Masada shall not Fall
Part One - The Kingdom of Judea, 35BC
How Far Jerusalem
The servitors were ordered by their Superiors to attend Michael at his headquarters in The Groves.One-by-one they walked through the trees towards Michael’s tent - accompanied by the clashing of swords as his servitors trained for battle incessantly practicing and honing their martial skills. Solo had a little trouble getting past the two cherubim guarding the tent, but eventually they were all assembled before the Archangel of War.
Michael, in his usual terse manner, laid the situation before them. Hell was up to something in the Middle East. He had been told by Yves that that area was of particular interest to Heaven at the current time and that he didn’t want any demonic trouble. The servitors were to find out what was going on and put a stop to it. He instructed them to contact Nicodemus the Scribe at the Great Temple in Jerusalem – and with a wave of his hand dismissed them. After brief discussions (and introductions) as they made their way out of the Groves, one by one the servitors descended for their first mission to the Corporeal realm.
Solo was first to arrive, his vessel being that of a dark-skinned giant of a warrior. As he stood at the foot of the steps of the Temple he suddenly realised he didn’t know what any of the others corporeal vessels looked like. The throng of humanity passing him by, he looked about helplessly. He was rescued by the approach of a wiry, well dressed man, who looked up at him and said – “You have to be Solo, I’m Cartiel!” As the two angels made their way into the entrance to the temple, their senses were assaulted by their surroundings - the throngs of people; the smell of animals, the cries of the vendors and, as they approached the doorways, the mingled scents of incense and burning flesh as sacrifices were offered.
Inside the Temple, Magda, her vessel a dark-haired woman with an
athletic build, quickly found Jude - whos vessel was dressed in the
rich robes and bore the beard and ringlets of a scribe. They easily
found Alisha - a small woman - by the expedient of looking through the
crowd for someone constantly moving agitatedly in
typical ofanite fashion. The three angels together found their other two comrades still standing in the entrance. Cartiel was looking about confusedly, while Solo stood stoically next to him. Approaching them they discovered the reason for Cartiel's confusion - for some reason he couldn’t perceive Solo and all he could smell was sulphur. They quickly concluded there had been some kind of infernal Intervention, but conscious of their primary mission, the servitors decided to press on. Jude led them dierctly to the scribes area, where Magda asked one of the older scribes where they might find Nicodemus.
Nicodemus seemed somewhat shocked at their approach – not to mention scandalised that two women had entered the inner part of the Temple. He hastily took them out into the street, where they explained their business. The scribe then ushered them through the busy streets of Jerusalem to his home across the city.
Once safely indoors he offered them food and drinks and explained the situation. He ran a network of agents across the southrn part of Judea on behalf of Heaven. Increasingly he was worried that somehting major was happening, for months he had been getting worrying reports of large numbers of men of ill-repute heading southward. On several occasions he had even had reports of large groups of heavily armed men, moving mainly at night, and then disappearing into the desert.
He told them that his agent in Hebron – Simon - had reported once such large group only two days ago. He promised the servitors a map, and a letter of introduction to Simon, which would be ready the following morning. In the meantime he suggested they rest and take rooms at a nearby inn.
Before First Light
Next morning after breaking their fast, the servitors headed back to the house of Nicodemus. The Scribe was waiting for them, and with him was Yoshiel, a servitor Michel he'd sent to join their party. Nicodemus gave them a map of the area and a letter of introduction to Simon the Potter in Hebron.Cartiel went off to buy supplies for the trip - finding his fame growing as his role integrated into the symphony to such an extent that people were recognising him in the street! About mid-morning, the Alisha and Yosiel leading the way (and at pace) , they set out through the Golden Gate in the east wall of the city, heading south-east on the dusty road to Hebron.
They arrived in Hebron - the ancient burial place of Abraham - as the sun was setting. As the cooling evening breeze rose, they passed through the groves of olives surrounding the town and through the gates in the great walls. Cartiel stopped a passer-by and ask directions to an inn in the town. receiving directions, he invited the man to join them for the evening meal. As they walked, they chatted to the local, getting what information they could. The inn was a new building fashioned after the roman-style of inn. It quickly transposed that Cartiel's fame had reached the town and his permission to perform for the crowd was eagerly accepted by the inn-keeper. As Cartiel started his performance -which would be talked about in the town for years to come - word quickly spread and the inn was soon full to bursting! While the crowd appreciated the cherub's singing with raucous cheers, the other passed amongst the crowd asking questions - in particular where they might find the house of Simon the Potter.
Later that evening after things had quietened down, despite the late hour, Yoshiel, Alisha and Solo decided to head out to visit Simon. They found his wife, Sarah, alone in the house - anxiously waiting her husband's return. She told the angels that he had set out the night before heading for an oasis in the desert some five miles away, but he had not returned. After speaking to Sarah for some time and reassuring her they would try to find Simon, they quickly hurried back to the inn. Rousing, Magda, Jude and Cartiel they set off from the town heading off into the wilderness.
Arriving at the oasis a couple of hours later, they found it little more than a stone well, surrounded by a few scrubby trees - they also found it occupied by a group of seven men and horses. As they approached through the darkness, one of the men called out to them in a language none could understand. Magda quickly performed the Corporeal song of Tongues on herself and Cartiel. Whereupon they were able to understand the challenge from the watchman. Assuring him they meant no harm they entered the camp and settled down by the campfire.
The men were Persians and were obviously not peaceful merchants! Solo used his resonance to discover the watchman was a most definitely not a man of honour! As they settled down for the night, watched warily buy the Persians, Jude took the opportunity to attune himself to one of their horses. On the pretext of relieving themselves, Cartiel and Alisha quickly searched the area looking for signs of Simon - in the darkness however they could find nothing.
Next morning, as the sun was rising the Persians, gathered their gear and rode off into the wilderness to the south. Left alone, the servitors spent the day searching the area thoroughly for signs of Simon. It took them most of the day traversing the area between the oasis and the outskirts of Hebron, but eventually they found the tracks of Simon's mule where he had turned south to follow a group of horsemen. After a quick discussion they decided to follow.
Guessing that the Persians they had met the night before were heading in the same direction, Jude used his resonance to guide them as the route-marched through the wilderness about 30 miles. Just as the sun was rising, they saw before them camped beneath a large mesa a huge encampment. As the sun rose higher they watched the activity in the campo it quickly became clear this was a military encampment. It was also clear as they observed, judging by differing clothing and armours, that the army appeared to be a mercenary one composed of troops of may different nationalities. However it was clear form the drills being undertaken that this was no disorganised rabble.
Jude spotted what appeared to be a command tent sheltered in the shade of the mesa. In front of the tent a wasted human figure hung. Fearing this might be the unfortunate Simon, the angels decided they needed to get a better vantage point - they spent most of the rest of that day working their way around the foothills to the back of the mesa and began climbing up.
Les Morts Dansant
Only Solo and Yoshi reached the top of the mesa, the others found the climb too difficult. On the top of the mesa they could see there was two watch posts looking out over the desert to the north and south. Fortunately for the servitors they had managed to avoid being spotted by the guards as they had climbed at night. The other thing they spotted from their new vantage point was that the army sprawled round this side of the mesa as well. On a conservative estimate there were at least 8000 men camped out there in the desert! Climbing back down the steep walls of the mesa they rejoined the others for a hurried conference. They now knew what was going on but not why - nor did they have any idea how they were going to stop it!Frustrated by their lack of progress, Alisha was determined to try and rescue Simon, and proposed several increasingly desperate plans for getting him out of the encampment. Meanwhile, Yoshi decided to climb the mountain to the west to see if things looked better from that side. While the Ofanim was off climbing, Cartiel decided to try entering the camp posing as a wandering entertainer, and accompanied by Solo made his way round to where the first encampment they had seen was.
Alisha followed surreptitiously at a distance and watched on in horror as, when the two approached the camp, they were met by a hail of arrows from the guards! Cartiel went down swiftly, with an arrow to the forehead. Solo charged into the guards, fists swinging, but even the giant malakim eventually succumbed to the force of numbers. Watching from the shadows, Alisha realised that it would be hopeless for her to intervene and sneaked off to report back to the others. Manifesting in Heaven, Solo trudged off to David’s cathedral to see if he could convince the archangel to fashion a new vessel for him. Cartiel was traumatised by the loss of his first vessel sat mutely by his Heart, unable to rouse himself to any action.
The surviving servitors decided that they really needed more intelligence - that night, Alisha resolved to try and sneak into the camp. Managing to bypass the guards, she managed to get fairly close to the huge command tent. However as she got close she felt a huge disturbance in the Symphony and decided not to risk getting any closer. She spent the night in the camp, wrapped in a stolen blanket trying to be inconspicuous, listening to the chatter of the soldiers. Although she couldn’t understand much that was said, apart for a few campfires where they spoke in Aramaic, one word she did pick out repeated again and again in conversations whatever the language was the word “fanā”.
Meanwhile, in Heaven, after securing an interview with David, some two days hence, Solo returned to earth in his alternate vessel – a hawk – and began the long flight from the Great Temple to the shores of the Dead Sea. Rejoining the others, he flew over the camp, risking a swift pass over the unconscious Simon to confirm he was still alive. Once Alisha returned and shared what she had learned, Magda decided to ascend back to heaven to consult the Library of Yves to see if she could track down any reference to the word “fanā”.
After the Elohite ascended, the others held a discussion on what they should do next. Cartiel’s plan to infiltrate the camp hadn’t worked out so well, but perhaps if they tried again, this time disguised as soldiers come to join the camp it might work better - they would head north back towards the oasis to intercept the next likely looking group and relieve them of their horses arms and equipment. It took a couple of days to locate a likely group – seven Scythian warriors on ponies - during which time Solo took a side trip back to Heaven for his appointment with David, managing to secure a replacement vessel – albeit with a touch of discord as punishment for throwing the first away needlessly. Meanwhile Cartiel had managed to emerge from Trauma and secured an audience with Novalis. The archangel rebuked him (nicely) for being careless with his first vessel, handed him a daisy, and created another for him.
The ambush went off without a hitch, Yoshi using the Song of Thunder to stun the riders and then the others swarming-in – Solo in his new vikingesqe vessel making short work of four of them . In short order the seven Scythians were relieved of their gear and trussed up. Returning to the oasis they found Cartiel, in his new vessel, waiting. In the Library, Magda finaly fopuind what she was looking for "Fanā" was the Persian word for "annihilation". She also discovered that the word came from the name of an ancient would-be demon Prince who was normally kept locked up and restrained in Hell because of the extreme enthusiasm of the way he embraced his Word!
Hit and Run
The servitors spent some time in the oasis practising with
the arms and equipment they’d liberated from the Scythians – and more
importantly perhaps familiarising themselves with their horses! Before they set
off to head back to the army, Magda, on behalf of Yoshiel, sent an update to
Michael using the Celestial song of Tongues.As they neared the camp, Magda cast the Corporeal song of Tongues on herself and Cartiel and the others were given instructions not to speak. They rode boldly up to the camp and when challenged by the guards and asked if they had come to join the Great Purge, they answered in the affirmative. They were directed first to the mess-tent and then to a space where they could set up camp. After checking there were no other Scythians nearby, who might blow their cover, Solo, Yoshiel, Alisha and Jude began setting up camp. Magda and Cartiel wandered round, tiring to pick up what intelligence they could. As they wandered it was clear that the composition of the army was even more disparate than they had suspected, there were men (and warrior women) from all across the fringes of the Empire and not a few from within it. Despite the hodgepodge of languages and cultures, all seemed united in a common purpose – the Great Purge, whatever that was!
Back at the camp, Jude noted that some of the men had red cloths tied rounds their left arms which appeared to denote officers, who were – fairly brutally – maintaining some semblance of order in the camp. They spent the day trying to fit in, being inconspicuous, and learning what they could. They also managed to discover that, somehow, Simon was still alive!
That night, to the beating of drums and the sounding of horns, the army was assembled in front of the large tent on the edge of the mesa. On the stroke of midnight, a nine-foot tall, hugely muscled figure, clad in gleaming armour emerged from the tent and addressed the troops to enormous cheers . The servitors recoiled instinctively, this could be no normal mortal, and must be the renegade demon prince – Fana - himself. As he launched into a rousing speech, the servitors could feel the general euphoria washing over them and were carried away in the moment, finding themselves joining in the cheers and shouts and the general announced the Great Purge – which basically seemed to be riding out and killing everyone in their path - would be launched at the next new moon. This was the general signal for the dismissal of the army and the camp degenerating into drinking and general debauchery, in which the angels found themselves participating enthusiastically. Next morning, discovering the novelty of the effects of a hangover on their vessels, the angels realised that they had been subjected to the Celestial song of Charm. They decided to ride out into the desert where they could discuss their next move more freely.
Sitting round in a circle, they hatched a plan. They discussed several plans to disrupt the Great Purge all of which were dismissed as unworkable. They all agreed they were out of their league and would need help. After sending another message to Michael, courtesy of Magda, Yoshiel and Jude suggested they head back to Jerusalem and inform Herod. The king, still relatively unstable on his throne, was unlikely to pleased at the news of an army massing in the southern part of the kingdom; and unlike the servitors, he had access to an army of his own!
Before they departed however, they resolved to rescue the unfortunate Simon. That night, protected by Magda casting the Celestial song of Shields Yoshiel would go celestial and passing through the rock of the mesa, emerge behind Simon. He would then use the Celestial song of Motion to teleport Simon from his bonds to a nearby gully where Solo (in his hawk vessel) and Alisha would be waiting with horses. Magda and Cartiel would remain in the camp to ensure all went well before heading out into the desert and meeting up with Jude who would have taken the rest of the horses out into the desert.
Most of the plan went without a hitch – until they were making their getaway, when they suddenly realised they hadn’t actually arranged where they were to meet Jude with the other horses! Fortunately, courtesy of some divine intervention, Solo was able to round everyone up and get them together.
Kingdom of Madness
After dropping off Simon at home and asking him to inform the local governor of the threat from the army in the wilderness, the servitors decided to head back to Jerusalem via Heaven. Thier attempts to contact Michael to report in were however frustrated by the heavenly bureaucracy and they were unable to secure an audience. While Magda and Jude waited for him outside the Library of Yves, Cartiel did manage to secure another audience with Novalis - for two days hence.Solo and Alisha were first to return to earth - unfortunately neither of them could quite remember where Nicodemus lived, and their attempts to enter the Great Temple to contact him while dressed as Scythian warriors proved futile at best. Eventually the others joined them on earth, and Cartiel finally managed to make contact with Nicodemus and arrange to meet at sunset. The servitors took advantage of the time to trade-in their Scythian disguises for more inconspicuous garb. As the sun set that evening, they sat round Nicodemus's table at dinner, discussing their next move.
Herod, having so recently seized the throne from Antigonus, (and being an unstable character generally) was not secure on the throne. and the unstable king was sure to react unfavourably to news of an army massing in the Southern Wilderness. Nicodemus seemed dubious about their plans to contact Herod, informing him that he suspected the king was a Soldier of Hell.
With this new information, the servitors briefly discussed the possibility of heading to Antioch and contacting the Roman governor of Syria, Lucius Munatius Plancus, however they eventually decided that Antioch was too remote and they reverted to their original plan. Cartiel was the sole dissenting voice, feeling the plan had too great a potential for violence. He requested that the others held of until he had spoken to Novalis - to which the others agreed.
Next morning, Alisha decided to head back to Hebron to check the situation there. Cartiel ascended to Heaven for his appointment. His meeting with Novalis was rather unsatisfactory, the Archangel seemed distracted and ultimately advised him that he must follow his conscience and if no other way was possible them sometimes violence was needful. In Hebron, Alisha found the shocking news that Simon had been murdered, along with his wife Sarah, and their house burned to the ground. She also found out that the town governor Marcellus had left for Jerusalem the previous day. Keen to share this news with her friends, the ofanite did not rest her horse, but began to walk back to Jerusalem immediately.
That evening they reconvened at Nicodemus's house and were joined by Cartiel on his return from Heaven. The news of Simon's murder gave them renewed impetus, however Cartiel was still troubled by the plans. Next morning, news of another killing was brought to them by Nicodemus on his return from the market - Marcellus and his entire household had been slaughtered the night before! For Solo, this confirmed his suspicion that agents of Fanā were at large in the city and, hefting his battleaxe, he began prowling the streets looking for cultists.
Cartiel and Jude separately made their way to the palace of Herod - unfortunately the palace was locked-down following the murder of Marcellus, however both left messages that they had important information. Jude advised he could be found at Nicodemus's house, where Cartiel left word he could be contacted in the Garden of Gethsemane and went to wait there. A couple of hours later he was approached by a man called Jacob who identified himself as a servant of the king. As they sat in the garden, Cartiel related the tale of the army in the wilderness. Jacob expressed his thanks and asked that he not leave town. Around the same time a squad or Roman soldiers arrived at Nicodemus's house to escort Jude to the palace. Jude was asked to wait in a side room before being interviewed. Jude, unlike Cartiel, actually mentioned the name Fanā, and noted that Jacob seemed to react to the name. After the interview Jacob told him that he appreciated the urgency of the information, mentioned that he had corroboration, and would try and arrange an audience with the king as soon as possible.
Jude returned to Nicodemus's house and compared notes with Cartiel - they quickly realised they had both been interviewed by the same man. The asked Nicodemus if he knew of this Jacob, Nicodemus informed them he was one of Herod's advisers, he had brought from Rome and he believed him to be the head of Herod's secret police. Mindful of what had happened to Simon, and fearful they had compromised Nicodemus and his family, the Servitors suggested the scribe leave town. That night Solo and Alisha stood watch over Nicodemus's house, particularly after Magda detected a disturbance in the symphony suggesting someone was using the Ethereal song of Form nearby.
Next morning, after escorting Nicodemus and his family out of the city, Jude and Cartiel prepared for their audience with Herod. The audience went well, the king reacting furiously to news of the army on his southern border. Throughout the audience Jude noted that Jacob appeared to be prompting the king. However the prompting seemed to be in their favour and in the end the king ordered his legions to march. Again at Jacob's prompting, he asked that Cartiel and Jude prepare to accompany the army, which would depart two days hence.
The Battle
The servitors spent the next couple of days making preparations to join the legions as they marched. The whole city was in an uproar, as Herod prepared for war. Magda spent some time wandering the streets, listening to the mortals, attempting to pick up any additional information, but apart from wild speculation there seemed little of import. Most of the citizens seemed to think that the army had been raised by Antigonus’ faction. Cartiel spent some time with the flower that Novalis had given him, ascertaining that it was a celestial artefact containing the Songs of Truth.
A couple of days later, in a great procession, Herod set out. The king, in gold-embossed armour, led the column, surrounded by his household guards. The Servitors joined the army’s baggage train and the whole circus met up with the assembled legions camped outside the city. They spotted Jacob, who rode some distance behind the king, his subdued garb rendering him inconspicuous in the crowd of servants and hangers-on.
The army made good time, arriving outside the walls of Hebron just as the sun set. While Jude, Yoshiel, Magda and Cartiel busied themselves setting up camp, Alisha headed into Hebron finding little change in the last couple of days. Solo meanwhile headed for the Cave of Abraham, and at the ancient tether, invoked his archangel, asking him for advice. David advised somewhat archly, that they should ensure they had sufficient backup in place should things go wrong!
Returning to the camp, he told the others what David had advised. They discussed what appropriate backup they could arrange and eventually decided that Yoshiel should attempt to contact Michael again. The ofanite duly headed off to the nearby tether and ascended to Heaven – securing an interview with Michael for the following day.
Next morning the army set off, again making good time, they camped in the wilderness about 25 miles away from the mesa in the desert. As the camp settled down for the night and the legionaries began building their field fortifications, Jude decided to pay a visit to Jacob. Arriving at the advisors tent, he was ushered in as if he’d been expected. Jude and the sheddite enjoyed a long and somewhat tortuous discussion, where they verbally fencing with each other and eventually reached an implied agreement that the interests of Heaven and Hell coincided at this time. Yoshiel meanwhile ascended to Heaven, and meeting with Michael, arranged for the archangel to clear his diary for the following day!
That night led by Jude, the servitors decided to strike out on their own, they would get to the mesa and disable the watchtowers. Sneaking out of the camp, they ran through the desert, making their way to the mountain next to the mesa, Taking celestial form they flew up to the summit where they could overlook the army. As the dawn sun rose, they could see that the two camps had been struck, with the exception of the command tent, and the Army of the Great Purge was assembling on the plain – they obviously knew exactly what was coming.
Abandoning their plan to disable the watchtowers, as it was obviously pointless, the servitors decided to watch and wait. Alisha detoured back to the camp with a message from Jude for Jacob, but found only a particularly obstructive guard. She left the message with the guard and headed back. Early that afternoon, the legions arrived, and the two armies prepared for battle. With a crash the two forces met – Fanā’s cavalry crashing ferociously into the serried ranks of the legions. Unable to contain herself, Yoshiel went celestial and flew down to join the fray!
Solo, spotting fire breaking out in the legions camp, guessed that Fanā had despatched troops to loop round and attack the roman camp, he decided to head on over their and see what was happening. Jude, Alisha, Cartiel and Magda flew down in celestial form to Fanā’s tent. Alisha didn’t hang about but decided to head off to the roman camp as well. Cartiel, hid behind the tent and assumed corporeal form, he tried to fast-talk his way past the guards, but the guards – both wearing red rags around their arms were having none of it, both drawing swords and attacking. Jude and Magda both went corporeal to help their friend. Unfortunately none of them were fighters, and quickly found themselves in trouble faced with two calabim. Forced to retreat, his vessel saved only by a celestial intervention, Cartiel took celestial form and hovered over the battlefield. Jude and Magda also took celestial form, and fled the calabim to join the others in the roman encampment.
At the back of the battle Yoshiel desperately sought the red insignia they believed signified demons in the army – to her surprise she could see none. There did not appear to be any demons in the army, only mortals. That was because all the demons were busy attacking the roman encampment, primarily cutting their way through to Herod’s tent. Solo had joined with the king’s bodyguard fighting a valiant rearguard action. Alisha was first to join him, taking corporeal form and using her bow to attempt to hold off the assault.
Back on the battlefield, although in the thick of things, Yoshiel sensed that somehow something had changed – and not in the angel’s favour. High above the field in celestial form, Cartiel could see what had changed. Fanā had taken a personal hand in the battle! Manifesting near the roman general and killing him and his bodyguard, be began carving his way through the legionaries in a welter of gore. As if the carnage cased by his great battleaxe wasn’t enough he was using the Corporeal song of Annihilation to literally detonate ranks of legionaries. The battle was now definitely turning against the legions. Getting word to Yoshiel, the Ofanite decided the time was right to rebalance the equation and invoked Michael. The archangel, accompanied by two Malakim dressed in full Roman armour, appeared. The Malakim immediately took command of the legionaries, while Michael headed straight for Fanā!
Back in the camp, things were not going so well, Herod was running out of bodyguards and despite Solo’s best efforts there were still over 30 of Fanā’s calabim remaining. As the calabim squared up for another charge, Solo ordered the surviving bodyguards into the tent to protect the king. Alisha flew off to one side, so she could attack the calabim from the flank as they charged. Solo stood valiantly against the assault, but his vessel could only take so much, he managed to slay 15 of them before his vessel collapsed - riddled with arrows. Just at that point Magda and Jude arrived. Jude took up position outside the tent drawing his dagger, while Alisha picked off another couple of calabim. Magda went inside the tent, still celestial she used her resonance on the king sensing that although he was heading towards his appointed fate that it was not due for many years and he had much to do in the meantime - she used the Celestial song of Tongues to call on Yoshiel for help.
Back on the battlefield, the course of battle ebbed an flowed around the titanic battle between Michael and Fanā. Yoshiel, getting the message from Magda used the Corporeal song of Motion to fly over the battlefield. She arrived just as the remaining calabim rallied for a final charge. Swiftly the ofanite cast the Song of Thunder, breaking up the charge in disarray, Jude and Alisha quickly moved forward, destroying the vessels of the stunned calabim. The king was safe – for the moment.
Back above the battlefield Cartiel watched the mammoth conflict between Michael and Fanā, suddenly he saw a slight figure emerge from the throng of battle behind Fanā – it was Jacob. Almost casually the sheddite slipped a glowing dagger under the plates of the demon’s armour, before slipping back into the melee. Fanā staggered and Michael took advantage - redoubling his efforts he beat the would-be demon Prince down to the ground. As they saw their invincible leader fall defeated, the soldiers nearby started to break off the fight. Their leader down and their demonic officers not present, it swiftly became a rout as the Army of the Great Purge disintegrated into a fleeing rabble.
In the aftermath of the battle, the servitors were instructed by Michael to return to Heaven and report to their Superiors. The last thing they saw as they left the corporeal realm was the somewhat incongruous sight of the archangel deep in conversation with Jacob and Herod.