Imperium Ascendant

Chapter Nine: the Last Temple

With that Uriah found himself transported to an arid badlands. Sand and stone stretched as far as the eye could see. Uriah looked up and was shocked. The sky was impossibly blue, and Sol hung high in the clear sky. "Where are we?" asked Uriah, as the shock of seeing the sky hit him. Appearing next to him the Emperor responded: "Approximately thirty-five thousand years ago in a land, you know as the Achaemenid Empire."

As the Emperor spoke a lone figure appeared in the distance. The figure approached them and adjusted its ragged robes and Uriah saw its face. The Priest did a double take at the sight. The strange traveler was the Emperor, a younger barely two-decade-old Emperor by the look of it. Uriah pointed at the doppelganger and the Emperor explained before Uriah could say anything.

"We are viewing my memories of this age. We are invisible witnesses to this saga of my youth." the twin watchers of the memory followed the young Emperor through the Desert. They trudged for miles as the Emperor of the present spoke: "In my youth, I wandered Terra spreading knowledge and wisdom to the ancient tribes and early civilizations. Nothing to major just slight nudges to help technological and philosophical development."

"I tried to never get too involved, not to let any group become reliant on my presence. My purpose has always been to guide and protect, humanity cannot be allowed to rely on me for it will weaken them." Uriah raised an eyebrow at that and asked "Then why are you seeking to conquer and control humanity as its "Emperor?" A pained look crossed his face: "Despite what you and many others might think I have no desire to rule. If there was another option than the Imperium, I would take it."

They crested a hill with the memory-form of the Emperor and before them nestled on the shore of a great sea was an ancient city. They and the memory-form stopped and admired the primitive metropolis. The Emperor continued his narration: "I had not visited this city in about two and a half centuries. Last time I was here I helped treat a minor viral outbreak and explained a bit of basic hygiene. I had done similar across the world and thought nothing of it. So when I returned to this city nestled on the shore of the Salt Sea I was horrified by what I found"

They followed the Memory-Form towards the city. Great processions of carts and beasts of burden carried goods towards the city gates. Each was stopped and tolled by a patrol of thuggish looking guards. The Ancient Emperor joined the line and eventually reached the gates. The Guards looked the shabby robed ancient up and down. "Leave vagabond, we have no need for your kind here." The Ancient Emperor raised an eyebrow and began to motion with his hand before a voice popped up from behind him.

"Uncle Ivram so that's where you wandered off to!" A well-clothed man from the line approached and touched the Ancients shoulder. Calmly the man spoke to the guards: "So sorry for that, my Uncle wandered away from the caravan." Pulling the Ancient Emperor away and directing him back to his family and servants the man continued in a whisper "He is not quite right in the head, but I promised my father I would look after him" The Guards grunted something in return.

Uriah and the Emperor followed the generous man and the Ancient. The Ancient Emperor quietly asked the stranger "Why did you do this for me?" The man shrugged his shoulders "Kindness begets kindness, you are obviously not from around hear and it would be wrong to leave you out in the wilderness, especially on the day of the festival!" The Ancient shook the man's hand and asked "A festival? It seems I am just in time. You can call me Revelation by the way."

When the Ancient spoke his name Uriah swore he heard a thousand different words and names. Before he could ask the Emperor answered: "People have long been curious about what my name is, never considering that Revelation is not an alias but how the human mind interrupts and translates it." The man unlike Uriah had a few hours or lifetimes ago did not respond to the strange name and simply said "Nice to meet you Revelation, I am Lot Ur-Haran. You are just in time for the festival of the Four. It's our greatest event that celebrates the cities salvation by the gods!"

The Ancient then followed Lot and spoke with him and his family as they moved up the line with there farm goods they sought to sell. The Emperor began to speak as they followed the group. "At this point, small tribal faiths and city-state religions were not uncommon. Typically they worshipped nature in some form or another and my visions forecasted they would eventually die out as science and reason grew to explain the unexplainable."

The Ancient and Lots family finally entered the city and were soon greeted with the sound of great drums. Rhythms and song filled the entire city in a barely organized cacophony. The ramshackle streets were crowded with thousands. The Merchants and farmers peeled off from the line heading to various parts of the city to sell their goods. The Ancient simply followed Lot and watched. This was the largest city he had visited and marveled at the metropolis. Humanity was truly growing and preparing itself for its destiny.

Eventually, the Ancient thanked Lot and split off from his entourage of family and servants to explore the city. For hours he wandered and was both entranced and worried by what he saw. Great Kilns crafted pottery that was intricate in detail but grotesque in what it depicted. Scenes of bloodshed and debauchery were carved and stenciled upon them. Filth encrusted beggars wandered the streets pleading for spare food or currency, each seemed more broken and diseased then the last.

Eventually the Ancient heard the roar of a crowd above the cities other din and investigated as Uriah and the Emperor followed. Even though the dense scents of the city the Ancient could smell the distinct tang of blood in the air coming from the same place as the crowds shouting. Eventually the Ancient found the source. Dug out of the earth was a crude pit where hundreds of dredges clamored at its edge to get a better view of its occupants.

With a slight bit of psychic suggestion, the Ancient pushed past the crowd and felt a cold fury fill him at the sight that awaited him. Two malnourished, manacled slaves savaged each other with crude bone blades as the crowd bayed for blood and gore. Shock filled the Ancients face as Uriah and the Emperor grimly looked on. Both of the observers had seen the worst of humanity during the Age of Strife and enslaved gladiators were just one of those horrors. Speaking softly the Emperor gestured to his younger self and said: "this was the first time such an act was witnessed by us, sadly not the last though…."

One of the slaves screamed with desperate rage and smashed his rivals skull into the stone wall of the pit over and over again. The losers blood and brains splattered out of the arena onto the cheering crowd as they chanted as one "MAIM KILL BURN! MAIM KILL BURN! MAIM KILL BURN!"

Disgusted and shook the Ancient quickly left the display and continued to wander the city. At each and every turn more atrocities met him. Horror and worry wormed deeper into the Ancient as he stumbled through the accursed city. What could have caused this? What was the source of this insanity?

Eventually, a familiar voice called to him "Oh good to see you again Revelation!" Lot along with his Wife and Daughters strode out of the crowd and greeted the Ancient. "The Grand ritual of the Festival is about to begin! Care to come with us to it?" Happy to see a friendly face the Ancient Emperor agreed.

Together they made it deeper and deeper into the heart of the city. Hear the drums and song was the loudest and the throngs of people become denser and denser. Eventually, they reached the Cities Great Ziggurat. Along with thousands of others, they ascended the Grand Staircase towards the highest point in the city. "What is this place?" asked the Ancient?

Seeming to puff up with pride Lot answered: "The Great Temple of the Four, my forefathers helped lay the first stones for our great altar to the Gods!" As they reached the top a great pyre was lit. Incense and smoke filled the air as the city crowded around the inner Temple. The Pyre marked the entrance to the temple and provided lighting and projected an aura of mystic upon the Grand Temple as the sunset.

Eventually, the Drumbeat increased in speed and it cued the thousands gathered to kneel as one before the pyre and Temple. Using a slight bit of warpcraft the Emperor stood standing while an illusion showed him kneeling like the rest. Uriah snorted at that "Pride is a constant I do believe with you." The Emperor responded with an icy stare.

The Drumbeat came to a climax and stopped. Out of the temple in extravagant apparel came the High Priest and his inner circle. The High Priest stood before the altar and spoke in a booming voice: "Generations ago our city was stuck with divine punishment for our Sin! Death and Doom stalked our lands and claimed whoever they liked. Countless wasted away and died under the weight of our blasphemy!"

The Ancients eyebrows shot up, was this how they remembered the plague? Then how would they his intervention? The Priest continued "Then the Stranger came! A prophet and Wiseman sent by the gods to lead us onto the path of righteousness! We were saved by his sacred wisdom and the gods in there eternal mercy spared us!"

In an incredible display of controlled psychic power, the Ancient used a mix of Psychometry, Precognition and his own intellect to see into the past of the city. Both he and his watchers witnessed how a few corrupt few had twisted the tale story over the generations to better suit their master's needs…

Something was obviously twisting this city and its people to its will. The Ancient had battled with Monsters and Nightmares from beyond this world or reality before but this was beyond anything he had seen. Except… except for a few whispered memories from his predecessors

The High Priest continued "Yet the Gods even with there mercy require assurance! The assurance that we will not fall into the old ways and fail this second chance! We sealed a covenant with the Four and we must prove our worthiness! We must sacrifice something precious to us in order to show our devotion!"

With that, a keening wail erupted from the temple. As one eight women, each carrying an infant approached the altar. Disbelieve shuddered through both the Ancient and Uriah. Could the High Priest really intend to….? ⱤᴀꞐꝋ𐌱ËS̩

The Women, know the mothers wore different expressions. Some were ecstatic, religious fervor enthralling them. Others appeared gaunt and dead-eyed, unwilling to accept what was about to occur. Only one sobbed and shook with fear and horror as she clutched her wailing infant to her breast.

As one they stepped up to the Altar and were ordered to hold their infants above the blazing pyre. The High Priest Raised a Blade carved from bone above his head and roared a jubilation to the gods "Praise be to the Bloody Hound, The Rotting Toad, The Feathered Master of Schemes and the Serpent of Sin!" With that, he brought his blade down on his other hand letting blood splatter out. At that gruesome signal, the Mothers dropped there infants into the roaring flames.

Prayers of adulation poured from the worshippers as the babies burned alive. The enthralled masses lacked the Ancients superhuman senses and could not hear or smell… the sheer horror of what was occurring. The Ancient stood there his transhuman mine in shock at what he had just witnessed. Yet the atrocity was not yet over.

The weeping mother had not dropped her child and held it to her chest as she sobbed out desperate pleas for her child's life. With almost casual disdain the High Priest slit her throat and pushed her and the infant into the blaze. It was that action that ripped the Ancient Emperor from his stupor.

Time stood still for the Ancient and Uriah watched as reality slowed. Speaking with a mix of disgust and horror The Last Priest spoke: "Ah, so that's why you blame yourself for this?" With a voice as colder than nuclear winter, the Emperor responded: "Not exactly, the monsters of the Warp used my actions against me, but my sin is what occurs next."

Time returned to its proper flow and the Ancient cast down the illusion of him kneeling and stood alone among the worshippers. Before the High Priest could screech at him for his disrespect and demand his execution the Anathema's wrath was unleashed. Warpfyre concentrated into a burst of psychokinetic plasma shot forth from the Ancients Golden eyes in a blast of raw energy that the likes would not be seen on earth until the next Volcanic eruption.

Instantly the Temple the Priests and the Altar were reduced to there subatomic elements. The Corrupted may have died instantly but their souls were denied from their Masters by the Flame that consumed them agonizingly. The Innocents were spared such a fate and simply became sheltered within the Oversoul of the Anathema. Yet the Ancient had been an age and an attosecond late. The Infants and the sacrificed mother were cast into the jaws of the Thirsting Gods.

Golden light erupted from the Ancient. Uriah felt the energy wash over him and his legs buckled. It was rawer, more ferocious and lacking the kindness of when it had healed him but the Energy was the same. The same as the divine light that had healed him and saved him at Gaduare. Slowly turning to the Emperor he spoke in hushed tones: "You, it was you! You not only inspired my religion but my faith!"

A somber look appeared on the Emperors face as he spoke "Yes, you are not the first to find faith when exposed to my power. From twelve students, a Desert Merchant, The Slave Sage, and the Seventy Two Ascendant each found faith and started faiths under my influence in an attempt to stop things like this" He gestured to the atrocity before them.

Snapping back to the memory they watched as the Ancient glowed with power beyond anything ever seen by mankind. Slowly the Anathema rose into the air and for a moment the citizens of the city looked at the psychic beacon and wondered if salvation or damnation had come to them.

The Ancient Emperor mustered his psychic might and brought something greater and more terrible than either forth. A wave of psychic might rolled off the Ancients body in a Psychic pulse that moved faster than thought across the Earth. Each and every human across the face of the Earth was touched by the tidal wave of Psychic Energy. As one every human touched by Chaos and the whispers of the warp died.

Like marionettes with there strings cut they simply collapsed. There mind shut down telepathically and there soul scoured or destroyed. Even those not corrupted felt the touch of the Anathema across their mind and learned without a shadow of a doubt that there is a higher power, something great, golden and powerful existed. The seeds of every messianic archetype, every king of the gods, every monotheistic deity had been planted.

Humanity had been touched by what many would call the divine and was forever altered by it. A shocked Uriah and a bitter Emperor watched as the Ancient slowly descended back to the temple ground and collapsed onto the ground. Every human being in a hundred kilometers lay dead. Two entire cities and countless villages and families had been stuck down for there sins. Every human that is for Lot and his family.

The Ancient slowly got to his feet, still shaking with shock and grief and looked at the four he had spared. He saw a horrific mix of fear and reverence in their eyes and in a psychic whisper said: "Kindness begets kindness, run and don't look back." They complied and escaped the dead city as fast as they could. Trauma and religious visions filling their minds.

The Emperor and Uriah watched the Ancient sit there with his eyes shut and could see him trying to hold back tears over what he had done. The first great disaster in human history was by his hands, and he could feel the shockwaves of his actions change the future. The Warp had been thwarted in there attempt to corrupt early humanity but at what cost?

Uriah slowly turned to the Emperor and in a half, whisper said "It all makes sense, you… you are the source of faith and you created this need in humanity in your darkest hour." Sadness distorted the Emperor's noble features as he spoke: "I lost control, for one second I lost control and this is what happened. Throughout the millennia I have tried to master and use this mistake to protect and help humanity. Yet no matter what I do, no matter what I say more and more atrocities occur"

The Ancient eventually got to his feet after he sensed Lot and his Family were miles away. The Immortal held out his hands and in a feat of psychic power and control the likes off never scene he telekinetically triggered atomic fusion. A Blast of Nuclear fire erupted before him and consumed the city in a wall of death and fury. It was the first time but most certainly not the last that the being that would eventually be known as the Emperor of Mankind would burn away the taint of chaos.

As the wall of nuclear plasma engulfed them the vision faded and the watchers stood within the Last Church once again. The Emperor seemed emotionally drained and slumped onto one of the pews. Uriah shakily joined him and they sat there in shocked silence for hours. Eventually, in a cracking voice, Uriah spoke: "You are right, religion is a mistake."

Slowly heaving himself to his feet Uriah continued speaking as he walked up to churches Altar "But there is a way, humanity needs something to have faith in, to believe in. Give them something to believe in and sate there need until humanity is ready to know the truth." Almost casually Uriah picked up a guttering candle from the altar and dropped it upon the moth-eaten rug of the Church.

Fire began to spread quickly, the ancient building began to burn as Uriah and the Emperor stared at each other. "Go on then, the Last Church must burn like the First and I must go with it," spoke Uriah in a hoarse whisper. With a somber calmness, the Emperor got to his feet and stood before Uriah. The Priest shut his eyes and awaited his end.

It did not come, instead, golden energy flared and the emperor cast aside his illusionary form and stood before Uriah in his full glory. With surprising delicacy, the Emperor brought his armored hand to the Last Priests forehead. Golden energy filled Uriah's body and soul. He could feel his body healing from a thousand different ailments brought on by time and a hard life. In turn, his soul was purified from the touch of the Four and became armored against them.

In a voice that commanded armies and ordered the building of empires he spoke "Uriah Olathaire, you are wise for a man of so few years. I will not let you burn and be forgotten like the faiths of old. You are to come with me into this future. The Shining Path is narrow and you will help me keep our species upon it"

The Emperor of Mankind then turned and left the Church with the newly ordained Guardian of Truth. Together they watched the Last Church of mankind burn to the ground. Uriah then asked simply as what once was his home became ash and dust "So what now?" The Emperor was stony-faced as he responded: "We have a species to save."

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