Listen children, here is a story.
Depur had a vain and greedy heart.
He wore the finest clothes, in the finest patterns, made of the finest fabrics and dyed with the finest dyes. He made many of his slaves make him his clothes, and great was their toil and their suffering. But Depur cared not, as he got such fine, good clothes from them.
Depur wore the finest jewelry made of the finest metals, embedded with the finest gems, twisted into the finest shapes. He made many of his slaves make his jewelry. And great was their toil and their suffering. But Depur cared not. Because he got such very fine jewelry from them.
Depur had many, many, many clothes and jewels. He liked to wear them at parties to show off to his friends and his guests. He paraded about and all of Depur's friends talked about how finely dressed and impressive Depur was.
The slaves of course wore worn down rags and had only meagre items of clothing. The Depuran laughed about how ugly they were, and how plain they were. The slaves knew that the Depuran were greedy and vain. And Depur was the vainest, most greedy of them all.
They went to Ekkreth, who was a slave working with them as much as they were a free bird flying in the sky. They told Ekkreth that Depur made them work and toil and suffer to make him his clothing and jewelry. And Ekkreth knew of this already. Ekkreth was all the slaves, and that means they were also the slaves that made the clothes and jewelry.
Ekkreth told the children of the Mother to not worry. They told them that they had a plan, and Depur would have his reckoning.
So Ekkreth changed their shape and took the shape of a clothing designer. They went to the houses of all of Depur's friends and designed them beautiful items of clothing. More beautiful than anything that had been made so far.
Depur's friends were very pleased and happy but Depur felt within him a deep, burning jealousy. He wanted clothes as fine as the clothes his friends wore, if not more. He demanded to know who had been designing these clothes and they pointed to Ekkreth, who was in the disguise of the designer.
Depur demanded that Ekkreth design for him a great set of clothing the likes of which have never been seen before on the planet. Clothing so grand that it would make everyone who looked upon him jealous. So grand that everyone would know how great and glorious and powerful Depur truly was. And Ekkreth agreed, with much meekness and praise being put towards Depur.
But secretly Ekkreth smiled to themself. And they carried out their plan.
They went to the hovels of all the slaves who made Depur his robes. And they changed their shape and took the shape of a little red bird. At this the people immediately understood that it was Ekkreth. And they smiled and laughed amongst themselves, for they knew it was time to play another prank on Depur. And they asked of Ekkreth, what was their plan?
Ekkreth told the people in a quiet voice that the enforcers could not hear, that they would be giving Depur the worst clothes ever. They told the people their whole plan. Because as much as Ekkreth lies to Depur and all the Deuran, Ekkreth is honest and trustworthy towards the children of the Mother.
They told the people that they would be giving Depur the worst clothes ever. That the people needen't work and toil for they would not have to make new clothes for Depur. Ekkreth told the people that all they had to do was look as if they were working whenever the overseers came and Ekkreth would handle the rest. Ekkreth told them that Ekkreth would take the most old and most worn down rags of the people and give them to Depur to wear as grand garments.
The people laughed at this and they asked Ekkreth how they planned to make Depur wear worn down rags.
Ekkreth answered that they had very powerful powers of mirage. And they could make anything seem as if it was something else. They could make the worn down rags look like the grandest, finest attire. And they would do that, but only to Depur's eyes. When Depur looked at the clothes they would see beauty and perfection. But when anyone else looked at the robes they would see worn rags not even fit for a slave to wear.
The people laughed much at this. And the sound of their laughter rang through the slave quarters bright and lilting and sweet. Ekkreth smiled upon hearing it.
A overseer heard this laughter and strode up to the windows of the slave quarters.
"How dare you people laugh when you are supposed to be silent!" He bellowed. Hearing this, the slaves quickly quieted down. But they kept on laughing, silently, secretly, in a way that nobody could hear them.
When all the laughter was over Ekkreth asked them for a favour. They asked the people for their most worn down rags. The rags that even they could not wear. The worn fabrics that offered absolutely no protection anymore from the biting desert sun. They were to present these clothes to Depur as new and fancy attire.
Hearing this the people laughed again but they looked through their hovels and they found the most worn down and terrible clothes they had. Things that were not fit for even slaves to wear. Rags that were so used up that they could only be used as cleaning cloths and the like.
Ekkreth took the clothes and told the people to go to sleep. That in the morning they would be pretending to work while Ekkreth would be spinning their magic. The people went to sleep with light and hopeful hearts, knowing that the next day would not be a work day for them but rather a rare and treasured day of rest.
Ekkreth took the clothes and went out into the night. There under the light of the three moons they spun their magic into the fabric of the rags. They cast their mirage and their lies and their illusion. Making the rags appear grander and grander to Depur's eyes. Until they were the grandest garments that anyone had ever seen.
Once they were finally satisfied they hid the clothes in a secret spot within the slave quarters. Then they awaited for the day to come.
The next day Depur called them to his halls. And gave them many of his slaves to work with. The slaves hid their sly smirks and Ekkreth hid their own as well. And they went to the spinning rooms and weaving rooms of Depur.
There they talked and they laughed and they told stories and jokes. Ekkreth told stories and jokes along with them. Whenever the overseers came to check up on them everyone went back to their equipment and gave the impression that they were very busy at their work. Ekkreth wove illusions to make it seem that the clothes they were making were coming along. And then when the overseers went away again the people went back to each other.
Depur made the slaves work very hard every day. They deserved to have some rest.
Once Depur himself came to see how his clothes were coming along. Ekkreth in their disguise told Depur many falsehoods about how well everything was going and how good the robes would look. Depur bought into them wholeheartedly.
When finally the day was over, the slaves went back to their hovels and there they laughed in secret. Ekkreth went back to Depur and told him of their progress. This happened the next day. And the next day. And the next.
Until eventually one day the robes for Depur were supposedly finished and it was time to deliver them to Depur.
Ekkreth presented the worn rags, in front of the guards and enforcers and slaves. Depur saw them and saw the finest garments he had ever seen. The slaves all hid their amusement. For they all knew the trick Ekkreth was playing upon Depur. The eyes of the overseers went wide in shock but they held their tongues, seeing how much Depur liked the attire. Depur thought their eyes were wide in amazement. And he thought that the clothes were the best clothes that anyone had ever seen. He immediately put them on and strut about his palace. And all the palace servants held in their laughter when they saw the sight.
Depur wore the garments that Ekkreth gave him very often.
He wore them in meetings with his business partners. And they were shocked to see the mighty Depur wearing such horrible clothes. But they didn't say anything. Both because they feared Depur and because they were very amused at what they saw. They snickered in secret about Depur's terrible tastes.
Depur wore the clothes at parties with his friends. They all looked in surprise at the ragged attire Depur had on. They did not say anything to Depur out loud. because it was obvious that Depur liked his attire very much. But they murmured to themselves about how ugly Depur looked. How even slaves were not this rudely dressed. And they laughed at and made fun of Depur behind his back.
Depur wore these clothes when he went out throughout the planet. The rich outlanders all saw him strutting about like a king and they laughed amongst themselves, thinking him an especially troublesome slave. After all, he was dressed in attire only fit for slaves. In attire not even fit for slaves.
The overseers all laughed behind Depur's back. They said that Depur had surely lot his wits and would surely undo his empire if he kept going about in such ways. They called Depur stupid and crazy and of bad taste. Of course they never let Depur know that they were saying all of these things.
But the slaves. The slaves had the most fun of all. They laughed and joked and talked about how unseemly Depur was in front of all his friends and overseers and business partners. They talked about how Depur was making such a fool of himself in front of everyone. How everyone was laughing at him behind his back. And they drew much mirth from this. They looked at Depur and they had to hide their smiles.
But the most mirth they got was from knowing how much Depur looked no different from one of the slaves when clothed in their attire. Depur could strut about like he was grand and rich and fine. But when stripped of all his excesses he was just a man with too much ego.
One day Depur was at a fine party. And he was wearing the rags Ekkreth had given him. Everyone was staring at him, and he thought it was to admire him. Ekkreth, as his chief designer, was also invited to this party. They just looked on in amusement.
One of Depur's friends, a very rich and severe lady, finally got it in herself to ask Depur what was going on with his clothes. She told him that everyone was laughing at his ragged appearance and his bad taste. Depur, upon hearing this, flew into a rage, claiming that everyone was just jealous of his fine attire.
The rich lady then told him to just look at himself.
Ekkreth chose at this moment to drop the illusion on Depur's eyes. They smirked as Depur looked down at his robes, now all tattered and worn rags.
Depur let out a cry of horror and rage. He demanded that the designer who made him such clothing be brought forwards and punished. But as the guards moved to seize Ekkreth, Ekkreth turned into a bird and slipped past their grasping hands, flying away.
I tell you this story to save your life.
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