[Apocrypha] The Last Lecture of Magister Pagadil

Yes, yes, settle down. I'm talking now. After last week's lecture, one of you---who shall remain nameless---asked me a common, but wrong-headed, question. "What is Sithis?"

Sithis is not. That's your answer. Sithis is The Lack Thereof, expressed as Not, Was, and Will Be. This may confuse you, as you are used to dealing with somewhat more...tangible gods in these lectures. But Sithis is not a God in the strictest sense; Sithis is Not anything, with a capital "N." Sithis is all the Nothings, the Not-Yets and the Not-Anymores. If that sounds esoteric and pointless, allow me to clarify the matter.

Have you ever felt cold? No, you haven't, because cold is just Not-Heat. That's Sithis. Have you ever been in one of my lectures and simply not cared what I was talking about? Apathy is Not-Opinion. That's Sithis too. To be content is to have no strong emotions; Sithis. To be dead is to have no life; Sithis. Shadows are absence of light, wellness is absence of sickness, and for those of you who have tried in vain to pronounce Pee-Ess-Jay-Jay-Jay as one word, let me tell you now that it has NO correct pronunciation. That is Sithis as the Nothing.

Some of you may have seen depictions of "him" as a "Dread Father," represented by an ominous and looming skeleton, if you've been reading Soronil's "Brotherhood of Death" series. Fanciful, and quite entertaining, but entirely inaccurate. Sithis does not "look" like anything; you see Sithis when you are blinded, or when you close your eyes. And to inscribe upon "him" a gender at all is simply foolish; Sithis is Not male and Not female---nor is Sithis hermaphroditic, as Vivec is. (To be many things at once is ANOTHER figure's peculiarities, but I have no time to discuss the Ever-Yes for now.). Have those of you in this class ever tried to have a child, and wondered what gender it would be before it was even conceived? THAT is Sithis' gender. That is Sithis as the Not-Yet.

In a sense, of course, one could stretch the Skeleton metaphor to something usable. The Death angle is pretty clear, after all, but more importantly a skeleton has no eyes to see, no skin to feel, no mouth to taste, no nose to smell, and no ears to hear. It is experiencing Sithis, as much as one can. That is Sithis as the Not-Anymore.

Some of you may have heard already that we exist where Sithis, I Am Not, mingles with Anu, I Am. This is absolutely correct. I hope you see now why this is true; as much as you might see yourself as existent, the parts of you that don't exist are just as important. I am an elf, and I am not a dragon or an Argonian. I am not old yet, nor am I a child anymore; I am middle aged. You can't be all things in time and space, at least not without significant pain and hardship; ask Magister Aldano about his thoughts on the Dragon Break. Nor can you be nothing, so long as you exist as a memory, or as the consequences of your actions; ask Magister Lorekh about his thoughts on the Towers. Anu Is. Sithis is Not. We are where they clash and mesh and weave and touch.

...So if I see even one of you try to pass off Soronil's work as a source in your term papers this year, calling Sithis an "evil patron to assassins and Lord of Death" I will personally see to it that you receive a Zero-Sum grade for the semester. That will be all.

Editor's Note: Magister Pagadil was found dead four days later, with a note attached to his left foot. It bore a hand-print and the words "Sithis IS." No suspects were ever charged.