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Message: <blockquote data-quote="maxfieldjadenfox" data-source="post: 5851346" data-attributes="member: 18003">Round 1, Match 5: maxfieldjadenfox vs. UselessTriviaManLet Sleeping Gods LieLahore, Pakistan, 1865Lala Balhumal Lahuri read the signs. [<a href="http://www.aip.org/history/cosmology/tools/images-tools/nakedeyes-armillary-sphere.jpg]" target="_blank">http://www.aip.org/history/cosmology/tools/images-tools/nakedeyes-armillary-sphere.jpg]</a>The elderly astrologer shifted the outer rings on his armillary sphere, making sure that they aligned properly with the inner rings. He squinted out the window of the observatory at the night sky."It can't be," he said, and recalibrated the sphere again. And again. And again, he got the same results. Finally, after several hours of recalibrations, punctuated by long moments staring out the window at the odd pattern of stars and trying to convince himself that he was wrong, he took off his shoes and sat on the floor in full lotus position. "Pashupati, Lord of Animals,” he whispered, "I beg of you, send help. Pashupati, Lord of Souls, hear my prayer."~Pashupati, the Horned God of the Indus valley, opened his eyes.  He was resting quietly in the ruins of Harappa, the city which had collapsed during his battle with Ravana, the Devil. It had been buried for 6000 years, but today was the momentous day when Gupta, a young builder, who was helping to construct a railway, realized that the rubble in the track's path was more than just rubble. Today was the momentous day when, 120 miles to the south, an astrologer in the court of Jagatijit Singh Bahadur called his name in prayer. It was a prayer no one had spoken in a millennia. The God stood and stretched, his antlers spreading above him like the branches of a long dead tree. He was naked but for the torc around his neck, and his long grey hair fell around his shoulders like a mantle."Who dares to speak my name?" he thundered. He looked around. Much had changed while he slept. The once thriving city had been reduced to nothing, his subjects killed or scattered. He had been forgotten, and a God forgotten was a dead God. Once his domain had stretched from the Himalayan foothills in the north to Gujarat in the south and east and Baluchistan in the west. Once his name, "Lord of Animals" had grown so powerful as to mean "Lord of Souls." But then a new God, Shiva, took his place. His name ceased to be called and he slept, undisturbed."Who entreats me with the old prayer?"  ~Gupta shivered and looked up at the sky. It was cloudless. Where then was the sound of thunder coming from? He picked up the brick, baked hard and covered with strange symbols that might be writing, and a small soapstone carving that seemed to call to him from the debris. Gupta thought of Hiran, the girl he hoped to marry. She had met him on the road that morning, and had said something very strange to him."Gupta, today you will find something. A gift, for me. You will recognize it when you see it. Bring it with you tonight, and I will make you curry for dinner."  She smiled up at him, looking through her thick eyelashes. She was beautiful, he thought, and had a mystical way about her. She could read the stars better than the astrologers. If she said something was going to happen, it usually did.  He slipped the small soapstone carving into his pocket. Later, when he had time to look at it, he saw that it was a man with antlers, his torso wound about with a serpent. The image unsettled him, but somehow he knew it would gain him favor with Hiran. He took the brick to his foreman, a burly Brit with a luxurious moustache. "Sahib," he said, "I have found something." The foreman took the brick and turned it over, his eyes widening as he surveyed the odd writing carved into the baked surface. He looked up to see the crew throwing the rubble aside, not realizing its value."Stop, you blighters!" he yelled at the workers. They stopped, stunned. "Put down your shovels. We're quitting for the day. Maybe longer." Amidst general grumbling, the crew did as they were told and made their way back to the wagons."What is it, Sahib?" Gupta asked. "Is it important?""Yes, Gupta," said the foreman. "I think we've found the lost city that Charles Masson wrote about."Gupta nodded, although he had no idea who Charles Masson was.~ Lala heard the God's voice as a rumbling inside of his head. At first, he thought he might be imagining it because he wanted so badly for it to be true, but then, when the God spoke again, he replied,"I am your humble servant. I would not disturb you but at the greatest need. Ravana arises.""Ravana," the God laughed, 'I dispatched Ravana long ages ago.""The stars say he is back, Lord of Souls. They say he will devour the world. Shiva is too busy playing to be of any use. Kali's allegiance is questionable. There was no one I could call on but you.""How did you come to know my prayer? A prayer that was forgotten?" "Not forgotten by all my Lord. My mother's mother was a priestess to you. She taught me your name, but she told me that you would not hear unless I was in the most dire need, and unless I said the old words of entreaty. I am in dire need, oh great Lord. The Rakasha are stirring in an ancient temple not far from here. The stars say Ravana will rise tonight.""If what you say is true," said the voice in Lala's head, "I do not have much time. Ravana's army of demons is always ready. My followers are not so well organized.”"Surly the animals will come when you call? You are their master.""The animals will come, but they will not be enough to defeat Ravana."Lala sighed. How could this God who had so little faith in himself save the world? The connection between him and Pashupati suddenly snapped. Had the God heard his doubt? "Lala Balhumal Lahuri," said a voice in his ear. He turned to see the Lord of Souls, standing before him. "Show me the signs," he said.When the God was satisfied that the omens were as Lala had told him, Pashupati rose to his full height. Although he was elderly, he seemed strong and vital, even after centuries of neglect. "Take me to the temple. We will make ready.""I have armor, my Lord. And weapons." Lala said, surveying the God's nakedness. "Ravana will have armor."The God laughed."I have a weapon that Ravana won't be expecting. I need no armor."  Lala put on his white robe and turban as a sign of respect for the old God, and what was to come. Then he led him down the winding staircase of his tower to the path that would take them to the temple, and the site of the battle for the world.~Hiran took the soapstone carving from Gupta's hand. "Where did you find this?" she asked, her eyes glowing. In fact, all of her was glowing. Gupta stepped back as Hiran seemed to burst into flames, her body engulfed in a nimbus of light. [<a href="http://cbsmp3.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/jesse-sykes-antler-christine-taylor_610w.jpg?w=405&h=285&crop=1]" target="_blank">http://cbsmp3.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/jesse-sykes-antler-christine-taylor_610w.jpg?w=405&h=285&crop=1]</a> He thought he saw - but no it couldn't be - antlers sprouting from her head - and then she was gone in a spiral of fire. Gupta wept.~The temple was at war with itself. Dedicated both to Shiva and Ravana, in a vain attempt to placate both the God and the Devil, it had done neither. It was a haunted place, a place of spirits. When Lala and Pashupati came into the temple grounds, Pashupati stopped."What has become of my temple?" he asked. He walked around the building, touching it and then pulling his hand away as if the building had burned him."It is as it always was," Lala said."No. Before I slept, this temple was dedicated to me. It was a place of peace and harmony. Look at it now." As Pashupati spoke, a Rakasha demon burst from one of the statues. [<a href="http://www.jadedragon.com/graphics/BanteaySrei2.jpg]" target="_blank">http://www.jadedragon.com/graphics/BanteaySrei2.jpg]</a> As its face exploded outwards, laughter rang through the temple complex.Ravana appeared near the broken statue. He looked exactly the same as the last time he had faced Pashupati. He had not aged. He looked vital. Dangerous."You seek your death, old God?" Pashupati smiled.  "I slept for six thousand years. What is death to me?"Lala, who was standing as if frozen in the center of the temple complex made a move toward Pashupati's side, and suddenly found himself seated in a protected corner of the temple. He could see and hear what was transpiring, but found himself quite unable to move."Be still," said Pashupati's voice in his ear. "No need for you to die.""But I would serve you, my lord," Lala said through unmoving lips."You served me by calling me, and you will serve me again. Be still and witness." The God and the Devil crashed together. The ghostly forms of the Rakasha swirled around them. A great tumult echoed around the temple as deer and goats, lions and dogs, geese and elephants, all kinds of animals swarmed in to the temple yard, snarling and bleating, trumpeting and roaring. They attacked the Rakasha with fierce swiftness, but the Rakasha were venomous and cruel.Lala wished he could cover his eyes, but his hands remained clasped in his lap, his neck canted at an uncomfortable angle.[<a href="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5175/5461829865_557b6d6034_z.jpg]" target="_blank">http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5175/5461829865_557b6d6034_z.jpg]</a>  His eyes were fixed open to witness the fight, and he feared that Pashupati was losing. "Ridiculous old God," said Ravana, "while you slept, I grew an army of followers who razed your temple and built a new one for me and your selfish son Shiva. These are the wages you pay for destroying your city as you tried to destroy me. You were foolish to believe that I, Ravana, Devil Lord, could be so easily vanquished. While you slept, I planned and built."In the midst of the temple yard, in the very center of the battle that was being fought by the animals and the Rakasha demons, a flame grew. It swirled wide and encompassed the fight. When the flames subsided, the Rakasha were gone, and the animals circled about Hiran. "At last," Pashupati cried. Hiran ran to him and together, they faced Ravana. Ravana's face crumpled. "What trickery is this?" he said, looking frantically for his demon hoard. "What have you done with my Rakasha?"Hiran looked up, and raised her hands. Ash was falling from the sky like snow. "How can this be? You slept! You slept!" Ravana frantically swept at the ash.Pashupati laughed."And while I slept, I dreamed. I dreamed a daughter."Hiran smiled at the Devil, looking for all the world like her father.“A daughter of fire as well as flesh,” she said. The ash fell thicker now, and Ravana, Lord of Devils, was cloaked in it. As the ash fell, it became solid, and soon, Ravana appeared to be just another one of the temple statues.Pashupati brought a mighty fist down on his head and he shattered into a million pieces. Lala Balhumal Lahuri, able to move once more, looked up at the sky. The evil constellation was gone. Pashupati and his daughter, Hiran, walked toward him. "You have accomplished your task well, Lala Balhumal Lahuri," said Pashupati. "Now I have a new task for you.""Anything my Lord.""Rebuild my temple." Hiran touched her father's arm. "I know a good builder," she said. "His name is Gupta." "Teach people my name," said the old God. "I am tired of sleeping. I am  awake now."</blockquote>

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