The Symphony

The Symphony is everything. The lives we live and the reality we feel are just hints of its ultimate complexity. The pattern of the Symphony is inescapable, written in every blade of grass and every star in the sky. It holds all knowable secrets, from the certainty of the present to the promise of tomorrow. In writing the Symphony, God created the heavens and the earth.

And as long as God was making a universe, He took advantage of the opportunity to create Himself as well.

The Celestials -- Angels and Demons
The bene-elohim, the angels, are the intermediary beings set between God and His creation, formed from the light of divinity but clothed in the firmament of reality.

Angels may be of the Symphony, but they are not in it. They are God's instruments, charged with nurturing the Symphony in accordance with their natures. An angel's nature is his resonance, his deep attunement to certain aspects of the complex patterns of creation. Like finely crafted crystal, the actions of angels ring through reality in cool, clear tones.

When an angel acts against his basic nature, it creates the discordant themes of dissonance. The more dissonance an angel holds, the more likely he is to fall from grace. Countless years ago, one-third of the celestial chorus rebelled against their Creator, their companions, and -- worst of all -- themselves. No longer happy as merely instruments of the Symphony, they saw no reason why it should not instead serve them. The rebels, with Archangel Lucifer as their leader, embraced their new dissonant natures, replacing their selfless divinity with the black selfishness of malevolence. They were defeated, hopelessly outnumbered by the loyal celestials led by Archangel Michael. The self-proclaimed bal-elohim, the demons, were cast out of Heaven to live in the celestial realm of Hell, from which they continue to plot the eventual subversion of the Symphony to their own dark visions.

Watching the demons spiral away into blackness taught a harsh lesson to the loyal angels, but even the weight of that painful example hasn't kept the bene-elohim pure. Sometimes an angel cannot help but go against his nature. The lucky ones are able to rid themselves of their dissonance, while others seem determined to fall from grace.

The fallen angels found their natures changed, better suited to evil purpose, though even a demon can be tempted to go against his diabolical nature. While darkness has a resonance all its own, denying their selfish disposition brings painful dissonance even to the darkest of themes. A bal-elohim full of dissonance is a pitiful creature, and while most are killed by their own kind, a tortured few have survived to aspire toward redemption, hoping to regain the divinity they once disdained.

All knowledge is contained within the Symphony, but even the celestials have only the vaguest of access to its inscrutible mysteries. The relative clarity of celestial vision only makes the angels and demons more aware of how little they can ever know and how uncertain the future really is. Angels act as their natures require; most try to avoid the pain of questioning their greater purpose. The demons, likewise, relentlessly pursue their selfish aims, pushing away the constant fear of having chosen the wrong side. All a celestial can do is act as his nature requires, and pray he makes the right decisions.

The War for the Symphony rages as the celestials play their parts -- breaking hearts and shattering souls, hoping for the best. God help the rest.

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