Mahol

Overview

Mahol the Endless. Mahol the Wise. Mahol the Seer. Just a few of the names whispered through the generations. He was a part of The First People.

The Arvendor Archives describe him as an old man. A quiet loner. Short and stubby, with a long white beard. But these descriptions are centuries old. He has not been seen for a very long time.

He lives in a hut at Skyreach Peak. But the hut is not what it appears. Explorers report different layouts each time they visit. Sometimes it is miles of hallways. Sometimes it is just one room. One traveler swears they walked inside and came out a thousand miles away. Another claims the hut was larger on the inside than the mountain itself. Those few who have found their way to him say that simply being near him makes you feel his power.

History

There is a two-hundred-year period in recorded history where Mahol is absent from all mention. When asked about it, he simply says: "I was elsewhere," and smiles.

An ancient scroll, written by Mahol himself, claims he was an emissary for O'lo, the ancient god of Wisdom.

The First People's Testimony

The Wise Ones studied scripts and runes extensively. They found evidence that suggested O'lo and Mahol are one and the same. Not in the sense of possession or incarnation, but as the same being.

The Wise Ones found writings that spoke of "the Wisdom that walks" and "the Seer who speaks." References that seemed to blur the line between god and man. They believed they had discovered proof. But that evidence was lost to The Great Fragmentation. As continents scattered and the world broke apart, the ancient texts were buried or destroyed. Only fragments remain, and these fragments are open to interpretation.

He is the only living being generally accepted by scholars to exist before recorded history. The old gods themselves are disputed. The ancient ones are forgotten. But Mahol persists. He always has been. And chances are, he always will be.

Nature

Mahol is insanely intelligent and wise. Some say he knows all and sees all. But scholars debate this. He could simply be an old man who has mastered an aging spell over countless millennia. What is certain is that his mind works on scales that ordinary people cannot comprehend.

Some believe he is a god himself. Others think he is something even stranger. A few heretical sects claim he is not old at all. They say he is constantly reborn into the same man at every turning of the world, each incarnation remembering a little more than the last.

Some scholars suggest he might not be immortal at all. Perhaps he is simply never allowed to die. Perhaps he must witness the end of everything he began. This burden would explain much - his distance, his ancient tiredness, the weight in his eyes.

There is a legend that the entire world is his unfinished book. Each age is a chapter he has not yet finished editing. Each civilization, each person, each moment is a sentence he is still considering. If this is true, then nothing is final. Everything can still be rewritten.

Abilities

Those who meditate near him sometimes hear their own thoughts spoken aloud. But they hear them in Mahol's voice, saying things they had not yet thought.

People claim Mahol greets them by name the first time they meet. Some say he even recalls their future deeds. How this is possible, nobody knows.

Mahol's words are always true, but often misleading. He might say, "I promised him freedom," which later turns out to mean he banished him from the mountains. His truth is precise. His meaning is his own.

He brews tea from herbs that grow only near his hut. Those who drink it report vivid dreams of ancient eras. Some claim to have conversations with long-dead gods in these dreams.

Lore

A peculiar pattern has been observed for the last thousand years. Every major storm has been preceded by Mahol laughing quietly to himself on Skyreach Peak. Nobody knows why.

He keeps a ledger of words that no longer exist in any language. He says language is "the first magic humans ever had."

Children's tales claim that if you pluck a single hair from Mahol's beard and listen closely, it whispers secrets about the future.

Mahol rarely speaks. But when he does, his words carry weight. Those who know him say he has a sharp sense of humor. He can see light in situations where others see only darkness. He meets the impossible with wisdom and a quiet smile.

What is certain is that the world is older and stranger than most people realize. And Mahol has watched it all.