Live in the fourth ring differs from the third in all the weirdest ways.
Every house was a place to live in the upper floors and a shop right below.
Every resident wore some mixture of red, yellow and green in their clothing, often accentuated with rings, which usually took a center role in the outfits.
And every single one acted like they were somehow better than the inhabitants of the fifth ring.
Where the fifth gave the feeling of a big town, predominantly inhabited by desperate or content people, this ring was what I considered an actual city to be like. Inns that offered to host us for exorbitant sums, starting with five silver and going up to three gold a night, blacksmiths that involved some traces or sygils into their work and alchemists that openly sold healing potions and explosive mixtures.
Everywhere we looked, wealth was worn as a sin to mark their belonging to this ring, and the guards made sure everything went as they wanted it to, some even making sure the law was followed, this close to people that might complain about miss treatment.
Ember and I spend our nights at our new thralls home, who still struggled to be resentful for our obvious extortion, as we did save his life from the clutches of time.
He even formed a somewhat close bond with a nearby butcher, whom the three of us went to visit on the daily from then on, both crystal and I feeding our mutations.
Of course, he couldn’t help us pass to the third circle, else he would have done so a long time ago.
It was another day of spreading the word of Ragnar, which both Ember and I began formalizing during the last few nights as we considered what we wanted.
The rules to join our order were simple. One had to sign that they would not disregard anyone for their body, as any ones physicality could change if they put some work in or forgot to train.
We asked of the members to be hospitable to one another, and never to disrespect a helping hand, a code of conduct that we were quite proud of.
Anyone in service of Ragnar would promise to guide any undying ones they met into their protection, so that they may be properly trained and made to sign the entrance pledge.
The pledge basically gave our followers a unique set of weaknesses normally reserved for the Vampires in earths ideal.
Firstly, they were not allowed to enter buildings they were not welcome in, a simple rule that would build trust with people, but probably quite easy to circumvent.
The second was to not attack people carrying the symbol of Ragnar, for which I chose a cross, an Idea I convinced Ember of by telling him how crucifixion helped the victim stand in the face of certain death, and how the two lines connected to symbolize the unity between death and life.
He insisted on making the edges spiky, as the unity of the Ragnar cross was willing to hurt anyone that wanted to use it for their own purpose or damage the gathering of the faithful.
Spending most of our money on these crosses was absolutely worth it though, the piece of cold metal an absolute protection from anyone of note that joined the order.
The third restriction placed upon my fellow undying was a pledge of loyalty to Ragnar and his chosen representatives, which meant Ember, Pale and me. It basically forbade them from disobeying a direct command and extracted a small bit of every death they caused as further tax.
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We even began preaching as we continued to heal, quite a few following us and spending their own money to forge a Ragnars cross, cripples from all over the fourth ring coming to us, old men and sick workers praying to Ragnar and asking us to show them the proper way of honoring him.
In my infinite wisdom, I told them to spread their arms wide above any dead they found, and fight the eternal march of time however possible.
False gods had always been a staple of tricksters, but as I gave a total of three people the undying mutation, each of them was ready to risk their lives to propagate the lies we spread. After all, they were now high ranking members, how could they not want to have more power?
We left it with that, simply leading them in prayer by T posing near the graveyard and collecting coins from our believers that we accumulated to ascend towards the third ring, to further rise and probably spread our cult even more.
All was fun for the month of Spatium, and then the first of Necros set in, and with it came snow, the liquid death to any who were susceptible to the cold, and a season in which everyone started forging or buying an amulet of Ragnar, after all, it kept them safe from the increased amount of nightly undead attacks, which we were probably responsible for.
Faith is an infectious disease, and ours was currently burrowing through the outer circles like a wildfire.
Real gods were abandoned for our farce, as people that followed did in fact have a higher chance of survival. Death and decay were spread in his tribute, diseases exterminated and pests hunted down for just a bit of that juicy life force. But neither Ember nor I particularly cared about that, we simply used the money we got to invest in particularly loyal businesses, helping them expand just a bit more and hire more of our crippled followers, it was the twelfth of Necros when we were confronted with the consequences of our actions, a lavish ball held in our honor, with almost every undying gathered in the room, and twenty old people and beggars that looked almost dead celebrating. It was a large part of our core following, the people barely surviving and working their asses off for scraps they would quite probably end up giving to the order.
I danced with people that looked deader than anyone I had ever seen, a twisted happiness in their eyes that I could not quite place, and attributed to the food and wine they were offered. How wrong I was revealed itself when the clock struck twelve. In unison, they pulled forth their crosses, and before I could stop them, they were rammed inside their hearts.
It was a messy death, their screams alerting the waitress to the bloody spectacle. I had to take a deep breath to not throw up, but something I had sworn resurfaced as soon as I tried to reject what I was seeing.
I accept the consequences of my actions, and swear to learn, so I will not do it again.
It felt like a joke, these people had just killed themselves with no particular reason, while being part of a cult whose entire purpose was yearning for immortal life.
I cleansed and disinfected what I could, drawing on their rot and making sure each of them would survive this twisted ritual as Ember made sure to cauterize their wounds, a single elderly man coughing as even my strongest spells couldn’t save him.
“WhaT DiD YoU DO?” I asked, my voice twisting in a mixture of rage and disbelieve.
“We will die soon, and we wanted to be useful for one last moment.” He told me, his voice but a silent quiver as the life faded from him.
“You shall never die for this deed, and suffer with all those who have been devoured by me before.”
In my rage, I sucked him dry, the others kneeling before me or filtering towards the exit.
“Let it be known that those who give up on their life can always use it as labor for those of us who still strive for the ultimate goal. None of us will die, and anyone that I witness performing an act like tonight, will be devoured by me personally, do you understand that? Your souls will not pass on, your mind will join a legion of criminals that suffer in the purgatory of my mind. I will not suffer madmen and human sacrifices, be they willing or not. You disappointed me tonight, and I hope this will be a lecture to you.”
Four undying entered that room, me, Crystal, Butcher and Ebony, and the moment butcher admitted he had orchestrated the events, I made sure that only three would leave.
As Ember and I went to sleep that day, I considered the situation concluded, but for some reason my hands wouldn’t stop twitching.
In most of my previous lives I had hated religion, and slowly I remembered why.
People were inherently drawn to interpretation, laying out rules in a way it would fit their individual goals best.
The two of us decided to run off towards the third ring the very next day, paying the guard as we decided this matter closed.
There was no way the order would survive without us, and our future would be much brighter without it.