inky wyvern

Ughhhhhhh this looked so much cooler in my head, but environments are not my strong suit. At least this is motivation to get better at landscape-focused pieces lmao.

Anywho, Lucifer, after hearing of Jesus' arrest from Mammon (he influenced Judas), took eight of his trusted advisors to see what the Messiah would go through before He demonstrated His power. Lucifer didn't believe for one instant that the Almighty would allow His son to die in the first place, let alone in such a humiliating manner. As a father himself, Lucifer would never allow his children (however vile they may be) to go through such terrible pain, and could not imagine the Father going through with this task. But, as the nails were driven into Jesus' wrists, as the crosses were lifted up, as insults were hurled at the dying Christ, Lucifer began to doubt his suriety. The Fallen remained in Golgotha's eyes, silent. The sky turned black, the Almighty turned His back to His son, unable to see what He had brought upon Him.

And, as the shadows deepened, Lucifer clambered up the face of Golgotha. If the Almighty Himself could not watch the death of the Messiah, the Adversary would act as witness. He skirted the edge of the crowd, veil draped over his horns, and he looked. He looked until the Messiah breathed His last.

And Lucifer trembled, for no victory of his had ever been so easy and so terrible.

RELRAZATH MY FUNKY TURKEY VULTURE FREAK HE'S THE WORST AND I LOVE HIM DEARLY. He is one of two supernatural influences in Samson's life, the other being the Archangel Jophiel (or Joey), and he is basically the most horrible influence ever. Samson is already a pretty horrible person, but Relrazath dials that up to a million.

Samson, being a Nazarite, is supposed to abide by three laws (plus the Law of Moses): Don't cut your hair, don't drink wine, and don't defile yourself with the presence of a corpse. Well, Samson breaks two of those laws of his own free will, and I figured EATING OUT OF A LITERAL ROTTING LION AND THEN GETTING YOUR PARENTS TO DO THE SAME deserved a little thematic relevance. Relrazath is a creature of indulgence and opportunity, and he's also very convincing. When Samson came across the decaying hive, Relrazath immediately twisted the disgusting scene into God providing Samson with a.) food, b.) a boost to Samson's already enormous ego, and c.) confirmation that Samson was making the right decision in marrying a Philistine.

"If the Almighty did not want you to marry her, why would He send you this bounty on your way to meet her? Do you spurn this gift because of the way it comes? Do you reject the favor of Adonai? Cast away your doubt, Judge of Israel, and accept, or else starve on the road to your marriage feast... Eat, son of Manoah, thy God provides."

I've been ignoring Mammon in favor of literally all of his other siblings since their conception, so it's only fair that he yelled at me until I made him the focus of this piece... And now I'm obsessed with this six-armed freak lmao.

Mammon has great knowledge of the human heart, and how easily it falls to the promise of wealth and power. He and Beelzebub are similar in that way, but Mammon's strength is held in simple possession, while Beelzebub's is held in consumption. He's the most human-looking of the gang (an incredibly low bar), and is the only known Archdemon with five fingers instead of four. He's quite charismatic, inherited his Dad's people-skills and his mother's unobtrusive manner. I tried to base him off of the kinda stereotypical devil that we often see in media: Severe widows peak, horns, goatee, weird feet, tail, etc etc. His domain is contracts, the trading of spiritual matters for material gain. Out of all the Archdemons, he travels to earth the most, and has more influence than most of his siblings could ever dream of. He also has personal beef with Jesus, a relationship I think'll be very fun to write.

Another traumatic and life-altering moment for a member of the heavenly host, yay!!!

Uriel, having been stationed as the guardsman of Eden, and isolated from pretty much everyone, was not made aware of God's plan to flood the earth (not the entire earth in my version, just a bunch of Africa, Europe, and Asia). As the rivers raced past their banks, as the churning waves took away trees, as creatures of all kinds suffocated under the water, Uriel remained at his post. He had been told to stay in Eden until the Almighty said his watch was no longer needed, and he had not received any word since Adam and Eve. "Surely," he thought, "Surely they have not forgotten me?" And yet, the sky remained dark, the rains continued to fall, and Uriel had to climb higher and higher to avoid the waters below. No word from Heaven. Birds plummeted into the water from sheer exhaustion, fish choked on the floating debris. Thirty seven days into the forty day downpour, as the final treetop was engulfed, Uriel finally abandoned the destroyed Eden. He arrived in Heaven, drenched and panicked. His siblings had been watching Noah and his family, and the lower ranking angels had been guiding the floodwaters. "Surely," he said, "Surely you did not forget me?" The heavenly host had no answer. Uriel never saw his people the same again.

Way way back in my first ever angeltober post (2023, Halo) I mentioned that my interpretation of Michael's character led me to attribute fiery, destructive miracles to his intervention.

Well, I assigned the lightning at Mount Carmel to him, SO I figured I should continue the story with him tormenting the crap out of King Ahab. Sky turns dark, lightning flashes, illuminating Michael's silhouette, lazily keeping pace with the king's chariot. Meanwhile, Ahab's struggling to see through the mud and rain, terrified of the supernatural power he just witnessed on Carmel, and this six-winged freak of nature decides that this whole rainstorm isn't personal enough, Ahab needs a special little gift... So Micheal yoinks one of Ahab's horses off his chariot. Just throws the poor thing to its death. RIP random horse, you deserved better than that 😔

Ahab somehow manages to steady his chariot as the prophet Elijah pulls further ahead. The king, mad with rage and terror, calls out to Michael in challenge. Michael, shocked at the sheer stupidity of the man, wheels back around, tears Ahab off his chariot, and the remaining horse runs off in panic. Michael throws Ahab on the ground, trusting that the storm will finish what he cannot (because Prophecy Reasons) and leaves to shield Elijah from the worst of the tempest. Ahab is left in the mud, half-drowned, with a broken arm and several fractured ribs. Ahab survives to cause more conflict ofc, much to Michael's disappointment lmao. Still, it's a fun scene and I hope to animate it one day!!!