From Kraid Icarus, Accounts of the Sermons

Nikolas was clearly inspired, whether by his own hopes or by the prophetic dreams he frequently alluded to but refused to fully explain. As Nikolas wandered the land with Severian, seeking clues to the location of his utopian "Seleucar", he spoke in every village he visited. In some places, word of his speech in Thera had spread, and people were eager to listen to him - in other places, he began just as he had in Thera, finding a public place and striking up a conversation about the war. And every time, Severian debated him fiercely.

Their now-legendary debates ranged from high-flown metaphysics to personal insult contests to crowd-pleasing topical anecdotes, but although the two began to fully develop their remarkable oratorial talent to great levels, in the end it was always Severian who won the majority of their debates, as in those days hope was not a plentiful commodity. People chose to place their hope in their personal hoards of living supplies, praying to survive for another winter, rather than waste what little hope they could muster on something as unlikely as a lasting peace.

But word spread of the two, who came to be known more as prophets than as vagabonds (for in retelling, stories always grow larger). And crowds began to turn out to welcome them, to listen to their public speeches and arguments (and quite often they would already be arguing when they arrived at the city)... and gradually, others started to follow them around, other wanderers or rootless warriors or disinherited sons, to give them some company and help protect them against the lawless countryside.

And one day they came to Shallam. And half of that great city came out to the hills near the city, to a place where the rocks formed a natural amphitheater. This place, called the Theatron Sarapin, was home, in more peaceful times, to a joint Ashtan/Shallam theatre festival (for art was, at one time, perceived as transcending city-state barriers.)

And it was in this natural amphitheater that Nikolas and Severian had their most famous and final debate. Although they covered many topics and spoke for several hours, the climactic moments of the debate are transcribed below:

N: I'm kind of surprised that you're all so interested in what we have to say. We've been traveling all over Achaea, and we've been talking and arguing and trying to figure things out for a long time, but always on sort of a small level. There was that big debate in Hashan, I think they're calling it the "Sermon on the Rocks" now, although I don't know exactly what religious principle they think I was sermonizing... but mostly, we've just been kind of working out publicly the same sort of things that people always think about in private. Why is there good? Why is there evil? Why is the world sometimes unfair? And, most importantly, can it ever be different?

I can't answer most of these questions. I'm not a priest, I'm not a prophet, at least not your usual kind, anyway. I don't claim to know everything, or have direct information from one of the gods. But I do know this. The world is a cold place, and it's a harsh place, and it's a violent place, but it doesn't have to be. All the coldness and harshness and violence are human creations, and they can be overcome by human effort! With a simple agreement, we could change everything all by ourselves.

I know you're all smart people, so I'm going to skip a few pages here. We already know why you can't just turn your back on your cheating half-brother, or your local crooked merchant, or the outlaws in the woods, even though you wish they'd all be as pure inside as you are. It's because there are people who aren't good. People who might have been good, but who have been hurt, or misled, or who simply took the easy way out. People who, for one reason or another, have succumbed to the dark half of the human spirit.

It is said that in the halls of the Logos there are great murals, shown opposite each other, symbolizing the slow divergence between the roads of good and evil. And it is said, more importantly, that the potential for good and evil both reside in each human being. And this is the point which must not be forgotten!

If you were simply to choose to put aside your life-long garments of distrust and fear, and were to exchange them with clothing of love and sharing, you would surely be struck down by the intransigent ones, the hateful ones, the ones who have traveled farther than you down the road of corruption. This is why you are afraid to change for the better. But the fact you do not understand is that even those who are truly evil can change as well!

"Redemption" is not just a fairy story told by the Church to get a larger tithe. "Grace" is not a commodity that can be created only by the gods. The fact is that even the evil can change their ways.

Severian, I see you leaning back with that smirk of yours. You're fully prepared to rip me to shreds once your turn comes up, aren't you? Yes, I see you smiling! I know that grin! But rest easy, because this is only the half part of my plea!

People of Shallam, know this! You may say, and perhaps may even be correct, that the true predators of this world, the most twisted and corrupt of men, are utterly beyond any human effort of reformation. But can you claim that a wee baby, in the company of people who know what is right, and follow their beliefs, will ever grow into a monster? Can you claim that a child, having been raised in a close tradition of justice and caring, will lift a hand against his friends or family? Can you claim that a young man who has been trained all his life in the ways and means of harmonious living will ever destroy the land he has been trained to love? Can you claim that a city leader who loves his land, and who is loved by the people who chose him, will ever betray the place he holds dear? Can you claim that an old man, nearing the end of a life of such joy and peace, will hoard his belongings, or use his greater experience to hinder rather than nurture his own children, the younger generations that will carry on the traditions he has lived in?

No! In a society where evil is scorned, lies are hated, malice is abhorred, how can the seeds of darkness ever flourish? In a society where two men are both raised to understand the importance of each other's feelings, how can they ever compete in hatred? In a society where soldiers are trained first and foremost to hate killing, how can they ever go to war for any but the most worthy of causes?

In the society we, yes we, my people, can create, how can there ever be the darkness, the strife, the starvation, the agony that infects the wounded, crippled, diseased nations of the shadowy present?

In a world created by good, what place is there for evil?

You have heard of this world before, if you have turned out in such numbers just to hear my companion and me speak. You have heard the name that was spoken in my dream. You have heard me speak of the land to which I am going, the land which, I now see, I will have to create on my own, create with help from every good soul that will follow me. The land of Seleucar.

S: The land of soap bubbles, doomed to shatter at a touch, Nikolas. The land of illusions, doomed to fade further into the distance the closer you seem to come. The land of evil, sleeping in the good, waiting its time to fester and explode. You spoke of "those who choose the easy way", the evil way. That is where your evil will come from, in Seleucar as in Ashtan, as in Shallam, as in Thera, as in Hashan, as in Delos, as everywhere in the whole vast land of Achaea.

A man who does not wish to sweat out his entire life to raise crops from the ground, a man who does not wish to help his neighbors simply because it is easier in the short and in the long run to ignore them, the man who sees the opportunity to take advantage and takes it: this is the man who will break your dream. And this man is all of us. Hate me for saying it, hate me for naming the shame that stains all of humanity. But mankind is weak!

You know the legends! We are all children of the Nameless Horror, we are all children of rape and violation, hatred and fear and uncaring are in our nature! We may try to say we are not inherently evil, we may speak in lofty slogans, we may try to claim that only other people are amoral deep in their hearts... and we may also try to drink the Pachacacha or carry Mt. Vashnar to the Mojhave one boulder at a time. The evidence is inescapable! The evidence is all around us! We know deep in our hearts that we are sinful and corrupt, no matter what we try to do! You all go to church every holy day, and you confess your sins while groveling on the floor, it's a matter of civic pride. And so you keep yourselves holy, and that's all well and good.

But even when you have your darker self in control, does your neighbor? What about his half-cousin from the slums downtown? What about those immoral Ashtanian scum? Will you try to forge a new reality with them? Ha! You'll embrace them as willingly as they'll embrace hypocritical legalistic swindling imperialist Shallamese! You wish to go to Seleucar? Then go hand in hand with your most hated enemies.

And you will all fail together.

N: We will all fall in together. Trust in a man, and he is likely to prove trustworthy.
S: A myth.
N: One that I would like to believe in. Look, we don't need to wrangle too much longer. This is the end of our first journey.
S: Huh?
N: We're done arguing. Now it's time to act.
S: How?
N: We're going to Seleucar. And we're taking everyone with us. Are you coming?
S: ...
N: Come on! You couldn't wait to prove me wrong! Come see me fail! Or, better, come see me succeed, and join me once and for all. Are you with me, Severian? You've got to be in all or nothing, you know.
S: Hah! All is nothing, for this fool's crusade. How will you travel to a place you've never even seen? Do you have a map that you've been hiding from me all this time?
N: I know the way. I feel it in my mind… I have seen the place in my dreams. I know where it is. I could find it in my sleep, for I have already done so. Across the mountains, across a great swamp… on banks of a mighty river…
S: On the other side of innumerable natural hazards? And how will we perform this cross-country trek without perishing in the wilds?
N: Do not rangers and pathfinders and hunstmen travel with us? Gentlemen, will you lead us, and keep us from danger?

(shouts of affirmation)

S: And how will we eat, dear Nikolas? Whose crops shall we uproot to take with us, to keep us from starving? Or do you plan to forage and hunt, feeding five hundred settlers on berries and rabbits?
N: Have we never passed through entire villages that have wished my vision was true? For every farmer who travels with us, we can surely take time to bring his crop in and store it in our wagons. This is the time of harvest, perfect for us to stock up for this journey; and yet it is early enough that we can be over the mountains before winter sets in.
S: And when we get there, how will we build this little "empire of dreams"? How will we become more than mere squatters living in huts?
N: Are there no Dwarves among us? Are there no Tsol'aa? Are there no skilled human architects and builders? How many artisans have followed us, and brought their tools with them? We do not have too few creators and thinkers, Severian… we almost have too many!
S: Then… then…
N: Are you out of objections yet, Severian?
S: Of course not! I'm… I'm just thinking, that's all.
N: Severian… are you truly so set against this dream? All your argument has helped to clarify my own thoughts. By attacking my dream, you have helped to create it. Severian, why will you not help me make our dream come true?
S: …Nikolas… am I worthy?
N: All are worthy.
S: Then… although I'm sure I'll regret it later, I'll give it a shot. To Seleucar, then. May Sarapis have mercy on us.

(stunned silence from crowd, followed by wild cheering)

N: Severian, that's terrific! Okay, we're going! Who's coming with?

(more wild cheering)

S: It's settled then! To Seleucar

Severian's change of heart at the end of the debate was a shock to the entire globe. Everyone had heard the two go at it, or had heard the tales, and had come to view the two as opposing elemental principles. For Severian's eternal pessimism to give in to Nikolas' vision - this was an event that won Nikolas more followers than his words alone had ever done. Nikolas and Severian decided together than they would swing back through the main lands of Achaea, gathering followers until they reached Ashtan, then, with this group of "settlers", they would go to Seleucar, guided only by Nikolas' intuition.

Unfortunately, although many people followed them, most brought only a few days' or weeks' provisions, not realizing the long road that lay ahead... but then in other places, entire villages picked up to follow the Two Prophets, taking their full harvests with them. Nikolas' head was oft in the clouds; it was Severian's logistical skills that kept the ever-growing legions of so-called "Selucarians" from falling apart. And, as Severian made them realize that they could cooperate and co-exist (which was, after all, the dream they were chasing), the followers began to feel a true sense of community. It can be said, in a way, that Seleucar came into existence then, five months before Nikolas ever received his true calling from Sarapis.