Satan's Gambit (The Barrier War Book 3) (88 page)

From the floor,
Flasch said in quiet amazement, “Well, he’s got his mother’s nose, but it’s a
damn good thing he’s got his father’s wings.”

Marc kicked him.

- 5 -

With a sigh,
Vander Wayland seated himself at a large stone desk and stared at the blank
pages in front of him. Books and scrolls of recorded accounts lay piled
haphazardly about him, but he could lay his hands on any record he desired
within seconds. An inkwell sat nearby, along with a quill pen that the angels
had assured him would never need sharpening. It was the feather from an angel’s
wing, and Vander almost felt sacrilegious as he thought about writing with such
an instrument.

“Where do I
begin?” he asked himself silently. “So much happened, at what point can I
really say it all started?”

The war in the
mortal world certainly had to be included, which would then necessitate the
source of Shadow Company, which had played such a large role in the battles.
That, in turn, would require some history of the major persona within the
company, which would mean more research into family background and childhoods
than Vander could hope to accomplish by himself. Yes, he had an eternity with
which to compile these volumes, but the world would continue to turn and
history would advance, and he wanted to be a part of recording that as well.

Should he just
pick one of the Shadow Company members to follow? Explain how he had come to be
in such a group and joined with the others? That felt right; but which one to
choose? One of the most obvious choices would be Garnet, the Red paladin who
had commanded the unit after Gerard’s death. Garnet’s father had been involved
in important events during the war as well and had even sacrificed himself to
destroy a demon lord.

When he thought
about it, however, the choice was obvious. It would be the de’Valderat family
on which he would concentrate his history. Certainly, no single mortal was more
influential during the Barrier War than Birch de’Valderat, and his nephew had
played a critical role as well. Yes, the choice was obvious.

But still,
where to start?
he wondered.

Vander’s own
involvement with the pair had started shortly before the actual outbreak of the
war, when they were first questing after The Three. What was that
Dividha
phrase again? Oh yes,
Hunting The Three
.

Perhaps that’s
where he should start. What had led up to that ill-conceived quest?

Again, after a
moment’s thought, he had his answer.

There was one
event, one moment so indelibly etched in history, that there could be no other
starting point for the story he had to compile. Where else would Vander start,
except at the beginning? The event that had put the gears into motion and
started turning the rest of the world onto the path of war and possible
extermination.

A paladin had
come back from Hell.

Vander dipped
his quill into the inkwell and began writing.

The following account
was compiled as part of an effort to explain the events before, during, and
immediately following the Barrier War. Whatever limitations exist and whatever
liberties have been taken with the story are solely the responsibility of the author
of this historical account.

These volumes are
written in the human tongue so that all those in Heaven might read and
understand, not just the immortal angels. Translations into the dwarven and
elven languages will soon be completed, but notations have been made so that a
reader of any race will understand the meaning of these words.

Let the truth be told
as a shield against a reoccurrence of the tragedies that made possible this
tale. Let all remember the sacrifices made herein.

Vander Wayland

Vander Wayland

Heavenly Historian

This
concludes the Barrier War trilogy, but the Pandemonium War wages on. Experience
more in the forthcoming trilogy, The Demonic Jihad.

Immortal Hierarchy

I.
Introduction

II.
Shaishisii

III.
Heaven

IV.
Hell

I
.
 
Introduction

While the
immortals of Heaven and Hell have similar origins and underlying natures, their
social structures are completely different, as are the self-imposed physical
limitations each endures. As beings of pure will, or
āyus
, immortals
were not originally created with corporeal shape, therefore any physical
characteristics they possess are the result of their own intentions (and
divinely imposed inclinations) when they began to assume solid forms.

Perhaps the most
significant difference between the two societies is that while there exists a
wide variety of demonic species, all Heavenly immortals are considered to be
the same species. Angels are instead ranked into Choirs according to their
relative strength and social position that may change over time, thus an Erelim
or Parasim (the lowest of orders) may attain enough power to ascend to a higher
Choir, and perhaps even become a Seraph in time. Demons, on the other hand, are
limited by their base stock and cannot become anything other than what they
are. The only form of social ascension in Hell is through brute force or being
placed in charge of lesser demons by a superior. A few demons have amassed
enough power to assume the title of demon lord and are considered on par with
the original demon princes (by far the most powerful demons at the moment of
the first awakening), but few demons achieve such distinction, as power is
jealously guarded by the few reigning lords and princes.

A curious disparity
has been observed when comparing mortals to immortals. Every mortal, regardless
of race, begins to develop an individual personality and identity from the
moment they are born – some have even suggested the process begins while they
are still gestating. As they grow, they are given a name by their fellow
mortals and may even change their name at will. Immortals, by contrast, have no
true identity or individual will beyond the most basic, shared impulses until
they achieve sufficient strength. Many angels of the lowest Choirs may exist
for thousands of years and perish without ever achieving such individualistic
distinction, and the same goes for the members of most demonic species. As the
immortal’s power grows, so does his awareness of his existence, until the
moment of his Awakening when he becomes truly sentient and self-aware. No one
truly knows whether an Awakened immortal chooses his own name or if he was
always named (perhaps by the divine) and merely becomes aware of it. Since the
first Awakening (generally referred to as “The Awakening”), few angels have
been created with sufficient strength to Awaken in their first moments.

All immortals
reproduce asexually via a process known as genesing, in which they split off a
portion of their
āyus
and will it to become a separate entity. The
more power willed into the newly created immortal, the stronger it will be at
its genesis, though this comes at higher cost to the originating immortal. A
Dominion angel may, for example, bequeath sufficient power to a newly genesed
angel that it may immediately take its place among the Cherubim, but the
Dominion could lose sufficient
āyus
that it could be compelled to
itself descend to a lower rank. There is no known instance of such descent
being forced upon any angel, though social stigma and pressure have been known
to achieve the same result.

A demon that
geneses another immortal will inherently create another of its own species. A
hellhound cannot genese a daemelan, nor a gremlin a bloodhawk. The only
external limitations on the process of genesing seem to be having sufficient
strength to perform the genesing process and splitting off enough
āyus
that the newly formed immortal can survive the process. The other primary
factor limiting the process is the aversion most immortals of any significant
strength have of lessening their own power. For a demon, genesing another can
be a perilous prospect, for not only will other demons seek to exploit any
lessening of power among their brethren, but even the newly created demon may
turn against its progenitor.

Among the
angels, a lessening of power is not so hazardous, but it might result in a
significant lessening of one’s social status. Angels set great store by the
relative strength of their brethren, and angels of lesser power yield to those
with greater almost instinctively. Losing power via genesing another immortal
could place an angel below those he normally overrides and force him to yield
where he once dominated. (Demons follow similar such dictates of strength, but
rely first and foremost on each other’s species to define their interactions.)

For immortals
who are too close in power to immediately determine who is the greater, the
ritual of
shaishisii
may be used to resolve the question.

II
.
 
Shaishisii

There are no
records of what immortals first engaged in the ritual of
shaishisii
, nor
even whether they were angels or demons. What is known is that from the
earliest days, the ritual has been used to establish superiority between two
immortals. This is its more mundane and benign aspect. A more sinister
application of
shaishisii
can establish dominance and even complete
control over another immortal.

The more
harmless application of
shaishisii
is rarely necessary between two
immortals of obviously disparate power. As noted above, the relative strength
between two immortals is known instinctively when one is much more powerful
than the other, and the lesser will virtually always yield to the greater. When
the two are much closer in power, however, the difference may not be so easy to
ascertain, and only
shaishisii
can determine the greater with any degree
of certainty. Once the respective strengths are known, the usual social
dominance would typically take hold and the two would act accordingly.

There are some
special cases where a ritual (or contest) of
shaishisii
might not
determine the outcome of the power relationship between two immortals. Though
rare, two immortals may be of such equal strength that there can be no clear
outcome. In such a case, the immortals must rely on other means to establish
dominance, should it be necessary. Other social norms may alter the outcome of
shaishisii
,
such as the respective Choirs of two angels. Should a Dominion or Power somehow
gain the strength to overpower a Seraph in
shaishisii
(and yet has not
chosen to ascend to the higher Choir), the mere fact of belonging to the Choir
of Seraphim would assure the lesser-Choir angel would defer to the Seraph. In
other, less direct forms of conflict, an angel of a lesser Choir might outrank
one from a higher Choir should he have battle command entrusted by a superior.
This was most common during the Great Schism, when command was granted based
more on merit and ability than on mere strength.

Among the
demons, the lesser application of
shaishisii
is often ignored (at great
peril) when one demon is attempting to usurp the power of another and steal it
for his own use. This sort of brutal predation is common among lesser demons
and even those of middling power. By the time demons near the strength to
declare themselves demon lords, the pool of demons more powerful than they has
thinned sufficiently that only the most bold or cunning would dare such a
confrontation.

The more
powerful (and destructive) application of
shaishisii
is far more common
among demons than it is among their immortal opposites, and it is the reason no
angel and demon have ever entered into
shaishisii
with each other. In
its full use,
shaishisii
can allow one immortal to completely dominate
the will of another (and therefore their entire being), effectively rendering
them mindless slaves devoted to the will of their captor. This state is known
as
dishnara
among immortals, a word that most closely translates to
“enslaved” in the human tongue, though this term pales in comparison to the
reality. A
dishnara
is utterly dominated by their master so long as he
desires, and in the most extreme uses the
dishnara
is incapable of even
moving without the express desire of their master. The demon king
Mephistopheles is known to use this method extensively to decorate his throne
room with living statues of demons and damned souls who have displeased him,
and their bodies retain full awareness as they are permanently immobilized by
the twisting of their own minds.

One of the more
sinister aspects of
shaishisii
is its subtlety. An immortal dominated by
another may not consciously be aware of the control, though it may become
apparent to others who observe attitudinal differences in the afflicted
immortal. (This is obviously more of a concern among angels than demons, who
rarely form the social bonds needed to notice such a difference.) Such
dominance is outlawed and considered a grave sin by the angels for just this
reason, but the lesser use of
shaishisii
is so prevalent that there
exists considerable gray area around its stronger applications. For instance,
were a Seraph to order a Parasim out of his way, few would question whether the
obedience was the result of social norms or a subtle dominance of
āyus
of one angel over another. Indeed, there may be little difference.