#cotl purgatory

[balloonspace]

Srry for being gone for like a month:(( but after beating up art block I finally drew something :) but more importantly I have a au! (I might be yapping about it for a bit) Okk so it's more in nari's point of view after the lamb decides to kill him now he's in purgatory (well rather his purgatory since I imagine depending on the individual purgatory will look different but anywayyyysss) so he wakes up in purgatory rotting alive (not in his god form) and a bunch of darkwood worms are eating him alive before trying to drag him away, he survives this (somehow) and leads to the leader of this level of this purge surprise surprise it's a more deranged leshy who claims hes the king of this forest (which it's a far stretch sinces all the worms here basically listens to him) but after some convincing narinder manages to get leshy let him live (which I haven't planned yettt) but now for some reason (I don't know why soooo) they venture deeper to purg to get their siblings and escape this hell scape that's it so far :D (please please please ask more abt this am my ask box is open)

[thewingedgoat]

The quote that won the poll ^^ "I will fight your ceaseless war, in this way shall I be punished"

[cult-bull]

The Fear of Death AU - Purgatory Lore

Since im currently grinding Purgatory some more for them important tears, I wanna write down my thoughts on how it works/what it is for the AU. Hopefully I can explore it more artwise too eventually as I get more and more comfortable doing like, shot comic sketches like im trying to in private.

Anyhow, lets start with it! (under the cut that is)

The timeline Fear AU follows is pretty close to a regular playthrough of the game nowadays with all the updates, meaning the mysterious Merchant (just called The Merchant/The Trader in this AU), appears pretty soon after Lamb fells and replaces Narinder as a death god.

The Merchant tells Lamb about Purgatory and his now given duty to go into it to make unresting souls find piece, be it through putting them out of their misery, or reviving them if they arent dead for too long yet, like the bishops who are partially kept alive through worship.

The purgatory itself thus isnt much of a daily grind but more of a place no one knows how to get into but Lamb and Narinder which calls out to Lamb whenever too many souls have flooded in there.

Time doesnt stop while Lamb is away in it, but it does slow down tremendously. 1 week in purgatory would be around a day back the cult camp most likely.

Its ever shifting, branching in pathways, and the different fleeces in lore are just how Lamb's body slightly changes to adapt to a certain area of purgatory as to actually do his duty there.

Said duty is both fighting the angry, violent souls, as well as making sure any lost ones find their way to the end of the branching path so they can move on.

One of the branching paths and areas is actually Narinder's holding place. He was tied up there, meaning he could still somewhat complete his duties with the help of Aym and Baal, but he wasnt able to return to the living world. It also colors his already very long imprisonment in a worse light I feel like, seeing how his irl time tied up is basically tripled in purgatory.

Another Area is where the corruption is housed which eventually spawns the goat. However that one is not like the game timeline and comes faaaaar later. Soooo since im still in the early stages of the au, poor goat will be benched for a long time I fear XD He's there though, waiting.

Purgatory isnt just home to new souls though. The longer a soul is down there unable to move on but also too old to be revived, it becomes a shade, an inhabitant which can barely be perceived. Like memories forever stuck in a loop of wandering.

Some are the barely animated remains of old gods, though Lamb doesnt recognize them. Others he does recognize is other lambs. Older flocks the Bishops eradicated way before this Lamb's time had come, thus making them too far gone to interact with. Not a violent threat but a dreadful reminder of the past.

And purgatory likes preying on weakness. So whenever lamb is reminded of the old flock he was a part of and lost? Or of bad fights and worse days early on into the cult making? Its not a pleasant duty to be down there.

A small part of him does hope though that he might eventually either find another Lamb thats alive, or a soul of a lamb that he can revive and get out of purgatory. Who knows if that will or even can happen though.

[unpaidchildsupportt]

I LOVE YOU CULT OF THE LAMB BUT OH MY GOD STOP CRASHING LIKE HXJFSGKDLCKHCKYCYLYLY

I WAS MID SHAMURA BOSS FIGHT THE GAME CRASHES, AND IT COMPLETELY RUINED MY ROW IN PURGATORY AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

So finished the final row of purgatory (the dungeon gauntlet w/ fleece of fates) to get the last trophy I needed and when I battled TOWW again,,uh...

For some reason Narinder is there too

Idk if it's a glitch but if not then this is extremely funny yet sad if you rly think about it-

Imagine returning to the place you were held captive in for a hundred years (or rather an alternate dimension that resembles it) and being forced to experience the same kind of trauma you put your vessel's loyal followers through. Sucks fr

Oh and here's the gang that carried me through this row

I had the blazing trail tarot too so I was just rolling around damaging everyone in sight

[inknanda67]

Me too!!!! I loved the way you drew them!

Really! I always looked at them in purgatory and imagined the "canonical" way Lamb would have killed them to make them like that!

WHERE MY GORE LOVERS AT BABY

I never see appreciation for the bishop purgatory designs anywhere, so. I am here. To change that.

I want to see more people mess around with the designs... I want to see more people including silly headcanons and stylizing them!!! Because the designs are all amazing!! The way each design conveys how the lamb fought them is INCREDIBLE.

The top of Leshys' head is devoid of foliage because the rest of him was hidden underground during his fight. Hekets' throat and stomach are raw and skinned because she's always landing and scraping around hard on stone when she's trying to crush you. Kallamar is covered in a large burn because it's so difficult to get close to him during his fight, implying the best strategy was a long range strategy. Shamuras' front is completely torn open and hanging out because they're running directly at you during the entire fight and that is exactly! Where! You'd! Be! Hitting them!

I'm just really really passionate about the bishop purgatory designs. I want to see more people explore them I think they're so cool.

[acoraxia]

Alone in Purgatory designs!

hand broke

[lammydraws]

The worm tilted its head. "I still remember the first time you entered my temple. So small... so scared. My sharp teeth ripped you to shreds, breaking every bone in your body before tearing you apart. Day after day attempted again. I sacrificed countless of my devoted followers. In the end it would have been worth it." He grunts. "One day you did not show up. A day turned into a week, into a month. There was a wish for optimism, but when you returned, there was something different. An anger in your eyes, the devotion you held for your beneficiary... It is not out of the ordinary. Did he promise you companionship, Lamb? Did he promise you love?" A pause. "Death is not capable of love, little lamb. He has only one goal, and he will do anything to achieve it."

[konjkitkatty]

I checked her tag and I don't see any explanation for who Masta is, at least on Tumblr.

So who is Masta?

Ah, Masta. where do I even start with her. what am i even allowed to say?

ok, ok, ok ok ok, i’ll just share what I’ve already shared abt her on insta

Masta is the only other lamb in the game- she’s a unique follower that you can get after the very not fun task of 100% completing Putgatory, just go back into the pits and complete a boss rush with the relic “Masta’s Head” after 100%ing and once you come out she’ll be right there above the pit. She appears as a bloody and vengeful spirit and the lamb gets to try and convince her to leave Purg through a series of dialogue that is VERY easy to mess up. One wrong move and you lose the ability to get Masta on that save FOREVER (unless i guess you close and reopen the game before she drops back down to purg) so choose wisely!

As for who she IS. well. she’s a lamb!

look at how healthy and not-dead she is. isn’t she just the bees knees? or…. the lambs… bambs?

[lotus-duckies]

nari really out here asking his siblings to be there for this...

kallamar knows whats up

[qhazomb]

so i need another 1k gems for an accent blueprint

[balloonspace]

The art is under the cut :)

tbh I love leshy purgatory design :D (my hands hurt)

[1oddboi1]

I finished one of the rows in purgatory and laughed when I saw narinder in the cage during his own boss fight. I wonder what he thinks about that whole situation

[goated33]

Gods old and new [cotl au]

[justarandomlambblog]

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 [END]

The second shackle comes off

Get adopted and feel loved, mangey cat

We're gonna pretend I didn't give Heket the wrong shaped crown aight? aught 👍

(explanation beneath the cut bc I didn't want dialogue)

The harvest comes. Narinder can't help but notice how sad the wheat fields are, the wheat growing small and patchy at best. He remembers how Heket would make the wheat fields flourish just by walking between the stalks. The memory of the fields she would create early in their godhood makes him feel somber, realizing now what the cost of being a godless land is; their entire lives are left to the limitations of the earth, without any god to help them thrive. These people are making the best of what they have, and they're happy even though it's not a lot.

Narinder notices some are harvesting wheat while others till the earth once it's been harvested, and the old dog explains that once this wheat is harvested they plant "winter wheat", which can be harvested in the spring before they plant their summer wheat. They till and fertilize the earth before planting the winter wheat, of course. Narinder tries his hand at harvesting the wheat, and the old dog begins to teach him how to use the sickle. Time passes.

Over the late summer, autumn and winter, Narinder learns how to live this provincial, modest life. He tills the fields with the other villagers, he sees feral beasts for the first time in over a thousand years, learns to collect eggs from said feral beasts, learns how and decides he doesn't like to collect milk (the godless lands have more feral beasts than the Lands of the Old Faith ever did), has finally regained enough strength to draw water from the village well without help, learns to bake bread (with great amounts of help so as to not waste the precious resources with the inevitable first fifty failures), and attends his first lantern festival. All in all, this marks his approach to his second year here, most of his first year spent indoors recovering. (His fur is also getting long, something something new me new hair something (totally not an excuse for me to draw hair))

At his first lantern festival, Narinder decides to partake in what is usually a coming of age tradition for the village; he gets an ear piercing, choosing a symbol that will essentially act as his written name. He chooses a symbol that is a crescent moon inside of a sun, thinking of Aym and Baal when he sees it. (Note: He is not scared/nervous about the ear piercing, he isn't bothered by a literal pinprick of pain, but the fact that someone he barely knows is this close with a needle is what worries him)

Later on, days or even weeks later, the old dog gives him a chain with their individual symbols on it, with a loose chain hanging from the other side of Narinder's sun-and-moon charm. Narinder questions this and the old dog explains the symbolism behind the charms; two charms with a chain extending between them indicates marriage/partnership, and two charms with another charm on the chain between them indicates that couple's child/children. The one Narinder has is the latter, with the second parent's charm missing, indicating that the old dog views Narinder as his own son, now. It takes a moment, but Narinder realizes all at once that this is the old dog's way of extending an invitation to become family- and it's been so long since Narinder had a family... (And yes, the old dog is fully aware that this cat is thousands of years old (Narinder was very vocal about this in the first weeks before he eventually stopped bringing it up), but that won't stop him from deciding he's gonna be this abandoned, fallen god's new family)

Narinder goes to sleep, and finds that despite everything- despite how simple and quaint and, frankly, not easy life in this little godless village is, he's happy. He has none of the luxuries that he had as a Bishop; no worship, no reverence, no servants, no silks or satins or veils or anything of the sort. Here he's just... one of the people. Just another face in the crowd. And he's happy. Happier than he's been in a long time. Unfortunately for Narinder, he is failing to realize that this godless village is a little less godless every day he's there. But that's not necessarily a bad thing.

The village wakes up to their fields flourishing like they never have before. The wheat is taller than the tallest villager, and no one is really sure what to do about this, but there is excitement throughout the village. Narinder thinks of Heket again, reminded once more how she would make the fields come alive. The shackle on his left hand opens up before dispersing into light, and he remembers the way she looked at him in the days leading up to his imprisonment, the quiet and somber warnings she would give him. He takes a moment to grieve before turning his attention back to the present, back to the family he's creating now.

[half-dead-lamb]

My maaaaaan