Lord of Lies

by David Zindell

  In the heraldry of the Nine Kingdoms, white and silver are used interchangeably as are silver and gold. Marks of cadence - those smaller charges that distinguish individual members of a line, house or family - are usually placed at the point of the shield.

  Mesh

  House of Elahad - a black field; a silver-white swan with spread wings gazes upon the seven silver-white stars of the Swan constellation

  Lord Harsha - a blue field; gold lion rampant filling nearly all of it

  Lord Tomavar - white field; black tower

  Lord Tanu - white field; black, double-headed eagle

  Lord Raasharu - gold field; blue rose

  Lord Navaru - blue field; gold sunburst

  Lord Juluval - gold field; three red roses

  Lord Durrivar - red field; white bull

  Lord Arshan - white field; three blue stars

  Ishka

  King Hadaru Aradar - red field; great white bear

  Lord Mestivan - gold field; black dragon

  Lord Nadhru - green field; three white swords, points touching upwards

  Lord Solhtar - red field; gold sunburst

  Athar

  King Mohan - gold field; blue horse

  Lagash

  King Kurshan - blue field; white Tree of Life

  Waas

  King Sandarkan - black field; two crossed silver swords

  Taron

  King Waray - red field; white winged horse

  Kaash

  King Talanu Solaru - blue field; white snow tiger

  Anjo

  King Danashu - blue field; gold dragon

  Duke Gorador Shurvar of Daksh - white field; red heart

  Duke Rezu of Rajah - white field; green falcon

  Duke Barwan of Adar - blue field; white candle

  Baron Yashur of Vishal - green field; white crescent moon

  Count Rodru Narvu of Yarvanu - white field; two green lions ram pant

  Count Atanu Tuval of Onkar - white field; red maple leaf

  Baron Yuval of Natesh - black field; golden flute

  FREE KINGDOMS

  As in the Nine Kingdoms, the bordure pattern is that of the field and charge of the ruling king. But in the Free Kingdoms, only nobles and knights are permitted to display arms on their shields and surcoats. Common soldiers wear two badges: the first, usually on their right arm, displaying the emblems of their kings, and the second, worn on their left arm, displaying those of whatever baron, duke or knight to whom they have sworn allegiance.

  In the houses of Free Kingdoms, excepting the ancient Five Families of Tria from whom Alonia has drawn most of her kings, the heraldry tends toward more complicated and geometric patterns than in the Nine Kingdoms.

  Alonia

  House of Narmada - blue field; gold caduceus

  House of Eriades - Field divided per bend; blue upper, white lower; white

  star on blue, blue star on white House of Kirriland - White field; black raven

  House of Hastar - Black field; two gold lions rampant

  House of Marshan - white field; red star inside black circle

  Baron Narcavage of Arngin - white field; red bend; black oak lower; black eagle upper

  Baron Maruth of Aquantir - green field; gold cross; two gold arrows on each quadrant

  Duke Ashvar of Raanan - gold field; repeating pattern of black swords

  Baron Monteer of Iviendenhall - white and black checkered shield

  Count Muar of lviunn - black field; white cross of Ashtoreth

  Duke Malatam of Tarlan - white field; black saltire; repeating red roses on white quadrants

  Eanna

  King Hanniban Dujar - gold field; red cross; blue lions rampant on each gold quadrant

  Surrapam

  King Kaiman - red field; white saltire; blue star at center

  Thalu

  King Aryaman - Black and white gyronny; white swords on four black sectors

  Delu

  King Santoval Marshayk - green field; two gold lions rampant facing each other

  The Elyssu

  King Theodor Jardan - blue field; repeating breaching silver dolphins

  Nedu

  King Tal - blue field; gold cross; gold eagle volant on each blue quadrant

  THE DRAGON KINGDOMS

  With one exception, in these lands, only Morjin himself bears his own arms: a great, red dragon on a gold field. Kings who have sworn fealty to him ~ King Orunjan, King Arsu - have been forced to surrender their ancient arms and display a somewhat smaller red dragon on their shields and surcoats. Kallimun priests who have been appointed to kingship or who have conquered realms in Morjin's name - King Mansul, King Yarkul, Count Ulanu - also display this emblem but are proud to do so.

  Nobles serving these kings bear slightly smaller dragons, and the knights serving them bear yet smaller ones. Common soldiers wear a yellow livery displaying a repeating pattern of very small red dragons.

  King Angand of Sunguru, as an ally of Morjin, bears his family's arms as does any free king.

  The kings of Hesperu and Uskudar have been allowed to retain their family crests as a mark of their kingship, though they have surrendered their arms.

  Sunguru

  King Angand - blue field; white heart with wings

  Uskudar

  King Orunjan - gold field; 3/4 red dragon

  Karabuk

  King Mansul - gold field; /4 red dragon

  Hesperu

  King Arsu - gold field; /4 red dragon

  Galda

  King Yarkul - gold field; /4 red dragon

  Yarkona

  Count Ulanu - gold field; 1/2 red dragon

  THE GELSTEI

  THE GOLD

  The history of the gold gelstei, called the Lightstone, is shrouded in mystery. Most people believe the legend of Elahad: that this Valari king of the Star People made the Lightstone and brought it to earth. Some of the Brotherhoods, however, teach that the Elijin or the Galadin made the Lightstone. Some teach that the mythical Ieldra, who are like gods, made the Lightstone millions of years earlier. A few hold that the Lightstone may be a transcendental, increate object from before the beginning of time, and as such, much as the One or the universe itself, has always existed and always will. Also, there are people who believe that this golden cup, the greatest of the gelstei, was made in Ea during the great Age of Law.

  The Lightstone is the image of solar light, the sun, and hence of divine intelligence. It is made into the shape of a plain golden cup because 'it holds the whole universe inside'. Upon being activated by a powerful enough being, the gold begins to turn clear like a crystal and to radiate light like the sun. As it connects with the infinite power of the universe, the One, it radiates light like that of ten thousand suns. Ultimately, its light is pure, clear and infinite - the light of pure consciousness. The light inside light, the light inside all things that is all things. The Lightstone quickens consciousness in itself, the power of consciousness to enfold itself and form up as matter and thus evolve into infinite possibilities. It enables certain human beings to channel and magnify this power. Its power is infinitely greater than that of the red gelstei, the firestones. Indeed, the Lightstone gives power over the other gelstei, the greea purple, blue and white, the black and perhaps the silver - and potentially over all matter, energy, space and time. The final secret of the Lightstone is that, as the very consciousness and substance of the universe itself, it is found within each human being, interwoven and interfused with each separate soul. To quote from the Saganom Elu, it is 'the perfect jewel within the lotus found inside the human heart'.

  The Lightstone has many specific powers, and each person finds in it a reflection of himself. Those seeking healing are healed. In some, it recalls their true nature and origins as Star People; others, in their lust for immortality, find only the hell of endless life. Some - such as Morjin or Angra Mainyu - it blinds with its terrible and beautiful light. Its potential to be misused by such maddened beings is vast: ultimat
ely it has the power to blow up the sun and destroy the stars, perhaps the whole universe itself.

  Used properly, the Lightstone can quicken the evolution of all beings. In its light, Star People may transcend to their higher angelic natures while angels evolve into archangels. And the Galadin themselves, in the act of creation only, may use the Lightstone to create whole new universes.

  The Lightstone is activated at once by individual consciousness, the collective unconscious and the energies of the stars. It also becomes somewhat active at certain key times, such as when the Seven Sisters are rising in the sky. Its most transcendental powers manifest when it is in the presence of an enlightened being and/or when the earth enters the Golden Band.

  It is not known if there are many Lightstones throughout the universe, or only one that somehow appears at the same time in different places. One of the greatest mysteries of the Lightstone is that on Ea, only a human man, woman or child can use it for its best and highest purpose: to bring the sacred light to others and awaken each being to his angelic nature. Neither the Elijin nor the Galadin, the archangels, possess this special resonance. And only a very few of the Star People do.

  These rare beings are the Maitreyas who come forth every few millen nia or so to share their enlightenment with the world. They have cast off all illusion and apprehend the One in all things and all things as manifestations of the One. Thus they are the deadly enemies of Morjin and the Dark Angel, and other Lords of the Lie.

  THE GREATER GELSTEI

  THE SILVER

  The silver gelstei is made of a marvelous substance called silustria. The crystal resembles pure silver, but is brighter, reflecting even more light. Depending on how forged, the silver gelstei can be much harder than

  diamond.

  The silver gelstei is the stone of reflection, and thus of the soul, for the soul is that part of man that reflects the light of the universe. The silver reflects and magnifies the powers of the soul, including, in its lower emanations, those of mind: logic, deduction, calculation, awareness, ordinary memory, judgment and insight. It can confer upon those who wield it holistic vision: the ability to see whole patterns and reach astonishing conclusions from only a few details or clues. Its higher emanations allow one to see how the individual soul must align itself with the universal soul to achieve the unfolding of fate.

  In its reflective qualities, the silver gelstei may be used as a shield against various energies: vital, mental, or physical. In other ages, it has been shaped into arms and armor, such as swords, mail shirts and actual shields. Although not giving power over another, in body or in mind, the silver can be us too quicken the working of another's mind, and is thus a great pedagogical tool leading to knowledge and laying bare truth. A sword made of silver gelstei can cut through all things physical as the mind cuts through ignorance and darkness.

  In its fundamental composition, the silver is very much like the gold gelstei, and is one of the two noble stones.

  THE WHITE

  These stones are called the white, but in appearance are usually clear like diamonds. During the Age of Law, many of them were cast into the form of crystal balls to be used by scryers, and are thus often called 'scryers' spheres'.

  These are the stones of far-seeing: of perceiving events distant in either space or time. They are sometimes used by remembrancers to uncover the secrets of the past. The kristei as they are called have helped the master healers of the Brotherhoods read the auras of the sick that they might be brought back to strength and health.

  THE BLUE

  The blue gelstei, or blestei, have been fabricated on Ea at least as far back as the Age of the Mother. These crystals range in color from a deep cobalt to a bright lapis blue. They have been cast into many forms: amulets, cups, figurines, rings and others.

  The blue gelstei quicken and deepen all kinds of knowing and communication. They are an aid to mindspeakers and truthsayers, and confer a greater sensitivity to music, poetry, painting, languages and dreams.

  THE GREEN

  Other than the Lightstone itself, these are the oldest of the gelstei. Many books of the Soganom Elu tell of how the Star People brought twelve of the green stones with them to Ea. The varistei look like beautiful emeralds; they are usually cast - or grown - in the shape of baguettes or astragals, and range in size from that of a pin or bead to great jewels nearly a foot in length. The green gelstei resonate with the vital fires of plants and animate, and of the earth. They are the stones of healing and can be used to quicken and strengthen life and lengthen its span. As the purple gelstei can be used to mold crystals and other inanimate substances into new shapes, the green gelstei haw powers over the forms of living things. In the Lost Ages, it was said that masters of the varistei used them to create new races of man (and sometimes monsters) lbut this art is thought to be long since lost. These crystals confer great vitality on those who use them harmony with nature; they can open the body's chakras and awaken the kundalini fire so the whole body and soul vibrate at a higher level of being.

  THE RED

  The red gelstei - also called tuaoi stones or firestones - are blood-red crystals like rubies in appearance and color. They are often cast into baguettes at least a foot in length, though during the Age of Law much larger ones were made. The greatest ever fabricated was the hundred-foot Eluli's Spire, mounted on top of the Tower of the Sun. It was said to cast its fiery light up into the heavens as a beacon calling out to the Star People to return to earth. The firestones quicken, channel and control the physical energies. They draw upon the sun's rays, as well as the earth's magnetic and telluric currents, to generate beams of light, lightning, heat or fire. They are thought to be the most dangerous of the gelstei; it is said that a great pyramid of red gelstei unleashed a terrible lightning that split asunder the world of Iviunn and destroyed its star.

  THE BLACK

  The black gelstei, or baalstei, are black crystals like obsidian.. Many are cast into the shape of eyes, either flattened or rounded like large marbles. They devour light and are the stones of negation. Many believe them to be evil stones, but they were created for a great good purpose: to control the awesome lightning of the firestones. Theirs is the power to damp the fires of material things, both living and living crystals such as the gelstei. Used properly, they can negate the working of all the other kinds of gelstei except the silver and the gold, over which they have no power. Their power over living things is most often put to evil purpose. The Kallimun priests and other servants of Morjin such as the Grays have wielded them as weapons to attack people physically, mentally and spiritually, literally sucking away their vital energies and will. Thus the black stones can be used to cause disease, degeneration and death.

  It is believed that that baalstei might be potentially more dangerous than even the firestones. For in the Beginnings is told of an utterly black place that is at once the negation of all things and paradoxically also their source. Out of this place may come the fire and light of the universe itself. It is said that the Baaloch, Angra Mainyu, before he was imprisoned on the world of Damoom, used a great black gelstei to destroy whole suns in his war of rebellion against the Galadin and the rule of the Ieldra.

  THE PURPLE

  The lilastei are the stones of shaping and making. They are a bright violet in hue, and are cast into crystals of a great variety of shapes and sizes. Their power is unlocking the light locked up in matter so that matter might be changed, molded and transformed. Thus the lilastei are sometimes called the alchemists' stones, according to the alchemists' age-old dream of transmuting baser matter into true gold, and casting true gold into a new Lightstone. The purple gelstei's greatest effects are on crystals of all sorts: but mostly those in metal and rocks. It can unlock the crystals in these substances so that they might be more easily worked. Or they can be used to grow crystals of great size and beauty; they are the stone shapers and stone growers spoken of in legend. It is said that Kalkamesh used a lilastei in forging the silustria of the Brig
ht Sword, Alkaladur. Some believe the potential power of the purple gelstei to be very great and perhaps very perilous. Lilastei have been known to 'freeze' water into an alternate crystal called shatar, which is clear and as hard as quartz. Some fear that these gelstei might be used thus to crystallize the water in the sea and so destroy all life on earth. The stone masters of old, who probed the mysteries of the lilastei too deeply, are said to have accidentally turned themselves into stone, but most believe this to be only a cautionary tale out of legend.

  THE SEVEN OPENERS

  If man's purpose is seen as in progressing to the orders of the Star People, Elijin and Galadin, then the seven stones known as the openers might fairly be called greater gelstei. Indeed, there are those of the Great White Brotherhood and the Green Brotherhood who revered them in this way. For, with much study and work, the openers each activate one of the body's chakras: the energy centers known as wheels of light. As the chakras are opened, from the base of the spine to the crown of the head, so is opened a pathway for the fires of life to reconnect to the heavens in a great burst of lightning called the angel's fire. Only then can a man or a woman undertake the advanced work necessary for advancement to the! higher orders.

  The openers are each small, clear stones the color of their respective chakras. They are easily mistaken for gemstones.