Charon: "Being in Good Standing with the Angels" sounds promising enough.
Geezer: Sounds creepy to me but alright.
You watch your cousin flick through the pages quickly until he reaches the chapter.
Geezer: Ah shoot there's an introduction to this.
> Every good citizen of the land wants to be in good standing with the angels.
They're a power above us mere mortals and being on their good side is beneficial to all!
If one wishes to earn their blessings and goodwill, you must be willing to commit to certain rules and guidelines as well as contribute to the church's structure when possible.
The church takes the step directly to interact with angels and keep the people's graces good with them, an intensive job that requires many resources. Donations are greatly appreciated.
For those with less means to make donations, here are several ways you can maintain good standings with those above as well as the church itself.
- When given the opportunity, make an effort to persuade those who are skeptical into becoming a part of our community.
- Bring newcomers to the church when they show up on city grounds for initiation.
- Become a recruiter.
- Sign up to participate in our village expansion projects. Find personal fulfillment by volunteering toward living in and expanding one of our village locations.
- Report any plans to potentially cause disruption of the order. Potential threats to the peace and church structure will *not* be tolerated*
- Turn in any devices designed to potentially meddle with the affairs of angels as well as those in the church.
- If you are fortunate to sight the angels themselves, give them your full respect.
- Report any business who's practices conflict with the interest of the church. These will be blacklisted in the future.
- Avoid blacklisted establishments at all costs! Any contribution to them is a potential harm to society as a whole.
Charon: There's a lot of these..
Geezer skims the pages ahead.
Geezer: Honestly seems like a lot about appeasing the church and expansion into details on what falls into each of these categories as well. They're really also insistent on the village project for some reason?
Charon: Hate that. Sounds like a cult honestly.
Geezer: Probably is. Don't trust like that. Who gave this to you again?
Charon: Someone who seemed nice at the time but… seems like they were trying to get on my good side and recruit me.
Geezer: Surprised they didn't take you straight to the church to try and initiate you like the book said they should.
Charon: Same…. maybe they forgot?
Geezer: Maybe. Either way I dunno about this. Feels creepy as all hell.
Charon: Absolutely…
There's a knock on the door.
Erica: Hey! We're gonna go to the main part of the inn to have supper in a sec. You both wanna come out here?
Charon: Yeah sorry! We were just in the middle of something, we'll fill you in on it!
Geezer scoots off the bed to answer the door properly. You follow behind him.
Erica: So what've you two been up to?
Geezer flashes her the book.
Geezer: Reading up on the local cult.
Erica: They've got one of those around here? Dang.
Geezer: Dang?
Erica: Dang. Like, it is what it is. Just gotta avoid getting on their bad side if they got any power here. Though if gramps is correct, we were all targeted…
Charon: Think that makes us sinners or saints in this world?
Geezer: Think they'd want us to stay forever if we were saints, would rather be a sinner.
Erica: On a side note, Grandpa got you both some stuff. Figured you need to be dressed a little more fittingly for the area you know? Look less like tourists.
She pulls a pair of outfits out from under her cloak and tosses you a jacket.
Erica: He guessed a little so sorry if it doesn't fit your style.
The two of you shuffle your outfits on quickly. You can't help but grin.
Charon: Feel like a pro witch.
Erica: You seemed the type.
Geezer: Like this hat going on personally… do knights wear berets like this ever?
Erica: I mean… maybe? Hard to say where it came from but it looks good.
Geezer: You really think so?
Erica: Yeah, makes you look like a fighter.
Geezer: You got me a sword too?
Erica: Your baseball bat broke when we got here so figured you needed a replacement. Got something for you too Charon but Grandpa wanted to explain it in person before handing it over if that's alright.
Charon: Why's that?
Erica: Said it was something real unique that maybe you could figure out.
Charon: That's pretty exciting actually. When are we heading over?
Erica: Whenever you're ready, hopefully soon? You seemed like you were both pretty engaged in reading about uh….
Geezer: Cults? Yeah no I'm ready now, we can get to that later.
Charon: Same. Take us whenever you can.
Erica: Gotcha. Follow me then.
Erica gestures for you two to follow. You trail behind her as she takes you through the inn toward the lobby/dinner area. Arabis is there with a table set up with several bowls of soup, just enough to feed the three of you.
Oddly enough, Hickory and Fenton are nowhere around.
You all give Arabis a good wave and settle at the table.
Arabis: You all took awhile, got a bit chatty?
Erica: Just a little, sorry about that.
Arabis: Doesn't matter too much, I'm sure your food is still warm enough.
Charon: Where's Hickory and Fenton? They’re not joining us?
Erica: They went out on their own, they said they'll be back. No idea what's up with them.
Arabis: Mm. I tried inviting them but they insisted they'd be fine. They must have somewhere else to go….
Geezer: Sounds suspicious.
Arabis: I don't like to assume badly of anyone so I figure they're just busy. Now that we're here I suppose it's a good time to fill you in proper on the situation. Might have mentioned some of this by now but…. well…
Erica: You gonna tell the story?
Arabis: Mm. Feel free to eat while I do, I imagine you're all quite hungry.
Geezer doesn't hesitate to chow down. You on the other hand give your full attention.
Arabis: So….
Arabis: A long time ago I was a simple hermit in the woods. Pretty typical for a fiend where I had come from. We weren't particularly well liked…
Arabis: One day a traveler comes across my territory, a knight of deceptively small build. Their name was Zinnia.
Arabis: Canine, powerful, I assumed them to be an assassin. Knights don't accidentally fumble around the land where a fiend resides after all.
Erica: Needless to say, it turned out they were just lost on the path.
Arabis: Mm. Spared me after our battle but I refused to let them give me a free pass so I offered to help them get to their destination. Needless to say I think I bit off more than I was ready to chew there, but I don't regret it.
Arabis: We gathered up with his band of mercenaries, a former knight's guild known as the "Order of Judgment". They were very close knit and some of the best people I ever met….
Erica: Wasn't as easy as that though.
Arabis: No. Most of their guild had been struck down in a rigged job. A lord claiming his town was in peril set up most of the guild for what was effectively a suicide mission. Only Zinnia survived.
Arabis: Zinnia was not taking this lying down of course. When they were angry at someone they became the most wicked engine of vengeance I'd ever seen… but any other time they were soft and warm in a way that I wish I saw more.
Arabis: I miss them….
Arabis: Zinnia gathered up the remaining members of the guild on a quest to take down the lord but.. it was complicated.
Erica: The angel.
Arabis: The lord had taken a pact with an angel, became a shell for it to interact with our mortal plane. There was no longer much of a person left at that point.
Arabis: An angel messing around with elements to see what happens is some of the coldest cruelty one can fathom. Had a guild wiped out to see what would happen with the angry spirits after. Created a fiend, Zinnia themselves.
Arabis: And well…
Arabis: Zinnia was unnaturally dedicated to avenging their fallen comrades.
Arabis: That quest was hard…. We fought, we starved, we killed, and we watched many of our friends not make it through that final battle. The lord was just a puppet for an angel after all and well….
Arabis: The odds going up against an angel are nightmarish.
Arabis: My time living with the Judgments was quite wonderful. I loved them.
Arabis: Losing so many of them… it was hard. First family I'd ever had so…
Arabis: It really did hurt. Worst part is that when a angel wipes someone, people's memories of them become… fuzzy.
Arabis: Their faces are barely in my mind if at all.
Arabis: It makes me feel terrible.
Arabis: The name you all bare today is in their honor. You are their living legacy
Arabis: You carry that weight with you.
Arabis: They accepted me despite my fiendish nature. Never saw me as anything but family.
Arabis: Needless to say Zinnia and I survived that encounter along with half of the rest of our party.
Arabis: Of course there were a few caveats. The angel wasn't actually dead… and it certainly came back for us more than once.
Arabis: We also weren't in our original world after that initial encounter. Sucked away to the place you probably all grew up in now. It was such a shock…. big historical events were different, the gods of the region were completely different from the ones we'd been adjusted to, and in general there was a massive case of culture shock.
Arabis: We settled down of course, Zinnia and I. For a very good while actually…..
Charon: Whatever happened to them? I've never heard anything about a Zinnia in my time.
Arabis: ……I don't know.
Geezer: What do you mean you don't know? You two were together yeah? What happened?
Arabis: It's…. a little complicated for now I think. I'm not entirely sure… If you have any other questions however, feel free to ask.
You think you have a few in mind.