Shadows of the Soul

Chapter 5

The Temple of Eternal Happiness and Joy squatted like an aging, battle-scarred toad in the middle of Tale’s poor quarter. 

The one-time warehouse was suitably large for the newly bestowed title of Temple—it was a massive, sprawling affair—but there was no denying it had seen better days. One of the building’s wooden walls had collapsed and now yawned absent, leaving the Temple open to the air on one side, and where the other walls weren’t missing boards, they were missing paint. It was, perhaps, the ugliest building in a section of the city renowned for the ugliness of its buildings.

Yet Belwin was extremely proud of his Temple. The fact that the building remained standing at all was nothing short of a miracle, and, as far as he was concerned, such innate divinity made it the ideal choice for the home of a newly founded religion. Why, it barely smelled of cats at all anymore, and the missing wall gave a wonderful view of the nearby harbor. Or it would once that massive trash heap was cleared off, anyway, but that would be fine work for his followers. No doubt they’d be so full of religious rapture they’d scarcely even notice the gut-wrenching stench.

For now, Belwin stood before his makeshift pulpit, three wooden crates stacked one atop the other, and gazed out upon his flock.

There were five of them today. All beggars, of course—it was hard to convince anyone else to show up—but, wonder of wonders, they were all awake, even if one appeared to be engaged in an expansive excavation of his inner ear canal with a grubby forefinger.

“The world cries out for shepherds,” Belwin continued, his jowls bouncing with enthusiasm. He filled each word with conviction. Nobility. Divinity. “For guidance. A gentle but firm hand to show the way. Without, men bumble about like the abandoned children they are, aimless, adrift. There is a spiritual starvation running rampant through the world, and for far too long have men been forced to cinch their belts tighter and tighter. It must end.  

“The world needs gods. The balance of existence demands it. We men, however powerful, however masterful, are shapers, not builders. We are like children given a ball of clay—we can craft the ball into a myriad of shapes and sizes, but stretch and pull and mold as we might, nothing we can do will make that clay have one hair more substance than the original ball we were handed. The gods are the creators, the destroyers. Without them the human race is stagnant. We exist at a perpetual standstill.”

One of the beggars, a stand up fellow with no less than six teeth still in his head, pulled himself off the wobbly three-legged bench he sat on and rose to his feet. “Well, even if we needed them gods, like as you say, what in the memory of hell we ‘sposed to do about it? The gods is gone. Sealed away. And shit-eating crazy besides. Even an old fool like me knows that.”

“True. The gods are sealed away, and irredeemably insane. But there is nothing stopping the people, the needful masses, from raising a new crop in their place, to take on the heavy burden of creation and destruction. To right the balance.” He put on his most benevolent smile. “It was for just such a hope that the Church of Eternal Happiness and Joy was created. All it takes is enough people, people just like each of you, believing. All it takes is faith. Faith in one man, or woman, above all others.” He bowed his head. “I humbly offer my own shoulders to bear that burden.”

The beggar snorted, sending a spray of snot flying to the dusty wooden floor. “So, what you’re saying is you want us to make you a god?”

A grin lit up Belwin’s pudgy face. “Precisely, my good man. Exactly so.” He spread wide his hands. “I shall take up upon myself the charge of shepherding the future of mankind into a new golden age. For the good of all.” He cleared his throat noisily. “In truth, divinity is achieved so long as even one upholds utter conviction in a holy body.” He spared a significant glance for his high priestess, Aleure, where she sat on the floor beside his pulpit, and smiled. “And thusly, I have already attained a state beyond mere mortality.”