Impossible Dreamers

Part Two (deg). Chapter 17 (twil-fay): History

Some history will be useful.

Once, in Seren-ila, long ago in the hardest of hard times, there had been hope that other people had survived during the even more terrible times of The Great Heat. But over the ages, this hope had ebbed away. And as time went on, the very idea of there being other people in the world seemed like a legend. People grew up knowing only the people of Seren-ila, and were convinced that it was only they who had survived. Stories of the past, a time when people could travel all around the great globe, were known, but fewer and fewer people actually believed them. But it turns out that even if you don't believe them, stories can be powerful.

So people felt free to add to these stories. To embellish them with things that nobody seriously thought were possible. Tales were told of people going to the moon, sending machines to other planets, or even travelling to distant stars. People told of powerful machines that had once existed – machines that allowed people to talk to one another when far, far away. Machines that could draw a picture of a bit of the world in which every detail could be seen, and which drew that picture in an instant. Machines that could show a picture that moved, or even made sounds and spoke. There were tales of a network that shared ideas and thoughts among a population of humans that was so enormous that the Seren language had no word for the number. People used the idea of past times to let their imaginations run free. There came a time when telling more and more impossible stories about how the world had been before The Great Heat became almost a craze among the people of Seren-ila. The stories became more and more amazing. And even though people knew that these were just stories, and they didn't believe them, in another way, they did believe them. Or they believed in them, which was even more powerful. And a great love of stories that could not happen was born among the people of Seren-ila.

But people hearing these stories, and even the people telling them, began to be sad and discontented with how things were in the present. They felt unhappy that they had lost these things – even though they were things that they, themselves, had never actually had.

So, the Counsel of the Wise met and decided that this should be discouraged. Not that anything was forbidden. Things weren't forbidden in Seren-ila. But people were politely asked to concentrate on the good things that were to be had around them, rather than embellishing the stories of the wondrous past. Not that the past was unimportant. The Counsel of the Wise thought that people should know as much as there was to know about ancient times – the time before The Great Heat – both good and bad, as well as the more recent history of Seren-ila. So, to help understand better how things really had been, the Counsel gathered together a group of people who had studied hard to find the truth of how things had developed, using all the clues that they could find in the few old writings that had survived, and in ancient objects and bits of the world around. They wrote The Great Story. Parts of The Great Story were copied by people who were interested in a particular aspect of history, though the central copy remained the one that had to be consulted and added to. Every now and then, maybe once in degtwi years, somebody discovered something that could be added to the story. An old piece of paper might be blown into Seren-ila in a storm, describing a machine, or how it was used. An object might be dug out of the ground which seemed to show how ancient people had lived together. Though many objects were more of a puzzle than a revelation. For instance there were metal discs with engravings and strange words on them. The engravings were usually of a head, sometimes of a man, sometimes a woman. On the other side were engraved pictures of animals, or great buildings, or things that nobody had ever seen. These discs were certainly beautiful, and must have taken much skill and effort to make, but nobody understood them. Some people thought they were a sort of decoration, others that they were used to play some sort of game, but nobody could really be sure. But every time some new piece of information was worked out to the satisfaction of the Counsel of the Wise, or when it seemed that the information in The Great Story needed changing, new supplements were prepared, and they were added to the central copy.

The Great Story was written down long, long before Liana was born, and in her lifetime it had only been changed or added to once. And that was by somebody Liana knew. Her learning guide, Piacho. Piacho, who had been a member of the Counsel of the Wise, but was no longer. Piacho, who had once been thought wise enough to wear the robe of Trowster, but no longer did so. Piacho, who had now been taken by the Bartyronians in their flying machine.

Now to continue with our story.