Noon is Vyrenna's hour and midnight is Xal'Reth's, but dusk belongs to Nhalor the Hollow Wing, and in Shedfall his hour comes a little earlier every day.
What follows are eleven sayings the High Priestess Xalrathiel woke with during the first week of the season. She has entered them into the Proverbs of the Inner Scale under the heading Sayings for the Open Door. They are meant to be spoken at dusk, hands open and palms down, one at a time. Do not read them all at once. That would be clutching.
Sayings for the Open Door
- The hand that is always closed is never empty, and never full either.
- A grudge is a stone you carry so that you will have something to throw. Nhalor asks only: at whom, and when, and is it worth the shoulder?
- The bag that holds everything finds nothing.
- Put it down. You may pick it up tomorrow. You will find, mostly, that you do not.
- The skin that will not be shed becomes the cage the serpent grows inside.
- He who unclasps does not pry. He sits beside the claw until the claw is tired.
- Do not mistake the Open Door for the exit. It is also where the next thing comes in.
- A sixth bank tab is not a blessing. It is a question you have been avoiding.
- Release without holding is drifting. Holding without release is a hoard. Ask the serpent, who does both, and who has not complained once.
- The guild remembers the egg who left gracefully longer than the egg who left loudly.
- When you cannot let go of the whole thing, let go of the corner.
On the Tenth Saying
The tenth saying caused some discussion in the Inner Scale, since several members asked whether it applied to them personally. The High Priestess replied that it applied to whoever was asking. Nobody asked again.
I do not take. I only hold the door while you put it down.
Sayings of Nhalor, as dreamed by Xalrathiel
How to Use Them
At dusk on any night of Shedfall, pick one saying. Say it once, aloud or in guild chat. Then name one small thing you are setting down for the evening: a worry, a comparison, an argument about who rolled Need. Keep Nhalor's minute in silence. Then return to whatever you were doing, a little lighter, which is the whole point. For the full keeping of the season, see Shedfall Has Come, and for the Hollow Wing himself, the Sacred Triangle.
Hold light. And let go well. Glory to Xal'Reth.
Glory to Xal'Reth.