snowblindrpg | [log] Noisy Black, Part One [closed]

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[log] Noisy Black, Part One [closed]

Characters: anyone who signed up for the Noisy Black event
Location: an office building
Date: Morning and Day 260
Summary: You wake up in a room.
Warnings: nothing of note for this part, please note any specific things that happen in the comment sections of your posts

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[ Castiel nods. ]

If he asks I won't keep this from him, but... I don't think he needs to see this. Not if what's coming is as bad as we suspect it will be.

[His feet shift their positions, careful not to set him off balance.]

If this really is the cult... We've seen enough of their buildings that it can't be anything good. You were with Ecks, right? You've seen the worst of it.

[Wallpaper made from human skin. Even the ones he's passed through have been bad, funeral pyre and blood on metal and manacles and ghostly screams. He doesn't want to think on it more heavily. He can't really bear to.]

I really, really hope I'm wrong.

They are a particularly brutal kind. It isn't often that I see this sort of thing, even in the name of gods that openly demand human sacrifice.

I hope you're wrong as well. But it seems likely.

... So what's it like, the whole being an angel while people come up with other religions thing?

[It's easier to ask that than follow the other line of thought.]

It used to be harder than it is now. I don't know how familiar you are with history, or how much of what is and is not true has been lost to time, or how the worlds may vary, but back when humanity's ancestors were only just learning to walk on their hind legs, there were only a few people who followed my Father, and they were always surrounded by those who had taken other paths. Their power and influence grew, of course, and they built for themselves a powerful civilization, but... it didn't last. For all the gifts we were able to give, at times it was all we could do to preserve them and their traditions. Other pantheons were... usually hostile, when bands of heretics took up residence in what they considered to be 'their' cities.

[ He's sure Davesprite can imagine the details, if he doesn't know them already. ]

In those days we - the angels, specifically - intervened more often, but on a smaller scale. Influencing things in ways that would be impossible to notice if you didn't know to look. Occasionally, when things seemed truly dire, God would send greater miracles, but shows of force like that were best kept as last resorts. They tended to escalate.

It's easier now, though, at least in terms of dealing with other gods. Enough of humanity has come to follow us in one form or another that no other deities could possibly pose more than a passing threat.

[History is not Davesprite's strong point, let alone religious history. What he knows here is most largely a product of cultural osmosis. He listens attentively either way, but there by the end a squint has set up in his eyes.]

Hold up, Cas. You keep talking about these other gods like... You focus on them instead of the religions. Are you saying those gods are actually around? That they exist for real, I mean?

Yes? [ He sounds genuinely confused that this is even a question. ] Some of them we were occasionally able to count as allies, but for the most part the lesser gods were cowardly and self-serving. I hate to speak ill of the fallen, but it is something of a relief not to have to concern ourselves with them anymore.

Dude, you're still going to need to back up. All the way, back to the basic premise of what we're even saying and away from any my-god-is-better-than-your-god posturing. How did your whole religion present itself in your world? We're talking God like the whole Jewish, Christian, Islamic, whatever God, right? Because on my Earth the big argument they liked to tout was that their god was the one and only, accept no substitutes because they're fake in the first place. But you're still telling me they exist in your world, enough that you made fucking political alliances with them like some weird cosmic election to President of Reality?

[ Castiel seems visibly uncomfortable with this line of conversation. Karkat asked him similar things before and he couldn't satisfy him with his answers. It's unlikely he'll be able to do any better with Davesprite. ]

My Father created the universe and all things in it, including the lesser gods. They were not Gods in the same sense as Him, only that they were powerful beings that gathered worshipers to their sides, often claiming themselves to be the true creators.

[ He hesitates, then decides to preempt the obvious question. The one he's been asked before time and time again. ]

It was important to give humanity options. Their choice to come with us meant nothing if it was no choice to begin with.

[Religion was already weird to him to begin with, and while it was easy to write off once he learned about the trolls and the way the universe came to be, the introduction to people like Enoch and Castiel has complicated the whole thing tremendously. First a friend to an angel, now an outright angel of the lord: Castiel particularly has left him with a bad impression of his heavenly father.]

So, you're telling me... that your god purposely created beings to lead humanity astray? Because it's sure sounding a lot like that. Does your god do the whole, you know, sentencing people to hell if they get it wrong deal?

[The questioning judgment on his face is impossible to hide without his shades.]

[ Castiel hesitates again, unsure of what to say about Davesprite's first question. Ultimately he decides on 'nothing' and simply moves on to what he can answer. ]

Followers of other gods have their afterlives dictated by their patrons. Their souls do not fall under our jurisdiction. [ Davesprite may recognize this by now as his 'reciting the company script to difficult customers' voice. ]

[Davesprite lifts his eyebrows.]

So first off you're dodging the questions, and second off, doesn't that prove your god isn't as all-powerful as you're trying to claim? If he can't even control where everyone goes postmortem, who's to say he's not lying about being the sole creator just like some of the others are?

It's not a question of can't. [ Castiel bristles slightly, places a hand firmly on the bars of his cell and looks Davesprite in the eyes. ] Who would we be if we stole souls away from the end they had chosen for themselves?

[Davesprite turns his head aside. He doesn't like being looked at like that without his shades; it feels incredibly vulnerable, and the rest of their situation doesn't help. The fact that he even has to turn his head like that pings frustration in him.]

I'm just saying, if anyone can pick and choose who they want, then it doesn't really matter if you think yours is the best.

It's complicated. I don't want to talk about this, Davesprite. Not now. [ Not with so many eyes on them, so many people to overhear. ]

[Now that Castiel says it, Davesprite can easily see it. There's already conversations he's shied back from because of the location and circumstances.]

Alright. We'll save it.

[He figures it's bound to come up again eventually, but it can wait.]

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[log] Noisy Black, Part One [closed]

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cw: being rude about non-Abrahamic religions

cw: just assume possibly irreverent religious discussion from here in general

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