The Gods of Pegāna · Chapter
Of How Imbaun Became High Prophet in Aradec of All the Gods Save One explained
Imbaun is initiated as High Prophet in Aradec, learning that the Secret of Things is faintly writ in an unknown tongue in the Hall of Night, a truth all prophets share.
What happens
Imbaun is initiated as High Prophet in Aradec, learning that the Secret of Things is faintly writ in an unknown tongue in the Hall of Night, a truth all prophets share. Later, the god Dorozhand appears to him and leads him along the paths of Sish into the future, where he witnesses endless human slaughter, the rise and fall of cities, and a final peace. As the end approaches, Dorozhand pulls him back, and Imbaun realizes that the doom of the gods is hidden from mankind.
Themes in this chapter
The Limits of Human Knowledge
The Secret of Things is faintly writ in an unknown tongue, and even the High Prophets cannot read it; Imbaun learns that the end of the gods is hidden from man.
Time and Inevitable Decay
Imbaun walks the paths of Sish and sees cities rise and fall, the desert reclaiming all, and the hound Time ready to spring at the gods' throats.
Suffering and Death
The vision is filled with men slaying men, pestilence, and the destruction of civilizations, culminating in a peace brought by the slayer.
Characters to notice
- Imbaun
Becomes High Prophet in Aradec; receives a vision of the future from Dorozhand.
- Dorozhand
Appears to Imbaun in the temple and leads him along the paths of Sish to witness future ages.
- Sish
The paths of Sish are shown to Imbaun, representing the flow of future time.
- Skarl
His drumming grows faint as the end approaches in Imbaun's vision.
- Pegāna Mung
Mentioned as the region above which a stirring is felt as the end nears.
Key passages
“The Secret of Things was upon the summit of the dome of the Hall of Night, but faintly writ, and in an unknown tongue.”
The ultimate truth of existence is inscribed on the dome of the Hall of Night, but it is barely visible and written in a language no one can understand.
High Prophets acknowledge the inaccessibility of ultimate knowledge.
“And ever beside the way did men slay men. And the sum of their slaying was greater than the slaying of the pestilence of any of the evils of the gods.”
Throughout the future, humans constantly killed each other, and the total death toll exceeded that of any divine plague.
Imbaun's vision emphasizes human self-destruction as a central theme.
“And if a god may fear, it seemed that there was fear upon the face of Dorozhand, and he seized me by the hand and led me back along the paths of Time that I might not see the end.”
If gods are capable of fear, Dorozhand appeared afraid, and he hurriedly pulled Imbaun back through time to prevent him from witnessing the final destruction.
The gods themselves are anxious about the prophesied end.