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Sigmund stood in his new pyramid, flicking idly through his tome.
“Say, did this tribe have a religion before we arrived?” The high priest asked, turning to face the few cultists milling about. Amy was, of course, only a few paces behind him, ready to answer his question.
“Not really. A few people would worship crystals, but overall the village was agnostic or atheistic. Of course, we had never heard of the great faith you have brought to us at the time, so we couldn't know of Gal’skap’s greatness.” The priestess said, reddening slightly in the face. She didn't seem to be able to meet Sigmund’s gaze as she spoke, her eyes shifting from side-to-side. The cultist slammed his tome shut, turning to face Amethyst.
“Surely someone must have had some real spiritual beliefs.” The high priest said, scratching his chin.
“Hasn't he met the shaman yet?” A lower ranking cultist asked, cutting into the conversation.
“I- Well, no. We haven't had the chance to introduce them yet.” Amy said, her face turning a deeper shade of red.
“This village has a shaman?” Sigmund wondered aloud. His expression darkened briefly, as if he had just been told that his food was rotten. “Why wasn't this mentioned?”
“The shaman is… Eccentric.” Amy said, the other cultist nodding along with her.
“They live along outside the village and refuse to speak to any of us. They wouldn't even talk to the chief, no matter how much she demanded it.” The male cultist explained.
“I would like to go meet this ‘shaman’.” Sigmund said, grinning enthusiastically. “Will you take me?”
Amy opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, the male cultist cut in with ‘sure thing’. The priestess stared daggers at the man, even as he introduced himself to the high priest as Agate.
“I'll go with you!” She insisted as the pair turned to leave.
“Of course.” Sigmund said, smiling widely, although a few less molars were showing than normal.
The trip to the shaman’s house was, to Sigmund’s surprise, rather pleasant. Agate was a tunnel scout who had left his job to join the faith, and his stories from his work were a welcome source of entertainment on the journey.
“Oh! On one expedition, we found a dragon hoard!”
“Eh?” Sigmund exclaimed, his eyes widening. “A real dragon? Here in Inverxe?”
“I know, we could hardly believe it ourself.” Agate replied, grinning at his high priest. “It was already dead, luckily. Just a skeleton on a pile of gold and crystals.”
“Wow… What did you do with the skeleton?”
“Well, we gave it to the shaman to do… Whatever they do with it. That's what reminded me of the story.”
“So, what gender is the shaman?” Sigmund asked curiously. “You keep referring to them as ‘they’.”
“Erm.” Agate mumbled, glancing at Amy for help, who simply shrugged. “You'll see when we get there. Which will be in just a moment, actually.”
The former scout gestured forward to a winding path leading down a widening cavern, a hut of carved stone at the end. Clusters of small, glowing crystals illuminated the cavern, shrouding the hut in soft blue light. As Sigmund approached the hut, he noticed that his companions were starting to slow down, as if they were reluctant to arrive at the house. The high priest was slightly disconcerted, but continued down the path nonetheless. Arriving at the front door, Sigmund shrugged before knocking on it.
“Who's there?” An androgynous voice shouted from within. “I swear to the void, if one of you fucking exhibitionist troglodytes have come to ask me for wishes again, I will flip out!”
The door swung wide, displaying Sigmund with a strange image. A short-statues person of indeterminate gender stood in the doorway, peering at the cultist through a mask of carved bone. Both bones and crystals adorned their clothes in equal measures. Clothes that, to Sigmund’s joy, covered most of their body. They shaman tossed back their curtain of silver hair, appraising the newcomer intently.
“Well shit, you're fully dressed.” They said approvingly. “You're not from around here, huh?”
“I'm from Neo New Babylon. We recently conquered this area.” The cultist said cheerily. “More specifically, I’m the high priest of the cult of Gal’skap. I thought it would be appropriate for me to come and speak to you about your beliefs.”
“Religious type, eh.” The shaman said dismissively. “What, you come and collect your tithes and we go to heaven, right?”
“No no, it's more of a ‘bear witness to infinity and invoke the primordial essence of reality’ religion.” The cultist said, brandishing his tome.
“Yeah, I…” The shaman began to retort before their eyes came to rest on the breach crystal set in the cover. Silently, they glanced from the crystal, then to Sigmund, then back to the crystal. “I-Is that what I think it is?”
“It's a breach crystal. You know, for opening the breach. Do you recognise it?” The high priest said, an odd bubbly feeling rising up in his chest. The shaman wordlessly raised their hand to their neck, pulling up necklace adorned in breach crystals. Their eyes were wide beneath the mask and their voice was slightly choked up as they spoke.
“I just... I never thought I'd see the day!” The shaman wailed as they threw themself at Sigmund, wrapping their arms around him. “I've spent 20 years around these savages calling me crazy or demanding that I make their STDs go away! 20 FUCKING years! Where have you been all my life?”
“Don't worry friend, I'm here now.” Sigmund replied. The cultist himself was struggling to believe that he had met someone versed in the occult within the tribe.
“High priest.” Amy said, her expression stone-cold as she reached out to grab the cultist’s cloak, only for the shaman to slap her hand away.
“Don't ruin this.” They spat before releasing Sigmund from their embrace. “Please, come in, we have much to discuss. The name’s Opal by the way.”
“Oh, thank you Opal. My name is Sigmund.” The high priest said, enthusiastically clapping his hands together. “Can these two come in as well? They are a part of my cult after all.”
Opal cast a look at the two lesser cultists, disdain visible even beneath their mask. “Hrmm, okay. But listen up you two. Don't touch anything, don't go near anything and don't look at anything too hard. Got it?!”
Agate nodded, surprise visible on his face. Amy, on the other hand, appeared to be trying to kill the shaman with her gaze.
“Of course…”
“Say, did this tribe have a religion before we arrived?” The high priest asked, turning to face the few cultists milling about. Amy was, of course, only a few paces behind him, ready to answer his question.
“Not really. A few people would worship crystals, but overall the village was agnostic or atheistic. Of course, we had never heard of the great faith you have brought to us at the time, so we couldn't know of Gal’skap’s greatness.” The priestess said, reddening slightly in the face. She didn't seem to be able to meet Sigmund’s gaze as she spoke, her eyes shifting from side-to-side. The cultist slammed his tome shut, turning to face Amethyst.
“Surely someone must have had some real spiritual beliefs.” The high priest said, scratching his chin.
“Hasn't he met the shaman yet?” A lower ranking cultist asked, cutting into the conversation.
“I- Well, no. We haven't had the chance to introduce them yet.” Amy said, her face turning a deeper shade of red.
“This village has a shaman?” Sigmund wondered aloud. His expression darkened briefly, as if he had just been told that his food was rotten. “Why wasn't this mentioned?”
“The shaman is… Eccentric.” Amy said, the other cultist nodding along with her.
“They live along outside the village and refuse to speak to any of us. They wouldn't even talk to the chief, no matter how much she demanded it.” The male cultist explained.
“I would like to go meet this ‘shaman’.” Sigmund said, grinning enthusiastically. “Will you take me?”
Amy opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, the male cultist cut in with ‘sure thing’. The priestess stared daggers at the man, even as he introduced himself to the high priest as Agate.
“I'll go with you!” She insisted as the pair turned to leave.
“Of course.” Sigmund said, smiling widely, although a few less molars were showing than normal.
The trip to the shaman’s house was, to Sigmund’s surprise, rather pleasant. Agate was a tunnel scout who had left his job to join the faith, and his stories from his work were a welcome source of entertainment on the journey.
“Oh! On one expedition, we found a dragon hoard!”
“Eh?” Sigmund exclaimed, his eyes widening. “A real dragon? Here in Inverxe?”
“I know, we could hardly believe it ourself.” Agate replied, grinning at his high priest. “It was already dead, luckily. Just a skeleton on a pile of gold and crystals.”
“Wow… What did you do with the skeleton?”
“Well, we gave it to the shaman to do… Whatever they do with it. That's what reminded me of the story.”
“So, what gender is the shaman?” Sigmund asked curiously. “You keep referring to them as ‘they’.”
“Erm.” Agate mumbled, glancing at Amy for help, who simply shrugged. “You'll see when we get there. Which will be in just a moment, actually.”
The former scout gestured forward to a winding path leading down a widening cavern, a hut of carved stone at the end. Clusters of small, glowing crystals illuminated the cavern, shrouding the hut in soft blue light. As Sigmund approached the hut, he noticed that his companions were starting to slow down, as if they were reluctant to arrive at the house. The high priest was slightly disconcerted, but continued down the path nonetheless. Arriving at the front door, Sigmund shrugged before knocking on it.
“Who's there?” An androgynous voice shouted from within. “I swear to the void, if one of you fucking exhibitionist troglodytes have come to ask me for wishes again, I will flip out!”
The door swung wide, displaying Sigmund with a strange image. A short-statues person of indeterminate gender stood in the doorway, peering at the cultist through a mask of carved bone. Both bones and crystals adorned their clothes in equal measures. Clothes that, to Sigmund’s joy, covered most of their body. They shaman tossed back their curtain of silver hair, appraising the newcomer intently.
“Well shit, you're fully dressed.” They said approvingly. “You're not from around here, huh?”
“I'm from Neo New Babylon. We recently conquered this area.” The cultist said cheerily. “More specifically, I’m the high priest of the cult of Gal’skap. I thought it would be appropriate for me to come and speak to you about your beliefs.”
“Religious type, eh.” The shaman said dismissively. “What, you come and collect your tithes and we go to heaven, right?”
“No no, it's more of a ‘bear witness to infinity and invoke the primordial essence of reality’ religion.” The cultist said, brandishing his tome.
“Yeah, I…” The shaman began to retort before their eyes came to rest on the breach crystal set in the cover. Silently, they glanced from the crystal, then to Sigmund, then back to the crystal. “I-Is that what I think it is?”
“It's a breach crystal. You know, for opening the breach. Do you recognise it?” The high priest said, an odd bubbly feeling rising up in his chest. The shaman wordlessly raised their hand to their neck, pulling up necklace adorned in breach crystals. Their eyes were wide beneath the mask and their voice was slightly choked up as they spoke.
“I just... I never thought I'd see the day!” The shaman wailed as they threw themself at Sigmund, wrapping their arms around him. “I've spent 20 years around these savages calling me crazy or demanding that I make their STDs go away! 20 FUCKING years! Where have you been all my life?”
“Don't worry friend, I'm here now.” Sigmund replied. The cultist himself was struggling to believe that he had met someone versed in the occult within the tribe.
“High priest.” Amy said, her expression stone-cold as she reached out to grab the cultist’s cloak, only for the shaman to slap her hand away.
“Don't ruin this.” They spat before releasing Sigmund from their embrace. “Please, come in, we have much to discuss. The name’s Opal by the way.”
“Oh, thank you Opal. My name is Sigmund.” The high priest said, enthusiastically clapping his hands together. “Can these two come in as well? They are a part of my cult after all.”
Opal cast a look at the two lesser cultists, disdain visible even beneath their mask. “Hrmm, okay. But listen up you two. Don't touch anything, don't go near anything and don't look at anything too hard. Got it?!”
Agate nodded, surprise visible on his face. Amy, on the other hand, appeared to be trying to kill the shaman with her gaze.
“Of course…”