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newmayhem · 4 years

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Ha'Shmla Dictionary

Disclaimer: None of this is mine, everything was collected from Amelia Atwater-Rhodes’ old websites, the wiki, and the old message boards. Anything written in the first person is a direct quote from Amelia Atwater-Rhodes. For all the entries in the The Den of Shadows Reference series, check the tag or this page.

This dictionary in particular is courtesy of @sleepyspoonie.

WORDS

a – from, of, after

acita – nice, pleasant, nicely, pleasantly, to be nice, to be pleasant

adad – less, to have less, lessening

adir – more, to have more, increasing

Ahnleh – Fate, Eternity, Illusion, Destiny, the eight deity/concepts in the pantheon combined with the concept of Choice and the ability of Choice to change EVERYTHING

Ahnmik – Power, Power of Will, eternity, illusion, bondage, peace, strong and emotionless thought

ahoke – remain, to remain, what remains

a’le – a form of informal improvisatory dance, putting a twist on an old form (example: sakkri’a’le , harja’a’le), literally “according to your will”

ale – will, intent, that which is intended to happen

aleya – wish, to desire, to want

Anhamirak – Freedom, Free Will, eternity, illusion, passion, war, strong and thoughtless emotion

aona – heir to empress / emperor, lord / lady, ruler of second highest status, literally “future ruler” or “after the current ruler” (a = from /after, ona = current ruler)

ase – good, well, to be good

ashe – informal generic good-bye or farewell, to say good-bye, a separation

asta – because, caused by ___

awebre – song, to sing, melodic, musical, music

ayan – end, to close, closed, closing

azne – fear, to fear, frightening, afraid

ban – ability, to be able (to), able

banzi – great, greatly, one who is great

battou – enough, to have enough, sufficient

bitte – taste, flavour, to taste

brokan – eternal, timeless, forever, eternally, always

Brysh – Death (both the concept and the entity responsible for it, so always capitalized

btaleh – naïve, naively, one who is naive

carnan – gift, to receive, given

cia’Brysh – end, the end, to end, an ending, ending place, final

ciacin – hello (generic formal)

cin – hello (generic informal), to say hello, a greeting or a meeting

cia’Namid – beginning, to begin, a beginning place

cinca – day, the day, a day, daily

cincanon – night, the night, a night, nightly

cincara – Good morning! , a morning hello, morning, young, new, foolish

cincarre – Good afternoon / evening! , an afternoon or evening hello, afternoon, evening, old, wise

cjarsa – silver (the substance AND the colour)

cocoon – to fade, faded

dasandi - discovery, to find, found, finder

devan – to stand, resolved, adamant

Diente – King or Queen of a diverse group, less powerful but less isolated than Ona and Aona

dinga – to follow, to pursue, follower, pursuer, one who follows, a following, a hunter, one who hunts, hunting

divi – stars, star, starry, like a star

Ecl – Uncreation, Nonexistence, Void, all that does not/cannot exist, illusion, eternity, the future, insanity, delusion, delirium

efelna - green

einir – to change, in the sense of becoming something else, not in the sense of replacing

elar – a dash or hyphen used to separate lines of writing or individual thoughts (-)

elavie – a shapeshifter

enae – death, dead, to die

epule – to rely on, trusted, reliable

fal – hand, reach, reaching, the ability or power to reach, all that is within your scope/power

falianam –bereft, to bereave, to take away, literally “empty handed” or “unable to reach / obtain / have”

falmay – to help, to assist, assistance, literally “to give a hand” or “to lend a hand” or “to give what-is-within-your-power”

falnas – hand, to touch, to reach out for something, literally “reach-feel” or “ability to feel/touch”

fant – anger, to become angry, angry

fente - wing

ferat – skin, to feel (something)

fide – faith, faithful, to have faith (in)

frel – to make, to build, maker, builder

gah – sight, to see, visible, gift

gah’Ahnmik – darkness, dark

gah’Anhamirak – beauty, beautiful, light, bright, glory (as of brightness)

gase – beauty, to be beautiful, beautiful

gen – you (informal), your

geniam – liar, to pretend, false, actor, to act, lying, deceit

girian – gold, golden, gilt

ha – speech, language, to speak, speaker

habre – rose (the flower), rosy

haile – savior, hero, to rescue, saved

halaur – disturbance, to be out of place, interloper

hanlah – easy, effortless, without difficulty, not hard to do

hanlah’melos – the first dance a dancer learns, one dancer with one scarf, literally “easy scarf-dance”

hara – echo, to echo, echoing, literally “speech-child”

harja – attraction, to attract, seduction, to seduce, a form of dance with 6 variations, all using either a drum or no accompaniment at all in the background

hatia – lose, to lose, lost, loser, losing

he – sound, to hear, audible, audibly

heah – thought, to think/know/believe, believed, thoughtful, thinker

heah’ne – crazy, literally “little thought”

he’Anhamirak – noise, noisy

heasha – memory, to remember, remembered

hehj – do, did, does, will, am, are? The Generic Question Word (what? when used in conjunction with another question-word)

hehja / ke – if/then

hehj’ban - can ___? may ___ ? literally “what way” or “what ability”

hehj’heah – how ___? literally “what thought”

hehj’hena – what ___? literally “what is”

hehj’sheni – when ___? literally “what time”

hehj’lo – where ____? literally “what place”

hehj’rsh – who / whom ___? literally “what people”

hemet – to realize, realization

hena – to be, having existence, is, am, are

heur – brilliance, to shine, bright

ihelo – to become, becoming

ikku – belief, to believe, reasonable/plausible/believable

im – creation, to become, new

intre – silence, silent, silently

irmalo – brother, fraternal

itil – dancer, to dance, dancing

jacon – need, to need, necessary

jas - love, understanding, compassion, charity

jaes – jewel, art, magic, that-which-is-valuable-or-useful, skill, talent, purpose, use, value, treasure, that-which-is-precious

jaes’falnas – a dance that uses props, either fire, blades, or crystals (the “jaes” or jewel), literally means “jeweled hand”

jaud – moonlight, to shine, to glow, the colour of moonlight

jeira – blue, royal blue

jkair – flight, to fly, able to fly, ability to fly

jol – war, to war, of war, warlike

ka – no, negative, the opposite of ___

kaen – correction, to fix, incorrect

Kain – Thunder, music, air and water, living in the now

Kain’he – air (thunder-sound, literally)

Kain’he’nese – breath, to breathe (literally “air-life”)

kajaes – without magic, without skill, useless, without a purpose, worthless, having no value

kala – worship, to worship, a worshipper

ka’rre – pain, to harm, painful, torture, to torment, literally “no relief” or “opposite of healing / rest”

Kaya – Lightning, dance, fire and earth, living in the now

Kaya’gah – light, bright, literally “lightning-sight”

Kaya’he – fire, to burn with flame, literally “lightning-sound”

Kaya’he’tasa – heat, to burn with heat, hot, literally “fire’s greed”

ke – yes, affirmative

ke’ke – and, also

keiel – hatred, loathing, to hate

keyi – hope, hopeful, to hope

kin – effect, result, what happens because of a person’s actions

kisu – to kill, killing, killer

kontiel – avalanche, tumbling, to tumble

ksmarjan – fantasy, imagined reality

kyrai – informal ‘she’

kyrait – informal ‘he’

kyrsh – informal they, them, their

la – I, me, mine, my, to be called, named

lakin – fault, responsibility, to be at fault, to be responsible, credit

lalina – humanity, human

lalintoth – friend, friendly

la’pt – us, we, our, ours

lar – to strive, to struggle, the superlative form: ____est

larmaen – center, crucial

las – every, everything, all

le – will, to want, desire or will, chosen, to choose, to make a choice, ability to choose

le’Namid – birth, literally “will of Namid”

Leona – kingdom, literally “will to command”

Leonisa – divine realm, literally “kingdom of gods”

Leon’Namid – beginning realm, before creation or birth

leoser – sleep, to sleep, sleepy, sleeper

live – wake, to wake, wakeful

litae – blaze, large fire, blazing, ardent, zealous

lo – place, location, placement, habitation, state-of-being (both physical and spiritual place); sometimes used as ‘of’, but not in the usual way

locina - yesterday

lockli – forest, to grow, sheltered

mael – elite, the colour silver (but NOT the substance)

maen – within, inside, contained by ___

maenka – beyond, not within, outside

mak – true, correct, accurate, precise, pure, right, real, reality

mana – lord or lady, keeper, person of power, person of responsibility, Master or Mistress

mareksa – foreboding, to forebode

marl - white

may – to give, to lend, loan, aide, gift-of-the-temporary-sort, gift-of-the-moment, an act of kindness or charity

Mehay – Creation, Existence, all that exists, all that is created, soul, past, the universe, illusion, Reality, eternity

mehn – creation, to create

melos – scarf or sash, a form of dance involving the use of scarves, having 13 variations, including hanlah’melos, pan’melos, and melos’girian

melos’efelna – a dance involving two dancers (lovers, in this case) with three scarves, literally “green scarf-dance”

melos’girian – a dance that serves as wedding vows for the dancers involved, literally “golden scarves”

mijrasi – edge, outside, external

mir - maybe

mirshna – to sense (non-tactile), intuition

nanon – to avoid, unpleasant

naral – blade, sharp, to cut

nas – touch, to touch, to feel, tactile, gift

nasa - command, order, imperative verb tense

nelar – breath, to breathe, literally “to strive for life”

nepon – flower, to blossom

nese – life, alive, to live

Nesera – dance, dancer, to dance as a religion, literally “life-child” or “little dream”

nesma – distress, upset, to upset

nie – an apostrophe used to separate concepts and phrases in writing (‘)

nikir – pair, to wed, twinned

nira – loneliness, single, one, alone

noreil – secret, a secret

norvio - black

o – to, unto, for

o’hena – you’re welcome, of course, literally “because it is (so)”

ona – empress / emperor, lord / lady, ruler of highest status, Current Ruler

ontiel – to radiate outward

o’saerre – a hawk shapeshifter, literally “unto the serpent(s)”

oun – balance, balanced, balancing, to balance

pala – earth, dirt, soil, to plant, to bury pan’melos – the most complex of the 13 melos forms of dance, a single dancer working with 10 scarves, but never touching more than one at a time

pata – change, to change, changing, as to trade something for another thing or replace it, not as to become

pallion – to deepen, deep, true

peraine – older (thing, person), to age, old

plena – dumb, stupid, idiot, ignorant, fool, foolish

ptenal – surround, enclose

quean – fire, to burn, hot, to die in a fire

quemak – mongrel, impure, false, half-breed, mixed-blood, untrue

ra – child, offspring, creation or idea

rael – rage, to anger, enraged

rahvis – (no known definition yet)

rai – formal ‘she’

rait – formal ‘he’

rakuvra - cobra

rashtanis

ravi – to give or to make something, or to make something happen

raviban – permission, literally “give/make (a) way”

raviheah – teacher, to teach, literally “give/make knowledge/thought”

regre – to show, reveal, visible, displayed

rrasatoth – beloved, lover, to love romantically

rre – rest, relief, healing, restoring, to rest or be healed or sleep, restful, relieving, a healer

rrobhi – to bathe, clean, pure, purified, cleansed

rsh – formal they, them, their, one (hypothetical person, not number), one’s, people, a person, a person’s

rspar – ash, to crumble, crumbling, ashen, like unto ash

saerre – a serpent shapeshifter

sakkri – spirit, essence, spirits-as-in-ghosts-or-faeries-or-angels, a form of dance unaccompanied by music and which uses no props (scarves, knives, fire, etc.)

san’Anhamirak – pliancy, to bend, pliant, freedom, abandon, literally “essence of Freedom”

san’asi – a sakkri involving 3 dancers, literally “raising the gods” or “invoking the essence(s) of ___”

sanice – consent, blessing, to bless, to give consent

savirnak – sacrifice, to sacrifice, to give up for another

seatratil – year, yearly, this year

sendra – wet, water, fluid

ser- to approach or come, to linger, to stay; to observe, to watch for the purpose of knowing something; to be like a shadow, shadow, shadowing

sera – dream, literally “future-shadow” or “future-watching”

serdinga – lurker, to lurk, spy, to spy, literally “shadow-following” or “watch-following”

sheeva – cold, to shiver, to be cold

she – now, this moment

she’da – story-dances, the only form of dances accompanied by vocalization, and it is spoken instead of sung

Sheni – time, timely, a time or era, Time (as an entity)

Shre – choice, to choose, chosen, Choice (as an entity)

sine – to leave, gone, to be dismissed

sneska – to shed, to discard, discarded

solilei – fall, to fall, fallen

sotre – to flap (wings)

stankhu – reason, to have a reason

suni – malevolence, evil

tacarre – evening, night, good-night, a night-time Good-bye

tara – heat, hot, to be hot

tasa – greed, too much

tasashe – always, formal generic Good-bye, in a ‘see you later’, non-permanent sense, literally “too much time (until we meet again)”

teska – thanks, to ask/request, please, thank-you

thayd – caution, to be cautious

thu’queh – to question, to ask questioningly

ti – to move, mobile

tih – stop, to stop

tipa – to shift, to move

tirna – butterfly, like a butterfly

tisa – too little, not enough, deprivation

toth – love, lovely, loving, loved, beloved

tshin – piece, to shatter, broken

tu - two

tuon – together, to move toward ___

valnis – mountain, high place

varl – to give, gift

varl’Nesera – blessing, literally “give dance”

vehl – teardrop, sad, to cry

vehlar – heart, living, alive

vem – blood, to bleed, alive

vem’Ahnleh – a very nasty curse, literally “bleeding Fate”

vemka – bloodless, cowardly, coward, ignoble (not of noble blood), mongrel, half-breed, polluted, impure, weak, weakling

veritas – eye, seeing, to view

vesake – sorry, apology, to apologize, to be sorry, to be or feel guilty

vesara – presence, to have presence, to be present

vino – ocean, sea

vis – taste, possessing flavour, tasty, to taste

warum – part, piece, individual, drop, unit

wihfar – birth, to be born

wim – ownership, to own, owner, to control

wimashe – to exist, to go about one’s life, generic formal PERMANENT good-bye, literally “may the future be yours”

wimvi – food, to eat, literally “to own the taste”

yao – lucidity, clarity, clear, to be clear

yarroh – spark, to spark

yelok – to reduce, to lessen

yenna – tower, towers, high place(s), perch, mews (a place where you keep trained falcons for falconry), nest, aerie / eyrie (the nest of a wild bird-of-prey), a noble’s home, fortress, guarded place

zil – fear, to flee, one who flees

zinan – destruction, to destroy

GRAMMAR

There are four standard sentence forms. Remember these abbreviations, okey?

P – prepositional phrase

I – inflective phrase

S – subject phrase

V – verb phrase

O – object phrase

a- plural (“pt”) if necessary [you won’t always be USING a plural, after all]

A – adjective or adverb

N – noun in the prepositional phrase

“nasa” – imperative

Q – question, interrogative

v – truth value (ke, ka, or mir = yes, no, or maybe)

T – tense of the whole sentence

Got all that? Here we go.

P-I-S-V-O Example:

a’S’A-V’A-A’O

Example: pt’heah’heah-heah’heah-heah’heah

“Thoughtful thoughts think thoughtfully thoughtful thoughts.”

P’N’A-a’S’A-V’A-a’A’O Example:

I = nasa’v OR I = T’Q’v Example:

PHRASES

Hehj’hena? - What happened?

She’hehj-la-ha? - Am I speaking?

She’hehj’ban-la-ha? – Can I speak?

She’hehj’heah-la-ha? – How do I speak?

She’hehj’hena-la-ha? - What do I say?

She’hehj’lo-la-ha? – Where do I speak?

She’hehj’rsh-la-ha? – Who is speaking?

She’hehj’mak-la-ha? – Why do I speak?

Shen’hehj-a’la-gen-ha? – Are you speaking to me?

She’hehj’ban-maen’teska-gen-ha’intre? – Could you speak quietly, please?

She’hihj’heah-gen-heah-la’ha? – How do you know I’m speaking?

A’she’hehj’sheni-gen’heah-rai’ha? – When do you think she will speak?

O’she’hehj’lo-gen’he-la’ha? - Where did you hear me speak?

A’rai-a’she-hehj’rsh-ha? – Who will speak to her?

A’rsh’pt-she’hehj’mak-la-le’ha? – Why do I want to speak to these people?

WRITING SYSTEM

#Reference #kiesha'ra #Nyeusigrube #Den of Shadows #amelia atwater rhodes

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lmadigan-blog · 5 years

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The Women White Feminism Doesn’t See

Just last weekend, Ellen Degeneres was seen with none other than former President George W. Bush at a football game, something that got her absolutely dragged through the mud by the true kings, queens, and non-binary sovereigns of Twitter— Gen-X leftists who turn off their auto-capitalization function for the full aesthetic experience. A few days later, Ellen talked about it on her show, where she gave the same little sad talk every rich, white, privileged person gives when they feel bad about themselves— “come on guys, why can’t we all just be friends? when did that become such a bad thing, guys, huh? when did it stop being ok to hang out with people who have different opinions? ” The resulting controversy dragged in various celebrities like Mark Ruffalo and Reese Witherspoon, as well as politicians like Tulsi Gabbard, leading to an assorted collection of big names and verified Twitter accounts drawing lines in the sand and hastily choosing sides.

Now, the ensuing clusterfuck of Twitter discourse did two things:

1. Allow me, someone too young to remember the Iraq War/Abu Ghraib discourse, to get an up-close, real-time reenactment of all the defenses of George Bush and U.S. imperialism (well, is waterboarding really torture if it doesn’t leave any physical scars?)

2. Reveal a perfect example of how Western feminism centers white womanhood and American identities over the literal lives and human rights of those living beyond our borders.

As much fun as it would be to describe all the mental gymnastics and moral leaps and bounds people took to defend literal war crimes, I’m not here to write about that. What I will say is this— our first concepts of what “feminism” looks like or what a “feminist” looks like is very institutionalized, very capitalist, and very white. The feminist in America’s eye is Hillary Clinton, is Ellen, is a pussy-hat wearing, sign-wielding, white woman. It’s the daring white woman strong enough to be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, it’s the daring white woman brave enough to advocate for her right to serve in active combat overseas, it’s the daring white woman steadfast enough to be a police officer to serve her own community.

In other words, when we center white women in positions of authority as a model for “feminism”, it shouldn’t be any surprise that mainstream feminist discussions are based around whether women should be allowed to murder people of color overseas just like men are, or whether we should let a white woman join a long line of white men bombing the hell out of whichever poor Middle Eastern or Latin American country decides to think about wanting human rights again. This model of American feminism doesn’t just uplift white women, though— it marginalizes women of color, trans women, queer women, working-class women, and women in the Global South. When specifically looking at women of color and women in the Global South, this form of capitalist, imperialist feminism not only pushes such groups to the margins of society, but also fetishizes them, exotifies them, builds up this elaborate, white supremacist fantasy in which these poor, suppressed, ignorant women need to be liberated from their oppressor, or in other words, their own cultures and communities. This mentality, something scholar and feminist theorist Gayatri Spivak describes as a “very old civilizing logic of white men and white women saving brown women from brown men”, is a logic used to justify war crimes across the globe. Laura Bush called the “War on Terror” a “fight for the dignity and rights of women”. This “fight for the dignity and rights of women” has resulted in 2.4 million deaths. Just a few weeks ago, Condoleezza Rice argued against pulling U.S. troops out of Afghanistan, in the name of not abandoning the “women of Afghanistan”. Yes, in 2019, the year of our Lord, two-thousand and nineteen, after all that has been done in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, and other nations in the name of fighting terrorism.

Whether it’s Condoleezza Rice or Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama or Justin Trudeau, basically any and all political leaders of the West (who are self-proclaimed feminists) will be practicers of this white feminism, whether it’s through overthrowing the government of Honduras and plunging the country into widespread violence, chaos, and poverty, pushing for mass human rights abuses and state-sponsored violence in the Middle East, dropping over 26,000 bombs in the Middle East in one year, or selling arms to Saudi Arabia and Israel while simultaneously buying a pipeline to override Indigenous voices. Why? Because this very concept of “saving” women of color is rooted in white saviorism, something deeply ingrained in the political and philosophical landscapes of the West. Our very concepts of “women’s issues” are distorted, and as a result, who we designate the heroes of these causes become distorted too. Are issues of drone strikes, concentration camps, and mass bombing not women’s issues too? Or are women’s issues solely limited to representation in film and equal pay for a soccer team, problems that can be easily championed by the performative, pussy-hat activist?

As a result, the question of white perceptions of women of color ultimately becomes a question of how to recalibrate our focus of what’s at stake here. How to understand visceral issues that many women living outside (and within) the borders of the United States grapple with every day, and seeing them from a lens that isn’t confined by white saviorism. And the only way this can be achieved is to center women who are further marginalized beyond just gender, some sort of feminism born from below.

There’s a short story called “The Women Men Don’t See” written by James Tiptree Jr., which basically tells the story of two women, a mother and a daughter, stranded on a mangrove swamp with a white man named Don Fenton, and a Mayan pilot named “Captain Esteban”. The story follows Fenton and his frustration as the two women seem to fail to fit into his preconceived notions of female stereotypes. As the story progresses, it becomes evident that the only time the women are even really noticed by Fenton is when they’re sexualized— hence the title. It ends with a shocking turn of events, as the two women are voluntarily spirited away by aliens from another planet, deciding that any life could be better than the life of a woman on earth. While hailed as a brilliant piece of feminist literature (and in many ways, it is), the piece is also a perfect example of how white, American women are oftentimes centered in these discussions of gender discrimination. Either by design or hilarious irony, the story is set in Quintana Roo, and Ruth Parsons, perhaps the only female character with relevant dialogue, works for the “Foreign Procurement Archives” based in Washington, D.C. Even within this short story, the same American, imperialist form of feminism is found. A white woman who literally works for the State Department and helps manipulate currencies and commodities of countries in the Global South is suddenly swept from all the horror and discrimination by kind-hearted aliens?

All of this, from Clinton to Tiptree Jr., from Iraq to the mangrove swamp, isn’t meant to be a critique of white women— I would say, as most people with a moral compass would, that it is a good thing when all women are generally interested in the collective liberation of all underprivileged minorities. What I am saying, however, is that the proper navigation of differences between communities and identities can build solidarity, and through solidarity, true liberation can be achieved. In Audre Lorde’s The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House, she argues that difference has been always presented as either something to be ignored, or something to be used as a wedge to weaken the cause. As she puts it, those who are outside the “acceptable” definition of women— low-income, queer, Black, non-American, have a far better understanding of the fight for survival and victory, know that by “learning how to take our differences and make them strengths”, liberation will be achieved. This is what I mean when I say “feminism from below”. This is not Hillary Clinton’s feminism, this is not Ellen’s feminism, and it certainly isn’t America’s feminism. It’s the feminism of those that white America doesn’t see. Erasure, centering white womanhood, imperialist and American feminism— these are all the master’s tools, and they will never bring about true liberation.

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kabane52 · 5 years

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The Glory of the Eucharist in Zion

[Main point: as we offer up the Eucharist in the Anaphora, we say to God in Christ: “Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord.” This is a phrase taken from our Lord’s ride into Jerusalem, where He embodied Yahweh’s promised return to His house to fill it with glory- Jesus does this by entering the temple where He is hailed as King. This is the personal, embodied return of God’s Glory to His house. But then Jesus flips the tables and desolates it, deserting the temple for the last time. But this is meant to lead to what happens in the “Upper Room”- having flipped the table of temple sacrifice, Jesus sets another table with the Twelve, where He institutes the Eucharist as His own body and blood. This is the enduring fulfillment of the Lord’s presence in Zion. Jesus fulfilled the prophets to the cries of “Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord!” These are the very words we pray as we participate in the reality of His return.]

Throughout the prophets, God promised to return in glory to Zion. The one sanctuary in the Tanakh which is actually established on Zion is not the Temple- that is established on Mt. Moriah. Zion is the mountain where David places the ark at the time of his enthronement over all the tribes of Israel. For a period of time, the ark of the covenant was separated from the rest of the tabernacle, and the two operated independently. It was the former which bore the focal point of the divine presence, and for this unique time, it dwelt nearly unconcealed before all Israel. Gentiles participated in the life of the Zion sanctuary in a way that they did not in the Tabernacle or Temple system. Remarkably, we are told that King David actually “sat” before the Lord in the Zion sanctuary. David was enthroned in God’s presence! This anticipates the words David wrote concerning his promised son (likely, I think, as a praise to God concerning the promise given in 2 Samuel 6), “The LORD said to my lord: sit at my right hand” (Ps. 110:1). [See Peter Leithart’s book “From Silence to Song” for documentation of the distinction between these mountains and their unique characteristics.]

This is what Isaiah and other prophets of Israel see as a sign of the Messianic Age, when the glory of God, focused on the ark of the covenant, would dwell in the midst of Israel and the nations, gathered as one family of peoples on Zion. When the Temple had been sufficiently defiled by the wickedness of Judah, the glory of God, which was the basis for Jerusalem’s impenetrability according to Isaiah, departed. Ezekiel beholds this in a vision in Ezekiel 10. When Babylon came to destroy the city and temple, the ark of the covenant was taken away- and it disappeared. The Lord tells Ezekiel that He has come, in a mystical and invisible way, to dwell as a “sanctuary” in their midst. The Spirit of God has not abandoned Israel, but continues to blow where He wishes. Because of the Spirit-Wind’s presence among the exiles, Zechariah and Daniel refer to Israel as the “winds of heaven” who blow among the nations and attest to the sovereignty of the God of Heaven.

Ezra and Nehemiah, describing the construction of the city and temple, describe the city itself being sanctified as a kind of temple. The ritual measuring of the walls of Jerusalem is an act symbolizing the sacredness of this space, as we also see concerning the angelic measurements for sanctuaries in Zechariah 2, Ezekiel 40-48, and Revelation 11. And indeed, the term “holy city” is only used to refer to Jerusalem during and after this period of time. Isaiah is the first biblical author to use the phrase, and he uses it in a prophetic context referring to this specific period in Isaiah 48:2. The coming of the exiles, with the Spirit moving mysteriously among them, sanctifies the walls of the city. God tells Israel in Haggai 2:5 that “my Spirit remains in your midst.” The presence of God was in the midst of Israel, bringing the first signs of a dawn- Gentiles heard of the God of Heaven and submitted to Him (usually while remaining Gentiles) through the witness of the returned Jewish people, spread abroad among the Gentiles.

And yet, there was something missing. The ark of the covenant was lost. That was where the glory of God, His intense, personal presence, concretely and focally dwelt on Earth. The temple system was ordered around the ark of the covenant as the sign of the link between heaven and earth. And it was gone. Isaiah spoke of the return to Zion- when the ark returned, it would not dwell behind a veil. And God in Haggai declares, after affirming His continuing presence in Israel, that He will “fill this house with glory” and that the “latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former.” This is a reference to texts like Exodus 40 and 1 Kings 8, where the tabernacle and temple were inaugurated in their function with the visible manifestation of the divine presence filling the inmost part of the sanctuary. As the glory had dwelt on Sinai, so now the glory dwells in the Holy of Holies, the enduring presence of Sinai with the sons of Israel.

This is an essential part of the story told in the Gospels. As N.T. Wright has pointed out, the theme of the divine return to Zion is an interpretive key to understanding the Savior’s parables. Jesus told a story of a man who had gone away from His servants for some time and then returned to inspect them and evaluate them. This is what we read in the prophets of Israel. The glory of God had gone into exile in the days of Ezekiel along with its focal point, the ark of the covenant. Zechariah described the return of divine presence to Israel as a time when a flying scroll shall go into the depths of Israel’s being- echoing the drinking of the holy water by the suspected bride in the jealousy inspection of Numbers 5- and judge accordingly. The prophet echoes the language of the ritual tearing down of a house with leprosy described in the Torah to explain what will happen to those unfaithful when the inspection comes. When the Lord returns, according to Malachi’s prophecy, you will “again see a distinction between the righteous and the wicked.” As Amos says concerning the rebels in Israel: “Why do you desire the Day of the Lord? It is darkness, and not light” (Amos 5:18). The coming of the Lord is described as the “Day of the Lord” because His glory-presence is light which makes day out of night. As Malachi says, when the sun of righteousness arises, it will “set ablaze” those who are rebels (Malachi 4:1).

This is what happens when Jesus rides into Jerusalem. This is the Lord’s return to Zion. Zechariah 9 is identified by the Evangelists as the prophetic word fulfilled on that day:

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” (Zechariah 9:9)

The prophet is echoing closely the promise given by Jacob of the chosen seed from Judah’s line who would rule over the nations (Genesis 49:8-12) and echoed throughout the Torah and prophets. But he is combining this text with another text from earlier in his own writing.

“Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the LORD.” (Zechariah 2:10)

This is one of the most striking examples of divine messiahship in the prophets. Zechariah takes a messianic text from Genesis and integrates it textually with a clear promise of the return of Israel’s God to Zion. Who is the one who is “coming to you”? It is the Lord, who promises to “come” and dwell in the midst of Israel. This is the ultimate textual basis for the Evangelists’ presentation of the Lord’s entry into Jerusalem as the return of the Lord to Zion. As I pointed to above, Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem is the recapitulation of the ritual procession of King David with the ark of the covenant up to Zion. As in the days of Jesus, the ark of God had been dislocated from the people of Israel for some time in the days of David. Its return- and its establishment at the capital of a united Israel under an anointed king- was an event meriting terrific celebration. And this is what we see- the procession of the ark to Zion is a public event, and it is accompanied, as the entry of Jesus to Jerusalem, with “shouting and the sound of the horn” just as tremendous shouts and chants accompanied the coming of Jesus as King into Jerusalem.

With Jesus having entered Jerusalem, He journeys to the temple and fulfills the promise of Haggai that the “latter glory of this house” will be “greater than the former.” Jesus, as the incarnate, eternal Logos of God, is the most intense expression of the presence that is possible- far more than had been present in Israel even in the days of Moses. Moreover, Jesus is not limited to the Holy of Holies, but is present for all to see in the Temple area. This is the return in glory which was promised. Given the link between 2 Samuel 6 and this event, this is the fulfillment and undoing of the loss of the ark of the covenant. Yet, if this were all to the promise, then the Gospels should end here- Jesus personally dwelling in the stone Temple on Moriah. But they don’t end here.

Given the association of the Lord’s coming with inspection and judgment, Jesus enacts a parabolic judgment on the temple by flipping its table. In Mark, Jesus quotes the word of Isaiah that the temple is to be a “house of prayer for all nations.” In Haggai, the return of God in glory is the time when the “treasures of the nations shall come in.” Likewise, in Zechariah 2, the coming of God to Zion means that “many nations” turn and become the people of the Lord. By excluding the Gentiles from the liturgical life of Israel, the Jewish leadership has attempted to hoard the blessings meant for all the families of the earth and been profoundly unfaithful to their calling. Malachi, which ends with the sun of righteousness rising and setting ablaze the unfaithful, begins with a prophecy of the nations offering a “Tribute Offering” from the “rising of the sun to its setting.”

And so we see that the return of the Lord to Zion does not end at the Temple. Jesus, having examined the temple and judged it, departs and leaves it desolate. As in Ezekiel 10, the glory of God has departed. But there is again more to the story. As Jesus overturned the table of sacrificial food in the temple, Jesus will set up a table later in the Gospels. He does so in the “Upper Room.” The Holy of Holies signified the top of Mt. Sinai, and the repeated emphasis on the “Upper” nature of the Upper Room is not accidental. This room signifies the Inner Sanctuary where the presence of God dwells- this is also where Pentecost happens.

It is at this new “table” that Jesus provides the Eucharist as His body and blood. This is the enduring form of God’s presence in Zion, the ongoing sign of His fulfillment of the prophetic word. Isaiah 25, describing the glorified Mt. Zion, filled with the presence of God and crowded with the ingathered nations, tells of a “feast of well aged wine” where the glory of God is “before His elders”, an allusion to the covenant meal of the Seventy Elders on Mt. Sinai in Exodus 24. It was in this context that Moses sprinkled blood on Israel and said “this is the blood of the covenant”- words quoted by the Lord at the Last Supper. 2 Samuel 6 is followed by the institution of the Davidic covenant wherein the dynasty of David is given an eternal place in the divine economy. This covenant is the context for the construction of the temple, which is the purpose of David’s “son”- to build a “house for my Name.” And as Malachi 1:11 pointed to the Gentile offering of “Tribute”, the Eucharist is described as a Tribute Offering. Like the Tribute, it is of Bread and Wine, and like the Tribute, it is described as a “Memorial.” This does not so much mean something which provokes the people of God to memory as it means a ritual wherein we call on God to remember His covenant with us in the blood of Christ.

This is what happens at the Eucharist. The God of Israel, in the face of Jesus, has returned to Zion and gathered all nations to His table. It is therefore altogether appropriate that we say at the beginning of the Anaphora: “Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord!” These are the words with which Jesus was greeted as He entered Jerusalem to fulfill the promise of God’s glorious and permanent return to the temple. We sing these words as we participate in the fullness of that return in the offering up of His Body and Blood.

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littletyrell · 6 years

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winter is coming.

For as long as she lived, Margaery was certain she would never rid her mind of the image of the Red Keep from the vantage of the small window in her carriage.

The massive entity had loomed threateningly as they’d made their way out of the city’s limits, and had continued to intimidate even as it began to fade into the distance. It was only when it had been swallowed up by the darkness of the night that Margaery had allowed herself to release a long sigh, purging herself of several weeks’ worth of stress and despair. Her Grandmother reached over to squeeze her knee comfortingly, but Margaery struggled to even offer her a thankful smile.

The young Queen had been assured in the days that preceded her escape that her wrongful imprisonment would be coming to an abrupt halt, and that she was meant to be ready when the time came. Scrolls of paper had been tossed haphazardly into her cell at random times of day and night which swore that there was no evidence to hold her, and that even the High Sparrow would be forced to relent and free her without the labor of a trial by faith. These words were uplifting, but did little to prevent the overwhelming sadness that would appear when Margaery was ultimately left to suffer alone in her small cell -- or to even hear the not-so-distant cries of her similarly-imprisoned cousins, who were beaten by the Septa in an effort to bring forth the so-called “confession of sin” and the “redemption” which would follow. The Septa would come for her as well, but she dared not hit so hard as she was able -- there was some manner of law to be had there for a Queen, and perhaps Tommen had screamed and cried on her behalf from within the safety of the castle’s walls.

The day she was visited by Cersei Lannister had been the worst of her days stuck in that cell. The other Queen had come for no reason other than to gloat, and when that had become clear to Margaery, she was no longer able to hold the hatred she had choked on since first arriving at the capital. Margaery promised that all the pain that Cersei had caused the realm at large would be paid back to her. She lodged curses at the vile woman, and swore up and down that she would receive punishment from the Gods.

And so the Gods answered.

A scroll had been tossed into Margaery’s cell at an early hour, with an uplifting inscription: Cersei imprisoned. A few hours later, another scroll appeared, this one even more promising than the last: Tonight.

All it had taken was a changing of the guard, and suddenly Margaery was being rushed out of her cell -- and Megga and Elinor were not far behind. They were dressed in heavy, concealing cloaks, and shuffled under the protection of darkness into two separate carriages. When Margaery was settled into her own carriage, she had found none other than her Grandmother waiting inside. The embrace that the two women shared had been tender and real, and Margaery had found herself crying in a way she hadn’t since she was a little girl.

Even despite her desire to flee the capital and be done with it for good, the Tyrell in her struggled against the fear, questioning with a sniffle: “ -- will we -- should we -- should we retake the throne?”

“Are you out of your bloody mind, girl?” Olenna had tutted, though the bite lacked in her tone. She brushed a wrinkled hand comfortingly over Margaery’s brow, and the young queen’s eyes closed as she relaxed into the contact. “Cersei’s Sparrow has turned this city upside-down -- if we stay, we’ll be eaten alive with all the rest of them.” Scoffing, Olenna made a move as if to look back in the direction of the capital. “Good riddance to the lot of them. Let them burn together -- and burn they will, if we’re to believe this truth of the Targaryen girl and her three demons. She would’ve had no mercy for anyone else calling themselves Queen, dear -- if it wasn’t for this, I would’ve found another way to get you out of that viper’s nest.”

Margaery tried to keep her elation at bay. It felt so strange, to have abandoned the fantasy of being the queen. It felt as though she’d ended that life in the cell Cersei had made for her, and had come out a different person. The only trouble was she didn’t know what it was this Margaery wanted.

“If not here,” Margaery ventured, “ -- then where? Home?”

“A war in the south,” Olenna agreed with a nod, “what dear Renly had wanted all along, realized all too late.” Olenna scoffed, continuing: “war will come, should Cersei free herself of that prison she’s made for herself. The bitch is slippery, and she very well might manage it. Should she, I suspect she’ll turn to take her revenge on Highgarden and every other land she thinks has wronged her.”

“She feels wronged by the realm,” Margaery added, a frown pulling on her lips. “She seeks war with each House that does not bend to her.” Olenna hummed her agreement, and Margaery leaned back against the carriage seat as she contemplated the path that was laid out before them. They had two choice: to tuck tale and defend themselves, or to defend the realm at large. The latter was what she’d wanted as Queen -- to make the realm better via the removal of the Lannisters. The option still presented itself.

“What if we went North instead?” Margaery thought aloud. “What if we joined Stannis, and made him King? He may not have the love of the people, but he is intelligent and capable -- even Renly would have admitted such a thing.” Sensing her Grandmother’s rejection, Margaery pressed: “it is his right to inherit the throne, Grandmother. And our error to deprive him of it. All of this -- all of this could have been solved so long ago, had we just allowed it to pass as it should have been. The realm will be safer for it. And House Tyrell will be hailed as the saviors of the realm for delivering Stannis unto the throne.”

“It is not a bad thought,” Olenna commented after a long moment, seeming to relent. “But even despite the forces we have with us now, we need the permission of that oaf to move them --”

“What permission do you need?” Margaery countered, her golden gaze suddenly steely. “He will do as you say and question nothing of it. The decision rests with you, Grandmother. The fate of the realm sits in your hands. Yours, and no one else’s.”

While Elinor and Megga returned to the safety of Highgarden, Margaery and Olenna took to the North. Her two abused cousins carried with them a letter sealed by Olenna, ordering Mace to provide a division of their soldiers to journey North and accompany their party. It was some weeks before they had their affirmation -- and some time more before they received word that their soldiers marched. Olenna had commented to Margaery that the troops they promised Stannis would be a month or more delayed when they themselves arrived North, but Margaery was not swayed. She thought only of the best sort of revenge against Cersei -- a Westeros made better in the wake of her dethroning. Perhaps she would not even be executed, despite how badly she knew others -- as well as herself -- would wish to see her blood. Perhaps it would be a worse punishment to have her suffer with her misery.

Across the months of their journey North, Margaery thought often of who she would be in this new world. She’d tried and failed three times over to be a Queen. To the realm at large she remained a maiden, still able to marry -- though she suspected many might see her as some sort of a beautiful curse, unable to bed someone without causing their demise. Despite this, she could not imagine herself marrying some Reachmen lord that her father would choose for her, and being no one at all. Nor could she imagine herself attached to a Storm lord chosen by Stannis to affirm the alliance he knew nothing of, though she knew it was very likely a possibility of her fate. She thought endlessly and determined nothing.

The worst of their journey came when they moved through the Stormlands, and caught word of Loras’ fate. The details were sparse and grim: he had fought Cersei’s false war and had been defeated. He was said to be laid out in agony at Dragonstone, wounded from blade and burns and slowly inching towards death. The news had set Margaery into tears for days, and she had begged for nearly a week to divert their course and reclaim his body from Dragonstone. Her Grandmother’s repeated insistence that they could not go to a land teaming with Lannister soldiers was sound, but Margaery could not rid herself of the nightmare of sweet Loras dying with not a soul around him who truly loved him. She prayed for his soul in the night, and begged for his soul to stay by her side as they journeyed onward.

They had made it through the Vale with relative ease, despite their caution. Upon reaching the territory, they had learned of the pitiable fate of Lysa Tully -- and the fate of her child, now made the ward of Petyr Baelish. They dared not journey to the Eyrie to meet with the mockingbird, though they suspected that he was well aware of the forces which moved through the region. These suspicions were confirmed when a flurry of news greeted them in a letter signed by Baelish, leaving them as chilled as the snow that coated the ground.

Stannis was dead. His army was dead. Lord Bolton was dead. The bastard Bolton called himself Lord of Winterfell. The bastard Lord had married a girl said to be Sansa Stark. Sansa Stark had escaped the bastard, and was thought to be plotting the siege of her home.

Winterfell would need to be retaken swiftly, and the letter suggested that the Eyrie’s forces would be deployed only if called upon by Sansa. Without them, however, it was likely any attempt to fight the Bolton army -- bolstered by traitorous houses of the North -- would fail. The night after they’d received the letter, Margaery dreamed of red hair, and of a beautiful girl who seemed to carry with her all the sadness of the world. When she awoke, she demanded that they come to her aid.

“We do not know if Sansa Stark is alive,” Olenna had protested, exasperated at that point by their fruitless journey. “Look at the snow falling around us -- it is all the more likely she died out in that cold, hiding away from that little monster. That little slip of a thing could not survive this.”

“This is her home,” Margaery had protested, steadfast in her desire to journey on to Winterfell. “For all that she has survived already, she would have survived her own home. Grandmother, we cannot turn our backs on her.” Margaery’s expression had crumpled then, remembering how they had left her to be married to Tyrion when their own plot had fallen through. The youngest Lannister was far from a cruel man -- but it had been a mockery nonetheless, and Margaery knew Sansa had suffered for it. “What would we be, if we turned our backs now?”

They did not move from a small inn nearby Moat Cailin for nearly a month -- they would not go to Winterfell without their army in tow. During this time, Margaery and her Grandmother acclimated as best they could to the North. The bitter cold was not good for a woman of Olenna’s age, and Margaery sought to have her constantly cloaked in large furs that seemed to drown her. Margaery herself was swathed in them, and found that with each passing day her skin seemed to pale in the icy region. When she cast a glance at her reflection in a looking glass, she found that she did not recognize the girl who looked back. This was not the little queen of the Red Keep -- it was someone else entirely. It was someone she did not quite know yet.

When their army arrived, they moved at last for Winterfell. In the deep snow, they seemed to travel more slowly than ever before -- a journey meant to be 6 months had seemed to stretch to 8 or 9 by the time they’d closed in upon Torrhen’s square, just southwest of Winterfell. It was there that they received their last bit of news: the Bolton bastard was dead, and Winterfell had been retaken by House Stark -- led by none other than Jon Snow, Winterfell’s own bastard boy. In the wake of this battle, the Northerners had called out for Jon to take up a long-forgotten title: the King in the North.

When Margaery had heard this news, a shock of laughter had overtaken her. Olenna had turned, frustrated, and demanded she divulge what it was that amused her so.

“We journeyed all this way for a King,” Margaery exclaimed, her shoulders shaking with a kind of grim mirth, “ -- well, we’ve found one, haven’t we?”

To this point, Olenna joined in on this rueful, mourning laughter. It was a dark humor, twisted by months of strife and years of blood before it. It was the work of the Gods, Margaery knew, that they had someone still achieved the purpose of their journey.

When they arrived at last at Winterfell, they were met with an understandable opposition. House Tyrell, for all the North knew, were allies of the Lannisters. An envoy from their forces was sent to parlay with a soldier of Winterfell -- a massive man with fiery hair -- and communicate the message of House Tyrell’s break from House Lannister. When their man returned some time later, he was escorted by that same giant, who called himself Torrhen. She and Olenna had been permitted access into the castle, but their men would remain outside Winterfell’s protective walls.

They were escorted to a study within the family’s solar, and were told to wait -- they would be greeted by Sansa Stark, as she would be the only one among them to confirm their identity. Margaery stood uncomfortably in the room, facing away from the door. Olenna reclined in one of the seats beside her. When the heavy door opened, Margaery inhaled softly.

“We came to offer you aid in the retaking of your home,” Margaery spoke, her lips curving into a rueful smirk as the words left her lips. She dared not turn her head to greet her former friend, though she wished too desperately. “Too little and too late, as I can clearly see. Our help was hardly needed.”

#001 #i am sorry both for how long this took and how much dumb exposition is here #NO NEED TO MATCH LENGTH

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novemberdingo-blog · 6 years

Text

RP Storylines

Ya know I’ve had an RP going for about seven gods damned years now... and holy fuck has it been a ride...

Part 1: In the Beginning

Romance Dawn: kind of just getting to know our characters. Establishing the world...

Here There be Dragons... and Vampires: here’s where he introduced his dragon and stuff and I introduced my idea of vampires, long story short just space furries infected with a virus that makes them dependent on blood.

For a Price: introduced the mayor of the town to his new bodyguard, who was an assassin that failed and ended up working for him. If you can’t beat them, join them. It’s here where two other characters meet, Jenny a Boa, and immagrant from a foreign land is here searching for someone by the name of Urban, a cobra, and ends up living with a family of demons (not bad ones jeez) and decided to stay with them while she searches and falls for one of the family’s sons Micheal.

Part 2: of gods and men

Daughters of Fate: introduced two Ammy, Shi, and the concepts of gods. Which would become a big part. Anyhow Ammy and Shi are twins and the only surviving daughters of the God of Fate, not mentioning their adopted brother, Legionnaire, basically a bunch of souls in one body after some tradegy that Fate has taken in as his own.

Macinations of the Fallen: Ammy and Shi get wrapped up in a plot with the Guardians of Fate, Demi-gods that serve the God of Fate, who were deceived into attacking the others by a Furry-made Fales Fate, in order to gain control of the Book of Fate. In steps the actual God of Fate (their father), and her their mates Luki and Ryder. Who poison the False Fate and kill it.

Redemption: Basically Fate gives his powers to Legionnaire as his successor, the guardians of Fate move on to live their lives, and all is well... after this once of the guardians settles down establishing a family,

Part 3:The Kingodom in the Sky

The Runaway Princess: Jenny, the Boa from before is suddenly one evening visited by another Boa, escorted by a Royal guard, here to take her home. Here t is revealed that Jenny is the Runaway daughter of a foreign kingdom the Aolla kingdom, and her mother has died. Poisoned by an assassin and her father has sent out for her to call her home, she brings Micheal along as he is her mate. Once there the kingdom is in a sense of disarray due to the queens death, the archipelago that makes up the kingdom is distraught with the fact their loving queen has died. They arrive at the The flying city that is the capital of the kingdom, to quite the fancy reception.

Meet the family: here I basically introduce her brothers and sisters. Her father, the guard, all that Jazz.

All Hail the Queen: after the burial and the hunting of the assassin the queen is finally put to rest, in a small quaint village where she was born. Thus Jenny, the middle daughter and most trusted of the kids, is put to the head of this matriarchal kingdom, as the queen. Micheal her king... but deep below in some ruins... all is not well...

Part 4: TheDawnTheDawnTheDawnTheDaw-

False gods: Deep below, in the ruins of the old kingdom, an explorer and Ace, a child of one of the previously mentioned guardians of Fate. Starting hearing whispers, following the whispers they find a machine, a huge, glowing clockwork mechanism, spinning constantly, and it speaks to the Demi-god Ace. Telling him that to release it, to give the Dawn to those below... the machine freezes and unfolds to reveal a fox, with intricate glowing marks on him. A false god. That was the downfall of the previous kingdom, but the savior of the current.

There Down below: after waking up, Dawn, the fox and false God of Fate is named by the family Ace is from. After venturing back to where they woke Dawn, he can hear something below, without warning the floor falls out from below them and they plummet, far, far below. To a sea another archipelago of islands. Deep below the surface. A island chain that borders with colony of Hell itself, and the kingdom of tigers that holds them at bay. Here Dawn makes his way to the frigid south of the ocean, where he passes through two gates with massive statues overlooking them, (kinda like the ones from the never ending story) and is bestowed true godhood by a unknown figure. After returning to the surface world, the kingdom above finally unite with their ancestors in the kingdom below.

part 5: Deadmans Gun

The Old war: basically, Alex, one of the space vampiresz explains to his new lover, one of the dragons from the opening part. details a 1000 year war that they had with a species of space dragon, and how they had to bring other species that were oppressed under the space dragons into an alliance to win, this establishing the Vampiric Empire, of space vampires. He then goes on about how the family he loved and had was murdered one night by assassins. And he returned to earth to simply live out his life in solitude. And it was a miracle that he found his former wife and kids alive due to the empire miracles all these years later.

What once Slept: character I never mentioned are deployed to spy on possible targets for a mass killer, someone who has evaded the vampiric empires police and has been killing high officials, when they arrive at the next target hey go undercover. When the attack happens, sirens blare as the assassin misses their target but gets the information she wanted from them, she turns and leaves killing all who try and stop her, including one of his characters (a non-vampire), I left him dying and bleeding on the ground from a punctured lung, as the assassin turns and wanders out, the others to busy trying to save his life. In the end. He was turned vampiric to save him, much to his own disdain.

The sins of the empire: the doctor they were sent to guard, finally tells them what he told the assassin, this was all about how the empire had killed Alex’s family and taken his lover, and cloned her, over and over against her will so they would never have to lose their best assassin, Katherine, in stasis for thousands of years being cloned she finally woke up due to a mistake of the staff, pissed off. She went on a rampage, killing the lab staff down to the last one, and then beginning her hunt, she then hunted down all those responsible for taking away her family. And killing any clones of herself she can find.

The Lucid Dream: the team catches up to her on earth, though any assassination attempt she was going to try on her clone here (the ones Alex had foun years later) was stopped, because she ran right into a big dragon, Chaos, Alex’s new lover previously mentioned. After a emotional exchange, she basically tells Chaos that she’ll leave everything as it is and leave, knowing that he survived is enough, but to never tell him about terrible fact that his family, the ones he found, are just clones, not the real thing. She then leaves to go start her new life. A life free of the empire, of war, of it all.

Part 6: Redemption of a Demon

Welcome to hell: this part pretty much details the hierarchy of hell, their feud with angels, and it’s here I introduced Aisling Bloodletter, a daemonette and survivor of a disgraced clan, the only survivor of a clan that tried to steal the power of the devil himself. She was a child and was spared. Knowing that she would not try the same. Now she seeks to rebuild her clan, and after proving herself to the lord of hell she is granted the ability to rebuild her clan. Choosing many would be slaves as her family she mothers children, and begins to rebuild it.

Sins of our Fathers: here it details what exactly her father did, and connects it to his (my RP Partners) family of demons from the beginning who were put to stamp out her clan and purge them. The children she mothered have grown and are beginning to bring honor back to her clans name.

City of Outcasts: it is here I introduced a City of nephilim, a city that acted as a hub of sorts and a safe haven for demons and angels, the nephilim are children of demons and angels, and more powerful than either, but the leader of the city Loken, does not want to war, only defend himself and his people. And fend of attacks from both demons and angels.

Part 7: Shadow of War

Drums: deep below, in the sea beneath the Aolla empire attacks from the breakaway colony of hell ramp up, the tiger kingdom and the Aolla Kingdom fiend them off with ease but the ferocity of them surprises everyone... and within hell, Aisling can feel something her entire family can feel the beat of drums in the distance. Something is going on within that breakaway colony...

Requiem: breaking into the colony Aisling and a Rain, her second in command in her revived clan break into a mosoleam in the middle of the colony. There the find her Father Tomb, open, and she gets almost killed by her revived father who was both proud by the status she had achieved, and angry that she took his clan from her and sought to take back his place by bloodshed but if it wasn’t for the intervention of Legionaire, acting as the new god of Fate... changing Aislings Fate, she would have died there. After escaping Rain and Aisling report to the lords of hell what exactly has happened, and what will happen. Her father has risen from his grave by unknown means. And he will come for her...

That is where our story is now. Aisling and the others await her fathers next move... what will happen... well it’s being written one day at a time...

There is a lot in the RP that has been taken from games, other sources of media, but a lot of it is original... and yes every character is furry, yes I am a furry.

#furry #roleplay

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am-molloy · 5 years

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The Final Fight: War Of The Gods (Pt. 2 Age Of Gods)

Remember last week when I released Part 1 of The Final Fight: War Of The Gods? Great! Because I’m here to satisfy your curiosity with part two, Age of Gods.

Go forth and enjoy reading!~

PS: I am aware of the story and writing flaws. This was original written years ago.

PART TWO:

Age of Gods

Though the ground glistened like rain had fallen, the liquid that shone wasn't clear, but red. The suffering souls of children screamed in pain, clutching their grievous wounds as orbs of fire rained from the sky into the never ending battle. The sun beat down on them furiously as the heat wave continued, unaffected at such chaos. The people of Spira screamed until they could no more, until they rested into nothingness. The source of their chaos hovered proudly in the skies as he watched his fellow gods send terror onto the ground below.

Zemir flew over the capital city of Bal'Thor, watching as Yava, the goddess of the sun, conjured up an intense heat that ignited Florydia, the goddess of beauty, on fire. The flames grew too unstable for Florydia to contain and she sent them flying in every direction, burning the citizens below.

Anuik, god of fire and destruction, attempted to overthrow Keowa, the god of fertility, by erupting all the volcanoes on Spira but in turn burned Keowa to ashes. Zemir smiled to himself at the sight, knowing it was one less god to overthrow.

His plan for dominating all the gods was in full effect as he watched the battle ensue. Once Zemir had poisoned the High Gods, word soon spread that the position for the new High God was up for the taking and soon every immortal being fought for their rightful spot.

With one breath of black fire, Zemir torched the citizens of Bal'Thor. A smile crept upon his face as he watched the people below burn. He flew down and landed next to a dying young boy whose hand reached out for a savior. Zemir flicked his powerful tail and ended the child's life.

"Does no one dare oppose me?" challenged Zemir.

"I shall," came a voice.

"Rarity?" Zemir laughed. "Of all the gods, you are the last one I'd expect to see fighting. Tell me this, Lady Rarity, do you wish to rule, such as I, or is it too unharmonious for you to bear?"

"I've no interest in fighting, Lord Zemir… You know that as well as I," Rarity said meekly. She fidgeted with the fabric of her dress. "But… I cannot let you continue disrupting the balance of harmony. It will… it will only end in vain."

"Ha! You wish to converse me to death? Is that so? I'm afraid I've no interest in such matters. My wife is with child, you see. I must think of my child's future and I do not want him to be born in the blasted underworld."

"F-forgive me, my Lord," Rarity stammered. "I do what I must… to keep the harmony of this planet in balance."

With a few choice words of magic, Rarity unleashed a spell that trapped Zemir's legs in place.

"What trickery is this?" yelled Zemir.

He struggled with all his might to budge from his spot but he remained fixed.

"I beg of you to tell me, my Lord. How… What did you do to the High Gods?"

Zemir was not going to let the puny goddess of harmony stop him on his quest. How dare she attempt to stop him on this glorious day, where all would suffer under his hands. How dare she believe she could come close to his power and wonder. Yet for all his struggling, he could not move. But her magic could be broken and he knew what he had to do.

His upper lip curling, and muscles twitching, Zemir bellowed out the sound of thunder, raising his fists to the air. Rarity cowered to the ground, her hands covering her ears.

Out of desperation, Zemir took hold of his legs, and with all his strength, ripped them from his body. At last, he was free. Rarity was already on the defense, muttering another spell while Zemir's legs were mending themselves.

The dark god charged at Rarity with top speed, impaling her with his horns. She clutched onto them with bloodied hands and attempted to pull herself free. Zemir shook his head free of Rarity and she fell motionless on the ground.

"I will send a pestilence and plague upon the gods and mortals," Zemir proclaimed loudly to The Heavens. "I will send the thunder from the sky and the fire raining down upon the land below, with hail of burning ice on every field, village, and continent. May it be known I will reign terror such as the world has never seen.

Never mind how high the cost may grow. This will still be so. I will never let the High Gods rise from their slumber and in turn, I shall gain power and become the new High God of Spira. All those who would oppose me will suffer my wrath."

Zemir's steady heart suddenly beat louder and a writhing pain was felt in his chest. He clutched his breast and gasped for air. His vision blurred. Soon, he fell to the ground, wondering what had happened. When he awoke, he found himself chained in a dark and unknown location. His eyes darted around the room for a clue as to his whereabouts.

A being clothed in armor of pure light energy came into view.

"Zemir, this madness has to end," the being said. "Poisoning the High Gods and trying to take their place as your own? You dare commit such an act when it was they who made all of creation? They who had created you!"

"Come forth and face me, Nah'Zhul, you coward!" said Zemir.

Nah'Zhul placed his hand on the hilt of his sword. "With you away from the heat of battle, the other gods will surely cease this war. We are sworn to protect the mortals but our fighting has only caused them suffering."

"What do I care if a few mortals die in the process of victory. I want a world where I can do as I please and not abide by the rules of Shinoda. He has gone astray in his ways. The mortals I will rule over will be worthy of my praise. I do not care for the weak, Lord Nah'Zhul. I've only place for the strong in my world."

"Is that why you've lead all the gods on this rampage with you?" Nah'Zhul questioned. He sighed. "Then you are a fool. There will be nothing for you to rule if you continue down this path."

A deep cackle emerged from Zemir's throat. "Don't you see? I've already won."

"You are bound in shackles, your legs torn from your body. I see not how—"

Nah'Zhul's hands rushed to his throat as he gasped for air. "I— ah… gack—"

From Nah'Zhul's mouth came a wisp of wind. He choked as the air escaped his lungs. When there was no more air left to take, Nah'Zhul fell to the ground, lifeless.

"My love," Zemir said as he watched his wife finished her work.

Picking up Nah'Zhul's sword, she swung at Zemir's chains and released him from his prison.

"Go my love. The battle is almost over. With so few deities remaining, you may now have the power to become the new High God of Spira."

She was right. He could feel the power of the fallen gods flow through his veins. For it was once written that if a god should die, their power would be divided among the remaining deities. It was the one good rule Shinoda had written.

#short story #writing #old writing #Hikaran #World Building

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shelterundertheoak-blog · 7 years

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Gethsemane to The Cross

“I cast my mind to Calvary, where Jesus bled and died for me, I see His wounds, His hands, His feet, my Savior on that cursed tree.” -Hillsong

Many images of the Passion flash in our minds as Easter approaches, but what about the entirety of the week? Do we really soak in the whole week’s events and dig deep into the very center of the story? Dear friends, there is so much to Holy Week that goes beyond Jesus dying on the cross and the resurrection. We are so passionate about Holy Week and want to really take the time to express why every detail needs to be remembered.

From the beginning God had a plan for a Savior. From the beginning it was written of His fate: “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall strike His heel.” Genesis 3:15

It was prophesied: “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5

He came and knew what was to come.

In Matthew 21 we read of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. When they arrive to the Mount of Olives, Jesus tells his disciples to find a donkey and her colt. There are two significant Old Testament readings we should be reminded of when we read this passage of Matthew. The prophecy in Zechariah 9:9; “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humbled and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” And in Genesis 49: 10-11 “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes; And to Him shall be the obedience of the people. 11 Binding his donkey to the vine, And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, He washed his garments in wine, And his clothes in the blood of grapes.” Now read Matthew 21: 6-11. Did you pick up on it?! If not read it again, because this is rich, dear friends. Before I tell you my thoughts, have you ever had the chance to ride a horse; a tame horse under guided supervision? I have, several times actually. And even as I became more experienced, there was a level of difficulty in knowing how the tame horse would react to certain circumstances and whether or not the horse would follow my cues. But Jesus rode…wait for it… a donkey AND her UNTAMED colt AT THE SAME TIME!!!! (Sorry, that was a lot of typeshouting) but soak it in! He rode TWO at the same time to make His entry! The significance? Why, old covenant meets new covenant of course! Just as outlined in Genesis!! Excited now??!! How amazing!

“O praise the name of the Lord our God O praise His name forever more For endless days we will sing Your praise Oh Lord, oh Lord our God.”

Jesus weeps over the city: What was the last thing you cried over? This part of the story doesn’t get much attention, but how deep. In Matthew 23: 37-39, and again in Luke 19: 41-44; Our Lord, sobbing, in deep pain and sorrow at the lost opportunities. The lost time to be seen for who He really was. The Great I am, the Shepherd, the true Vine…all the I am statements. God in the flesh. They refused to believe and he wept. Over the very thought that He was not accepted, but could not stand to see any one soul perish. Over the holy city, the capital of God’s city, he shed tears because The time was near.

He cleanses the Temple for a second time

He curses the fig tree

Judas betrays Jesus for 30 silver coins

He eats the Passover Meal with His disciples telling them this would be His last with them before He suffers. He tells them who will betray him (Judas) He predicts Peter’s denial. And heads out to Gethsemane:

“Saying Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done. And then an angel appeared to Him from Heaven, strengthening Him. And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like drops of blood falling down to the ground.” Luke 22:42-44

Let’s pause here for a second. Did you soak that verse in?

He was so distraught knowing what was coming, His sweat was like blood.

As He was speaking to His disciples it begins. After being bound and taken from the garden, He now is questioned by the high priest: “And when He said these things, one of the officers who stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying ‘Do you answer the high priest like that?’”

6 trials he endured before his beating, his walk with the cross, and crucifixion Prophecy in Isaiah 52:13-14 “Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. As many were astonished at you- his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind-” When you think of what Jesus’ body may have looked like after all he endured…are the words of Isaiah sticking out in your mind? They should now. We were told in the Old Testament exactly what would happen and it was not a peaceful death.

“His body bound and drenched in tears They laid Him down in Joseph’s tomb The entrance sealed by heavy stone Messiah still and all alone.”

Jesus’s face was unrecognizable before the lashings even begin. UNRECOGNIZABLE.

Scourging- Verberatio (Latin) was a horrific, humiliating punishment carried out by the Romans. It was so horrible that in 248BC and 123BC Roman citizens were exempt from this type of punishment. 40 lashes were thought to kill a man, Jesus received 39. Don’t forget, He is unrecognizable. Flagellum(Latin) or Flagrum. A whip with 3 strands each one about 3 feet long. Weighted at the tips with lead balls or pieces of bone designed to lacerate. This causes the skin to bust open upon impact. When you read about this weapon of punishment, witnesses were often said they could see one’s bowels. Muscle and bone were often exposed.

Already unrecognizable, now whipped 39 times, exposing His insides. After the 39 lashes they drape a Scarlett robe over His back, mocked Him, took off the robe and put His own clothes back on…. think about that. The pain of the clothes going on and coming off. In between all that “When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they had put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand. And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying "Hail, King of the Jews!” Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head". Matthew 27:29-30. They struck Him with the crown on His head causing it to dig in to his skull.

To The Cross. By this point, I think it’s safe to say a normal man could and would’ve died. But we know it’s not over. Jesus was so weak they found someone to help Him carry the cross. While exact weights are unknown, estimated guesses are the cross would’ve weighed any where between 200 and 300 lbs. Most criminals carried only the cross bar to their crucifixion and that was said to weigh any where between 75 and 100lbs. Jesus had to carry the entire cross on His back… the same back that was ripped and shredded.

Once at Calvary He is nailed to the Cross. Each nail is 6-8 inch long. The nails were driven into the wrist severing the median nerve causing burning and paralysis in the hand. Once the cross is hoisted up, the feet are nailed. Gravity brings the body down causing shoulders and elbows to dislocate by popping out of joint and ripping ligaments. Breathing is very restricted because of the position of the chest being unsupported. Because of the massive blood loss at this point, He would’ve become dehydrated and His body would have less blood to carry oxygen. His heart would’ve beat faster as it attempted to compensate and the need for oxygen would increase. (MS) To get a good breath, He would’ve had to push up from His feet, rubbing His torn back on the wooden post. Pain only increases as time passes. The heart ruptures or they die of asphyxiation. The loss of blood causes extreme thirst as the body craves water to restore blood loss. (MS)

“After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, "I thirst!”. Now a vessel of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hysop, and put it to His mouth. So when Jesus had received the sour wine, said “It is Finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.“ John 28-30

Folks, I hope this has all hit you as hard as it hits us, not only every year but every day. Every day we thank Him for His sufferings. Today, Good Friday is THE most important day in history for ALL mankind. This is where eternity is given to those who seek Him. He saved you before you were created.

Playlist: •Lead me to the Cross- Francesca Battistelli •Beautiful Name- Hillsong •Resurrecting -Elevation Worship •O’ Praise the Name -Hillsong (lyrics used throughout) •Oh Glorious Day -Casting Crowns •New Again - Brad Paisley and Sara Evans •Jesus Messiah -Chris Tomlin

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