Gideon's Testament

This book is a testament written by a man named Gideon Lightward. It is written in three overlapping parts. The first part describes a series holy visions sent to him from "a divinity beyond divinity." The second part is a series of transcribed dialogues between Gideon and another individual called the Woman in White. In the beginning, it seems as if the woman is a pupil who has come to Gideon for religious guidance. Over time, however, their roles seem to invert and now it is Gideon who seems to be seeking guidance from her regarding the visions he has been receiving and, eventually, deeper questions of metaphysical and philosophical import. The third part of the text is Gideon's own philosophical ruminations upon his experiences and the conclusions he has drawn.

The overwhelming theme of the book regards the evils of demons:

The Woman: Tell me, O Master, of what is the greatest evil.

Gideon: It is that of the Abyss. It is the teemless horde of chaos which seeks to rip down civilization.

The Woman: And why should civilization be not destroyed?

Gideon: Civilization is that which gives life meaning. It is the font of morality and thought. Of art and of science.

Great praises are heaped upon those divinities which stand stalwart against this demonic threat.

It is the gods' place to stand between Man and Chaos. It is their aegis which is their ultimate purpose, for behind their shield we create greatness and dedicate it to their honor.

One night, however, Gideon awakens from a strange and formless dream and sees a disturbing vision in his bedchamber:

There I beheld her. Her beauty was so great it seemed to burn my eyes. And yet through my blindness I could see her with greater clarity than any other sight that I have ever beheld.

Two great wings of white she had. And a sword of celestial steel so sharp that I could hear the hum of its edge. A weapon made to cleave the division between soul and mind.

But then I saw this essence of perfection cast away her sword. Her wings turned black. Her eyes turned to pits of fire. And a great and terrible purpose furrowed her brow.

The next day he speaks with the Woman in White, who tells him that she, too, has had a vision of this angelic being, and that its name is Zariel.

Gideon: But why should she have turned from the light?

The Woman: She turned from the light because it blinded her.

Gideon: Does not the light let us see?

The Woman: That is the lie of the light. We think only of what it illuminates, but not of what it conceals from us.

Gideon realizes that the Great Blindness – the Great Lie — is that the gods protect man from chaos.

... but it is not so! Helm? Torm? Tyr? Lathander? None of them battle the Abyss. They claim the glory of that war, but shed no blood in it!

This is why Zariel turned from Heaven. She saw the truth of her holy purpose; the Great Need to stand against Chaos. And she saw that her "holy" power was powerless because her gods had willed it so. Thus she allied herself with Hell! For it is Hell who fights chaos! It is Hell which sacrifices itself in the Blood War! Hell which fights eternal so that we poor mortals may eke out a few years of freedom upon the mortal plane!

Zariel is, thus, the inordinate exemplar of both sacrifice and service. Gideon has nothing but praise for her, for the choice she made, and for the great work which she does in the service not only of the mortal races, but for the balance of the entire multiverse.

Without her, all would become Chaos. And all those who do not stand with her are servants and abettors of Chaos, though they know it not.