233 New Perspectives (1/2)

The miners were decked out in standard-issue safety gear. They all had helmets on, their headgear being the source of the light that enabled them to study the wall in the first place. They also had on brightly colored security vests which enabled them to stand out against the darkness of the mine they entered daily and had to brave five days a week. They also had toolbelts wrapped around their waists, which were outfitted with the tools of their particular trade. Their hands were protected, somewhat, by the thick gloves they all wore.

A few minutes passed, and during that time none of the miners spoke. None of them were especially chatty, and so they all waited for their shift-boss to come to a decision about whether or not to try and mine the wall. Their boss was the tallest and oldest member of this particular crew. He was also one of the few men to have a full beard.

There was a rather difficult to read expression on his face as he studied the wall. Eventually, the man lifted his pickaxe, grabbing the thing from his toolbelt. He took a step forward, aimed at where many of the beams of light were focused and began to swing his pickaxe at the brightest spot on the wall.

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In a forest located not far from the mine where the miners labored, hoping to finish their work swiftly, another group of individuals were performing a different but far more important sort of labor. They were gathered in a single chamber in a newly constructed and unusual temple, and they were prostrating themselves before a silent and still pool.

The creatures resembled a cross between humans and snakes. They had the sinuous tails of serpents where their legs should have been, and their skin was hidden beneath a layer of thick scales. They had the upper bodies of humans, complete with arms and even human-like heads. They were dozens of them and they were all hissing a quiet hymn to their master.

The sibilant sound they made filled the chamber with a haunting and glorious noise. They had been making the sound for a few minutes now, and this was a daily ritual that they performed as they began to end the day.

The serpents-turned-nagas were Althonites, worshipers of the ophidian overlord himself. Each of them had individually felt the divine touch, the divine potency of their creator, and upon evolving into mighty nagas they had felt a compulsion fill them and bring them to the temple. Upon arriving here days ago they immediately joined together and devoted themselves to the service of their maker, hoping to divine his will and enact it however he demanded.

Their creator had not left his will a mystery. Within hours of their arrival in the temple he had told them what he wanted. He informed them that they were to be a secret society devoted to advancing the Althonite agenda amongst the people of Silverok, and that for now they were to begin by tending too and indoctrinating the resurrected humans he had placed within the bowls of the temple.

For the past few days this had been what they had done. They cared for the humans, while slowly introducing them to their master and then telling them a surprisingly honest account of the creature they served.

The humans who had temporarily lived in the temple learned of Althos. Their serpentine caretakers told them of the mysterious, otherworldly entity who possessed the power of resurrection, the power to enter and control dreams, and even the power to create life from nothing. The humans were told of how the god had resurrected them and hoped to inspire them to take on the tyrannical government of Silverok.

The serpentine priests, priestesses, warlocks, and witches, were blessed by their god and received immense boosts to their charisma and intelligence. The humans swiftly became putty in their hands, easily becoming fervent worshippers of the strange deity who invaded their dreams and whispered hypnotically to them even when his ophidian missionaries were not filling their heads with secondhand messages from the god of lust himself.

The humans had left the temple earlier today, mere minutes ago, and were now back in the homes of their families thanks to Althos' divine interevention. That said the homes would otherwise be empty for a few more hours. Althos was unbothered by that, as the god had gradually begun to become patient, a trait that would serve him well in the days to come.

The serpentine cult devoted to the sinister lord of shadows continued their unusual form of prayer. The high priest of the cult was a rather plain-looking naga dressed in ornate robes made by Althos himself. The robes were a stunning shade of green that was unusually vibrant given the nature of the darkened chamber the cult found itself in each afternoon.

The finely dressed naga was also the serpent closest to the small, circular pool that the cult was momentarily situated around. It was a small body of water that resided within an artfully constructed marble basin. The basin, like everything else in the temple, was handmade by the deity. None of the serpents knew the precise purpose of the basin, though they knew that their god was also a creature of elemental power, and so they suspected that perhaps their creator was himself intrinsically tied to water in such a way that this basin was a sort of small holy place to him.

Perhaps fifteen minutes after the serpentine hissing had begun the noise began to die down. As the noise began to die down the greatest of the assembled naga, the high priest himself, began to cease his prostrations. He slowly and boldly began to lift his head and then the rest of his long and snakelike body up from the floor. As he did he looked up at the basin, the small marble pool that he directed his prayers towards.

The small marble pool was still, as undisturbed and as calming to behold as it had always been. The snakelike creature was still for a moment, before he heard a quiet voice in the back of his mind let out a pleased whisper.

”Come Silverfang. Speak to your congregation.” The voice whispered. Silverfang, the high priest of the small temple, let out a pleased hiss. The sound filled the serpents closest to him with relief, and they almost inaudibly also let out soft sighs of their own.