Chrysalis

Church of the New Path.

Faith of the Great One.

The Colony Way.

The faith that sprang up around the seemingly miraculous advent of the Colony came to be known by many names. I want to emphasise I’m not being dismissive by describing the existence of the Colony as ‘seemingly miraculous’. A sapient monster collective that chose to cooperate with other species rather than consume them is as close to a miracle as this non-believing academic can bring themselves to acknowledge.

For the Colony were a true monster species, unlike the bruan’chii, born from a Queen who spawned in the Dungeon and laid eggs that matured into monsters themselves. At no point in the cycle were they ever acknowledged as anything but monsters by the System, as far as I’ve been able to determine anyway.

This ‘miracle’, this incredibly unlikely occurrence, was taken by many of the early believers to be a sign of divine providence, that the Dungeon had birthed a saviour to protect them in their darkest hour. Had this belief been held exclusively by a few farmers and craftspeople, perhaps nothing would have come of it, but one of those early faithful was a Priest of the Path, named Beyn, who would eventually prove himself to be one of the most powerful religious figures of the age, second only to the entity he worshipped.

- Excerpt from ‘New Faith’, by Siemon.

Fervour burned in the eyes of the priest, and he was pleased to see it reflected back at him in the gaze of his audience. He could almost feel their blazing faith like heat against his skin, hot enough to burn him to ash.

enough. Until his soul itself was melted

further, spiritually, but only if you let them.

the stump of his missing arm at them and their gaze flicked to it and back

them, “and it will embrace you back. Embrace the Colony, and they will be there to support you. Embrace the Great One, and you will become a part of them, and they

sermons, but it felt right to him, in a way he couldn’t explain. He knew that the Great One was watching over him, always. This knowledge

Priest,” a member of the congregation bowed to him, but Beyn brought up

called High Priest. Call me Beyn, or Priest

one general was higher in the hierarchy than another, did they look down on the other? No. Did they have a

more important than any other priest. We work together, rise

more, many exclaimed at how humble he was, how

them, “do not elevate me, for that is not our way, that is not who we aspire to be. The Great One is watching over me, watching over all of us. I simply do my best to live in the way we are supposed to live, to walk the Path

as the congregation filed out of the chapel in which he was preaching. When he was alone once more, he breathed a deep sigh of satisfaction. Bringing enlightenment to the people was his greatest joy, leading the lost, until they became found. Even after the people were brought into the faith, still they needed guidance,