Eldritch Guidance

In an undisclosed place, there was a gathering of four powerful and influential people with some sort of connection with the Church of Light. They all sat around a circular stone table

Any physical features these people had that could identify them were obscured by thick black cloaks and metal animal masks they wore.

The animals the masks were designed after that of a cat, fox, bear, and hawk.

The masks were also enchanted to change their voices and the people here would only reference each other by the kind of animal mask they wore. A precaution in the unlikely instance that someone was listening in to their conversation.

Hawk: “Do you know why I called this meeting today?”

Bear: “Is this about who the next Light Speaker will be?”

Cat: “Bear, don’t be a fool. It would be pointless to have a meeting about that. We all know Archbishop Beck is the one who will take that position.”

Fox: “Is this about the Witch hunters, Hawk? I hear the infighting has gotten intense. The organization risks splitting, which will cause us problems if it does.”

Hawk: “It seems that all of your information is a little behind mine. The issue today that I wanted to bring to your attention was, the lands south of the Warring States have been taken over by the Red Church.”

There was a silence that followed from the Hawk masked person comment. It was impossible to tell what the people here were thinking or feeling, as their faces were covered.

Bear:“Agado? How did they manage that? Even at the height of the Gix empire, they were never truly able to conquer that land.”

Cat: “More likely that they didn’t ever want to conquer that land. It’s mostly unfarmable swampland where a bunch of man-eating creatures reside. Not to mention, a hotbed for cultists, since it’s always been difficult to explore and easy for cults to hide in. No one in their right mind would want Agado.”

Hawk: “It’s not just Agado. The Red Church has spread their influence and control to the territories around Agado.”

Fox: “Can’t the people see that they're being deceived. The Red Church is just another nameless god cult pretending to be a religion.”

Cat: “It’s been thirty five years since the Gix Empire collapsed into the warring states. The people living there are probably desperate for peace and want the civil war to end. Making them more susceptible to the lies of the Red Church.

Hawk: “It’s as you say, but there was another factor why the people there are turning to the Red Church. The agents I sent to investigate have confirmed the powers of the leader of the Red Church, known as the ‘The Saintess In Red And White’. They're real and just as powerful as the rumor says. She already used them on hundreds if not thousands of people.

Fox: “Does she really have the power to heal any injury? And, she’s been using them on that many people?”

Hawk: “Yes, my agents have confirmed seeing her cure diseased people and regrow missing limbs.”

Cat: “Even the best healers in the history of the Church of Light could only regrow limbs under very strict conditions, and to a very limited number of people. And, she’s managing to accomplish that kind of feat on so many people by herself.”

Bear: “If that’s true, she needs to be eliminated, or captured to figure out how she’s doing this. The Church of Light grew in power partly due to monopolizing healing magic. If people know about someone with even greater healing magic than the Church, it could undermine us and might give legitimacy to her.

Cat: “I agree that this person needs to be eliminated, but I see no point of capturing her. There’s no need to know how she does it. To be healed by the power of a nameless god always has a cost that’s too much to pay.”

Hawk: “I agree with eliminating her, but not for the reason Cat or Bear has said. The real pressing issue of this meeting is that the saintess of the Red Church is apparently in talks with Anya Volk, the war hero of Kavlak.

There was another bit of silence between all members present.

Fox: “What does that mean?”

Hawk: “I do not know, but I do know this. We can’t risk the Red Church working with Anya. The war hero of Kavlak has the best chance of ending the civil war in the former territories of Gix. I can only imagine that to gain the corporation of the Red Church, Anya will have to agree to make them an official religion when the war ends and the Gix states reform. This is a risk we can’t take.”

Bear: “A nation state recognizing a nameless cult as a religion has not existed for over a thousand years.”

Fox: “For good reason too. The Endless War cult was recognized as a religion in a nation state before. They used that recognition and influence to drag that nation into a war that lasted over a hundred years.”

Cat: “The potential devastation that could be caused if Gix was to reform and recognize a cult as a religion would be unfathomable.”

Hawk: “That’s why I want to present a plan to send some of our elite agents to eliminate ‘The Saintess In Red And White’, before any agreement can be made.”