Part Eleven 

The true colors of the man known as Karl Anslem had not begun to show until early in the year 1338, when suspicion of his motives as Archbishop had began to surface. In the years following the colonial abandonment of 1335, an awkward stalemate between the Church and the citizens it had governed arose. Archbishop Anslem had been able to win the favor of the people back, albeit barely, in his first days as Archbishop by serving justice against those in the clergy whom the people felt had wronged them. Using this favor, he quickly and inexplicitly abandoned those left within the colonies stranded, left to the hands of the Resolve.

The Archbishop had defended his actions by telling the peoples of the Republic that all of those within the colonies were undoubtedly slaughtered, the folly of those within the clergy that had already been executed in the violent coup he had personally lead. It had been common knowledge within the Church clergy, however, that such a fact couldn’t possibly be true. Whatever Anslem’s intentions had been in declaring the colonies forbidden were kept secret and a mystery to those within the clergy. Yet his actions in saving the Church in a time of complete distrust had earned him a blind eye from many in the clergy and Republic government.

Life had seemed to remain status quo in the Republic following Anslem’s ascension to Archbishop. The peoples of the eastern baronies had gone on with their lives, rebuilding their cities as best they could. The campaign in purging the western territories of the horrors the Torment had left behind had continued. Everything had seemed normal, yet the aura of suspicion around the newly appointed Archbisop still lingered in the hearts of a handful of fellow clergymen.

Among these few clergymen that held doubts of the Archbishop was a one Johan Landcaster. A fervent believer in the Decusian faith, and a former Inquisitor of many years, Landcaster had been the sole survivor of the bishops whom ordered the operations in MacArthur’s gate in 1333. He had been spared by the coup Anslem had organized, undoubtedly due to the overwhelming favor he held amongst the majority of the clergy. From Anslem’s first day as Archbishop, Landcaster had looked upon the young bishop with a gaze of distrust. Anslem had long been known as a proponent of magic, and had even been rumored to have studied the dark arts of necromancy in his earlier days. This distrust had eventually lead to suspicion, and in the years following Anslem’s ascension to Archbishop, Landcaster had worked in secret to keep tabs on the new ruler of the Republic.

In 1338, word had reached Landcaster’s ears of odd happenings in the western fronts. Inquisitors faithful to the bishop had relayed information back to Landcaster for years, trusting in the former Church templar. Reports of peculiar orders stemming from the Archbisop himself had reached Landcaster. Small portions of the military forces commissioned to retaking the western territories had been commanded to fallback from the frontlines, with orders to secure and fortify territories that had long been considered safe farther east. With each passing month, more and more Templar and Legionnaires had been pulled from the frontlines, and pushed back east.

It was revealed shortly after that these orders had been issued from the Archbishop as far back as 1335. Obvious care had been taken to assure that the troop withdrawal had been kept secret from not only those on the frontlines, but from the Church and Legion as well.

In 1339, more startling news had reached Bishop Landcaster. Entire territories that sat upon the border of the western blacklands and the safe portions of the Republic were left unguarded, the troops garrisoned within re-commissioned to bizarre areas that needed no defense. Scattered reports indicated that some of these abandoned territories had begun to fall to marauders and riots.

The disturbing nature of these reports had left Bishop Landcaster fueled with a zealous determination to uncover Anslem’s true intentions. On Soul’s Eve, Frostmarch 1339, the truth about the Archbishop had been discovered. On this faithful day, one of remembrance of the dead and possessing a night that is said to bring the world of the dead closer to that of the living, a curious individual had contacted Bishop Landcaster. A Tender of what was known as the Garden, a caste of the Church dedicated to paranormal and sometimes blasphemous research had paid a visit to the Bishop. This curious individual bore with him grave and auspicious news; the Archbishop had been in league with the Resolve, and there had been evidence to prove it.

Working in tandem with this mysterious agent, Bishop Landcaster had assembled a small collection of Church clergy and templar that had proven their loyalty to the Decusian faith above that of the Archbishop. Following the information provided to him by the Tender, Landcaster and his faithful had followed the Archbishop and an entourage of his personal guard to a small abandoned village outside the Republic capital of Tor. It was here, on Soul’s Eve, 1339, that Landcaster and his faithful had witnessed true horror…

…A meeting between the Archbishop and a member of the Resolve, in the flesh.