91 When the preparations have concluded,
Azarius leads Nephilim and man
Down into the deepest cavern chambers,
Where stone and darkness hides the buried gate.
91-1 ‘Here is where it is!’ exclaims the prophet.
And there, the Nephilim begin to dig.
Pounding, chiseling, cracking in their labors,
By pick and hammer, vulcan walls give way.
91-2 Every child of Meä stares in wonder,
And many query ‘Who has built this gate,’
‘Buried deep within this cavern heat?’
‘For its design is of an art unknown.’
91-3 Azarius rebukes the men who awe:
‘Wonder not what beings applied their magic!’
‘This was built by men from ancient futures,’
‘Before the Garden Vallis was reborn.’
91-4 Raptors clear the last of stone and rubble,
Each worn and beaten by the trying toil.
The Gate of Edä casts an alloy glow,
Seal unbroken since the birth of Vallis.
91-5 Kandevular the Kaan is known by all,
Greatest of the Nephilim commanders,
The reptile that defeated Mosul’s host,
And tore his heart out in the Raptor crypt.
91-6 Clad in jagged scales and horns that skewer,
The mighty Kaan takes hold the crusted wheel.
By this Raptor’s strength, great gears are levered,
Pull by tireless pull, the gate is opened.
91-7 Each heave by Kaan turns but a single tooth.
Three hundred sixty teeth comprise the gear.
By his might, the cumbrous bolt is wrested,
Thunder echoes through the cavern darkness.
91-8 Seven pulls and then the seals are broken.
Furnace air escapes to warm the dungeon.
A dozen heaves and ringing fills the din,
And men will shield their ears to thwart the wail.
91-9 The mightiest of all yet still awake—
Kandevular shall labor without rest.
Twenty pulls, yet darkness fills the doorway,
Thirty-three, and men might barely pass it.
91-10 Kandevular, the Keeper of the Gates…
Now four times a mortal man in stature.
The Raptor lord and slayer of man’s king.
Bane of men, and now their benefactor.
91-11 When the Gate of Edä has been opened,
Kandevular will sleep with open eyes.
When the exodus has been completed,
The Kaan remains as sentry guarding Hell.
91-12 Bafomet sends scouts ahead through darkness,
And they return within an hour’s time.
‘We have seen the promised land of Edä!’
‘And we have breathed the air that chills our flesh!’
91-13 Azarius gives orders to the troop,
‘Vary not, along the way through Hades.’
‘Though paths may lure, they lead to your ruin,’
‘They open into realms unfit for men.’
91-14 With that, the entourage of Mosul’s priests,
Leads the Archon through the darkened doorway.
Then Kethu brings the host of Aeon through.
Nephilim then bear the sleeping dragons.
91-15 The trek brings them where many pathways verge,
Branching from a hub encaged in alloys.
Many doorways fill with their reflections,
But they continue on the straightest path.
91-16 Tortured Aeon waits for death to claim him,
Alone in darkness, taking final breaths.
Eyes are blind and body broke and bleeding,
Anodynes have eased his dying journey.
91-17 He hears footfalls in the darkened crypt.
A visitor arrives to pay respect.
‘Who has come?’ The King will force in whisper.
‘The answer comes with voices in his mind.’
91-18 ‘Do you not know the footfalls of the beast?’
‘I am Gronde, the last to rule the dragons.’
‘Kings shall not make passage into Edä.’
‘Together, here, we take our final breath.’
91-19 ‘Rue not, for you have saved both beast and man.’
‘Death soon comes for us, but do not worry.’
‘I have seen the vision of all futures.’
‘We shall be reborn as we awaken.’
92 Last to cross beyond shall be the prophet,
The kaan shall seal the alloy gate behind.
Under azure skies of floating clouds,
They take first breaths of biting Edä air.
92-1 Behind them stands the gate that leads to Hell,
Guarded by Kandevular the Raptor.
Beneath their feet, the melted glacial flows,
Trickle onward, leading to a forest.
93 Kethu greets the prophet on the moraine,
‘Azarius, what shall become of us?’
He shall counsel Kethu as He promised:
‘Your clan will be consumed as winter’s feast.’
93-1 ‘Autumn is beyond the days of planting,’
‘And Raptors are much weakened by the chill.’
‘Edä is no place for them, nor dragons,’
‘And winter brings the hunger unto men.’
93-2 ‘Kethu, you must not let fear disarm you.’
‘Seize the moment, take the northbound pathways.’
‘Find the passage through the jagged mountains,’
‘Beyond the freezing wastes and desert steppe,’
93-3 You will know the way by seven spires,
The pinnacles resembling Mount Meru.
Through it, you will find the highland passage.
‘On the other side are men of mercy.’
93-4 ‘Teach the northern tribes your skills in fighting,’
‘And give them your vast knowledge of your arts.’
‘For this price they will protect your people,’
‘And many sons be born into your tribe.’
93-5 ‘But do not let them march upon the south,’
‘For their armies will be laid to ruin.’
‘I shall find you when the moment ripens,’
‘But it be not before your dying day.’
94 Upon the counsel of Azarius,
Kethu’s clan takes flight beneath night’s cover.
The guard of Bafomet gives desperate chase,
While Azarius is bound and shackled.
95 Bafomet sends scouts to search the country
For fertile soils and shelter for the beast.
Dragons burden Nephilim who labor,
Unknown before, the cold consumes their will.
95-1 Seven be the number of the searchers,
Vital men of stealth and great endurance.
Alone they venture into Edä’s wilds.
Unknown to them, the trials that await.
95-2 Sol moved slowly in the Vallis heavens.
On Edä, sunsets match the Meän turn.
Luna brightens Edä’s night in cycles.
On Vé, the night was lit by silver pyres.
95-3 Edä’s nights grow cold as days foreshorten.
Elusive be her silent forest prey.
Manna dripped from leaves in Vallis gardens,
But Edä’s forest yields a meager fruit.
95-4 Seven were the number of the searchers,
Of those, one shall be lost within ten eves.
Hunted by the beasts who wail by moonlight,
His aulos song[i] would not sedate their rush.
95-5 Another scales the mountains to the west,
Reaching for the farthest planes of vision.
Wind and cold shall numb his grasp and foothold,
And down he falls to cold oblivion.
95-6 One shall ford the frigid water rapids,
The currents steal his life with flooded lungs.
One shall fail to make an autumn shelter,
The cold will stop his heart from beating blood.
95-7 Of the searchers, only two still wander,
Of these, one discovers Edä’s hostiles.
By strange tongue and tone of flesh and features,
The searcher is subdued and set alight.
95-8 The last of searchers is the one named Ün[ii].
Deep into the forest he shall venture.
Following the hot springs and the steam-vents,
He shall discover shelter for the beast.
95-9 Ün shall bring to Bafomet this knowledge,
Then Mosul’s tribe prepares the Nephilim.
Wary from the cold and constant hunger,
The Raptors strain to lift the dragon arks.
95-10 Forward, man and Raptor march to Golgon[iii],
Which bars the entrance to the gorge of fire.
Wary Nephilim will bear nine coffers,
Encased in gold, nine Nezulim within.
95-11 Men of Edä guard the Golgon passage—
Her heated springs, her loins of paradise.
Sight of Raptors fills their minds with terror,
And Edä’s warriors man their rampart walls.
95-12 Ailing by the cold and near starvation,
The Nephilim cannot be brought to fight.
Bafomet must plot the rampart’s taking—
For gates can be unlocked by many keys.
95-13 A parlay is arranged before the gate.
There, the Sons of Mosul beg for mercy.
Raptors bring a golden coffer forward,
And lay it at the foot of Golgon’s wall.
95-14 Greed shall be the downfall of all races,
For men will sell their kin for golden dreams.
Meän’s leave the precious coffer offering,
The gleaming devil tempts the souls of men.
95-10 For three cold days the coffer lures men.
Murmurs of temptation turn to clamor.
Men will beat their chests and shout their fury,
And greed for gold will drown the reasoned voice.
95-11 The third dawn cometh with the winter snows.
Men of Edä raise the golden treasure.
By beast and man, they haul it to their keep
Where the dungeon fire stirs the devil.
95-12 They carve thick shavings from the golden ark.
Smelters come and melt those into ingots.
Greed and lust shall be man’s curse and ruin.
By these, the dragon wakens from its sleep.
95-13 The reik of Edä’s tribe is known as Yorn[iv].
He has brought the ark within their fortress—
Driven by the lust of archon treasure,
Emboldened by his faith in rampart walls.
95-14 Thirteen men will pry the golden cover
And loosen it but slightly from its seat.
Mists of Vé express into the chamber,
And Edä’s men recoil from the scent.
95-15 Men of Edä gaze in fear and terror
At what might burst forth from the opened ark.
Yet no devil slithers from the casket.
The mists subside, and minds are put at ease.
95-16 They draw near to gaze into the vessel,
Expecting gleaming gems and glowing gold.
But they find instead the least expected…
A maiden of great beauty in repose.
95-17 Drunk with lust, Yorn summons fifty toilers
To free the maiden from her gilded tomb.
Heaving in the heated vulcan chamber,
They push and pry with all their focused will.
95-18 With each wrench, the casement nudges further.
By groan and sweat, the golden cover yields.
Final thrusts release the bulwark casing,
And what was locked away is then released.
95-19 Every man will gaze into the darkness,
And every man will find the beast therein.
Every man perceives a different dragon,
And every man regrets when it is loosed.
95-20 The dark bursts forth from gold sarcophagus,
Spaded black, the tail tip whips the foulness,
Then next, the dagger claws like razor glass.
Rise, arise you devil made of shadows!
95-21 Membrane wings unfurl like sails of sack cloth,
Its armored rind ablaze in roiling flame.
Eyes of blinding white slice through the darkness.
In fear, the toilers drop their tools and flee.
95-22 Entranced, the chieftain reik shall not take flight,
While chamber doors are bolted from beyond.
Flames subside and all that’s left is darkness,
And the echoed cries of surface terror.
95-23 Yorn shall meekly muster up his query:
‘Are you the devil that has been foretold?’
Dragon voices speak within man’s thinking…
‘I am but the object of your hunger.’
95-24 ‘Herein, ye shall remain until thine end,’
‘And counsel Sons of Mosul in their quests.’
‘Men of Edä shall be placed in bondage…’
‘Chattel be the fate of Edä’s children.’
95-25 ‘Edä is not yet a world for dragons.’
‘Her forests yield the meagerest of fare,’
‘The chilling frosts consume our living drive,’
‘Edä must be remade into Vallis.’
95-26 ‘Go now, and bid men open up the gates…’
‘Welcome Sons of Mosul through your ramparts.’
‘But if you do not follow my command,’
‘I shall render all you see as cinders.’
95-27 Yorn laments the order he is given,
And knows not how he might convince his tribe.
‘How shall I persuade the men of Edä,’
‘For surely they must fear the dragon here.’
95-28 Within his mind and with his voice it speaks:
‘Tell your people they possess the dragon…’
‘By beast, you’ll wield great power over men.’
‘Servants of the wyrm will slay all rivals.’
95-29 Yorn resigns himself to be a traitor
And gives the message from behind the door.
The minds of men are easily beguiled.
That which man once fears becomes his fervor.
95-30 The gates of Golgon open to man’s doom.
Sons of Mosul march into the city.
Edä’s sons and daughters hide foreboding,
As giant reptiles bear the arks of Vé.
95-31 Bafomet is borne on a palanquin,
Dazzling in refracted silver sunlight.
No man of Edä shall behold its face,
For devils are the masters of disguise.
95-32 Raptors take their refuge in the grottos,
And tend their sleeping dragons in the warmth.
Azarius shall be the last to come,
Bound in chains, his body bruised and bloodied.
96 Bafomet ascends as Golgon’s steward.
And men of Edä fill the legion ranks.
Those who stand opposed are duly outed,
And left to be devoured by the wolves.
96-1 By this means, the few shall rule the many,
By pitting every soul against his kin.
The family bonds are cut by power’s lust…
Factions are the ruin of all people.
96-2 Golgon’s men are mustered to an army,
With lizard giants bolstering their ranks.
Wielding pike and blade and leaden cudgel,
The men who stand opposed are brought to heel.
97 Before the journey generation ends,
A keep is raised of massive granite stone.
Deep within this hold are bored vast chambers,
Where the vulcan fire warms the dragons.
98 Azarius is chained within this keep,
Bound in darkness in the deepest chamber.
For a hundred years He waits for judgement.
While Bafomet consolidates its reign.
98-1Bafomet knows well the prophet’s nature:
Spoiler, traitor, renegade, immortal.
If death shall find Azarius too soon,
He might arise to rally Edä’s men.
98-2 When dominion of the Sons of Mosul
Scatters, slays, and shackles all resistance.
Azarius is brought before the priest,
And sentenced to be thrown into the fire.
98-3 Raptors will not carry out the sentence,
And stand athwart the vulcan precipice.
For the prophet spared them from the fire.
His end in flame would be a blaspheme.
98-4 Bafomet must bind the prophet elsewhere,
Where he cannot rise for many eons.
They lead Him far into the frozen north,
And cast Him down into the cracks of ice.
99 Aeon’s last survivors wander northward.
For forty years they scavenge in the steppe.
At last, they find the seven-pointed mount,
Rising as their beacon of salvation.
99-1 Against the ice and frozen winds, they march,
Hunted by the wolves that claim the weakened.
They crest the ridge named Edäm-of-Meru…
There, the winds are stilled, and clouds are parted.
99-2 Before them lies a fertile valley forest.
Behind them, Sons of Mosul in pursuit.
Few of Aeon’s tribe survive the journey.
But plenty are the heirs of those that do.
100 And with the pox of Sol a fading dream,
Aeon’s children flourish in abundance.
Ancient Kethu gazes to the heavens,
To watch the setting of the crescent Vé.
[i] Aulos Song: A mellifluous song played by men on a flute-like instrument that mimics the tones the Raptors use to confuse and sedate the predators of the Vallis jungle.
[ii] Ün: The last surviving searcher who brings back word to Bafomet of a habitat for the Nephilim.
[iii] Golgon: The mountain fortress city of Edä’s men that is built around heated vents and hot springs. Found by Ün the searcher, and deemed suitable by Bafomet as a home for the dragons and the Nephilim who are greatly weakened by the cold.
[iv] Yorn: The reik of Golgon whose greed leads him to allow the gilded dragon ark to be brought into the city.
