Eldritch Exorcist

"They were practically the opposites of each other. The God of the Bible was a god of order and the concept of the greater good. Lucifer was the opposite, a god of hedonism and rebellion. And to make matters worse, they were technically from the same pantheon. At the time, Satanists were located in North America while the Church had most of its influence in Europe and parts of Africa."

Ophelia furrowed her eyebrows. She wasn't a historian, but Satanism in North America sounded rather strange.

"Not much was left of it after the war, but it was there in the arcane world," Sam answered, seeing the confusion written on her face.

Myhur continued as she turned back to him.

"For a very long time, both coveted what the other had. Christians were mainly known for their robust logistics and organizational prowess, allowing for a massive network of artists and merchants. While Luciferians were the opposite, they were hedonists who valued power above all. Their focus on nurturing singular powerhouses gave them many powerful artifacts and grimoires created by them."

"So they started the war that ended your… our era for some books and artisans?"

"Yeees, sadly, it was that simple. It began in the 100th year of the Mythical Era, one hundred years before the Shattering, on the coast of Africa. The ones to go on the attack were the warlocks. Sure of their power, they crossed the Atlantic and began the assault, just to fail, having underestimated the Church's fortifications. So the Christians pushed them out and went on the offensive themselves. But they too failed. Once on land, without the support of their robust logistics, they could not contend with the powerhouses of the enemy. Thus, the war reached a standstill, neither side powerful enough to defeat the other."

"They could have ended it. But even with all the losses to cross the Atlantic, they had to fuck it up for the rest of us," Q'Shar grumbled, looking at his glass.

Ophelia wanted to ask a question, but then realized she knew the answer for once. "Krakens?" she stated, thinking of the ancient monsters she'd read about.

"Krakens, leviathans, megalodons, natural weather phenomena influenced by mana, you name it," Sam confirmed. "The only safe route across the ocean was alongside the island of Atlas, but they were neutral territory and wouldn't allow any warships to pass. So crossing the ocean was extremely difficult."

"The war should have stopped then, but instead it escalated. Only two years after the start, the Church began recruiting allies. They leveraged their massive network of contacts to bring in other religions with similar beliefs and many noble houses on board. The strategy was simple: promise a part of the spoils to anyone who helps. And the war grew. The entirety of Europe and Africa became involved, with parts of Asia joining in, establishing the first sabbath to govern the war effort. The warlocks weren't very good at organizing. They managed to get some allies from South and Central America, but that's all. They began losing."

"Almost a world war," Ophelia whispered.

"Yeees. The next eight years were spent on pointless battles, with the Church slowly grinding away the power of the warlocks. The alliance of order, as the European powers called themselves, had the chance to end it, to force a truce, but greed blinded them, as they thought that now they would slowly but surely win."

Myhur became sad as the moss on his face wilted slightly.

"They did not know the scheme brewing within their own territory. At first, it looked like the spies of the warlocks went completely silent. There was almost no propaganda pushback inside Europe. What's more, there appeared to be more fervor. The preaching became increasingly hot-blooded. The Church assumed that the warlocks had pulled back."

"Idiots," grumbled Q'Shar, who, after a few deep ones, was fully involved in the story.

"Then came terror attacks, not on military targets, but on spiritual ones. A beloved leader was murdered, a beautiful historical site was burned. The preaching changed even more. There was anger and resentment. It was too late when the Church noticed someone was fueling the fire. The new message was different. It painted all of the Luciferian and, by association, warlock practices and teachings as evil. They portrayed the new organized religion as the sole source of goodness," Myhur said with a heavy tone.

"Didn't religions fight one another since like forever?" Ophelia asked.

"Not in the arcane world. The morality was flexible, with everyone knowing the deities were real. People painted other people as bad, sure, but not entire beliefs, not on such a scale."

"Baaaan on human sacrifice! Death to all who summon demons!" Myhur shouted as if he heard the slogans himself. "And so a simple fight for resources changed into something it never should have become. Into the first real holy war."

He allowed some silence to hang in the air before continuing.

"It was like a boulder that was too late to stop rolling down the hill. The alliance couldn't tell friend from foe. Was the preacher screaming 'death to warlocks' due to his fervor or due to being paid off? A sizable faction within the Church liked and preached the new message, unaware of its consequences. And then the warlocks played their cards."

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

The mycanoid got even sadder as the mushrooms on his body tilted downward.

"They couldn't sign deals and bargain as well as the Church, but fear was something they understood. So they spread a simple message: the alliance of order wants to enslave you, to ban your magic, to destroy your gods and stop your worship, and we are fighting for your freedom. This worked like a charm. They managed to get their warships through the Isle of Atlas, signing an agreement to ensure the island's independence if they win. To make it worse, they managed to get many wizarding clans on their side, bringing another side to the war. With new forces and a way open, they rushed through the middle of the Atlantic and began the invasion of Africa."

He caught his breath and took another deep one, pushing the table back.

"The Church started losing. Badly. The pope at the time was a bureaucrat, not a strategist, so he abdicated, and the position was taken by someone new, a young man named Clementus Abiola. A cunning man. He was left with a shitshow of politics and a strong faction inside the Church that liked the new message. But, would you know it, a tragedy struck. The night when the meeting with that very faction was to be held, an underground group of warlock spies struck, killing all the leaders of said faction. Such a tragedy," Myhur said with irony and a slight smile. "He leveraged the confusion and power vacuum to turn the tide of the war. And, in a genius move, he passed the 'nulla lux sine tenebris' law, later called by everyone 'See no evil, hear no evil.'"

"It basically codified summoning, necromancy, human sacrifices, and all other shady practices," Q'Shar piped up the moment he heard that legislation was discussed. "It described who can be subject to such punishment and who can't."

Myhur nodded before continuing. "Now, most wizards and other mages did a quick calculation. The Church was a bureaucracy with rules that could be argued, bent, or bought. The warlocks practiced the rule of the strong. The contract with Luciferians guaranteed their freedom but not safety, so they all asked themselves a question: if you are forced to choose which world is better to live in, the one ruled by warlords, or the one obeying a law? Rules can be argued with. Warlords less so."

Myhur looked at the rest of the people at the table, slowly finishing the story. "So many made a turn and switched to the side of the Church. They pushed for their voting rights in the sabbaths. And the new pope gave them those as long as they contributed to the war effort. Like that, they established the common council and the common sabbath that functions to this day."

The mycanoid went silent for a second before finishing, "Later, the sabbaths were joined by more and more mages as it finally became something like a common government for us. And that was the beginning of the war that would end the era of magic."

There was a bit of silence as Ophelia waited for the latter part, but after some time, it didn't come.

"Beginning?" Ophelia asked. "That seemed like an entire war."

"Yeees. Much more happened as third parties entered the conflict later, as the mortal world got fully involved, as gods tried to descend. It all started with a senseless fight driven by nothing but greed. But it did establish the common meetings, ones where people like me could argue for our rights."

"Yeah, and murderous twats like Sam get to make sure they are allowed to perform human sacrifices," Q'Shar added.

"Thaaat too. Helping those who are meant for the ground to nurture it faster is an honorable thing."

Sam just smiled at the comment, straightening in his seat.

Ophelia furrowed her eyebrows. "Right, but what happened? With the wizards and new allies changing sides, shouldn't the warlocks lose?"

"Sadly, they had another trick up their sleeve."

After saying that, the mushroom once again didn't continue, to which Ophelia just groaned.

"You didn't mention the gods' descent or the veins shattering," she tried.

"Thaaat's a very long story. The war ended in a battle, a sudden and brutal one that probably saved the world, as the deep god knows the Earth couldn't take much more."

"Can't you tell me how it ended? At least," she pushed on.

The mycanoid tilted his head curiously and smiled before pointing at Sam and finally saying, "Iiit ended with his grandfather staging the biggest massacre known to mankind."

After that, Ophelia didn't get any answers, with Sam dodging any questions by saying that it wasn't bad, as there was no Geneva Convention to break, so they shouldn't dramatize.

"On another topic," Q'Shar finally decided to steer the conversation out of the war, "we received a further three inquiries about the land. Two anonymous, directed at the CEO, and one direct from a big clan. There is also fighting over the other vein on the eastern coast, but we're not getting involved. It's a mess from what I got from our spies."

"More and more people are finding out, huh."

"Yes. We handled all cases, giving firm refusals. Nothing to worry about."

"And speaking of the sabbaths. Shouldn't they have figured it out by now?" Sam asked.

The cat nodded his head.

"Yep. The Church summoned many of its leaders to return to the Vatican for a sudden meeting. The sabbath should come very soon."

At those words, the mycanoid perked up. "Oooh. I forgot to thank you for the heads-up. I started working on my ascension. You will lose to me soon, Sam."

"Oh, will I?" Sam asked and smiled.

Ophelia could sense the energy around him change, a certain pressure emanating. The mushroom opened its mouth wide.

"Thaaaat quickly? How?"

"Trade secret," Sam answered, being the secretive asshole he tended to be.

Sam and Myhur then proceeded to bicker with one another for some time, with Sam trying to pull the 'hey, watch this' presentation on the mushroom. That didn't seem to get much reaction, as the creature just pointed out how strange its own body was.

The conversation finally moved toward the training regimen. Ophelia moved closer to the mycanoid to talk about the techniques he would be teaching, as well as to learn more about history, since the creature seemed particularly fond of sharing stories.

She was surprised to find that she would start the training with a spar.

She was enjoying a conversation with Myhur until a loud hissing sound broke it. Ophelia looked to the side to see Q'Shar getting pissed at Sam.

She ignored it at first, but then, to her horror, she realized she knew that expression on Sam's face. She was sure he was trying to talk the cat into one of his "great ideas." As to what it was, she had no clue.