Author Topic: The Trident, The Survivors and The Q (Open RP)  (Read 2168 times)

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The Trident, The Survivors and The Q (Open RP)
« on: January 23, 2022, 01:01:36 AM »
OOC - This is an open RP focused around worldbuilding the Earagon faith - a group of people mainly native to Rodina at one time but drastically reduced in number during a genocide in the mid 90's. They've been referenced a few times but never really established beyond their existence and the genocide that befell them so this is an RP that seeks to do that, anyone can jump in for a little archaeology, mystery or even conspiracy theory. If you have questions do get hold of me.


Martin Deed, a Cardinal in the Celestial Catholic Church though his roots lay in Protestantism, stood at the front of the sanctuary in his church, the great church of Santiago, most preachers tended to use the pulpit but Martin preferred to use the lectern - he found the wall of the pulpit to be symbolic of a barrier and preferred the open approach, the set text for the morning's worship was the wedding at Cana, a passage that detailed among other things, a little bit of mother and son comedy, the first miracle of Christ and in part a thing or two about purification, it being the season of the Epiphany it was all about symbolism and identity, all the hints on show whether it be the gifts of the magi or the turning of water into wine. It was a great time of the year, he smiled as he brought the act of worship to a close and headed outside to converse with his flock. What he certainly didn't expect was for Melanie Bell to have come all the way over from Elsion, she wasn't a Christian although her father had been, she was probably one of the most noted archaeologists on Mundus.

"What can I do for you Ms Bell?" Martin asked
"I need you to take a look at something." Melanie said she handed Martin several sheets of paper stapled together each showing pictures, some of jars, cups, there were ancient weapons and books, clothes and jewels and then on the last page what appeared to be a bundle of documents.
"What am I looking at?" Martin asked
"These are artifacts that turned up on an auction site in Shotska in Volhynia." Melanie said "Judging off the trident symbolism they're Earagon in origin, they could be conflict artifacts. But it's the last one I'm interested in, those papers."
"Certainly interesting." Martin said "That's a lot of Christian symbology, high offices, knightly orders, different sects and branches. I'd say this was from the Council of Celestis in the 4th century but I can't make out the writing."
"Council of Celestis is formation of the Bible, dates for Easter, Christmas and all that?" Melanie asked
"As well as certain theological points yes." Martin said

Melanie nodded, nothing was really known about the Earagon, the followers did know of didn't speak of their beliefs, they acted more as if they were protecting some great secret. Still it sounded very much like she had an auction to attend.
« Last Edit: January 23, 2022, 01:51:30 AM by Achkaerin »

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Re: The Trident, The Survivors and The Q (Open RP)
« Reply #1 on: January 27, 2022, 10:07:32 PM »
Three days after visiting Santiago Melanie was stepping into the auction house in Volhynia she was accompanied by her close friend Rosalie McLean, the pair were trying to keep a low profile in amongst the various paintings, porcelain, silver, gold, bronze, jewels and quirky items. "There's an awful lot of stuff." Melanie said "It feels more like a car boot sale than an auction."
"Must be a busy auction house." Rosalie said picking up an auction catalogue and flicking through it "Ok so over there is where they've got what we're interested in." she led Melanie over to where the lots attributed to have Earagon origin were.
"Interesting." Melanie said picking up what appeared to be a very small trident but quite ornate, almost ceremonial "Not a weapon surely."
"Doubt it." Rosalie said "Far too unwieldy and the main advantage is surrendered, plus it's way to decorative."
"So similar to the Kirpan?" Melanie asked
"Could be." Melanie said smiling
"What about this?" Rosalie asked picking up a silver goblet with a trident etched on the front and back.
"Looks pretty fancy." Melanie said
"Drinking cup?" Rosalie suggested
"Reminds me more of a chalice." Melanie said
"We're not in an Indiana Jones movie." Rosalie said, Melanie gave her a playful look "This week."

After a few more minutes Melanie found the bundle of papers that had caught her attention, looking at it she sighed "Papal seal quite obvious." she whispered "Symbols of various other Christian denominations, it's in Latin."
"How is your Latin?" Rosalie asked
"Rusty." Melanie said "We'll need the dictionaries."
"We've got to buy it first." Rosalie said
"That's why I've got a paddle." Melanie said
"With your lucky number on it." Rosalie said

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Re: The Trident, The Survivors and The Q (Open RP)
« Reply #2 on: February 13, 2022, 05:45:54 PM »
It might have sounded odd but turning up in person for an auction was something that Melanie had started to have a lot of trouble with lately, when you were what could be described as a high profile archaeologist it was possible that you were identifiable and of course if someone happened to spot you at an auction it was more than possible someone might take an interest in the lots you were looking at. This was why Melanie now tended to do most of her bidding at such things over the phone or by having a proxy, but today was a different day today she was interested in seeing who else was bidding and she wanted to see where this all led. Most of the items she'd looked at earlier she was certainly interested in, but clearly the document was the big prize. When game time so to speak came around Melanie took a spot at the back of the room hoping to keep out of the way, she managed to get the winning bid for the small trident they found earlier, not having to pay much for it, she also got a pair of small figurines and a rather ornate box, in truth but the document was a wholly different story, it was clear that she wasn't the only interested party as bids seemed to be flying in from everywhere.
"You get the impression someone knows something we don't?" Rosalie asked as Melanie bid again
"I'm starting to." Melanie said "I'm going to end up paying a chunk more than I'd like for it."
"Question is how much." Rosalie said

How much more turned out to be the equivalent of two thousand Iso's more as Melanie finally heard the sound of the auctioneer's gavel hit the wood, with a slight sigh of relief she looked at Rosalie, that had been a challenge but it was when they got back to their hotel room that the hard work began in earnest - Melanie lying on her front on the bed, laptop in front of her and the document next to her, Rosalie sat in a chair taking a closer look at the trident. "It's made of a cedar wood handle, polished and what I would describe as a ceremonial blade."  Rosalie said
"What about the box?" Melanie asked, it had been a last minute idea to buy it but Rosalie had liked the look of it and so Melanie had indulged her.
"It's wood, not sure what kind, enamel and ivory, quite decorative." Rosalie said she opened the simple silver latch on the box and gasped
"What is it?" Melanie asked looking up to see Rosalie holding a short wooden sword "A Rudis?"
"What's a Rudis?" Rosalie asked
"And I thought you were a know it all." Melanie said giggling as Rosalie rolled her eyes "Well over two thousand years ago, Achkaerin had gladiator contests as entertainment, these contests were everything from one on one fights to melee's and mock battles. Most of the competitors were volunteers, people who wanted to try their luck in the arena and seek their fortune but some were criminals, there was a rather odd thing about the Justice system back then in that there was a lot more theological bearing, to commit a crime was seen as more than wronging your fellow man but also that of wronging the Goddesses, so when someone was sentenced to death they were given  a choice take the sentence or try to win their freedom in the arena, some say this was to give the Goddesses a chance to judge you, others use it to argue about how far back historically reservations about the death penalty went. The Rudis was given to you if you won your freedom."

"I see." Rosalie said "But what does a gladiator have to do with the Earagon?"
"Perhaps nothing, perhaps everything." Melanie said "This document is a record of the Council of Celestis, what I've managed to translate on the front page confirms that."
"So the Earagon faith has Christian roots?" Rosalie said "But, why not advertise it? Unless..."
"Unless you couldn't." Melanie said slowly "Unless showing your faith made you a target for some reason."
"There's just over one thousand six hundred years between the Council of Celestis and the Earagon Genocide." Rosalie said "If they're keeping a secret, what is it?"
"Keep finding pieces of the jigsaw and we'll get there." Melanie said

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Re: The Trident, The Survivors and The Q (Open RP)
« Reply #3 on: March 20, 2022, 04:32:05 PM »
Research lock ins were nothing new for Melanie and Rosalie they'd had plenty of them, but usually they knew what they were chasing this time they didn't. Looking at what they had just raised more questions than providing answers, but now they needed to find the next piece of the puzzle, something that made sense, something that they could put in context. Melanie was looking over the translated document, it was exactly what she thought it was an agenda and report on the Council of Celestis and while it was still shocking to see a Christian link to the Earagon she was now more curious about the nature of that link.
"I've got a bad feeling." Melanie said looking over at Rosalie "That the key to unlocking this isn't here."
"So where?" Rosalie asked
"We've got an agenda and a record of decisions made." Melanie said "What we really need are the minutes or accounts of the meetings themselves, the debates, what was said. If anyone's got that it's the Vatican."
"So you think whatever caused a rift has its roots in that?" Rosalie said
"It's looking more and more likely." Melanie said
"It's a good thing the Pope owes you one." Rosalie said smiling "What do you want me to do?"
"Find where the Earagon went." Melanie said "Fleeing a genocide they're going to be going to ground, hiding, low profile."
"So if they came to the area they found somewhere secluded." Rosalie said
"Exactly." Melanie said "Find them and I'll be back from the Vatican as soon as I can."

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Re: The Trident, The Survivors and The Q (Open RP)
« Reply #4 on: April 28, 2022, 04:04:43 AM »
This wasn't a debt that Melanie had ever really expected she would need to call in, she'd really thought one religious intrigue adventure would have been enough to last her for a lifetime but here she was waiting around an empty Sistine Chapel looking around at the wonder of it all, it had been a weird day already she'd arrived, stated her business and then been directed to where she was while the Pontiff was informed of it and made up his mind about her request to access the archives. She knew the magnitude of what she was asking but had to hope for the best, then came the footsteps on the polished floor she turned and was met by the sight of a member of the Vatican police who proceeded to escort her to the Vatican archives. The moment of even entering these archives was a spine tingling experience, Melanie could almost feel the history emanating through the place as she made her way into the section she was looking for, now came the hard part finding what she was looking for, muttering to herself as she flicked through the shelves she found the Council of Celestis documents, the list of attendees, the agenda and then what looked like a list of resolutions decided by the Council. Melanie took a breath, this was what she was looking for, the list of decisions that essentially formed the foundation of Christian Theology whatever at the heart of this mystery she'd stepped into, it looked like what she'd expected - dates for Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, the creed of beliefs, a long list of decisions regarding which accounts made up the Bible and then the big one, the divinity of Jesus. Titled as "Affirmation of Christ as the Messiah" Melanie read it through and then raised an eyebrow, there was an additional resolution The Earagon Faith to be branded as heretical Melanie had to reread the words a few times to make sure she wasn't misreading it. Why? What had driven that decision? Turning her attention back to the stack of documents she went through them now with the new questions in mind but there was nothing indicating a reason, perhaps not in of itself surprising however she did find an interesting voting pattern in the Bible book stuff, there were a lot of proposed inclusions that the Earagon delegate had voted for, yet no one else had and then the records showed the Earagon delegate voting against including the gospel of John. Running her finger down the page she found two votes on the gospel of Mark, both voted against by the Earagon delegate.

To say this puzzled her would have without question been the understatement of the year, come on Mel see the whole painting she thought closing her eyes, why reject those gospels? John was the outlier, it was the non synoptic gospel so maybe that, but Mark? That was closest thing there was to an eyewitness account, why reject that? And why reject it twice? "Sixteen eight." she whispered, two endings, two votes it made sense but why vote against both? Melanie took her phone out and read the gospel via an app on her phone, nodding as it became apparent to her. Taking a few steps away she found her escort "Did His Holiness say whether I was permitted to take stuff away for further study?" she asked
"As long as it finds its way back yes miss." the officer said

Half an hour later Melanie, now with documents in tow, was on her way back to the airport and on the phone. "Rosalie." she said "We've stepped into something far bigger than we thought."


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Re: The Trident, The Survivors and The Q (Open RP)
« Reply #5 on: May 13, 2022, 12:53:28 AM »
Home wasn't quite what Melanie considered the Bell estate these days, even if it was true, there were just too many memories for her but her Dad had been among other things a scholar on most Christian stuff so here she was back in the halls of the house she'd grown up in and as per usual with her gang around her. On the table in the study lay all the papers they had. "So let me see if I'm understanding this correctly." Brian Raines said  flipping through the paper "The Earagon get branded as heretical at the Council of Celestis? Why?"
"Disagreements over core beliefs of what we think of as Christian just look at the voting pattern it's speaking volumes." Melanie said
"It's certainly odd these voting patterns and records." Rosalie said "What's driving it?"
"Here." Melanie said handing Rosalie a bible "Mark sixteen."
"Ok." Rosalie said flicking through the bible "Saturday evening, when the sabbath ended, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went out and purchased burial spices so they could anoint Jesus' body. Very early on Sunday morning, just at sunrise, they went to the tomb. On the way they were asking each other, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?" But as they arrived, they looked up and saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled aside. When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a white robe sitting on the right side. The women were shocked, but the angel said "Don't be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He isn't here! He is risen from the dead! Look, this is where they laid his body. Now go and tell his disciples, including Peter, that Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you before he died." The women fled from the tomb, trembling and bewildered, and they said nothing to anyone because they were too frightened." she took a breath "Then..."

"Stop." Melanie said
"Why?" Rosalie asked
"Because you're into the short ending." Melanie said
"Short ending?" Natasha Raines asked
"Gospel of Mark has two endings, a short one and a long one." Brian said
"Two endings two votes against." Melanie said
"So the Earagon voted against both endings." Leon Downing said "How does that make them heretics?"
"Ignore the two endings." Melanie said "Where does the gospel finish?"
"With the tomb." Brian said "Crucifixion but no resurrection?"
"Yep." Melanie said
"Mortal not divine." Brian said "And you vote against John's gospel because that's the most explicit account of the resurrection."
"What about the others?" Lori Downing asked "Don't Matthew and Luke have clear resurrection accounts?"
"Luke doesn't." Brian said "You have the angel but there's no moment between Jesus and the women like you get in John instead you get the walk to Emmaus."
"Matthew?" Natasha asked
"There is a moment between Jesus and the women but it's followed by something." Melanie said "Rosalie Matthew twenty eight verses eleven to fifteen."
"As the women were on their way some of the guards went into the city and told the leading priests what had happened. A meeting with thee elders was called and they decided to give the soldiers a large bribe." Rosalie read "They told the soldiers "you must say 'Jesus' disciples came during the night while we were sleeping, and they stole his body.' If the governor hears about it, we'll stand up for you so you won't get in trouble." So the guards accepted the bribe and said what they were told to say. Their story spread widely among the Jews, and they still tell it today."

"The seed of doubt." Melanie said "The story itself doesn't make sense, grieving shocked disciples grave robbing? But the theory that's a powerful thing. The Pharisee's can't say it to the guards but 'Achkaerinese conspiracy orchestrated by Pilate' sure makes for a plausible narrative. According to John you can take it that Pilate believes Jesus innocent, what if he said to bring him down off the cross before he was dead? Put him in the tomb, tend the wounds? That explains Emmaus."
"Which then makes the Ascension and the great commission akin to the exile in Abydos?" Brian said "If we're following the Earagon logic of mortal not divine."
"It's a heck of a leap." Rosalie said
"So why do they believe it?" Leon asked "It's a little shaky."
"Faith isn't academia." Brian said
"Ignore John, constrain Mark but accept Matthew and Luke." Melanie said "It's a weird thing and proposing a bunch of other stuff that isn't accepted..." she stopped and looked at Brian "I think I know what the Earagon guard... Q"
"If it exists." Brian said "It would explain an awful lot."
"What's Q?" Lori asked
"When we talk about the gospels we mainly talk about the synoptic gospels - Matthew, Mark and Luke." Melanie said "Mark is the first one, it's probably the closest thing to an eyewitness account there is. Matthew and Luke come after Mark and include some stuff from Mark but there are also parts not in Mark that appear in Matthew and Luke this has led to some scholars theorising that the authors of Luke and Matthew had access to another source beyond Mark. This we call the Q source or just Q."

"So where do we think it is?" Rosalie said "Assuming it exists."
"It's quite well documented which nations the Earagon fled to." Brian said "We might get lucky."
"And if we don't I'm making a trip to Rodina." Melanie said "But there's no way this gets left behind."

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Re: The Trident, The Survivors and The Q (Open RP)
« Reply #6 on: June 19, 2022, 09:07:49 PM »
There were places on Mundus that were difficult to get into, Rodina was one of them courtesy of some very strict visa rules, but thanks to a fair amount of work from the Achkaerinese embassy Melanie was driving through the nations countryside as she headed north from the capital Yeleshov past Elikan and up into what had been the Earagon heartland. It was hard to miss the signs of the regions history, burned out buildings were a common sight. Pulling over on a hillside to the west of Kurinsk, Melanie laid a map out on the bonnet of the vehicle and looked at it, based on all her research the cities of Ryaslavl, Svongrad, Duya, Mutrov and Serpukhovo had all been home to substantive Earagon populations, this had been the heartland but there were no news reports about any major haul or discovery or seizure so either it had been kept secret, it had never been discovered or the Earagon had taken it with them when they'd fled, in any event however this was the only place to start. Looking over the map she traced the routes north to the coast, the routes taken by the Earagon when they'd fled the slaughter visited upon them, if the Q source was as comprehensive as many scholars theorised it to be then the odds of it being removed and taken with them were slim so with that in mind it was more likely to still be here, assuming of course it even existed. "Ok so big pile of secretive papers isn't going to be in a library in a city." Melanie said "Churches forcibly closed so not there, religious worship driven underground... so where?" she picked up her binoculars and looked over the area not much to look at, wild, untamed countryside, wildlife, a large lake... an island on the lake. Melanie drummed her fingers on the sides of the binoculars mulling her options over, it did constitute a decent hiding place.

Getting down to the shore of the lake took about half an hour of driving, once there Melanie got out and stared across at the island, hands on her hips before looking around for any indication that she was in the ballpark, it took a few minutes but eventually she found a marker stone, the sort that in ages gone by was used to mark distances, this one had a trident engraved on it with the tips pointing straight in the direction of the island secrets have their own language the words of Melanie's father went through her mind "Ok then." Melanie said taking her jacket off and throwing it into the back of her car "I'm no Daisy Greechan but I can swim well enough." she waded into the water and began to swim across to the island.

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Re: The Trident, The Survivors and The Q (Open RP)
« Reply #7 on: August 16, 2022, 09:15:36 PM »
The island wasn't completely what Melanie was expecting as she dragged her thoroughly soaked body out of the lake she could see nothing except a hill with what appeared to be ruins on the top of it, if there was anything here it had to be there and with a bit of luck the heat would dry her out. She slowly and carefully made her way up the hill, it was quite dry underfoot, little too grip on to, easy to slip. She stepped inside the ruined building and instantly recognised the chapel style arrangement, broken windows, looted rooms, clear evidence of fire damage, but did that mean what she thought was here wasn't? Taking a breath, Melanie began looking around more closely, if the Q source was here then it stood to reason that it was hidden, but where? Underground? Putting her shoulder to the stone altar she pushed it away and exposed what she would have taken to be a mining shaft were she not on the small island, climbing down the shaft Melanie shone the torch of her phone around, wherever she was the place was one huge storeroom of papers. She read a couple of titles and smiling picked up her phone.

"Nat." Melanie said "How far out are you?"
"About twelve hours." Natasha said "Are we sure this is a good idea?"
"No other choice." Melanie said