The Bean Manuscript

By : Daniel Prado, Talla Bodian, Amelia Middleton.

The Great Bean Tree

The Bean Maker, The Great Bean Tree, The Guiding Hand of Beans. It goes by many names, but always It shall be revered. You see, before the first cities, the first people, and the first mammals, were a species as majestic and beautiful as time Itself. The Great Bean trees covered the earth, changing and shaping It into a paradise. But slowly a corrupting and foul disease spread, killing all but the mightiest and wisest, the only One that still remains. This tree saw the beautiful world around It crumble like sand in water, as slowly the land was covered in water, flooding and destroying all, save one mountain, the mountain of the Great Bean Tree. It then mustered all Its power, sending back the floods as far as It could, until there was land enough for Its great plans. It wished to create something like Itself. So It created the first oaks, maples, and lindens. Then It made pines, firs, birches, and fruit trees. These protected the land and helped enact Its will. Then It created the first holy animals; the mammals and the birds. The birds watched the sky and the mammals watched the land. Both tended the trees. Then the Great Bean Tree created eight Beans, each of which encapsulated the essence of nature. They would assume the forms which best fit them, always changing until one day they transformed into humans. They then created more of themselves, to guard the land. These were called the Great Ones, and were the first Beankeepers and mungs.

The Legend of The Great Ones, Great Worshipers of The Bean

Before there was anything, there was the Bean. The Bean was lonely, so the Bean created friends, so that It was no longer alone in the world. The Bean created nine great ones to be friends with. Their names were Olir, the great learner, Ihes, the great worshiper, Iphen, the great tender,  Iara, the great builder,  Ozeyr, the great sage,  Leris, the great artist, Arion, the great defender, Trixie, the great trickster, and Uasis, the corrupted king. The world was divided up among the great ones. Olir made a great library in the greatest city, Ihes made a great temple on the tallest mountain, Iphen made a great garden in Ihes’ great temple, and tended the great Bean tree. Iara traveled across the lands with Ozeyr, building temples and teaching local humans of the Great Bean. Leris resided in a traveling band of a small collection of their followers, filling the world with beautiful art. Arion stood at the doors of the great temple, defending the mungs of the temple and Arion’s kin, Iphen and Ihes. What happened to them is a different story. Uasis saw their kin find their places in the world, and decided to find a place for themself. Uasis first found a great city of glass and shining metals, and they decided to become the deity of the city of glass, as It was called. The city of glass grew and grew, conquering Its neighbors. Uasis, gone crazy with power, started to seek the only thing just out of their reach, eternal life. The Great Ones could not die naturally but could be killed by mortal weapons, although It was difficult. Uasis abandoned their empire, leaving their most trusted advisor in charge. Uasis had heard of legends of a legendary root known as the Pohktahtko, rumored to give power to all that consume it. Uasis was a greedy and power hungry Great One, so of course, they did not listen to the rumors of people gone crazy, and how those who eat the Pohktahtko are never seen again. Uasis traveled to a desolate land, where they found the Pohktahtko growing on its corrupted shrine and made a pact to use its power. The world fell into a dark time, the holy ones were forgotten and all good things died a horrible death. 

The Fallen Bean

Once the great Bean tree created a ninth tree.  It poured Its life force into creating this tree giving it almost as much strength and power as the great Bean tree Itself. But the tree It created strayed from the good ideals of the great Bean tree, seaking power and corrupting others. Because of this, the great Bean tree banished the tree underground so it could only live close to the soil. It could not destroy It though, for the power It had bestowed upon it prevented this, banishment was the most It could do. The tree soon revoked its status as a great tree and adopted a new name. The Pohktahtko. This name was soon shortened to The Potato, so the weak hearted would not be corrupted as easily by saying its name. If one is to speak the name of the Pohktahtko, they will be instantly corrupted and the Pohktahtko will take control of their soul. To this day The Potato seeks to corrupt the minds and spirits of others, adopting many names and guises but it is still the Pohktahtko. We must seek to destroy the Pohktahtko and its minions, we may do this by eating Potatoes, the minions of The Pohktahtko. One who finds the true Potato (Pohktahtko) must be very wary, for it will seek to corrupt you the second it senses your presence. If you become corrupted by the Pohktahtko you must seek guidance from the High priest and the high Bean will give you the holy Bean water.

The Holy Beanwater

The High Priest of the Bean will occasionally crush a Holy Bean and boil It in water to create Holy Bean water. The holy Bean water is used to decorrupt the ones corrupted by The Pohktahtko. Only the high priest is able to crush Beans and make holy Bean water. This is the only circumstance where a Bean shall be broken.

The Eight Bean Commandments

Thou shalt worship the Bean

Thou shalt not worship the Pohktahtko

Thou shalt not commit any violent acts in the name of the Bean

Thou shalt take the words of the high priest and archpriests and archpriestesses as law (unless they are wrong)

Thou shalt not destroy, deface, or steal any Beans

Thou shalt take the spirit of the Bean in as your own

Thou shalt listen to the spirit of the Bean

Thou shalt protect the beauty of nature and respect the balance of It

The Bean’s Benevolence 

The Bean is a benevolent deity the Bean religion is open to any person who is not corrupted by the evil Pohktahtko, regardless of their personality or choices in life. There are only a few people who are outlawed from joining the religion of the Holy Bean. they are:

The current incarnation of Uasis, the corrupted one.

Any Potato ever. 

The Kidney Knights

The Kidney Knights

The Kidney Knights were an order of people who were misguided by the Pohktahtko. Proclaiming that there was only one true god, they conquered countless lands, erasing entire forests and committing countless atrocities against nature in the name of their god. They were commanded by many kings, emperors and high priests, and did not fall for centuries. None now remain, though if they returned, they would be banned by the church unless they reformed. The chief among them, and the first of them, was Usais the Corrupted One. Each time he died he, like all other Great Ones, was reincarnated. Each reincarnation became the archpriest of the knights. Recently a new reincarnation has appeared. He has taken the form of The Deceiver, and falsely believes that he knows the one true path of the bean.