Beauty Awakens the Soul to Act

Having traveled through the realms of Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven, Alighieri found himself face to face with the Triune God atop the Empyrean, a blessed and ephemeral place beyond dimension. Mary, Eve, Adam, Moses, and many others sat in reverence upon a blossoming structure shaped like the petals of a white rose. Weary from the journey, Dante was nonetheless entranced by the presence of the Triune God at the center of the rose. He exclaimed, "Already my desire and will were rolled, like a wheel that is turned, equally, by the Love that moves the Sun and the other stars." Through the nine circles of Hell and his encounter with Lucifer at the lowest pit, Dante had come face to face with the very nature of actionable sin. Through the nine rings of Mount Purgatory and the Garden of Eden at its peak, Dante had learned what motivated sinful deeds. And through the nine celestial spheres of Heaven, Dante learned the virtues of humanity. Having come to a deep understanding of the Christian faith, Dante is chosen by the Triune God to be his liaison of divinity, tasking him with a quest to meet the other Gods and Goddesses of the world and witness the states of divinity and humanity in their realms. This is Dante's story.

CANTO I: Beauty awakens the soul to act.

In less than an instant, I was transported.

The celestial spheres faded out of sight

And my vision became evermore distorted.

Soon, there became a graceful and serene light.

It engulfed the room in which I stood

And I could see at last an archaeological delight.

Ancient symbols adorned stone and wood.

In every corner, an artifact rested.

To one side, the heavenly sword of gathering clouds stood

And to its right lay a scepter topped

with the head of a crocodile.

Across the room was a short-handled hammer, engraved with the runes of the Nordic Isles

And to its left there stood an aegis shield gold-styled.

Dante began his journey, laying his hand on the crocodile scepter and finding himself transported to a desert and surrounded by lilies of the Nile...