Saul of the Cora
Introduction
Investigation of a past life always represents a challenge. Often there is only a confusing account of events with minimal context, or at best a handful of names. In this case the Lepidean Librarian was able to furnish us with additional details to help us narrow the search down. We know the visionary was Saul of Cora, and a scion of the Cora family of Pharos. We know they were a wayfarer and a pilgrim, and that they sailed west. We know they were arrested by the Asaveans, and believe they were executed. We further surmise that they were a dedicate of Loyalty. From these scant seeds, we see what plants may grow.
The Cora of Pharos
The Cora were a minor patrician family who lived in Pharos for much of the early history of the Highborn people. Like many of the minor families, they were mired in the politics of the Patrician Council. At some point during the Disapora, a faction of the family split off to establish estates in Casinea, in what is today Woodwych. The majority, however, remained “loyal” (inasmuch as any of the Patrician families were “loyal”) to the Council.
I Jared of the Suns of Couros and Lepidean Librarian instruct the Lepidean University to investigate the past life vision of Arsenio Sanguineo Rezia di Tassato experienced during the Autumn Equinox gathering 384YE where they were Saul of the Cora, a pre-Imperial wayfarer and "pilgrim of the lesser way" who sailed from Pharos to either Asavea or Asavean dominated pre-republic Sumaah. There they were imprisoned and executed for preaching the Way of Virtue. By dedicating a dying prisoner to Loyalty they may have started the embers of the Sumaah conversion. I wish to investigate this to bolster the bonds between Sumaah and the Empire through our common faith and commitment to spreading it across the world.
Jared of the Suns of Couros, Lepidean Librarian, Winter 384YEDuring the Civil War, the Cora's loyalty fractured. Jeremiah of the Cora, and his cousin Callah, are both recorded as having been agents for Ruth, daughter of Abital, providing intelligence about the plans of the Patricians and allegedly engaging in acts of sabotage. Both were executed for their role in destroying a vital bridge that stranded Patrician forces on the wrong side of the Couros during a siege at the town of Hedra.
After the war, the Cora remained in Pharos, established a chapterhouse outside the ruined city. By all accounts they embraced the Way and helped with the rebuilding and rededication of the Black City as a memorial to the dead.
Several of the Cora served as emissaries to Sarvos and Tassato during this time, attempting to bring the recalcitrant scions of Highguard back into the fold. Two key incidents are recorded about this time.
Remiel of the Cora is mentioned in records of a fight that took place during the early discussions with the Tassatans. Apparently tempers became heated, and one of the Tassatan hosts stabbed Remiel of the Cora during the ensuing brawl. It is notable mostly because, during their convalescence, Remiel wrote several letters that might better be described as diatribes to family members and priests denouncing the Tassatans as “not only unvirtuous, but no more capable of virtue than wild dogs snapping at each other in a barn.”
By contrast Eloi of the Cora was involved in securing a valuable early trade deal with the city of Sarvos, where Highborn grain was exchanged for metals and ores imported by the Saravosa. Not only the Cora prospered from this arrangement; Eloi was scrupulous in ensuring that the deal was open and balanced as possible and that any Highborn prepared to deal fairly with the people of Sarvos could benefit from it. In their “Rise and Fall of the Saravosa”, Jacob Raviel de Sarvos marks this as one of the avenues by which the Saravosa, and later the people of their city, were encouraged to see the Way not as an attempt at cultural dominance but as a tool that would recognise and exalt their natural Ambition and Prosperity.
The Cora themselves are unfortunately no more. Their chapter experienced a slow but natural decline in the years before the founding of the Empire. Half their number left Pharos for Reikos during one of the waves of Highborn expansion, forming the Firewall Chapter in Riverwatch. In 56YE when Reikos became part of the Empire, the last of the Cora quit their chapterhouse in Pharos and joined their cousins in the northern territory. Sadly, Firewall Chapter was one of the casualties of the Druj invasion of the 370s, falling during the siege of Tabernacle as part of a rear-guard action that kept the orcs on the northern side of the river long enough for some of the other chapters to flee to the safety of Bastion.
Saul the Wayfarer
There are several Sauls mentioned in records of the Cora, but the one who stands out as likely the past life of Arsenio Sanguineo Rezia di Tassato is mentioned several times in documents donated to us from the archives of the late Abydos the Chronicler following their death last year.
Saul the Younger was born not long after the civil war. They were a voracious reader, inspired by the stories of Ruth, Lepidus, and Permion, both prior to and during the civil war. They became dedicated to Loyalty as part of the ceremony of majority practised by their family, and studied the doctrines and tenets of the virtuous intently.
In a reference from a journal kept by the matriarch of the family, Iolanth of the Cora, there is a mention that “Young Saul seems to regret that the civil war is over, and that there are no more simple battles to fight where virtue and vice are so clearly defined. I have tried to explain to him that the battle for human destiny is far from over but he chafes at the fact that – outside of the orcs – there are no clearly defined lines between us and them.”
The next time Saul is mentioned, it is in reference to the fact that they have declared themselves a wayfarer. The movement is still in its infancy at this time, but pilgrims are already at work spreading news of the Revalation to to the other human nations. Only a small number of wayfarers are looking beyond the Bay of Catazar at this time; Saul appears to have been one of them.
Despite urging from his family and chapter, Saul insisted on taking the news of the Revelation to the west. As near as we can ascertain, on his twenty-fourth birthday he announces his decision at a small family gathering, which ends in harsh words. His uncle Gahob of the Cora wrote in his journal “Young Saul has broken his parents' heart and goes to his death. Who can be blamed for this? Where is his Loyalty to his family, to his mother and father, and to his Chapter? He claims he loves us still, but that he is called to take the word of the Revelation to those who have never heard it. I fear his studies have undermined his good sense! He might as well preach to the orcs as to the people of the west!”
It's clear that at some point before leaving, however, he reconciled with his family. Gahob of the Cora later writes in his journal “We went down to the docks at Sanctuary with Young Saul; let us hope there is some symmetry to his leaving where Atuman arrived. We gave him gifts before he left, in recognition of the path he has chosen. His siblings held him and openly wept as if he were departing for the Labryinth and most likely they are probably right. I will miss him. We must have hope that he finds what he seeks before he finds the Labyrinth.”
Saul takes ship from the docks at Sanctuary, although there's no record of its name. It appears to have been a trading vessel heading for the Asavean capital of Nemoria, which at this time was probably the richest and most influential city in the Known World.
Letters from Asavea
Preserved in Gohab of the Cora's journal is a faded, damaged letter. It has been much folded. There is nothing in the journal to indicate when it arrives, or who it was sent to. It is quite short, but there are some indications it is the result of a magical sending – most likely a Winged Messenger. I've recorded the words directly here. The original document is preserved at the University beneath glass alongside numerous similar documents.
“Nemoria is a place where wickedness is worn like a fine robe, and cruelty goes unmasked. I have been laughed at, jeered, and vilified. While their people may claim to rule from their Plenum, it is clear that malign spirits really rule this city, and this great “republic” of theirs. There are a few prepared to listen; those who have nothing to lose and for whom the virtues hold out the hope of something better for themselves or their children or their children's children. But the hand of the spirits is at every throat. I leave tomorrow for the north, for one of the satrapies. There it is claimed the grip of the Plenum and their gods is weaker, and there I might find a chance to form a true congregation and begin in earnest to do the work I have come here for. I love you and miss you.”
The Death of Saul of the Cora
The final document that refers to Saul of the Cora likewise comes from his uncle's journal. This letter, however, has some provenance. The nearby entry speaks of how the letter was brought to Pharos in the Spring, and had apparently been journeying across the Known World from the Asavean Archipelago for a year, passed from ship captain to ship captain until it fell into the hands of a trader of the Brass Coast who demanded several pieces of silver to reward them for bringing it to the chapterhouse of the Cora.
The letter is written in an archaic dialect of Old Asavean by an unknown hand. The translation recounts the final fate of Saul of the Cora.
According to the letter, they went to the northern province of Marracossa, to preach the Way out of the reach of the Plenum and the suffocating pressure of the Asavean gods. Shortly after arriving, however, they were arrested following an altercation with a priest of the Golden-Handed God of merchants and thrown into prison. After a perfunctory trial, they were given the option to recant their claims that the gods were not real and that humans were in charge of their own destiny, and be enslaved but keep his life. Alternatively he could cleave to his lies, and die.
Saul chose not to recant. He was taken to the cliffs, and his hands and feet bound in heavy chains, prior to being cast into the sea. He remained calm and proud throughout, even as they loaded him down, even when he was given a final chance to admit he was a liar. According to the letter, those present say they as he was hurled over the cliffs, the manacles fell away from his arms and legs as he plummeted. The chains fell into the sea, but the body vanished before it hit the waters. The entire incident shocked and stunned those present - the writer claimed he had been so moved by what he had seen that he was writing to everyone to speak out about it.
Apparently included with the letter was a heraldic device of the Cora family, which Saul gave to the writer in prison to return to their family. There is unfortunately no record of what happened to it.
The letter ends with the (unnamed) writer saying that they have kept the “pale beads of the sea” and will do their best to make sure that Saul's name and words are not forgotten.
Other Avenues
That is the sum total of what we could discover about Saul of the Cora. There are three other places where it might be possible to discover more, but they are beyond the scope of our investigation at the moment.
First, the Marracossan exiles in Trajadoz. We sent them a letter asking if they had any information to share, but received no reply. The Marracossans are, unfortunately, adherents of the same false faith that killed Saul of the Cora and it seems they have little interest in requests from priests of the Way. It's not impossible that they know more, however.
Second, there are the Free Folk. Their histories are oral, rather than written, but they are former slaves from the satrapy of Marracossa so it is not impossible there is some echo of Saul in their stories. They are spread across the Empire at the moment, working and studying, and those we spoke to were unable to help us but it is not impossible someone among them may have some story that speaks of Saul.
Finally, there are the Asaveans themselves. Saul clearly preached in Nemoria before departing the city to eventually end up in Marracossa. The Asaveans are no match for our own Civil Service but they do keep records. It's not beyond the realm of possibility that something might remain of Saul of the Cora. Unfortunately, the Asavean Plenum is at war with the Empire, and so we have no ability to ask them, or their own scholars, for information.
Conclusion
There is evidence that Saul of the Cora lived, travelled to Asavea, preached the Way, and died there. There is some evidence his words,and the manner of his death, inspired at least one person enough to send a letter across half the world to his family – a letter that hints that person intends to keep his words alive.
If I may be allowed a moment of personal reflection, one of the great challenges of researching any past life vision is that often we see a vision of a key moment in the life of a “normal” person facing a crisis of some kind. It is very rare that these people's deeds are recorded in the histories, and the further back we go the less likely it becomes that we will find even an echo of that person. It would be easy to be dispirited by that, but I think that is a mistake. A virtuous deed done alone, in the dark, with no witnesses is still an act of virtue. A choice made to do the virtuous rather than the selfish thing, even if performed by someone who has never heard of the Way, even if we never hear about it, even if nobody else is inspired by it, is still a triumph of human destiny, and we should not lose sight of that.