I feel like something that is unexplored in this fandom is the events leading up to the extermination of the Lambs and what happened during it. Or maybe I'm just not looking Lol. But anyways here's my lore and ideas.
After Narinder's imprisonment the bishops focus were to just wipe any mention or followers of him off lands to stop any worship or devotion reaching him and somehow making him stronger. Since I imagine locking the literal god of death away in his own realm was never done before and the bishops probably didn't know if it work, let alone keep him there forever.
After I want to say about a hundred years his Vessels started to come after them, though poorly picked and weak since Narinder was still trying to understand what he could still do and how to do it well and he wasn't too sure just handing over his crown was a good idea, ah foreshadowing.
Having his vessels just refer to him as master/lord the name "The One Who Waits" was born from either his followers or non-believers giving him a name because killing the bishops would be a rather impossible task for a mortal even with a god's backing and that would only happen in a million years. As well as Vessels describing Narinder as just waiting and nothing else.
Eventually after Shamura tries to find Clauneck and see if their brother would or even could come back, they get their answer, kind of. A Lamb would be the one to free Narinder, which one, who knows.
The Bishops as leaders/Gods of a faith, kept it alive and devotion thriving. The Bishops as a family? It just wasn't the same, hate of how things turned out and fear of another betrayal tore them farther apart. A mutual goal of keeping a frail Shamura alive was the thing mostly keeping them from just falling out and staying in their respective domains.
How their family was well, barley a family, Shamura was ready to just give up and try and let Narinder out. But to just say "Hey ya siblings let's just die cuz I want Nari out and our family isn't really a family anymore." was a not a realistic option.
So, knowing that every soul has to pass through Narinder's domain in some shape or form their plan was just to kill of the Lambs to speed up the process of a Lamb coming to kill them. The others didn't question Shamura because they said that if Lambs where scarified in their name, they could just consume their souls to be more powerful and "stop the prophecy" as well. Though in Silk Craddle that would not happen, and the Lambs souls would just pass on normally.
When posters and the word was said that all Lambs where to be put to blade in mass killings and only in front of the bishops, to consume their souls but that part wasn't said out loud. The levels of intensity varied between the lands, Anura being the worst place due to its genuinely harsher doctrine and culture Lambs were hunted more fiercely. Anchordeep being a still harsh place, but active search parties and hunting wasn't as intense as Anura or Darkwoods.
Though if the thought of a neighbor rating you out for a few coins or have your head chopped off for being seen by a high priest wasn't enough exploitation ran wild.
Wool became a rare and expensive thing on the market, though becoming illegal to sell a few decades later. People would offer safety and shelter as long as their wool could be sold, an act that was still considered helping the enemy and punishable by death. So, these people would become "traveling merchants" and when their greed was sated, they would stop at the highest paying place to turn in the Lambs. High risk high reward type shit.
Not every Lamb was sacrificed in front the Bishops and I image lots of other not so fun things happened, but this is just a rough outline of my ideas. Sorry for any grammar errors, I don't feel like finding and fixing them. :3
blakekathryn
kianamaiart
gummygunk
tangentwithtanner
snowghoul
jbbartram-illu
ellievsbear
