Velmire no longer knelt.
Not to temples. Not to gods.
Not even to the Watcher's corpse, now encased in obsidian and buried beneath Ashen's new chapel—a twisted cathedral of silence called the Black Reliquary.
A city once ruled by prayer now whispered only in ash.
And Ashen… looked outward.
The surrounding duchies stirred.
Maradyn, to the west, sent priests to investigate the divine silence emanating from Velmire.
Traln, to the north, raised taxes to fund a new Church militia.
And to the south, word spread of a boy born under a cracked halo—his cries said to split mirrors.
Ashen stood atop the reliquary's spire with Tahlon at his side, cloaked in dark velvet, now revered by the people as the Ash-Blessed Sovereign.
"They will come for us," Tahlon said.
Ashen did not answer immediately. His eyes traced the horizon.
"Then we give them something to fear."
🜁 Mission: Expand the Scourge Cult beyond Velmire
Ashen chose the target carefully:
Hallowhold – a trade-hub fortified by religion, where pilgrims offered gold for blessings.
A city whose entire economy was built on miracles.
Perfect.
Lira led the first wave.
No soldiers. No banners. Just traders, healers, and storytellers—each a veiled cultist. Each bearing artifacts that whispered at night and psalms written backward.
Within two weeks:
Five priests confessed to hearing "echoes in the dark."
A shrine statue wept blood from closed eyes.
A noble child drew Ashen's sigil in ash after a fever dream.
Ashen sent a gift next.
A sealed relic box, gifted to Hallowhold's High Priest.
Inside:
The severed wing of the Watcher.
Wrapped in scripture rewritten in mirror-speak.
At the bottom: a single word.
"Blindfold."
The High Priest collapsed after opening it.
His hair turned white overnight.
He screamed about "eyes that watch from beneath."
He was declared insane by morning.
Ashen never set foot in the city.
But Hallowhold bent all the same.
🔸 You have corrupted a second city: Hallowhold
🔹 + Territory Gained: "The False Pilgrimage"
🔹 + Echo Rank: A (Scourgeborn – Stable)
🔹 + Corruption: 61.2%
🔹 + Divine Infamy: 78 (Continents aware)
🔹 Cultists: 140+
🔹 Relic Created: "The Blindfold Box" – drives those of faith into dissonant madness
🔹 Trait Gained: "Ashen Expansion"—Cult domains can spread via proxy agents
🔹 Divine Awareness Risk: Terminal – Divine counterstrike imminent
That night, Ashen sat alone in his reliquary. The black mirror of the Watcher's shard pulsed softly at his feet.
Lira entered, expression unreadable.
She handed him a sealed wax envelope.
It bore no markings.
Only a sigil he hadn't seen in centuries.
A sun split by a blade.
Ashen froze.
He opened it slowly.
Inside, a single sentence:
"Your disciple lives."