The Charred Bones of Optimism

Do not mistake my intent for a desire to burden your souls with knowledge of things you can do nothing to change.  Even amidst the most desolate of ruins there still remains the embers of hope, just waiting to be kindled into a flame once more.  The world has ended long ago and it will end again in the future, and like a phoenix rising from the ashes of this world a new one will be born.  There is a cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth that remains in place despite the best efforts of many to undermine it.  No matter how hardened and numb you grow to the world around you, you can feel again.  Tomorrow is another day and it may be different than today, your life is not confined to reliving the same day over and over again.  You can heal from your injuries, you can forgive and forget, you can atone for your sins.  It is never too late to choose a new path for yourself and begin to walk down it.

The first step is always the hardest, but the paths that exist are myriad in their construction and direction.  Will you seek out the path of your greatest desire, or will the path call to you and lead you to it, or will another show you the way and guide you, step by step, to the beginning of your path.  Regardless of how you reach the start, the first step is yours and yours alone to choose, to decide and commit to the act, and then to follow through.  The single action of one step will have profound consequences upon your past, present and future.  Which branch will you take, traveler?

Will you be a Pawn?  Will you be one of the many who dot the board and move slowly forward, ever forward, sometimes at an angle making an impact upon the board?  Will you be an obstacle in the path of a greater piece?  Will you be something that someone else has to deal with?  Or will you survive and persevere and reach the other end of the board?  Will you obtain a moment of sublime epiphany and find yourself transformed?  Will the board open up for you then?  Or will you, as most Pawns, become the sacrificial tool of others to gain advantage?

Will you be a Rook?  Will you be of the limited number who shape and mold themselves into the perfect form?  Like the tower depicted on the piece, will you be a symbol of stability and structure?  Will you reap then the power that comes along with the structure?  Will you suffer the curse of it, the immobility and the restriction?  Will you reach far, but only in the straight paths dictated?  Like the Tower depicted on the piece, will you be a target for those who desire your fall?  Will you fall or will you rise?

Will you be a Bishop?  Will you be of the limited number who move contrary to the norm, who see the world differently for all others?  Will you be one who gives themselves over to faith in belief over logic and rationality?  Will you be one who yearns and studies and pours their very souls into the crucible to have it heated and melted down into the cross they will then bear?  Will your power reach as far as that of a rook, but always from the oblique angle, always just slightly off to the rest of the world?  Will you be the one who never fits in, even among others like you?

Will you be a Knight?  Will you be of the limited number who exist between?  Will you be stronger than a Pawn, but weaker than a Rook or Bishop?  Will you know enough to move in whatever direction you choose, but constrained by your lack of power?  Weaker does not mean weak, however, but will you capitalize on this or will you convince yourself you can do nothing to affect the outcome of the game?  You who move abruptly, who can slip past barriers that would briefly stifle the so-called stronger pieces?  Your path is the most erratic, where will you end up?

Will you be a Queen?  Will you be powerful and full of violence and wrath?  Will you sweep across the board in any direction you choose, hunting down your enemies?  Will you be the piece that wins the game, or will you too like the lowliest of Pawns, be sacrificed in order to protect that which truly matters?  Will you rise to the state of being more than what you were?  Will you accept the gifts offered or refuse them, or will you slay those who have them and take what you wish by your own strength?  Will you realize that no matter your power, there are those with greater power still?  Will you weep then, or will you set your sights ever higher?

You will not be a King, not without winning many games first.  The Kings are the most important pieces on the board and there are but a small number of them.  The number is static and fixed, ever unchanging since the beginning of beginnings.  The path to being a King is long and terrible.  You lose yourself along the way, because you must in order to progress.  Each step is a slow flaying of the self and while to some this is a relief and release, to others this is excruciating.  This is evidence that they were incorrect in their belief that they were ready for the journey.  Know thyself and know thy enemy.  Which one will you be?

Will you be the Meeple?  The Top Hat?  The Named Character?  The Dice?  The Cards?  The Victory Points?  The Checkers?  The Figurines?  There are so many others that you could be, so many paths to choose from?  Did you think all the pieces on the board had been covered already?  You misunderstand the very nature of the game, but that is to be expected.  Could you be one of the other pieces?  Could you find your way into those strange pieces which move according to their own rules?  Yes, you could, possibility is never the question being asked here.  Choice is the question being asked.  It is not a matter of can you it is a matter of will you.

So, will you?  Which path will you choose?  Tell me of The Identity in Silvered Faces.