does anyone have a link to the reddit post where I think a member the cult of the lamb staff posted something akin to a timeline of how things went down before the events of the game? I could've sworn I've seen screenshots of it on Tumblr
Also posted on Ao3; this will collect every 5 chapters (Grief, Forgotten, Forced Apart, Hear Our Prayer, Insecurity/Personal Failure)
The Goat possesses many struggles within himself. Everything looks familiar but not, in a depressing, soul crushing way. Is the world the same? Or is it not actually the same plane?
ā¦
The Goat is named Gohan. The Lamb is named ???
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Forgotten - Shamura
There is something familiar about the Not Lamb. The thrumming of a warriorās blood hums underneath his flesh and fur. The sound of war follows him like a victory trumpet. Eyes are the window to the soul, and this particular soul is scarred by battles and death caused by his own bloodied, cloven hands.
The Art of War is an easy thing to manage. To be beloved and protected means to treat others like family. Treat them like they mean something to you and arenāt just another no name face in the constantly flowing passing of time.
The Goat, thatās his name, is kind in his own way. Entirely different than the Lamb whom is kindness is genuine and sincere. A kindness without expecting anything back. The Goatās kindness is held in his willingness to provide protection without a second thought. Never a doubt to reconsider.
Reckless, but admirable.
The way of War was Shamuraās domain. War is a language spoken with actions before words. The Goat felt like a way of War. Meaning he was as readable as a childās book.
It felt like home.
He smells of spider silk. Peculiar a goat smells of such things.
Why does he? Is that another thing theyāve forgotten? Or is it something theyāve never known but the delight of war responding in kind?
Hmā¦ Theyāll likely never know. After all, if theyāve never known, how could they forget?
ā¦
Grief - The Goat
It is eerie how familiar everything is. Things are flipped in placed but the layout remained the same.
Housing for the followers on the right was now on the left.
The farms remained in the same place.
Instead of a graveyard of bones and buried corpses behind the temple, there was now a field of carmillia flowers. A sea of red instead of a cloud of dusty white.
He missed home. The place where everything looked right and correct and nothing was out of place and he didnāt get lost. He missed Shamura. The Shamura he knew like the war torn land he tore apart himself.
They hardly recognize anyone outside of their siblings. They donāt look at him the same. Donāt gaze at him with a honey, warm gentleness that softened their eyes. They canāt recall his name. Itās foreign to them as if theyāve never uttered it before.
A swash of purple caught his attention. A moth to a flame. A starving man smelling a cooking fire.
He watched Shamura from his position atop the temple. It was easy to scale and it provided an excellent vantage point. He watched them as they wander the cult with a book tucked under their arm day after day, they never read it nor acknowledge that they were ever carrying something when they set it down and walked off.
Sliding off the roof with a gracefulness only known to him, he landed easily in a crouch before rising. The sun was warm and the breeze was strong.
The book was worn and red, and when he picked it up, it felt well loved or loved enough.
Oddly, it felt heavy. Not physically for he could crush a boulder with his bare hands if given the chance, but it was heavy.
He can return this book but cannot return their mind. It pains him. Grating and agonizing like an infected wound giving way for a fever. He can fell over a hundred enemies in a single crusade and yet he cannot help the one most beloved to himself.
Whenever they cross paths, he made a point to stop and talk with them. It hurts to see the shell Shamura was reduced down to. It made his blood boil underneath his skin to think about how the brother they loved so much had turned around and betrayed them.
Though, he was no fool either.
What other choice did Narinder have? The prophecy had blinded Shamura and faulted their ability to reason. It was inevitable. No amount of convincing had worked nor even attempted to change their mind.
One might as well argue with the ocean.
The tides are more likely to give than a bishopās whose mind had long since come to an unwavering conclusion.
ā¦
Forced Apart - The Goat
āBlood starved beast, one should send you back in posthaste to wince you came.ā A cryptic voice spoke in the dead wind. Their figure was tall with asymmetrical eyes atop their round head.
āThen send me back.ā The Goat snarled with bared teeth. He would not stand for being belittled.
āSend I cannot. The balance is off. You have made it so, Cursed Beast.ā The being hissed in displeasure. Making the fur on the Goatās back stand on end. āI will remove the thought of I from thy mind. Make it wonder if this your world or not your world. Let us flip you around until you can no longer tell the difference. A perfect blend in your own mind.ā
He lunged at them. This figure that moved and twinkled like a galaxy. Something caught in his hold. A wrist.
But it wasnāt theirs.
āYou will be returned to your God when I have witnessed your task complete. The requirements will be made known in due time.ā
He pulled until he dragged himself out.
The world swam around him. Purple glass shattered and showered like droplets of water around him.
A Lamb stood before him. Half beaten and bleeding. He grinned.
Finally, they had come to let him out! Though this didnāt look like one of Shamuraās disciplesā¦
The glint of a blade catching in the lighthouse guiding the night sky forced him to move before he could truly stop to think.
ā¦
Hear Our Prayer - The Goat
The Lamb was kind. Forgiving even when they shouldnāt be. They released him from his imprisonment, though he hated to name it as such, and didnāt attack back when the illusion of his savior had been shattered.
The Goat wandered, alone, to the gateways kept along the backside of the cult. Out of sight, out of mind. Silk Cradle called like a rallying war cry and he followed it blindly. The spider he passed with a victim trapped in its web was paid no attention, for he coward in sniveling fear anyways and no weakling was worth his effort.
It isnāt difficult to find a shrine to the God of War and Knowledge. Upsettingly covered in moss and left to crumble in the elements. These caverns and sprawling caves were as familiar as the back of his cloven hand.
He kneeled, bowing his head with his hands clasped together, forehead touching his fingers as he prayed.
āShamura, God of Knowledge and God of War, please, I beseech your pardon for my failure. The failure of which I speak is to you and the inability I have shown to dismiss me to a realm in which I do not understand. Please, I request a reasoning as to why or what. Why have you cast me away? What did I do to receive such a deserved decision? I am aware of your love for him. Did I give the impression I wouldnāt obey when you told me to stand down? How could I stand down when he threatened you and your siblings? What would that say about me if I could not come to your aide and sat back and watched as he maimed you? ā¦I couldnāt live with myself if I allowed that to happenā¦ Please, find it in yourself to forgive me. Please, Shamura, I am begging you.ā
His eyes burned. Stinging as he burrowed his face further into his fingers, pressing them painfully into his skull. A kaleidoscope of colors burst into life behind his eyelids.
It felt hard to breathe. To remain still in prayer as his chest heaved for deprived air. He wanted toā¦ He wanted to do many things. Right now, he mostly wanted to cry.
A deep, shaking breath filled his lungs. It held for a moment before being released. Enough to collect himself and barely anything more.
āMy devotion has always, and will always, be to you. There is no mountain I would not climb, no sea I would not swim, no cave I wouldnāt delve, nor forest I would not traverse to be of your aide for I am your sworn shield; to protect you from any danger to your life and subjects, and your sword; to slaughter any that stand in your way. I swear on my life that I will never fail you again. Please, answer me. I cannot bare waitingā¦ā
ā¦
Insecurity/Personal Failure - The Goat & The Lamb
āBlood starved beast, havenāt you had enough.ā It echoed constantly in his mind. Voice familiar in its fond playfulness.
He will be better next time. If heās ever given the chance again to prove himself.
āSometimes I feel like I havenāt done the right thing. That Iāve failed in some way.ā
āHow have you failed? It sounds to me that you have set a nearly unachievable standard for yourself. A standard not many can replicate. So why do you berate yourself? A bad day is a bad day. We all have them.ā The Lamb smiled, it sat soft and understanding on their fuzzy face. Still so young and still so hopeful. How?
After everything theyāve seen and been through, how? How is their strength so immeasurable compared to his own?
āI failed. What is so difficult to understand? It is simple and straightforward. I failed them. In every way that matters.ā
āDo not talk down to me.ā The Lambās tongue sharpened. Dull than sharp then back to dull as their voice went gentle again. āI want to help you but I will not stand being belittled like Iām incapable of understanding. Understand, sibling?ā
The Goat stared, near glaring before it gave way to a cheeky smile. He barked out a laugh. āI understand.ā
The Lamb grinned.
The amusement died quickly. Replaced with a somberness saved only for these late nights when it was just the two of them up far later than they should have been. Sat side by side on the staircase, staring out at the cultās desolate grounds. Surely there was better things to do with their time.
āHave you ever thought you failed Narinder?ā Gohan asked.
āNo, not that I can remember.ā The Lamb easily admitted. āI alwaysā¦ Well, I could always fall back on the reassurance that not even death would keep me. It made it easier to throw myself back into battle, again and again. Honestly? I think I failed myself.ā
āHow so?ā
The Lamb frowned. Clearly uneasy with the revelation. āThis isnāt supposed to be about me.ā
Gohan shrugged. āWho cares? I have no room to judge.ā
āI-Iā¦ā The Lamb struggled before giving up. They flopped into him, barely making him sway, and hugged his arm against their body. He knew well when to leave enough alone. After all, it was easier to admit things when you didnāt have to look someone in the eye. Made it seem like you were talking only to yourself. āI was a fool. I completely misunderstood everything. From our first meeting to when I refused to obey. I thoughtā¦ I thought heā¦ It felt like a proposal. Walking down an isle, dressed in white and saying absolutely. He gave me my wedding bellā¦ And I was a fool.ā
āIt doesnāt sound like you failed yourself.ā
āNo? Maybe not then. But it certainly felt that way when the one I loved told me to bow and give up my life for him to be free. And maybe that made me an awful spouse, unlike you, who would do anything for yours without hesitation. I envy you. I really do.ā
He had never been good with words. So it was no surprise that he couldnāt figure out what to say to comfort them.
Cult Rumors (rumors that may or may not be true) ((written like a follower has observed))
ā¢ The Lamb doesnāt enjoy crusades and thats why the Goat is often gone on them instead or maybe the Goat just likes fighting. He only grins like heās high on life when heās locked in combat
ā¢ The Goat is often playfully cruel but he seems to worry when itās been taken too far
ā¢ The Goat gets lost sometimes, more so, itās like he what he remembers is no longer there. He will often say heās going to the temple to prepare for evening ritual but he wanders right past it towards the opposite end of the cult. Heāll do this with everything except the farmland. Memory issues maybe? He gets along well with that purple spider. Maybe they bond over it.
ā¢ The Lamb is kind. It can be unnerving at times but itās nice to have someone so calm being the leader. The Goat scares too many people. I heard heās killed a loyal disciple of the Lamb beforeā¦
ā¢ The five siblings are interesting. They looked familiar in a strange way. The Lamb says they had been separated and they had reunited them. It feels like theyāre lying but I trust them.
ā¢ If you want to find the Lamb, theyāre usually wandering around the cultās grounds. Itās easy to miss them among the swaths of red and black that litter the place but white wool is a stark contrast to their surroundings.
ā¢ If you want to find the Goat, heās likely away on a crusade. If not, the graveyard or in the hut behind the temple. He seems to enjoy sticking close to the entrance of the cult, almost like heās waiting for something to happen. Something bad or just waiting for someone.
ā¢ The Goat has a tail! Thatās what I heard down the grapevineā¦ Does that mean the Lamb also has a tail?
ā¢ The Lamb inspires while the Goat intimidates
ā¢ The Goat seems to greatly enjoy balancing on the rim of the fountain. Much to the Lambās disappointment. The Lamb is significantly worse at balancing. Theyāve had to sit aside to dry off many times.
ā¢ The Goat is more physical than the Lamb. Goat is usually the one to start pestering the leader. Generally, it was the Goat playfully head-butting the other or slinging his arm over their shoulder to drag them around.
ā¢ The Lamb and the Goat are close, not like brothers are but, like sisters. (Physically)
