Inquisition - The Divine Slaughterer

Where the Darkness Began

Location: Terra (Planes of Rodannia)

Date: M28.999

Individual: Thomas Howel

Occupation: Unknown

My life had always been a harsh one – here I stood wandering in this desert searching for my next quarry another demon, cult, or false religion praying to their selfish gods, All of them deserve no mercy or pity, only the blade of death. No mortal knows the name of where I came from, and I will keep it that way. There are things I wish to keep forgotten.

A sick and beaten man is thrown in front of a courthouse with his last remaining son chasing after him and consoling him. A large crowd forms around as out of the courthouse a large fattened priest begins to berate him.

[Muffled from the food he's eating] "Thomas, you pathetic wretch! Long have you blasphemed the true nature of our lord and failed your duty to the church and your people. Now, we rid ourselves of your filth once and for all, in the name of our great four-headed lord," he preaches, followed by cheers from the crowd.

"Get it over with" I begrudgingly reply.

The man looks back down at me with renewed anger and discomfort.

"[Roar] Even now you irritate me!" he roars, ready to strike me.

Before another blow can land a sharp light is seen as an old man emerges from the crowd, It was my mentor and former bishop, but what did he want?

"Enough! I have tried to help him. I failed." He speaks softly, placing his hand on my shoulder "Thomas, there's nothing more I can do for you, but know I have always believed there is greatness within you. Seek out the Gods. Perhaps they will show you your destiny" he happily replies.

I shrug him off, grabbing my son David as we make our way out of the town and into the desert, to find some piece of mind.

"Begone, heretic! In the wastes, you will understand the paradise you gave up!" the priest yells, with my son in hand as we march into the desert.

Life has not been an easy one for me, From the moment I was born almost every day I sat on the brink of starvation. My parents raised me to always put my faith in the gods, but no matter how many times or how many offerings I made they never answered my prayers. At an early age, I lost both my mother and father to beasts that had broken into the settlement and devoured in front of me before my eyes, leaving me to fend for myself, forcing me to join the covenant where I only witnessed the greed and debauchery of the covenant. Despite those dark times, I found some comfort years later when I married the most wonderful peasant girl Matilda, and gave birth to 5 beautiful children. But this joy turned to bitterness as famine and disasters struck taking all of my children and taking Matilda in a collapsing building. Leaving only me and my last and youngest son Atilla alive. Now, we wander this desert for gods now how long as we border on starvation and dehydration.

How long has passed in this desert heat, I'm now forced to carry my innocent son in my own arms – we make our way to an altar dedicated to the 4 gods, I promise that it leads to a great and bountiful forest where we will never go hungry. All the while, I plead to the higher power for sustenance all the while I feel my son creeping closer to the verge of death and I continue to cradle him tighter – I don't know how much longer I can walk, as I fall to my knees in exhaustion.

[Vultures screech overhead]

I think back to my childhood, my low-born status made me a target for mockery and dismissal. I knew I was meant for more than the church would ever allow of me, and I hated them for it – but more, I hated the gods and leaders who made the rules that kept me and the other good people of this world imprisoned. But after months, of starving and feeling my son's own life drain away, I began to consider that the mercy of death might be better than endless suffering.