Eorl's Record of his Conversation with the Angel Nelchael

   If you are reading this, it likely means that I am either dead, trapped in a hideous 
   limbo, or told you to read it because I was too busy to explain.  This document is a 
   record of my conversation with a divine being, as best as I can recall, and though it goes 
   against my better judgment to record what may well be dangerous arcane knowledge in so 
   glib a fashion, if I don’t I will surely forget the salient points.  Frankly, I’m not 
   certain if each new piece of the puzzle should be kept utterly secret or shouted so that 
   the world can hear it so it is never lost again.  Regardless, my summary follows.
   
   For the past 800 or so years, the angel Nelchael was bound beneath the Monastery of St. 
   Maximus just outside Chrysopolis.  It would be more accurate to say he was bound beneath 
   what would eventually become the Monastery of St. Maximus, since at the time of his 
   binding it was a makeshift temple of some sort dedicated by a sect of Montanists (a group 
   of heretical Christians).  For several hundred years he alternated between being chained 
   to the wall and forced to take part in bizarre rites.  Eventually the Montanists 
   disappeared, the monastery was erected and Nelchael became vaguely aware of the goings-on 
   of monks.  Every time a sin was committed, he knew.  Eventually, around the year 700, he 
   went mad.
   
   We found him in this condition when we hacked the sub-basement of the monastery in January 
   of 988, but it wasn’t until March, for a variety of reasons, that I decided it was time to 
   return him to his original plane of existence.  I assembled a party and we attacked him.  
   After several rounds of combat he suddenly became lucid and remained so, enough that I was 
   convinced to call off the party and unshackled him from the wall.  We then engaged in a 
   discussion where I asked him if he knew of the octopuses, and of the attempt to stop 
   them.  He did, and I learned many things.  
   
   Eorl:  Tell me about your neutrality in The War in Heaven.
   
   Nelchael:  Yes; I, along with others, refused to pick a side, and fell out of God’s 
   graces.  
   
   Eorl: Why did you refuse?
   
   Nelchael:  You must understand how long this fight has been going on – it has been going 
   on much longer than you realize; so long, in fact, that you have no words to describe it.  
   I am less interested in who wins than I am in seeing the cycle simply end.
   
   Eorl:  I understand that it’s happened twice before or so; once when Marduk transfixed 
   Tiamat, then again when Deucalion or Noah floated his ship safely through the flood.
   
   Nelchael:  It’s happened far more often than that!  Indeed, it has always happened. You 
   simply have no words to express the concept.  Before the antediluvean period?  What is 
   that?  You cannot say it, you have no words, you cannot understand it.  The two sides have 
   always warred with each other, each side completely wiping the other out: 'Side A' and 
   'Side B.'  There are vast numbers of civilizations that have risen up and were washed 
   away.  How would you know they existed if there are no records and nothing at all remains?
   
   Eorl:  Then there is no way to end the cycle?
   
   Nelchael:  It has been attempted.  The Tower of Babel was erected as just such an attempt.
   
   Eorl: But it was destroyed by God!
   
   Nelchael:  Ah, but that’s the problem isn’t it.  In a monotheistic religion, your god must 
   take responsibility for all acts, good and ill, because he’s all-powerful.  In fact, there 
   are many different gods, all acting in various ways.
   
   Eorl:  Like Throk or Semuanya?
   
   Nelchael:  I’m not talking about little gods; there are even more of those.  And there are 
   gods who pretend to support one side but actually support another.  And different gods 
   worshipped by the same name.
   
   Eorl: ...then the Tower of Babel was destroyed against God’s will by 'Side B!'
   
   Nelchael:  It was.
   
   Eorl:  And 'Side B' destroyed the Hittites and the Minoans and the Egyptians...  but who 
   defeated them in turn?
   
   Nelchael:  There are different ways of waging war.  When laying siege to a city, you can 
   raid it or occupy it.  There are benefits and drawbacks to each strategy.  As an occupying 
   force, however, you run the risk of having neighboring countries unify against you and you 
   are out in the open in unfamiliar territory.  By raiding, you can damage your adversary 
   and, perhaps, retreat to a hidden base before any significant damage is done to you in 
   return.
   
   Eorl:  So 'Side B' raided, primarily to destroy the tower, and withdrew voluntarily!  They 
   lacked the martial force to finish it, so they kept 'Side A' from getting too far ahead  
   and retreated to the New World.  
   
   Nelchael:  That sounds quite possible.  
   
   Eorl:  What about the War in Heaven?  What does that represent?  Why did Satan actually 
   fall?
   
   Nelchael:  I do not know, specifically, but during that war, many angels turned against 
   God.  They saw 'Side B' as the better option.
   
   Eorl:  Why?  Wait, what?  You are suggesting that 'Side B' recruited Satan from God?
   
   Nelchael:  I do not merely suggest it; I state it plainly.  
   
   Eorl: But... It was always my understanding that when the angels were created by God, he 
   made them swear they were to bow only to him.  Then, when he created Man, he said that 
   they should bow to Man also.  Satan , who loved God the most, refused to follow this 
   second order.  And so he rebelled.
   
   Nelchael:  Perhaps this is what 'Side B' told him that convinced him to rebel, yes.  But 
   what certainly took place is that soldiers from 'Side A' were convinced to go over to the 
   other side. 
   
   Eorl:  But you refused, because you were indifferent to whether either side won or lost. 
   You simply want the struggle to end.
   
   Nelchael:  Yes, I am neutral.  In some ways my inability to take a side seems less like a 
   philosophy and more like a character flaw.  
   
   Eorl:  Then have there been other wars in heaven?  
   
   Nelchael:  I’m not certain, since I was only around for one, and I have been stuck down 
   here for about 700 years.  I’m sure many things have changed since then.  
   
   Eorl:  But what’s the point in taking a neutral stance if the fight is inevitable?  
   
   Nelchael:  Well... something different happened the last time around.  Usually, when one 
   side trumps the other, neither side has any pieces left on the board.  Last time was 
   different.  Something survived.
   
   Eorl:  Deucalion you mean?  Noah?  
   
   Nelchael:  Yes; as well as the 'Side B’ers' who made it back to their base.  Possibly even 
   the war in heaven.  That may have been a new development. 
   
   Eorl:  So why not throw in your lot with 'Side A?'  If they win, perhaps your position 
   with God will be restored.
   
   Nelchael:  But if 'Side B' should win, I will be much worse off than I am now.
   
   Eorl:  So, at the moment you have no purpose?  
   
   Nelchael:  No, and I have no home plane to return to if I am killed here.  I don’t know 
   what will happen if I die.
   
   Eorl:  Likely a large explosion.
   
   Nelchael:  Quite likely, yes.
   
   Here he and I commiserated on how difficult it is to be an exile from one’s homeland.  
   Nelchael avers that it will never be worth it – even if it seems as though it is – it will 
   never be worth it to return.  I asked if perhaps he would be willing to help out and put 
   up some binding runes to further protect Chrysopolis from an attempted break-out by the 
   demonness Aisapra, now living in my bedroom.  He agreed and we leave the sub-basement with 
   the party in tow.
   
   To my surprise, Aisapra and Nelchael know each other.  They greet each other warily by 
   name and exchange insults in a language that makes me sick and dizzy.  He completes the 
   bindings and wards, and I ask him what he plans to do next.
   
   Nelchael:  I have a great deal to catch up on, having been underground for the past 700 
   years.  I also have a flaming sword to find.  Don’t worry, it’s not yours.
   
   Eorl:  Well, I know a few things which might interest you.  The Patriarch of 
   Constantinople has been missing for a while... at least I haven’t seen him.  The flunky 
   he’s got replacing him, Physcon, is kind of a jerk.  You might want to check that out.  Oh 
   yeah, you might want to talk to Cain.  Some old traveling companions of mine say he is in 
   Kebnekaise, an enormous mountain to the North.  Hey that reminds me.  They said inside the 
   dungeon where they met Cain, they released a demonness from her warded prison.  She 
   promptly beat them up and flew away.  Any idea who that was?  Was it Lillith?
   
   Nelchael darkens suddenly and his face turns serious.  He seems uncomfortable about 
   something.
   
   Nelchael:  She has not been active for a while.  Something about family problems, I think.
   
   Eorl:  Family problems?  Exactly what does that mean?
   
   Nelchael:  I don’t like to gossip.
   
   Eorl:  How long ago did she go away?  Do you think that was her in the mountain?
   
   Nelchael:  Who were Cain’s parents?
   
   Eorl: ... 
   
   Nelchael:  Cain’s parents were Adam and his first wife…
   
   Eorl: Lillith?  Lillith is Cain’s mother?
   
   Nelchael:  She calls herself by a different name:  ZEFONETH  (he did not give me the 
   Greek spelling.  Is is Zephoreth?  Sefiroth?  Zephyranth?  I don’t know).
   
   Eorl:  Yipes.  So that was most definitely, definitely her.  Err... if she’s loose, isn’t 
   it basically all over?  I mean, we’ll never get her back into the room, she’s too powerful.
   
   Nelchael:  If she was properly bound, she should be weakened for a period of time.
   
   Eorl:  ‘Period of time’ like what?  Weeks?  Months?  Years?  Days?
   
   Nelchael:  Years, quite likely.  But as I said, I’m out of the loop.
   
   Eorl:  Well, good luck and take care.
   
   Nelchael:  Indeed.  I may pass this way again.  Let me leave you with something, however: 
   a word.  It is a word for 'Side B.'  It is this:
   
   At this point Aisapra began shouting to drown him out, but he spoke loudly and would not 
   let her.
   
   Nelchael:  KUPASPISTAN
   
   Eorl:  COO-PAS-PISS-TAN?  
   
   Nelchael:  Yes, KUPASPISTAN.  It is their name.  
   
   Then he turned and flew away.
   
   Presumably, if Nelchael is telling the truth (and he is, at the very least, neutral), we 
   now have Lilith’s name to bind her... the name of the Enemy, however, is something else 
   entirely.  I don’t know what to make of that.  I presume by Aisapra’s reaction is likely 
   to mean that it is the true name for the enemy, and therefore powerful.  Something small, 
   perhaps, but to give a name to the darkness, to the formless void, is to begin pinning it 
   down conceptually.  Surely this is the first step to pinning it down for real.  But if 
   Nelchael is neutral, and has given me their name, it means that they must already have 
   ours.  
   
   Does it not?