RuneScape Forum Archive | The Black Pentagram

Dantalian

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Second add in two days, it's been a while since I did this. "He appears in the Form of a Man with many Countenances; and he hath a Book in his right hand. His Office is to teach all Arts and Sciences unto any; and to declare the Secret Counsel of any one."

02-Aug-2009 22:13:09

Dantalian

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Belial lay back on a lavish couch deep within the recesses of Château d'Diable. To any mortal, and to even the lower classes of demons, it would have appeared that the advisor to the Void King was relaxing on one of the rare occasions that he was not at the Void King’s side. The higher demons, however, would have recognized that Belial was actively scanning the various worlds that his servants had infiltrated.

He nearly laughed as the thought crossed his mind. Yes, HIS servants, but any other demon, should they know his thoughts, would have sharply rebuked him, reminding Belial that they were the Void King’s servants, not his. At that thought, Belial actually laughed. How many millennia had passed since he had created that puppet that all his servants believed was the actual Void King? With the possible exception of Sammael and Lilith, not a single demon even suspected that the entity sitting on the throne just down the hall was no more than a construct. A being of mud and stone, given life by Belial’s spirit. And even if they guessed such a thing, would any of them dare to think that the real Void King, the true ruler of Hell was none other than the supposedly weak Belial?

What fools they all were. None had been able to see through that deception, and that was why the Rebellion started by Pride had miserably failed. Pride’s soldiers had attacked a puppet, and thereby revealed themselves to Belial, who had banished them to a special prison of his own making. And currently, the rest of the Demon Realms was eating right out of Belial’s hands. To him, the so-called “freed regions” were nothing more than pawns, to be used and disposed of at whim. The only reason he allowed their insolence at all was simply because it occupied the time of the Sheolian lords, giving them less time to plot various ways they could overthrow the Void King’s reign. "He appears in the Form of a Man with many Countenances; and he hath a Book in his right hand. His Office is to teach all Arts and Sciences unto any; and to declare the Secret Counsel of any one."

02-Aug-2009 22:17:44

Dantalian

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Of course, he could as well let them plot, for Belial knew his reign was coming to an end. He could deny it to himself, but he knew that would simply be self deception, and he had learned once and for all that self deception was no help to him. The last time he had deceived himself was before the age of humans, when he had, although all wisdom spoke against it, let himself believe that he had fooled the Absolute just as he had fooled his brethren. That one mistake had earned him exile, and the situation which now plagued him.

With a wave of his fingers, Belial conjured a large mirror into his room and removed his shirt. His eyes fell almost instantly on the mark of his blight, and remained there as he stared in morbid fascination; the mark itself akin to a stab wound, but with a ravaging infection that caused the wound to leak a foul smelling liquid, and the surrounding area to blister. If not for that mark, the body Belial now wore would have been a replica of an ideal human male body, carefully sculpted to perfection. That was what it had been a few months ago, but as always happened since the “incident” as Belial called it, the mark would eventually appear, and his constructed body would thereafter wither and die.

Belial had quickly figured out what the mark meant, although such a thing was unprecedented; his soul, his very existence, had been damaged. He also knew that the wound was fatal, but unlike a mere fatal wound given to a mortal’s body, a fatal wound to his soul would cause him to cease to be. In some period of time, perhaps days, perhaps millennia, Belial would cease to be, and without his existence, the Demon Realm would erupt into chaos, as various demon lords tried to gain control. "He appears in the Form of a Man with many Countenances; and he hath a Book in his right hand. His Office is to teach all Arts and Sciences unto any; and to declare the Secret Counsel of any one."

02-Aug-2009 22:21:05

Dantalian

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Belial also knew that there was a way for him to be healed. All he had to do was go before the Absolute, and beg forgiveness. Should he do so, the Absolute would certainly heal him without hesitation, and do so much more. Belial would receive his old titles, his old territories, and once again reign as prince of the universe itself. But to do so, would mean humbling himself, and that was something that Belial would never do. He had decided that with his whole being when he rebelled against the Absolute, as had all the other demons. So rather than beg forgiveness, Belial had set himself to bring about the destruction of the universe itself. He might not be able to injure the Absolute, but he could injure those pathetic mortals the Absolute was so fond of. Yes, before he faded into nothingness, Belial would tear the universe to pieces… of course there was the problem of how. It would of course be easy with the ten treasures of Hell, or even just the main treasure, his crown. But the treasures had been lost long ago to the asura, who had destroyed the crown and scattered its gems across the worlds. Gathering the gems and recreating the crown would take time, time that Belial might or might not have.

Then again, thought Belial, there is always Set*

The true ruler of the Void allowed himself a rare smile. And of course, Set had been sealed away in Gielinor no less, and to make matters all the better, the mage Rhyn who was also there would already be trying to free Set. All he had to do was let Rhyn know how to free Set, and the serpent mage would do the rest.

With a lazy motion of his hand, Belial gave his puppet orders that would make it appear that he was conscious of his surroundings, and with another gesture, Belial created an avatar, and entered Gielinor. "He appears in the Form of a Man with many Countenances; and he hath a Book in his right hand. His Office is to teach all Arts and Sciences unto any; and to declare the Secret Counsel of any one."

02-Aug-2009 22:23:50

Dantalian

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Selene was sitting in front of a small campfire, her eyes scanning the surrounding marsh for anything unusual. Soon the night would end, and she and Coren would continue deeper into the marsh, eventually reaching the fortress where the Mists of Time resided. She puzzled over her companion, who now lay in a peaceful slumber, having taken the first watch already. He was hiding something from her, and she knew it. While he seemed not to mean her harm, it was extremely difficult to travel with someone she knew was keeping secrets from her.

Her thoughts were interrupted as a brilliant light appeared near to their campsite. She grabbed for her naginata, but before she could reach it, her eyes had closed themselves and she was in a deep sleep.

The light faded out, and Belial himself appeared in the midst of the campsite. He gazed at the elvin girl for a moment, wondering if it would be fun to wake her and slowly torture her to death. While the thought amused him, he knew it was not practical, for someone would eventually notice that he was missing, and would ask questions. So instead, he walked over to where Coren lay, and gave the mage a solid kick.

Coren woke with a start, and almost immediately saw Belial.

“Good morning sunshine,” Belial mocked, “Traveling incognito I see, but that will never do when speaking to me, so your disguise has to go.”

Belial waved his index finger, and instantly Coren’s hair turned from silver to mint green, and his red eye became silver blue as his other eye already was. "He appears in the Form of a Man with many Countenances; and he hath a Book in his right hand. His Office is to teach all Arts and Sciences unto any; and to declare the Secret Counsel of any one."

02-Aug-2009 22:26:00

Dantalian

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“Why are you here, King of the Exiles?” asked the mage.

Belial smirked, the mage’s tone was not pleasant, but had a hint of respect. He knew who would win should this encounter become a fight.

“Why, to give you information, dear little Rhyn,” laughed Belial.

“What information from the Lord of Lies would be of use to me?” asked Rhyn, clearly uninterested.

“Now, now,* said Belial, “I’m sure you have enough of your memories back that you remember my son, don’t you?” Satisfied by the look of surprise on Rhyn’s face, Belial continued, “Good, I wish to tell you where he is, and how to get to him. What you do then is entirely up to you.”

Belial could tell even as he continued speaking, that Rhyn was skeptical of every word, but he also knew the mage would use his contacts to verify the information he was being given, and thus would learn that, at least this once, the King of Demons did not lie.

After finishing his explanation, Belial returned to his realm with a snap of his fingers, awakening Selene at the same time. "He appears in the Form of a Man with many Countenances; and he hath a Book in his right hand. His Office is to teach all Arts and Sciences unto any; and to declare the Secret Counsel of any one."

02-Aug-2009 22:27:50