Well, contrary to popular speculations, I am indeed alive. Part of my inactivity is due to one of the major religious celebrations of the Byzantine Church, namely the birth of the Prophet Jesus Christ. The continual displays of true devotion to one of the Divine's greatest agents on earth makes it very difficult for me to be out in public. Of late, it had been powerful enough to cause a degree of nausea that has kept me bed ridden. Fortunately, I have a few mortal friends who have been kind enough to sit with me through this particular trying time for me.
But once I was well enough to move about by myself, I was called in and assigned a task from the superiors within the order. There was one person that needed to be dealt with in a specific manner to ensure that he remained dead, and didn't return to bother mortals again. Just my good fortune that I happen to not only know about the person concerned, but the means that he is able to not remain dead. Plus, along with another member of our order, I was able to find out exactly how to deal with it.
But my superiors neglected to tell me about the Janissary contingent already active dealing with the followers of my target. This caused no end of troubles, and is fast pushing me to my limits.
The Janissary sit between the Inquisitors Ordinaire and the Knights Templar in their duties and available firepower and support. The Inquisitors are the Law Enforcement for the Church, performing a similar function to the secular Police Service. The various orders of the Knights Templar are the military arm of the Church, and they take the field to make war on the enemies of the Church that are external in nature, or Secular Political. The Janissary take care of Civil Unrest, minor rebellions before they come an issue for the Templars.
Unlike the Inquisitors and Templars, Janissary are not volunteers in the ordinary sense. Children between the ages of 5 and 7 are gifted to the Janissary, and they are trained extensively until adulthood, when they are assigned to their unit, and most will serve in that unit for the rest of their lives. Prior to the establishment of the order that I serve, they were responsible for removing the more dangerous heretics and other problems of the Church.
This is were our little problem comes in. When I was recruited, the agent sent to retrieve me was assigned a Janissary squad as backup. Instead of a peaceful approach, the Janissary team assaulted my then abode. The resultant fight was brutal, nasty and mostly fatal for the Janissary. I was in the process of sending the agent to meet the Divine when he managed to convince me that I was not being sanctioned but recruited. The Janissary, however, have not forgiven me for that one incident. There have been a few accidents where I was 'mistakenly' identified as a heretic threat. As you might guess, they have not been successful yet in terminating me as yet. On this particular mission, they almost were successful.
It was partially my own fault, as I forgot just how good they are at thinking outside the box, as the term her e goes. When I managed to insert myself into the cult, one of their number overheard my approach, and mimicked it enough to kill their sentry, and get the team in a little closer to do their part of the mission. Before I had a chance to actively engage the cult's leader, the Janissary commenced their assault, which in and of itself, greatly hampered my efforts to deal with the cult leader. While being under direct, deliberate fire, the task became nearly impossible. Since we are both Church agents, I have endeavoured not to kill any of the Janissary when they attack me. It pushed my abilities to the limits during their assault. But, I am not above letting fate deal with them as She would. More than once I could have acted to save a life of one of the Janissary, but my hand remained still and they lived or died by their own actions, or those of their fellows. But circumstances finally managed to play themselves into my favour, and I was able to kill the leader in a manner that ensured he would not return.
This, of course, precipitated another combat where I was going to wind up as a casualty of the heretic's defenders. It took a great deal of work, misdirection and a new near death experiences for them to finally break off enough for me to depart the area and report in. The Janissary reported of my collusion with the heretics, as well as my resisting their attempts to capture me to bring me back in chains to be punished as was fitting. Fortunately, my standing within the Order, coupled with the reported and fully documented death of the cult leader was sufficient to have their claims dismissed, and several reprimands issued to members of the Janissary team. This will be added to the growing list of reasons for them to remove me from the face of Creation.
Of course, I have not brought forward charges of the previous times that the Janissary have attempted to assassinate me, because I have had no evidence to bring forth to support such a claim. Also, when I do bring charges forward, I want them to be watertight, and allow me once and for all to get them to cease their attempts at killing me. Because as the Divine as my witness, there will be those passing Legal judgment that would like nothing more than to have someone such as me tied to the stake and dispatched as any other heretic has been.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Monday, December 20, 2010
I don't believe, I know
"Do you believe?", or variants on that general question are asked frequently in parts of the world where the Byzantine Church holds sway. Of course, the socially acceptable responses to that question are "Yes.", "Yes, I believe." or some other variant on the general affirmation. My response is a little different, and somewhat disturbing.
"No, I don't believe in the Divine, I know."
I am aware of the arrogant tone of the response, as well as the possible confrontational approach it may be viewed as. Each time I wake up, I am reminded of the fact that the Divine exists. In very uncomfortable and painful ways.
I have a club foot. From below my right knee, whatever semblance to a normal human limb ends and a massively, severely twisted lump of flesh, bone and skin makes up the rest. To make matters more inconvenient, the girth of the limb increases as it reaches the foot end. It is responsive to all the normal range of feelings. Pain, hot, cold, etc. Why is this the proof of the existence of the Divine? Well, it isn't, not by itself. It is one small, but rather obvious part, of my rather unique heritage. Which is why I know.
Well, to cut to the chase, I am a Nephilim. Yes, a bastard son of a Angel and a human woman. I'll give you a few moments to let that sink in, and let you get over the thoughts that I am crazy, or spinning some wondrous tale full of bullshit. I have lived for over 800 years, and I shall continue to do so until the day something kills me. I am ageless, looking as I did when I reached my 25th year. My mother was seduced by a man who lusted so strongly for her, he made a pact with an Incubus to get her to lay with my father. But the way my father worded the pact permitted the Incubus not to just possess my father during the time my parents were together, but he removed my father's soul, took control of his body and created me from their union.
The club foot is only one mark, the other mark is that I am weakened by any demonstration of faith, even something as simple as a hand gesture for the warding against evil. In cases such as that, my right leg fails, and I fall over in an embarrassing manner. In more severe cases, I have almost died.
But my other father gave me some birth gifts. I have my father's ability when it comes to women. I inflame their lusts so that they want to consume them with me. While I don't possess the ability to continue the tryst until the point of death for the woman, I can wear them out enough for them to pass out before I do. But it is a rather annoying effect, one I have learned to suppress. I can walk amongst normal people, and not have the female population trying to get me to fuck them on the spot.
I have also been given the gift to stare into the windows of the human soul, the eyes, and see their greatest sin. This gives me some rather interesting blackmail material on the person so viewed, which has been very useful from time to time. I have been pursued by some rather persistent people who wanted to see me dead, and a well placed word backed up by enough information has made their lives more difficult than they made mine.
The final one was the ability to charm people with my talking. More correctly, people will believe me if I put in enough effort. Coupled with the previous ability, this has given me the chance to get out of some rather difficult places by simply talking. When you have a fucked up leg like mine, running is not an option for getting out of trouble.
So, I know that I wouldn't exist in the way I do if the Divine didn't exist. I wouldn't suffer the way I do when I am confronted with signs of the Divine's presence and belief. Every day I am reminded of the existence of the Divine. What makes it all the more depressing at times is the knowledge that I am the only one of my kind on the Earth.
I can't speak for your world, but on our world, when the Divine sent the Great Flood, it was not to wash away the evil people in the world. It was to drown all the bastard children of the Angels that broke the Divine's Law and took partners from the humans. The Divine, for reasons known only to him, made Angels fertile. Yet, there is no known offspring of a man and a female Angel, but there are many mortal women that birthed children fathered by one of the Celestial Choirs.
Before the Great Flood, Angels could go to Earth and walk amongst the people and were real. Flesh and Blood. Those that didn't rebel against the Divine's will adhered to his decree and didn't lie with the mortals. But those that did rebel, before and after the War in Paradise, did lie with mortals, and some did father children that they were not allowed. Being part Celestial, this children were larger than mortal men, and were more powerful too. So much so, they started to rise and rule over the mortals, and take them away from the Divine. The Divine grew angry, and changed the Angels. He barred them from walking on Earth in the flesh, and they could only come forth in spirit only. This also reduced their ability to effect the world, and all who lived on it, but it was deemed to be the better move. Once that was done, then the world was flooded, and the Nephilim were all killed.
But my father, without knowing it, found a way to allow an Angel to do what the Divine had stopped them from doing. Walking the Earth, and fathering a child. Luckily for everyone, the Divine has kept His promise with man, and has not sent another Great Flood to get rid of me. I have searched the world, and I have not found any signs of another like me. Maybe, if I keep a low profile, and the Fallen don't managed to get back like my other father did, then the Divine will look the other way and allow me, or us, to live.
"No, I don't believe in the Divine, I know."
I am aware of the arrogant tone of the response, as well as the possible confrontational approach it may be viewed as. Each time I wake up, I am reminded of the fact that the Divine exists. In very uncomfortable and painful ways.
I have a club foot. From below my right knee, whatever semblance to a normal human limb ends and a massively, severely twisted lump of flesh, bone and skin makes up the rest. To make matters more inconvenient, the girth of the limb increases as it reaches the foot end. It is responsive to all the normal range of feelings. Pain, hot, cold, etc. Why is this the proof of the existence of the Divine? Well, it isn't, not by itself. It is one small, but rather obvious part, of my rather unique heritage. Which is why I know.
Well, to cut to the chase, I am a Nephilim. Yes, a bastard son of a Angel and a human woman. I'll give you a few moments to let that sink in, and let you get over the thoughts that I am crazy, or spinning some wondrous tale full of bullshit. I have lived for over 800 years, and I shall continue to do so until the day something kills me. I am ageless, looking as I did when I reached my 25th year. My mother was seduced by a man who lusted so strongly for her, he made a pact with an Incubus to get her to lay with my father. But the way my father worded the pact permitted the Incubus not to just possess my father during the time my parents were together, but he removed my father's soul, took control of his body and created me from their union.
The club foot is only one mark, the other mark is that I am weakened by any demonstration of faith, even something as simple as a hand gesture for the warding against evil. In cases such as that, my right leg fails, and I fall over in an embarrassing manner. In more severe cases, I have almost died.
But my other father gave me some birth gifts. I have my father's ability when it comes to women. I inflame their lusts so that they want to consume them with me. While I don't possess the ability to continue the tryst until the point of death for the woman, I can wear them out enough for them to pass out before I do. But it is a rather annoying effect, one I have learned to suppress. I can walk amongst normal people, and not have the female population trying to get me to fuck them on the spot.
I have also been given the gift to stare into the windows of the human soul, the eyes, and see their greatest sin. This gives me some rather interesting blackmail material on the person so viewed, which has been very useful from time to time. I have been pursued by some rather persistent people who wanted to see me dead, and a well placed word backed up by enough information has made their lives more difficult than they made mine.
The final one was the ability to charm people with my talking. More correctly, people will believe me if I put in enough effort. Coupled with the previous ability, this has given me the chance to get out of some rather difficult places by simply talking. When you have a fucked up leg like mine, running is not an option for getting out of trouble.
So, I know that I wouldn't exist in the way I do if the Divine didn't exist. I wouldn't suffer the way I do when I am confronted with signs of the Divine's presence and belief. Every day I am reminded of the existence of the Divine. What makes it all the more depressing at times is the knowledge that I am the only one of my kind on the Earth.
I can't speak for your world, but on our world, when the Divine sent the Great Flood, it was not to wash away the evil people in the world. It was to drown all the bastard children of the Angels that broke the Divine's Law and took partners from the humans. The Divine, for reasons known only to him, made Angels fertile. Yet, there is no known offspring of a man and a female Angel, but there are many mortal women that birthed children fathered by one of the Celestial Choirs.
Before the Great Flood, Angels could go to Earth and walk amongst the people and were real. Flesh and Blood. Those that didn't rebel against the Divine's will adhered to his decree and didn't lie with the mortals. But those that did rebel, before and after the War in Paradise, did lie with mortals, and some did father children that they were not allowed. Being part Celestial, this children were larger than mortal men, and were more powerful too. So much so, they started to rise and rule over the mortals, and take them away from the Divine. The Divine grew angry, and changed the Angels. He barred them from walking on Earth in the flesh, and they could only come forth in spirit only. This also reduced their ability to effect the world, and all who lived on it, but it was deemed to be the better move. Once that was done, then the world was flooded, and the Nephilim were all killed.
But my father, without knowing it, found a way to allow an Angel to do what the Divine had stopped them from doing. Walking the Earth, and fathering a child. Luckily for everyone, the Divine has kept His promise with man, and has not sent another Great Flood to get rid of me. I have searched the world, and I have not found any signs of another like me. Maybe, if I keep a low profile, and the Fallen don't managed to get back like my other father did, then the Divine will look the other way and allow me, or us, to live.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
A Voice from Another World
Hello everyone, I am known as Michael Davingston. That's right, known as. I have been given a different name at birth, but that is one that I would rather not use right now.
I don't live in your world, which in some ways is a good thing, and in others not so good. If what I have heard is correct, you are not as close to the Divine as we are, but on the good side, you don't have to deal with the Byzantine Church either. Our worlds are so similar in some ways, yet so different in others. Place names, countries, historical events are so close to being the same. Yet, things are so different. I don't know what to make of it all.
Let me try and explain what is happening a little. I live in the city of Brisbane, working for one of the orders within the Byzantine Church. I assist in dealing with heretics of the gravest type. As such, I am allowed some special dispensations regarding the use of what may be considered heretical knowledge. Every time I do, I have to account for it before a council of Church Elders, and they have good reason to see me burn at the stake. But in recent times, I found a tome that shocked even me. It spoke of the Divine, and how He created many universes, each to focus on a different task, or to exist for a specific reason. Even the author of the tome was unsure of the work he was writing. He had been shown by one of the lesser powers, one of the Angels still in the service of the Divine. I could tell that the man was writing of things that he could not fully understand, and was trying hard to describe what he had seen.
From what I have been able to decipher, that the world exists in many places, all of them different in some manner. Between my world and yours, there is an obvious difference, but I suspect that the difference is much deeper and more subtle than what actually appears. At a significant level, our world's share a common history up to the commencement of what is known as the First Crusade. From there, the tracks of our histories varies somewhat, yet still follow in vaguely similar directions. But, the tome also showed how it might be possible to connect to these other worlds. The author thought that it was possible to actually travel between the worlds. Due to the connection of the traveler has with their home world, it is easier for them to return than it is for them to find a specific new world.
The author had put many arcane theories, predictions and notes in the tome, and they were more easily understood by me than his earlier explanations. After some reading, and even greater research through avenues not open to many people, I was able to make contact with another of these worlds he described. To my surprise, I contacted someone who lived in the same city as I, and when that contact was made, we discerned that the dates were the same too. But, we found that the way the years are counted is different.
But I digress. I am trying to give you some understanding of what is happening so it will be easier for you to understand that I will see some matters differently, and possibly say some things that may not make much sense to people.
I will say this much, though. It seems that my voice can reach your world easily. But the one I talk to has a harder time getting his voice back to me. He has asked me many questions, some of which I have heard and answered. For me, I am interested in knowing more of your world, and why it is not possible to do some of the things that are possible in mine. Maybe it is a better thing that you are not so gifted as our world has been gifted.
One last topic before I depart. Due to my ancestry, my profession and the nature of my world, I may not return to talk more of my world, or of yours. I may also be busy with my work which will keep me from speaking with my new friend in your world. If I disappear without trace or warning, then I am likely to be dead. Few here will mourn my passing, and many I know will rejoice. I care little about how people think of me in general. There are a few that I would like to know how they would react, but with luck, I will never know.
Until the next time we meet, may the Divine illuminate your path in life with His infinite wisdom.
I don't live in your world, which in some ways is a good thing, and in others not so good. If what I have heard is correct, you are not as close to the Divine as we are, but on the good side, you don't have to deal with the Byzantine Church either. Our worlds are so similar in some ways, yet so different in others. Place names, countries, historical events are so close to being the same. Yet, things are so different. I don't know what to make of it all.
Let me try and explain what is happening a little. I live in the city of Brisbane, working for one of the orders within the Byzantine Church. I assist in dealing with heretics of the gravest type. As such, I am allowed some special dispensations regarding the use of what may be considered heretical knowledge. Every time I do, I have to account for it before a council of Church Elders, and they have good reason to see me burn at the stake. But in recent times, I found a tome that shocked even me. It spoke of the Divine, and how He created many universes, each to focus on a different task, or to exist for a specific reason. Even the author of the tome was unsure of the work he was writing. He had been shown by one of the lesser powers, one of the Angels still in the service of the Divine. I could tell that the man was writing of things that he could not fully understand, and was trying hard to describe what he had seen.
From what I have been able to decipher, that the world exists in many places, all of them different in some manner. Between my world and yours, there is an obvious difference, but I suspect that the difference is much deeper and more subtle than what actually appears. At a significant level, our world's share a common history up to the commencement of what is known as the First Crusade. From there, the tracks of our histories varies somewhat, yet still follow in vaguely similar directions. But, the tome also showed how it might be possible to connect to these other worlds. The author thought that it was possible to actually travel between the worlds. Due to the connection of the traveler has with their home world, it is easier for them to return than it is for them to find a specific new world.
The author had put many arcane theories, predictions and notes in the tome, and they were more easily understood by me than his earlier explanations. After some reading, and even greater research through avenues not open to many people, I was able to make contact with another of these worlds he described. To my surprise, I contacted someone who lived in the same city as I, and when that contact was made, we discerned that the dates were the same too. But, we found that the way the years are counted is different.
But I digress. I am trying to give you some understanding of what is happening so it will be easier for you to understand that I will see some matters differently, and possibly say some things that may not make much sense to people.
I will say this much, though. It seems that my voice can reach your world easily. But the one I talk to has a harder time getting his voice back to me. He has asked me many questions, some of which I have heard and answered. For me, I am interested in knowing more of your world, and why it is not possible to do some of the things that are possible in mine. Maybe it is a better thing that you are not so gifted as our world has been gifted.
One last topic before I depart. Due to my ancestry, my profession and the nature of my world, I may not return to talk more of my world, or of yours. I may also be busy with my work which will keep me from speaking with my new friend in your world. If I disappear without trace or warning, then I am likely to be dead. Few here will mourn my passing, and many I know will rejoice. I care little about how people think of me in general. There are a few that I would like to know how they would react, but with luck, I will never know.
Until the next time we meet, may the Divine illuminate your path in life with His infinite wisdom.
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