House of the Divine

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 04:39:30 GMT

A desk sat in a puddle of light that pooled on the floor of the room that was lined with shelves and packed with books. The Being that hunched over it, a bird-headed, elegantly dressed, black man, might have been a statue, if it wasn't for the darting eyes and one graceful hand, armed with a black ball-pen, filling the cathedral-like silence with the music of a scratching pen-nib.
In the great, leather-bound tome that lay open upon that desk, Thoth wrote in a looping hand:

"The Christians are fond of saying 'In my Father's house, there are many rooms.' Indeed, there are many rooms here, but no Father built it, nor can any Father claim true ownership. Not even the Valfather, as fond as he is of saying such. He simply named this place: Eloheim.
Eloheim. Dwelling of the Divine, from Hebrew and Norse. Elohim. Creator Deity of the Hebrew Bible. Trust Odinn to come up with such a terrible word-play, and the most apt name at the same time.
Divine Beings dwell here-- from Gods to Demons and everything in between. Eloheim is a place of refuge and repose between celestial duties and harassing humanity. It was created through Divine Will and general agreement. It is the one truly neutral spot in the Universe-- a treaty, signed and ratified by all Beings that inhabit the Dwelling is firmly in place.
That is not to say that clashes between personalities do not happen. Or that some do not wish to strut and prove their prowess. By the terms of the treaty, such clashes, disagreements or strutting of stuff must be done off the grounds, and in the 'real' world. Also, these events must be presided over by an uninterested third party or parties, whose responsibility is to limit collateral damage and bestow bragging rights. (There have been two recorded incidents of clashes occuring without a third party: the first wiped out the dinosaurs. The second ended in the last Ice Age. Since that last time, the amendment to the treaty was added and strongly enforced. Divine Beings are not fond of the cold.)

Thoth leaned back in his chair, and tapped his pen against the end of his beak, wondering what more he needed to add. After a few moments, he went back to writing:

The dwellers in the House of the Divine are as varied as the word that gives it it's name: there is myself and Anubis, the Valfather Odinn, and Dionysus, just to name a few...