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A Rather Untimely Matter; Elsewhere in the Empire...
Topic Started: Mar 27 2005, 07:31 PM (633 Views)
Catholic Europe
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Ooh Patrua has got involved! BTW, does Patrua know who the child is?
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Rhadamanthus
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Catholic Europe
Apr 9 2005, 09:42 PM
Ooh Patrua has got involved! BTW, does Patrua know who the child is?

yes. nobody else has been told
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Catholic Europe
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The Resplendent Dawn
Apr 10 2005, 11:53 AM
Catholic Europe
Apr 9 2005, 09:42 PM
Ooh Patrua has got involved! BTW, does Patrua know who the child is?

yes. nobody else has been told

Okay, that's all I wanted to know. Thanks.
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Rhadamanthus
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The man and the child walked into the restaurant. Their clothes had dried, but the child still looked hungry and tired. The two sat down and waited until a waitress came and took their order.

"The boy," began the waitress, "-Is he your son?"

"He is," replied the prophet.

"He looks exhausted! Is he alright?"

The boy began "I--" but the prophet interupted, "We are refugees. We came from the north. His mother--my wife--was killed in the siege of our city. We fled for safety and haven't rested in days. The poor boy is so hungry." He had a few tears in his eyes.

The waitress nodded and quickly brought them large portions of food. The two ate silently. When the time came to pay, the prophet began to finger his pockets as if he was searching for the currency required for the transaction. The waitrss stopped him however, "Wait. You've been through a lot. You're meal's on the house. Use your money to find a place where you two can rest."

The prophet looked at her and said solemnly, "Thank you. Surely your kindness will be rewarded."

The man and the child walked out of the restaurant.
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Catholic Europe
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Ooh, mysterious lol! :lol: ;)
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Rhadamanthus
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The sun began to dawn. The prophet gazed into the horizon, wating for his Master to send him the awaited signal. With every breath, he said the appropriate incantation, beseeching the RESPLENDENT DAWN for its aid in purifying His Holy Land. He had been here since dusk the night before, for the ritual had taken time to prepare. This was the most important moment in his life so far, but for the moment that he had been called by his god.

Behind him, the child squirmed and tried to scream beneath his gagged mouth. Tied to an altar fashioned from the living wood of an ancient tree, the boy as unable to do anything but watch and listen to the horrid chanting of the robed man. He began to sob, for his home, for his parents, for the way that he had been used in a game of diplomacy by powers far larger than him. The prophet glared at the child and the sobbing stopped. The offering remain undefiled.

As the sun rose, the prophet drew patterns on the boy, tracing sacred oil over the child's flesh in archaic patterns whose meaning was known to few. Every stroke was accompanied by a word in an old language no longer spoken among humankind. Finally the prophet turned toward the sun and sat, head bowed, while he waited for His Glorious Majesty, the King of the Universe to glorify them with His full presence.

Noon came. The sun shined magnificantly in the sky. The ancient symbols on the boy burned brightly and the prophet prostrated himself, in the direction of the Sun. He felt the land being energized. The boy fell to the ground, the altar no longer there. The child's body was covered with charred marks of blurred symbols, and he hovered between life and death. The prophet carefully laid the child out in the Sun, and left him there, left him to the grace of the Resplendent Dawn.
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New Harumf
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Catholic Europe
Apr 10 2005, 12:04 PM
The Resplendent Dawn
Apr 10 2005, 11:53 AM
Catholic Europe
Apr 9 2005, 09:42 PM
Ooh Patrua has got involved! BTW, does Patrua know who the child is?

yes. nobody else has been told

Okay, that's all I wanted to know. Thanks.

Let me guess. It's Spock after the Genesis Machine went off?
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Rhadamanthus
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New Harumf
Apr 11 2005, 04:24 PM
Catholic Europe
Apr 10 2005, 12:04 PM
The Resplendent Dawn
Apr 10 2005, 11:53 AM
Catholic Europe
Apr 9 2005, 09:42 PM
Ooh Patrua has got involved! BTW, does Patrua know who the child is?

yes. nobody else has been told

Okay, that's all I wanted to know. Thanks.

Let me guess. It's Spock after the Genesis Machine went off?

:o

Quick! Silence him! He knows too much!
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Catholic Europe
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LOL!
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Rhadamanthus
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In a quiet shining bright place, the prophet listened to the heartbeat of his fatherland. The land strained under the burden of those who lived on it. Catholics accused Orthodox of atrocities and Orthodox accuse Catholics of barbarism and nobody has any idea what is going on.

The sacrifice was not cruel. It was merciful.
The sacrifice was not wicked. It was blessed.
The sacrifice was not barbaric. It was traditional.
The sacrifice was not evil. It was good.

THE RESPLENDENT DAWN saw the sacrifice, and it was good.

In his quiet place, the prophet heard everything in the silence. The waters groaning, the trees weeping, the earth screaming.

This land was not consecrated to their Lord! It was consecrated to his Lord, the Resplendent Dawn.
They used the Name. He used no name.
They cultivated violence and brutality. His actions were labelled brutalities.

What sense did it all make? Who did these lawless warmongers answer too? Not to the god of this land, it was sure. Leave, you faithless! Leave, Christians and the rest of you who wish to enslave this land but dishonor its god. This is not your land!
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Patrua
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The fire engine revved and nearly skidded out of the corner. It was dark and the headlights shone onto the crowd that looked up alarmed by the howling sirens and blue flashlights. They slowly made way while the wails of the sirens were accompanied by those of the horn. Over the crowds, the yellow shimmer of a fire became visible. An old fire engine of the voluntary firefighters of the Dawn village had already arrived and tried in vain to extinguish the burning church. People had made chains, passing full buckets of water on, the last in line throwing them on the raging blaze, not accomplishing anything more.

The Legionaries jumped out as soon as the truck stopped, groups of four each to one side. They opened the hatches and rolled out hoses. One of them shouted at the Dawn villagers.

"Is there a fire hydrant nearby?"

None answered, avoiding eye contact. Much to the frustration of the legionary. He asked again, grabbing a woman by the arm.

"A fire hydrant, a water tap? Is there any water supply nearby?"

The women looked at him, looked away and shook herself loose.
The Sergeant meanwhile had gone to the voluntary firefighters. Their old truck was humming and leaking water. The leader of the volunteers came forward and took his glove of to reciprocate the salute of the Patruan Sergeant.

"Hi there, what's going on here?"

"The church caught fire, raging blaze, nothing we can do but let it burn out controlled."

"Victims?"

"The local vicar is said to be inside."

The legionary that had been asking in vain where to get water arrived at the two other men. Puzzled by the people's incooperative attitude.

"Sir, we need to find a water source to connect our hoses or pump to. The reserves in the engine ain't gonna last long."

The Sergeant took notice and turned to the voluntary fire brigade commander. To his amazement he shrugged.

"There's no need. The church is done for."

The Sergeant stood speechless for a couple of minutes.

"What? What the hell is wrong with you people?"

But the commander seemed at ease and answered with patience.

"Look, don't try to understand what you can't, all right? It's a new dawn. We've seen the mistakes of our past and this war is our punishment. But the people realize now you see. They have awoken to the Resplendent Dawn."

The singing heath flared up and with deafening cracks and a roar, part of the burning church crumbled to the blaze sending a cloud of fiery flakes up.

One of the legionaries had disappeared behind an alleyway and entered a little courtyard. The courtyard was shielded from the fire and in the twilight shimmer, he recognized some barrels and assorted stuff from the inhabitants of the adjacent homes. It smelled like petrol but then again, in these backward villages they often didn't have electricity and used petrol in their generators or as heating. Only logical that they would store it outside. To his satisfaction, it also had what he'd been hoping to find and which was also not so uncommon in these villages: a pool. He smiled and hummed to returned with a hose which he would lay in the water to suck it with the fire engine's powerful pumps. In the shimmering light, he suddenly noticed a robed figure, half covered by the darkness.

"Let the temple of idolatry burn, my friend for such is the command of the Resplendent Dawn."

The legionary contracted his eyes, to better see who was standing there when suddenly, the shimmer became stronger as a cloud of flakes lighted the sky when the church partly crumbled. The man's face was shortly visible, with a sardonic smile and his wide open spread eyes demonically reflecting the thousands of burning flakes that rained down.

"You hesitate, friend. But not I."

He raised his hand and as if magic, the pool of water suddenly was set ablaze, lighting up the courtyard and with soaring heath stinging his eyes, the legionary stumbled backwards, covering his face with his hand.

The man was gone and screams could be heard of the inhabitants of the nearby homes. Unable to grasp what had happened, the legionary fell to his knees and sat there until the Sergeant, who had followed the turmoil, the hose and the sudden flash of light came to collect him.

"Come on, Bernie. These people are lunatics. We're outta here."
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Rhadamanthus
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I feel bad for all these Patruans who have to deal with this stuff! They didn't come all this way from home for this.
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Patrua
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I wonder how the people would feel if they lived in our Middle East. I'd pity them for sure. Whole nations that disappear, nations that are run by vampires, this whole pope-election thing we're going through now but instead of after 25 years, monthly. The most popular singer dying of diarrhea killer beans, multi-billion nations amounting to several times the world's real-life population cramped in one of the most barren areas... :wacko:
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Catholic Europe
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Jesus! It would be a terrible place to live. No wonder the nations are, on the whole, all so religious. You would ned some kind of hope lol!
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Rhadamanthus
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Slowly, the prophet marched down the road, a trail of fire and death left behind him. In many parts of the empire, his sacrifice had succeeded, piety was taking hold, the blasphemers met sacred fire, and the land was cleansed. The war was becoming a distant concern, and the center of the empire was calm.

The prophet walked slowly. His destination was the eye of the storm, the heart of the beast. Antioch. Ancient Antioch where traders used to converge, where temples used to offer sacrifice to the glories of the Dawn. Now the city had been defiled. The prophet would arrive there soon.

The prophet sat upon a hill, gazing at the city in the distance. He had walked all night. The time had come for the ritual of the Dawn. Tomorrow, he would enter the Imperial capital. By the will of the RESPLENDENT DAWN, tomorrow would be the beginning of the end of the time of darkness in Antioch.
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Patrua
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They had earned their time off. Their company had been there at the great expulsion. Chasing the Pope Boys all the way through the 'Valley of Death' back to the shithole they came from. This was the reward for not having a single day to spare in weeks: a four-day leave which was gonna be well spend in Sin City. There was an IPAF base close and there was a risk of getting into the occasional brawl with the pompous arrogant Chickens but none were prepared to see their leave at hazard over some stupid elitist thing. NO, they were gonna have fun, starting here, at the gig that was staged in honour of the Imperial Amred Forces' efforts. Hopefully, there'd be some scantily-dressed ladies and an ocean of octane. They'd rather not remember the fine time here when they returned to the rough life up north. No sir. The atmosphere was great at the theatre, mostly grunts and ethusiastically chattering, laughing and drinking in anticipation of the spectacle to come.

Funnily enough, it wasn't scantily dressed ladies or even decently clothed beauties, the only thing they got to lay eyes on, was some strnage robed guy. Appetizer no doubt. Or comic relief, on the false assumption that delay makes the final so much sweeter. The guys's appearance was greeted by massive taunting and boo-ing of the public.

"Foreign troops, heed my words" He spoke, causing mocking comments and laughter.

"Return home, your task has come to an end!" He insisted. Most agreed with this statement, any combination with 'going' and 'home' without 'after' or 'but' was always soothing to hear.

"But spread the word of the true one, the only one, the Resplendent Dawn!" The crowds broke into a massive applause, cheering and whistling, fully expecting to see the local strip act that had just been announced. But it soon died away as the guy didn't move.

"You are receptive of The Message I see. It warms the heart." The man was smiling and though his voice was mesmerizing, the grunts were loosing their nerves. "I'll warm something else if you don't get off the f*cking stage!" was a bold first response, agreed by by loud whistling, boo-ing and a barrage of hostile, offensive remarks which was already less painful than the barrage of bottles, shoes and other projectiles that targeted the man. Now grunts are trained in throwing grenades and their marksmanship in general is relatively good. Many a target hit the man on stage, who covered his head with his arms and stepped to the side while a Sergeant ran to the microphone.

"Easy, easy, settle down or show's over, aight?" Both barrages stopped. Some smart guy added "It is when you sing!" causing laughter, defusing the situation. The robed man stood in the back but suddenly lifted his arms, revealing sparkling eyes that had an evil glow.

"YOU SOUGHT THE WRATH OF THE RESPLENDENT DAWN!" He yelled, louder than the microphone of the Sergeant, partly to be thanked to the excellent acoustic architecture of the theatre.

"YOU SHALL HAVE IT!" He roared, turning around and striding away.

Somewhere, somehow an army clerk made a mistake and the extra dozen of legionaries in the S-row put too much weight on the old and rusty bolt that held the girders together. The bolt snapped and the griders creaked, sending a platform at the edge of the tribune down. Not that much harm was done. But the following stampede towards the exits and the sudden pressure on the structure that already lost one part of its integrity now gave in to the stress. Row after row, sector after sector collapsed as it received the refugees from the already collapsed parts. Chaos ruled supreme and as firefighters and Imperial Armed Forces and Resplendent Dawn forces rushed to the assistance, the evil had been done.

The wounded were many. The dead luckily few, but it came as no surprise to many Dawnsmen that one of them was the one who had shamelessly taunted the prophet.

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Patrua
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OOC.
Curse you for quickly posting while I was still busy!

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Rhadamanthus
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Patrua
Apr 25 2005, 06:04 PM
OOC.
Curse you for quickly posting while I was still busy!

:lol: Sorry about that!

Do you want me to delete and repost, or should we just leave it as is?
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Patrua
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OOC.
Nah, just leave it. They don't really conflict anyway.
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Patrua
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"Verily, the Resplendent Dawn with unmatched power shallt smithe thee, heathen, if thou dost not relinquish thine idolatrous divinities.
Verily, the Resplendent Dawn with unmatched power shallt smithe thee, heathen, if thou dost dare defile His Domain."

The robed figure spoke in an ancient language. His arms in broad sleeves were spread wide. He stood at the edge of the cliff and his disciples gazed at their master's silhouetto against their Supreme Lord, who had turned to a deep orange and was halfway down the ridge in the distance. He was larger than usual at the end of His eternal cycle and orange would soon turn red as he would die again for mankind and life. But with their ritual, they would beg the Resplendent Dawn to ressurrect again and grant life to the land another day.

This otherwise barren cliff was ancient and their ancestors before them had left standing stones with ritual carvings which they had studied all day. It was a sacred place and the prophet had been declamating with the old tongue about the vengeful side of the Resplendent Dawn.

"The wrath of the Resplendent Dawn will strike those that soiled His lands!"

A star suddenly shone incredibly bright at the horizon of evening skies, paling the others, even their Radiant Master left of it and turned the sky black by comparison.

"He has send a minuscule epigon of His powers into the hands of mortals that do not know how to rein it."

He pointed at the horizon, where the bright star had stopped sparkling, but still shone distantly.

"Millions stood up against the Resplendent Dawn, millions will wither away in the scorching heat of His righteous vengeance."

He turned around and walked to his disciples.

"Come, we must attend to the Death Rites for Chaos will soon reign through night and darkness."

And so they did.

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Patrua
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Hey, whatever happened to this guy? Was my last post so bad that everybody abandoned the storyline?
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Catholic Europe
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OOC: Well it was really only a two nation storyline, you get me.
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Patrua
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Catholic Europe
Jun 27 2005, 05:53 PM
OOC: Well it was really only a two nation storyline, you get me.

Yeah... but I like my RP's nice and finished. Now it's like after the blast he vanished from the planet's surface.

:blink: Maybe he was a prophet after all!

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Catholic Europe
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Patrua
Jun 27 2005, 05:57 PM
Catholic Europe
Jun 27 2005, 05:53 PM
OOC: Well it was really only a two nation storyline, you get me.

Yeah... but I like my RP's nice and finished. Now it's like after the blast he vanished from the planet's surface.

:blink: Maybe he was a prophet after all!

Maybe he is regathering his energy etc to return even more powerful and that.
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Patrua
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Jun 28 2005, 06:21 AM
Maybe he is regathering his energy etc to return even more powerful and that.

You're right, young padawan. I felt a disturbance in the Force too...
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