public channel; day 52

[atouts]

"With the power of the Silver Mirror, the Nephalem Lilith was able to create a realm according to their desires - a realm where the Beasts could devise the Soul that would lead them, and build a perfect world. While the rest of the multiverse spiraled into Chaos, Lilith aspired towards Perfection."

[ It had taken a bit to scour the book for any other bit of information once he'd gotten it back from one of the stupidest book specters he had to misfortune of running into but now that he has, here he is, reading the first bit over the radio.

Following that, he adds, asking, ]

Has anyone else found something regarding a mirror? I believe this may be one of the miracles but confirmation would be nice to have.

[ ooc, feel free to threadjack as needed ]

Comments

[anti_nonsense]

The Silver Mirror... wait, one of the books I grabbed has that title! Give me a minute...

[There's already the sound of pages shuffling and covers thudding against the floor as Rita digs it out of what's apparently a sizable pile of books she's accumulated for reading. She turns the radio off for a few minutes to look through it, but returns to it before long.]

Here it is. "The Court of Sun and the Court of Shade worked in harmony and their influence planted the seeds from which the first worlds grew..."

[That's their clue. But since the rest of the passage is long and flowery, Rita opts to summarize it.]

... It says the Mirror can bend the light in the hearts of those who look into it... cleansing them of darkness, or corrupting them... The races of angels and demons tried to claim it, but it looks like this 'Lilith' got to it first.

[atouts]

So it is a Miracle. Good. The book mentions what the realm Lilith created as well, though...

[ There's a pause. It isn't really uncomfortable or awkward, just... there. He had to reread this more than a few times to digest the fact that apparently— ]

It is Eden. Full of intelligent beasts. Not exactly the way I've ever heard it described but there it is.

[anti_nonsense]

Eden...

--Wait, what do you mean by that? You've heard it described before?

[atouts]

Basically? It's paradise.

God created a paradise by the name of Eden and created the first man and the first woman there. Admittedly, there was a talking serpent as well, but this book only mentions the Beasts, no men.

[prazerbutterfly]

God's Eden. [He breathes out in a mock before barking laughter ensues. How he would love to wreck such an unnatural place.]

But that is interesting given the book only mentions the Beasts when often Eden is the very essence of man's eventual folly.

[atouts]

[ Why would Tyki find that funny? Odd. ]

Yes, God's Eden... Lilith created this version for Beasts alone. There are no men. "A paradise where Mankind was considered anathema" is what it claims.

[prazerbutterfly]

[Without Mankind, or in his preference Humans, this place surely had to be paradise.]

Interesting. That is far different than the version of Eden I know, one created for Mankind. Sounds like it would be trouble for any of Mankind to step in there.

[atouts]

Sounds like it would be trouble no matter what we are, actually.

[ There's a rustle of paper, notes, and he reads off the rest of the excerpt. ]

"The Realm was called Eden, a paradise where Mankind was considered anathema. The Beasts of the land were given will and the power to make their own reality, instructed to create their perfect world, and their perfect Master. Lilith left them to their works.

In her place, Eden was governed by a Council of 13, called the Architects, who would plan the utopia according to the instruction left by their Maker. All others would be called Honorables, each gifted with a unique skill and instructed to aid the Architects in their great work. In the time between, they would create fanastical works of art and music, reaching the very limits of beauty and beyond.

Yet, the heart of their aspirations would remain unfulfilled. Each Soul they brought before the Silver Mirror was deemed unworthy - for what Lilith sought was to devise a being whose Light would cast no Shadow. Despite this desire, however, some of the Beasts feared that such an outcome was impossible.

As eons passed, the Lilith would become impatient. Seeing little progress towards their goals, they cast aside the other offerings left by the Beasts, becoming cruel in their moments of passion. It was in the wake of this scorn that the Furies of Eden were born, a gathering of Honorables that could no longer see the wisdom in their Maker’s plan."

[anti_nonsense]

[The first man and woman...? What's with all these texts and their references to the origins of life?]

Where did you hear about all that?

[Evidently, Rita knows basically nothing about the religions of Earth.]

[atouts]

It's a story anyone from England should be able to tell you. It's from our own religion.

[ He could specify 'Bible' and 'Christianity' and what have you, but Rita isn't from any variant of Earth. It would all be nonsense to her. ]

[anti_nonsense]

Religion, huh... [There's a dryness in her tone, like she finds the concept somewhat distasteful. Still, this wouldn't be the first time she noticed some sliver of truth reflected in religious tales.]

What else did your stories say about Eden? Even if it's not applicable, there may be more parallels than what we can see now.

[atouts]

[ If he could get a big ol' shrug across a radio frequency, he would, but he can't. He has no real opinion on religion (unless one counts the Raven King as one, anyway). ]

God created Eden and the first Man and first Woman and bade them partake of anything in the garden, for all was for them. All save for one tree, though. The Tree of Knowledge. Which they did avoid up until a serpent tempted them with fruit from it and that was the end. They gained knowledge of the world but were cast out of paradise for it.

[lordofthering]

Well, well. It's been a long time since anyone called the Courts by those names.

[anti_nonsense]

So it's not just a metaphor... Those used to be the names of the Summer and Winter courts?

[lordofthering]

They did! Back before the war started.

If you can still call it a war when its been happening for nearly as long as the multiverse has existed.

[anti_nonsense]

That long!? [Rita knew it would be a long time by a mortal's perspective, but that amount of time isn't even fathomable.] I guess calling it an "eternal war" wasn't much of an exaggeration...

--Right, there's something I wanted to ask. Do you know anything about this 'Lilith'?

[lordofthering]

Well... I know of several Lilith, which is the problem.

Some names and concepts get a lot of repetition, between worlds, and Lilith is one of them. I've seen renditions of that idea in a lot of places - even Mari's world had a Lilith in it! In that world, she was the creator of humanity, I think.

Now that I think about it, I don't believe I've ever met the original. Which, if we're looking at things that far back... it'd have to be.

[anti_nonsense]

You mean how certain concepts are reflected throughout the multiverse, and in some ways distorted... [Yep, Rita's been doing her homework.]

So what kind of information would you need to locate the realm of someone you've never met?

[lordofthering]

If it is the original, that makes it easy... but also more difficult. They would have to be the version of Lilith that started it all, that functions on the same level as the Faerie Courts and the Highest Heaven and Deepest Hells.

That also means they'd be the most powerful of their kind. Which means they could be pretty good at hiding if they wanted to be.

[chronosynthesis]

Did they name every miracle after their courts, or was this one special?

[A pause.] Why did they change the titles of their courts in the first place?

[lordofthering]

I believe the name change was a passive aggressive gesture following the beginning of the conflict between the Courts, based on the idea that Sun and Shadow were seen as two parts of the same whole, whereas Summer and Winter were seen as oppositional states.

The Miracles are only named after the Courts in that they are based on the same elements that both Courts represent.

That is, if the Silver Mirror is real.

[chronosynthesis]

An idea not unlike the Nightmare Court, then... [He muses to himself, although they were a secondary spawn. Actually...]

The Blue Rose was real. [So he's not goingto doubt the rest of them! He's sure the Ringmaster doesn't really, either, if she's vested in finding them.]

Were the Fae not one one people, undivided by Courts and alliances?

[lordofthering]

The Courts have always existed, because they are the byproduct of the Queens that started it all. In the very beginning, there was the Queen of Sun and the Queen of Shadow, and things developed from there. Each Queen began to create more of their kind, in their own image.

So, that means they shared their Queen's elemental affinities. Meanwhile, the Wyld Fae were born of the chaotic energies left behind by those creations. Or so they say.

That's why we were called the Wyld Fae, as we were unbeholden to the Courts, and could have elements of either. We also didn't tend to look like the Fae of the Courts, for obvious reasons.

[chronosynthesis]

[Syrlya hums. He's a little curious why they still considered themselves so different as to create their people separately, but that's an origin probably still too far back for any certainty.]

They were the ones to create the miracles, correct? Were they also the ones to instigate the fight between their Courts?

[lordofthering]

Yes, they were, and... more or less, they did start the fight. Or rather, their mutual jealousy did.

The Summer Maiden told me that the first Summer Queen may have initiated it all. When the Court of Sun developed their propensity towards Life and Growth, and the Court of Shade developed theirs towards Death and Decay, the Sun Queen decided it was only fitting that, as the Court of Life, all of life was theirs to rule over.

The Court of Shade didn't like that.