The Path of Hunger

This text was recovered by Avarion Vaelis after successfully defeating a Lich and High Priest of the God of Worms. The work was discovered in the inner sanctum of a grotto that the Lich had transformed into an enormous altar to the Worm God, that the Order of the Black Worm had been working out of for some time. These pages were situated beneath an unusually large black soul gem, larger than most Altmer at full height and thicker than two barrels. It was unable to be destroyed and our attempts caused it to vanish. While other works recovered in the crusade were copied down over and over, such as the Gospel of the God of Worms, Convention: Lorkhan and the Black Truth, and Mantle of the Void, this one appears to be penned by Mannimarco himself. We believe that it is meant only for the highest members of the Worm Cult.

Apotheosis is a maddening obsession. I have seen the best of Mystics fall to its ephemeral grasp. I have attained the status of god, I who was born mortal and reborn dead. But my path was not easy and I have learned much of the nature of things, of the grand fallacies told by Psijics, the misunderstandings of the idiot, Veloth, and the blatant lies of Vehk-who-is-Vivec. I have learned from all three sources, casting each aside as false at their conclusion. The Psijics chase perfection, to transcend themselves to themselves, to climb the Gradient of ALL by maintaining ancient ways. Veloth, who was manipulated by the lickspittle, Boethiah. And Vivec. Living god. Triune. He is the worst of them all, for he had Truth within his grasp and chose to wrap it in allegory and deny it, becoming sedentary for the sake of Love.

In the early days, I read his Sermons, I dissected them piece by piece. Who better to learn from to achieve apotheosis than a Living god? He lead me to the sigil of royalty, to the Tower, and to the secret Dream. But his path was wrong, despite its helpfulness. Will and Love, the path to Ascendance. His lies covered the true path, one that even he took. For how do you think Nerevar died? Wounded, comforted by his councilors? No. FOUL MURDER, hidden in the sermonic lines. Vivec and the Tribunal took the true road. They murdered their friend, as I can see now, and took the Heart's power because they could. That and only that makes them deserving of the title of gods. It is from this realization, the discovery of FOUL MURDER, that I found the path beyond the impotent road of CHIM. I found the Path of Hunger.

The Path of Hunger, or the Devourer's Road, is the true meaning of existence. It is echoed from the walls of Time, to the deepest tats of the Tempo of Doom. Existence is suffering. Existence is pain. Existence is struggle. But above all else, existence is the Rule of the Mighty by any means necessary. The weak perish and are absorbed. Anu and Padomay wrestle in the Nothing. Akatosh and Lorkhan struggle in the Aurbis. The et'Ada struggle with Nirn in the Mundus. Mer struggle with Man in the White-Gold. Life struggles with Death and is devoured. It is the realization of this truth, the acceptance of the ever-hungry Nature of the ALL, that frees us from the chains of it. Power is not earned, it is taken.

Those that go down the Walking Ways speak of a higher purpose, to one day become a Dreamer of a new ALL, to go into AMRNTH. This. Is. A. Falsehood. It is something created by the Overmind, It that Rules, to keep us from realizing what we are capable of. It fears us. By taking advantage of the Cycle of Suffering, riding it to the top, we may see that all those who Dream are fooling themselves into complacency. The precedence set by the whole of Time and Reality is not one of Love, it is one of filth, and excrement, blood and betrayal. It that Rules is not a Dreamer, no It is Death that Won. It devoured what came before It.

Knowing these truths, keeping this knowledge, is the most sacred thing. We who have the power of Life and Death are those that will rule in the end for the Universe is nothing but an infinite Graveyard in denial. And so we must feast on it all. We do whatever it takes to achieve power, for that is the most natural thing in all of existence. Lorkhan recognized this when he saw all of the Aurbis on its side, he saw the truth: I. I is all that matters, the Self above others. He did not fail his attempt, he succeeded! It was not I that was the first Lich, it was Lorkhan! For what is Nirn if not a massive divine Phylactery. He died, and yet still lives. He can never be destroyed so long as the Mundus survives. And all others are tied to it, and so tied to him. The Sharmat understood to near perfection but used imperfect methods to try and achieve his goals. Lorkhan's Heart was too tied, already climbing the Ladder of the Hunger itself. And so the Sharmat failed.

In the end all of existence is a rotting corpse, an amalgamation of stinking death and misery where all good is achieved only through violence, which is usurped. And so we must consume the corpse, become the Worm that eats the necrotic flesh. Then may the Worm die and, should the final struggle be overcome, be reborn as Unliving, Unhallowed. Eater of ALL.

And as Vivec was wont to say:

The ending of the words is MURDER.