Journals of Thoth 'Keltam

Though Thoth 'Keltam never set foot upon Kaaran, his legacy survives as his lifes work, the Journal of Thoth 'Keltam, or the Thoth Codices. Carried across the seas by his acolytes, the Journals were one of the few sources of knowledge that was available to the surviving Keltashans as they rebuilt their society from scratch, and has thus had a considerable influence on Kaaranese history, culture, and society.

Thoth regarded himself as an athiest, and placed little faith in the abilities of spirits and gods, though he dedicated at least one Journal to the nature of the divine, where he expressed some support for the concept of an immortal soul. For the most part, however, the Journals are a written record of his lifetime's work studying what was around him - psychology, sociology, geology, chemistry, physics - the list goes on. The Journals themselves number one hundred and eleven, with some subjects encompassing dozens of books. Thoth was a genius who was ahead of his time.

While a tremendous source for early scientific knowledge, the Journals are mostly remembered for being the first written recording of the Keltam Peninsula Ruins. Discovered in 430 BC, their presence and the implications it held on Keltam religious doctrine was massive, sparking a period of religious upheaval. Many new cults and religious orders sprung up, either advocating the worship or reverance of these ruins, or their destruction. Thoth himself tried to keep an objective point of view in his studies of the ruins, but found it hard to remain objective as the true monumentality of the ruins became clear to him. As such, to prevent anyone from misusing his records, he encoded much of his work, scattering much of it across the entire set of Journals. To this day, his code has yet to be completely cracked, though some advancements have been made since the arrival of Covenant technology to Ketesh. The Journals nevertheless stand as a testament to the genius of Thoth, and the "Keltam Riddle" is well known across the continent as a euphemism for something of someone that is inscrutable.

While many religious orders have tried to claim that Thoth's professed athiesm belied secret piety, only the Voltakran Alchemy sect of the Cult of Quenyathar has managed to infuse Thoth's work successfully, using the Journals as the basis for the Voltakran proto-science. Resembling ancient Earth alchemy to a degree, the glyphs and runes enscribed upon Forerunner artefacts have been adopted as components of alchemical calculations with a small degree of success. Original Voltakran Alchemy focussed more on the divine aspects of the world than the practical, but shifts have since produced true scientific method, and the "discovery" of gravity and electricity by Eldra 'Voltakra in 1400 AD and her theories about early physics propelled the Kaaranese into an age of scientific discovery that rivalled the Industrial Revolution of Britain. Even after the Covenant brought their technology to the planet, Kaaranese still possess more of a scientific ethic than their Sanghelios compatriots, and have produced some interesting innovations while skirting around Prophet decrees on the access to Forerunner relics. Thoth himself is credited for this, and his Journals have been reprinted innumerable times. Each university keeps at least one set, and individuals have sometimes paid high prices for reprints, hoping to uncover some great secret. They invariably fail in these attempts, but the practice continues.

Quotes
"That is not dead, which can eternal lie; And with strange aeons even death may die."

- Page 31, Second Journal

"Evolution is an illusion, a name we give for the passage of time. Nothing changes. Nothing innovates. Throughout time, all that happens is that the universe remains constant, eternal...stagnant. And so we imagine that it improves, and by imagining it we make it so. It is the ultimate self-deception...because it is true. We try to innovate. We try to invent. And in our ignorance, we forget that all has been done before - by the Forerunners, or the Precursors, or by their predecessors. Our presence, our actions and their consequences, are ultimately irrelevant. When we are dead, our kind long since turned to dust, the universe will still remain, an impartial, unmoving and unforgiving monument to all our sins."

- Page 66, Fiftieth Journal

"Betrayers sow the seeds of their own destruction. And for them, it is a bitter harvest."

- Page 13, First Journal

"All cultures aspire to be better, and hold their gods as the measuring stick to which they compare themselves."

- Page 1, Seventh Journal

"If you don't want to spent five minutes broadening your horizons, then the world closes in around you. Make the effort, and fly free!"

- Page 1, First Journal

"Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes."

- Page 7, Second Journal

"If you believe freedom is a gods-given right, then you are a fool. Freedom must be earned through the sweat of labour and the blood of battle. Perhaps not by you, but effort must be made by someone to preserve it. There must always be a vigilent sentinel, watching and protecting."

- Page 117, Seventh Journal

"The darkness is nothing to be feared. It is, after all, merely an absence of light. Rather, it is what the darkness holds, real or imagined, that makes our souls quiver, and the bravest warriors falter."

- Page 306, Ninteenth Journal

"You're perfectly welcome to your right to believe in the stupidest things if you want, as long as you respect my right to laugh and mock you for it. Remember, in the end, are we not all mocking each other?"

- Page 32, One Hundred And Sixth Journal

"If knowledge is power, then ignorance is bliss. And people will always prefer bliss over power."

- Page 224, Eighth Journal

Quotes (not attributed to the Journals)

 * "Is this like an Elite DaVinci Code?"
 * "I specialise in Covenant translation, and I have to say, the Thoth Codices are some pretty good reading."
 * "Even the Prophets could not deny Thoth his voice. He speaks to us now, through the mists of time, through his legacy."