The Priesthood

Part One: The Academy of the Heavenly

In the Book of the Heralds, it is written what a priest must give to gain power:
"Forget joy; understand what power brings. Power brings misery, and to understand what misery is, one has to forget all joy. Understand this, human, for those who are powerful should carry the pain of the living on their shoulders and the pain of the dead in their hearts. So those who have no power can live with joy."

Join Kanrel on his quest to find the truth of the mysteries that he is presented with: the Angels and the Otherkind; what is their connection; and why do the Angels prophesy of a coming war, an ascension of the Otherkind, and the destruction of humanity by the will of the Betrayed?

Follow him as he starts as a novice and becomes a fully-fledged priest while vowing to carry the burden of power for the sake of the weak, but all comes with a cost... Forget joy.

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Notice: From here on, there might be some minor spoilers, so continue with caution!

The cover was generated with AI. I suppose it suits, but if not, let me know and I'll revert it to the prior one!

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Part Two: In a Village Up North

After all that has happened, the road and the duties of a priest now call for the young Kanrel, as he is sent to a village far in the north, where he shall be stationed as their local priest.

But he is not there just because of simple duty, but because of a quest bestowed on him by the Herald: To gather information about the group that attacked him, to find out more about their plot, and to find out what happened to the previous priest of the village.

But beware… The forest whispers and calls for you, or so they say.

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Part Three: N'Sharan, the City of the Angels

In the City of Angels, there are no slaves. In the City of Angels, there is no freedom.

Kanrel is sent into a prison of visions, a realm stitched together from dreams and memories: the long-forgotten past of the Sharan, the so-called Angels he has solemnly served. There, he must uncover their origins, their hubris, and the final chapters of their dying legacy—the extinction of their people.

"Enter..." the Voice had beckoned. And so, he stepped through.

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Part Four: The Land of Shadows Below

It began with a fall.

As Kanrel plunged into the darkness beneath the heavens, one question echoed in his mind: If there is a fall, then where is the rise?

The Atheians—an ancient race once dominant on the surface—were cast down for their defiance of the Angels. Banished to the depths, they now dwell in the shadows, exiled from the world above.

For Kanrel, home lies impossibly far, and no sun remains to guide him. The stars—soon, he will scarcely remember their light. There is no way out, no passage home. No hope. Only the prison, and no sign of its warden.

Here, in the dark, the shadows are always watching. They whisper from the edges of vision, murmuring of forgotten crimes, of injustice, and of a question that still lingers:

Who was the fool who believed they could kill a god?

They do not wish to be forgotten.

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Part Five: The Fall of Empires

The chains rattle, and out of them rise visions of a forgotten god. A memory speaks: a Sharan, who, with the Magi, wagered everything on a city, on a utopia, on a dream that would cost millions their lives.

From ash they raised salvation. To ash it returns.

Now Kanrel kneels before the Enchained God, forced to witness not one crime of those he called gods, but the worst of them. He must hear the wronged and render judgment on the tyrants who shaped his faith.

A priest still, but barely—he must name his gods guilty or be broken by their absolution.

They were the fools who claimed everything, and left so little behind.

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Part Six: The Shadows Above

Can a murderer regain his humanity? Kanrel wonders as he lies on the grass and lets real rain fall on him for the first time since what feels like an eternity.

With this question in mind, he begins his journey back home, back to Jersten and beyond, if there still is such a place to reach, and if there yet remains a loved one to accept him in their arms.

But the world has grown colder, the sun less bright; for the flower in bloom veils all, and shadows loom closer, daring men to accept their embrace.

Yet he must not accept their oblivion, and he must beware the shadows that lurk around, above, and in the hearts of men, lest absence of life and memory become his eternity.