For all those who find this book, I ask you to heed this warning:
ALL of this is probably abandoned.
To read this is to risk becoming attached to things that will not be continued.
Good luck, traveler.
Simply put, a cult. As of now, they live in a large compound on at least 1,000 acres. Daily rituals are done, involving human, animal and plant sacrifices.
2. LORE?
It all began with The Charles.
Ariana, a pretty lithe woman with curly strawberry blonde hair and avian genetics. She had an interest in the unusual- murder and psychology, magic and manipulation.
Her husband, Mark- an alcoholic, also drug-addicted, with a similar pull to magic- probably out of desperation of his addictions.
It began with a supposed meeting, of Ariana disposing the body of a dealer who'd attempted her husband's life, only to find purple runes glowing under the man's skin. She claims to have conversed with an entity she called a Watcher, or Xeyla.
Probably out of a desire for power, Ariana soon started spreading rumors of her encounter, dragging her fellow rich friends into a secret 'group', which would later expand into the formal cult.
Those close to Ariana in the beginning tell of wild sacrifices of bodies she once let decompose. One interviewee recounts a particular sacrifice...
'Xeyna (Ariana's chosen name) was sitting at the head of the circle. She had that big, stupid cloak on, the one covered in brilliant eye markings.
We'd drawn a circle of purple sage. I was to her right, which was an amazing honor, especially at the time I was participating.
Each person had a rock, a rock with the same eye on it. In the center was the bodies. Sometimes, they were chopped up in a bowl and some sort of sick soup was created. Today, however, we were going the classic route of sacrifice.
Then, Xeyna started the chanting. We echoed her, like we'd been taught, and then the purple sage started glowing. It was like a weird, flat fire- brilliant purple that spiked up, only pausing at the point where the rocks were. We could see the body through the little window, and the body was being covered in bright purple cracks that spread and burst.
Now, if they had one, most member's runes were glowing- I don't know if I told you this, but everyone eventually got runes on their arms. Sometimes they got carved in, sometimes the Watchers themselves would bless you.
It was a quick way to identify other members- just hold onto their arm and push that little bit of magic you were blessed with when the runes finally joined with your body, and if they're a member, their runes would light up.
Back to the sacrifice.
Eventually, the body.. exploded. But like, kindof into weird rays.. Like the Enderdragon! Anyway, then we all felt.. the weird, rejuvenating air that always comes after a sacrifice. Like Xeyla was patting us on the head.
Then, the fire would slightly fade. Our rocks would be glowing, and so would Xeyna. Then we'd clean up, and disappear until the next day.'
She would later describe how each sacrifice 'powered' the runes, making them faintly glow and adding to the small reservoir of power inside. A hybrid or mutant always had more magic then humans, but they where few between- mostly because of the requirements.
You see, Ariana had decided that everyone must 'earn' their wings- meaning that, yes, she cut off her wings. Mark cut off his wings. Only one was spared, their child, as he was later sacrificed to Xeyla and revived.
Later, Ariana would actually regain black wings- which are confirmed to not be her original wings.
3. HEIARCHY?
There were four categories.
The lowest, sacrifices.
The second lowest, un-bound.
The middle, bound, or those who have runes.
And the top, Priests. People who have seen Xeyla.
For awhile, there was another top, the Martyr, after Xelqua was revived. However, after a series of misbehaviors and anti-guild opinions, Xelqua was no longer considered a martyr.
4. COMPOUND?
Built on 1000+ acres, the compound itself is a black group of structures divided into five sections.
A. The living quarters
B. The common-place
C. Main building/ sacrifice area/ class area.
D. Basement/ Holding area
E. Medical center
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A. The Living Quarters
Groups of black buildings, creating a weird neighborhood type area. Every recruit possesses their own small house, which may be bigger should the recruit have a family, a roommate they'd like to room with, etc.
B. The common-place
Shops, restaurants, and convince stores are run here. It's a circle-shaped area, with a double floor and open slots everywhere. If one wants to start up their own personal business, they simply talk to one of Ariana's priests or other higher-ups.
If all of the slots were filled, you could literally just build a new shop. It wasn't that hard, as a construction business had been standing since the beginning of the property.
C. Main Building
Now, as B is the center area, C is right behind it- a big, black building accented by gold and purple. They held classes for children, new recruits, and, of course, they held sacrifices.
There were two main types of sacrifices: The Pot and The Circle. For The Pot, a large cauldron was filled with purple sage, boiling water, and whatever sacrifice was being given. For The Circle, a large circle is drawn with purple sage. Each helper or participant holds a rock, and the sacrifice is in the center.
D. Basement
Underneath C, there's hundreds of holding cells- made specially for all the awaiting sacrifices, which include drug-dealers, loan sharks, disbelievers, and at one point, anyone the cult could easily kidnap.
The conditions in the prison are deplorable, forcing the prisoners to suffer until they are finally killed to be sacrificed.
E. Medical center
Technically an off-shoot of C, the medical center is a standard hospital. Nothing is actually very different than a hospital you'd find outside the compound.
MAP:
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