Aeon (updated 10/9/14)
Cheiromancer
Adventurer
I am puzzled by a line in the dialog between the Adversary and Nehael.
"Thank-you for letting Rintrah pass," Nehael nodded politely. "Will you trust me?"
When did the Adversary let Rintrah pass? Is she referring to her rescue?
This line was also food for thought:
"Think of a name for me," he called after her. "Maybe I'll like it."
What is going on here? His being named would completely reconfigure his place in the Oronthonian schema, wouldn't it? The Adversary personifies a particular way of denying limitation, a way that is symbolized by his being nameless. If he is named, then what?
I had kind of thought that saizhan might transform (or at least relax) the dualistic side of Oronthonianism, but his being named by Nehael would be something else entirely.
"Thank-you for letting Rintrah pass," Nehael nodded politely. "Will you trust me?"
When did the Adversary let Rintrah pass? Is she referring to her rescue?
This line was also food for thought:
"Think of a name for me," he called after her. "Maybe I'll like it."
What is going on here? His being named would completely reconfigure his place in the Oronthonian schema, wouldn't it? The Adversary personifies a particular way of denying limitation, a way that is symbolized by his being nameless. If he is named, then what?
I had kind of thought that saizhan might transform (or at least relax) the dualistic side of Oronthonianism, but his being named by Nehael would be something else entirely.
I thought the Adversary was talking more of a role than a real name per se. "The Adversary" is a name of sorts, but it is not the Nameless One's name. Wasn't his name stripped of him by Oronthon, rather than it being a denial of Oronthon?
It seemed to me that the Adversary was inviting Nehael to define their relationship by giving him his name, and that their interaction need not be necessarily... adversarial. Who knows, maybe he'll be the Consort!
Cheiromancer
Adventurer
I don't think the Adversary is asking Nehael to express his role in her paradigm. He already knows (and has said) that he is not her adversary. But still he asks her to think of a name, which suggests the possibility of something new.
It's interesting that the Adversary doesn't ask Nehael to give him a name; that would imply he is subordinate. Nor does he ask her to choose a name. No existing name expresses his essence, and so none of them would be a valid choice. A new title or sobriquet would do nothing more than refer to him. What good is that? He doesn't want another title.
What he wants is to transcend his struggle with Oronthon. It's a doomed, tragic struggle, anyway, one that is predestined to fail. As Sepulchrave tells us, even while rebelling against Oronthon the Adversary does Oronthon's will. But the Adversary doesn't identify with the struggle. If that were all he was about, then he would have a name; the Adversary. But that isn't his name; it's just a word that refers to him without capturing his essential character. But what is the essential character of the self-transcendence he is aiming for? Only Oronthon knows. But maybe Nehael can think of something which expresses it well enough for the Adversary to like it.
It's interesting that the Adversary doesn't ask Nehael to give him a name; that would imply he is subordinate. Nor does he ask her to choose a name. No existing name expresses his essence, and so none of them would be a valid choice. A new title or sobriquet would do nothing more than refer to him. What good is that? He doesn't want another title.
What he wants is to transcend his struggle with Oronthon. It's a doomed, tragic struggle, anyway, one that is predestined to fail. As Sepulchrave tells us, even while rebelling against Oronthon the Adversary does Oronthon's will. But the Adversary doesn't identify with the struggle. If that were all he was about, then he would have a name; the Adversary. But that isn't his name; it's just a word that refers to him without capturing his essential character. But what is the essential character of the self-transcendence he is aiming for? Only Oronthon knows. But maybe Nehael can think of something which expresses it well enough for the Adversary to like it.
The Forsaken One
Explorer
Wow that was some deep stuff, I picked up on it while reading but in my rush to read it all it kinda slipped my mind. Great posts on that catch. Good food for thought, but I'm tempted to side with Cheiro's perspective here. My thoughts immediately went along the same lines. Naming the Nameless etc.
Cheiromancer
Adventurer
The theme of transcendence appears over and over in this story hour. Mostin does it. Shomei does it. Ditto for her simulacrum. The self-incarnation of Jovol is a way of transcending death. Soneillon's overcoming of non-existence is similar. Ortwine's seeking of godhood transcends mortality. The bad guys overcome mortality in their own ways. Heck, the whole practice of saizhan is a way of transcending conventional dualities.
What is transcended is limitation in all its forms. Finitude, death, non-being. Nothing becomes. Saizhan tries to dissolve the duality of opposites with a deeper insight. The adversarial paradigm (e.g as pursued by Shomei) is an existential striving to overcome. Eadric, I think, is well on the way to transcending traditional moral categories.
Even the game mechanics explore this theme. Stretching the epic rules to their breaking point and going even further... that's transcendence with a vengeance.
What is transcended is limitation in all its forms. Finitude, death, non-being. Nothing becomes. Saizhan tries to dissolve the duality of opposites with a deeper insight. The adversarial paradigm (e.g as pursued by Shomei) is an existential striving to overcome. Eadric, I think, is well on the way to transcending traditional moral categories.
Even the game mechanics explore this theme. Stretching the epic rules to their breaking point and going even further... that's transcendence with a vengeance.
Sepulchrave II
Legend
Eadric
The Goddess inhaled sharply; her head span in an ecstasy. Her communion became perfect, and her form blazed as the Viridity flowed through her. Nwm had invoked her again as the conduit for a spell of staggering power.
Trees nearby erupted briefly into spontaneous sapience. Teppu capered madly. "Excellent," he clapped his hands.
Nehael's consciousness was immediately drawn to focus on Eadric and the thousand or so most stalwart knights in the Wyrish encampment; those whose tents were in proximity to those of the Ahma. Thence it extended to settle upon every griffon, every horse, every dog, every bird, every ant.
Nehael shook her head. "It will not be enough. Nwm must try harder. I hope he knows this."
**
Eadric's head hummed, as though he had imbibed some heady green wine which evoked an urge to pure enjoyment. Around his core, a warmth which nourished and sustained him. The Eye of Palamabron revealed the Aethers thick with archons and devas; myriads dispatched by Enitharmon to intercept the Chthonic threat and prevent further bleed into the World of Men.
Here and now, the twilight tasted fresh and new. Eadric's skin tingled. He mounted the griffon Hauhuts and took to the skies. Below him the camp stretched, many fires were burning: casting his eyes around, he noticed that three main fronts had opened, all to the east of the Interdiction, which – thankfully – still held.
Northernmost, a cluster of gates through which Prahar's undead cavalry poured, swiftly and repeatedly dispersing and reforming in cadres. Their movements seemed in execution of a long-prepared plan, although maybe the phenomenon was spontaneous; formations rippled like schools of black fish beyond the protective walls of the spell. They were followed by blood fiends, abyssal ghouls, and other things which ate flesh.
In the centre, Yeshe, Pazuzu, and the violet banners of the Ushabam held by their giant bodyguards; their leaders were burning dozens of candles of invocation, and balors were appearing in the skies above them. Others were conjuring lesser demons, as their ability permitted. Still more demons were simply manifesting.
To the south, in an arc, the chthonic menace. Narake, evoked last of all, was easternmost.
Irel had determined his reaction quickly: more than half of the Dark Choir – under the archon Hemah – remained in the fight with Yeshe and her minions, and were attempting to eliminate the spellcasters. Shokad, Oraios and Irel himself – with a smaller number of former celestial stalwarts – moved to intercept the chthonics.
Knights and Templars under the effects of the Benediction were already materializing within the ranks of the enemy, immolating with green fire and quickly routing the half-giants, whilst enduring a barrage of blasphemies from the Ushabam themselves. In response, demons were being invoked even more rapidly; the balors were being flung against them.
From above, Eadric's vision rested on a heaving mass of nullity shaped like a demon, which emanated a destroying fire. All other creatures shunned it.
Narake, Nwm confirmed.
Bathed in green radiance, Eadric grunted and urged his steed to a dive; his plummet brushed aside a flight of chthonic succubi which strove to block his path, burning many from the sky. His task was simple: he should strive to slay as many as he could. He smote Narake a great blow as he wheeled past, only to have Hauhuts plucked in turn from the sky by a fiery tendril. Griffon and rider were flung to the ground; the earth shook as he struck it.
Visuit thundered past, slaying Hauhuts with a single blow which continued on to Eadric, striking Lukarn and causing the blade to shiver powerfully along its length.
A death spell spoken by Narake slid over him, dissipating harmlessly. In a trice, the demon – dwarfing the Ahma – leapt upon him, striking him with an object shaped like a mace and forged out of malice. In the vicinity of the chthonic, matter was beginning to smoke and evaporate.
Eadric fended the blow easily with his shield, and the sledge carved a hole in the earth next to him. Four more strikes he turned or withstood; black fire engulfed him, but nothing adhered.
By instinct, he moved his form subtly; or maybe the World shifted around him, reordering itself in response to some impulse of Uedii which he could not articulate. He followed invisible green tracheids, emerging instantly from the grass on the other side of the demon. He launched a powerful assault.
Lukarn opened huge, gaping wounds; Light poured into naked Void. Narake vanished from sight; whether destroyed or fled, Eadric could not tell: and perhaps it made no difference.
Before he could even draw breath, Visuit sped past again upon Narh and struck a great blow upon his shield, shearing the celestial metal from edge to edge, cleaving it cleanly in two. Her curved sword – if such it was – continued through the rerebrace on his shield-arm into sinew. Visions of carnage passed through his mind, and voices called to him from unnamed hells. He felt warm blood flow over his elbow and down to his wrist.
Sixty yards past Eadric, Visuit leapt from her saddle and – with surprising elegance – twisted in the air like a cat, landing firmly to face him. She smiled. Life withered.
Casting off the remains of Melimpor's Shield, the Ahma gripped his weapon in both hands and materialized immediately in front of the goddess, hewing at her ferociously with every ounce of strength he could muster, and burning her with green flames which issued from him in sheets. Lukarn fulminated, illuminating the battlefield as he smote her. She struck back, and with terrible speed. Raining blows down hard upon him, hammering him through helm and armor and forcing him backwards. He bled profusely.
Thus they exchanged buffets. Visuit had quickly gained the upper hand.
The Ahma prudently withdrew. He followed a strand of Green and appeared instantly before Nwm.
"I need more," he said simply.
"There is no more. Try harder," Nwm scowled as he healed him.
"Nwm…"
"My resources are not infinite!" Nwm snapped. "And a new front is about to open. And there will be others. Timing is critical. Do not be distracted. Now keep them at bay."
The Ahma nodded, understanding.
Moments later, the lich Choach – together with a large number of Anantam magi – arrived a league to the west, collapsing Nwm's Interdiction.
Demons began teleporting: probing unlocked areas closer to the centre of the camp. Every plant whispered; green ripples moved across the ground, as hundreds of Templars rapidly transported themselves back from the now-vanished periphery.
Two hundred yards from Eadric and Nwm, Narake reappeared.
Nwm vomited as the demon invoked a spell, enveloping everything within a mile in a maelstrom of black fire. Thousands died. Though many – adequately warded – survived, all plant matter was turned to ash.
Nwm coughed, regaining his composure. It has to be Now.
[Tahl]: We are ready.
[Mesikammi]: As are we.
[Lai]: And we.
[Brey]: And we.
A silent green nova.
Eadric knew it: he had felt it before in Afqithan. This was of more modest scope, but subtler. A frequency attuned to a specific vibration, married to a wave of banishment. Every demon, every chthonic vanished. Pazuzu and Visuit, vanished. Each expunged; shunted away to its proper place.
Yeshe cursed. Gating Visuit again would not be possible until the prescribed length of time had elapsed. The thirty-or-so balors who had been interposed between the dark celestials and the Ushabam had disappeared; Hemah and his brethren were already in their midst, sweeping their fiery swords in great arcs, and hewing them down.
Ablaze with her own magic, she emptied her reservoir and struck the former episeme with a pillar of blackness, slaying him. Wearily, the Binder opened yet another gate, and another; she drew now on a rod of ancient potency to fuel her magic.
She staggered. Exhausted, she vanished with a word of recall. Those amongst the Ushabam who were able, followed her lead.
**
The earth was black in the gathering night: Narake's carnage was ugly. Outside of the wasted area, the Temple forces were assembling.
Eadric stared at the body of Hemah; he had expected it to vaporize, or at least to smoulder. The great archon seemed serene in extinction. The devil's expression might have been one of mild perplexity. They were one and the same.
Irel alighted silently next to the Ahma.
Whither? Eadric wondered.
"To a lake of fire," the fallen deva replied.
"Or to an Ocean?"
"If you decree it."
"Let it be so."
Eadric heard a soft hoof-fall approaching; he turned to observe the stallion Narh pacing gently toward him. Somewhat behind, a lone figure wearing a worn studded jack and spattered with ichor.
Ortwine gave a hint of a smile as she approached, and tossed Sibud's head to the ground at the Ahma's feet.
"One for me," she said.
Eadric gaped.
"In order to write lays of one's exploits, it is necessary to first perform them," she explained.
[Nwm]: It must wait.
A magical wind was rising: the slightest breeze, invoked by Prahar, but tenacious: it rendered all flight impossible. Those who remained aloft across the battlefield found themselves without purchase, and plummeted.
Ortwine gazed north and east. Night had now fallen fully, but the sky – through Mesikammi's arts – was clear as crystal and the stars were bright. A tremor pulsed through the ground. Ancient carynxes were sounding brazenly, as evil godlings ordered their undead ranks.
"Prahar is preparing to charge with his death knights," the sidhe observed drily. "By lucky happenstance, the greatest horse ever sired is your eager steed."
The Ahma muttered an earnest prayer of thanks to Uedii.
"You may also thank me. You may not criticize me for my gnomes again," Ortwine smiled coldly.
"Thank-you," Eadric nodded. "And agreed. What will you do?"
Ortwine reached into her vest and withdrew a talisman which reeked utterly of evil. "I plan to sow discord – which appears to be my forte."
*Unfortunately for Eadric, Visuit resolves her melee attacks as touch attacks. DR 50/- helped a lot. DevCrits didn't work for either of them as they were both fortified. At this point, they were pretty evenly matched. Don't let her charge was the informed consensus.
The Goddess inhaled sharply; her head span in an ecstasy. Her communion became perfect, and her form blazed as the Viridity flowed through her. Nwm had invoked her again as the conduit for a spell of staggering power.
Trees nearby erupted briefly into spontaneous sapience. Teppu capered madly. "Excellent," he clapped his hands.
Nehael's consciousness was immediately drawn to focus on Eadric and the thousand or so most stalwart knights in the Wyrish encampment; those whose tents were in proximity to those of the Ahma. Thence it extended to settle upon every griffon, every horse, every dog, every bird, every ant.
Nehael shook her head. "It will not be enough. Nwm must try harder. I hope he knows this."
**
Eadric's head hummed, as though he had imbibed some heady green wine which evoked an urge to pure enjoyment. Around his core, a warmth which nourished and sustained him. The Eye of Palamabron revealed the Aethers thick with archons and devas; myriads dispatched by Enitharmon to intercept the Chthonic threat and prevent further bleed into the World of Men.
Here and now, the twilight tasted fresh and new. Eadric's skin tingled. He mounted the griffon Hauhuts and took to the skies. Below him the camp stretched, many fires were burning: casting his eyes around, he noticed that three main fronts had opened, all to the east of the Interdiction, which – thankfully – still held.
Northernmost, a cluster of gates through which Prahar's undead cavalry poured, swiftly and repeatedly dispersing and reforming in cadres. Their movements seemed in execution of a long-prepared plan, although maybe the phenomenon was spontaneous; formations rippled like schools of black fish beyond the protective walls of the spell. They were followed by blood fiends, abyssal ghouls, and other things which ate flesh.
In the centre, Yeshe, Pazuzu, and the violet banners of the Ushabam held by their giant bodyguards; their leaders were burning dozens of candles of invocation, and balors were appearing in the skies above them. Others were conjuring lesser demons, as their ability permitted. Still more demons were simply manifesting.
To the south, in an arc, the chthonic menace. Narake, evoked last of all, was easternmost.
Irel had determined his reaction quickly: more than half of the Dark Choir – under the archon Hemah – remained in the fight with Yeshe and her minions, and were attempting to eliminate the spellcasters. Shokad, Oraios and Irel himself – with a smaller number of former celestial stalwarts – moved to intercept the chthonics.
Knights and Templars under the effects of the Benediction were already materializing within the ranks of the enemy, immolating with green fire and quickly routing the half-giants, whilst enduring a barrage of blasphemies from the Ushabam themselves. In response, demons were being invoked even more rapidly; the balors were being flung against them.
From above, Eadric's vision rested on a heaving mass of nullity shaped like a demon, which emanated a destroying fire. All other creatures shunned it.
Narake, Nwm confirmed.
Bathed in green radiance, Eadric grunted and urged his steed to a dive; his plummet brushed aside a flight of chthonic succubi which strove to block his path, burning many from the sky. His task was simple: he should strive to slay as many as he could. He smote Narake a great blow as he wheeled past, only to have Hauhuts plucked in turn from the sky by a fiery tendril. Griffon and rider were flung to the ground; the earth shook as he struck it.
Visuit thundered past, slaying Hauhuts with a single blow which continued on to Eadric, striking Lukarn and causing the blade to shiver powerfully along its length.
A death spell spoken by Narake slid over him, dissipating harmlessly. In a trice, the demon – dwarfing the Ahma – leapt upon him, striking him with an object shaped like a mace and forged out of malice. In the vicinity of the chthonic, matter was beginning to smoke and evaporate.
Eadric fended the blow easily with his shield, and the sledge carved a hole in the earth next to him. Four more strikes he turned or withstood; black fire engulfed him, but nothing adhered.
By instinct, he moved his form subtly; or maybe the World shifted around him, reordering itself in response to some impulse of Uedii which he could not articulate. He followed invisible green tracheids, emerging instantly from the grass on the other side of the demon. He launched a powerful assault.
Lukarn opened huge, gaping wounds; Light poured into naked Void. Narake vanished from sight; whether destroyed or fled, Eadric could not tell: and perhaps it made no difference.
Before he could even draw breath, Visuit sped past again upon Narh and struck a great blow upon his shield, shearing the celestial metal from edge to edge, cleaving it cleanly in two. Her curved sword – if such it was – continued through the rerebrace on his shield-arm into sinew. Visions of carnage passed through his mind, and voices called to him from unnamed hells. He felt warm blood flow over his elbow and down to his wrist.
Sixty yards past Eadric, Visuit leapt from her saddle and – with surprising elegance – twisted in the air like a cat, landing firmly to face him. She smiled. Life withered.
Casting off the remains of Melimpor's Shield, the Ahma gripped his weapon in both hands and materialized immediately in front of the goddess, hewing at her ferociously with every ounce of strength he could muster, and burning her with green flames which issued from him in sheets. Lukarn fulminated, illuminating the battlefield as he smote her. She struck back, and with terrible speed. Raining blows down hard upon him, hammering him through helm and armor and forcing him backwards. He bled profusely.
Thus they exchanged buffets. Visuit had quickly gained the upper hand.
The Ahma prudently withdrew. He followed a strand of Green and appeared instantly before Nwm.
"I need more," he said simply.
"There is no more. Try harder," Nwm scowled as he healed him.
"Nwm…"
"My resources are not infinite!" Nwm snapped. "And a new front is about to open. And there will be others. Timing is critical. Do not be distracted. Now keep them at bay."
The Ahma nodded, understanding.
Moments later, the lich Choach – together with a large number of Anantam magi – arrived a league to the west, collapsing Nwm's Interdiction.
Demons began teleporting: probing unlocked areas closer to the centre of the camp. Every plant whispered; green ripples moved across the ground, as hundreds of Templars rapidly transported themselves back from the now-vanished periphery.
Two hundred yards from Eadric and Nwm, Narake reappeared.
Nwm vomited as the demon invoked a spell, enveloping everything within a mile in a maelstrom of black fire. Thousands died. Though many – adequately warded – survived, all plant matter was turned to ash.
Nwm coughed, regaining his composure. It has to be Now.
[Tahl]: We are ready.
[Mesikammi]: As are we.
[Lai]: And we.
[Brey]: And we.
A silent green nova.
Eadric knew it: he had felt it before in Afqithan. This was of more modest scope, but subtler. A frequency attuned to a specific vibration, married to a wave of banishment. Every demon, every chthonic vanished. Pazuzu and Visuit, vanished. Each expunged; shunted away to its proper place.
Yeshe cursed. Gating Visuit again would not be possible until the prescribed length of time had elapsed. The thirty-or-so balors who had been interposed between the dark celestials and the Ushabam had disappeared; Hemah and his brethren were already in their midst, sweeping their fiery swords in great arcs, and hewing them down.
Ablaze with her own magic, she emptied her reservoir and struck the former episeme with a pillar of blackness, slaying him. Wearily, the Binder opened yet another gate, and another; she drew now on a rod of ancient potency to fuel her magic.
She staggered. Exhausted, she vanished with a word of recall. Those amongst the Ushabam who were able, followed her lead.
**
The earth was black in the gathering night: Narake's carnage was ugly. Outside of the wasted area, the Temple forces were assembling.
Eadric stared at the body of Hemah; he had expected it to vaporize, or at least to smoulder. The great archon seemed serene in extinction. The devil's expression might have been one of mild perplexity. They were one and the same.
Irel alighted silently next to the Ahma.
Whither? Eadric wondered.
"To a lake of fire," the fallen deva replied.
"Or to an Ocean?"
"If you decree it."
"Let it be so."
Eadric heard a soft hoof-fall approaching; he turned to observe the stallion Narh pacing gently toward him. Somewhat behind, a lone figure wearing a worn studded jack and spattered with ichor.
Ortwine gave a hint of a smile as she approached, and tossed Sibud's head to the ground at the Ahma's feet.
"One for me," she said.
Eadric gaped.
"In order to write lays of one's exploits, it is necessary to first perform them," she explained.
[Nwm]: It must wait.
A magical wind was rising: the slightest breeze, invoked by Prahar, but tenacious: it rendered all flight impossible. Those who remained aloft across the battlefield found themselves without purchase, and plummeted.
Ortwine gazed north and east. Night had now fallen fully, but the sky – through Mesikammi's arts – was clear as crystal and the stars were bright. A tremor pulsed through the ground. Ancient carynxes were sounding brazenly, as evil godlings ordered their undead ranks.
"Prahar is preparing to charge with his death knights," the sidhe observed drily. "By lucky happenstance, the greatest horse ever sired is your eager steed."
The Ahma muttered an earnest prayer of thanks to Uedii.
"You may also thank me. You may not criticize me for my gnomes again," Ortwine smiled coldly.
"Thank-you," Eadric nodded. "And agreed. What will you do?"
Ortwine reached into her vest and withdrew a talisman which reeked utterly of evil. "I plan to sow discord – which appears to be my forte."
*Unfortunately for Eadric, Visuit resolves her melee attacks as touch attacks. DR 50/- helped a lot. DevCrits didn't work for either of them as they were both fortified. At this point, they were pretty evenly matched. Don't let her charge was the informed consensus.
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That was an epic battle!
It is also interesting to see more and more hints of transcendence of various divisions. The Dark Choir continues to obey Eadric. The behavior of the former celestials/new devils indicates that the Fall and assertion of free will does not have to be absolute - it does not have to conflict with the will of Oronthon. This is another hint that the Oronthon/Adversary duality may be overcome.
Interestingly, Eadric also muttered a prayer to Uedi. He has always been tolerant of the naturalistic religion, but this time he actually conducted an act of worhsip towards her (however minor... or major it might be deemed). Perhaps that duality too may be overcome!
It is also interesting to see more and more hints of transcendence of various divisions. The Dark Choir continues to obey Eadric. The behavior of the former celestials/new devils indicates that the Fall and assertion of free will does not have to be absolute - it does not have to conflict with the will of Oronthon. This is another hint that the Oronthon/Adversary duality may be overcome.
Interestingly, Eadric also muttered a prayer to Uedi. He has always been tolerant of the naturalistic religion, but this time he actually conducted an act of worhsip towards her (however minor... or major it might be deemed). Perhaps that duality too may be overcome!
Atanatotatos
First Post
LOL!
A great update, like always.
By the way, are you going to show us Eadric's stats at this moment (of the story hour)?
(unless I missed them somehow)
