“I think this belongs to you!” yelled Fellaroth as he threw the dead body at the large double doors of the church, knocking the door to the right, off of its hinges and sending it crashing into the interior of the church.
“Church doors don’t lock you know Fell!” said Jackson as he caught up with Fellaroth before he entered the eery building. “Don’t you think we should wait for the others?”
“They’ll be along shortly. In the meantime, I would like to find out who it is that was behind all of the foul things that have been happening in this town. What kind of monster would do such a thing? Do they have so little respect for human life?”
“Those people were not human; they were barely alive!” answered a deep and commanding voice from within the church.
“Those people lived and breathed just like anyone else. They worked hard to provide for their loved ones and cared for each other!” yelled Jackson, crossing over the threshold behind Fellaroth.
The church’s interior was a truly dark and ominous place, with hundreds of candles burning in dozens of enormous chandeliers that hung from chains, far above their heads, with yet more candles spread out across the church’s interior in large standing candelabras, and yet with all of these burning candles, there was still scarcely any light to be found in this place.
“Don’t make me laugh! They were no more human than the cattle they raised for slaughter. They would have had nothing if it weren’t for me! I brought commerce to this town. I created the jobs that employed each and every person who lived in this town, and yet I had to stand by and watch as they cheated and lied to the people, they called their friends. I had to bear witness to them breaking their marital vows and taking each other’s lives as easily as crossing a street, and then have the audacity to come before me on the day of rest and ask that I ask the Gods to absolve them of their sins! These were not people! They were foul creatures that didn’t deserve the lives that they had been blessed with!” answered the commanding voice, with such passion that his voice reverberated throughout the empty building. “I did this world a great service by removing that filth from existence!”
“And what exactly gives you the right to determine who gets to live and who doesn’t?” asked Riegert, joining the others as they walked down the centre aisle of the church, scanning their surroundings as they went.
“I am an apostle of the Gods! Their right hand in this world! A being made perfect by their power and given the task of cleansing this world so that it might one day be a fitting place for them to inhabit!”
“You are nothing more than a pompous ass! A being who was so consumed by his own power and authority, so self-righteous in his own mind that he was easily swayed from the path of the true Gods and was manipulated by demons into believing that they are the true Gods of this world!” Said Fellaroth, clearly starting to lose his composure.
“You would dare to come into this holy place and speak such lies!” yelled the deep voice as a large, grotesquely obese man waddled onto the stage. “My Gods are the true Gods of this world! They do not simply stand by and watch as the world falls into ruin. They guide their followers and provide them with the power to change this world for the better. They are helping us to create a world where only those who deserve to live will be given the privilege of life!”
“And how exactly do your Gods judge who is deserving of life and who isn’t?” asked Fellaroth, in a calm voice.
“Those who are righteous of heart and are true believers will give unto the Gods anything that they desire, anything that they ask of you, and in exchange, you will be granted power! Power over life and death! Power to help mould this world and change it into what the Gods want it to be. And when all is said and done, we will be granted a place in the new world, where we can prosper alongside our Gods!”
“True Gods do not desire anything of their people! All they want is to see their people prosper, and they ask for nothing in return, except faith in them!” said Calvin, stepping in front of the others.
“You know nothing of true Gods! Do your Gods grant you power in exchange for your faith?” yelled the large man, clicking his fingers, causing the adventurers to rise into the air, gasping for breath. “Do your Gods allow you to have dominion over life and death with little more than a thought?” he added as he rapidly extended his fingers, causing the adventurers to fly through the air and slam into the wall at the far side of the church. “If your Gods were so powerful, then would they not have prevented me from killing you so easily?” he said as he erupted into laughter, causing his enormous gut to heave and wobble.
“No, we don’t grant power in exchange for the faith of our followers!” said Fellaroth, causing the large man to abruptly stop laughing and look down in horror. “All we ask of our followers is that they lead good lives, respect each other, and do not take all that they have been given for granted. And in exchange, yes, we will protect them from being killed so easily.” He added in a voice that was so calm and peaceful that it struck true fear into the large man’s heart.
“But… but how? How are you still standing there?” he yelled, peering across the room in an attempt to see if Fellaroth had really saved the lives of the adventurers. “I was granted the power of the Gods! I am all-powerful!”
“You were granted power, but it was not the power of the Gods, it was just power.” Said Fellaroth, as enormous wings spread out from his back, bathing the church in a warm light. “What my companion said is true. We Gods don’t ask our faithful for anything in exchange for our love and devotion, we exist only to guide our people and aid them in creating a world where all people can live in peace. We were not granted divinity so that we might rule over this world. Nor were we meant to interfere with the lives of mortal beings. We were given our divinity so that we might subtly guide this world and its people and ensure that each of the races of man can live good and peaceful lives. It is not for us to grant power over anything to one group over another.”
“How dare you come before me in this, the house of my Gods and spread such lies! You claim to be a true God of humanity? If this were true, then why have you stood by for so many millennia and watched as the other races have done as they pleased with us? You claim to be of the old Gods who allowed the Elves, Dwarves, Lizardmen, and every other race in this world to believe themselves superior to us. If you are truly one of those Gods, then what gives you the right to come before me and judge me for trying to elevate my race… our race… to where it truly belongs!”
“The old Gods? So, you are aware of the existence of the true Gods then?”
“If you are referring to Mythus, Magnatheena, and Fellaroth, then yes, I am aware of the existence of those pitiable excuses for Gods. I am aware of how they stood by and watched as the race of man was subjugated by the other races. I am aware of how they did nothing as the other races treated us as little more than the dirt beneath their shoes!”
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“But how? I was under the impression that there were very few in this world who still knew of Mythus, and fewer still who knew of the existence of Magnatheena and myself.”
“Oh, so you believe yourself to be Fellaroth, the God of prosperity and good fortune, do you? Now that I think about it, you do bear a striking resemblance to the old depictions of him… but even if it is true, and you are who you say you are. You are too late; the race of men has found themselves new Gods. Gods who do not stand idly by and watch as our race crumbles and fades into obscurity.”
“How is it possible that you know who I am, or even what I look like? I have come to understand that all knowledge of Magnatheena and myself were long since forgotten!”
“Oh, you have been forgotten, I have personally spent the last thousand years of my life making sure of that!”
“Excuse me? The last thousand years of your life? How is that even possible?”
“Oh, how the mighty Gods have faltered. Do you truly not recognise one of your own representatives… The Pope of your faith! Then let me jog your memory.” Said the heavy-set man, stepping out of the darkness and into the light that radiated from Fellaroth for the first time. “My name is Elias Maximillian Thaddeus Valtieri, and for many years I faithfully spread the teachings of The Golden Emperor. I was one of the privileged few who were blessed with hearing your voice and receiving your guidance. I studied your life and your achievements… I lived for nothing more than to spread your word to the masses. And hearing you speak your wisdom directly to me was nothing short of a miracle that I took great pride in.”
“You… I do recognise you… though your appearance has vastly changed since then, it is still you!” said Fellaroth, on seeing the distorted features of the man before him for the first time. Before him was a man who was almost as fat as he was tall. He had smooth brown hair that had been neatly combed back and a clean-shaven face that had clearly once been very handsome before the folds of fat had set in until his neck was no longer visible. His arms rested against his enormous sides that were so large that his bejewelled hands dangled beside him, unable to touch his hips without great effort on his part. He wore long flowing vestiges, that though faded and discoloured with age, still looked familiar to Fellaroth. “But how could you possibly be him? That was centuries ago, you should have died a long time ago!”
“It is only by the miracles of the true Gods that I have been able to live as long as I have. Unlike you, they saw my potential and knew that given enough time, I would be able to help grow their religion in this world. They knew that I was the man who would be capable of spreading the truth that they were indeed the true Gods and that the rest of you were nothing more than idle spectators who cared nothing for what happened to the mortal races!”
“You were once such a devoted follower, a man that truly believed in me with all of your heart. You are a testament to just how greatly I have failed my people. How did it ever come to this?”
“Do you really need to ask? I lived my life just as you had commanded of me. I spent every day observing your faith and giving praise to you. I spread your teachings to anyone who would hear it, and you rewarded me with your divine voice and guidance. But even after the many decades, I had devoted to you, the many years I had lived by your teachings… you fell silent. When I stopped hearing your voice, I began to question every decision I had made. I began to examine every aspect of my life to see what I could possibly have done to upset you, to make it so that you no longer viewed me as one who was worthy of hearing your voice. But in time I came to hear that I was not the only one who could no longer hear your voice, as others of the faith began to reach out to me for guidance as they too could no longer hear your voice. I fasted for many days and nights, praying around the clock in the hopes that you would give me an answer as to why I could no longer hear you. And when I had finally given up all hopes of ever hearing your voice again… a miracle happened. I started to hear the voice of another. A voice that opened my eyes and showed me the truth, that we were nothing more than playthings for you and the other Gods, and that you had grown tired of us and had lost interest…!”
“I truly did fail you, Elias, I had grown complaisant in my role as a God and stopped giving guidance to my faithful. I sat back and did nothing as the race of man fell so far from grace. I was so wrapped up in my own divinity that I didn’t even notice when false Gods had usurped my place as your God and, to be frank, I didn’t even care… but I have seen the error of my ways and want to guide the race of man back onto their true path once more. I want to show you all, that this way of violence is not the way forward. You need to strive for peace and balance in this world, if you do not, then this world will become a truly horrid place for all that live in it. Believe me when I say that any God who uses these methods to gain favour in the world will not hold true to their promise of a utopia. They will destroy this world and make it into one where only they will thrive!”
“What gives you the right to say these things now? You did nothing while the kingdoms of man started to falter when their churches could no longer offer proper guidance to their followers. Without the presence and guidance of our Gods, priests could no longer bestow blessings onto our soldiers before battle, which in turn affected their morale, and led to many defeats on the battlefield. Kings and Queens fell from power and entire Kingdoms collapsed because of your absence, and still, you did nothing! With the help of the new Gods, we were able to help The North recover its lost strength and fight back the Dwarven invaders. With my help the new Gods were able to bring order back to The North, despite the interference of the Mythus faithful in The South, we were able to triumph over the other races and drive them from our territory, placing those who refused to leave in chains, where they rightfully belong!”
“How have you fallen so far? I could see into your mind back then, and I could see a man who truly wanted to see a peaceful world where all people could live side by side. Now when I peer into your mind, I see nothing but hatred and disdain. What could have corrupted you so deeply? Surely it was not simply my absence that brought this about?”
“Oh, but it was. How could we possibly remain so pure and innocent when we are forced to what so many people lose their lives at the hands of the hateful creatures that invaded us. They thought nothing of setting our villages on fire or killing the innocent who had not even raised a weapon in their own defence. How could we not grow to hate the people who held so little regard for life?”
“But how could you possibly have lived long enough to have seen all of this? If I recall, you were a well-aged man when I stopped speaking with you. You shouldn’t have lived more than another ten or twenty years. How have you managed to see so many centuries of life?”
“The same way you managed to see so many centuries of life while you were a mortal, through gaining immense power!”
“I see. Though my power was gathered over a lifetime of study and training, you could not have achieved that in the short time you had left in this world. Tell me, Elias, what did you have to give your Gods in exchange for the power that has granted you this long life?”
“Everything! First, I gave them the lives of my loved ones, my wife, children, and grandchildren. Then I gave them the lives of my friends, and finally, I gave them the lives of my followers!” announced Elias with such pride, that it turned Fellaroth’s stomach.
“And after the many years you had devoted to following my teachings, you found that to be a worthwhile sacrifice for a little power and a few more years to your life! Do you hold no value in the lives of the people around you Elias? Are you no better than those races you watched invade and kill the innocent?” yelled Fellaroth with such fury that the entire building began to shake.
“The lives I presented to My Gods were meaningless in the face of their divine power. A few innocent people had to die so that I was able to get the power that was needed to prevent the loss of thousands of more innocent lives… it seems like a fair trade to me!”
“You disgust me, Elias, I cannot believe that one of my faithful could have fallen so far!”
“You don’t have the right to say such things to me! Not after you so readily abandoned us and left us to the wolves!” yelled Elias, raising his right hand as an enormous arm crashed through the roof of the church, slamming into Fellaroth with immense power.