Bobitron
Explorer
Gloria e Flamae Solei~ Prologue
Entering the dimly lit chamber, you duck your heads to avoid the hanging incense burners that dangle from the high ceiling, forming a ring that encircles the room. A circle of light illuminates the center of the chamber, although its source cannot be seen. Your eyes, after adjusting to the hazy darkness, pick out the shadowy outlines of a score of figures on a raised platform ten feet from the circle of light. “Please, move into in the light.” The voice rises out of the dark like a soaring bird, high and clear. You move slowly into the light, bowing in reverence to the shadows, as she continues.
“You have been called for your reputation as people of faith, with the conviction to do the work of good that others cannot. Each of you brings skills that will serve to eradicate evil wherever it is found. To be chosen is to be honored. The Lodge of Glory does not choose those who are weak or without peerless merit.”
There is a long pause, and another voice continues. This one is nearly opposite the first; deep, ragged, and sounding as though it flows into pools on the floor, like heavy smoke or fog.
“There are those who would oppose the good that the Lodge would do. We trust you to be respectful of the secret that you have been entrusted with. This opposition may come even from within the Church, where some of the weaker members seek to corrupt and twist the word of the Voice of the Flame. We cannot allow evil to go about its dark plans unobstructed. For too long, the Flame has been weak in its pursuit of good. This ends now.”
A third man speaks, with a voice that carries the weight of decades. “We are the Faithful, those who would work in silence, without greed for personal gain or political leverage. We work outside of the normal hierarchy of the Church, to avoid those inside it who have grown corrupt and unwilling to continue the struggle against the forces that would destroy that which we hold dearest. The Lodge of Glory shall be the rapier that cuts the evil from within the shadows. If the Church will not do this, it falls to us. It falls to you, as our champions.”
Entering the dimly lit chamber, you duck your heads to avoid the hanging incense burners that dangle from the high ceiling, forming a ring that encircles the room. A circle of light illuminates the center of the chamber, although its source cannot be seen. Your eyes, after adjusting to the hazy darkness, pick out the shadowy outlines of a score of figures on a raised platform ten feet from the circle of light. “Please, move into in the light.” The voice rises out of the dark like a soaring bird, high and clear. You move slowly into the light, bowing in reverence to the shadows, as she continues.
“You have been called for your reputation as people of faith, with the conviction to do the work of good that others cannot. Each of you brings skills that will serve to eradicate evil wherever it is found. To be chosen is to be honored. The Lodge of Glory does not choose those who are weak or without peerless merit.”
There is a long pause, and another voice continues. This one is nearly opposite the first; deep, ragged, and sounding as though it flows into pools on the floor, like heavy smoke or fog.
“There are those who would oppose the good that the Lodge would do. We trust you to be respectful of the secret that you have been entrusted with. This opposition may come even from within the Church, where some of the weaker members seek to corrupt and twist the word of the Voice of the Flame. We cannot allow evil to go about its dark plans unobstructed. For too long, the Flame has been weak in its pursuit of good. This ends now.”
A third man speaks, with a voice that carries the weight of decades. “We are the Faithful, those who would work in silence, without greed for personal gain or political leverage. We work outside of the normal hierarchy of the Church, to avoid those inside it who have grown corrupt and unwilling to continue the struggle against the forces that would destroy that which we hold dearest. The Lodge of Glory shall be the rapier that cuts the evil from within the shadows. If the Church will not do this, it falls to us. It falls to you, as our champions.”