Butler Vigil -- Part 1 -- 12/1/98

[HYWASaint@aol.com]

This is the first of a two part log of the Butler Vigil.  This part was logged
by Janus, the next by Cesare.  The evening began at the Imperial Cathedral on
Kaitain....


Vestibule -- Imperial Cathedral (Kaitain)
A small area caught between two doorways. Each door is made of a wood-like
material. A small table is set up on one side. The floor is covered with a
grey carpet.
Players:
 Steffan                                            Juseppe 
 Ivanova                                            Praxton
Exits:
 Vaulted Arch <W> leads to Butler Plaza -- Central District (Kaitain) 
 Wooden Arch <E> leads to Main Chambers -- Imperial Cathedral (Kaitain)

A small man dressed in simple brown robes of sackcloth walks in, calmly
announces, "If you will make your way to the Main Chambers, we shall begin
presently," and then as unassuming as he entered, he departs back into the
sanctuary.

Iason walks in from Main Chambers through the Wooden Arch.

Iason has arrived.

High up in the towers of the cathedral, bells begin to peal, calling the
faithful to worship.

"Do you join the Vigil this night Duke?" Ivanova speaks, still addressing
Praxton.

Iason trails behind Praxton, looking around quietly as he bows to those above
him in rank, and those meeting or below.

Praxton replies simply by extracting a small, fat candle from his jacket
pocket and unwrapping it.

Throngs of people begin to file through the massive doors into the Main
Chambers, each carrying an unlit candle.

Ivanova simply inclines her head and smiles. She then joins the masses and
enters the Main Chambers.
look

Ivanova walks to the east and passes through the Wooden Arch.

Ivanova has left.

Steffan walks to the east and passes through the Wooden Arch.

Steffan has left.

Juseppe walks to the east and passes through the Wooden Arch.

Juseppe has left.

Praxton walks to the east and passes through the Wooden Arch.

Praxton has left.

Iason heads east, sliding a candle out of his pocket.look

Iason walks to the east and passes through the Wooden Arch.

Iason has left.

Main Chambers -- Imperial Cathedral (Kaitain)
A long runway divides the room into two even section. Nearly 30 aisles line up
from back to front on each side. At the back of the building is the entrance,
a wide wooden archway with a smaller set of doors outline in the middle. High
above this archway is a balcony where may golden tubes of varying length
extend upwards towards the roof. At the front of the room, a wooden banister
framed a platform. Upon the platform are another 6 rows of pews and a
pedestal. Off to either side of the platform are alcoves. Running the length
of the walls on either side are floor to ceiling stained glass windows.
Several stories above, the ceiling can be seen with its painted golden leaf
drawings.
Players:
 Iason                                 Juseppe                               
 Ivanova                               Praxton                               
                                          Steffan                             
Exits:
 Open Arch <SE> leads to Vestry -- Imperial Cathedral (Kaitain) 
 Dwarfed Arch <NE> leads to Slype -- Imperial Cathedral (Kaitain) 
 Wooden Arch <W> leads to Vestibule -- Imperial Cathedral (Kaitain)

Iason walks in, an unlit candle also in hand.

You walk through the Dwarfed Arch.

Main Chambers -- Imperial Cathedral (Kaitain)
A long runway divides the room into two even section. Nearly 30 aisles line up
from back to front on each side. At the back of the building is the entrance,
a wide wooden archway with a smaller set of doors outline in the middle. High
above this archway is a balcony where may golden tubes of varying length
extend upwards towards the roof. At the front of the room, a wooden banister
framed a platform. Upon the platform are another 6 rows of pews and a
pedestal. Off to either side of the platform are alcoves. Running the length
of the walls on either side are floor to ceiling stained glass windows.
Several stories above, the ceiling can be seen with its painted golden leaf
drawings.
Players:
 Iason                                 Juseppe                               
 Ivanova                               Praxton                               
 Janus                                 Steffan                              
Exits:
 Open Arch <SE> leads to Vestry -- Imperial Cathedral (Kaitain) 
 Dwarfed Arch <NE> leads to Slype -- Imperial Cathedral (Kaitain) 
 Wooden Arch <W> leads to Vestibule -- Imperial Cathedral (Kaitain)

Ivanova moves towards the front of the room and takes a seat quietly.

Juseppe moves to take a seat.

A choir of young boys fills the balcony, each dressed in robes of purest white
and singing "Allelujah Sante Jehanne" as a group of officious-looking men
dressed in robes of black and purple and crowned with mitres of the same
purple walk in from the slype, walking up to the platform and seating in rows
of chairs which reside behind a much larger, ornate gilt-covered throne.

Praxton moves to the left of the platform.

Ivanova moves to the left of the platform.

Iason moves to the left of the platform.

Two files of five men dressed in some archaic armor which has been covered in
tunics walk in, a flash of scarlet seen from in between their walls of silver
and white. They stop in front of the platform and and brandish swords, holding
them on the ground before them, their shadows casting cruciforms across the
rooms. The muscular men part, and a man dressed in scarlet robes is revealed.

Steffan looks about the chambers with a slight sense of awe and then remains
standing near the entrance.

Janus slowly ascends the platform and seats himself upon the golden throne.

Iason takes a deep breath, looking around.

You step up onto the platform.

Ivanova's eyes never leave Janus.

Steffan moves to the left of the platform.

A man wearing green robes trimmed in gold walks up to the side of the throne
and announces to the masses which swell the aisles and alcoves to bursting,
"Brethren and Sisters, kneel in the presence of the Vicar of God Almighty
Throughout the Known Universe, the Servant of the Servants of God, the First
Among the Faithful, the Shepherd of the Flock of the Lord Our Saviour, His
Holy and Reverend Eminence, Cardinal Janus Tryveram.

Ivanova raises from her seat slightly as she runs her hand along the sides of
her dress and kneels.

Iason smoothly drops to his knees, moving from the sitting position to do so.

The multitude of people go down on their knees, many women and even a few men
crying openly and waving their rosaries in front of them.

Juseppe uses his cane to safely kneel on the ground.

Steffan smiles thinly and then rises breifly and then kneels on on the floor.

Juseppe has disconnected.

Ivanova looks casually to her side, the side that Praxton sits on. Her brow
send a hint of furrowing ever so slightly before returning her gaze upon the
Pedestal.

Janus rises from his throne and walks up a flight of stairs to stand behind
the pedestal.

You step up to the pedestal.

 
Janus raises an ermine-cuffed hand in benediction and intonates, in a voice
loud and crisply clear, his words echoing through the cavernous cathedral,
"Arise and be seated, my children. Now hear the words of the Cardinal of the
Imperial Church, now hear the will of God." His Eminence then folds his hands
in front of him, waiting while the people seat themselves.

Iason comes to his feet and takes his seat again, his arm ready to offer
Praxton assistance.

Ivanova stands. She takes a moment to look down at her dress and wipe her
hands across the front. She follows the same action upon the seat before
resuming her position on the bench.

Iason solicitiously offers PRaxton the strength of his arm.

Janus clears his throat and then proceeds, "We have called you here this fine
evening which God has made in order to remember the life and sacrifice of St.
Jehanne Butler: a woman of extraordinary character. She exuded power,
intuition, an intelligence unmatched by any of her contemporaries, an iron
will, and yet in all the hardness beat a heart of mercy which could move any
who met her to tears."

Steffan rises slowly and reseats himself.

Janus looks out across the crowd, his face steely and hard, the sterness quite
fatherly at the same time, "History records that St. Jehanne was born in 230
B.G., destined from birth to serve as a Bene Gesserit. Yet in one singular
event, her life was forever changed. This forever-altered life was to in turn
change the face of the entire Known Universe, and to eradicate the scourge of
the mind machines forever from our midst."

Janus continues, "In the year 205 B.G, the same year she married Thet'r
Butler, she foresake the Sisterhood for the love which God had ordained for
her. Yet the fruits of their union were to be crushed by cruel, metallic
hands. Through a self-programmed machine, her baby was aborted, one of but a
series of unjustified and senseless deaths. She swore through the veil of
sorrow and unspeakable pain and torment to make the mind machines pay for what
they had done to her."

Janus takes a deep breath and then goes on with his homily, "She and her
husband went on to start a crusade to destroy once and for all the abominable
computers. Through the grace of God, their movement gained speed and influence
quickly, and for twenty years she led the cause of righteous judgement. Yet
sadly, exactly 10,272 years ago, she died. One of those who witnessed her
fiery passion and resolve would go on to say, memorably, that she was "a
living flame of a woman." Her flame, during her lifetime, was not a devouring
one. It was rather a light, a beacon of hope amidst the dark of mechanized
iniquity. Through the grace of the Almighty, her cause was not lost after her
death. Her husband and others continued to fight, and one by one the systems
of the Known Universe fell, the abominations destroyed."

Ivanova lets her eyes flicker for a moment down to the unlight candle cusped
upon her lap between her hands.

Iohannes walks in from Vestibule through the Wooden Arch.

Iohannes has arrived.

Iohannes moves to take a seat.

Iohannes makes his way to the aisles in a respectful manner, bobbing quietly
to the more esteemed congregants.

Janus places a ringed hand over the glimmering crucifix which hangs around his
neck, "After her death, the Butlerian Jihad used the flame of her memory to
become an all-incinerating conflagration....one of destruction and unrelenting
judgement. The final and greatest abomination, the one known as Holzman,
succumbed to the glorious conflagration 174 years after the demise of St.
Jehanne, her fire now illuminating the entire Known Universe, the last and
greatest of the thinking machines destroyed."

You say, "Jehanne Butler was an ordinary woman, no more special than any
other. What set her apart was her desire to fulfill the destiny which God had
set before her, to dispense his righteous will and to forever change the Known
Universe. We have remembered her sacrifice, and the fire of the Jihad burns
more brightly today than it did even in the saint's time. For within each of
us lies a glimmer of that flame which exuded from Jehanne, a destiny which the
Lord had called us to. We have but to answer it and accept it, to take up that
flame no matter the burn, and in our own way we change forever the time in
which we live. Let us remember her life and the testimony which it leaves for
us, millenia after her temporal demise.""

Janus finishes with, "Let the flame of Sante Jehanne Butler live again, and
illumine the dark of this night that all might remember how, in a time of
darkness and iniquity unparalleled, the fire of the saint's heart and will cut
through the clouds of sin and suffering and made the entire Known Universe
free of the Satan-spawn thinking machines." The Cardinal then holds aloft a
large, golden taper. He holds out a hand in benediction once again, making the
sign of the Four Cornered Cross, "Thus are the words of the Cardinal of the
Imperial Church, thus is the will of God." As he finishes the last word, the
candle lights, its flame of purest white. The crowd gives an audible gasp of
surprise.

Ivanova's eyes are drawn upwards again as the light flashes bright. A strange
smile passes over her face.

Iason looks up at the flash.

The Cardinal's bony face is illuminated in the glow of the candle, taking on
an almost ethereal appearance. He turns to a waiting attendant, and holds the
candle to another, lighting it and handing it to the young man, who in turn
lights another's and another's, a branch of lights quickly spreading across
the platform, and finally down into the crowds, starting with the Siridari and
lesser nobles and slowly working its way back to the very least amongst the
masses.

Steffan 's attention is momentarily diverted to Ivanova's candle. He smiles
thinly as he looks up at her face.

Iohannes pauses meditatively as his own taper is lit.

Janus descends the pedestal, placing the candle at the top of a large, silver
candelabra, and then seats himself back on his throne.

You step down from the pedestal.

You step up onto the platform.

Ivanova watches her flame dance with each slight breath she breaths and
directs downward. She lets out a long sigh.

Iason waits for Praxton to light his own candle, his eyes returning to th
efloor.

Sumter walks in from Vestibule through the Wooden Arch.

Sumter has arrived.

Maia walks in from Vestibule through the Wooden Arch.

Maia has arrived.

As candles are continuing to be lit, the choir starts up with "Praises In the
Highest" as the Cardinal stands, walks back down amidst the files of stony
armor-clad men, who take up their positions and escort him back out through
the slype, his wake followed by the bishops, who scurry as they whisper and
chatter to each other, appearing as nothing else so much as purple insects,
hurrying back to their hive.

You step down from the platform.

Praxton inclines his stub little candle in Ivanova's direction, timidly.

Janus has left.

Ivanova lifts her head finally, as if awaken from a dream. She smiles and
seems to mouth the words 'sorry', before tilting her candle towards the
Duke's.

Ballinore walks in from Vestibule through the Wooden Arch.

Ballinore has arrived.

Praxton smiles again in response. He touches his candle to Ivanova's quickly
removing it once he's convince it's alight. He shifts in his seat, turns to
Iason.

Maia enters hesitantly at Sumter's side, smoothing her dress down with her
hands. She collects an unlit candle from a supply by the door, holding it in
both hands before her as she looks about.

Iason bows his head as Praxton lights the candle, a small echo of Jehanne's
spirit.

Steffan takes his candle, lights it, and watches the flames flicker for a
moment.

Sumter walks as light-footedly as possible into the Cathedral, a hand dipping
outwards to collect a candle and spinning it absently, in one hand before
returning it into an almost swordsman's grip -- but not quite. Old habits are
hard to break.

Iohannes reaches out with his candle, lighting Sumter and Maia's tapers as
they sit next to him.

The man in gold and green, the lone occupier of the platform, announces to the
crowd, "Once your candle is lit, you may make your way to Butler Plaza." He
quickly steps down, rushing out the doors towards the slype.

Praxton moves away from the left side of the platform.

Iason moves away from the left side of the platform. 

Maia sits beside Iohannes and touches her candle to his, nodding absently at
the man's announcement. She stays seated a moment, leaning back and enjoying
the candlelit, murmuring tranquility.

Steffan moves away from the left side of the platform.

Praxton walks to the west and passes through the Wooden Arch.

Praxton has left.

Steffan walks to the west and passes through the Wooden Arch.

Steffan has left.

Iason walks to the west and passes through the Wooden Arch.

Iason has left.

Ivanova moves away from the left side of the platform.

Ivanova walks to the west and passes through the Wooden Arch.

Ivanova has left.

Iohannes nods to the newly arrived Alvst, indicating that they are to follow
him.

Iohannes departs from the general seating.

Iohannes makes a respectul gesture to the altar.

Sumter takes his candle as it is lit and holds it vertically in one hand,
seating himself quickly next to Maia, letting his eyes grow vacant as he
surveys the interior of the temple.