The Scroll of Night

[Lmns Crn]

What are the gods and spirits compelled by the Emperor to do? Do they ever act themselves, or is their power only ever stolen and directed by other agents? Does this theft diminish them, or do they provide, by virtue of their separation from flesh, a limitless fuel? Could their essence be exhausted, so that they were never strong enough to repress humankind, so that rebellion was never necessary, so that spirit and flesh were never divided?

No mortal magic is pure, or virtuous, or without cost.

The only difference between a spirit and a god is the amount of fear in the person describing it. These creatures exist in different magnitudes, from towering forces of nature to sniveling, sullen whelps. Their fuel is the stuff of Spirit, and the do not survive well in the World of Flesh. Those that are trapped are awake and act on their own intent if their power is on a par with the strength of their bindings. Petty spirits, or spirits entombed in magnificent puzzle-runes of rare complexity, may have barely the leave to dream.

What else was wrested out of eternity and into time, so that the Emperor yet has need of legions? What other mortals exist here beside human beings, and do they love flesh's freedoms more than they resent the new inevitability of death?

In the beginning, the Mortal Emperor commanded legions to explore this new land torn free of timeless, mystic flames.

Upon discovering the consequences of rebellion, the Mortal Emperor commands legions to battle stranded spirits, vagrant and enraged once-gods condemned to burn themselves down to wasting cinders in a hostile world of matter and entropy.

As the eras march on, the Imperial Council will command legions to crush rebellions in the far countries, uprisings of greater nations who will hold the atavistic Empire in contempt. In this, the legions will ultimately fail.

Who first defined or divined the meaning of flames, flowers and stars, or did they always hold their meanings, even before there was a changeable world?

Poets and theurges alike seek to make sense of their world using symbols. Are we naming a truth we can see, or are we discussing a truth we suspect is there?