Tall Tales
  • Home
  • Start Here
  • Videos
  • Narrator
  • Benediction
  • Matteson: P.I.
  • Over the Hedge
  • Wonderland
  • Store
  • Find on Amazon
  • Tall Tales RPG
  • Resources
    • Discord Server
    • Wiki
    • Supporters
    • The Editor
    • Calendar

Sabbatical, Part Six

8/5/2019

0 Comments

 

15 April 1991

We were standing around my table, which was covered in open books and notes. Over the weekend we had touched on all of this as much as we could, but I also had mass to tend to and the church's expectations for my Sunday afternoons, so this was the first time we could really spend a large chunk of time picking at what we knew. It would also probably be the last; we would keep in touch about anything we found, but Henry was flying back to the United States early the next day. In the course of our discussions, I had pieced together that he had met Tadzio while doing fieldwork, the exact nature of which he never explained but seemed related to the half-human child of a water spirit that was particularly important to him. Having never actually met another nephil in my life, I was hoping he would be more talkative about this other one he knew. Sadly, this was a matter he was not interested in discussing.

"This is the earliest reference to Nachash as an actual being that I own," he said, resting his hand on the reprint of a book originally printed during the Spanish Inquisition as I entered the room. "I know of an earlier reference, a mysterious book so rare I get conflicting accounts of what it's even called, printed around 1270. But nothing earlier."

"So this is a relatively new religious order?" I asked, setting a mug of coffee in front of him and then taking a sip from my own. He absently lifted it to his lips and then set it aside again, looking over to a page of notes he had nearby.

"To a European Catholic, sure."

"So we know when the Brood of Nachash was formed?"

"No. We know that there are no surviving records of any reference to Nachash as an actual being from before the late thirteenth century. It does seem somewhat unlikely that the cult existed very long by that date, given the complete silence in the record, but we can't really know. The most likely alternative is that they existed but called their god something different."

"But before then, Nachash was just...what?"

"An Anglicized version of the Hebrew word for 'serpent' used in the Fall narrative of Genesis 3. Outside of language studies of that actual passage, I have found little evidence to believe it had any use outside of Hebrew until either the cult or the spirit appropriated it."

"Is is possible that other groups that center on serpents are related to it?" I sat down and picked up one book, which included a brief reference to Nachash among a number of chaotic deities.

"It's worth looking into, I guess. It is, at least, possible that the cult will have borrowed imagery from other serpentine orders or even folklore, even if there's no direct relationship." As we looked over the information we had, it was decided that we needed to expand the scope of our studies. Henry had other matters to address, so he agreed to be available for the occasional bit of research, but had to keep his focus elsewhere. I knew that my resources were going to be limited as long as the Vatican had me off the case, so I thanked him for the help and admitted that it may be a while before I can contact him with anything new. I hated to put the matter aside, but I was growing concerned that I would soon have no other choice.
Previous Arc
Previous
Part 1
Next
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Image courtesy of Picrew by Makowwka.

    About

    Evidence compiled for use during the trial of Father Benedict de Monte.

    Leave a Tip

    Boost on TopWebFiction


    Tall Tales: Volume Two now available


    Archives

    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019

    Categories

    All
    Akshainie
    Alice Templeton
    Aslaug
    Babylon
    Barzai
    Book Of Shadows
    Broken Tablets
    Brood Of Nachash
    Buné
    Dr Francesca Harris
    Elder Gods
    England
    Father Josef Klappenger
    Files
    Fire And Ice
    France
    Frankfurt
    Gore
    Henry Matteson
    Hörselberg
    Iravati
    John Matteson
    Jörmungandr
    Legion
    Magum Imperatoria
    Mark Larmais
    Mark Of The Beast
    Michael Hudson
    Mystics Anonymous
    Natasha Fox
    North Carolina
    Ohio
    Pakistan
    Pennsylvania
    Professor Flitwick
    Purgatory
    Queen Of Heaven
    Realignment
    Roderick Hudson
    Sabbatical
    South Carolina
    Switzerland
    Tadzio Garciacutea
    Tadzio-garciacutea
    Tennessee
    Tettnang
    The-fall
    The-fall
    The Ravens
    The Two
    Transcript
    Yggdrasil
    Zachariah Hudson

    RSS Feed

Story Blogs

Narrator
Benediction
Matteson: P.I.
Over the Hedge
Wonderland

Resources

Read Order
Weekly Updates
Wiki
Credits
About the Author

Support Tall Tales

Patreon
Ko-fi
Subscribe
Store
© COPYRIGHT 2018. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Home
  • Start Here
  • Videos
  • Narrator
  • Benediction
  • Matteson: P.I.
  • Over the Hedge
  • Wonderland
  • Store
  • Find on Amazon
  • Tall Tales RPG
  • Resources
    • Discord Server
    • Wiki
    • Supporters
    • The Editor
    • Calendar