Sinners' Kingdom #1: The Book of Lust (Complete)

28

I pulled the book closer and glanced right, making sure Lust wasn't peeking around the shelves again. On one hand, a niggling suspicion told me I should investigate what he was up to, because he was definitely up to no good if he was being so quiet out of sight.. On the other, he was constantly in my face or watching my every move with shameless hunger, so this might be my only chance in a while to pick up information without his knowledge. And about him, too.

APPENDIX G

The Great Culling occurred in the early to mid 1300s, originating in the Kingdom of Hell before spreading to other realms, including Earth, Purgatory, Heaven, and even the notoriously isolationist Kingdom of Hyperborea. Although short-lived, the violence was such that the negative energy catalyzed one of the most infamously deadly events in mankind's history (see Jaqline Dorra's essays The Echoes of the Black Death and The Pre-Renaissance Evolution of Coven Culture in Europe). Scholars agree that the Culling began with a dispute between Mammon, Prince of Greed, and Asmodeus, Prince of Lust. While the exact cause of the dispute is unknown, it was rumored to have been over possession of the preserved soul of Lilith, Mother of Demons, which would have granted both power and the sign of authority to whomever possessed it.

The conflict was so great that both demons were forced to gather allies, clashing again and again on countless battlefields with growing numbers. To prevent the other from further recruiting even stronger allies, both Princes actively sought out any who refused to join their respective sides and slaughtered them, even those professing neutrality. While demons of lower rank went mostly ignored in this realm-wide conflict, deemed too worthless to contribute, many stronger demons were 'strained as through a sieve' (Bolton & Darcy, 1728, p. 188). The Great Culling receives its name from the hundreds, perhaps thousands of demons who met their ends this way. As human record does not exist of this conflict, scholars are forced to extrapolate from only pieces of existing knowledge and peripheral evidence. During this time, many demons fled to other realms, primarily Earth, where they wrought much havoc and threw the various kingdoms out of balance.

Nearly a decade later, Asmodeus gained the upper hand at last when he successfully cursed Mammon and forcibly changed his form to that of a great wolf, likely an insult corresponding to Mammon's title as the Prince of Greed, as a wolf has long been a universal symbol for greed. This prevented Mammon from communicating with his allies, perhaps even temporarily stealing away his sentience, and therefore Asmodeus emerged the apparent victor.

Allegedly, however, Mammon was at the time in possession of Lilith's soul, and had already concealed it unbeknownst to anyone else. Asmodeus failed to acquire it, and the Great Culling came to an end as he had no choice but to wait until the curse upon Mammon wore off to interrogate him. Records cannot verify how this conflict concluded, but it is understood that even among the Princes of Hell, the hatred Mammon holds for Asmodeus is especially great, and seeks the latter's end above all others'.

Notably, Asmodeus is infamous for earning comparable great ire from several other Princes, not only Mammon. (See Volume III, Appendix N for a brief examination of also Asmodeus' feuding with the Prince of Wrath, as well as the Prince of Pride.)

***

Okay. This was just too quiet. He was definitely up to no good and I should have checked on him a long time ago. I flipped the pages of the volume to somewhere random in case Lust magically appeared to hover over my seat while I was gone like a snoop, then pushed out my chair and marched to the stacks. He had been right over there a few minutes ago, fiddling with something near the end of the shelf. No matter how he enjoyed tormenting me, he wouldn't have gone off on his own and started wandering the temple grounds, right?