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[Testament] In the Shadow of Sinai
- Thread starter Maerdwyn
- Start date
Maerdwyn
First Post
Peleg's face turns angry, but Amin lays a one hand on his shoulder, and uses the othe put guide the gold back to his brother's sash. "Very well, Hunter," Hadar says with finality. "Come into camp tonight," he adds with a smile. "You will find it very interesting." The three withdraw, Peleg shooting one more rather nasty glance in Melechs direction before they head on towards to the coppersmith's tent.humble minion said:
Even after they have gone, Melech has the feeling he is being watched, intently, but it passes after several seconds.
yangnome
First Post
"The god that Aaron is making?" caleb stands there puzzled for a moment before catching on. he backhands the young manscupped hands, knocking the treasure out of them and onto the ground.Maerdwyn said:
He spits on the treasure, then turns back towards the man, " You fool! Man does not make a god! It is God that has made us, YHWH, the Lord of Israel. who are you to think you can make a god. no man has such power, not you, not I, not Aaron or even Moses. How easily is it that you can forget the miracles were that brought us forth from Egypt? Create a god? You'd have better luck planting your treasure in the dirt, watering it and hoping for a fig tree to grow! Go now, leave my site1 i cannot believe that you would suggest such foolery to me."
Caleb stands there, waiting fo rhte young man to leave. if the young man attempts to pick up the treasure, he will step on to it and berate the man more. if the young man leaves (either now or after being berated, he will turn, leaving the treasure in the sand and go try to find Aaron.)
Maerdwyn
First Post
The man tries to reach for his gold, and recoils somewhat under Caleb's barrage. He hesitates, clearly deciding between two or three alternatives. "Aaron told my father to have us bring our gold to him...If you won't take it...well then it's still mine!" He reaches for it again.yangnome said:
humble minion
Legend
ooc: Did Hadar appear to intend his smile to be menacing, or was he still being civil?
ic:
Melech watches the brothers leave, his face grim. Never has he seen active preaching and recruitment on behalf of foreign gods among the Israelites, especially from respected, solid members of the community. This bodes badly for the nation as a whole, and when strife hits the nation it hits the those on the fringes hardest of all.
Melech collects his bow and arrows and quietly leaves, drawing the tent flap closed behind him. In the wilderness he can find peace for a time, away from the pressures, tensions and expectations of camp. Baal-El or Yahweh, the wolves still need to be kept away from the herds. He will return to camp that night, however, to see whatever it was that Hadar spoke of, that was going to be 'interesting'.
ic:
Melech watches the brothers leave, his face grim. Never has he seen active preaching and recruitment on behalf of foreign gods among the Israelites, especially from respected, solid members of the community. This bodes badly for the nation as a whole, and when strife hits the nation it hits the those on the fringes hardest of all.
Melech collects his bow and arrows and quietly leaves, drawing the tent flap closed behind him. In the wilderness he can find peace for a time, away from the pressures, tensions and expectations of camp. Baal-El or Yahweh, the wolves still need to be kept away from the herds. He will return to camp that night, however, to see whatever it was that Hadar spoke of, that was going to be 'interesting'.
Ghostknight
First Post
Avram looks at those around him.
"I am going to the foot of the mountain to await the coming of Moses. I am certain he will come when promised and I wish to see him in his glory when he descends out of the clouds of glory around the mountian!"
ooc Just a quick note on terminology. The Jews refer to God as Hashen (literally translated as "the name") or Adonai (literally translated as "Lord"). The holy name of God was only pronounced once per year by the Kohen Gadol (High Priest) on the Day of Atonment of a strict purification ritual. The avoidance of saying the name of God is total (while maybe not quite so comical as the scene in Monty Pythons "The Life of Brian"
)
"I am going to the foot of the mountain to await the coming of Moses. I am certain he will come when promised and I wish to see him in his glory when he descends out of the clouds of glory around the mountian!"
ooc Just a quick note on terminology. The Jews refer to God as Hashen (literally translated as "the name") or Adonai (literally translated as "Lord"). The holy name of God was only pronounced once per year by the Kohen Gadol (High Priest) on the Day of Atonment of a strict purification ritual. The avoidance of saying the name of God is total (while maybe not quite so comical as the scene in Monty Pythons "The Life of Brian"
)
Tonguez
A suffusion of yellow
Tsedeq looks to Asenath to ensure that she is well and unsullied by the encounter and then back to the former Egyptian 'ben Yisroel'.
"With your leave" he honours Asenath "I too will go to the mountain and await the return of Moses. If what has gone on here today is any sign then the prophet may need protection from these idolators - he shall have my strong arm to carry his burdens! "
"With your leave" he honours Asenath "I too will go to the mountain and await the return of Moses. If what has gone on here today is any sign then the prophet may need protection from these idolators - he shall have my strong arm to carry his burdens! "
Maerdwyn
First Post
As the three people speak, Amin comes back into view, carrying several amulets and folowed by more than a score of his family. He seems to be headed toward the corwd the center of camp, but make a turn out of his way to pass by Asenath's tent, calling out, "My apologies, friends, you were right -we should not turn to Ra - he was a god of Egypt and pathetic when compared to the God of Abraham! No, Let us follow a god who is purely our own! Who exists solely for us! Come! Watch as Aaron welcomes Baal-El to us!" The man moves away, into the crowd before anyone can react to the
man's speech again.
********************
A few seconds later, others, those who have broght gold to the growing pile by Aaron's feet try to help place wood onto the pyre "Enough! Back! All of you! Are you all so impatient for this god that would would spoil the cermony
to get him here faster?" His tone turns slightly mocking, but seems lost on the multitude: "What if you anger him, and he turns from you for your behavior? Am I not Ha Gadol? Do I not know of these things? The pyre must be built by me and me alone. If it takes longer than you like, at least it will be done properly!" He loks up at the dark clouds and continues slowly piling the still dry wood.
**********
On the other side of the crowd, Asenath, Avram, and Tsedeq see many of the people who had made up Amin's audience now moving towards the very center of camp where Aaron had been working. Now, the three of them cannot see the High Priest for the sea of people surrounding him. Dozens more seem to be joining the crowd, while others sprint form the mass back to their tents, only to emerge a few moments later carrying jewelry of all types in their hands, wearing gleeful, almost rabid smiles on their faces.
*********
Soon the rain begins, but it fails to halt the growth of the crowd. Sundown approaches, and the darkness of night only adds to that of the clouds. Rain drenches the people, but they seem to pay it no mind. Music can be heard coming from a few sources in the crowd, which soon must number more than two thousand.
**************
This is the scene that Melech finds as he enters the camp just after dusk. He, as well as Caleb, Avram, Tsedeq, and Asenath, suddenly hear groans of disappointment issuing from the center of the crowd, and then Aaron's voice, ringing out with vigor, almost cheerfully through the dim light of torches and the murmurings of the massive gathering. "We must all go home," he says, There will be no fire tonight, and no god will be born from the union of your gold and rain!" Shouts, some angry, others merely disappointed. "Be glad, oh people for---" Aaron's words are suddenly cut off as a great bolt of lightning crashes down and strikes the wet firewood within the stone circle at the crowd's center. Instantly a blazing bonfire reaches up, bathing all in a red glow that is reflected off the bottoms of the storm clouds." The crowd erupts in joy.
(the face of that man, the one from his dream, leaps to Melech's mind - scarred, light skinned, with a beard precisely trimmed in the style of the Hik Shasu. The vision is as clear as it had been in his dream, but no more. While he can see the man, and feel the dread, there is no context, no explanation of
who he is or what he signifies. It is over in an instant.)
As the crowd celebrates, everyone hears Aaron's voice once again; this time it is less vibrant, and not at all cheerful. "Very well, Oh People. Bring me you gold - but it must be your most precious, and your most dear, for no god will answer an unworthy sacrifice!" The crowd cheers again, and the sound of clinking metal is almost constant for the next several minutes.
At last, another voice echoes across the crowd, this one frightened, angry: it is Hur, standing atop a small wooden frame, glaring down on the crowd. "What are we doing? Are we so quick to abandon Hashem? Are we so unfaithful? Have we forgotten already what has been done for us. Are we so eager to prove ourselves unworthy of his blessings? Turn away! Denounce this blasphe--"
A stone strikes him in the arm. Then another, in the chest. He coughs but remains standing, and looks like he is about to speak again when a third stone
strikes him on the leg, and two more miss him, striking members of the crowd instead. Dark murmurings in the crowd quickly build to murderous shouts. The wooden frame upn which he stand begins to rock, as people attempt to pull it down.
Unaided, Hur clearly has only a few seconds to live.
man's speech again.
********************
The man grabs most of his gold up and makes a fast retreat from the priest, and as Caleb watches him go, he is suddenly aware that the sound of the crowd behind him has intensified dramatically in the past few minutes. Normally, the thunder and imminent cloudbursts would have sent everyone back to their tents, but by the time Caleb makes his way over to Aaron, the crowd watching him has clearly grown to several hundred. Caleb has trouble pushing his way through their ranks to reach his grandfather, and when he finally does, the old man shoots him a look of quiet, but withering, rage. "Go! Get away! This is not your work!"Maerdwyn said:
A few seconds later, others, those who have broght gold to the growing pile by Aaron's feet try to help place wood onto the pyre "Enough! Back! All of you! Are you all so impatient for this god that would would spoil the cermony
to get him here faster?" His tone turns slightly mocking, but seems lost on the multitude: "What if you anger him, and he turns from you for your behavior? Am I not Ha Gadol? Do I not know of these things? The pyre must be built by me and me alone. If it takes longer than you like, at least it will be done properly!" He loks up at the dark clouds and continues slowly piling the still dry wood.
**********
On the other side of the crowd, Asenath, Avram, and Tsedeq see many of the people who had made up Amin's audience now moving towards the very center of camp where Aaron had been working. Now, the three of them cannot see the High Priest for the sea of people surrounding him. Dozens more seem to be joining the crowd, while others sprint form the mass back to their tents, only to emerge a few moments later carrying jewelry of all types in their hands, wearing gleeful, almost rabid smiles on their faces.
*********
Soon the rain begins, but it fails to halt the growth of the crowd. Sundown approaches, and the darkness of night only adds to that of the clouds. Rain drenches the people, but they seem to pay it no mind. Music can be heard coming from a few sources in the crowd, which soon must number more than two thousand.
**************
This is the scene that Melech finds as he enters the camp just after dusk. He, as well as Caleb, Avram, Tsedeq, and Asenath, suddenly hear groans of disappointment issuing from the center of the crowd, and then Aaron's voice, ringing out with vigor, almost cheerfully through the dim light of torches and the murmurings of the massive gathering. "We must all go home," he says, There will be no fire tonight, and no god will be born from the union of your gold and rain!" Shouts, some angry, others merely disappointed. "Be glad, oh people for---" Aaron's words are suddenly cut off as a great bolt of lightning crashes down and strikes the wet firewood within the stone circle at the crowd's center. Instantly a blazing bonfire reaches up, bathing all in a red glow that is reflected off the bottoms of the storm clouds." The crowd erupts in joy.
(the face of that man, the one from his dream, leaps to Melech's mind - scarred, light skinned, with a beard precisely trimmed in the style of the Hik Shasu. The vision is as clear as it had been in his dream, but no more. While he can see the man, and feel the dread, there is no context, no explanation of
who he is or what he signifies. It is over in an instant.)
As the crowd celebrates, everyone hears Aaron's voice once again; this time it is less vibrant, and not at all cheerful. "Very well, Oh People. Bring me you gold - but it must be your most precious, and your most dear, for no god will answer an unworthy sacrifice!" The crowd cheers again, and the sound of clinking metal is almost constant for the next several minutes.
At last, another voice echoes across the crowd, this one frightened, angry: it is Hur, standing atop a small wooden frame, glaring down on the crowd. "What are we doing? Are we so quick to abandon Hashem? Are we so unfaithful? Have we forgotten already what has been done for us. Are we so eager to prove ourselves unworthy of his blessings? Turn away! Denounce this blasphe--"
A stone strikes him in the arm. Then another, in the chest. He coughs but remains standing, and looks like he is about to speak again when a third stone
strikes him on the leg, and two more miss him, striking members of the crowd instead. Dark murmurings in the crowd quickly build to murderous shouts. The wooden frame upn which he stand begins to rock, as people attempt to pull it down.
Unaided, Hur clearly has only a few seconds to live.
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