Rise Of Pandora

Rise Of Pandora: LVIII. The Jealous God

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XV. Stoic, Over the middle island

"Still no sign of Deathknights?" Atlas asked aloud.

They all shook their heads with some even looking down at the wide stretch of green pasture and semblances of cities and villages to assure that there were none. 

Atlas pinched the tip of his flowing beard together with his fingertips and stroked it with a face suggesting he was thinking. 

"That is good, I suppose," he said. "I'm actually quite surprised. But, I would rather not question it."

"Yes. Praise be to Oseraphime," one of the noblemen uttered aloud with a dismal tone lingering in his voice. It was the eldest of them who had spoken. His face was a dreary congregation of dark bags which drooped ever so low beneath two tired eyes and an ocean of deep creases and wrinkles that stretched across every contour of his face. These repulsions of the face were brought upon him the day he witnessed beings that transcended his realm of understanding. "Yes, all praises are his," he concluded before swallowing the last sip of water from a nearly empty mason jar. Though he already felt reduced to nothing ever since his visit to Sodom, he still clung to the faith in which he subscribed to.

"Oseraphime?" Gaijin questioned, his eyebrow rising higher on his forehead. 

To Gaijin's dismay, no one had answered him right away. The elderly nobleman had not even responded in a timely matter. There was this distortion to the air, an uneasy feeling that none amongst their ranks was willing to welcome. But nonetheless, Atlas had finally spoken, breaking that eerie air of silence. 

"Oseraphime. He is the one god of the Jessuine religion. The Jessuine civilization is one of the empires in the east region of the continent and in their religion there is only one god. They live by a monotheistic practice unlike the people in the north who worship pantheons of gods. Basically, they serve, worship and believe in one god. It is a fairly new religion but it has slowly become the ways of the east. The truth is the polytheistic religion of the old days are dying. The stories like the Olympians are becoming just that...stories. Less and fewer people are believing in it, even in the north." 

"It is something I've taken notice too for quite some time and it has seemed to me that whenever there is a sudden cause for chaos, there has always been a new religion or at least a new way of thinking that begins surfacing. But, this is an especially odd one. Fifty years ago there was never a Jessuine, I can testify to that. Back then the most widespread monotheistic model to follow was that of the Caushin religion. Still, I am curious. How did the leader of an empire in the south come to worship Oseraphime, the god in the eastern civilization?"

"Actually—" Atlas cut off his question suddenly. With his hand now raised over the scalp of his head, he said before them "I already know the answer. You turned to their religion after the summit in Sodom, yes?"

Partly taken by how intuitive and correct Atlas was, the elderly nobleman could only nod in awe. "Yes. How did you—"

"How did I know? It has often being a recurring trend for people in tragic times, without their full understanding, to turn to some newfound or previously established faith. I have seen this many times...people turning to faiths that they did not originally believe in or have any intrinsic value or ethical views but nevertheless, it still happens. Be wary of this faith, Brendant. I warn you. Much harm can and has come from powerful men and women who have allowed their own views to become influenced by foreign views and ideals. Nonetheless, you are indeed your own man and by that, you can make the choice for yourself. I only caution you. I have seen things like this take place many times."