A Warlock's Heart

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IamLEAM1983
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Re: A Warlock's Heart

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The sun rose and soon appeared to tear away at the demon's wispy form, the creature departing with nary a sigh. However, this all being part of a dream, the bright disc of the Sumerian morning soon turned golden, like the corona of a burning flame, and refocused, leaving Aislinn once again in her hut's nighttime shadows, with wicks set in small jars of burning tallow keeping the brunt of the darkness away. This time, however, the young boy they'd spoken of stood across from her on his own cot, his brow and limbs relaxed by sleep.

In the space between them stood a man, a light haze making his contour difficult to make out. He looked like eggshells and earthen pigments diluted in water and gathered together on stone, like a temple fresco brought to life - albeit in a way that lacked the definitive qualities of corporeal existence. The incubus had chosen ideal Sumerian features for himself, this time, going with a lush and curly beard, a full head of dark hair carefully swept back, deep creases in his cheeks and a proud and hawkish nose. He smiled to Nanna, painted-on creases wrinkling the corners of his eyes. His chest had the softness of male court attendants and the solidity of a self-conscious dignitary's, neither toned by hard work or left to sag under undue luxuries. A tiger-skin shift covered his linen loincloth, ornate sandals hanging by the crook of his big and second toes.

"Akka is dreaming of his first horse," he said, smiling, displaying impossibly perfect teeth for Sumeria's primitive medical standards. "His right hand grabs his spear's haft, his eyes have just spotted an antelope in the fields..."

The boy groaned, as if on cue, and shifted in his bed. The incubus reached down and brushed a lock of dark hair away from Akka's eyes, making a small and thoughtful noise.

"Did you know there are parts of the world where the sun fails to warm the Earth? My father fails to understand why, but there are places in this realm where water falls from the sky in crystals. Men wear beast skins there, the fur against their flesh to keep their warmth from leaving. The nights are long there, and the trees cannot drink from this solid water. They sleep. Mortals there hang fruit from the branches of great conical trees and imbue a strange bird or a pig with the power to bring back the harvest days and return all this water to liquid. They then kill and eat it, to release this power unto the world. They give different names to the Annunaki. Names like Beli, Dagda, Cernunnos or Cybele..."
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TennyoCeres84
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Re: A Warlock's Heart

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Nanna scoffed lightly in amusement and wonderment and smiled. "No, I didn't know that. It seems as though you are a great deal more worldly than this father of yours," she said as a compliment. "From the sounds of it, I doubt he'd appreciate one of his scions speaking to a mortal of subjects other than carnal pleasure. However, I am glad you are here; our teaching one another can be reciprocal."

She looked down at Akka and smiled. "I hope he is able to learn about such things as he grows up."
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Re: A Warlock's Heart

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The incubus shrugged. "Our lust commands us to travel in search of prey, and some cunning is required to ensnare mortals. Asmodeus can afford to stay within the walls of his palace, but we simple incubi cannot. In feeding ourselves, we largely feed him, and leave him free to pursue other pleasures."

He paused, then adding a nod of his head. "Not that he does. Legend has it that he Fell long before your Enkidu fell to the Place of Dark Waters; the flesh of mortal women was too sweet a morsel for him to ignore. He first laid with mortals and begat my first ancestors, and in turn laid with them to create those who followed. From the only mortal he personally touched were born generations of my kind, our supernatural nature protecting us from the corruption of the blood that waits for mortals who do the same.

In any case, he expresses damnable lust, and we travel to dispense it and feed from your own impulses. I am but a servant to a greater Vice, and the best predators are usually those who can adapt."

Again, he shrugged lightly. "So, I learn from your kind all that your musings and dreams care to impart, and can travel far and wide. I've supped on many cultures already, as young as is Mankind."
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Re: A Warlock's Heart

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The midwife frowned thoughtfully. "Why lay with mortals in the first place? Because we were there? Because we were gullible? Surely, any immortal woman prior to this Fall would have been of more interest. Is there no love between demons before they fall?" she asked.
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Re: A Warlock's Heart

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"He acted mostly because he could," admitted the demon, looking like that reasoning displeased him as well. "My kind at least has an ingrained interest in your kind to excuse our habits, but my father acted out of selfish desire. He was Annunaki, he harbored the desire to defy the Creator's wishes for his guardians, so he took a woman who did not desire him. In return, the Creator and some of his commanding and controlling creations cursed him and his spawn with endless lust.

Initially, we were never expected to leave our domain, once banished. My father and his kin managed to escape, however - but not without your gods and goddesses rallying to oppose us. Now, the Princes are all but locked out entirely, and only their servants and scions may enjoy limited freedoms. I was born without the ability to create a body for myself, unlike those Annunaki who remained steadfast."

He looked outside. "I could claim a body, but no-one here is sufficiently corrupted for my purposes. Sinners beyond remorse are my only recourse, or practitioners of magic who have indelibly tarnished their soul with foul purposes. Ideally, someone with unrequited desires and criminal intent. Those who lead just lives fill their bodies to the last cavity, leaving very little room for those like myself to intervene. Farmers tend to be just folk, on the whole. I'd have some trouble bringing a subject of the King's court to your door, much less to provoke and explain such a person's demise."
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Re: A Warlock's Heart

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She frowned sadly, viewing his plight as a overall lonely existence. "From what you say, it seems impossible for an incubus to escape this sort of life. Did the Annunaki offer a means of escape from this punishment, even if it would be grueling work? It seems like they would have at least that amount of fairness."
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Re: A Warlock's Heart

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"My being here is my escape, I suppose," mused the incubus. "My father's urges have overpowered him since the time of stone etchings in caverns. Mine are... simply strong. Stronger than a mortal's, and difficult to ignore."

He gave her an odd stare. "Picture it. I want to speak with you. I want to learn from you, Nanna. Try as I might, however, you are to my eyes as a closed flower is to a raincloud."

The demon smiled. "I see no old age in you, Grandmother of Akka. I see the life you claim to have left behind, the beauty you claim to no longer seek. To my eyes, you are achingly beautiful. Although it pains me, I shall respect that beauty by keeping the rainwater of my touch from leaving the slightest of marks on you."
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Re: A Warlock's Heart

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Nanna smiled at him and chuckled. "Thank you. However, I do not see why you still can't learn from me. Your last words hold some grains of love in them. Seeing beauty in me when others might not. Respecting my wishes even if you don't get what you want," she stated. "You understand at least some and don't realize it."
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Re: A Warlock's Heart

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"Or maybe my being a rakish fiend has come in handy," he replied, smirking. "There are some learning opportunities in lying, in doing what I must do to your kind. Most of my brethren forget, but for some odd reason, I cannot bring myself to let the eons slip away...

Things matter to me when they shouldn't, some of my sisters say. The irony of a spirit made to bring lust and inconstant desires to mortals itself being inconstant..."

That made it shudder. "Killing my kind is difficult for yours. Imprisoning them, however, isn't - though not all spirits are held hostage. Those from the city by the lake visit your thinkers and wise men willingly."
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Re: A Warlock's Heart

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"By the sounds of it, you can't associate with these demons that live in a city near a lake and visit magi and philosophers," Aislinn-as-Nanna replied, know he was speaking of Pandemonium. "So, keep on never forgetting. Find those spirits who share a similar drive. I know that's hard, but it sounds like it is what's needed, at least in that part of your life.

"As for me, what can I teach you? All I know are the lives of my neighbors, those whom I've midwived for, my own long years..."
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