NationStates Jolt Archive

North African desert, twelve-thousand years ago:
The armies of men came in the night, on horseback. Well, some rode horses, and others camels. It didn't matter. What did matter was that they were here, now. A surprise attack, thousands dead. Battle had raged for hours, but not even the strongest warriors could repel the humans. There had jsut been too many. The slaughter had been unimaginable. An entire race, murdered in one night as the Holy City fell in flames. An entire race, or near enough that it didn't matter. Only a few hundred survived, and they fled. Fled across the desert, away, away from the fires. One group ran to the sea, and as they moved across the sand, their leader looked back to the city, and saw only the orange glow on the horizon, the glow that marked the end.

"Elder," one of his followers walked up to him, to make sure he was alright. "Do you need rest? we have come far in one night."

"Yes, I think rest is in order. Esam, how many do you think survived? You were one of the last to flee, weren't you?"

"Yes, I was, Elder. Counting our group, I think less than five hundred made it out. We weren't prepared. Everyone was distracted by the Festival."

"Ah, but there is nothing we can do now, Esam. Calm yourself."

"Damn the humans! They will pay!" The young warrior's eyes glowed with fire. Then he noticed something strange about the Elder.

The Elder's eyes seemed to glaze over for a moment. "Elder? Are you alright?"

"I can see clearly now, a painful vision indeed
An attack on hallowed ground, from high above
Alien to us, the species known as man
A serious threat, in the eyes of the Elder
So heed my warning, before our own existence falls near extinct
Our culture is lost in ancient mystery, covered in the sands of time
A sacred few survive the massacre this night
In secret they will meet a new society
Ten thousand years from now, a child will be born
I've seen the vision, the writing on the wall
He'll walk the Earth, two thousand years or more
Paving the way, for mankind's fall
So there is hope you see, but we must act with great speed
Assemble the chosen, the ones to lead, and morph them in the likeness of man
Oppressed for centuries, await the prophecy
The child will set us free, reclaim it rightfully
We'll take their identity and live among them free
All the while, plotting events that mold their history
We'll build the perfect beast with the knowledge that they seek
If it takes ten thousand years, we never will retreat
Assassins we will be, through human history
Jesus Christ to Kennedy, the Domino Decree
Disciples of the Watch, prepare the coming curse
If it takes ten thousand years, we never will retreat
And so, our world is doomed, we'll lay claim again some day
There is hope, in the birth of one, so many centuries away."

"Elder, what do you speak of?"

The Elder paused before speaking, gathering his thoughts. "Go. Find as many others as you can. Bring them here. Avoid the Humans at all costs. They must not know what we plan, or what has been prophesized. Go!"

Esam nodded, and ran into the desert. The Elder moved closer to the rest of the group, and sat on a dune by the sea, to wait.

He could still see the fires burning in the south. Fires that paled in comparision to what the humans would reap in ten centuries' time...

OOC: a quick note, the "Prophecy" is the copyrighted idea of Jon Schaffer, but I thought it would be a cool RP idea, if anyone knows what I'm talking about :p . Heh. It's open, so if you want to join in (if you don't know the story then TG me and I'll fill you in) go ahead.

tag

Judea, 29 A.D.
The three criminals were dying, slowly. Crucifixions always took a long time. One was already dead, but the other two still clung to life. The ones to the left and right were just common criminals, but as they weren't Roman, they did not have the luxury of a quick death. The one in the middle, though, at the top of the hill, was something else. There was a sign at the top of his cross. Christ, King of the Jews. This one had angered the leaders of his community, and the Watcher had seized the opportunity to end this threat.

Esam looked over at the one standing next to him. Both wore human forms, as they were in the open. The Watcher looked at Esam, and smiled. "A good day, isn't it, Esam?"

"It is, Set. That one was dangerous."

"Indeed. People followed him too willingly. He had to be killed."

"Our first move. Do you think the humans suspect anything?"

"Of course not. They remember nothing past a few lifetimes. They don't even remember that ones such as us once walked the earth."

"True. But still, we have our work cut out for us."

"Yes, we do, friend. Yes, we do. But for their crimes against our race, they all must die. Never forget that."

Esam looked again at the men on the hill. Not long now, he thought. Maybe another hour. To help pass the time, he thought about the day Set came into being. A day more than fifty years ago...

Esam ran as fast as he could across the desert, each stride carrying him several miles. He had shed his human body to be able to move faster, but it did not matter. If any human saw him, it would look like wind in the sand. He cleared his mind of such thoughts, and focused on the message he brought as he ran east across the sands.

After running for a few minutes, he stopped at a rocky outcropping, quickly changing to his human body. Two men, men in appearance only, came out from a cave to greet him.

"Esam. The Elder awaits. He hears rumours."

"I bring answers. Take me to him."

He walked down the long corridors of the cave, much like a rabbit warren. He entered the large chamber where the Elder waited, and bowed his greeting.

"Rise, Esam. What news do you bring out of the West?"

"The rumours are true, Elder. Marc Antony is dead. Octavius has named himself Emperor of Rome."

"So, it has begun. Events have taken place that are no longer in our control. The Watcher comes soon. I believe-" He paused, and had a far-off look in his eyes.

"Elder, is something wrong?"

"He comes today..."

Esam followed the Elder into a chamber deeper in the cave system. It was dark in here, save for a couple of candles. In the center of the room, a staff stood unsupported. The top was a sort of closed sheperd's crook, with a horizontal bar below it. Esam knew that sysmbol. The Watcher's Eye, it was called. It stood in the center of some alchemic design on the cave floor, though it was too dark for Esam to make out the symbols.

The Elder waited about five feet from the staff, with bated breath. "I feel it in the air...do you, Esam?"

"I don't know, Elder. Something is strange, that I know."

And then he appeared. It was nothing extraordinary, no fire or flash of light. Just a puff of smoke, and suddenly there was a crouched figure kneeling on one knee, with its right hand gripping the staff. The figure groaned, and lifted its head. Such eyes! Burning with fires such as Esam had not seen since that Night, so many centuries ago. The figure gritted its teeth, and stood. The Elder gestured for Esam to help support him, and he moved to do so.

"You are weak, yet, Newborn. Are you Aware, or must we teach you?"

The figure did not speak for a moment. Then it rose its head, and spoke. "I know, Elder. I see many things."

"So what I saw so many years ago has finally come to pass. Finally, we may be avenged. Your name, Newborn. What do you wish us to call you?"

"Name me, Elder. I care not."

"Fine, then. Forevermore, let you be known as...Set. Set Abominae."

Daylight breaks hard on sacred ground
For centuries we've questioned them of His birth
But in this hour, on this day, The Elder knew
Years of madness must now subdue
Order must be enforced to hide the truth
Cause on this day, in this hour it's coming true
Child of the wicked and ancient man
Baptized in black magic, their master plan
Born of the Watch, his prophecy, by their command
So, behold the birth, the wicked child
Born of the Beast, in eastern sands
He will arise, He will divide
He has the power to bring the end
It's up to us now to seal his fate
Marked with the proper math the child's none to late
Blessed by the Beast, our Chosen One was born this day
He'll rise from the ashes of our dying race
Manipulate history, time and space
The Elder, Men of the Watch, professed this day
So, behold the birth, the wicked child
Born of the Beast, in eastern sands
He will arise, He will divide
He has the power to bring the end
Behold the birth, the wicked child
Born of the Beast, in eastern sands
He will arise, He will divide
He has the power to bring the end

tag

It was Anno Societatis 8, being the year of the Common Era 1973, July...and in the heat of a Texas night, 'neath the lambent eye of the full of the moon, the Seven Deadly Sins of Cats Keep and their people gathered.

2,197 people gathered, though not all of them were human...Come daybreak, the campsite was empty save for ashes in thirteen fire pits. And from around the globe another 371,293 vanished. Vanished into the Realm of Shadow...and there in that Realm created themselves a place, a nation...

Over eleven millennia passed in the Realm of Shadow...some could not adapt to it's differences and departed, others found their natures calling them else where...

Something changed however...something in the realm of time and space that they had left behind called out,

And so the sole remaining Deadly Sin, The Lady of Cats Keep, (she who was originally but a Venial Sin, Revenge, sub sin of Wrath ) brought the lands and peoples of Cats Keep back into the physical stream of energy that it's inhabitants call time...

To discover that while it may have been eleven thousand years for them it was but 2004 of the Common Era...

Eleven thousand years spent in Shadow changes people...as the world is about to discover...for you see...where ever there is shadow, so can there be those of Shadow...and those of Cats Keep were very thoroughly of Shadow...