Chapter 33: 32: Not the same anymore.

32: Not the same anymore.

Murphy’s view

Well, I’ve got a new problem to solve, and no idea how to solve it. There’s a new church in town. I have no idea how it even got built, or why it appeared, but it’s there, it’s creepy, and the voices in everyone’s head clearly hate it and want it purged with fire. At least the early attempts at arson have not accomplished much. Whatever the new church is made of, it clearly doesn’t burn well.

I’d like to keep the town peaceful, but it’s been an utter disaster. At least the guards aren’t rebelling. Unfortunately, we’ve had a spate of murder cases, and injuries, with worshippers of the new church being the main victims. It’s a bit confusing though. Many of the people witnesses say died are alive again. With no corpse, and a living victim, it’s hard to actually accuse anyone of killing them as there’s no real proof it ever happened. 

Interviews with the formerly dead, indicate that this new church’s god lets the dead return home from her afterlife. Supposedly the ones who stay dead simply chose not to come back. Honestly, the thing I found most striking was how incredibly peaceful and happy the supposed murder victims looked. It was as if all their worries and fears had been washed away. Seriously the happiest murder victims I’ve ever seen. They didn’t even seem to hold any grudges against the ones responsible for killing them. Baffling. Truly baffling. 

Loyal followers of the church of light, are of course quite angry about the introduction of a new church, and my refusal to run them out of town. It’s pretty clear the new priests are genuine priests. They offer free healing to any in need, as well as other services. It’s the “other services” that concern me the most, but I’m not about to tell someone with clear access to divine powers, that they can’t do something if no one is getting hurt. They don’t have a liscense for prostitution, and I’m pretty sure the local lord won’t… wait… they did allow it? 

… Yup, reports say enough of the nobles still here decided they like the new church to pass a new law allowing the church free reign. At least all the free healing and revival is keeping the casualties low. Would be nice if it didn’t leave so much blood in the streets though. Thankfully, the new church’s followers seem weirdly peaceful. As if the Church of Joy leaves them so damn happy and content, that nothing the Church of Light does really bothers them.

I’m still investigating what happens to the corpses. Witness testimony has been full of nonsense. One person claimed the body folded in on itself repeatedly until there was nothing left but the person’s belongings. Another claimed the body exploded into worms which burrowed into the ground. They were talking about the same body, the same event. After consulting some of my old records on magical concealment tricks that have been encountered in the past, I can only assume it must be some kind of mental magic that prevents people from remembering what really happened. 

…

The Last General’s view

As the last general of old demon king’s army, the last vestige of leadership, the final bastion of hope… 

The coward who hides in the king’s castle!

I must keep an eye on the world!

While arguing with yourself! You’re mad Maggie!

… Maybe… it does get a bit lonely here.

Everyone else left for war! Everyone else died in combat! Except you. You sniveling coward who hid when the heroes came.

Someone had to stay! Someone had to watch and record! I am the master of this kingdom’s information! The scryer of secrets! The knower of … things!

You’re just watching the world collapse while doing nothing.

It’s not collapsing! There’s still hope!

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This new god? Bah! 

With her here, we no longer face the fear of permanent death! Monsters can be reborn again!

Which is why the Army of Light stopped killing monsters and switched to sealing them. Sealing them in tiny crystals. It’s a fate no better!

They can still be saved!

By who? You? You’re useless! 

…

Random soldier of light

There were rumors of some big change beginning a while ago. Rumors born of the obvious agitation of the angels. They became less patient, more hurried. We needed to end the war quickly. The demon lands are far too dangerous and hostile though. There’s no way to exterminate all demons quickly.

We get slowed by wetlands full of mud and muck. When we find drier terrain, we get slowed by weeds and bushes that seem to grasp at our feet. When there’s no plants, we get struck by sandstorms and impossible canyons and cliffs. 

Today, we travel through what must’ve been a river once, except instead of a bed of smooth stones, they are covered in sharp spikes like caltrops! We’ve had more injuries from the terrain than monster attacks.

However, there was a moment a few days back, when things suddenly changed. The monsters we encountered wouldn’t die properly. They vanished when slain, and would return again the next day. Our priests solved the problem with a blessing of holy light upon our weapons. The enemies still vanished, but instead of confusing visions that made no sense when they did, there would just be a flash of light followed by the appearance of a small crystal. We were told these crystals contained the monsters sealed inside. Once again, we are reminded of the importance of our god’s blessing. May the light forever rule.

***Author Note***

Erm… Vivian becoming a priest of Lae is having a lot more impact than I realized it would. Vivian becoming a priest got Lae to learn of, accept, and open up to others, her personal realm. This led Ophelia to begin recruiting more priests. She wasn’t going to do that originally. This has gone from a subtle expansion of power, to a very blatant and obvious expansion of power… I really didn’t think this through properly when I started this.

Rolled some d20s:
Disruption level of new church: 16
Effectiveness of Murphy’s efforts to keep the peace: 4
Strength of church of light: 11
How well Lae’s new followers do at spreading the faith: 6
Violence level: 14
Guard Unity (loyalty to Murphy/law… how did I only now realize that by naming the captain of the guard, Murphy and putting them in charge of the law, I’ve made it so everyone must obey Murphy’s Law? I was just trying to make a joke reference to bad luck.): 19
How well do the local nobility receive the new church?: 18

P.S. Lae rejects the idea that death is inevitable.

P.P.S. This is not the first time the god of light has had to deal with unkillable monsters, though usually there’s not so many. A side effect of the change in strategy, is a supply of crystals that some magical power can be extracted from.

Maggie is: A highly magical, highly intelligent, highly monstrous creature, due to die rolls. I’ve not decided on an appearance yet, but she’s not humanoid.

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