The mighty Cornelian race has once again reached a precipice.
From the origins of near extinction to the height of conquest, from the enlightenment of the great vocation to the consolidation into three kingdoms of 19 islands, Zainox, Kainon, and...
In an unknown location and in the dead of night, men who flourished in darkness gathered. The night was cool, the wind hummed quietly outside with no windows to usher it in. Many portions of the cavernous room were blanketed by darkness, which alternated with lights slanting from the lamps above.
The elongated shadows of eleven men standing in the circle stretched across the walls, fanning out into uncertain heights. An eleven-branch candelabrum sat at the center of the circle, atop the symbol:
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A phallus with an encircled top; It was the symbol of pleasure. Two crossed swords, the symbol of pain. This was the altar of pain and pleasure. This is the mark of the Thiocians.
The Grand Master stood at the tip of the phallus. All men were hooded, and their cloaks, dead black, covered their feet and rippled around their bowed, meditative postures. His shadow stretched over an altar and across a red curtain that vanished into the obscuring darkness of the heights. The curtain also bore the symbol of pleasure and pain.
Phrazius was the Grand Master of the Thiocians. The other ten were Masters. These were the highest positions in the brotherhood, not to mention the Messenger and the Enlightened Soul himself, founder of the Thiocian brotherhood. The Enlightened soul was invisible. He only speaks through the Messenger. But he was with them always in spirit. They could always feel his presence, watching over them and guiding their every footstep. One day, the Enlightened Soul has promised, he would manifest himself. By that day, the Thiocians would have reached spiritual maturity, the 11th spiritual level... and that day was nigh.
The eleven were silent. They could hear the moaning and ecstatic cries of the ground members from the rooms beyond, engrossed in wild orgies and sexual indulgencies, which always marked the opening and closing of gatherings. The Thiocians indulged themselves in any and everything their minds could conjure. It was the ultimate place for those seeking liberation.
Behind his dark hood, Phrazius smiled. The quest for sexual exploration and adventure burned through their moans and groans. What Phrazius knew was that though they hunger, they shall never see satiation until they reach the 11th spiritual level. That is the point where all human questions, needs, and even wants are brought to naught. It was the apex of enlightenment, an endless journey in tranquility, an experience of perfection and a final freedom from the laws of the universe. It was the realm of Harmony. Only The Enlightened Soul has attained it. He alone knows what the scriptures purposed that man does to reach it. The Thiocians were the chosen ones among the chosen; chosen to lead the front to the attainment of the 11th spiritual level.
Pain and pleasure: the extremes of human experience. They were meant for man's growth. It was the primary requirement for the attainment of Harmony, the core of Harmonism. Pain and pleasure.
When the rebels rose, the Thiocians were present. The Thiocians watched and monitored their every move. The rebels wanted the same thing as the Thiocians, but Inzanami, the rebel leader, had no direction, only passion. The Enlightened Soul instructed them from the start to infiltrate the ranks of the rebels. Any force attempting to correct Meinz's Harmonism back to that of Zainox and Kainon was crushed. King Themius of Zainox was threading that path and so he had to be eliminated. The Enlightened Soul, however, remained elusive, invisible. In fact, Abigyl never heard of him throughout her investigations. From his domain of invisibility, he watched over and guarded the borders of Meinz, preventing any infiltrations of Zainox' and Kainon's Harmonism. The Thiocians were his watchdogs.
