#heket is suffering

[saltysaltdog]

Posting this by itself too because I spent too long drawing this joke it so it's no longer just for the bit.

Ratau and Kallamar now have a very deep and checkered past. Based off the fact Kallamar actually remembers his name.

[mothorcus]

been playing on extra hard + penitence mode and GOD DAMN- ive beat extra hard mode before- which ofcourse- is kinda hard- but god damn penitence mode IS the embodiment of suffering and torture

[melancholialapelada7]

I knew it

blessed your soul i knew you would do that

suffering

Pls leave Narinder's arm alone

[ghosts-and-glory]

Is Shamura training martial arts after being taken into Lamb's cult? If they enjoyed complexity and bloodshed of war than it'd be probably dissapointing for them if they had to... drop it all

Full under the cut because this turned out really long

Upon joining the cult Shamura was a shell of their former self. They join the cult dissenting, the long term effects of the crown still clawing at the edges of their mind, but after a few days they’re mortal, just themself. Without the crown to hold them together they suffer like their injury was yesterday.

The Lamb has the doctor, Puar, perform their usual tests on them. Shamura is hardly there. They don’t know their own name, can hardly speak, can’t stand or track movement.

There was no wisdom in their slurred words. No power in the way their hands shook.

The outlook is bad.

The Lamb doesn’t really want to help them, after everything, why should they. Shamura who had The Lamb’s entire race and family killed, who killed them aswell and countless of their followers. It would cost them so much, to try and help someone who spent so long just trying to destroy them and everything they had. The time, energy, resources it would cost and they didn’t even know if they could get better.

Deciding it wasn’t worth it was one thing, but getting the other ex bishops to understand was a whole other, even the doctor disagreed with them.

Dr Puar took on being their primary caregiver. They’d been a doctor for the past hundred years and seen concussions and dementia but nothing nearly as severe as this. They wanted to help Shamura but didn’t know how.

It wasn’t until Narinder joined the cult that The Lamb saw any reason to help Shamura. But there was something wrong with him and Shamura knew something, they just had to get to it.

Kallamar was the ex bishop Puar wanted the help from the most. He was scared of the lamb and red crown but he loved Shamura more.

The Lamb took Puar and Kallamar to the ruins of the temples in Anchordeep and Silk Cradle. They spent days digging through the decimated remains of the libraries for something, anything on this type of injury.

It seemed that they where looking down possible years of intense recovery. Needed herbs and medicines that may no longer exist, techniques Puar had never heard of. But they would try.

Puar took careful and detailed notes. Timed Shamura’s responses, wrote down everything they said, tracked eating, drinking, sleeping and every symptom they displayed. Improvements where slow and sometimes nonexistent at first. They took full minutes to respond and only in single words, barley moved, couldn’t feed themselves and suffered constant migraines.

The one thing that seemed to help them the most was their siblings. They didn’t remember them most days but every time one of they came to check in it raised their spirits. One of their faces was the only thing they could focus on sometimes.

Kallamar insisted he wasn’t a doctor but still worked around the infirmary, helping Shamura was the only thing he’d do without complaining. Heket spent hours sitting in silence with them, brought them food and flowers and changed their bandages. Leshy was the only thing that could get them to smile and they where the only person he would ever lower his voice for, he told them stories even though they hardly listened.

Improvements brought new challenges. They got better at speaking full sentences and following conversations but it revealed how fractured their memory was. Forgetting names, places and important events, how often they forgot where they where, they asked the same questions over and over again.

They complained of seeing and hearing things, phantom pains with seemingly no rhyme or reason. The sun hurt their eyes, rain gave them headaches, always sleeping but always tired. They would suddenly backslide constantly. One day could walk with minimal help and the next, couldn’t even hold a pen in their hand. Have a full conversation one day and hardly spit out their name tomorrow.

Until the day Puar looked Shamura in the eye and for once they saw him. Didn’t look past them with their blank stare but looked at them. They would ask to sit outside at night in the fresh air. They seemed to know now who they are, what they where, what they lost. A tinge of grief in their words.

Improvements brought frustration. On days they remembered who they where they were overcome with a mix of anger, guilt and despair. They where a god. They had bore down on armies, killed men with a twitch of a finger, brought other gods to their knees, and now they could hardly bring a cup to their mouth.

Emotionally, their siblings said they’d never seen them like this before. Before Shamura could be frustrated but their temper was cold and quiet. Now they wore a short fuse and suffered constant mood swings. It angered them that they couldn’t read, that their hands were numb, that they couldn’t walk without a cane, couldn’t go out in the sun, couldn’t string a full sentence together, couldn’t recognize their siblings faces, couldn’t feed themselves, couldn’t sleep without drugs, everything they lacked and lost wore them down.

Regardless, they where unusually steadfast. They would always pick back up. If they got frustrated they would try again in a few days. They tried anything Puar asked of them, anything for the smallest iota of improvement.

The outlook was better.

—————

This got out of control and took me like three days between the art and write up. I got really excited when I saw this ask cause the answer is so devastating. If I was taking Narinder’s trauma seriously I’m not gonna just ignore Shamura’s traumatic brain injury.

As a side note, I’m very unsure how to write the medical stuff, my guess is that cotl is based around 1300’s-1700’s but that’s a wide net to cast. My excuse for the stronger understanding of medicine and trauma is magic.

[really-burnt-toast]

Redesigning my COTL cast pt.1

HAHA I'm finally done! I only made busts tho bc Im lazy and Im not putting myself through drawing a size chart... YET.

It WILL come, just so I can show pretty outfits and show how ridiculous Leshy's hight is LOL

If you see any spelling mistakes, please ignore them <3

(more info and rambling under cut)

Here I'll write some more things relating to each character;

Lamb

Born in Darkwood to a single mother, their mom had named them Mellia after the flowers that grow there, since they had aided in striving off an illness she had during the pregnancy.

The Lamb grew up pretty happily despite being on the run. Their mother was eventually caught whilst they made an escape. During their years of hiding, they broke their leg during one particularly risky escape and were caught not long after.

Their number is 1.600.666 because I keep making a connection between Darkwood and Germany's Schwartzwald - there are 1.6 million sheep in Germany - so I decided to have that be the approximate number. 666 was just added for fun.

Their ear was tagged to keep track of how many sheep were caught in which realm. They just so happened to be the last to be executed. By mere coincidence.

They were born without horns and kinda made the crown shape into a set. It has the benefit that they can rip em off and use them as impromptu weapons.

Due to centuries of being treated as a tool for a prophecy and merely a vessel, their self esteem is downright horrid. Whilst they don't condone followers speaking ill of them, they pretty much let Narinder trample on their feelings up until they had snapped one day. In the end it did help them both, but it wasn't great it had to be taken to that point.

Extra: I added the vitiligo because when I imagine a human version, I couldn't help but see them as having Vitiligo. Their leg limp was made after I thought it would make them look more imposing seeing someone "weak" suddenly pull out a giant hammer.

Narinder

Found within a burning village under rubble, clutching a crown as war raged around them. He was found by Shamura and taken in.

He was the first to create resurrection and back then it was an EXTREMELY taxing ritual. It would require his own godly flesh to beckon people back to life - thus it would literally cause his skin and flesh to melt off his bones. Now that's not needed anymore but his body is still weak to it, meaning during certain stress factors, he can still become skeletal. He doesn't have scarring from it, but gained some cool markings.

He was bound by his arms, torso and neck - all of which are scarred. In the afterlife he was perpetually sitting, causing him to be paralyzed from the waist down. Once he was usurped he had to regain his ability to walk and was taken care of by the Lamb.

He was in a catatonic state for many years and it only got better gradually with many setbacks. For years he never left the bed and by the time his Siblings had been rescued, he had barely started going outside. He was also suffering from chronic pains which wasn't really helpful.

He's also very... Temperamental. It took him just as long to say anything nice to the Lamb and it took him extra long to see them as more than his vessel.

Extra: I changed his markings to be more like I had imagined them. The catatonic trait and chronic pain was added after the update and I remember how horrible it was having tendonitis and I wanted to channel my distaste into Narinder.

Shamura

Found and raised by the last gods, they weren't the greatest sibling. They may have taken in the others but it took them a long time to be anything other than cold. With Kallamar, Shamura was distant and strict - then with Narinder they attempted to be less harsh after the kid started crying himself to sleep. With Heket and Leshy they got less and less cold. They tried their best, they'd argue.

They got carried away by their feelings as they had feared at the start and that's when the first prophecy came to them. They had kept it hidden for way too long until the balance of the crown's powers were ripping at the seams due to Narinder's pursuit in power - and they made a decision. They had told Kallamar first. Then Heket and Leshy were brought in.

Stuff happened. Now they are barely coherent and at most have an hour or two at a time where they seem to make sense. Leshy stays with them the most. Kallamar takes care of them. Heket takes care of the rest. Their skull is caved in, they lost an eye and limbs - some of the damages can't be hidden by bandages.

There's also this thing that their crown keeps getting out of control whilst trying to keep their mind stable - sometimes they'll get startled - attempt to form a weapon and instead end up with their arm speared through. They have scarring all over their body from it.

Upon recruitment they are pretty overwhelmed. Their crown can't stop them from breaking anymore and they have gotten so used to godhood that mortality now feels like they are literally rotting alive. They can feel their body wasting away.

Only after getting their relic back do they start becoming more independent and stable. They nowadays go through some sort of rehab to try and regain their sense of self.

Extra: Not much was added. I wanted to give them Glasses but I can't for the life of me draw them with a pair... So Ill just say they have them but not show them LOL

Kallamar

His past is basically forgotten. It sorta slipped away since he hadn't deemed it fit to be remembered. At first he had MANY fights with Shamura, then it ceased after a confrontation turned violent which left him with a bad scar.

He had to take care of his younger siblings whilst coming to terms with godhood - filling in whenever Shamura wasn't physically or mostly emotionally unavailable. For a long time he was the only one that could comfort his ailing siblings. Dealing with that sort of made him pretty easily agitated.

When Shamura proposed the plan, he had been hesitant - but ultimately didn't say anything.

Now he takes care of his siblings medically. He hates himself more than he hates anyone else and as much as he is quick to condemn and betray Shamura - he is also quick to condemn himself. Though maybe not as enthusiastically or openly.

He likes to compensate. Giving gifts to request forgiveness - grand displays of favoritism or mainly decking himself and his multiple spouses out with Jewels. He still keeps his wedding rings around his neck and his earring references his siblings.

Funnily enough, he caused the least troubles to the Lamb. They could argue he even seemed relieved after a short while of staying in the cult.

Extra: Added Jewelry and two tentacles because he looked naked without them.

Heket

Loudmouth frog that when found with her crown, she started trying to fight Shamura - insulting whatever parent they had. She kept threatening to poison them too.

In the lineup of her siblings, she was often the one who took the sidelines. If she was happy, she was left alone. If she was displeased, she'd let herself known. The most uncomplicated of the siblings.

You'd almost miss how every other bishop would seek her out when help was needed. While Shamura helped with godhood and Kallamar with emotional needs - Heket was a good person to pester with anything else. She'd handle it - just let big sis do it. Even if she was the second youngest - it's funny how even Kallamar and Narinder would occasionally use the nickname.

Then when everyone else was dealing with their wounds, she picked up the pace and kept their respective cults from falling apart. She handled Silk cradle until Shamura could - helped with Darkwood and took over Anchordeep when Kallamar was tending to the others. No problem.

She was still loud when entering the cult. Not as much as her brother - but she loved to cause scenes. Her muteness didn't seem to hinder her at all with that. She's not allowed near knives but somehow can handle axes?

Her temper problems don't get better. She just stops being an asshole about it.

She prefers having scarfs covering her neck bandages whilst they're all bloody and disgusting.

Extra: Nothing because Heket is already perfect.

Leshy

Literally a weird insect that kept clinging to the crown until it grew big enough to hold in one hand. It bit anything that got close and by the time Shamura found it - he had started eating small critters.

And god, he kept growing and growing until he wasn't a small worm in Shamura's hand but literally too big to fit through most doors. They suspected he'd grow until the end of time. Or well, now since his crown is gone.

He never listens. He screams for fun and overshares the worst details to the point he manages to break his siblings into just accepting anything he talks about. They can't even scold him or punish him since Leshy always finds a way to make things worse for anyone else but himself.

He also copies everyone. First it was Heket's tone. Then it was Narinder's behavior - now he started growing flowers and vine braids to make fun of Kallamar and his antlers were at first a crude mimic of Shamura's pedipalps and now they grow vines to be similar to the jewels hanging from them. He refuses to acknowledge doing so.

He's very clingy. After locking away Narinder, he stayed with Shamura every day until they were out of bed rest. He follows his siblings around and when he does give them a second to breathe - hes probably laying around in Darkwood instead of doing anything productive. He does tends to plants occasionally, but he prefers "to let chaos do its thing" - as if that means anything.

He makes for a great gardener after he stopped trying to break everything upon recruitment. And once he got over growling at every living thing - he actually became one of the most well liked people living there.

Leshy knows exactly what someone needs and somehow finds a way to achieve that with the littlest of efforts. It's the thought that counts.

Extra: Braid and vines because I thought Leshy would look cute with it.

Special: The 4 bishops all wear old faith themed robes, but Shamura got the elder clothes for comfort and Leshy kept tearing his clothes apart so he is not permanently excluded from having any special outfits as punishment. Narinder wears fancy robes (who happen to be loose and warm while being special - otherwise he'd complain)

The Lamb wears one of the leaked fleeces since I loved the red riding hood aesthetic.

In the end this turned more into biographies than actual explanations but its 3:30am, Im sleep deprived and I wanted to get my thoughts out because I start having memory problems again YIPPEE

[strawdool]

Could we see Narinder's other siblings in the modern au, if you already have them somewhat figured out? I'm curious about Kallamar, is he a doctor?

here's a bit a more about those three in my au!! Kallamar is the one who takes care of Shamura, Leshy and now Narinder. he thought that Narinder was dealing with the divorce in a weird way (aka obssesing over Lamb??) and after Leshy's accident and now being on charge of two people he gave Narinder the ultimatum of getting a life (a job or something) or get kicked out.

Leshy is a youtuber and a souncloud rapper in my au, he is dropped out of college with the intention of wanting to be famous as a influencer and he did! nobody knows he is related to Narinder so that gives him the liberty to shittalk about his brother (even thought Narinder will always get mad at leshy and tell him to delete the tweets (he never does lmao))

And Shamura.. they suffer from memory loss and ptsd after an almost fatal injury in the head, they dont talk that much and often doesnt recognize anyone who isnt kallamar or Narinder. before that They were a very serious but wise person, Narinder and Heket were close to them and after Narinder literally getting with Forneous out of jealousy for heket. While the others were like "welp jsut get over it?" Shamura was the one supporting Heket and even thought she strained herself from the family she was still on contact with them before the injury.

[kazzsk2]

Your sacrifice resurrection au is amazing i love the cringefail rizz of Narinder dealing with the lamb. Questions: Why does Narinder get suicidal and mentally unstable after the lamb goes kaput Is it just general loneliness or pining or something else? Whats up with the other bishops? Why did the lamb decide that they were done? Whats the crowns take on the situation? Whats rataus? Is there a betting pool?

Okay I didn't not actually expect questions holy shit (but in a good way) please ignore any grammar or spelling mistakes

1. Narinder becomes that way due to the trope of like "I've gotten what I was supposed to want but all I really wanted was you" type thing and the loneliness and wanting start to eat up at him so badly to the point he starts having like dreams and nightmares of the lamb speaking to him. Basically it's kinda because general loneliness but like heightened a bit.

2. The other bishops were all chilling and stuff so it was very clear to them when something was going on with narinder. Heket was the first to notice anything and advised him against doing something stupid. She was 100% off board with the idea of resurrecting the lamb as she knew they wouldn't be happy about it. Even when the lamb is resurrected, she at first doesn't want to help narinder fix his relationship with them as she considered it his karma for bringing them back.

(Even made a mini comic about the siblings giving advice and heket is the least helpful due to this. Mostly advising him to leave the lamb alone or let them die in peace.)

Kallamar is somewhat similar to heket as he didn't think what narinder did was a good idea, but he does offer some semblance of support after the lamb is resurrected.

Leshy did not really care, but he wanted narinder to be happy and he supposed that the lamb was the best way to go about it, so he chose not to interfere with narinder's plans.

Shamura was the only one to really push narinder to resurrect the lamb as they thought it was the only way narinder would be happy and go back to normal. They didn't not care what the lamb really thought about the matter as their focus was only on narinder at the time. When they see how much suffering the lamb went through during the failed resurrections, they regretted pushing narinder to do them, but at this point there was no stopping him.

3. They had the plan really from the start. After being resurrected and ordered to kill the bishops, they knew that they would have to give the crown back. Of course the plan changed a bit before the final boss fight with narinder as they wanted to give narinder a better life when they joined the cult. So they spared him, brought him in, and got narinder's siblings as well.

His main goal was to be reconnected to those he lost in death like his family, so they weren't at all joyed for that to be pulled away from them after giving narinder what he said he wanted.

4. The crown has sentience in this au and they honestly found no problem with the plan. The crown is selfish and did like the lamb a lot so it was happy to have them back either way.

5. Sadly ratau is dead in this au so he couldn't get the full picture of what's going on. All he understood was that one day lamb was there in the afterlife with him, and the next they were gone. Eventually, he manages to speak to lamb through their dreams, but even then he doesn't fully grasp the situation. He has mixed feelings about it.

6. Yes. Leshy is betting that the lamb will kill narinder before the 5 years is up and the crown is betting that they'll get married before the 5 years is up (both ain't got no money to bet).

[bloos-bloo]

Welcome to the circus but make it make SENSE

TOYBOX AU!!! ITS REAL!! >:D

What is the ToyBox AU? ToyBox is a circus AU that’s HEAVILY inspired by Digital Circus, Circus Monster, and Hypno’s lullaby! I highly suggest looking into those things if you’re not aware of them-

THIS IS YOUR WARNING BTW- THERE ARE MENTIONS OF ABUSE AND TORTURE

---

The circus is held in the lands of the Old Faith every few years, it used to be a yearly event. But after the new ownership- the circus suffered greatly. There are less guests every year- it's constantly losing money, there's hardly any performers. So, how is this issue fixed?

Easy. :)

Starting off with the Ring Master! The Jester! Silly little guy! Dirty kidnapper

Emery’s the beloved Jester in the circus. She makes sure everything’s in order before the next show. She’s been doing this for a very long time, seeing many guests come in and out… but what caught her attention was a certain black cat.

She had to have him- he always smiled and laughed at her performance- she needed him.

PATHETIC WET CAT IN QUESTION-

Narinder was a regular at the circus- (regular meaning biyearly-) It was his favorite past time to do with his siblings. But- what was creepy was the way the jester would stare at him…

Narinder doesn’t remember how he was recruited, but he’s always near Emery.. why? He can’t even tell you- something about it makes it hard to think of for long periods of time

Leshy’a such a little guy in this AU!

(Emery was scared of how tall he was- so why not take that away! Seeing him small was so funny!) His hands act like his eyes, cause- nobody knows where his eyes are. Not even him- Plus the snake-like creatures are very smart, they keep him out of trouble.

It’s hard to see during routine since his only way of vision is blurry He tries to ignore the way Emery stares at him when he gets too close to Narinder... Why does Narinder look so scared anyway? Is there something going on? Where is the exit? Oh- his act is up next.

Heket was hard to deal with. She’s loud- she has muscle- and she looked like she was going to kill Emery-

It was easy to make her stand down though, just a few quick words and string! Nothing too crazy. Heket usually keeps her distance from Emery, but with her getting closer to Narinder and always sticking with Leshy. She had to protect him in some way or another and keep Shamura preoccupied…

Emery made her a greeter so she wouldn't interact with her siblings (and have the guest ignore her pleas)

Noel’s Lament looking ass-

Kallamar was the hardest to convert- still is the same. They’re always crying about something, leaving him with a ton of conflicted emotions. She’s an acrobat and silk aerialist, but with her constantly covered in needles- it makes her job a bit harder.

Emery hates Kal- for some reason, they never share a conversation or a moment alone. She’s always avoided him- was he aware…? He must be. He cries about his old life every night...

Emery did have to pin his ears back after he overheard a lot of stuff though…

LITTLE BABYYYY- WAHHHH-

Shamura’s mind is very much broken in this AU- except it was Emery fault. They knew too much! She had to!

..Right?

Anyways- Shamura is very aware of what’s going on. They can see through Emery just a bit- but it’s hard to do anything when she takes their key, or even beat them. The cracks on their face represent each beating- Emery hates Shamura, but they can’t do anything about them besides make it harder for them to live around the grounds-

ANYWAYS- a very basic rundown of ToyBox! :D I have a few other doodles planned for this AU- and I’m so excited to actually write it- YIPPEEEE. There's nothing sinister going on here!! :D Happy fun time little AU!!

[alllgator-blood]

I AGREE WITH LAST ASKER, EVERYBODY I KNOW KEEPS THINKING HEKET WOULDN'T APPRECIATE SHAMURA AT ALL BUT I THINK HEKET WOULD BE REALLY CARING AND PROTECT THEM (+ Leshy and Kallamar) AT ALL COSTS RAAAGHHRFG

WHAT!! WHY WOULD THEY SAY THAT, SOME OF THE ONLY DIALOGUE WE GET IN THE GAME FROM HEKET THAT'S NOT JUST "FUCK YOU LAMB!!!!" IS DIRECTLY RELATED TO HER PROTECTIVENESS OVER THE OTHER SIBLINGS. Like she tries to not stress out shamura by telling them the prophecy is starting to be fulfilled, insists that they get their rest instead of dealing with the lamb, she straight up asks the lamb if her family hasn't already suffered enough without them finishing narinder's revenge plot, and in your cult she says that despite everything they were all happy when they were still a family of gods together. I also think she's the only one that gets new dialogue when you kill one of the other siblings first vs when you go straight for her? It doesn't even seem like a hc to say she'd protect them at all costs cause the game can't be beat until she does die for them

Her and shamura really seem like the most family-oriented bishops so it's weird how many people assume she's just like a mean bitch with no actual reason. Maybe she's a mean bitch because the lamb is getting in the way of the thing she's desperately held onto for 1000 years and worked hard to maintain?? IDK I see a loooot of defense for narinder (valid) but not much for someone like heket so I'm always gonna jump at an opportunity to ramble about her

[scramblescrew]

I think it’s time for the cult of the lamb stuff too begin (do the first one)

Male Black Cat!Follower Reader Being the “sibling” of the Bishops of The Old Faith

TW: [Unhealthy Relationship, beatings, drugging, forced sibling relationship, gaslighting]

Relationship type: Platonic but unhealthy

Since your birth after the banishment of The One Who Waits, your life had been filled with luxury. Being in the likeness of the bishop of death had its perks. for a few examples; you were widely respected among the old faith, you got special exemptions for certain rituals such as fight pits and Flesh sacrifices, higher positions in the old faith, and at some points, you were even given offerings. But there WERE downsides, the attention you had gotten from the four bishops was a bit unnerving. they seemed crazed since the day they met you! All four bishops treated you like their own blood..? And even though your name was [Y/N], they kept calling you Narinder....you always asked why you were given the nickname you were but Heket or Shamura would always tell you that that there would be a time and place for that. But it wasn’t now….

As you've gotten older, you were given a gold skull necklace, a charm that gave you everlasting life as long as you wore it. but with your age and more knowledge, you had also noticed a pattern of behaviors in the bishops you've now accepted as your "siblings."

Leshy:

- god d*mn. This gremlin

- he uses his domain, Darkwood, to trap you in for extended of time, forcing you to cuddle him and to hear you eventually purr.

- is he delusional? ….kind off

- he knows you aren’t Narinder, but you were the closest thing to him

- and GODS- he was so angry for what his brother did to him

- this boi is fluffy!

- when giving hugs and just hanging out in general, the density and softness of his fur(?) makes the Camilia flower fields his domain is known for feel like brittle hay in comparison!

-he essentially uses you as a tiny feline teddy bear

- speaking of Camilia flowers, since they are used for healing, Leshy might withhold them from you in order for you to depend on him even more.

- leaving you ill and consequently suffering for sometimes days before giving you Camilia flowers and bed rest

- only because his siblings begged him to give you some mercy

“Who’s tough now, huh!? Who’s the one with the power now, Narinder!? ME-“

Heket:

-WOULD SHANK SOMEONE!

- anyways- she IS VERY protective but she has good intentions/reasoning for that

- to her, you are so weak and kind of pathetic but that would be ok to her

- as long as you stay with either her or her siblings

- in case you ever got any ideas of running off in order to escape, she would periodically use the mushrooms around her grounds of Anura to brainwash you into being subdued and making you docile

- despite her crown helping her talk to some extent, Heket still expects you to help her get her point across when she can’t voice them

- she (along with Kallamar) tries to dilude herself with the thought that you are indeed Narinder returned from banishment and trying to repent for his actions, no matter how futile that would be

-but that wasn’t the truth and she knew it. She knew you were an innocent follower that was given a name and title that didn’t belong to you

-she almost pities you

“Just eat…….the mushrooms….Narinder…..you’ll feel…better..soon.”

Kallamar:

-He wholeheartedly believes you’re just Narinder without your crown…therefore…powerless…

- and he absolutely takes advantage of that delusion

- on the beaches bordering anchor deep, he’d be found throwing you around and shrieking about everything “you” did to your “siblings”!

- you took his handsome ears, Heket’s ability to speak-her voice, Leshy’s eyes, SHAMURA’S MIND-

-he’d curse you with everything’s he had, just wanted to hurt you for things that you would never think of doing

- but eventually he’d calm down and see you in a curled up ball on the ground, crying and bleeding in pain, the pain of the attacks and illness taking over you as you writhed

- he’d gasp, rushing to you and picking you up and holding you close

-he’d shake and tear up as he runs to his siblings for Mushrooms, to ease the pain, and Camilia flowers, you heal you

-he’d immediately be scolded and forbid from seeing you period

- this severed communication between you two would lead to him taking it easy, thankfully

- after he was allowed to be around you again, he’d just take you to the docks

-you two would catch fish together and feast on your catches. Talking about Kallamar’s old happy memories with Narinder as if you shared the same happiness and were there

“I’m sorry, brother…you’ve just caused us so much pain…I-…I still love you though

Shamura:

-Two words.

-MANIPULATION and DELUSIONAL

-they were the closest to Narinder back before his banishment, so they would be the one to spend most time with you

- you be using the silk found around to make thread and making clothing for Shamura’s followers when the spider bishop themself would come up behind you, pick you up, and take you back to her temple

-they’d warn and advise you against spending unnecessary time around followers

-They wouldn’t want you to get that much power getting to your head…

-“you wouldnt want to be sent away again, do you?”

-Shamura would also gaslight you into thing that you’re crazy for thinking they were anything but loving to you

“What? We love you!- We’re your siblings, you’re acting like we’re some sort of captors and you’re a prisoner! You were a prisoner when we sent you to the underworld! But you’re back now! Just let us be a family again, damn it!”

-similar with Heket, if you tried to escape Silk Cradle, Shamura would fly into a rage and chase after you, grabbing you, and secure you in a spider silk cocoon that was in a safe area of their temple before calming down

-you could try to struggle and scream but “your eldest sister” would just hug you close and sing to you

“Narinder..Dear brother..please stop fighting. You’ll only hurt yourself more…”

UP NEXT: DEPRESSED READER X ANCIENT COOKIES

[writer-of-the-lamb]

narilamb marriage

“oh, it’s not a joke…?”

lamb, lounging around by the farm : great job, guys, we’re gonna have enough grapes in no time!

narinder, folding his arms : i could use a drink in a time like this. the weather is cold, and my coat is not enough to warm me for work.

lamb, snug in robes and his wool : speak for yourself

narinder, frowning : as your partner, i assume i will not have to do this?

lamb, grinning : nah.

narinder, genuinely surprised : oh. i assumed you would be placing me out there for your own sadistic enjoyment. as….well, as usual.

lamb, snickering and digging his hands in his pockets : i’m not always out to get ya.

narinder, watching the followers work : i am surprised by that. in your place i would enhance whatever suffering you could feel to punish you.

lamb : me making fun of you does that enough. i’m merciful. occasionally.

narinder :

lamb : i have a heart. at the end of the day im a lamb, nari. the last one. ever. like, nobody can say they can manipulate or read me because there’s no other sheep to practice on. *laughs* i’m almighty in every way.

narinder, amused : you wedding me was the most humorous choice, then. i will accept the punishment.

lamb, humming in thought : that was partly a joke. *turns to narinder* i do like you.

narinder : oh

lamb, sheepishly (lol) laughing : what, you think i toss you around because i hate you?? it’s my love language.

narinder, suddenly clutching his chest : you have made me ill.

lamb : okay, rude-

narinder : i applaude the clever tactic - but - what is this curse, you cruel-

lamb, watching narinder writhe around and cover his face :

narinder : if i had that crown, i would snatch it from your head and pound it into the ground, before following with you and- and perhaps imprisoning you! or such-

lamb, smiling goofily : you like me

narinder, pausing in his ‘agony’ : i-

lamb, bouncing on his heels : you like meee

narinder, letting go of his chest : curses

lamb : you wish they were

narinder : i suppose i do favour you.

lamb, giggling : you better, cause that ring is bound to you.

narinder, staring at his ring : hm. i am content with that.

lamb, batting his stupid little eyelashes :

narinder : may i see your ring? is it bound as well?

lamb, flourishing out his hand : no, but i’d like it to be. *winks*

narinder, inspecting his hand : gold suits you, lamb.

lamb : oh you flatterer

narinder, smug : i am skilled, lamb. i was once a god like you.

lamb, grinning : are you…are you smiling???

narinder : ….you bring it out of me.

lamb : when i saw you for the first time, i did not peg you as a romantic.

narinder : what were your initial thoughts, then?

lamb : id tap that

narinder, deadpan :

lamb : what? you’re the romantic, clearly

narinder :

lamb, grinning : love you

narinder : you are alright.

a pause

lamb : alright, heket! go eat, narinder’s tending the farms now.

narinder : LAMB, IT IS COLD

lamb : TELL ME YOU LOVE ME

narinder, hissing : STOP YELLING IN FRONT OF MY KIN

lamb : OH PLEASE, THEY SEE THE WAY YOU LOOK AT ME

narinder : LAMB.

lamb, glaring :

narinder : ….fine. i enjoy your prescence. and your banter.

lamb, giggling : good enough

[thewallshaveeyes]

I took a stab at drawing the goat's narinder (pupinder? Naripup?) And came up with this. Him being a samoyed just feels right to me. But tbh? I have NO CLUE what to do with the bishops (random ramblings below the cut)

So like. Pup narinder, I imagine him as being the bishop of life and light, and being just super sweet. And the thing is, I imagine he says pretty much the same stuff Narinder does, but the way he words it gives it an ENTIRELY different meaning.

"I still have need of you" -> implies that the lamb is a tool for Narinder to use. He can't throw them away just yet, because there is still some use left in them. Defines them by their usefulness

"I still require your services" -> puts more value on the goat's abilities to act if that makes sense. Acknowledges that the goat is a being that is capable of making decisions on its own and puts trust in the idea that it'll use its abilities to help him. Defines it by its autonomy.

i also imagine him talking about sacrifice in a much different way. Instead of seeing sacrifice as cashing in souls like currency, I feel like he'd see it as a mercy. "Why allow your followers to slowly work themselves to death, living in pain and fatigue until they give out, when you can offer them a smooth transition into the afterlife?"

Also because of this personality swap, the idea of him betraying his siblings out of pride doesn't make as much sense. What do I propose, then? Easy! As the bishop of light and life, he couldn't stand to see followers suffering for any slight against his siblings, so he took those in who needed respite. He offered an oasis to those unfaithful to his siblings, and when that happened, his siblings got PISSED because they saw that as him stealing their followers. So, they tried to confront him and take back their followers, only for narinder to defend his followers by maiming his siblings. This caused the others to chain him up in the gateway and either sacrifice or convert the rest of his followers.

Now, with all of this, I have several ideas for the bishops but can't really use them all.

Idea 1: Domain swap. Everything stays pretty much the same except for their domains (and consequently their colors). Heket would be plague, Leshy would be war, Shamura famine, and Kallamar chaos. (Honestly zero clue what to do with the colors OR crowns for that matter. Keep the same crowns? Crowns change colors, too??? -\('–')/-)

Idea 2: Species swap. They turn into slant-variants of each of their species (which changes their colors, too). Heket could be a frog, maybe Leshy is an isopod or something, Kallamar would be an octopus (duh), and Shamura could maybe be a bat?? Centipede?? (Thinkin of something that lives in a cave maybe. Scorpion?)

Idea 3: Domain inversion. This could work in tandem with the previous one but anyways. Idea being that their domains invert (just like Narinder's) which causes personality changes. Leshy could be the bishop of order, causing him to be a MASSIVE control freak who panics when the goat comes back (making him more cowardly like Kallamar). Heket could be the bishop of gluttony, causing her to give the goat more of the benefit of the doubt (making her more understanding like Shamura). Kallamar could be the bishop of vitality, seeing the goat as nothing more than an insignificant worm and underestimating its power (making him more assured like Leshy). Shamura could be the bishop of stagnation/sloth, dissuaded and distraught by the goat's challenge to the old faith (making them more vengeful like Heket).

Of the ideas, I'm most attached to the third. Plus with the personality swaps, their injuries could also swap. Heket could be think no evil since she was the most open-minded, Shamura could be see no evil because they were ignorant to the world around them, Leshy could be hear no evil since he refused to give anyone else a voice, and Kallamar could be speak no evil since he was a loudmouth.

What are we thinking, chat? Thoughts? Comments? Ideas?

Aside/edit: with idea #3 (which I'm more and more attached to as I write this), that could be interesting bcs it would recontextualize each bishops' patterns in their boss fights.

Take Kallamar for example. For the lamb, he is terrified of fighting them, which is seen when he pretty much just button mashes doing everything he can to keep that fuckin thang away from him. You can tell that he's panicking during the boss fight from how erratic his movement is. But in the goat's universe, Kallamar's fighting style could be indicative of his disregard for the goat's existence, moreso swatting him away like a pesky mosquito. Inversely, Leshy's fight with the lamb not only shows that he has no clue what the fuck he's doing, but that he doesn't think the lamb does, either. He doesn't even try to hit the lamb physically until well into the battle. For the goat, however, this could be out of fear. Leshy is terrified of the goat, trying as hard as possible to avoid it until he desperately resorts to smacking it around just to kill it. I know that none of this has any bearing on what we see of the goat in the lamb's cult, but it could help explain some of the confusion the goat experiences when it interacts with the lamb's bishops for the first time.

[yanderes-galore]

yandere lamb with a bishop darling?

I can try my hand at this, sure! I really want to write more for this game but no one requests it :')

Yandere! The Lamb with Bishop! Darling

(FT. Yandere! Platonic! Narinder/TOWW)

Pairing: Romantic (The Lamb)/Platonic (Narinder/TOWW)

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Worship yandere, Cults, Violence/Murder, Dubious relationship.

The Bishops are deities worshipped in the Old Faith.

The religion itself is cruel and inhumane, often requiring sacrifices of unwilling subjects.

The Bishops themselves, your siblings, could be considered cruel themselves.

Narinder, Bishop of Death, was sealed away after harming his siblings, you yourself may even have an injury from him too.

Leshy, the Bishop of Chaos, has always been too arrogant of his power.

Heket, the Bishop of Famine, is often aggressive and brings hunger to her followers.

Kallamar, Bishop of Pestilence, is a coward who brings sickness to his followers and fails to lead them.

Shamura, Bishop of War, often forced obedience through mind control.

Compared to your siblings and this religion, you could be a Bishop in two ways.

Perhaps you're better than them, the hope the followers need to continue suffering under the others.

Or maybe you're just as bad as your siblings?

(I'm biased to you being some sort of Bishop of Hope and Radiance yet you can be anything you want)

The point is, The Lamb may want to worship a Bishop! Darling.

Sure, they are meant to worship Narinder to free him... meaning they may have to slay you.

But The Lamb can't bring themselves to!

Even more so if you genuinely care for your followers.

I feel what would make this story even more intense is if Narinder was attached to you as his sibling.

That way he'd probably ask The Lamb to spare you, to force you into a messenger of the new cult.

After all, the other four betrayed him...

Not you.

Honestly just the thought of The Lamb trying to appease you is adorable.

Narinder prefers sacrifices, so The Lamb tries to pick followers they think you'll like.

You're given gold as wealth and often given gifts.

Even if The Lamb had to slay you, they'd probably bring you back to make you a follower.

The Lamb's obsession is only encouraged if Narinder likes you.

Narinder trusts The Lamb to convert you and your followers... along with treating you well.

To you, you may even find The Lamb's attempts at worship and maybe even courtship cute.

They bleat towards you before offering you gifts.

They conduct sermons about you and Narinder.

You're often depicted as the sibling of TOWW and are worshipped as such.

Anything romantic would be sort of strange unless you were made a follower.

The Lamb's romantic attractions towards you while you're still a deity may be more akin to someone saying they "love God" or something similar.

They love you and devote themselves to you.

Narinder, your brother, may even see The Lamb as a connection you two share.

A temporary connection... as TOWW has plans to ditch The Lamb once he is free.

You may see The Lamb as a follower of your own... or maybe even a pet.

You often speak to The Lamb, asking how their conquest is going.

You are aware of what they must do... it's bittersweet.

On one hand, your siblings (and maybe you) had it coming.

On the other hand... you wish none of this has to happen.

The Lamb tries to distract you from your mourning.

As Leshy, Heket, Kallamar, and Shamura fall... The Lamb tries to comfort you.

You try not to blame the pawn too much....

They are Narinder's form of punishment.

Lambs should never have been targeted in the first place after all.

It was foolish to think Narinder would never return.

As a result, you are in acceptance of your fate.

You accept The Lamb's offerings and bless them on their journeys.

You aren't sure how things will go when Narinder returns.

From what you hear, the Bishop of Death seems eager to see you again.

Part of you fears what's to come, but the others tried to fight it and perished...

So why should you?

The Lamb is often the one to pull you from your thoughts.

They come back from their crusades all proud and happy.

They always come to see you at your land and at the cult.

Knowing you can't fight the return of your brother, you aid his pawn.

His pawn, The Lamb, appears to adore you just as much.

The Lamb isn't entirely an intense yandere when you're a Bishop.

They come to see you often and try to follow where you go.

They only wish to worship you alongside your remaining brother!

You are wise enough to know you can't fight fate compared to your siblings...

So you accept The Lamb's offerings and adoration... which includes all of their love.

You wonder if Narinder will spare The Lamb once he comes back to rule yet again.

[bamsara]

feel free to ignore this ask if it's too spoilery, but what kind of sibling relationship did narinder have with the other bishops before the betrayal?

was it more of a "i have a formal obligation to you since we're related" or "gods forbid you ask me for a singular corn chip, but i would kill someone for you"

Def the second one. Please pardon me because I'm about to ramble for a long minute.

The relationship between him and his siblings are very much built on sibling rivlerly but also care. They might have had spats about godhood and domains and spars with power, but they still supported each other and cared for each other; when you're an immortal god, really the only company you'll have in the end who understands you is your immortal siblings.

They will scold each other, help each other, tease and mock each other, maybe playfully sabotouge eachother, but they were eachothers family.

I've put some hints into it in my fic so I hope it's okay if I explain/point out some of them:

They helped each other with their domains and temples, respectivly, and sparred with one another, which is how I hc how Narinder is able to give The Lamb advice on how to fight them. They sqaubbled and bickered but it was all in care, and they had each other for eons.They were each other's support pillars.

At least back then. Now, there's a bitterness and resentment, not just between Narinder and the siblings but also the siblings themselves, possibly because of how the situation with Narinder went. Kallamar himself says to to kill Shamura and not him, and that it was not his idea to chain Narinder. Heket talks about grief and suffering:

Heket's ingame dialogue:

They both speak of suffering and grief. Possibly, suffering because of the pain sewn through the family when everything fell apart, and grief I can only imagine because they felt like they had to kill and/or chain their brother in the afterlife. Clearly there is love, or there used to be love in the family, and that love is lost or killed now. Suffering and grief. Resentment; because even after everything; Narinder, is STILL causing rifts and suffering for the family.

Kallamar's dialogue:

Kallamar is absolutley terrified of Narinder, his younger brother, who is the God of Death, and states that it was not his idea to chain him for his 'ideals'. Possibly because Narinder's crime was to create resurrection, to undo death, which would be wonderful for somone like Kallamar who is so deeply afraid of dying and suffers from cowardice. I imagine that Kallamar did not agree with his sibling's will to chain Narinder but didn't have the spine to go against them when Narinder threatened to unbalance everything. Thus; some resentment.

Shamura's ingame dialogue:

Shamura states that overtime Narinder grew discontent with being the limitations of Death. This is possibly when he began to look into creating the concept of resurrection, something that would reverse the 'absolute'. Possibly he would be very powerful with the ability to reverse death as many would seek that sort of safety. But it horrificly unbalances the nature of things.

How? The promise of Resurrection makes sacrifice and the fear of death useless.

Heket cannot control her followers with the promise of feasts or threats of famine if they can simply come back from death of starvation. Kallamar's followers would not fear disease or sickness if they were just going to revive after dying. Those who worship Shamura would not try to gain their favor for war, battle or knowledge if they were able to just resurrect if they lost. I'm not sure how it would affect Leshy's following, but I can imagine it's the same kind of outcome.

And still Shamura loved their brother, even aknowledging that they, the four siblings, were the ones to betray Narinder in the end. 'Of your own turned against you'.

It was Shamura that made the decision to chain Narinder in the underworld. It was Shamura who blames themselves for planting the idea of change, that something could be better, into Narinder's head, and it was Shamura who realized that the freedom of change that was allowed to themselves could not be allowed to Death himself, and made the other siblings join them to seal The One Who Waits away.

I'd like to think that the siblings each loved their family, at least before. There's resentment and bitterness now, hatred from betrayal and animosity between not just Narinder but possibly a little through the four siblings as well.

That being said, Shamura clearly still cares about Narinder or at least thinks back on him fondly in the dialogue of the blame. I'd like to think that there's grief like Heket says, and the others feel the same. They grieve him.

And in my story, I'd like to think that Narinder grieves them too.

So yeah. It was def 'a gods forbid you ask me for a singular corn chip, but i would kill someone for you' type of family, at least before it all went to hell.

[cotl-flower-crown]

What do the other bishops do around the cult, job or otherwise?

Leshy was supposed to work at the farm at first, because worms are good for the soil, but in reality he would be more of a pest than anything due to his size and being a menace. So Lamb assigned him to work in the kitchen instead. It took him a while to adjust, he hated it at first, but he's doing fine. Outside of work he's chilling in the grass.

Lamb didn't trust Heket around kitchen either, so she was sent to become the farmer instead of Leshy. She also takes on other physical jobs when she wishes, like in the mine or the lumber mill. She tends to stick with her family.

Kallamar was assigned by the Lamb to work in the morgue, partially because they don't trust him to work with living patients, but he would be competent enough to work with dead bodies. The other part of her just wanted to be entertained by his look of horror, when he learned that he who fears death the most has to work with the dead. He's adjusting surprisingly well among the other followers.

Shamura is retired, since they suffer from a brain damage. It's surprising that they're still alive, so nobody is forcing them to do anything. They usually read or play games like chess with whoever is interested.

[canadianno]

How do the bishops get along with their witnesses and mini bosses?

Drew out the witnesses because they're pretty interesting to me!! But I'll include a little blurb on the mini-bosses :]

For context, in my au I take the term "witness" very literally, as in the witnesses are someone who witnessed the crowning of a bishop.

The mini bosses were their most treasured disciples!

Yapping and art below the cut !!

Leshy and Agares are very close, having been childhood best friends after Agares was discovered. In her words, "I've known Leshy longer than he's been a man"

Valefar and Barbatos are, of course, his 2 most trusted disciples. Leshy met them when they were all teenagers, and they'd sneak around aiding him in his missions of chaos- earning them their status. He loves em, even if they make bad decisions sometimes. Amdusias is his most recent disciple, one the others are a little uncertain about. Leshy bites people who voice doubt, though, so no one says anything.

Heket and Bathin have quite the bond, and if you ask Bathin she'd refer to Heket as her older sister. If you asked Heket, she'd probably sock you in the face for looking at her funny.

Gusion, Eligos and Zepar are Hekets most trusted disciples, of course, with Narinder claiming that he and Heket had found the 3 as tadpoles while on a walk as kids, and they had just causally kidnapped them and brought them home. They love to shit-talk people together, and I can best equate them to a really tight knit friend group.

Astaroth was Kallamars' first spouse of many (I'll get into that in like 4 lines max), and would do ANYTHING for him. All witnesses were difficult to convert, but Lamb had to put Astaroth in a cell for like a week before Harborym managed to convince them to be nice.

Kallamars' head disciples are also his spouses- I've mentioned it in a post before somewhere. They all love to tease Heket for being the only bishop to figure it out, and she loves to threaten to tell Shamura about it. They're all extremely close, as you could expect. It's rare to see any of them walking around alone.

None of the bishops, none of their witnesses, and none of their disciples have ever met Shamuras' witness Allocer. Most believe that, with Shamuras' age, they might not have a witness, or their witness may have already been slain.

Shamuras' head disciples were their first 3 followers, and the 3 people who helped them end the era of 100 gods. Vephar is definitely the friendliest, being the one to speak to the other bishops and their disciples + witnesses. The group is stereotyped as being quiet and mystical, but occasionally one makes an inside joke and all of them lose it. In the formative years, with Shamura suffering from their injury, Focalor, Vephar and Hauras have been doing most of the smaller kingdom duties.

Narinders' witness is no longer a witness.

His old disciples were the first to be sacrificed. Narinder doesn't speak of them, and neither does anyone else.