------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Logged by Elizabeth November (?), 2000, edited for format by Taisch ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Summary: Oleana is tormented by her failures as a demon, seeks redemption at the Abbey, where Elizabeth helps her rebirth into the service of the Lord. Tennin V'dhaka offers to mentor her into the order of the Ophanim. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Participants: Elizabeth Oleana An interesting creature no doubt. This being stands at about 6 feet high, looking to be a bit.. mad. As you look over it you do notice the creature has some female qualities like breasts, lack of 'shown' genitalia and thick slimy strands of red hair. The she-demon, compared to her look, does have some beautiful qualities to her. She is covered with beautiful emerald scales that covers all over her body except a small patch around her belly button which remains and looks human. Her eyes look to be two sapphires, embedded into her face as if two jewels stuck in a statues eyes. Extended from her knuckles of both hands are a pair of claws, sharp thick shards of what appears to be perhaps glass or diamond which do not look to have seen any 'action' All in all, this creature is a contradiction to itself. Carrying: a long serrated sword cloak Tennin V'dhaka The figure before you stands 7.5 ft tall, and is clothed in garments seeming to have been woven from the sky itself, pitched in cimmerian, and studded with darkly hued jewels of red, black, blue, green, and purple. His raiments possess an Asiatic influence, tapestried in a long, sleeveless silken jacket, leggings, tabi boots, and elbow to knuckle wrapped gloves. On the back of the jacket is emblazoned a midnight Chinese dragon. His complexion is that of star sapphires, and his eyes are burning embers of blood. His face and head are hidden behind black wrappings, but if revealed show a terse, demonic visage, fangs of gleaming silver - four onyx horns angle out from beneath the cloths. His wings are sharp and angular, a hybrid of pitch membraned vanes and deep hued feathers, at times seeming both metallic and crystalline in nature. On his back is leather sheathed an ominous blade, a composite of obsidian reinforced with a venadium-titanium alloy, the hilt of cobalt night. Onyx talons grace his fingers, and his muscles flex in the anticipation of battle. Carrying: Quartz Crystal Sphere Obsidian Sphere Sepulchral Shroud Combat Knife Victor ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Gates Of Wormwood Abbey Before you rise two black wrought-iron gates, seemingly left over from some long lost villa or mansion from the days before The End. They are set into an white adobe arch and above them hangs a wooden crucifix, for here stands the last bastion of the light on earth. Behind these gates, a small community of monks, nuns, laybrothers and laysisters make their homes. You can see cloaked figures going about their daily tasks quietly, while in the background you hear chants and prayers. The overall atmosphe= re is one of serenity, a small sanctuary from the violence outside. A pai= r of novices stand at attention behind the gates, regarding you calmly. * Please check out: +view here/OOC-sign * Contents: Oleana Novice Obvious exits: Into The Abbey To The Plains ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Elizabeth, a plain, scruffy-looking teenage girl, is sitting outside the Abbey gates working on a pair of mocassins. She sits absorbed in concentration as she stitches together by hand the tanned leather, evidently the skin of some sort of beast. Slowly walking away from the plains towards the Abbey, the Demoness Oleana appears, long clawed arms hanging limply at her sides and close to the ground as she moves, her body slightly hunched over forward. The girl looks up from her work. Her green eyes widen at the approaching sight, and her body tenses subtly. "Hello?.." she asks quietly, hands suspended in motion in mid-stitch, in the wary, waiting attitude of a squirrel. Oleana looks up at the girl for a brief moment before falling onto her knees, "Leave me to my misery!" she hisses, red tears forming at the corners of her eyes, "Don't stare at me in this state!" Elizabeth blinks softly, still quietly on the alert. "I'm sorry.." she murmurs. She seems to remember she's holding the half-finished shoe, and sets it down on the sandy ground. Silence covers her for a moment as she closes her eyes with a worried look, mumbling an inward prayer. At last a tentative question, "Is something the matter?" Oleana brings her claw up, trying to cover her eyes as she cries, "I am tired of my existance.. I'm tired of being used and hate what I am!" she really is pathetic now, her whining, crying, it's just.. pathetic, "I can't eat humans.. I can't murder innocence, I can't do anything!" The girl's expression softens. Her shoe is set aside and forgotten as she studies the scaly, shiny form of the weeping Demoness. "I'm sorry," she says again. ".. That you're so unhappy, I mean," she hastens to add. Oleana continues to sob, "Why was I created without the heart to do evil?" She looks up at the sky, "Why am I to be damned when I have not done anything to damn myself!" she shouts, "God why!" Elizabeth blinks some more. "You are Damned and do not wish to be, er, Miss?" she asks softly. A rather obvious inference, but perhaps it will yield clarification. She is sitting near the Abbey gates where she's been working on a new pair of mocassins, but has forgotten them in the excitement of meeting the strange sobbing creature before her. Oleana sniffles slightly, looking at Elizabeth with her sad emerald eyes, "If I had to take mans sins on my shoulder like Jesus did I would just to escape this torment of my heart and soul. How it hurts to be confined in this evil body.. this evil soul when I harm none.." she looks up at the sky, "Why am I stuck.." Tennin V'dhaka looks up from where he has been observing the young demoness over the previous day's time, and tilts his head, seeming intrigued by her words Swallowing a bit, Elizabeth screws up her nerve to inch forward to the Demoness. "Well... Miss, if you don't want to be that way anymore.. maybe I can help you." She timidly holds out her small hand to Oleana's scaly, clawed one. "I'm Elizabeth." Oleana blinks slightly as Elizabeth offers her hand to Oleana, "I.. How can you help me.." she says, sniffling as she offers her claw to Elizabeth, "My misery.. there is no escape from..?" Tennin V'dhaka starts towards Oleana and Elizabeth, uncertain he likes what he sees as the demones was gruff to him the previous eve, keeping a careful eye on their exchange It takes an effort for this shy, withdrawn girl to introduce herself to one of her own kind, so it may seem strange that she finds the courage to shake hands with the bizarrely-gleaming Demoness.. especially with those claws. Nevertheless, the girl speaks in a peaceful and quiet manner. "There is hope for everyone, Miss -- from God. If you seek the Good in your heart, evil cannot keep you captive." Oleana looks down, "I've been Satan's slave for too long.. but God could never hear my plees for help.. I am a demoness, I am not of his making. " she gives a slight shake of her head, a tendril of thick, sticky hair flops over her shoulder, "And to return to hell would mean my destruction." Tennin V'dhaka strides up more or less towards Oleana, commenting in a disbelieving discredulous manner, "So you would not speak to me, an apparent kin to your specific breed of demon, as you wish to turn your back on Hell and embrace the Living Word?" The green eyes of Elizabeth widen, but their expression becomes only more gentle. "You are a Demon who has never been an Angel?.." she murmurs in wonderment. She then brings more firmness into her voice, "Surely He will accept you, Miss, whatever your origins, if your heart is willing." She gives a soft, encouraging smile. "The Lord's Children are those who love Him." Her head turns as the interjected words of Tennin reach her ear, and she studies him quietly. Oleana doesn't turn to speak to Tennin but basically ignores him, "I love his children.. I love the innocent and the beauty of purity. I failed Satan as a Succubus for I would not do his deeds.. and now as a vengence demon, I still cannot do it.." she stiffens slightly as she mouths to Elizabeth, "help me.." Elizabeth nods affirmatively to Oleana and reaches again to take the Demoness' hands gently in hers. "Well then.. I can help you become one of His children." She takes a breath, looking into the jewelled eyes. "I am an Intercessor, Miss. I can free you from Hell's reign." Oleana blinks as tears come to her emerald eyes, "Please.. please save me, let me free" she begs, waivering slightly from where she kneels. Tennin V'dhaka grins, and stretches out a taloned hand towards the demoness, "If you welcome the Lord with your soul, perhaps I can speak your nomination to guarding his children, if such is better toward syour ilk. The ranks of the Ophanim have slimmed in protecting the Blessed of Bablyon. And your reknown as one of Hell's legions could do our work a great deed, if you prove of mettle and heart." Tennin removes the ornamental demon skull he wears as a mask of deception. Tennin V'dhaka smiles calculatingly as his false visage is revealed. The girl's small face turns upward to Tennin. Another surprised look makes her eyes grow round. "Greetings.. er, Holy One," she mutters awkwardly. Tennin V'dhaka nods at Elizabeth, studying her, "Carry your hearts work, child. I'll stand guard over thy proceedings." Oleana mutters, "I'll do anything.. anything at all.." Tennin V'dhaka turns towards the plains, crouched in a ready position should any pay an unheeded visit during such a sacred and profound moment. Giving a soft nod to Tennin, Liz turns back to Oleana. "Okay, Miss. I guess I should know your name first." She smiles a bit, encouragingly. Oleana says softly, "My name.. I was named Oleana.." Tennin V'dhaka is standing guard against the plains in case of intrusion on this sacred event by outside forces. Oleana is kneeling in front of Elizabeth, her claw in the teenagers hand. Tennin V'dhaka turns towards Oleana, looking from her to Elizabeth, and back to Oleana, "Oleana... when you make this transition, in essence you will appear as if one of my own, many of whom fell in ancient battles and times. If I give of myself to this cause, a sacrifice of my time on Earth doing His work, will you swear to take tutelage in myself to become Ophanim, and to assist me in my earthly plot, if you feel the cause is Righteous and True? You have lived as a Demon your existence to now. If you agree to my mentoship in the Sacred calling of the Ophanim, I will give of myself, and give to you to be my Conscience, for I no longer have one in this world." Elizabeth remains kneeling, waiting patiently for the Angels to finish their discussion. Her mousy head bows respectfully at Tennin's offer of self-sacrifice. Oleana turns slightly to look at Tennin, "What is Ophanim.. and what is it to be your conscience..?" she asks, still not sure what exactly this Ophanim stuff is. Elizabeth's green eyes move from Olie to Tennin quietly. She doesn't know enough about Angels' in-house rules to worry about whether this is 'legal' or not. Tennin V'dhaka nods, and approaches, glistening in the light, "The Ophanim are upholders of the Oath to protect the Sworn - his chosen - the Blessed, such as Elizabeth before you. I make my offer not only to support my rank, but to protect her from retribution in seeking to free you from Hell. I would be in error to abandon her in this momentuous undertaking. To be my conscience is not to judge or counsel my actions, as such is the duty of others, but to be the grace to my damnation of the fallen, the 'good angel' to my 'bad angel'. It is of my Duty to protect through Offensive positioning, but I seek one to temper my quick actions with personal knowledge of being amongst the Damned. With you in my tutelage, perhaps others will see the Light and come in from the darkness." Oleana nods slowly, "I understand.. I agree to that. I wish to protect the purity of humans and innocense.. that which I have admired.. I would become of the Ophanim if you shall have me.." Tennin V'dhaka nods and bows himself to Elizabeth, "I give myself, Blessed Child of God, to your Sacred prayer - may that which is Mine add to thy Blessings." He turns to Victor, "Send word to Trinith or Sia of the Babbling Rat that I shall need their assistacne forthwith if I am to continue in my arrangement with he." Tennin V'dhakha surrenders himself to Elizabeth's rite. Victor apparently has been sitting near the gates looking on for a while, he nods "I know of the place, and I shall." Elizabeth bows her head solemnly to Tennin. "Your sacrifice will be remembered with gratitude, dear Brother," she says softly. She calls to a novice to bring a bowl of water, which is set on the ground near the trio. Then, slowly and gently, Elizabeth reaches to take the hand of each of the other two, staying on her knees between them. Her head lowers once more in devout concentration. "Hear the words of the Apostle Paul," she begins with a clear intonation, solemn yet not sombre, like the ring of a silver bell. "Those who are not of the Lord shall be adopted as His own children; they shall be as his firstborn. For He is the Father of the fatherless, who brings the Lost home to Him." She raises her head to look to Oleana, eyes shining gently. "Oleana, are you now ready to forsake Hell's exile and join His blessed family?" Oleana speaks softly as not to hiss, "I am ready.." bowing her head respectfully to Elizabeth. Tennin V'dhaka takes of the demoness' hand, Elizabeth's in his other, and tilts back his head as he shouts to the heavens, "My Lord and Father, Creator of the Host and His Children, beseech I hear my request. I am thy Faithful Servant, and uphold your Duty even in these doubtful times. I am a Guardian to thy Children, and our numbers are no longer plentiful like the stars in the sky. Before I is a creation of my Fallen Brothers and Sisters, borne into Hell ungraced by your Love. She seeks redemption, most Reverred, and to know her Father's Love. Before me is a child, seeking your blessing in her prayers. I give to you all that I am, and to this earth a reminder that you are the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. What you have given may be taken, but most sacred of your gifts was the gift of choice. In choosing to seek your Love all may join thy Kingdom - even one born to the Stygian depths of hell. I am thy servant, and now, if be it thy will, a covenant of your Love for your Children." Tennin V'dhaka spreads out his arms and calls upon his spirit, and focusing on his crystalline sphere, holds it up to his heart, where he invokes his powers to thrust it into his chest, his sacred lifeforce to release into the world. "Then let it be done," Elizabeth responds. Her head turns to Tennin to lower in a quiet nod, "Do as thou must, Brother, and may thy spirit find rest and reward in Heaven for thy deed." Softly, she releases her hand from Tennin's, leaving him to decide on the mechanics of his act. She continues her own role in the ritual, leaning forward to the bowl of water to scoop a handful of the pure, clear liquid. Reverently, she turns to sprinkle it upon the head of Oleana as if baptizing a newborn baby. "Be thou reborn, Oleana; let thy form rise anew to follow the heart within thee. No more shalt thou be of the Forsaken, but Sister to the Host, foster-mother to the Children of Earth, and beloved daughter of the Most High." Both of her hands then drop to her knees, and her head bows with eyes closed, face beginning to softly tint with inner Light. A death on one side of her, and a rebirth on the other, she kneels silently between the two, calling down Heaven's power. With a violent jerking motion the angel is wrenched backwards as a crystalline shard bursts forth from his chest, sending a tiny spattering of bloody ichor droplets flying in all directions. However painful the effect may look and however much more it must feel the suicide attempt is thus far in vain. And with the ritual nearing completion there is little time left for Tennin to complete his sacrifice. Victor stands, and slowly moves to Tennins side. Victor lays a hand accross the mans bleeding chest, and whispers something lightly in his ear as his eyes take on a lue glow Elizabeth continues her fervent inner prayer, holding back the final release of power until she can sense the psychic deathflare spreading in Tennin's wake. "O Lord, who bringeth forth Life from Death, take this death and bring of it new life for one who seeks Thee." And she waits patiently for him and Victor to finish the job. Finally the agonizing angel is put down as a large iron spike is shot through his chest and into the ground, nailing his body to the soil with the horrible sound of flesh smacking a hard surface. There is a brief shudder and the angel's wings flutter in a death quiver before he finally dies. And just in the nick of time, too. The ritual has reached its climax with the death of a pure being as the catalyst for the (re)birth of a new one. There is a faint sound of hissing yet it is not coming from Oleana...or at least she isn't speaking it. The holy water that has annointed her forehead begins to bubble furiously as it runs down her hairline and over the invisible Mark of the Beast. The sound sets one's teeth chattering with anxiety and you can't help but wince at the pain that you know she must be feeling. And then...she bursts into flames, literally combusting before the astonished eyes of those present. Her body is consumed within seconds as her spirit is purified by the agonizing flames of pennance, its only escape to go higher as it dissolves into intangible nothingness. It will reappear somewhere else. "May thy spirit rise anew like the Phoenix," Liz recites the final words -- a mere instant before her eyes snap open in pure startlement at the power roaring down from above. Wow.... that was a little -too- literal. She just kneels there in the dust, gaping at the blazing emptiness where Oleana just recently was. Only when the shock of holy energy slowly fades does she remember to give a stuttered prayer of thanks. Now that was -some- Thanksgiving... Victor turns to Elizabeth "You did a good thing this evening." he says as he passes by, on his way into the city. Elizabeth is still kneeling there blinking. "No.. the Lord did a good thing. I was his instrument," she responds softly. Never before has humility felt so comforting to her. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------