"Hail Entropy! Hail Discord!" The cry of a resonant male voice carried
far in the arid air of the Mhojave desert, early in the month of Ero,
year 458 A.F.

This year marked one hundred years since the founding of a cult known as
the Revolutionaries of Chaos, an organisation devoted to the worship of,
and search for, a once-forgotten God: Babel. Babel: created by Sarapis
in the times of the Mythos, to rule over the realm of Chaos. Babel: a
divine figure shrouded in mystery, his very existence in question. What
came of him when early in the modern age, Servelan de Vermiis ascended
to become Eris, Goddess of Chaos, taking for herself that realm? Does he
remain a God? Did Eris consume him? Does he still exist in any form? Did
he take on a different realm, or does the Chaos he governs differ from
Erisian Chaos?

While these questions have yet had no irrefutable answer, the
Revolutionaries of Chaos dedicate themselves to the lost God
nevertheless, and in the past one hundred years have made the name of
Babel nearly as known once more as any God whose existence is
unquestioned. That alone, dear readers, is a remarkable feat.

The voice in the desert belonged to one Flair Ze'Dekiah, Occultist and
self-proclaimed Prophet of Babel, the leader and founder of the
Revolutionaries. In celebration of their centennial anniversary, he was
delivering a sermon on Babel and Chaos to a small crowd of
Revolutionaries and curious onlookers. The sign of the Twin scarred his
gaunt, twisted frame in several places, a symbol adopted by the
Revolutionaries to represent Babel, carved into the very flesh. The
one carved upon his forehead glowed with a blue light as Flair continued
his sermon:

"...And in that we have the twin. The connection between mind and body.
The bridge to all things. Lord Babel is no more Chaos than Lady Eris.
Entropy is no more Chaos than Discord. They are merely manifestations of
the same unlimited potential, as are you and I, friends..."

He spoke long and passionately, his normally gruff, deliberate voice
imbued with a forcefulness that belied his debilitated physical state.

"...Our bodies, our minds, our petty ambitions and squabbles mean very
little in the vastness of the infinite multi-verse, in the recursive
span of endless time," said the Prophet of Babel. "Illusions, here one
moment, and snapped out like the darkness of a closing eye in the next.
And yet, they mean everything too, do they not? Our every action, our
every breath, is connected in an intricate web with everything else. Our
choices have far reaching consequences far beyond what we can only hope
to begin to understand."

As Flair continued speaking, the dragon Imyrr Rousseau began to aid him
with preparation for a rite to end the sermon. The Prophet of Babel drew
a circle in the sand around himself, then placed certain significant
Tarot cards to his north, east, and west, while Imyrr prepared the card
of Death.

"One card is left to be placed. The unifier. The proof of order as
illusion. And for that truth, I sacrifice myself today for Lord Babel
and for all of chaos. I embrace truth." Flair took a deep breath and
turned to Imyrr, meeting his eyes steadily. "I am ready, Dragon."

At that moment, far to the northeast, a thin trail of ominous dark smoke
rose from the city of Hashan, turning to mere wisps as it soared higher
into the firmament.

Magnified by a ram's horn upon a distant mountaintop, a triumphant male
voice could be heard ringing across all the land:

"To the Revolutionaries, on the occasion of your centennial anniversary,
a gift from the Church. The smoke on the wind bears witness to the
reignition of the Burning Time, a time to turn from the foolishness of
Chaos. Repent, or join the contents of your library in the ashbin. May
the Light lead and we never fail to follow!"

This voice belonged to one Rho Dev'Evensong, the young Archprelate of
the Church. His recent appointment to the position of highest authority
within the Church was not without controversy, for he was also the
leader of a zealous sect called the Anointed, one that some felt held
extremist views. Yet, in his fledgling term of service, he had proven to
be decisive and unrelenting in pursuit of the ideals of the Church, and
others felt that such a leader was precisely what the Church required at
this time.

His shout hearkened to a covert operation led by Rho and carried out by
members of the Church: the transgression within, and burning of, the
sanctum and library of the Revolutionaries of Chaos, timed to coincide
with the centennial sermon. The Revolutionaries made their way back and
found to their horror that the entirety of their archives had been
reduced to ash.

This strike against Chaos was followed not long after by a public
proclamation from the Archprelate of the intent of the Church to
excommunicate Devotionists who continued to reside in the city of
Ashtan, a city long allied with Chaos and the followers of Chaos. Have
the infamous Burning Times returned? Such bold actions must undoubtedly
provoke reactions, and this writer doubts that they shall be long in
coming...


Penned by my hand on the 7th of Valnuary, in the year 458 AF.