Prazinia
12-04-2009, 09:33
Some would ask, how could a perfect God create a universe filled
with so much that is evil. They have missed a greater conundrum:
why would a perfect God create a universe at all?
2130 AD, twenty years after the liberation of Blessed Earth from the kingdom of the Antichrist and after the banishment of Evil from our world
"Sometimes I think that all we have done, all we have fought for," a man, holding his wife hand as they sat in humble wooden chairs, said, "have actually distanced us from the Lord, that perhaps the prophecies existed to be fulfilled rather than averted, for the kingdom of God has never come, and the second coming of Christ never happened."
"Yet," the woman interrupted, holding slightly tighter his hand, "by averting the kingdom of the Antichrist, by banishing the devils from our planet, our brothers have saved billions of souls from damnation. Why would God send us such prophecies of what was to come if it couldn't be changed?"
"But, we still live in a flawed world," he said, looking at a massive, transparent structure that blended with the skies, "beyond the arcology of New Jerusalem, sin and iniquity still persist even without demonic presence, as they are inherent of man, and the fact the prophecies never happened led many who expected the second coming astray. And the saints haven't returned to life"
"Perhaps," the woman explained, "perhaps the true Kingdom of God is beyond our lifetime, and we should be the ones to make our way towards it, rather than the opposite, which would counter our free will."
The Earthly New Jerusalem, in accordance to the prophecies which once mentioned a Millennial Kingdom of God, was a massive, sprawling but heavenly hive city, covering nearly four fifths of the Middle East, engulfing even the long cleansed ruins of New Babylon, with multiple, glass-like floors emerging from the ground, climbing to Earth's exosphere, and an underground support structure going to the bowels of earth. The city was inhabited by a completely Christian population. Newspapers weren't ridden with news about murders, robberies, although they weren't completely free of natural disasters, of disease and suffering, the times such were inflicted by other men were long gone, and people helped each other during times of hardship. There were no poor or rich, servants and masters, only brothers in worship of the Lord and of his son Jesus Christ, inheritors of a coming future.
"I fear that one day," the pondering man seemed to be in a day for discussing the matters of their past, "Satan shall try to take Earth back, and with no sign of our Lord's coming, how could we stand, how could we defend ourselves against Gog and Magog?"
Raising from his wooden chair, the man then slowly got himself up and looked to the skies:
"They are still there, dwelling through space, right now, with their damned slaves, searching for an innocent world to corrupt, to build their wicked tyranny, and if we only wait and pray, although we will be strong for the war of spirit, we will not be able to win the war of flesh."
"The dead worlds are given life by the Lord's works," the woman then replied him, mentioning many of the bodies of the solar system, renamed from pagan gods and old continents to the names of saints and prophets, "John, Peter's and Thadeus' Moons, all have faithful who inhabit them, and live in humility and simplicity, able to find happiness even in underwater settlements where they will never be able to see the light of the sun."
"But the demons," the man again interjected, "they can break the rules the Lord set for the Universe, and bypass the limits of the speed of light, arriving anywhere they curse at any time they wish to. If we don't react, they will soon overwhelm us in the world of matter, for the Lord no longer intervenes in non-spiritual affairs."
"John of Petersburg," she finally shifted her tone to a more serious, worrisome one, "we cannot use the tools of evil to fight against evil. Have faith John, that the Lord will protect us. Do not dwell into the workings of devils to fight against them."
"We have not created the Kingdom of God Manya," John answered her, still standing over the dirt of next to their simple cottage home. The people of New Jerusalem were not driven to material wealth and luxury, and lived humble but happy lives, "we have overthrown the satanic thrones of tyranny to create the Kingdom of Man, no longer influenced by evil, but only by our purest free will."
Molecular nanotechnology, longevity and anti-age cosmetic treatments, clinical immortality attempts, ambitious projects to upload minds to machines were long dismissed as "mockeries of the works of God" or "vanities", as desperate tries of heathens to escape divine judgment an sink their suffering in delusions of grandeur, and despite the fact the technologies existed to make such prideful seeking of imitating the Tree of Life possible, they refused to dwell into it, knowing that death was only a passageway to true life rather than a fatalistic end of existence. However, natural, cloned replacement limbs were far commonplace, contrasting with the total lack of human cloning, and made what once were considered miracles daily facts.
The blind ones could regain their vision, the handicap regain their limbs, cancer was a long forgotten nightmare, and only death could never be changed, but for most Prazinians, the resurrection was metaphorical, rather than literal. And despite their unwillingness to dwell into certain approaches that had the trappings of "playing God", like attempts of development sentient machines and nano-machines, there was no way to doubt that a golden age of prosperity, faith and technology has come to the world. Many of the technologies considered taboo were widely employed by the short-lasting kingdom of the Antichrist, and left forgotten for the ages to come, safeguarded in the vaults of the Inquisition, which role has greatly diminished since the enemies they were established to fight against: demons, have essentially left the planet.
Among such demonic technologies, lied the key to the successful retreat of the forces of darkness: faster-than-light travel, a long buried research that was perhaps more worrisome than all other forbidden and blasphemous technologies, for the only way of bypassing the laws of the earthly universe was by moving inside another realm, and considering the creators of such successful project, there were many founded suspicions about which realm was used by their infernal fleets to leave Sol.
"John!" Mania insisted for a last time, still sitting down, "do not dwell into the works of evil, into their sorceries against reality, or you might bring horrible consequences to our brothers."
"Much of the technology we currently use," he said, giving signs he was unwilling to discuss it further, "was adapted from the research of heathens, and we haven't fall into damnation because of them. I will meet with the Agora to discuss the opening of this project. Our generation ships will take far too long to explore and colonize other systems, if they succeed."
"Very well," Mania sighed, "I shall now attend to the orphan refugees of the North American nuclear wastelands, but think well about what you could open precedent for."
"I will pray for God to provide me guidance for the dark future our people may yet face. The battle against evil is not over yet." John answered, as he began to walk through the dirt patch, his cottage home gone and a large maglev train station appearing over the horizon: his destination. He knew that there was no other way to win against evil in the war of flesh.
-----------------------
20 years later
The HMS Peter of Patmos remained in its static inertia, astronomical units away from the closest orbital body, while inside one of its many rooms, the chapel of the spacecraft, a man knelt next to the holy cross, and began to pray, ignoring the sight of his own hands covered by massive black gloves, from which a brown wooden cross hanged, and of the thick black armor covering his forearms, signs of his duty to the brothers and to the Lord.
The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want.
"Engaging Warp Drive in Twenty Seconds..." a recorded female voice announced, indicating that the time of resolution was coming soon.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters
"Fusion reactor at maximum output", the voice continued to inform while the man prayed, shielding himself with faith from what could come from this maiden voyage through the unknown, the very unknown that their enemies resorted to.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake
"Blessed Field completed, shielding against demonic possessions at one hundred percent. Engaging Warp Drive in Ten Seconds" and thus, as a work of faith rather than science, their very hopes, discipline and resistance to temptation empowered their vessel to stand untainted from whatever could come.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
"Five, four, three," the counting became less clear as the crusader concentrated on his faith and devotion rather than on the fear of what they would face beyond, specially as he could hear the voice of a woman praying with him in spirit, a woman both gifted and cursed with the ability to see, hear, speak and intercede for both angels and demons, one of those who the seculars would call psychic, although for them, she was a seer, an individual who sacrificed worldly pleasures to strengthen resolve and live in faith and worship rather than seek of wealth, or even friends. For some intuition, they knew that to have her with them would be important.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemes; thou annointest my headwith oil; my cup runneth over
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. and I will dwell in the house of The Lord forever.
"Warp drive engaged," the time has come, and soon a creaking noise echoed through the halls and corridors of the spacecraft, as distant echoes of laughters, malice and hatred attempted to break their devotion and faith, and thus the signs made it clear the method of their enemies.
Kira would be the first to perceive where they arrived. Screams of agony, wailing and clenching of desperate souls began to assault her mind, as she knelt and began to pray, ignoring the demonic attempts to seize her, while trying to find immediately a form to return from such horrific universe. Demons began to surround their vessel, blocked only by their extreme faith and prayers, taunting and trying to break their faith in God and His son. Her throat sometimes constricted with their mere presence, but instead of falling easily, she continued praying, despite the horrors and suffering that were being inflicted into her soul.
John finally realized what he has done. He has chased the devil into his lair, into the depths of Hell itself, the medium through which demons allowed themselves to bypass the speed of light. Yet there was no cavernous halls with screaming souls and burning lava, or any rock, any ground, or anything in Hell that could resemble order. The evil spirits seemingly were inside a dimension of chaos, trying to twist their discipline, their order and their faith for their wicked purposes. Amidst the bridge of the HMS John of Patmos, he then spoke, as his voice was broadcast through every room of every man in prayer or activity:
"Brothers! Do not surrender to the darkness! For even unto the Valley of Hell, the Lord still watches and protect us. Do not fear, do not lax, only look at God and his angels, and they shall come even here to protect us."
The only barrier between the demonic legions and the logic, reality, order and compassion that made their vessels, their bodies and souls coherent was their faith, and thus, damnation would ensure, should at any moment a few of them wane in their devotion, specially Kira, who lied between the most devout of all of them, for her gift made of her the primary gateway to seize them.
Of course, it was not certain if such demons could damage their vessel physically rather than only try to damage their spirits. If they could, the situation could become far worse soon. With the Inquisition almost disbanded, there was no specialist in fighting against demons between them, and thus their fate depended not of their will and skills to fight, but of their faith, humility and devotion to God.
As the first, they have signaled Sol to other, probably twisted, wicked and decadent civilizations, who also used Hell as a medium of transportation. The future of the Kingdom of Man was now being decided by faith and chance alike.
(OOC: Yes... I decided to try it. I know it's far from perfect, but I hope this could prove interesting enough. Also, despite its name, FT Prazinia is a sort of Theocratic Democracy. This thread is of particular interest to those who have WH40k inspired FT NSes because... it's a Theocracy in a "Blessed Earth" with a hive city called New Jerusalem as its capital, and somehow their experiment with a Warp Drive made a huge beacon inside the Warp leading to their solar system.
And as for the real nature of their enemies, which obviously aren't from Chaos(although they still think the Immaterium is Hell), I won't spoil everything right now. Lets just say they are far more subtle than WH40k ones.)
with so much that is evil. They have missed a greater conundrum:
why would a perfect God create a universe at all?
2130 AD, twenty years after the liberation of Blessed Earth from the kingdom of the Antichrist and after the banishment of Evil from our world
"Sometimes I think that all we have done, all we have fought for," a man, holding his wife hand as they sat in humble wooden chairs, said, "have actually distanced us from the Lord, that perhaps the prophecies existed to be fulfilled rather than averted, for the kingdom of God has never come, and the second coming of Christ never happened."
"Yet," the woman interrupted, holding slightly tighter his hand, "by averting the kingdom of the Antichrist, by banishing the devils from our planet, our brothers have saved billions of souls from damnation. Why would God send us such prophecies of what was to come if it couldn't be changed?"
"But, we still live in a flawed world," he said, looking at a massive, transparent structure that blended with the skies, "beyond the arcology of New Jerusalem, sin and iniquity still persist even without demonic presence, as they are inherent of man, and the fact the prophecies never happened led many who expected the second coming astray. And the saints haven't returned to life"
"Perhaps," the woman explained, "perhaps the true Kingdom of God is beyond our lifetime, and we should be the ones to make our way towards it, rather than the opposite, which would counter our free will."
The Earthly New Jerusalem, in accordance to the prophecies which once mentioned a Millennial Kingdom of God, was a massive, sprawling but heavenly hive city, covering nearly four fifths of the Middle East, engulfing even the long cleansed ruins of New Babylon, with multiple, glass-like floors emerging from the ground, climbing to Earth's exosphere, and an underground support structure going to the bowels of earth. The city was inhabited by a completely Christian population. Newspapers weren't ridden with news about murders, robberies, although they weren't completely free of natural disasters, of disease and suffering, the times such were inflicted by other men were long gone, and people helped each other during times of hardship. There were no poor or rich, servants and masters, only brothers in worship of the Lord and of his son Jesus Christ, inheritors of a coming future.
"I fear that one day," the pondering man seemed to be in a day for discussing the matters of their past, "Satan shall try to take Earth back, and with no sign of our Lord's coming, how could we stand, how could we defend ourselves against Gog and Magog?"
Raising from his wooden chair, the man then slowly got himself up and looked to the skies:
"They are still there, dwelling through space, right now, with their damned slaves, searching for an innocent world to corrupt, to build their wicked tyranny, and if we only wait and pray, although we will be strong for the war of spirit, we will not be able to win the war of flesh."
"The dead worlds are given life by the Lord's works," the woman then replied him, mentioning many of the bodies of the solar system, renamed from pagan gods and old continents to the names of saints and prophets, "John, Peter's and Thadeus' Moons, all have faithful who inhabit them, and live in humility and simplicity, able to find happiness even in underwater settlements where they will never be able to see the light of the sun."
"But the demons," the man again interjected, "they can break the rules the Lord set for the Universe, and bypass the limits of the speed of light, arriving anywhere they curse at any time they wish to. If we don't react, they will soon overwhelm us in the world of matter, for the Lord no longer intervenes in non-spiritual affairs."
"John of Petersburg," she finally shifted her tone to a more serious, worrisome one, "we cannot use the tools of evil to fight against evil. Have faith John, that the Lord will protect us. Do not dwell into the workings of devils to fight against them."
"We have not created the Kingdom of God Manya," John answered her, still standing over the dirt of next to their simple cottage home. The people of New Jerusalem were not driven to material wealth and luxury, and lived humble but happy lives, "we have overthrown the satanic thrones of tyranny to create the Kingdom of Man, no longer influenced by evil, but only by our purest free will."
Molecular nanotechnology, longevity and anti-age cosmetic treatments, clinical immortality attempts, ambitious projects to upload minds to machines were long dismissed as "mockeries of the works of God" or "vanities", as desperate tries of heathens to escape divine judgment an sink their suffering in delusions of grandeur, and despite the fact the technologies existed to make such prideful seeking of imitating the Tree of Life possible, they refused to dwell into it, knowing that death was only a passageway to true life rather than a fatalistic end of existence. However, natural, cloned replacement limbs were far commonplace, contrasting with the total lack of human cloning, and made what once were considered miracles daily facts.
The blind ones could regain their vision, the handicap regain their limbs, cancer was a long forgotten nightmare, and only death could never be changed, but for most Prazinians, the resurrection was metaphorical, rather than literal. And despite their unwillingness to dwell into certain approaches that had the trappings of "playing God", like attempts of development sentient machines and nano-machines, there was no way to doubt that a golden age of prosperity, faith and technology has come to the world. Many of the technologies considered taboo were widely employed by the short-lasting kingdom of the Antichrist, and left forgotten for the ages to come, safeguarded in the vaults of the Inquisition, which role has greatly diminished since the enemies they were established to fight against: demons, have essentially left the planet.
Among such demonic technologies, lied the key to the successful retreat of the forces of darkness: faster-than-light travel, a long buried research that was perhaps more worrisome than all other forbidden and blasphemous technologies, for the only way of bypassing the laws of the earthly universe was by moving inside another realm, and considering the creators of such successful project, there were many founded suspicions about which realm was used by their infernal fleets to leave Sol.
"John!" Mania insisted for a last time, still sitting down, "do not dwell into the works of evil, into their sorceries against reality, or you might bring horrible consequences to our brothers."
"Much of the technology we currently use," he said, giving signs he was unwilling to discuss it further, "was adapted from the research of heathens, and we haven't fall into damnation because of them. I will meet with the Agora to discuss the opening of this project. Our generation ships will take far too long to explore and colonize other systems, if they succeed."
"Very well," Mania sighed, "I shall now attend to the orphan refugees of the North American nuclear wastelands, but think well about what you could open precedent for."
"I will pray for God to provide me guidance for the dark future our people may yet face. The battle against evil is not over yet." John answered, as he began to walk through the dirt patch, his cottage home gone and a large maglev train station appearing over the horizon: his destination. He knew that there was no other way to win against evil in the war of flesh.
-----------------------
20 years later
The HMS Peter of Patmos remained in its static inertia, astronomical units away from the closest orbital body, while inside one of its many rooms, the chapel of the spacecraft, a man knelt next to the holy cross, and began to pray, ignoring the sight of his own hands covered by massive black gloves, from which a brown wooden cross hanged, and of the thick black armor covering his forearms, signs of his duty to the brothers and to the Lord.
The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want.
"Engaging Warp Drive in Twenty Seconds..." a recorded female voice announced, indicating that the time of resolution was coming soon.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters
"Fusion reactor at maximum output", the voice continued to inform while the man prayed, shielding himself with faith from what could come from this maiden voyage through the unknown, the very unknown that their enemies resorted to.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake
"Blessed Field completed, shielding against demonic possessions at one hundred percent. Engaging Warp Drive in Ten Seconds" and thus, as a work of faith rather than science, their very hopes, discipline and resistance to temptation empowered their vessel to stand untainted from whatever could come.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
"Five, four, three," the counting became less clear as the crusader concentrated on his faith and devotion rather than on the fear of what they would face beyond, specially as he could hear the voice of a woman praying with him in spirit, a woman both gifted and cursed with the ability to see, hear, speak and intercede for both angels and demons, one of those who the seculars would call psychic, although for them, she was a seer, an individual who sacrificed worldly pleasures to strengthen resolve and live in faith and worship rather than seek of wealth, or even friends. For some intuition, they knew that to have her with them would be important.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemes; thou annointest my headwith oil; my cup runneth over
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. and I will dwell in the house of The Lord forever.
"Warp drive engaged," the time has come, and soon a creaking noise echoed through the halls and corridors of the spacecraft, as distant echoes of laughters, malice and hatred attempted to break their devotion and faith, and thus the signs made it clear the method of their enemies.
Kira would be the first to perceive where they arrived. Screams of agony, wailing and clenching of desperate souls began to assault her mind, as she knelt and began to pray, ignoring the demonic attempts to seize her, while trying to find immediately a form to return from such horrific universe. Demons began to surround their vessel, blocked only by their extreme faith and prayers, taunting and trying to break their faith in God and His son. Her throat sometimes constricted with their mere presence, but instead of falling easily, she continued praying, despite the horrors and suffering that were being inflicted into her soul.
John finally realized what he has done. He has chased the devil into his lair, into the depths of Hell itself, the medium through which demons allowed themselves to bypass the speed of light. Yet there was no cavernous halls with screaming souls and burning lava, or any rock, any ground, or anything in Hell that could resemble order. The evil spirits seemingly were inside a dimension of chaos, trying to twist their discipline, their order and their faith for their wicked purposes. Amidst the bridge of the HMS John of Patmos, he then spoke, as his voice was broadcast through every room of every man in prayer or activity:
"Brothers! Do not surrender to the darkness! For even unto the Valley of Hell, the Lord still watches and protect us. Do not fear, do not lax, only look at God and his angels, and they shall come even here to protect us."
The only barrier between the demonic legions and the logic, reality, order and compassion that made their vessels, their bodies and souls coherent was their faith, and thus, damnation would ensure, should at any moment a few of them wane in their devotion, specially Kira, who lied between the most devout of all of them, for her gift made of her the primary gateway to seize them.
Of course, it was not certain if such demons could damage their vessel physically rather than only try to damage their spirits. If they could, the situation could become far worse soon. With the Inquisition almost disbanded, there was no specialist in fighting against demons between them, and thus their fate depended not of their will and skills to fight, but of their faith, humility and devotion to God.
As the first, they have signaled Sol to other, probably twisted, wicked and decadent civilizations, who also used Hell as a medium of transportation. The future of the Kingdom of Man was now being decided by faith and chance alike.
(OOC: Yes... I decided to try it. I know it's far from perfect, but I hope this could prove interesting enough. Also, despite its name, FT Prazinia is a sort of Theocratic Democracy. This thread is of particular interest to those who have WH40k inspired FT NSes because... it's a Theocracy in a "Blessed Earth" with a hive city called New Jerusalem as its capital, and somehow their experiment with a Warp Drive made a huge beacon inside the Warp leading to their solar system.
And as for the real nature of their enemies, which obviously aren't from Chaos(although they still think the Immaterium is Hell), I won't spoil everything right now. Lets just say they are far more subtle than WH40k ones.)