Sermon 29

Ayem and Nerevar alighted upon the shores of the Sea of Ghosts. Vivec, sensitive to such things, arrived to greet them.

"Sister, I bring calamity."

And Ayem said, "This is your shape sister-brother, I cannot change it."

Then did Vivec unfold his right fist, upon his palm rested an orrery of geared suns.

The orrery spoke with Seht's voice, fine as steel splinters, "We are harbingers, sister. With you dancing in other lands, the Lord of Razors believes Veloth undefended, and marches on your temple-city."

And Ayem laughed. "Does he think me so limited? I stand watch at my High Fane even now."

But Nerevar was troubled. "Mistress, does the First Corner of the House of Troubles have cause for joy?"

And Ayem smiled. "Indeed, for soon he shall see the face of God."

Seht said, "He leads a great host, and strife is its banner."

And Ayem raised Kalabhaksa, making of it a light-refracting lens. Its gaze was long, and Ayem saw the Army of Seven Pennants, throwing up red rust in its wake. And before it rode Betrayal, mounted on a weeping spirit which resembled nothing.

"We must halt this cataclysm, lest it turn the land red."

And Vivec said, "ALMSIVI has many arms."

And Ayem bowed.

Thus did ALMSIVI stand outside the gates of Veloth. Seht led a horde of bronze-scaled war-servitors. They beat their chests, and great was the roar which issued forth. Vivec commanded his Buoyant Armigers, armoured in bone-meld and mirth. Nerevar rode with his Golden Legion, faces mirrors of his own, stoic, convicted.

And Ayem did stretch out her spirit, enclosing them. For she fought beside every men, she was his sword and spear, his shield, his faith.

Then did the Army of Seven Pennants crest the horizon. Winged hell-hounds carried hosts of lesser demons in their maw. They retched them upon Veloth, where they spread like fire-terror. Then came the charred skeletons, leaping, dancing. They were a flesh-eating plague given form. Betrayal sounded his warhorn, and the Pennants advanced in a bee-hum rush.

First came the legion of sins waiting to be discovered. They tempted the Velothi into destructive configurations, casting down four temples. Vivec walked among the sins, invisible. He made of them a catalogue, sealed it with scripture. He placed this upon the breastplates of all who fought for ALMSIVI. The sins lost their mystery, and thus their allure. They were then easily dispatched by the Golden Legion.

Thus was the First Pennant struck.

Second came the legion of beautiful women who hid rattle-snakes beneath their loincloths. And many were the Velothi who wept 'neath their tender ministrations. Seht appeared before the legion as a spear of iron, tall as a tower. The legion exposed its strange flesh. But the snakes broke their fangs upon Seht. Undone, the legion sought to flee, but the war-servitors penned it in. And the Creator transformed the demonesses into rust-weeping pillars. (They stand today in the Garden of Harmony, in Mournhold, if your faith needs evidencing.)

Thus was the Second Pennant struck.

Third came the legion of beloved friends who never kept secrets. They slithered amidst the Velothi, promising much, providing little. Soon, brother was set against sister, wife against husband, the bulwark of propriety collapsing. Vivec took mosquito form, flitting amongst the legion. He learnt many forbidden things through mere listening, and spread his findings far and wide. This violation set the legion to bickering, their formation faltered. The Buoyant Armigers proved the final distraction.

Thus was the Third Pennant struck.

Fourth came the legion of water spirits who knew only thirst. They drank rivers, swallowed lakes, and many Velothi died as dry husks. Seht had his war-servitors dig a great pit. The Creator then placed a drop of his oil-essence within it. The water spirits eagerly drank, but they could not contain it. They drank till their bellies swelled and they writhed in pain. The Golden Legions fell upon them then.

Thus was the Fourth Pennant struck.

Fifth came the legion of lonely souls born in the wrong age. Their wailing confused the Velothi into stupor, and they wandered, dazed, lost to the world. Vivec went to the legion, and offered himself. Some, he gave Muatra. Others, he pressed into his thigh. Yet there were those who wanted neither. For them Vivec made a pleasure-space the size of his fingernail. (This gem is the centrepiece of Vvanderfal's crown jewels.) The war-servitors then gathered up the lost Velothi, carrying them home.

Thus was the Fifth Pennant struck.

Sixth came the legion of laws for an imaginary realm. They leapt amongst the Velothi, maddening them with false-talk and endless exegesis on nonsense languages. Seht appeared to the laws as the formula for a constructed Universe. To the laws on his right, he meant one thing, those on his left saw differently. Unable to agree on the real fantasy, a law ignited a burning-word battle. Soon, faulty logic's blood and gore littered the ground. The Buoyant Armigers swept up the remains, placing them as relics in the Temple of False Thinking.

Thus was the Sixth Pennant struck.

Last came the legion of inverse mothers who birthed death. Great was the catastrophe they wrought. Velothi became bone-shapes, rats nested in their gaping jaws. Seeking to hold back death, the war-servitors formed a wall. Yet their sinews grew rusty, their gears ground to dust. Sword and spear availed nought. The Golden Legion was unmade, the Buyount Armigers silenced. Seht and Vivec appeared to Ayem.

"This is your domain," they said.

And Ayem threw down her cloak, becoming the Star in the World's Mouth. She stood before the inverse mothers as golden thunder.

"Come to me," she said, raising Kalabhaksa and assuming the first pose.

And the mothers drowned in Ayem's sea, were enwombed by her, becoming less, becoming all.

Thus was the Seventh Pennant struck.

And the blood of the vanquished became ink, forming a poem to ALMSIVI'S glory. This is truth, yes, this is truth.

The ending of the words is ALMSIVI.