Collected Translations of Pythia the Mad Prophet

The Collected Translations of Pythia the Mad Prophet is a collection of the writings and prophecies attributed to Pythia the Mad Prophet. Pythia wrote in a form of Common that was already considered ancient during her lifetime, making her writings difficult to translate and interpret.

The collection contains many prophecies that appear bizarre or nonsensical. Nevertheless, enough of them have corresponded closely enough with later events that Pythia is generally regarded as having been a genuine prophet.

The collection was translated by Fulbright, Lucian, Maimon, Schuyler, Stegner, Strahan, and Virgil. A separate index identifies discrepancies in the translation of particular words.

The Chosen's Copy

The Chosen possess another copy of the collection at the Tower of Plinth. When the party encountered this copy, Marcus and Demetrius were able to verify that it was very similar to the book in the Tower. They were particularly impressed because the Chosen had believed their own copy to be the only one in existence.

The two copies are not completely identical.

This copy contains an index and extensive marginal notes that are absent from the Chosen's copy. Some of the notes compare Pythia's prophecies with events that had already occurred.

A careful examination of the historical references reveals that at least some of these annotations were made after the fall and destruction of Aegea, meaning they were added long after Pythia's original writings.

The Prophecies

Among the passages in the book are two prophecies previously read to the party by Effron.

The first reads:

The only thing that surpasses the greatness of man is his greed. It is when he is at his highest does he fall the farthest. The ascension of the son of destruction shall bring about the end of days. With him shall he bring allies who will see an end to peaceful death and who shall corrupt the purest of heart. Three shall rise to oppose them, taming the magic of the uncontrolled, bringing light to the darkness, and war shall be their shadow. The world will cry out in suffering and rapture.

The marginal annotations identify several figures:

• “son of destruction” — Correries
• “end of peaceful death” — Ulanthar
• “corrupt the purest” — Milaynee
• “taming the magic” — Magerris
• “light to the darkness” — Tarmikos
• “war” — Krom

The annotations therefore interpret the passage as referring to the events surrounding the gods and their conflicts. Whether these identifications represent Pythia's original intent or later interpretation is not established.

The second passage reads:

The imbalance of paradise shall herald a corruption of death. The key to salvation on earth lies in the countervail of heaven. From among the Chosen shall rise a new harmony. The suffering of the Faithful will finally be ended.

This passage contains several handwritten corrections. The word “rise” has been crossed out and replaced with “ascend,” “harmony” has been replaced with “power,” and “Faithful” has been replaced with “Servant.”

Each correction is accompanied by a reference to the book's index.

The Translation Notes

The index explains that the word translated as “Chosen” does not correspond to any of the standard translations of the ancient dialect.

The translators arrived at Chosen through an amalgamation of syntax, morphology, semantics, and pragmatics. However, examination of the root word reveals several other possible interpretations, including Anointed and Worshiped.

The root also permits a series of increasingly unusual substitutions, including:

• blonde
• treasure
• pet

and derivations such as champagne from blonde, jewel from treasure, and dog from pet.

The note acknowledges that these alternatives are extremely unlikely in context and explains that Chosen was selected as the best fit, as well as for aesthetic reasons.

The note itself is not present in the Chosen's copy.

Demetrius also pointed out a particularly strange consequence of following the possible word derivations. If Chosen is followed through the interpretation of pet, it can lead to dog, which could then be extended to wolf.

The surviving records do not establish whether this chain of translations has any genuine prophetic significance or is simply an artifact of the ambiguities in the ancient language.

Significance

The book is significant because it preserves both Pythia's original prophecies and layers of interpretation added by later scholars.

The marginal annotations demonstrate that later readers attempted to connect Pythia's writings to historical events, while the discrepancies between this copy and the Chosen's copy show that the surviving versions of the collection are not identical.

The second prophecy is particularly significant in light of later events involving the The Chosen. Its reference to someone rising or ascending from among the Chosen was ultimately connected to the events surrounding Orinder and his transformation into Orin-Kel. The surviving book, however, does not name Orinder directly.

The book therefore remains both a historical source and a prophetic text whose original meaning is not always certain.