01-11-2015, 03:24 PM
The room was still and silent save for the tick of the clock, its soft sound like the echo of feet on winding stone stairs, ascending an infinite tower. Each beat, each step, slowed his heart until it too beat in time, as he ascended the Bhutanese meditation tower of the Chong Ran discipline. Each step shaved off layers to his awareness. He ceased being aware of the weight of his clothes or even where his body ended and the air began.
His body was gone now. Only his spirit remained, an infinite void before him. He stretched out like a god and gave it form. Everything in the void began to coalesce into shelves of books and tables, artifacts and tablets. The soft leather chair took form as did the odors of old manuscripts and aged wood. His offices beneath the Vatican sprung into being, though more cavernous and filled than even his literal one. It was here that he kept his true library, here where he went to study and commune.
He gave himself form and sat down in his chair, the soft leather the work of an artisan. It was here that he came to meditate, the Platonic reality beyond the cave walls.
Another chair sprung into being, and on it the form of Regus Wijngaard. Regus did not allow him to speak. Instead a catalog of the man's actions ran through his mind, his softness. One by one, he summoned the next Regus, analyzed his course, sifted through the successes and failures until came the Regus Joseph of Alexandria. It had been in his reign that Pope Sylvester and he had become allies, the Atharim and the Holy Church two hands of God to carry out his will. But that had come at a price. Atharim scattered into cells and enclaves, autonomous in so many ways. He did not judge the Regus. At that time, for the good of the 'Remnant' it had been necessary. It had saved them. But just as the Regus Joseph has changed the Atharim to save them, it was up to him, the current Regus, to chart a new course.
Finally, came Iscariot himself. The Regus peered into his long dead eyes. A man who loved mankind so much that he gave up what he loved to save them. The betrayal of Jesus of Nazareth had torn at him, even as his writings in his personal Gospel testified. But Apollyon was coming. The world would break. The Age would stop. It had to be done.
The man smiled at him and nodded, one brother to another across the centuries and millenia. Apollyon was here. The Abomination of Daniel walked the earth. The ending approached. The Remnant had to be strong.
It began today. Deliberately, he allowed his study to begin to mist until the infinite void returned. He summoned stairs and began descending. Soon he became aware of the sound of his heartbeat, then that of his steps on the stone. He became aware of where his body ended and the air began, the feel of the cloth on his skin. The sound of the clock ticking. He opened his eyes, refreshed. Light pierce the curtains of his room. Morning had come.
Quietly, he readied himself, until he stood in front of his mirror, his long black robe over his tunic. He draped the red sash down his right shoulder. then slipped the silken cord into the folds. It was complete. He was The Regus Armande Nicodemus.
Stepping out into the hallway, he made his way to the large chamber far beneath Baccarat Mansion. Once a secret ballroom bathed in expensive earthy woods, it would now serve the Atharim's new purpose. Entering an ornate side room, he waited as the Atharim gathered in the main hall. Martin would join him soon, letting him know everyone had come.
It would begin.
(OOC: All attending Atharim are free to post their attendance for the soon to start convocation.)
Edited by Regus, Jan 11 2015, 05:48 PM.
His body was gone now. Only his spirit remained, an infinite void before him. He stretched out like a god and gave it form. Everything in the void began to coalesce into shelves of books and tables, artifacts and tablets. The soft leather chair took form as did the odors of old manuscripts and aged wood. His offices beneath the Vatican sprung into being, though more cavernous and filled than even his literal one. It was here that he kept his true library, here where he went to study and commune.
He gave himself form and sat down in his chair, the soft leather the work of an artisan. It was here that he came to meditate, the Platonic reality beyond the cave walls.
Another chair sprung into being, and on it the form of Regus Wijngaard. Regus did not allow him to speak. Instead a catalog of the man's actions ran through his mind, his softness. One by one, he summoned the next Regus, analyzed his course, sifted through the successes and failures until came the Regus Joseph of Alexandria. It had been in his reign that Pope Sylvester and he had become allies, the Atharim and the Holy Church two hands of God to carry out his will. But that had come at a price. Atharim scattered into cells and enclaves, autonomous in so many ways. He did not judge the Regus. At that time, for the good of the 'Remnant' it had been necessary. It had saved them. But just as the Regus Joseph has changed the Atharim to save them, it was up to him, the current Regus, to chart a new course.
Finally, came Iscariot himself. The Regus peered into his long dead eyes. A man who loved mankind so much that he gave up what he loved to save them. The betrayal of Jesus of Nazareth had torn at him, even as his writings in his personal Gospel testified. But Apollyon was coming. The world would break. The Age would stop. It had to be done.
The man smiled at him and nodded, one brother to another across the centuries and millenia. Apollyon was here. The Abomination of Daniel walked the earth. The ending approached. The Remnant had to be strong.
It began today. Deliberately, he allowed his study to begin to mist until the infinite void returned. He summoned stairs and began descending. Soon he became aware of the sound of his heartbeat, then that of his steps on the stone. He became aware of where his body ended and the air began, the feel of the cloth on his skin. The sound of the clock ticking. He opened his eyes, refreshed. Light pierce the curtains of his room. Morning had come.
Quietly, he readied himself, until he stood in front of his mirror, his long black robe over his tunic. He draped the red sash down his right shoulder. then slipped the silken cord into the folds. It was complete. He was The Regus Armande Nicodemus.
Stepping out into the hallway, he made his way to the large chamber far beneath Baccarat Mansion. Once a secret ballroom bathed in expensive earthy woods, it would now serve the Atharim's new purpose. Entering an ornate side room, he waited as the Atharim gathered in the main hall. Martin would join him soon, letting him know everyone had come.
It would begin.
(OOC: All attending Atharim are free to post their attendance for the soon to start convocation.)
Edited by Regus, Jan 11 2015, 05:48 PM.