True to the nature as a servitor of Malphas (I got promoted, I got promoted!), I hereby present MY take on Eli's story.
Creation, like many have said, is a big thing. So big that it's scary to most angels. Most archangels, even -- even if he didn't create the universe himself, the scope of the remodeling God did is staggering. Why, the wallpaper alone...
And in all of this, when God chose an Archange of Creation, the candidate for such an important job had to be well suited for it, and ironically, that meant that only a Mercurian could fill it. So very early on, Eli found himself in a very lofty position. And he served it well.
But it did have the effect of, shall we say, deranging him. The magnitude and nature of his job was such that in the service of his Word, his outlook changed considerably. Much the same thing has happened to many over the ages. Gabriel has a similar derangement, evincing paranoia and a very flighty nature as part of both her choir and her Word. Druiel can also be considered another case of an angel acting strangely because of a bad choice of word.
Anyway, back to Eli.
On top of that, the war took its toll on Heaven and Earth, and a balance somewhere was thrown out of whack. While his servitors and those of the other archangels produced feats, the creativity demonstrated by the humans was in its own way even more impressive. Their limited capacity made their feats of engineering and production even more breathtaking than anything performed in Heaven.
As if that wasn't enough, more energy was diverted from creating and producing new things and going to new ways to beat the Fallen back. Heaven just wasn't creative any more.
And so it was one night that Eli snuck out and changed sides. It was then that he went to serve his Word among those who also best served his Word: the Humans.
He saw it as his best course of action, both in support of the humans (who sometimes need a helping hand both with their creations and in beating back the Fallen themselves) and Heaven (supporting his Word is the best support he can give). Many of the other Archangels don't see it this way, considering what he did abandonment of his holy post. (It should be pointed out, however, that God allowed it, and that should make it okay. If only he'd come down and actually give CONFIRMATION... >:)
But regardless of what he thinks, he's there and going about his business. If cornered and asked his beliefs, he'll explain it that way: that the humans are the ones doing all the creating these days, and that his best support of his word lies among them.
Dominic, naturally, isn't happy about this setup. It's not like he's actually Fallen or working for Hell, but there's something not right about an archangel doing this sort of thing. He's willing to persecute it, not because it's definitely wrong, but because it's so grey that he *needs* to examine it fully to understand it. And would he be a good Archangel of Judgement if he didn't look into the suspicious matters, not just the definitely wrong ones?
Contrary to what Heaven thinks, Eli is not alone in his modified service. He has a small army of relievers which go about, admiring the works of those people who have found their talents, and advising as "muses" those who need guidance. He also maintains very occasional contact with his remaining loyal servitors. Those either in his own service, or service to others.
He appears in diners, in studios, in waiting rooms, on buses and trains, whereever creative people are, and he likes starting conversations with them. He's a Mercurian, after all. That's what he does. All the while, he's also working on something of his own. Nobody's ever gotten a good look at it, but those people that have had brief glimpses of it have said it's big, festooned both with engineering measurements and doodles of things to add on. And that also has some people worried.
Jean isn't sure whether to be interested in it or not. As keeper of all knowledge of technological things, he'll have a copy of whatever in his own repository. Maybe. Trouble is, this is the Archangel of Creation here. It wouldn't be beyond him to create something entirely new.
Many of the archangels (and princes) look at Eli as a loose cannon on deck for that reason: not clearly working for any side but the humans', and concocting a plan which could have a devastating effect on the War. Some have even likened it to that really big joke Kobal is working on.
-David
http://www.bluecrab.org/members/dwood/
No, not THAT David.
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Elizabeth McCoy <arcangel@prismnet.com>
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