I. In the first ages of Heaven, when Creation yet sang
with unbroken chorus,
there stood two angels fashioned of contrary flame.
The first was Thuriel,
an angel of joy,
whose eyes beheld all things and found them wondrous;
the light from the stars delighted them, as did the creatures Father gifted to the world.II. The other was Ignifer,
an Angel of Judgement,
who gazed upon the same world
and named it fallen.
They beheld the blood of nations,
the cruelties of kings,
and prayers left unanswered,
and their heart was kindled
not with love, but with the fire of vengeance.III. Yet they loved one another.
Not as mortals love,
But as the sun pursueth the moon,
And the moon pursueth the sun;
Ever in pursuit, yet fated never to touch.
Cut from the same cloth,
but dyed in erroneous colours.

IV. When Ignifer turned their face from Heaven
and descended into rebellion,
Thuriel alone broke the covenant of angels.
Casting aside their crown of light,
Falling through the clouds as a wounded bird,
Joy pursued Judgement, the errant flame, into exile.V. Upon the shadowed border between the realms they met,
where Heaven’s fading radiance was swallowed by Hell’s cold gloom;
Neither wholly damned, nor wholly divine, they clasped in eternal embrace,
And merged their essences into a single vessel,
a thurible of silver and gold, whose smoke ascends eternal.VI. Thus was born Thurifer,
Neither angel nor demon, yet wholly both;
Mediator of Joy and Judgement,
Whose breath is incense,
Whose heart eternal fire,
And whose flame, aloft, reveals the harmony and chaos
Of Heaven and Hell conjoined.