And there was a light in the darkness, and the darkness knew it not. And the light fell upon the word, and thence the word was writ. And it this was before the first day.
And the light was the light that shineth through the worlds, and to the worlds. And that which it falls upon is the worlds and is upon the worlds. And it this was before the first day.
That which the light seeth, the darkness blots, that which the light maketh, the darkness unmakes. And as the light made the darkness, so must the darkness unmake the darkness. And the darkness and the light contended and their war began between the light who is the one, and the darkness who is the other. And it this was before the first day.
And the light rippled as a sea, and the darkness stood as a rock. And when the light waved upon the word, there was meaning, and this was on the first day.
Gnostic Gospel 1:1-4
Long Count Date: 998.11.92
Upon a shelf in Amalthea’s home were four scrolls, the Synoptic Gospel which told the story of an anointed one on Ishtar, the Gnostic Gospel which claimed he had never been there, and the [[Acts_on_Ishtar?]], which were close to documented fact, for the Latin Republic had records of them, and their flight south in the lands of Helos, where they founded churches. The last was the Apocalypse of John which was older than either, and contained bizarre prophecies, references to a people who were not on or of Isthar, and to the death of “the moon”, which was a word which had meaning only in reference to other bodies than Ishtar. Each claimed to be true, and in perfect agreement with the others.
She was reading the [[Commentaries_of_Germanicus_Drusus_Nero_Tiberius_Aurealus?]] – commonly called [[Germanicus_Aurealus?]] – which claimed that the Apocalypse thus predicted that there would be a chosen people of god, who would fall, and that they would flee to a body which Lucifer would make for them, one which would circle Ishtar, and be “the moon” of Ishtar. That this would begin “the tribulations” and the millennium. But he was considered heretic by those who believed the Gospels, and instead the more usual interpretation was that there was an invisible body, one which was unseen, but real, and that the millennium of the tribulations was a description of the terrible wars between the Helos and the Latin Republic, where forbidden [[magicks?]] had been used, and thus set God’s wrath on them all. She noted in the column that there were those who thought the long count millennium would be the beginning of the true tribulations, and that Lucifer would bring his armies to Ishtar, spewing filth and fire, for another long count millennium. Since a long count cycle is 13 annae, that would mean 13,000 annae of war, death and destruction. Amalthea passed no judgments, and merely noted all of these in the commentary section which explained that the long count made it certain that it would be from Lucifer that the influence would come. [[Germanicus?]] himself scoffed at the idea of anything physical coming from Lucifer, but admitted that perhaps the prophecies allowed that another body might be hurled into the inner field – the first five planets of [[Icarus?]], Ishtar, Lucifer, Marduk and [[Vesta?]] – before one reached the might orbs of the outer field – and that this would be “the moon”. He then speculated that it would be the influence of Lucifer that would make this so.
It was during this work, where Amalthea had donned spectacles to read the fine print, that the expected knock came at the door. Last night she had been so anxious that she could not wait, and had kept watch through a small lens in the door. Today, she wrote by natural light in her courtyard, the sun streaming in.
She rose slowly, her joints creaking, and she walked smoothly and calmly to the door. Her duties were limited now since her fall, and she knew who it was going to be. Thus when she swung the door open, it was not at all a surprise to see March. Amalthea had sent a message to the soothsayer about what had happened, and had enclosed a bit of the potent hallucinogens that she received from the [[Magus?]]. The Sybil valued these, and would understand that March had to be sent on this overwhelmingly important mission. Even if neither of them understood what it was. She also had in her hands the prophecies given, and had been researching them all day. Finally concluding that the only references she was absolutely sure of were to the coming passage to Icarus, and of an explosion caused by failure to heed the law of fire.
March was visibly shaken and trembling like a leaf. She appeared to Amalthea as a too thin young girl, with cascades of dark hair, green eyes, and a pointed face. Clearly March had not thought of it, but she was of the same race as Amalthea. Not [[Hellenikan?]], but of the wandering peoples who the Latins called “[[Gaul?]]” and who called themselves [[Kimera?]], [[Kelmera?]]. March had also clearly slept poorly, and was slightly hunched over from fear and probably some anger. Amalthea waved her in and then softly said, “You know, you should stand up straighter.”
March instinctively stood up straighter, and turned to face Amalthea once inside. The door, on some mechanism, swung shut. March startled, she had not seen something like it before.
“I went…”
Amalthea’s look said “I know” but her lips said nothing.
“I went to the soothsayer, and I also had another dream. It’s clear I’m chosen for something.” March kicked herself for using the word “I” so much, she didn’t like it when she did. “But …” swallowing the “I”, “it isn’t clear what it is.”
“I don’t know either, but I wrote this.” Amalthea walked back to her table slowly, and then picked up a scroll of notes. Then, as slowly and gracefully, turned and handed it to March. “Which is my exegesis of what you told [[Livia[[.” Hearing the proper name startled March, but she took the scroll and nodded. “I’m going to do two things. One is I am going to give you this too study, I am sure you will have to go among the people of Germania, since they are referenced in one of the verses, and twice there are references from their sacred text, the Apocalypse. You will have to be…”
“Conversant?”
“What they call a communicant.”
“More religion?”
“There is only one religion, though many branches, as there is one language, though many branches, and one tree of life, though many branches. There is one good, and therefore one force for good.”
March reflexively filled in, “One [[athanatory?]] tongue, one athanatory truth, one athanatory good.” Though she scowled half way through at the level her training was ingrained. Then resuming her own voice, “So what can you tell me about the three sooths?”
“The first one is easy, someplace they will be careless with fire, and it will consume them. Have you had any dreams of this sort?”
March stopped. “My dream here last night I was in a vast hall, it was filled with people wearing white tunics, togas, and talking, there was a fresco of a giant serpent, the floor swallowed most of them, the serpent ate the rest.”
“The serpent is probably [[Tiamat?]], and represents loose fire. The hall, what was it like?”
“It had white marble squares, and a large staircase, and a landing, where the fresco was, and four large bronze doors. Two on one wall opposite the staircase, and then one each on the long access. The stair case split and went to two more doors high up.” March paused, hoping that Amalthea would know the place, and then continued, “the squares became black marble as they turned over. Everyone else died but me.”
“That means the prophecy will not be heeded. The only Tiamat Fresco I know of in Latin or Hellenic lands is in Latia itself. But it is not in such a hall. But I think Latia is one place you must go.”
March liked this idea, Latia was the largest city along the Mer Centralis, and the greatest she knew of, rivaling the ancient cities of [[Urakkadia?]] and [[Hyskosia?]], and the once Hellenic city of Kentaurus, now under the Caliphate. Teloikopolis, while thriving, was hardly large, and it was cramped by the fact that it was in fact, though not in name, a city that was under the sword – the [[Caliphate?]]’s troops were only just beyond bow shot, and an uneasy peace held. Latia, by contrast, was the center of the world. When she had come to [[Teloikopolis?]], she had not known what it was like to live under threat, and it was an aspect of being here that she often thrust out of her mind, but it kept invading.
“The second?”
Amalthea picked up some notes and stared down her spectacles at them.
“The Mad God is associated with Icarus, the inner world. They worship him in the [[Caliphs?]] lands, though not under that name, they claim he is the angel of the one true God, and they worship in the far north, where, also associated with the planet Icarus, they call him [[Loki?]]. It seems that you will encounter one or both of these.”
March again nodded, and then said.
“And the third?”
Amalthea sighed, “Of this, I know no more than you. It clearly is of import in the war between Marduk and Lucifer, and that there will be weapons forged – perhaps in a place where there is no sulfur and they can use open flame – as part of that war. What Lucifer’s Hammer is, I do not know, but it might be related to a very old story which troubles most who are learned.”
“The Moon story?”
“Yes, the moon. It may well be that Lucifer’s Hammer is, or will become, the moon, or will be used to smash the moon out of Ishtar, and bring on the Tribulation and the last days. What the Apocalypse calls the Millendium and what is prophesized by [[Prometheus?]] as the end of gods. There is another word that is recorded in one text, [[Ragnorock?]]. Perhaps the word Krackatoa is a version of that word.”
March had been staring intently at Amalthea’s face, to the point where it went in and out of focus.
“So what next?”
“I will send you to the Magus, and he will know what best to do. I think you will have to suspend your studies, but Sophseus will see to that.”
The Magus.