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“The Eavesdropper” by Ritter (read by Dralen)

In this story from the Loom of Hours, a grieving husband constructs a peculiar door and encounters the gods and the dead.

Today’s story is “The Eavesdropper” by Ritter, who is a musical husky with a passion for literature. You can find more of his stories, including the full Loom of Hours cycle, on AO3.

Read by Dralen the Dapper Dragonfox

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https://thevoice.dog/episode/the-eavesdropper-by-ritter

Transcript
Speaker:

You’re listening

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to The Voice of Dog.

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This is Rob MacWolf, your fellow traveler,

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and Today’s story

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is “The Eavesdropper”

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by Ritter, who is a musical husky with a passion for literature.

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You can find more of his stories,

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including the full Loom of Hours cycle,

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on AO3. Read by Dralen, the Dapper Dragonfox. Please enjoy

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“THE EAVESDROPPER”

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by Ritter In what we call the kingdom of Alwa

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is a place called

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To’u, which lieth on no map

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and seemeth alike to its surroundings,

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save that it marketh the point

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where the deserts meet the marsh

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and the rivers crash from the cliffs,

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and appeareth to no

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-one except in the dawn fog

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when the heavens descend to earth.

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For it is the seam

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which bindeth together the worlds of gods and spirits and men,

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and must lie hidden from mortal eyes,

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lest through misfortune

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or malice, the worlds come undone.

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Now there was a bricklayer called Nusperen, son of Nebamen,

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who was favored by the kings of old;

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and he was given command of all the laborers and construction gangs in the land.

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He caused many statues to be raised

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and many temples to be built in honor of the gods and the king,

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and also created many wonders for the people of Alwa,

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which they loved and admired him for.

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But one year, a pestilence swept through the kingdom, and the air hung heavy

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with the ghosts of

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the dead;

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and although Nusperen was spared,

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his wife and daughter were not.

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Greatly did he mourn,

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though the king lavished him with all comforts and decreed that his family be buried in the royal tombs;

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greatly did he wail and weep.

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For so plenteous was Nusperen’s love for them,

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that no earthly pastime could offer him respite.

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Thus did the king seek counsel from his wise men,

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and in their wisdom,

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they advised that Nusperen pass the grieving period

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in the places of his treasured memories.

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So Nusperen made way to his village,

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bringing only a donkey and donning a widower’s garb.

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He would camp in the evenings, when night shrouded the land,

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and alight at dawn,

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before the sun was strongest.

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In this manner he soon arrived in the place called To’u,

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which never cometh to two people in the same places,

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and here he found a riverside hamlet

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engulfed by the sands.

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Wearied and not knowing its true name or nature,

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Nusperen made camp

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and rested for the night.

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But a spirit of the crossroads who dwelt nigh

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espied his garb of bereavement, and,

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taking pity, came to him in his sleep,

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“Go to, and I will shew thee a sight -

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for this is the place called To’u,

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where one may pass into the world between worlds,

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and thence observe what ensueth in the dealings of gods and spirits and men,

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without that they become aware of one’s presence.”

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And Nusperen responded:

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“Of gods and men I would gladly learn,

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but my heart would most fain know what hath become of my wife and daughter,

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whom illness hath taken unto death

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before their time;

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for they were dear to me,

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and my life is naught without them.”

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The spirit replied:

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“Verily, in this manner shalt thou behold them and hearken them as if they were by thy side.

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But they cannot do likewise,

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unless thou too beest in the world of the dead.

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dead.” Nusperen said:

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“Fairly hast thou spoken.

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Let us go then, spirit, and thou shewest me,

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how I may enter this realm.

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realm.” So Nusperen arose in his dream and followed the spirit to a certain point nigh to them,

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where the river poured from the cliffs above

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and the dunes encroached upon the reeds.

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Then the spirit bade Nusperen make a door-frame

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using the charred wood or building-stones from the ruins of the village,

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and when he awoke,

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there stood the door-frame

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wreathed in the dawn-fog,

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just as he had built it

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in his dream. Thus did Nusperen pass from the sight

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of men and gods. But the gods, dwelling on their mountain,

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were disturbed by a thing they knew not;

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and they said: “Some oddness is afoot in the land -

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let us investigate,

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lest a tragedy befall us without our knowing.

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knowing.”

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Then they went into all the kingdoms from Saba to Mazaka,

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and inspected every hair and every coin,

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but found naught amiss.

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Then they inquired in their temples

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and walked in their markets and loosened their scribes’ tongues with wine,

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yet still found naught amiss.

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At last they traveled all the lands from the oases of Sammach

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to the lush hills of Axum,

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counting every pebble and every blade of grass,

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and all appeared yet to be in order.

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Then the gods were stymied

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and returned to the place called To’u,

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where the earth floweth into the heavens.

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And as they were about to ascend to their godly abode,

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they espied the door-frame which Nusperen had built upon the slopes.

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And the gods said:

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“What trinket is this

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and what purpose doth it serve?”

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And the gods said:

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“Perhaps a hole for mice that whetten their teeth on our house.”

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And the gods said:

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“Let us amend it at once and go,

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for we have traveled far

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and wish now to dine and dream.

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dream.” But Nusperen did not hear this, for happy was he,

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espying finally upon his family

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who were in the land

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of the blessed dead.

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It is said that a mighty rage filled Nusperen when he could not return To’u,

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and that he attempted all manner of stratagems,

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but none found purchase in his realm.

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Then dread weariness gripped his soul,

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for there was no other that he could talk to in that place

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and no activity to pass the time,

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so he wandered the three lands wishing for death.

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But death could not find him either,

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for he had passed out of the sight and the reach of gods and men.

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So he went back to the home of the gods and watched their dealings and their comings and goings,

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that he might learn how he might leave the place between places.

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And although he found no such answer,

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he gained much knowledge which the gods had withheld from mankind;

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and he learned also how to impart these wisdoms

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to the land of men,

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without the need to be in the same realm.

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And so it is known that one who receiveth sudden clarity

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which cleaveth all intellective knots

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hath been visited by Nusperen,

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and one who is born with faculties of thought beyond mortal ken

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hath been blessed by him from birth.

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For this is how Nusperen

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bringeth the secrets of the gods to us,

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and it is because of this

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that we call him both

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the secret god and the god of secrets.

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And those newly bereaved

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who seek solace with Nusperen

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are given his in-sight into the land of the dead,

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for the pain he suffered as a mortal remaineth still,

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and he desireth

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that no person be burdened

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by the same torment.

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This was “The Eavesdropper”

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by Ritter, read for you

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by Dralen, the Dapper Dragonfox.

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You can find more stories on the web at thevoice.dog,

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or find the show wherever you get your podcasts.

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Thank you for listening

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to The Voice of Dog.

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The Voice of Dog
Furry stories to warm the ol' cockles, read by Rob MacWolf and guests. If you have a story that would suit the show, you can get in touch with @VoiceOfDog@meow.social on Mastodon, @voiceofdog.bsky.social on Blue Sky, or @Theodwulf on Telegram.

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