News update: 25th October, Midday - Elga Stutz's story added.7: The Head Apollo is about to return. St Sophia is going to be born again; she was not acceptable before. The Buddha is in the park. Siddhartha sleeps (but is going to awaken). The time you have waited for has come.
- Cryptica Scriptura.
"The stars rearranged themselves in the sky last night to read REJOICE! THE IRON RULE IS OVER."
"Yeees, but how do we know that isn't a trick by the Iron Gods to root out supporters of the True Masters?"
"Erm... because even though I don't know what language it's written in, or the alphabet, I can still read it?"
"Very good! The Divine Gift of Tongues permits the Gods to be understood by all. We can conclude that there is, once more, a Messenger of the Gods, and since the stars were put aright swiftly there must be a Starsinger again too. How about one of the more subtle signs... Tanya?"
"There was a shower of rainbows when the message appeared - it was beautiful, I saw them when I was looking for machine parts over in the industrial district. It made me feel that everything's going to be okay, the worst is over..."
"A-ha! Laetatio, Lord of Light would appear to have taken on the role of Messenger. Now, my apprentices, what other signs and portents have you noticed?"
"The Truthful Serpent I conjured and sent to Egypt returned - the tomb that the God of Shadows was trapped in has broken, a wave of darkness passed over the land."
"Well done, Douglas! I thought Shadows would be amongst the first out. Well, well. This is a cause for celebration!"
"Hurray!"
"But first, now that the Gods have returned, I believe a revision class on theology is in order..."
I saw the mist of souls covering the world, as thick as any fog that has fallen from the sky or emerged from men's pipes. The dead were released, my brother, from the very spots where they had fallen, bound into the Earth by the Tools and the will of Iron.
- What did the lost souls say to you, Dolfod?
Nothing of value, nothing with sense. They jabbered and raved, they wept and laughed, they tried to forget their life and they tried to imitate it, and in the fog one could not tell one from the other. Truly I wonder that the menfolk have not all taken Niobhan's gift to escape the morass.
- You speak of nothing I have not seen, Dolfod - did not the mist shroud all the world?
I know whereof the mist of the dead has gone.
- Where, Dolfod? For I see no mist now, and yet was not the Shepherd of old killed in treachery and filth in the Gods' War? Ah, elder brother of mine, imprisoned for these years, you forget - we of the New can take Estates as well.
- You have left Barred Doors for the Underworld, Dolfod? A grave decision...
No, not I. There is a lady of the New ilk whose business is the discarded and unwanted. She has been collecting for her own purposes these past few centuries, and now she collects souls for Qandisa herself.
- A few centuries? Not long enough. I like this not, Dolfod - why does an Old God not take the Duty?
There are few Old Gods left indeed, my brother, few indeed... you can be counted amongst the last.
- Truly an age has passed. Where do you go now, Dolfod? I go back to the road - until the next time, brother.
"You're listening to Harry Cale on the What Do We Do Now Show, broadcasting on shortwave worldwide from the Newer New York encampment. Yes, we're still alive, and if the Cockroach gang are listening - fuck you, assholes, we told you we had automatic weapons and if you fucking attack us again we won't fire warning shots this time.
"Next up - if you're in Southeast Asia and you have a longwave receiver you might have picked up a transmission coming from where Tokyo used to be. Kyo from Malaysia's been relaying it on shortwave - he's on 5.12MHz if you want to pick up one of his transmissions - but here it is anyway."
People of Japan! Our salvation is at hand! The guardian spirit Kami, who guarded our people when our nation was called Nihon, when the gods walked the earth, has returned to us! After the end of this year of strife we are saved!Kyoshin, ancient capital of the Nihonese people, is rebuilt! I shall say how it happened - mere hours ago, Mt. Fuji erupted in flames! We dispaired, thinking that the ruins of Tokyo were about to be destroyed forever. A lone figure came forth, bearing a sword - we all saw him - and then all was smoke. We ran, and when we reached safety we say a bird on top of the Tokyo Tower - the last tall building left standing in the city. And then a flash, and it was Kami, saviour and protector of the nation, who let slip the Dragons of Heaven and Earth to rebuild Kyoshin!
I am speaking to you from the new Nihon Imperial Broadcast Tower - please, come to Kyoshin! We will give you food and shelter, and together we can make arrangements to rebuild your homes! You would also marvel at the city which has taken Toyko's place - it is like stepping into our nation's past, and yet keeping the best of our future! Pagodas stand where once were skyscrapers, and are fitted with electricity and elevators and all modern conveniences! The trains are as efficient as ever, and have enough space for all - no more crowded commutes to work in filthy carriages - but they are beautifully crafted works of art, not ugly metal boxes! Our power comes from the engine rooms deep in Mount Fuji, where the Dragons of Earth have incorporated the furnace of the mountain into the energy system. No drab metal pylons in the new, reinvigorated Kyoshin - our power is carried on tall wooden poles, carved with scenes from Nihon's past.
It has been scant hours since the city was rebuilt, and yet I am already awed! I know it must be hard to know that the history of Japan was a lie, but in Nihon the ideals Japan aspired to are made manifest! Come and we will rebuild our nation, together with our protector!
Shortly after Krishna appeared, a flock of peacocks arrived to stand around him. Krishna did not speak throughout the entire event, and eventually jumped up through the hole in the roof into the sky, the peacocks struggling to keep up.
We have received reports via shortwave of similar sightings all over the world - especially in India. Riots broke out in the Middle East refugee camps shortly after Krishna's visits.
Anyhow, he told me the strangest thing - he said he was lookin' for help because his home - Land o' Grace he called it - wuz surrounded by some gang called the Onwheels. Think that's what he said - Onwheel? Unweil? Anyway, that's how I understood it - he talked funny, you know, some sort of strong accent, I don't think he's been in Africa long. No, didn't look Asian.
Anyway, I thinks of your name as the best mercenary I know, and I tells him if he waits in the bar I can introduce him to ya. But he says that it's outta his hands, and the boss of this Land of Grace is gonna take the issue "all the way to the top". Dunno why they think Emperor Udon will help...
Enough! Here I am! Speak not the dread word! Ask me your three questions - I shall recline in this... snug crystal and answer with truth and veracity.
- I know that the Kingdom of Grace has been besieged throughout the Iron Rule by war-parties of the Unreal's proxies.
Your knowledge is fine and useful.
- How does the battle go?
I do not know. Let me go and I shall find the answer.
- Wait! Leave behind your tail, so that I know you will come back.
Villain. I do as you ask.
(Some time later)
I return! I give you an answer: the battle nears its end.
- Who is in the superior position?
The Unreal will not be leaving their positions for some time - the Children of Grace, however, have far more freedom.
- That is not what I want to know! Who will win the day?
The day is not kept by either Grace or Unreal. Look ye to the gods!
- But who is *winning*?
Three questions only, apprentice. You should have just asked...
"Well, the Commander's ranch ain't no church an' I tole him as much, but cont'rary to what you may have heard on some broadcasts I ain't an unfriendly man, an' I asked him where he were headed.
"Well, no sooner than he told me that he upped an' ran away. Didn't even hafta fire any shots with th' shotgun to make him run faster. The name he gave me - I won't repeat it over t' air in case there be gubmint types monitorin' th' airwaves - is a codename for Area 51, which as those as've listened t' my broadcasts before..."
(Unfortunately, Neville's propane generator ran out of gas at this point, cutting him off just at the beginning of his thrilling tale of aliens and spaceships and reverse-engineering and abductions and squelched cows.)