Nicodemus

Birth: 1475 AGF
Death: 1620 AGF
Shard Type: Majorus

Nicodemus, like many Godshards throughout history is a divisive figure. To the Sacerdozio and Adamite Godshards, he was a shrewd, manipulative man who saw an opportunity and grabbed power. Capitalizing on the division in his world to his own ends. The Seerhood Godshards on the other hand view him as a courageous man who took a stand against the corruption of his Sacerdozio, someone who brought the Godshards back to their roots with purity of purpose.

If something is a lie but everyone believes it, is it still a lie? Nicodemus was an ambitious man, he had major dreams and aspirations to become the next Sommo Sacerdote and desperately tried to get into Luke's good graces. But Luke felt threatened by him instead, so as a 'reward' for his loyalty, he was given a post in the north. Nicodemus, like many other Sacerdozio Godshards at the time, saw the north as career suicide. To be assigned there was career murder. The north was a thankless place, the people constantly clashed with the Sacerdozio over differing beliefs and values. Attacks by Maelim and Leviathans were depressingly common and most of the year was distressingly cold.

An embittered Nicodemus saw no way out. A man of better virtue would have simply done his job as befits the Sacerdozio but like many in the organization at this hour, he cared more about his own wealth, status and power. But Nicodemus was calculating and cunning and he saw an opportunity. The people hated the corruption and the Sacerdozio, maybe if he said what they wanted to hear, maybe he could create something new here instead. The process was slow and gradual. He started preaching against the wrongs of his own organization, outwardly condemning the bribery and corruption within it. Over time this worked and the locals viewed him favorably, he had become the one good Godshard in the Sacerdozio.

It was a start but Nicodemus had to go further. He had a meeting with the northern druids. Before the Sacerdozio took over, it was these men and women who were the spiritual leaders. They were middle men between the northern kingdoms and the angyls. For centuries in times of great peril, the druids had summoned them via tomes and angylic rites. Nicodemus pretended to be a man seeking the truths that the Sacerdozio is 'suppressing'. He promised they'd get their temples back if the druids introduced Nicodemus to angylic worship. Soon Nicodemus' rhetoric changed into disdain for the Sacerdozio as a whole, and not just its flaws.

Many of the northern Godshards initially called him a heretic and liar. But as the people supported Nicodemus more and more, they flipped their stance and joined him. Nicodemus made absurd claims, most not having any real basis or evidence, but validated the people's beliefs all the same. Claims that Adam supported angyl worship, that he wrote down prophecies given to him by the hosts at the end of his life. That he believed in the idea of a Seerhood. Supposed proof was easily proven to be fabricated by actual experts, but if enough people believe it, does it even matter?

What proved to be the final nail in the coffin was the outbreak of the Twisted War. When Horrorlim, and other mutated monsters attacked the North, it was Nicodemus who saved the day, summoning angyls through a combination of the druidic teachings and his own power as a Godshard. The angyls approved of his veneration and endorsed the idea of a Seerhood. It is unlikely they were fooled by Nicodemus' lies, so the reason why they supported him is unknown. Perhaps they saw him as the future and as a Godshard, a more useful pawn than the druids. Angyls are farsighted and perhaps they knew of Simon the Devoted a century later. The Seerhood was created, overtaking all the Sacerdozio holdings in the north. Those Godshards who refused to join were ousted or imprisoned. This new organization held a similar idea to the Twin Path, just with Oracles and Seers instead of Sacerdoti and Maghi.

Nicodemus placed himself as the leader of this new order, at long last he had considerable power. Despite his public stance against corruption, bribery and favors remained a common blight, only this time anyone who criticized the Seerhood for this was imprisoned and quietly killed. Nicodemus was a man of contradictions. One minute, he'd frame himself as a helpless victim under attack from the Sacerdozio. The next he boasted about his greatness, of being a true Godshard in the spirit of Adam. He could do whatever he wanted, the blind devotion of the masses was secure, and critical thinking was looked down upon.

The druids, having outlived their usefulness were betrayed and when they called out Nicodemus, he turned the people against them. He called them treacherous devious people who sought to manipulate the others to grab power, no better than the Sacerdozio. They were executed soon after, murdered by the very people they sought to protect, their centuries of service meant nothing. Through countless heresies such as these, Nicodemus twisted and corrupted the northern values more than any Sacerdozio Godshard. But instead of revulsion they cheered him on. All because they trusted Nicodemus, they believed his con.

Years after the rise of the Seerhood, the new Sommo Sacerdote, a quiet man named Samuel arranged a meeting with Nicodemus over the possiblity of reintegrating into the Sacerdozio. Samuel had reformed and purged much of the corruption in his organization. For unlike Nicodemus, Samuel wanted to truly fix his world, Nicodemus just wanted power. When they met, Nicodemus went on and on about the wrongs of the Sacerdozio, while Samuel himself was eerily silent. After minutes of ranting, Samuel at last spoke, codifying the Seerhood on the spot. Not because he believed in it and Samuel made it clear how much he hated Nicodemus and chewed him out for his hypocrisy. The reason why Samuel codified the Seerhood was to prevent it's poison and corruption from reinfecting the Sacerdozio.

Drunk on power, Nicodemus turned his attention to the northern kings. Nicodemus long sought cooperation with the monarchs, not unlike the druids. An arrangement had been struck shortly after the Seerhood was founded. It appeared that Nicodemus was backing out of his part, and started preaching against the wrongs of the royals. The High King at that hour was Richard the Strong. His original kingdom was the Northernmost Realm and he was accustomed to threats. He witnessed the fate of the druids and realized Nicodemus planned to betray them too.

He called for a meeting with the other kings. He wanted to oust Nicodemus by force. But an unexpected ally proposed a different solution. The former Sacerdote Jeramiah proposed a two-fold plan. First step was passing reforms, as a form of malicious compliance. Second step would be the creation of a secret police that would ‘keep an eye on the kings’. A branch of government that would answer to the kingdom, not the Seerhood.

Richard and the others reluctantly agreed and the decivise action curbed Nicodemus’ ambitions. He couldn’t overstep without validating Jeramiah’s ‘slander.’ However, even with this new check on his power Nicodemus reigned supreme. Even with the secret police watching him, he was untouchable. When he passed away, he was viewed as a hero in the spirit of the Godshards of old, even though he was anything but.

The tragic irony is the Seerhood would go on to be more legitimate than what was originally intended. Especially after the life of Simon the Devoted, most of the present day Seerhood Godshards are true believers of angylic worship and veneration. Corruption is still rampant but much less than it was during Nicodemus' time. Dissent is still highly frowned upon and many Seerhood Godshards relish in their power, but they are still firm believers of their creeds.

It is quite vexing and strange how an entire organization can be based on a lie.

Svetlanna

Birth: 1900 AGF
Shard Type: Majorus

There's bitter, there's cruel and then there's Svetlanna. Hailing from the Northern Most Kingdom, Svetlanna is a zealot among zealots. Her belief in the angyls is as hard as star iron and she would do anything for them. Her childhood was as cold as the ice that covered her home nine months out of the year. Little better than a glorified bastion, the Northern Most Kingdom is a constant warzone and this breeds people who are strong but cruel.

Svetlanna went through many trials and suffered through cruel verbal and physical abuse growing up in the Seerhood. She was taught that all life was secondary to the angylic, that blood must be spilt to appease them, to get their favor and support. Svetlanna was broken and remade as the Seerhood wished. She grew to embrace their ways, going above and beyond their expectations. She willing shed her blood. She allowed herself to become a vessel for an angyl at several points. She mutilated her face and seared her right eye, rendering her almost half-blind. Mixed with Godshard magical training, Svetlanna became a gifted Oracle.

Once her training was complete, she was assigned to the court of the Southern Most Kingdom. It was Seerhood practice to send their Shards to the opposite ends of the Union where they were raised. Svetlanna had to make sure her kingdom didn't go soft by its Murexan neighboor. She held a place of honor in the court, served as spiritual guide for decades, advising for all matters, military, civil and all in between. Her words held nearly as much weight as the king himself. To seal her bond with the kingdom, she gouged out her other eye, in spirit of the kingdom's patron arch-angyl, Gabriel One-Eye. Her functional blindness didn't bother her, the angyls would guide her step and her Soulsight would handle the rest.

If she said a hundred warriors had to die for the angyls to come, so be it. If a virgin had to be a vessel for a Seraphim, knowing they would leave nothing but ashes after, so be it. She ensured radicalization and devotion from every single warrior and citizen. Dissenters were dealt with viciously. Svetlanna was every bit as cruel and abusive to those that questioned her as she was abused decades prior. One problem child she often clashed with was Elizabeth, a fiery hateful girl that reminded Svetlanna of herself. The girl had been pressganged into service at sixteen years old.

Svetlanna's potent foresight showed potential in Elizabeth, if she could just break her. In Svetlanna's eyes, Elizabeth could be a great warrior and a worthy sacrifice to the angyls. But she just wouldn't do what she was told! It came to ahead at the Battle of the Iron Pass. The angyls decreed that blood had to be spilt before the angyls would intervene. Svetlanna obliged, sending regiment after regiment into the grinder. This would be the day Elizabeth died as she was always meant to! Svetlanna saw her regiment charge into the Maelim warband, and then... nothing. The angyls never came. As such, their forces had to retreat.

Later on, Svetlanna confirmed Elizabeth was not among the dead, yet she did not return to camp. She deserted! It all made sense to her now, the angyls must have punished them all due to Elizabeth's cowardice. Svetlanna would have been more angry, if her foresight didn't reveal they would meet again. There would be words then, and Svetlanna would break her. Elizabeth would right her wrong, she'd see to that! The angyls decreed it after all, and no one knew them better than her.

It never occurred to Svetlanna that perhaps the angyls were punishing her instead. Perhaps she didn't know the angyls as well as she thought. For none but the most bloodthirsty angyls would act so callous and cruel as her...