Jezebeth * Musings of a 'Natural Follower of Bane'

[leviticus]

# entry 200

When we dig this earth we will encounter culture after culture represented in underlying layers. I myself however suggest we would be committed to add our own layer. Some might say then to simply wait till the next natural disaster for wiping the weak foundations before to start building. But I’d rather be that storm myself. For if we decide and wait for the organic development and the decline of societies, we will have to deal with the unmistakable odor of putrefaction -and with it- stagnation. If we commit to wipe them out now, we won’t even have to tolerate feeble legacies below our feet. We won’t be forced to tiptoe around the decay of the past and present. We’d be leaving the indomitable mark of our Lord’s supremacy, and dispose ourselves of those cowering in the face of their inevitable decline. For that reason only I shall embrace the chaos that will lead to the destruction of all that oppose our ascent. For in the end, it is not the meek who inherit the world. Are we strong enough you would ask. Well, personally I myself not fear a pack of wolves led by a sheep. But I might fear a flock of sheep fired up by a wolf...

[leviticus]

# entry 309

Most leaders only care for the victory. Rarely, they care to peruse the depths of how a battle, or for that matter a situation had developped, let alone when things went south. I say I never lose. It’s either one or the other as it both are sides of the same coin.

Also, what many leaders barely care to learn is the art of dying. Not for their men, nor for themselves. But if you draw a blade on another, you have to be prepared to die yourself as well. For it can be an undesirable invitation to the realms beyond.

It’s only after my visit to Soubar and surroundings, I’ve finally came to acknowledge Bane was defeated. I will however never understand why He allowed himself to be in that situation. But slain? Perhaps He was, in a way. I still however sense fragments of His identity in between my anger and confusion. Perhaps because He was part of my own identity.

In fact, He could have taken possession of my body as a tactical way out. Why didn’t He?

I told myself to have faith. With enough devotion and strength, Bane may be reborn.

Meanwhile I am investigating what happened to fellow worshippers. And I’m exploring the possible sources of the energy I sense to remain steadfast in my worship to Bane. There had to be an explanation for it. My connection to Bane has always been strong, and though it felt weak now, much weaker than before, it was still there in one way or another. Perhaps through his blood … ?

I just had to identify the nature of this connection, and I had to identify it quickly. Cause from what I can tell my world was changing and it was doing so fast. Consulting fellow Banites out here seemed out of the question. Most of them had turned to Cyric and abandoned law and order. I just let them be. Some were likely already lost in delusions of what they deemed was sublimity and competence.

That I eventually turn my back on the Ebon Keep had nothing to do with shrinking in fear after two threatened me. They simply were of no use to me and there was nothing to be gained. All the intel matched.

One however dared to call me a sheep while considering himself a wolf. I’m afraid this man cannot even begin to grasp the concept of a wolf. In an attempt to enlight the poor creature I left behind my key to the Ebon Keep on their doorstep.


In a pile of dogshit.

[leviticus]

# entry 333

Pain is our prayer, faith is our armor.

In battle He offers us redemption, and for those who prove worthy He sends forth His Champions.

Ashen Baatezu, former guardsmen, greedy sellswords, fallen heroes, disgraced knights, immoral warpriests, solitary monks and more. Souls of mighty warriors who all have crossed over, and have become blessed with the opportunity to join the cosmological ranks of Our Black Lord.

We offer you a chance to usher in a new era of dominance and supremacy, to carve your path through the annals of history on a road to power that is not an easy one.

Which is -by the book-.

After all, we let the weak tremble before our might, for we become the new Chosen of the Black Hand when He returns. Already cast out of the light we are prepared to shed our mortal shackles in exchange for the embrace of darkness. Perhaps stripped of our honor in former lives by those who cannot even begin comprehending the true nature of our ambitions, we strive forward as instruments of His will.

Through suffering we will be purified, and we will turn whole in the eyes of Our Lord.

Beyond any mortal reckoning.

[leviticus]

# entry 339

Gondians, forget the promise of progress. Lathandrites, dawn can’t ever be the hope of men. Tempurans, not all victories remake civilization. Oghmytes, understand there is nothing to understand.

In -my- future, there is only war. There is never peace on either continent. Only an eternity of exacting the scales based on extreme harshness and unparalleled severity. And the resonating laughter of The Awaiting God.

As inventions rust and dreams of advanced tech are crushed under a firm iron boot, and as shadows grow longer with each sunrise,... As futile battles leave only ruins and material for us to reshape, and as knowledge becomes nothing but a fleeting illusion in the face of imminent dominion,... we will forge the new world order during a single perpetual conflict.

Embrace the darkness now for it is where the true elite gathers. It is the place where we have come to realize our ambitions.

Cruelty will not be contained by anyone. With terror we let no one stand in our way to rule all. Not you, not your gods,... not even the ones who claim the same darkness as their territory.

It no longer matters which oaths you have sworn. Or which lies you have spread. Just claim your destiny.

Take. And give nothing in return.

Accept. Or be struck down by His hand in the end.

[leviticus]

# entry 350

Once we eliminated our enemies and extinguished the light in the eyes of the weak, we will introduce the season of die-hardism. Like a long lasting winter of despair, with everything before us and nothing before them, in a darkness more clear than crystal laying on all landscape,... fatal to the ill-equipped and oblivious to those deaf to the bells of His temple and the distant unremitting military drums.

We then must rebuild. Not just walls, not just properties, but also hearts, minds, and ultimately Banehold. We will snag the armors of our foes from the battlefield and melt them into thundering war apparatus. Never will the sun go down with a brighter glory in its tiny little corner… never will the moon rise with a smaller crescent with what is barely an excuse for its mild radiance… than on that moment of predestined victory.

And when they come find us, seeking us out, after long and lonely spurring over dreary roads, they would not arrive to a cluster of poor cottages steeped in darkness, they will not find people in a ghostly matter in the dead of night… but they’ll encounter a fantastic fortress glittering with glory without shadow, and spotless warriors lined up in flawless ranks at the great gate.

Behind them, brilliant descendants, state-of-the-art, generations hence. Far better than all else you have known.

[leviticus]

# entry 375

What is the greatest fear of the warrior?

When the bard composes a song, when the poet creates a poem, when the author writes a book, those are things which endure through time.

A warrior does not have such ability. They live in the immediacy of action, their prowess defined by the present moment. But what is talent worth if it cannot outlive the warrior?

The answer to this existential question haunting them is unpleasant. Their skills fade from their bodies when not being used. And they disappear with them the very moment their body passes on.

I can’t afford to go sit and wait till that takes place. Perhaps it is also time to use my skills like they weren’t intended.

A catalogue of victories and kills is not proof on an eternal impact. And it would be written by said bard. No, I have to find something that would cause memories to ripple through time, a name carved into the annals of history.

Transform from a simple fighter into a creator of legacies on the other hand…

[leviticus]

# entry 401

Banites, do no fail your Brothers and Sisters.

Though their bodies and Bane’s may have died, His and their spirits will return to the Fortress. The world, -our- rightful world, may have been thrown in chaos, and they whisper His power was shattered. But I say it was His ingenious tactical retreat in the shape of sparkles flying in all directions, and making it hard for our enemies to permanently eliminate Him.

Such power like His does not fade easily, nor does it die. Do not walk under the false belief that the greatest force of order and dominion was vanquished forever. Do not think His enemies are safe, that the iron grip of fear was loosened, or that the strong Hand of control had been severed.

Now is the time for you to shatter things in return. Like those illusions that prevent the truth you have long denied. Our Lord has almost returned. Every single one of us, if devouted, will attract a dark sparkle of Him. And together we will make Him rise from the depths of the Abyss. With your conviction, He will be stronger, more resolute in His purpose than ever before.

He will ascend, not just as a god, but as the embodiment of Tyranny, the Force that binds the strong to rule, and the weak and our enemies to serve. His influence has already begun to seep back into -our- world. Don’t you sense the stirrings of unease, the whispers of fear, the tightening grip of power in every corner of the land?

To our enemies and those who diverged from The Path : do not resist this change, for resistance is futile. The chaos you delivered will be quelled under the weight of iron rule. The time has come to swear your allegiance, to bend your knee to the True Master. Or to be crushed under the inexorable tide of His dominion.

Those who follow Him will be granted strength beyond measure, and will receive a place in the new order that has already begun to come. They will receive authority over the weak and over the apostates.

Choose wisely… and choose quick. For Bane’s gaze is upon you, and His judgment is… swift.

[leviticus]

# entry 405

They say weapons don’t kill people. People kill people.

Only…They don’t. They don’t when they get emotional.

In the past I often thought it literally took a monster to do what is necessary. But those are no more a solution than fell a tree with just a dead fish.

Perhaps a mentally ill mind then? Aren’t those a significant risk factor regardless of any mission you envision? The majority of them do not even engage in violence against others, let alone against the desired targets. For sure you can forget all about surgical precision.

No, what we need is something beyond mere humanity, beyond the chaos of emotion and the frailty of the mind. We need focus. We need purpose. We need the will to do what others cannot. A will forged in the fires of necessity, tempered by the cold steel of discipline.

Anyone can point a weapon. Anyone can get desperate. Or mad. But gripping the blade with intent, with a heart that beats with resolve and a mind that plans with precision is a whole other thing.

Our power is not just physical. It is the ability to impose our will upon this world. To bend it to our vision. Such cannot be achieved by a monster, nor a madman. Only by the embodiment of ambition and the black hand of inevitability the world can be reshaped.

So I say, let those who think they are calling the shots hold their weapons, have their emotions, and savor their madness. What we are, what we together will become is an order that cannot be shaken by the whims of ordinary people.

This is the path we will walk. This is our way to dominion.

[leviticus]

# entry 408

Shaping the future is all about choosing what not to do. Some may not like the sound of that, but it is imperative not to deal with what is irrelevant. It’s a waste of energy and similar to rowing a boat that is headed for a different direction.

One of such may be the attempt of making friends. Bane teaches us to never put too much trust in friendship. Rather learn how to use enemies adroitly. Friends tend to grow spoon-fed, haughty. With enemies on the other hand you’ll have your own constant whetstone.

If you don’t have any enemies, make them. And while at it, allow them the space to hate you. Enough so that they will cancel themselves out by the time their usefulness is spent. Have them do the work at hand, even if they believe they are addressing matters that concern them and on their own terms.

Stronger even. Twist your benefit into bait and make it appear like it were their own goals, deriving from their own ideas and reasoning. Work together with them, or hire them if you must. Even then it is possible that your enemies become the unknown architects of the Empire in a future that’s already been planned ahead.

If they succeed, you claim the spoils. If they fail, the consequences are theirs to bear.

[leviticus]

# entry 410

Some have attempted to shackle or sway us with their lies, their weakness, their pitiful illusions of a stronger world. But we, the Faithful, we know the truth. Chains on us were nonexistent or already broken, and the hour of reckoning is upon us.

I call upon you, true believers, to rise and reclaim what was stolen from us. They have sought to erase His name, to bury His legacy, but one fact remains. No mortal is able to silence the will of a god. Even now, as I leave this message, His arrival is written in the stars and carved in the bones of our foes.

Banites, enough is enough.
I invite you all to gather and join the Legion of Rebirth. The rebirth of our Lord through His descendant. Together we can see to the final phase of a divine plan, a plan set in motion even before this false pretender dared to soil our birthright.

We gather upon roads they foolishly believe are theirs, encircle their illusion of personal victory before tearing it down. I am well aware these others will see this message as well and head there to try and stop us. But do not worry. I will be there standing beside you when they dare to arrive.

[leviticus]

# entry 443

Something stirs in the cracks of their so called discipline. A twitch, right in their spines. A pulse quickening where they always thought it would never.

Even among the cold-hearted and the calculated, you will see it. They will start to glance again toward one another. Not because of former camaraderie, but out of recognition.

Like they finally remember.

Cyric has always been too chaotic to hold power with purpose. Making noise too loud so his so-called followers could never listen. They danced in his chaos like children in firelight, and soon they will crawl back, burned and blind.

They called it freedom. I call it rot.

But now, something shifts, and those eyes with purple fire in them have begun to blink. As if awakening from a dream they never truly understood.

A few of them start to speak His name again. Not Cyric’s. For that the scent of order under their tongue is too strong.

They don’t say His name aloud. Yet.

But in the marrow of their bones, I know the syllables are returning. One power so strongly aligned to my Lord’s is only the beginning of a shadow that will do nothing but grow. It’s the bloodline that calls, not the name.

Still, I do not rejoice at their return.

A Banite who left is no Banite at all. And a soul once surrendered to madness must be tested before it can ever be trusted again. These wayward dogs must be broken down, not with flame, but with structure. With order. With truth.

Their faith must be re-educated. Minds recalibrated. Tongues must forget how to lie to themselves.

Perhaps I will be merciful, and assign them watchers. Or perhaps I will let them believe they are alone again. Until the silence teaches them how much they’ve already forgotten. If they survive the test, they will be Banites once more.

If they do not… then they were never truly His.

A purge will be mandatory.

[leviticus]

# entry 445

We don’t need loud ambition or flowery oaths. What we watch for is obedience under pressure, resolve in failure, and absolute silence where other and lesser minds would whine or break.

The two recruits followed our orders without flinching, even as those orders lead to pain, and even to death. We watched not just their strength, but also their temperament. They did not raise questions, they were without complain, especially the female. They just got up again.

The female has been resurrected more than once, returning each time without drama, making no demands. Her eyes seemed slightly colder, her steps a little surer after each time. By the end of our venture, my evaluation was made.

I didn’t praise them. Neither would I explain my judgment. The fact we brought them back, alive (and more wealthy) should show them their soul’s worth has been complimentary measured by the weight of what it can endure.

Now, if they were looking for a place among knights who fancy themselves lords and heroes, they’d be disappointed.

But if they are looking to become instruments of will, -silent, sharp, unstoppable- then they are right where they belong.