[ the serpent is just chilling! especially since neither van zieks nor alisaie - at least now - are attacking. there are no whispers. there are no threats. just the chorus of layered voices belonging to this angel and the impossibly quiet rustle of a serpent across ruined earth, razed soil, and the petrified remains of the garden. ]
IT WAS THE END OF EDEN. MAN WAS ABLE TO REBUILD, AFTER THE CALAMITY STRUCK, BUT THE BONES OF THE PAST REMAINED HERE - ALONG WITH ME. WITH KNOWLEDGE CAME FREE WILL, CAME ORIGINAL SIN, CAME THE WRATH OF GOD.
BUT I HAVE NOT BEEN AMONG MY KIND FOR MANY MILLENNIA. THE AUTHORITY WORKS IN WAYS THAT I HAVE LONG LOST UNDERSTANDING OF. IF THERE ARE ANGELS WHERE YOU COME FROM, AND THEY ARE PROMISING YOU THINGS TO COMMIT THE GREATEST OF SINS, THEN YOU SHOULD NOT TRUST THEM, BAROK VAN ZIEKS.
[ alisaie can't see them, anyways, but you will both feel that their attention has shifted to her question. ]
HOPE FOR THE END OF THE INQUISITION. HOPE FOR EVERY WORLD THAT YOU HAVE KNOWN, WILL EVER KNOW, AND COULD NEVER KNOW. AND HOPE WILL ALWAYS COME TO THOSE WHO LOOK TO THE LIGHT, TO THOSE WHO SEEK KNOWLEDGE.
[Van Zieks is not particularly devout at this point but he is of course deeply familiar with Christian doctrine, because. Y'know. And he just does not like this at all. Eden. Original Sin. God. He's so tense. Why is this happening.]
When you speak of this Authority... Are you referring to God? [And the angels, his agents, not to be trusted? He's getting a headache. He'd assumed them to be angels in name only. But now...]
... I am a lawyer. It is my duty to seek the truth, no matter how horrible it may be. [He says, but his tone is shaky. He's clearly like... really having a tough time over here.]
[Now it's Alisaie's turn to reach out and put a hand on his arm. She may not know the story of the Garden of Eden, of God and Angels and Original Sin, but she understands enough to try and put the pieces together.]
We called them sin eaters on the First. They were harbingers of a Calamity, beings created of a profusion of light which sought to tip the world's balance beyond salvation.
[...]
They were commanded by a single man, a being human and sin eater both. Might a similar power be guiding these false angels, commanding them to the destruction of worlds?
[That's assuming she believes Uriel... but while their appearance still troubles her, she's managed to get enough of a hold of herself to listen for now.]
THAT IS ANOTHER OF HIS NAMES. The Authority, god, the Creator, the Lord, Yahweh, El, Adonai, the King, the Father, the Almighty. THE FIRST, THE LAST.
PERHAPS THE ANGELS ARE HIS. PERHAPS THEY ARE FALLEN. PERHAPS THEY ARE DEVILS MASQUERADING AS ANGELS. I DO NOT KNOW. BUT THERE HAVE BEEN MANY INSTANCES LIKE YOURS. MANY WORLDS LIKE YOURS. GREAT CALAMITIES FROM THE SKIES THAT SALTED AND BURNT THE EARTH, TORRENTIAL FLOODS THAT LEFT MANKIND WASHED AWAY TO START ANEW. PLACES WHERE MAN HAD NOT YET WALKED, BUT ANOTHER RACE BEGAN TO THINK AND KNOW AND CREATE, WHERE WARS HAVE BEEN WAGED FOR Time immemorial. PERHAPS YOUR SIN EATERS AND THESE ANGELS ARE NOT SO DIFFERENT.
[ the serpent is placid, sinking down into the riverbed and winding through it as uriel rises from where they are seated. where they had sat, there is an impression in the earth, as if they have truly been seated there for some millennia.
they hold up a cutting from a tree. it's hard to place, at first, because it's been petrified, as well - even down to the leaves - but there's still something... alive about it. an energy to it. ]
BUT WHERE THERE IS LIFE, THERE IS HOPE. THERE IS THE CHANCE TO LEARN AND GROW AND PROSPER.
[HEY VAN ZIEKS HATES THIS. He is just looking down at this petrified but still somehow clearly living growth. Waiting here for millenia just for something this small... It's a good thing Alisaie has a hold on him because he seems pretty light on his feet, like a stiff breeze could knock him over. Adelheid preens at his hair, fretfully.]
This other race... are they the ones responsible for this "Inquisition"? What are they?
[But otherwise... yeah. Why are you showing them this cutting, Uriel? It's either a show of trust or of confidence in themselves and the serpent, showing them this small thing only beginning to grow anew.]
What is that? With all you've said, it cannot be a simple tree.
[ there's a trumpet in the far distance, just a suggestion of sound. heralding. uriel does not acknowledge it, and instead holds this veritable twig forward for the two of you to see. the serpent watches closely with its good eye. ]
RATHER, MANY RACES HAVE SUFFERED AT THE HANDS OF THE INQUISITION AND THE CALAMITIES IT HAS BROUGHT FORTH, ACROSS INNUMERABLE WORLDS. RACES YOU COULD HARDLY DREAM OF.
BUT YOU ARE ABLE TO TRAVEL ACROSS THESE WORLDS. YOU HAVE SAID SO YOURSELVES. I HAVE WAITED A VERY LONG TIME, AND WOULD WAIT LONGER STILL, IF I COULD. I HAVE GIVEN OF MYSELF TO MAINTAIN THIS SPRIG, THIS CUTTING.
THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS WITHIN EACH OF US. IT IS OUR OWN TO CHOOSE HOW WE WOULD BUILD IT UP, UNDER WHAT NAME, FOR THE SAKE OF WHAT CAUSE. BUT IT HAS LONG SINCE LEFT THE GARDEN IN ASHES.
TAKE WHAT REMAINS OF THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. FIND WHERE IT MAY GROW ANEW.
[Van Zieks is entirely whelmed. But if Uriel is holding it out he's going to take it. Of course he's going to take it. If all of this is true, it's incredibly important to take it, if he's being asked to. And he'll hold it close. He doesn't feel equipped for this. To carry something so important. But.]
... Of course. But... How will we know where the right place to plant it is?
YOU WILL KNOW. IT WILL BE RIGHT - YOU AND YOUR COMPANIONS WILL FIND IT. YOU MUST HOPE THAT YOU WILL, AND BELIEVE THAT HOPE.
LEARN THE WORLDS THAT YOU TRAVEL. COME TO KNOW THEM AND THEIR STORIES. SHARE THOSE STORIES. SHARE YOUR OWN STORIES. THOUGHT AND CREATION SPUR ON KNOWLEDGE.
THERE ARE MANY DANGERS, TO EVERY WORLD. BUT DO NOT LET YOURSELVES BECOME IDLE. DO NOT GIVE UP HOPE. FORGE AHEAD. STAY TOGETHER.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
IT WAS THE END OF EDEN. MAN WAS ABLE TO REBUILD, AFTER THE CALAMITY STRUCK, BUT THE BONES OF THE PAST REMAINED HERE - ALONG WITH ME. WITH KNOWLEDGE CAME FREE WILL, CAME ORIGINAL SIN, CAME THE WRATH OF GOD.
BUT I HAVE NOT BEEN AMONG MY KIND FOR MANY MILLENNIA. THE AUTHORITY WORKS IN WAYS THAT I HAVE LONG LOST UNDERSTANDING OF. IF THERE ARE ANGELS WHERE YOU COME FROM, AND THEY ARE PROMISING YOU THINGS TO COMMIT THE GREATEST OF SINS, THEN YOU SHOULD NOT TRUST THEM, BAROK VAN ZIEKS.
[ alisaie can't see them, anyways, but you will both feel that their attention has shifted to her question. ]
HOPE FOR THE END OF THE INQUISITION. HOPE FOR EVERY WORLD THAT YOU HAVE KNOWN, WILL EVER KNOW, AND COULD NEVER KNOW. AND HOPE WILL ALWAYS COME TO THOSE WHO LOOK TO THE LIGHT, TO THOSE WHO SEEK KNOWLEDGE.
no subject
When you speak of this Authority... Are you referring to God?
[And the angels, his agents, not to be trusted? He's getting a headache. He'd assumed them to be angels in name only. But now...]
... I am a lawyer. It is my duty to seek the truth, no matter how horrible it may be.
[He says, but his tone is shaky. He's clearly like... really having a tough time over here.]
no subject
We called them sin eaters on the First. They were harbingers of a Calamity, beings created of a profusion of light which sought to tip the world's balance beyond salvation.
[...]
They were commanded by a single man, a being human and sin eater both. Might a similar power be guiding these false angels, commanding them to the destruction of worlds?
[That's assuming she believes Uriel... but while their appearance still troubles her, she's managed to get enough of a hold of herself to listen for now.]
Uriel, what yet grows in this garden?
no subject
PERHAPS THE ANGELS ARE HIS. PERHAPS THEY ARE FALLEN. PERHAPS THEY ARE DEVILS MASQUERADING AS ANGELS. I DO NOT KNOW. BUT THERE HAVE BEEN MANY INSTANCES LIKE YOURS. MANY WORLDS LIKE YOURS. GREAT CALAMITIES FROM THE SKIES THAT SALTED AND BURNT THE EARTH, TORRENTIAL FLOODS THAT LEFT MANKIND WASHED AWAY TO START ANEW. PLACES WHERE MAN HAD NOT YET WALKED, BUT ANOTHER RACE BEGAN TO THINK AND KNOW AND CREATE, WHERE WARS HAVE BEEN WAGED FOR Time immemorial. PERHAPS YOUR SIN EATERS AND THESE ANGELS ARE NOT SO DIFFERENT.
[ the serpent is placid, sinking down into the riverbed and winding through it as uriel rises from where they are seated. where they had sat, there is an impression in the earth, as if they have truly been seated there for some millennia.
they hold up a cutting from a tree. it's hard to place, at first, because it's been petrified, as well - even down to the leaves - but there's still something... alive about it. an energy to it. ]
BUT WHERE THERE IS LIFE, THERE IS HOPE. THERE IS THE CHANCE TO LEARN AND GROW AND PROSPER.
no subject
What.... what would you have us do?
no subject
This other race... are they the ones responsible for this "Inquisition"? What are they?
[But otherwise... yeah. Why are you showing them this cutting, Uriel? It's either a show of trust or of confidence in themselves and the serpent, showing them this small thing only beginning to grow anew.]
What is that? With all you've said, it cannot be a simple tree.
no subject
RATHER, MANY RACES HAVE SUFFERED AT THE HANDS OF THE INQUISITION AND THE CALAMITIES IT HAS BROUGHT FORTH, ACROSS INNUMERABLE WORLDS. RACES YOU COULD HARDLY DREAM OF.
BUT YOU ARE ABLE TO TRAVEL ACROSS THESE WORLDS. YOU HAVE SAID SO YOURSELVES. I HAVE WAITED A VERY LONG TIME, AND WOULD WAIT LONGER STILL, IF I COULD. I HAVE GIVEN OF MYSELF TO MAINTAIN THIS SPRIG, THIS CUTTING.
THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS WITHIN EACH OF US. IT IS OUR OWN TO CHOOSE HOW WE WOULD BUILD IT UP, UNDER WHAT NAME, FOR THE SAKE OF WHAT CAUSE. BUT IT HAS LONG SINCE LEFT THE GARDEN IN ASHES.
TAKE WHAT REMAINS OF THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. FIND WHERE IT MAY GROW ANEW.
no subject
... Of course. But... How will we know where the right place to plant it is?
no subject
Good. If he hadn't taken it, she would have forced him to. It will do him good to carry it, she thinks.]
Is there aught more you would tell us about what we must do? What dangers we must avoid?
no subject
LEARN THE WORLDS THAT YOU TRAVEL. COME TO KNOW THEM AND THEIR STORIES. SHARE THOSE STORIES. SHARE YOUR OWN STORIES. THOUGHT AND CREATION SPUR ON KNOWLEDGE.
THERE ARE MANY DANGERS, TO EVERY WORLD. BUT DO NOT LET YOURSELVES BECOME IDLE. DO NOT GIVE UP HOPE. FORGE AHEAD. STAY TOGETHER.
[ the earth shakes again, and with the arrival of familiar faces, the trumpet bellows once more. ]