the pool...
You clutch your stomach in agony as water goes down.
A horse carrying a rider gallops across a desert landscape with sand of gleaming gold grains. Many days pass, and eventually the horse dies. The rider continues the journey on foot. As the rider grows older, his pace slows, until he ultimately collapses upon the sand and sinks. Winds blow the sand over the fallen form, and a horse emerges from the golden grains, galloping away.
Zeta drinks, and gasps in pain. She stares blankly at the pool...
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Sulana starts to protest as Zeta goes to drink, but does so too late. And then there was one.
Her hands tighten on her bow and she glares at Roidira.
"This 'Enlightenment' of yours had better not have been a trick. Because if it was, if they've been hurt, if this is all just some sick game to you, then I don't care who or what you are. No matter how powerful you might be, I will hunt you down and end you. This I vow, and I don't make those lightly."
"Even gods can die."
Assuming she's not instantly wiped off the face of Golarion for her presumption, she'll continue waiting for Roidira to finish disappearing and for everyone else to (hopefully) regain their senses.
Roidira fades away completely. As she does so the glow of the pool also disappears; the water merely smells stale now.
Those pathfinders who drank of the waters come to their senses, as do the Roidirans who were knelt in prayer around the pool. The pains and injuries that you suffered are gone - as though they never happened. Sayuki also returns from wherever it was that her consciousness visited.
"So now you know" says one of the cultists, with tears in his eyes. "She does not exist. How are we to contemplate existence without even the solace of emptiness?”
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Seeing everyone begin to stir, (including Sayuki), Sulana relaxes slightly. Not entirely though, not until she she’s sure they’re okay.
”What happened? Are any of you hurt?” Glancing at the cultists, she adds, ”And what do you mean she doesn’t exist? Isn’t pursuing her ideals of emptiness and nothingness what’s been causing you all to act like this?
"Qadiran society is corrupt, dogmatic. Roidira offered a different, better way of life, free of the shackles of hierarchy and status. But we've lost her - if we ever really had her at all. What - what do you believe?"
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Etna will shake the dizziness from her head before rubbing her eyes.
"Man. This has been trippy. This is why I stick to the simple faith. I like music and loves stories so I go with the obvious. Why make it so complicated. Let's all go back to the city and enjoy ourselves. I'm sure you all can make a difference if you try."
Etna will roll to aid another on Bahram's Diplomacy check. Blue will also cast guidance on him for a +1 if that is allowed.
Etna also gives a +3 bonus, so plus 4 altogether.
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Sulana pinches the bridge of her nose to try and ward off a headache. "Let me see if I'm understanding this correctly. You received a 'vision' implying that Roidira doesn't exist. From that." She waves her hand vaguely in the direction of the pool.
"And rather than thinking 'Huh, if Roidira doesn't exist then how did she send us a vision, that doesn't make sense, maybe she's trying to make a point about how we're relying too much on her truth rather than coming up with our own, or maybe it wasn't Roidira at all,' you decide to give up on life completely."
She stares at them. "You want to know what I believe? I believe you're all crazy."
Bahram and Etna are able to persuade most of the Roidirans to leave the shrine, and head back to Qaharid with you. For some reason, the cultists avoid Sulana studiously.
You set out the next morning, leaving early to avoid some of the desert heat. The phantoms have returned, but they do not attempt to stop you leaving. They merely stare, conveying at once their despair and a sense of kinship as they meet your gaze.
The heat is punishing for those without magical protection However the oasis proves a safe place to rest on the way.
Back at Qaharid the sarenrite paladins welcome you back, and tell you that you are expected by the High Priestess back at the Grand Temple. "Don't keep her Holiness waiting!"
Taking the paladin's advice, you find al-Sahba taking dinner with her wife. She makes introductions and invites you to join them, before asking eagerly: "Well, what did you learn?"