The Abbey

> She saw in the rainbow the earth’s new architecture, the old, brittle corruption of houses and factories swept away, the world built up in a living fabric of Truth, fitting to the over-arching heaven.
>
> D. H. Lawrence,  The Rainbow

In the south quarter of the Eternal City, in the place corresponding to where the legendary Pool of Siloam lay in the City of David, Litheroy’s Abbey can be found. Where most archangels’ cathedrals are grand, sweeping affairs, the Abbey (it has never had any other name) is a quiet place, subdued and beautiful in its simplicity. It resembles a 15th-century abbey of considerable size, made of plain, unadorned granite. The gardens are carefully tended by robed servitors and relievers of Revelation, along with those blessed souls drawn to this place. There are many fountains and pools on the grounds, from the Eel Pool to a pond where koi borrowed from Jordi’s Savannah swim. The pathways are crushed green stone and make a pleasant sound underfoot as one walks. There is a Zen garden, expertly tended by a blessed soul who lived during Japan’s Kamakura period. While many inhabitants of Heaven have never heard of the Abbey, those who appreciate a place for quiet meditation and contemplation become regular visitors to the grounds. Even the servitors of the Wind respect the serenity of the scene, though they make changes here and there when they think they can get away with it.

The Abbey is run as a monastery, reflecting the role Christianity played in the growth of the Word of Revelation, and the role monasteries have played as centers of scholarship, research, and the distribution of knowledge. To Litheroy, a 14th-century monk illuminating a manuscript contributed more to Revelation than almost anyone of any other time. The Abbey reflects that tradition, and Litheroy endorses the worship of God, as the bells ring for Vespers each day.

There is one interesting difference between Litheroy’s Abbey and the abbeys and monasteries it is modeled after. There are towers and turrets and rooms and chambers aplenty in the abbey, but there are no doors. No doors in the rooms where servitors rest, no doors in the chambers where cherubim guard the Hearts of Litheroy’s corporeal agents, no doors in the archives where relievers illuminate and scribe documents on all that is learned and all that is known, no doors anywhere. Litheroy understands privacy, on an intellectual level . . . but he does not practice it. Those things so valuable they may be stolen even in Heaven, Litheroy gives to Laurence or Dominic and lets those two deal with such items as they will. (Of course, he makes no secret of these gifts.)

Litheroy is the Abbot, referred to as Father and dressing the part when on the grounds. However, Litheroy is often absent, devoting his time and energy to his archeological projects and to studying the question of Humanity firsthand. He is never more than a fast transition away, though, and no one could accuse Litheroy of abandoning his post as Eli has.

## The Eel Pool

One artifact not only known to be on the grounds but utterly undefended ~ though admittedly difficult to steal ~ is the Eel Pool. Reflecting pools are a common feature of monasteries, but this one is special. For the cost of 1 Essence, a visitor can open up a window onto any outdoor scene on Earth, keeping it open for viewing for up to a half-hour. The view is of a specific perspective ~ changing the perspective of the view costs another Essence. No communication or transit is possible through the Eel Pool.

Servitors use this section of the gardens to meditate on the Labyrinth, and to explain the metaphor to those who visit. Too many leave assuming the Labyrinth is the enemy of Revelation, as opposed to a philosophy, but the servitors continue to try. They give free access to any who want to use the Eel Pool, though someone who disturbs the serenity of the gardens will be asked to leave.

## The Chambers of Discovery

One of the greatest honors a Litherite can have is to be commemorated in the Chambers of Discovery. These rooms contain replicas (or even antiquities made into minor celestial artifacts) from the most significant revelations Earth has known since Litheroy’s accession. Many of these are archeological in nature, decorated to memorialize the reclaiming of human history from Oblivion, but there are also rooms commemorating other revelations. One room, for example, honors the revealing of the Quran to Muhammad by Gabriel. Another celebrates the giving of the golden tablets to Joseph Smith. And still another commemorates the discovery of the DNA double-helix by Francis Crick and James Watson (and particularly the way Rosalind Franklin’s photograph led to the revelation). Even though Litheroy opposes Jean’s policies regarding scientific development, he recognizes true revelations when they are made by human beings, in all fields of endeavor. Some of the rooms in the Chambers of Discovery commemorate places that later became tethers to Litheroy. In most of those tethers, the endpoints of the tether are stabilized in the Chambers of Discovery themselves. For example, the tether in King Tutankhamen’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt terminates in the Chamber that celebrates its discovery.

### The Achievement of the Traitor

In the late 11th and early 12th centuries, the Islamic theologian and polymath Al-Ghazili applied the teachings and philosophies of the late theologian al-Ashari to found the Asharite school of Muslim philosophy. Contending that it was impossible to comprehend the nature of God or morality, and that while mankind had free will he did not have the power to create, the Asharites combined skepticism with theology, moving away from philosophical discourse and toward acceptance of faith without question.

This position was antithetical to Litherite concepts and theories. However, one of Litheroy’s servitors ~ a mercurian named Alaemon ~ was able to influence the Asharite movement. While they still contended that morality and religion were beyond discussion, the spirit of inquiry was applied, in no small part thanks to Alaemon, to scientific and historical inquiry. Ultimately, the Asharites took Muhammad’s injunction to “seek knowledge, even as far as China” to heart. They assumed ignorance was the natural state of man but permitted man to engage in social and scientific innovation. These movements and attitudes ultimately contributed to the development of archaeology and anthropology as scientific disciplines and were successful enough that from the 12th through 14th centuries, the Muslims led the world in technological and scientific development. Even today, the scientific method owes much to the traditional Islamic practices of ijtihad (open inquiry) and isnah (citing one’s scientific sources).

For these achievements, Alaemon had a chamber dedicated to the Asharite School in the Chambers of Discovery. And even today ~ when the Asharite movement is often blamed for yielding the development of Western civilization and the development of ethics to Christianity ~ the traitor’s chamber remains, open for any who wish to see.