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 to nothing, he would

they can change even further, spiritually, but only if you let them. This is a new world that we live in, separated from the before. Don’t be like me, it took time for me to recognise what had changed, and something

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

you back. Embrace the Colony, and they will be there to support you. Embrace the Great One, and you will

last part had become a regular part of his 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 was embedded in him as

a member of the congregation bowed to

do not like to be called High Priest. Call me Beyn,

others. If one general was higher in the hierarchy than another, did they look down on the other? No. Did they have a larger, more fancy title than the other? Also no. They were both generals, who did the best they could

a priest, no more important than any other priest. We work together, rise together and fall

he was, how dedicated to the

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 we have been shown. If we stay steady to the Path, we will walk from the

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