For imperial_saga
[1.]
[It's a particularly windy day. You may be a traveler or a knight of some kingdom given an errand by your superiors, perhaps. As you walk down the winding path through a calm, grassy plains, you'll notice a hooded girl in the moderate distance holding a staff as she looks up in the air. Her appearance might remind you of a shepherd, but how lonely she must seem without a companion by her side; not even a sheep.
She turns and looks at you walking down the road. This is your first meeting and while she gives an almost shocked expression at first, her lips quickly turn into a smile.]
Hello there. May I ask you a question?
[2.]
[This village you're in once had pagan practices before it converted over to the Church's doctrines just like most parts of the empire. The old religions here have long died away. Regardless of whatever reason you might have, you've come to the ruins of an old shrine within the village dedicated to its old god. Time has weathered it turned it into little beyond ruins. Vines grow down from the shrine's roof and into its windows. The villagers care little about maintaining a place of worship for an aged, obsolete deity.
But here she is... the hooded girl, Claude, taking a broom borrowed from a villager (without her knowing) and giving the ruins a good sweep for what good that would do. She doesn't seem to notice you at all. This might seem nothing to the fair-tempered believer, but what would, say, a knight from the Church think about this...?]
[3.]
[Battle had broken out and your troops are the last standing in this hopeless struggle. Retreat seems like the only option... except your enemy has cornered you from all sides. A fierce tempest then blows in surrounding your group as if it was a barrier... or perhaps, nature itself had conspired to make the finishing blow before any mere mortal does. Just then, a familiar lady enters through the winds.]
... Normally, the gods would prefer not to involve themselves in the squabble among Church-owned kingdoms, but you've managed to fall under the good graces of Urunan, the chief wind god; however, it seems he found some interest in you... I have as well.
[4.]
[You're a high-ranking official from the Church or kingdoms and you've gotten a hold of a particularly dangerous girl. Her name is Claude Delany, your intelligence reports state, and her activities have often focused on areas where old gods were worshiped. She appears to be a medium between the mortal realm and gods and the only thing keeping the latter alive without sufficient amount of faith is her body. They are using her body to channel themselves and survive.
The woman has nothing to her name, especially not a home. Her sense of touch and feeling has all but disappeared and she shows no sign of dropping her faith and mission. Her goal is to find what remains of the gods, bring them into her body, and preserve their existences. You've found out this much and as you interrogate Claude personally, she says to you...]
... The gods have... always been in conflict. Believers all around these lands long before your established Church came into power... warred with one another. They and their patron gods would continue to live on in conflict, yet somehow still in harmony. Then, another god came to be... another god who proclaimed to his believers that there is none but him.
But when I look at you... the high priest who leads his flock, who should believe in your "only god" with such fervor... I cannot see even an ounce of faith. What do you think you've set out to accomplish by systematically murdering all the other gods for one that you don't even believe in?