Heretic

In Promo by Sir Renault

I once knew a man who defied all laws of nature.

If you gave him a twig, a lock of hair, and some frankincense he could produce a living, breathing, talking tree.

He would combine these ingredients into his cauldron and swirl it over fire until mixed perfectly, and then he would chant nonsense in an ancient language before letting his own blood as the final ingredient.

These creations of his became an integral part of our army during the crusades, and we used them to combat the Islamic troops near the holy land, as us holy knights were forbidden to fight on holy ground.

The magic instilled in them made them capable of incredible, horrendous things. And when the crusades had finally ended, we had no choice but to destroy our own creations.

For there was no room for monsters such as the treewalkers in society.

And moreover, magic was considered heresy to the church, and if word got out that holy knights broke Christian law it would be our heads on the guillotine.

I understand that you were forged from fire, Tenchu.

Your master formed you of the smoldering steel, and breathed into your nostrils the breath of life.

You were used as a weapon to prevent the siege of their castle. You were the mightiest warrior your clan had ever seen, single-handedly saving the Odawara from certain extinction, or at the very least retreat and refuge from society and relevance.

You should have been revered as a hero.

Instead, you were immediately sealed away like a leper, never to bask in the glory of your own work.

After all, there’s no way a monster like you could blend into the world they wanted to create.

They thought that the human race could not live with a magical being like you in their midst.

And they thought right.

You’re a heretic at your core.

You’re unnatural, born not from conception but from the fire of a sorcerer.

But as they say, it takes one to know one, and just like the Odawara heretics created you as YAHWEH made Adam and Eve of the dust of the ground, they knew too well that magic does not make a heretic a hero.

So your clan did exactly what us Holy Knights did to the bundle of sticks that became treewalkers.

They wiped your existence because they knew you’re a godless, soulless heap of scrap metal.

That is why you continue to fail your ancestors by breaking Odawara law.

If common men were to follow you, this world would burn to the ground.

Your purpose is lost.

You are lost.

But Vayikra has a solution for you.

At FTW I will exorcise the demons your wizard instilled in you all those centuries ago.

And in your blank slate I shall purify you with YAHWEH’s light.

You can be the vessel for YAHWEH’s spirit.

Your purpose: renewed.

All the sins you’ve committed, and all the laws you’ve broken: atoned.

The choice is yours.

Come to the light, Tenchu, or you may find your head in a guillotine just as a heretic like you should.

Deus vult.