The Night of Retribution

The civil war that began and ended overnight, flanked by earth shakes which destroyed much of the village. The matter is greatly speculated, though most fear that dwelling on such a matter is disrespectful. Still, the Night of Retribution, for those who are familiar with its conditions, is a lesson of the delicacy of truth.

Perhaps the name hit hardest by the NoR was the Listeners, who were once great in number. Each district, coven, and shrine service seemed to have its own Listener. It is their job to bridge the gap between God and His people, allowing them a chance to indirectly receive His words, and regulating offerings brought to Him. It was here where the fatal flaw began. Perhaps true or perhaps not, whispers spread of inconsistency between Listeners. Some would provide answers contradictory to others when compared through recollection by the askers. Soon enough, members began purposely trying to catch Listeners in lies. But without any proof against them, this movement did not rise far. The Head of Rituals, after hearing these claims, issued a word of warning and prohibited some Listeners from answering questions at all, but much of the damage had already been done. An unease grew in the Hive, giving their faith unsurity, and seemingly draining their respect for Listeners.

At the same time. a new movement was growing within the depths of the cult which, through sheer happenstance, would trigger the entire event. Within the Biotrade market a flesh crafter claimed to have created an organism capable of reading minds. Seemingly by accident, this single eye quickly grew its own audience, answering questions in the form of yes or no answers, and soon enough, making predictions. This seemed not to be a problem for the Dark Lord, in fact, even the highest figureheads of the cult were unaware of this eye despite His undoubted knowledge of it. This is when the eye began not only contradicting Listeners, but contradicting them with accuracy. As expected, Listeners were under fire, firstly as individual liars, but soon all of them were suspect. Listeners were what the Cult believed to be the only beings capable of truth, but under suspicion, there was now no method of judging their honesty. A conspiracy formed shortly, giving a believable explanation for their actions -- Cahoots. It was now impossible to tell which Listeners were a part of this scheme, and as fear and confusion quickly spread, Listeners would mysteriously fall dead. It was believed, by some Grimytes, that the eye was actually speaking through God, and it was the Listeners who opposed Him. Because it was not possible to falsify this, districts and groups began targeting Listeners.

Once this reached the council, the Chief threatened death upon any who opposed the cult, but even she was unable to manage the spread of misinformation. The movement had now named itself Friends of the Eye, not against Malmarax, but rather for Him. The creation of the movement's paraphernalia enabled the chief to take action directly. A coalition was gathered silently, made of those loyal to the cult, and under the chief, was ordered to locate any cultist even remotely representing the movement and execute them. This began a panic, sparking a fight on all sides. Even uninvolved members fought in fear, unknowing of what was happening.