#five times the lamb worshipped a bishop of the old faith

[catflowerqueen]

Been thinking of doing a 5+1 fic about the Lamb worshipping Bishops of the Old Faith, since there are, conveniently enough, five of them.

At the very least I did an entry for Leshy.

...Instead of working on the fic I said I was going to work on.

Anyway. Might edit and post this on AO3 later if I get around to doing the other Bishops, but please enjoy Leshy's part in the meantime.

(And please let me know what you think!)

Chapter 1: He of Havoc

For the briefest time after hearing the proclamation, you feel betrayed. How could your Lord order such a thing?

To demand the deaths of lambs unaffiliated with the Old Faith, sure. That was only proper, since they did not give fealty that the Lord of Chaos deserved and, thus, were like an underbrush to be burned away, creating rich soil where a verdant garden could grow, and the decimated remains could battle for dominance—like weeds against camellias. Even the lambs in the cults of His siblings you could understand—for what better way to sow some much-needed chaos and familial drama to shake things up a bit than to target a specific species of followers, for seemingly no reason?

But all lambs? Even the most devoted among His own flocks, who would never dare to turn on Him in service to another, inferior god? You could not fathom such a thing.

…At least, not until you saw true chaos with your own eyes. Friends and family turning against each other as resources and hiding places grew scarce. Paranoia at every sound and looming shadow. The growing fear and confusion, not knowing where to run next, or where to hide, or what would become of the friends who didn’t turn on you when winter came, and there was no more wool with which to knit warm mittens and sweaters for that extra layer of protection against freezing to death.

Only then did you understand: your beloved Master was playing the long game. Chaos untold, as the links in the chain collapsed and there was a scramble to see who or what could fill the empty niche. The unknown effects far, far down the line as sacred knowledge was lost to time, right when it was needed the most.

And, above all else, the chaos and bloodshed that could only occur when god battled god for dominance, and the entire structure of society was upended to make way for the new.

That it took so long—one or two days after the proclamation, when you witnessed your cousin misjudge the distance of a leap in his bid for safety from the blade of his former best friend, only to land on the ill-maintained, thatched roof of a storage shed and inadvertently start a massive fire that ate through multiple buildings when he took out a lantern on his way down—was just proof of why you had only made it to the lowest rung of acolyte status before the kill order was given out.

You wept at your inadequacy, your lack of faith, and vowed to do better. To be truly devoted. To see your Master’s plan to their end, and receive your just reward—whatever form that might be.

You were tested—oh, yes, you were tested. Pushed to your ultimate limits as you fled, playing the long game yourself and surviving as long as possible to sow maximum chaos in the chase. To sow maximum panic and fear among the inferior believers of the other three remaining Bishops of the Old Faith.

And your hard work and devotion paid off gloriously as you stood, bound in chains before your god, the ultimate sacrifice. Last of your kind, destined to free Death itself and bring forth a new, glorious era of chaos to the world as the very laws of reality itself became upended.

You heard your god speak words meant for you, and you alone, not once, not twice, not even thrice, but five whole times!

You witnessed such glorious devotion of your fellows as they, too, gave their lives in sacrifice to secure Him even more power—and then feeling such power firsthand as He struck against you again and again, killing you by His own jaws!

You tasted His very essence when you rent His heart asunder between your jaws once you finally bested Him in battle and had to honor of seeing Him off to the new chaos Death had become!

Your devotion was ever pure, your duty clear, when you fulfilled the prophecy… only to then turn its intentions on its head, in true chaotic fashion, by freeing the One Who Waits wholly from his role and ripping apart the very institution of the pantheons of Faiths even older than the Old one. The birth of beautiful chaos ever-present in the new—new rules, new states of reality, new opportunities for a new god to explore.

Then… oh, the most divine of glories! The chance to offer a forest of new chaotic potentials with the resurrection of your Lord—the chaos that comes with mortal life. With losing control of the future. The surprises—both good and bad—which sneak around the bend so easily. Hunger, sickness, thirst… and the ever-changing journey to overcome such states.

And, best of all, the drop in your stomach and the dizzy giddiness that comes with falling in love… and the rumbling purrs that come along with it, if that love happens to be feline in nature—a pleasant surprise, and further proof of why you were right to worship this god, since He has such good taste in partners.

Gratitude and devotion unending to He of Havoc, that you were allowed such honors.

The chance to worship Leshy.

-----

Mystic Seller: Hey, you really messed up the fabric of reality when you killed all those gods.

The Lamb: All according to the Great Leshy’s plan, I’m sure.

Mystic Seller:

Meanwhile, in Purgatory…

Leshy, re-experiencing death for the millionth time: Why do I suddenly feel a huge spike in devotion??

[cconfusedkat]

So i was having shower thoughts , and i was thinking. Why is the au named "you begun my story"? Is it really all the bishops fault in this au? Short answer would be partially, only because they were following orders out of fear and manipulation

But there wasn't EXACTLY a one on one "who dunnit who to blame" type of war either,, this was all influenced like a patient zero type of thing

Under a once successful society of the sheep species, to a secret one, underground, to the last remaining lamb (Allure); why were LAMBS so important to begin with? What caused all of this? Why were the gods so afraid that they created the crowns for the eventual bishops to find for themselves, to having the bishops succeed them and chain up their brother who had a completely different idea of progression in his future society?

There was a social hierarchy and religion within the sheep region, just like how in other parts of the ruling sheep land with other animals. The overall religion was none other than Archangelo's—Annalysm—where eight lambs once ruled archangelo and walked the lands as giant gods, foretold all under Paloma. Paloma, one of the last remaining goddesses who happened to grow weaker as time went on, had wanted to spend her time in a loving village of supportive lambs and sheep kind alike. It so happened that many other species like cats and doves would roam their land,, there used to be more species but many couldnt survive due to the "natural selection" belief they held within the sheeps nature,, they couldnt adapt to their life style

But to continue on this religion, there were the eight once gods who all gave life and fused, all for the sake of the sheep race. The names were as followed:

Asmodeus, Behemoth, Belial, Beelzebub, Eclipsic, Satanus, Lucifer, and Archangelo

These Gods were believed to be the eight foundations of archangelo. Archangelo themself was the one who lead the group, depicted as the leader and charismatic one. Each had a different personality. Some lambs used to create sub religions to worship the other seven. That would be against Archangelo's Faith, so they were outcasted and instead brought up the idea of cults… going as far to moving off the mainland and creating bigger cults dedicated to each lamb prophet, to eventually all the bishops detonating and killing every last one.

The gods above felt threatened by Archangelo. Therefore, they created the five crowns across the scattered lands of what once was 'new faith.' Of course each bishop eventually found them, then eachother, the bishops carrying the word of the missionary to kill each lamb. The lambs were threats to them—to everyone—which is exactly what fueled and manipulated the bishops into believing the lambs were wrong for thriving in their perfect society.

Plus, shamura slowly learning about their craft of the seer, they took their early sight seeing to heart... seeing their little brother creating an actual future for death, leaving all his siblings behind for the new world he created? It was a false sight. But youngest shamura (still older than all of their siblings) took everything by MEANS. They asked for a meeting with narinder to discuss why death truly had no future and that he should forever remaining his position as his undertaker role. Who else could carry the undertaking burden?

Narinder didn't want to. He knew what he had to do. Shamura attempted to manipulate him, but he scratched it all of just to shut them up. There, the day of beckoning to betrayal happened, narinder injuring his siblings while he became the reason medieval beheadings became a thing in the first place…

Eventually this would spawn in more entities. No one knew where the traders and Mystic race came from. All of that was beyond the new faith.

After holding narinders funeral, the lands were renamed to 'the old faith,' a society where death was looked down upon. Yet looked so down upon, it was still the highest honor a god could receive as a sacrifice from a follower. That was the only ever time death was looked up beautifully to.

Okay sorry that was my shower thought but i plan on making the higher gods identities to the other known bishops in the land that were murdered and/or sacrificed under shamuras rule

[rainbowolfe]

Pantheon of the Old Faith (Part 2)

Back with the follow-up, four months later.

Something that feels painfully obvious in hindsight, is that the relics we have access to are made up solely of Old Faith members. The update is literally called. Relics of the Old Faith.

These lands had hundreds of gods. The relics give us 25 named gods, which is the exact amount needed to fill out the boss-room magic circle.

I previously counted each square on the outer ring as a potential god, but I now believe that to be an overestimate. If someone belongs in one of those slots, it's most likely a Vessel or Follower. Or Keeper.

Religiously, below Bishops are priests/deacons, and above Bishops are Archbishops. Above them are Cardinals and Patriarchs.

In Chess, Bishops and Knights have the same value*. Below them are Pawns. Above them are Rooks, followed by the Queen.

The hierarchy of the Old Faith is most likely a combination of these two systems. The entirety of this pantheon most likely never lived at the same time, but it seems that gods in this realm never truly die. They may lose their physical body—they may even lose their consciousness—but their power remains for as long as they're remembered.

The Priests/Bishops of the Old Faith [Pawns, Bishops]

Leshy, Heket, Kallamar, and Shamura most likely started as "priests". Which, in this game, would mean cult leaders. Supported by these emote names I found on Steam, these symbols refer to different cults.

Shamura was the leader of the Cult of the Moon, Heket the leader of the Cult of the Triangle*, etc. Narinder was most likely the leader of the Cult of the Red Crown, which would've been an offshoot from the Cult of the Eye. (Or the Red Crown simply took over this cult for itself)

Lamb is a unique cult leader in that they worship themselves, effectively. Everyone else serves their benefactor—Sozo is at the mercy of the Menticide Mushroom and the Lighthouse Keeper serves the Light.

So, our little family of misfits surely served the god represented by their crown until they ascended.

I believe that Heket and Shamura ascended, and then acquired their crowns. Perhaps their reward for doing so? On the flip side, I think Leshy and Kallamar ascended because of their crowns. And I'm like 95% certain Narinder is a god by birth.

[There was supposed to be some sort of transition here, but it is gone]

That means they were meant to be sacrifices. They make up the outer ring of the magic circle. Narinder, as the king of this band of losers (lovingly), would be the triangle; the rest of them circles. How do I know?

Because a slashed-through triangle is the symbol Ratau is both marked with and wears on his self-made crown. He was the leader of the Cult of the One Who Waits. And though he gave up that mantle, he continues to be a follower and servant of TOWW.

It's possible that their sacrifice-status wasn't a one-and-done thing. Their benefactors could've been continually feeding off of them, either constantly or periodically. But if they are meant to have been killed... I can see why everything's gone to shit.

It's interesting. There would be five slashed triangles (one for each color), each with its own four "circles" that could be fed to the higher-ranking gods. Can this ritual only ever be performed five times, or is there a "revolving door" of slashed-triangles they can keep bringing in? Setting them up with little families just to devour them?

Maybe the idea is a natural-born god being "fattened up" with devotion from their four assigned companions. They become powerful, yet weak. Unable to defend themselves. (see: The Bird Trio) And then they're devoured by the Old Faith.

[i-eat-deodorant]

if this is what you were referring to, i believe it was regarding the First Gods, not the bishops. unless i got it wrong and the first gods are indeed the bishops, in which case hell yeah.

regardless on that though, oh boy. okay. sorry to hijack your post like this but i have some capital T Thoughts about this.

i've always figured that by the time the lamb came along, the old faith was already well on its way to collapsing. if the era of five bishops were akin to the roman empire, then the thousand years (!) after served as a sort of dark age for the old faith. in imprisoning narinder, they not only ripped out a huge sect of their religion, but also grievously damaged themselves doing so. after the wake of the tragedy, they were physically and mentally unable to maintain the infrastructure of the old faith, and it crumbled.

the bishops retreated into their respective domains to lick their wounds. trade routes were cut, borders reinforced, followers sectioned into devoted allegiances to a sole bishop. instead of bonding over their shared trauma, each secluded themselves further into their respective domains. that's why lamb fought them separately; cut away from each other, the wounded gods could be taken down one by one.

speaking of lamb. it was always a headcanon of mine that they kinda had it easy? not that slaying four gods isn't a herculean feat, but the reason that feat was even possible was because the old faith had deteriorated so badly that each bishop relied on witnesses and a small handful of followers to supply them devotion. dwindling strength, resources, and growing unrest meant that a lot of the population was cannibalized--you can see evidence of their remains in the gnarled mushrooms of anura, the cocoons of silk cradle, the suspicious bags in darkwood. these are not normal rituals, but the result of desperate gods.

look at TOWW's final, with only lamb's small handful of followers. if the bishops were anything even -close- in power to him in their heyday (which i'm assuming they had far more power), lamb wouldn't have stood a chance.

and TOWW's first vessels wouldn't have. a thousand years is a long long time to keep picking vessels unable to kill a single bishop, and i'm inclined to believe his focus for the first few vessels was less about destroying the bishops outright and more chipping away at the old faith's defenses. stuff like gathering information, disrupting worship, stealing valuables, etc. lamb's path was paved in the blood, tears, and bones of countless others who TOWW manipulated to set up the perfect situation for murder.

shamura was aware of that. on their more lucid days, they were able to see the decayed state their institution was left in. gods were immortal, but nations were not. their brother, their prisoner, had beat them at that waiting game. the one who waited, indeed.

acceptance was long, painful, and bloody. the old faith died not with a bang but with a whimper, swept up by an undertaker with two hooked horns and bloodstained hooves.

The writer for Cotl mentioned smth about the bishops mourning that all things must end, including them—and I wonder if the Lamb will internalize that lesson? Will The “I fucking Love Being In the Cycle” Lamb know that they too will one day end? Do they care? Will they try to put a wrench in the gears of their own Death? Will The Last (Lamb) Truly Be Immortal? Do you think eventually they will tire of their role?

just thinking some #thoughts

[catflowerqueen]

Doing these a bit out of order for the intended finished product, but Heket was the one who caught my attention next, so...

(please let me know what you think!)

Chapter three: She of Hunger

When your cousin bursts into the family hut, bringing news that your Lady commands the lambs to be slaughtered, at first you are overjoyed. Finally, finally your time has come. All your hard work paid off. Unlike others, who favored taste and flavor when considering their ends in your Lady’s stomach, your strict regime of diet and exercise, tailored perfectly so that your body so that your lowly body will give your Lady the maximum amount of nutrition and strength when She consumes it. A dash of variety that will give complete balance and perfection to Her ultimate mutton feast.

Except… that never comes to be. You run and dash and evade the blades of your fellow worshippers—trying to give your body one last boost of muscle tone, a few more drops of power and nutrition with your prolonged devotion—but when your friends and family aren’t so lucky… She leaves the bodies where they lie. She doesn’t eat even a single one of them!

For a time you seethe and rage… but your devotion never falters. Your disappointment is immeasurable and your dreams are ruined, sure… but you get why She is doing it.

Hunger whets the appetite, and your goddess holds domain over not only feast, but famine, too. And what better conditions for a famine far-reaching to distant times than to take away a key ingredient in the melting pot of society? Remove a not-insignificant portion of the population whose main duty is farming and food production—as well as being fairly delicious ingredients in and of themselves—and it makes it that much harder for future generations to feed themselves, even accounting for the reduced population the extinct species leaves behind.

Not to mention the more, shall you say, metaphorical famine that comes with decreased devotion—in both the sense that the dead cannot provide worship by they very fact that they are, well, dead, as well as due to those with shallower faith than you forsaking your Beloved Lady because, unlike you, they can’t fathom Her divine plan. And, truly, it is divine, because it affects the divine, in ways that simple mortal famine cannot. For does a god truly need to eat the foods that mortals do? Or do they merely find it a pleasurable experience? The proof of their true ambrosia—the devotion itself inherent in the sacrifice of something a mortal cannot always afford to give up, but does so anyways because they are so devoted.

Even further than that… the very upheaval of the system itself, as gods die one by one and leave confusion and disorganization in their wake will leave a famine in the land. Godly protections and miracles disappearing, making daily life all the harder as people are forced to turn to subsistence measures—to turn, perhaps, on each other, for those species more inclined more carnivorously—as their appetites are whetted that much further. Preparing them all the more for the glorious feasting to come, as promised to those with utmost faith in your goddess.

And who better to provide that ultimate feast than one so wholly devoted to Her?

You stand bound in chains before the bishops, your head lowered only to make it that much easier for the executioner to sever it from the rest of your body. A secret hope still stirring in your meaty heart that, just perhaps, your Lady might at the very least give it a little nibble before lending you to Her brother to do your duty in fulfilling the prophecy, but complete faith, trust, and understanding should She not.

Faith that does not go unrewarded, for even in your separation from your true flock, from Her flock, She still graces you with Her presence. Frequent famines, as you learn the ropes of farming in new lands. Teeth in the Darkness which whisper so often of hunger. An ant who offered such… interesting cuisine.

A cute and clever elder brother who proposes doctrines of a myriad of different ways to feed—or starve—the flock he bid you start in his name.

Best of all, the fulfillment of your every dream—and then some—as your Goddess feasts upon your heart, your flesh, your bones not once, but many, many times as you fall to Her glory and power… before rewarding you for your strength, your devotion, your fulfilling of your sacred task by allowing you to taste flesh divine, your Lady’s very heart!

You savor it to the last, finishing the last morsel in preparation of the prophecy’s final completion. And when you snatch Her brother’s crown for your own, glutting yourself on its intoxicating power, on the feasting promised for those devoted to your Lady… you keep in mind Her lessons on famine, and the whetting of appetites, and on holding back until fruit is ripened to perfect sweetness.

Thus, you spare Her brother.

Thus, your devotion is rewarded a thousandfold: A lavish wedding feast. Your Goddess Herself as a witness. The honor of shepherding Her experience of mortal hunger, whetted by the pangs of hunger that give weight to the possibility of starvation.

May your dutiful devotion stave off such possibilities, and satisfy She of Hunger’s appetite forever more.

May it fill Heket’s to satiation.

----

Fox: You and I seem to have similar tastes in food. Want to trade me a series of increasingly precious pounds of flesh for some broken trinkets?

Lamb, with Heket’s heart in their mouth, blood still dripping from it as they carry it around, gnawing on it slowly to savor every last morsel and occasionally shaking it like a dog does with a particularly favored chew toy: *muffled sounds of enthusiastic chewing punctuated by the occasional loud slurping*

Fox:

Fox: On second thought, I think your tastes are a just a bit too extreme for me.

[catflowerqueen]

"Conversation" between the Fox and a Lamb who used to worship Heket in the Old Faith:

Fox: You and I seem to have similar tastes in food. Wanna trade me a series of increasingly precious pounds of flesh?

Lamb, with Heket’s heart in their mouth, blood still dripping from it as they carry it around, gnawing on it slowly to savor every last morsel and occasionally shaking it like a dog does with a particularly favored chew toy: *muffled sounds of chewing punctuated by the occasional loud slurping*

Fox:

Fox: On second thought, I think your tastes are a bit too extreme for me.

[cconfusedkat]

Alright i call this a win

Telll the plot about one your AUs?

Please

-alz

AHHH SURE I WOULD LOVE TO!!!! This ones being drawn instead of written so im just trying to find more time to draw it out but

This one is called "You begun my story, but i won't let you end it" (can be shortened to just 'reclaimation of lamb' :>c)

It begins similiar to the main game where Lamb gets beheaded, given the red crown by TOWW, and then begins to crusade and yeah yeah

However, this time, lamb chose to give up the red crown to narinder. Narinder took the crown back and didnt kill lamb, rather wanting lamb to continue running a cult under his name... and a certain unknown god didn't like that narinder was going against the laws of the old faith.

So, with all this in mind, what's there to do now? What is the main point of this?

Mystic Seller—unknown god in question—makes an offer up to the lamb. TOWW may be powerful with the red crown, yes, but mystic seller is still powerful than all; even lamb who now remains as nothing more than a cheap fake god ever since nari took back the red crown.

Lamb begs mystic seller for godhood, days on end, wanting their sense of religion and faithfulness in themself back. They felt useless that the cult was entirely dedicated to TOWW instead of themself now. Along with being incredibly lonely, knowing they would be the only ever Lamb of their race left in the old faith to simply let narinder win. Lamb slayed all four bishops, thousands of times in purgatory now, taking all their anger out on each of them.

After years of getting more irritated by lamb's stubborness, they sit down and make a negotiation with the lamb: "If you want your power so back, i will request three things from you. Your immortality earned back by giving me your physical heart, your faith must be restored to me instead of narinder (and to bring back the bishops as followers for more devotion points), and lastly if you can give me a god tear of your very own after i give you back the red crown."

Lamb obliged immediately, without taking much consideration of the first step. So, they get their heart removed physically by mystic seller with the pointiest claws, waking back up in their leader's tent after the 'precision' was made—the two requests from mystic seller looping in their head, making their way to each of the four temples where they tortured each bishop in purgatory, bringing them back to their cult in different ways.

They resurrect shamura first, then kallamar, then leshy, and lastly, heket. The fights got more tough on the go, so that's why they chose to begin in that order rather than the first original order prior.

Shamura gave up because they were too tired of torture, kallamar fell to his knees immediately when finally hearing lamb say theyd spare him, leshy greeted lamb with a bloody battle to then accepting defeat, and lastly heket gave lamb WAR. After hours of trying to convince theyd genuinely bring heket back, they kill her when shes caught off guard, to then her also giving into the Lamb's willingness of bringing her back as a follower to the cult.

Now that all the four bishops were back in the cult, TOWW was the last one to kill. Again, another battle that lasted for hours, longer than heket's. He had the power of the red crown, and lamb fought and fought until mystic seller stepped in as they were quite literally dying of blood loss on the floor. They took the crown from narinder in one go, stealing it from his head, Narinder poofing back to follower form as he laid there incredibly weak

What does mystic do with the crown? They keep it until lamb heals from narinders battle, all of the now ex bishops residing in their cult and worshipping mystic seller.

Lamb didnt like this one bit.

After healing for what felt like decades (which only took five years instead), they challenge mystic for the red crown. "You and what army?" Was asked, but they knew theyd be too weak.

Which is why they used the actual remaining crowns' power from the ex bishops as support, to aid them in battle. This feels like a broken record but this so happened to be the last ever battle that happened to last days instead of hours, mystic tired AGAIN of these annoying games.

Lamb cried more than ever, unable to believe they'd get back their crown and godhood so easily after days and days of fighting a battle they couldn't win for a second time

Mystic turned away in the realm, "you fulfilled my last request, My Lamb. A God's Tears, from the ripe source. I thank you for all that you have done for this land. Go on, spread your New Faith. I will remain here to trade in anything you wish."

Really, lamb didn't have the energy to argue back with anything Mystic said, so... they rest in their tent for weeks, avoiding all social interaction. There was a new faith to begin, anyways, they had to properly be in the right mental head space to fully comprehend they were the last god in this new land the people had to rely on.

All this tough work felt like seconds to them. Five millennia after fighting *this* long to get their godhood back.

But like they said, "You begun my story, but I won't let you end it."

Shsjdnsnfs so basically thats the entire jist of a hypothetical chapter one if i genuinely ever did plan to write this out better since drawing takes more time,,, i hope this all made sense!! :'-Dc