In Those Days - Session 1 Retelling
This is a "session retelling". The session of Let Us Build a Tower which I ran on 13/12 went quite well, so I don't have anything to say about it. Instead, I had way too much fun and retold it. This is in part inspired by Nathan's How Borg, the 5th Level Fighting-man, Trains.
Sing to me, Muse, of those distant days and those remote nights of Shinar, where today is Chaldea, when the Mighty Hunter Nimrod had finished his tower which reached up to the vault of the Heavens. Tell me of the fierce works and the suffering of those ambitious Throne-Seekers who sought, through mighty deeds of arms, to take the throne of Powerful Enlil, who marshals the thunderheads, and that which they found.
In one such morning, as rosy-fingered Dawn stretched her hands across the sky, five fine heroes made their way inside Nimrod's Folly and found that their tongues had been switched. The curse of tongues put by Enlil, who delights in the thunder, could still be felt then, and the tongues of men were as easy to shape as the recently discarded cocoon of the butterfly, whose wings stretch out to the sky.
As they crossed Inanna's Gate, they found themselves in the presence of a pool where the waters of the reservoirs of Heaven were drained towards, aqueducts conducting the waters which once attempted to drown Utnapishtim, the exceedingly wise, but failed.
"Halt!" Ordered Angishu, called the fish biter, "Across from this pool filled with the waters of all Heavens runs an old bearded man!"
Bald Etuaga, the scribe, agreed and responded with winged words: "And it appears he is followed swiftly by large and strange men whose lower bodies are those of monstrous spiders or scorpions! Those are surely the Girtablullû, the beloved of Irkalla, who guard the gates of Hell!"
They said these things yet were not understood by one another. Despite this, the man who ran from the Girtablullû, the scorpion-guardians of the netherworld, let his words take flight and made himself be understood through the curse.
"I know not how this man, who appears very old and wise, is able to convey his words to us through the curse which Babel, the City of a Thousand Tongues, has been plunged into, but we must help him!" Said Huna, the Unlucky, using words which now would be recognised by the men of Elam, in Aram.
Against hopeless odds, Angishu, shield to his comrades, took the front of the line and bravely repelled the guardians of Kur, whose denizens eat only dust. It was not his mighty spear-arm which won the field, however, but the words of cunning Etuaga, who weaved the melam which had flooded the world in those days before our days when Mighty Nimrod pierced the glass dome of Heaven, and made two of the Girtablullû believe themselves to worship him. All men know that the guardians who serve Irkalla are niether cruel nor merciful, but are instead reasonable and steadfast and never retreat. In this instance, however, Irkalla, the queen of the dead, recalled them before there could be more bloodshed.
The bearded men then turned and let his words take wing: "Friends, I thank you all for your willingness to put your life on the line for this old man's soul. I wish I could tell you my tale of woe and my long suffering, for I am Enoch, son of Jared, whose eternal rest was denied by the Skyfather who marshals the thunderheads. He took me up to Heaven and submitted me to such woeful and wondrous things that, if it were written with a needle on the inside of the eye, it would serve as a tool of reflection for the circumspect. I beseech you, point me towards the way to exit my eternal bondage, so that I may rest in peace among the honoured dead! I had hoped that the scorpion-giants who guard the gates of the netherworld would take pity on me and guide me towards the palace of their queen, but they saw in me only an enemy!"
Then Angishu, the fish biter, said "Wise Enoch who was taken when he was very old, rejoice for your suffering is at an end. Just beyond that gate, beloved to Inanna, the fire of love, lies the city of Babel with its thousand tongues. I wish with all my heart that you would stay and tell us more of your bondage, as well as of your magical tongue which seems to speak and understand all, even in this tower which has been cursed to prevent such happening. However, it is a bad companion he who prevents others from leaving."
After showering the men with praises and the Heavens with thanks, Enoch, the taken, ran through Inanna's gate and, with his arms spread out, let his spirit fly out to meet Irkalla and rest forever, for his rites had already been performed.
The body of one of the scorpion-giants still lay in the flooded chamber, but the companions took no heed of that and there they found a beautiful glazed vessel which one day filled the cup of a king. Now it lay at the bottom of a reservoir.
After this they went towards the west and there they found a pleasant room which once had served as a bathhouse to the mighty of the tower of Mighty Nimrod, tiled floors and walls spread like a beautiful watery palace, and there they found much treasure and weaponry.
Returning to the room with the pool of all of the waters of Heaven, the unentombed dead who lay at the bottom of the pool drank of the blood of the fallen Girtablullû, stealing a portion of his life and walking once more, but it was but a few drops and they expired shortly afterward. However, it is known that the Edimmu cannot turn towards Sheol.
Ignoring this, the brave companions proceeded towards the north, where they came upon a twisting garden with many strange beasts, with the body of a lion, the face of a tiger, and daggers for teeth, stalking behind a gilded cage. As they traversed this path, there appeared the mighty Zîz, king of all birds, whom the ancients called the Anzû. With his mighty wings, as wide as the house of a rich man, he swooped down and killed one of the beasts with the daggers for teeth, rending it with its bronze-like beak, greedily devouring its meat.
Then Proud Lumesh let his words take wing "That bird is the mighty queen of the skies, whose wings are the wind of the storm and raw thunder sounds in its cries! It hungers eternally and rules with a bronze fist, but it does not molest us, even as it has noticed us. Let us fly towards the east, as the door to the north appears to be locked" and all commended his wise words and went towards the east.
However, Enlil of the wide brows turned his attention towards them. As he had seized the moon and the sun from Shamash, the sun-binder, and his twin Sin, the moon-shepherd, so he said "It pleases me that it be dark for the half of an hour, so that Proud Lumesh learns to respect me even in my decayed state, for he does not sacrifice mighty bulls to me!" and so he caused the sun to go out for that time.
Then Bald Etuaga, who knows many tricks, told his companions "Be not afraid! Look, this iron staff which I found in the bathhouse shines in the darkest of night as the brazier of the woman in the story who put it outside of her house at night, so that her husband could find his way home. So we shall find our way through this darkness. It appears that this once was where the builders slept, in these niches so small as to appear like coffins."
Adad the Ox, who was a great climber, said "They are very small indeed! See how I fit nicely inside one of them with my small frame, for despite many calling me 'the Ox', all know it is only in the common jest of men who say one thing contrary to the truth, so as to find laughter in that. Comrades, it does not appear that there is either plunder or foes to destroy in this room. Let us return to the room where a portion of all of the waters of Heaven are stored, for I believe there was a doorway to the east there which we still have not explored, and my fingers itch to lay upon some gold or silver!"
"Your words are wise, Adad, and we should do as you say. Look! The sun is out! It appears loud-thundering Enlil has quit his rapine of the bright birthright of Shamash, patron of heroes, and our way is lit." Said Lumesh, the proud priest.
As they returned, however, they found that the Edimmu which they believed to have returned to Hell were starting to shed their skins and enter a rage, flailing their flayed intestines and giving such piteous cries that they brought to mind all of the suffering the masons and slaves underwent in that forsaken tower of Nimrod, the mighty hunter, in those ancient days.
Huna the Unlucky let his words take flight "Quick, behind us! Let us retreat to the doorway! It appears that room is overgrown, which might prove difficult for us to cross through it, but Brave Angishu and myself can hold the Edimmu who hate Irkalla off there! They are four and we are two, but they cannot assail us all at one time if we control the field of battle!"
"There are people here too, and big bubbling ponds of silver liquid! O citizens of fallen Babel, do not get angry at us, put your clubs away and allow us to fight these unentombed and send them back to hell without worrying about our rearguard!" Beseeched Bald Etuaga, even though those five people did not understand his words, but some god conveyed to them his meaning and so they held back, putting their trust into Huna the unlucky and brave Angishu.
The battle was fiercely fought. Angishu, shield to his comrades, fended the Edimmu with his mighty spear, but Huna was conquered by the bites of the flayed one. Another jumped over the grounded Huna towards Adad the Ox, untying his limbs and dragging him to the ground. Proud Lumesh prevented that his spirit fled to Irkalla by prayer, and as brave Angishu hooked with his spear the greedy dead from atop Adad, he smartly pulled his bowstring and let loose an arrow against the body of the one which controlled Huna, hated by luck.
"The battle is ended, comrades, but the unrestful dead will continue returning unless we conduct them the rites which are correct for all of our forefathers, and prevent that their bodies be a feast to the dogs and the birds of this tower. Even though I have no love for these who just attempted to destroy us, it is the charitable thing to do." So flew the words of Proud Lumesh, who was a priest, and along with his acolyte, spent the next hour ministering the proper rites of the dead. Kindly Adad shared a meal with the lost people that were living in that room, and Angishu, shield to his comrades, along with the unlucky Huna, barred the doors and held them tight. Etuaga, who knows many tricks, enlisted his apprentice and the both of them used jars and buckets to empty one of the silvery pools of its liquid.
As haughty Lumesh intoned his words to the high heavens, some god sent a sacred wave to ripple through the tower, the overgrown vegetation retreated, and all of them discovered themselves changed in ways which men of our fallen age don't anymore. As Proud Lumesh finished the rites, Bald Etuaga found inside the pool the body of someone who had been turned by the strange bubbling silver into a beautiful statue of silver themselves.
Happily, all of the brave companions put their servants to carry the statue and led the way outside of the tower, intent on rejoicing in the fruits of their labour, and to piously sacrifice to all the gods which had helped them. Just as they were leaving, however, the opportunistic Nisroch, which are called "harpies" in our land, flew down towards Inanna's Gate and sent honeyed words towards them.
"Brave Angishu, your spear is so long and stout, as the oak which rises in the forest to defy the desert! Your shield is so thick and hard, almost like the brass doors of the inner sanctums in the Tower, built by the foolhardy Nimrod!"
And another one, this one more birdlike than ladylike, said other things of that effect towards strong Huna too, which were not recorded by the poet which sang this tale to me. However, he did tell of brave Angishu's answer:
"Nisroch high above, you are lustful creatures by nature! Your hair is as beautiful as the eagles in the sky, and your arms as muscular and graceful as those of Penelope, but you will not fool me, for I know behind your beguiling eyes lay talons which rend flesh like bronze! You are often cruel and capricious, and you devour men."
"Angishu, you are truly a shield to your men, and it seems nothing can get through to you. However, you do not know us, and someone who does not know your hard character might take your words for those of a stupid man, for we nisrochs can love just as well as any laughter-loving woman or man. Allow us to know one another better, as a husband does his wife, lest you think it best to penetrate us with your thick ashen spear and attempt to send our spirits down to Irkalla, queen of the dead. Believe us! If we had wanted to taste your delicious warrior muscles, our talons which cut like swords would be doing the talking, and our beautiful songs which charms any man would have been sung instead of these honeyed words!"
"Nisroch, it appears I have indeed misjudged you. Though some of you are strange and birdlike, I now see that many of you are beautiful and bright among the creatures with inhabit this tower. Swear me a mighty oath, under the eyes of haughty Lumesh, who is a priest, that you will preserve my body and that of my friends. If you do so, I will take you into Babel and taste of your sweet myrrh and honey, and love you as I would my own wife."
"May the ferryman Urshanabi and his one hundred and twenty stone giants carry me across the river Hubur, which separates the world of the living from the dead, towards the land of Kur where Irkalla reigns over the dead along with her consort, grave-lord Nergal, who lies slain by he who blots out the sun, and keep me there forever eating dust in the darkness if I am telling a lie."
And so the nisroch, which was named Nihar, flew down from her pole, as bother her sisters and Angishu's comrades watched in amusement for their strange affair. Thus it was known, in those ancient days, that men would take such strange creatures and bed them, and from their union many things could spring forth, but that is a different tale.