Monroe

Chapter Two Hundred and Seventy. Dark beauty.

"This is the Black Cathederal," Yorrick gestured broadly as they walked up the steps.

Ed just nodded. After their visit to the wall, Yorrick had insisted that this was the next logical stop.

The Cathederal looked exactly as it had appeared in Yorrick's promotional video. Black marble flecked with gold, and an amazingly detailed statue of Mor'Noctum at the entrance. What hadn't been on the video was the stunningly beautiful woman waiting for them just inside the doors. Ed was a happily married man, but he could admit that this woman, with her alabaster skin, raven tresses, and perfect curves was a looker.

"Mr. Secretary, allow me to introduce you to Elisa Carldona, one of the High Priestesses of the Cathederal, High Priestess, Ed Hanson, Secretary of Defense for the United States of America," Yorrick said smoothly.

Ed offered a handshake, or a forearm clapse, whichever they preferred, to the High Priestess.

Elisa smiled revealing a brilliant smile, and canines that were significantly longer and pointer than what Ed would consider normal. She shook his hand, and he felt an almost electric shock as their skin touched.

"I should warn you, Mr. Secretary," Elisa continued smiling, "that offering your wrist like that in the temple is considered an invitation to supply members of the clergy such as myself with a dram or two of blood."

"I'll keep that in mind, High Priestess," Ed replied, forcing himself to pull his gaze away from her enchanting green eyes.

She laughed, a light, playful sound, and moved to his side, slipping her arm under his. "Allow me to give you a tour of the Cathederal," she offered, gently tugging him forward.

Ed shot a glance at Yorrick, who gave him the slightest of nods.

Ed took a deep breath and squared his shoulders, allowing the High Priestess to guide him into the Black Cathederal.

"Without meaning any offense, I take it that you are a vampire?" Ed asked.

"I am," she agreed, "it's not an uncommon choice for higher ranked members of the clergy, as it allows us to serve our Goddess for far longer than our mortal lives would have otherwise permitted."

"Again, I'm not trying to be offensive, I'm just completely ignorant," Ed began carefully, "but how exactly does the whole vampire, undead thing work?"

Elisa laughed again, and leaned against his shoulder slightly. "The first thing to understand," she replied, "is that undeath is curse, regardless of which particular flavor you refer to." They had been walking down a hallway, and it now opened up into the Cathederal proper. It was beautiful, and it called to him in a way that the Church of the Light in Harbordeep hadn't.

There were seven alcoves on each side of the huge chamber, and while they were cast in shadows, he could still see that each contained a statue. There were rows of comfortably padded pews, all facing the far wall where a massive mural stretched across the wall, the central figure of which was clearly Mor'Noctum.

Looking up, Ed stifled a gasp. There didn't appear to be a ceiling, but instead a night sky above them, thousands of sparkling stars providing the limited light.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" The High Priestess asked softly.

Ed nodded slowly.

"I can still remember the first time I entered the Cathederal," she mused. "I was only nine years old, and my mother and father had come to Karce to take shelter from the oncoming Tide. I'd never been a particularly devout child, but as soon as I entered the Cathederal, I felt the call."

Elisa shook her head, and smiled up at him. "That was a millennia ago, but the memory remains as clear and powerful as the moment it was created."

Ed's first instinct was to correct her words in his mind, changing them from 'That was a millennia ago' to 'That seems like it was a millennia ago.' His second instinct was to keep his mouth shut and not correct the thousand year old vampire. He attributed the thought that went along with that instinct to Bob.

"As I was saying before, the beauty of the Cathedral distracted us," she continued, "undeath is a curse. It has to be, otherwise the hidden benefits would require an incredibly high teir to obtain. Our Goddess offers us a series of Divine Blessings that mitigates the curse." She sighed. "It does require a dozen of them, but ultimately I feel that it is worth the price."

"I don't suppose you can go into specifics?" Ed asked.

"Of course," Elisa replied, as she guided him towards the left hand side of the Cathederal. "The first, and most important blessing is one that allows you to retain your mental faculties. It's rare for someone to contract the curse and then die without having the opportunity to accept that blessing, but if they do, they become a mindless ravening monster, and the only recourse is to send them to their final rest. The remaining blessings are to counteract the various aspects of the curse, which varies by type. As a Vampire, I would normally suffer from crippling exhaustion during the daylight hours, and the less said about emaciated dry flesh the better."

They reached the nearest alcove, and Ed found himself staring at a pair of statues, an impossibly beautiful woman, and a devastatingly handsome man, intertwined in ecstasy with one another. Their positioning was such that obscenity was avoided by the slimmest of margins.

"Hedon, the God, or Goddess if you prefer, of Lust," Elisa explained.

"Makes sense," Ed agreed.

"You'll find all seven our 'Dark' dieties represented on this side of the Cathederal," the High Priestess explained before tugging on his arm, moving him across the Cathederal to the other set of seven alcoves.

"Over here, you'll find the four elemental dieties, as well as Gaia, Orin, and Willowweep," she said, then cast a look at Yorrick, who was trailing a few steps behind them. "If you're looking for Logos, the Warlocks have a temple dedicated to him in the Warlocks Tower."

Ed nodded. He was having a hard time reconciling what he'd expected to find at the Cathederal with what was actually there. There were people moving quietly about, stopping to pray at one statue or another, although most seemed to gravitate to the front, where they knelt and prayed to Mor'Noctum.

As they passed through the pews, their progress was halted by an older woman who approached and bowed to the High Priestess. "Excuse me, Priestess, I've fallen short again this month, would you accept my offering?"

Elisa sighed and unhooked her arm from Ed's. "Of course, Marissa," she said gently, reaching into her robes and pulling out an obsidian chalice and a matching dagger, which she handed to the woman.

The woman calmly placed the blade against her wrist, and cut deeply into her flesh. Blood spurted out into the chalice held by Elisa.

Ed started and began to move forward, but was halted by a quick shake of Yorrick's head.

After a few moments Marissa tapped flat of the daggers blade against the wound twice, and the flow of blood ceased, the wound healing in moments. She took a badge from the pouch on her belt, and tapped the dagger against it, then passed the dagger back to the High Priestess. "Thank you," Marissa said, then began to walk away, stepping more carefully than when she'd approached.

"Ok," Ed drew out the word. "What was that?"

"The Undead need blood or flesh to survive," Elisa explained. "Blood is clearly the superior choice, being a naturally renewable resource. The Church accepts donations, and compensates anyone who donates by contributing to that persons monthly tax burden in equal measure to their donation. Someone like Marissa," she motioned to the woman who was now exiting the Cathederal, "who isn't interested or motivated to delve any longer, can still meet her obligation by donating at the Cathedral."

"Does the Church then pay those Crystals to the Empire then?" Ed asked, smelling corruption. "Or are they exempt?"

"We pay the crystals into the Empire's coffers," Elisa replied. "As our dear Yorrick can attest, when the Tide rises, every crystal is needed to provide shelter for the Empire's citizens."

Yorrick nodded his agreement.

"Alright," Ed said. He wasn't sure exactly how the exchange rate worked, but he was willing to set it aside for the moment, although it would certainly merit a paragraph or two in his report.

"Can I ask how many of the people from Earth have chosen to worship one of the seven gods of darkness?" He asked.

Elisa smiled and slipped her arm back through his, the chalice and dagger having disappeared. "I expected that you might be curious about that," she replied. "Fifteen percent of the volunteers from Earth have taken a divine blessing, but only four percent have been from one of the seven gods of darkness. Of those, Hedon and Vorax have received the most attention." She laughed again. "The lure of otherworldly beauty and ability to consume as much food as you'd like without gaining weight have proven to be the major draws."

"That's not too bad, I suppose," Ed murmured.

She shrugged. "The people who have accepted our offer of hospitality are ill-suited for the clergy. They've accepted blessings for the purpose of accessing Divine magic, not out of any calling to the faith."

Ed didn't have a reply to that. When you didn't have tangible evidence, religion was a fuzzy thing, and as societies on Earth had advanced technologically, with each scientific advancement peeling away another layer of the mysteries of the universe, people's faith had dwindled. While Divine Blessings were powerful, he was guilty of taking a rather mercenary approach, weighing the pros and cons of each blessing offered, with little concern for which God offered it.

They walked past the statues of the neutral gods, then moved to the front of the Cathedral, where Ed studied the mural that towered above the altar. It was a grander image in the same style as the statue in front of the Cathedral. Mor'Noctum was depicted as an darkly angelic figure, sheltering the huddled mass beneath her blackened wings.

Seen in the dim light of the stars above, it was a haunting image that tugged at something deep inside his chest.

"Moving, is it not?" Elisa asked quietly.

Ed gave a reluctant nod.

"There is no shame in finding comfort in Mor'Noctum's embrace," the High Priestess assured him. "You don't need to revere Her or offer Her worship. Her wings offer shelter to all, regardless of faith." She smiled up at him, and Ed realized that at some point, the fact that she had fangs had stopped concerning him, which was, in and of itself, somewhat concerning.

"I know that Yorrick has a busy schedule planned for your visit," Elisa said, "but if you have any further questions or concerns, or if you just need someone to talk to, I'm here every day."

She unlinked her arm from his and stretched up on her tiptoes, surprising Ed with a kiss to his cheek. Her lips were soft and warm, at odds with what he'd expected from a Vampire.

"Until we meet again, may Mor'Noctum embrace you, may her shadows hide you from wave and tide," Elisa whispered, and Ed felt a sort of heavy stillness fall over him. It was hard to describe, but the best he could come up with was that it was like sleeping under a weighted blanket.

Yorrick beckoned him, and he followed the Warlock out of the Cathedral and back into the sunlight.

"You did well in there," Yorrick said, finally speaking after having remained silent the entire time that they were in the Cathedral. "Elisa took a shine to you, and while you'd be treated well anywhere in Karce, that blessing she gave you will carry a lot of weight with the more devout members of our society."

"What was that?" Ed asked. "What did she do?"

"She blessed you, temporarily, with Mor'Noctum's Divine Blessing, Grave Touched," Yorrick explained. "It dampens your matrix, making you appear to monsters as a corpse and thus of no interest to them," he grinned, "although any use of skills or spells will dispel that illusion if they are directed at a monster or if the monster is close enough."

Ed blinked. "That's impressive," he said slowly.

Yorrick slapped him lightly on the shoulder. "About as impressive as returning to life after being dealt a death blow, right?" He chuckled.

"So, you've seen the Cathederal, how about we make the next stop the Warlocks Tower. I can provide you with a first-hand look at our education system," Yorrick suggested.

"The Warlocks teach?" Ed asked, then shook his head. "Of course you do, that's where the temple of Logos is."

"Exactly," Yorrick agreed, gesturing for Ed to walk up the boulevard with him. "Education is mandatory for every citizen of the Empire. We make sure everyone can read, write, perform basic math, and has a working knowledge of attributes, skills, spells, and paths."

"How basic is basic math?" Ed asked.

"Algebra and trigonometry," Yorrick replied, his ever-present grin widening at Ed's look of surprise. "I've taught tens of thousands of students over my hundreds of years as a ranking member of the Tower," he explained. "One of the first things I investigated once I had free time on Earth were your educational systems. I'd say we're competitive in regards to math, as well as reading, although writing and literature are quite woefully in comparison to your standards," he admitted. "I would say our history is on par with your own, and if our sciences are effectively non-existent, you could argue that our classes on the intricacies of mana are their equal and something you might want to emulate when mana awakens in your universe." Yorrick frowned, his smile fading. "Honestly, I'd recommend you start sooner. You've picked up quite a bit from Bob and Greenwold, and your internet is an amazing tool for disseminating that information, but mandatory classes would be best."

"And," Yorrick's smile returned, "the Karcerian Empire is not only willing but eager to offer you the coursework and published works we use to teach our own citizens, asking almost nothing in return."

"Almost nothing?" Ed snorted. It was hard not to like Yorrick. He was friendly, cheerful, and completely transparent in his self-interest.

"While the Emperor is deeply interested in establishing a cellular network," Yorrick began, "I'm much more interested in establishing an internet for the Empire. I recognize that initially, it will only be available in Karce, but hopefully, we will be able to expand that to the other six cities and even the towns and villages eventually."

"That's," Ed paused for a moment, "ambitious," he finished.

"I'm aware," Yorrick shook his head with a sheepish grin. "I tried to read up on network infrastructure, but it requires a lot of underlying knowledge I just don't have yet. I'm hoping for a favorable introduction to the people who can mobilize the resources to get what I'll need setup and working before mana awakens on Earth."

"Introductions won't be difficult," Ed mused, "but I don't envy you the task of installing infrastructure for this entire city in just a few months, even with magic."

Yorrick laughed. "If I can get this working, it'll be worth every crystal," he assured him.