Ahead of the Storm - Day 33

Cauldron, Three Months Ago

I have now spent the past few weeks here in Cauldron, completing negociations on behalf of High Priestess Elena, for the entry of the church of Wee Jas into the Amalgamation, making us the last of the major religions to join its ranks. In the end, though it make not have been necessary, I did offer up the bribe Elena gave me, as a "generous gift" to the Amalgamation, as a token of apology for the past wrongdoings of the church, in the days of Embril Aloustinai.

With payment made and negociations concluded, I then could begin my true task, of investigating the Amalgamation and reporting back to Elena about what is going on here in Cauldron - her former hometown... and murder scene.

Obviously, the reason for her wanting to join the Amalgamation was not one of actual interest. I have never in my life met a more devoted Weejasian follower than Elena - there is no way she would ever bow down before any other God... No, she wanted to join out of suspicion of their activities. Lady Elena tells me that recent divinations and Commune questions with Wee Jas have led her to believe that the Amalgamation is a threat to us - to the entirety of our religion and even Wee Jas Herself.

Therefore, she wanted to have someone - a spy if you will - there in Cauldron at all times, to survey the activities and report back to her on any suspicious individuals. As a side-mission, she has also requested that I keep tabs on Soulerio, now at work as a professor here in the Arcane Obelisk tower. Elena believes that once a Betrayer, always a Betrayer - and she wants to be there to stop Soulerio before he gets himself or anyone else in danger again.

And so, I have spent my time wandering the halls of the Amalgamation temples, as well as the main headquarters temple here in town. And what I have to report is indeed troubling... for to my eyes, it is almost as though this "cult" of the Amalgamation (I refuse to call it a religion) is truly brainwashing its members, for many of them act almost as though under a charm. Not in the sense of mindlessly obeying orders... but rather, they seem to gather here daily and go through the motions, without really understanding what their faith and religion is about anymore. The common sight here in town these days, is to find people wearing their "collection" of holy symbols around their necks, almost as if in competition with one another, to see who can gather the most symbols. As such things are usually costly, most collections take a great deal of time and effort to obtain.

As for the actual ceremonies, what I have witnessed saddens me, for the clerics here in the temple appear to be of lesser quality than one would hope, as well. They appear to rotate between the various shrines, one day performing a ceremony to Corellon Larethian, then the next day offering up a sacrifice to Hextor... It is as though they don't even believe in the Gods themselves, but just go through the motions. Indeed, many people speak of the Gods with false information now... seemingly confused and unaware of the lines between good and evil, chaos and law. It is as though the Gods are simply these fictional characters that people want to talk about for fun, without really caring to know what the true beliefs are actually about.

In many ways, I wonder if this is all some magical spell... yet I have detected what I could, and found no trace of magical compulsion, nor poison, disease, curse... nothing. I wonder if there is some greater problem at work here? Because my greatest fear is that such loosening knowledge and faith in what the Gods are really about might cause them to begin to lose their powers, as well. For as all true believers know, the strength of a God lies not in his or her own power, but in the number of followers who believe in them with true conviction. If a God loses his followers, then he essentially would cease to even be a God at all...

Is that the future that the Amalgamation is building toward? One where the Gods and their identities have become so muddled, that they are at a loss for their former powers, and can no longer grant miracles or true ressurrections?

I wonder...

And I know in my heart that this can't be what Eadfrid envisioned, either. Though I believe him to be an affront to the Goddess of Death, in the way that he has refused to pass on when it was his time (undeath is such a crime against the natural order of things...) - I do believe that he had good intentions when he created the Amalgamation. His original purpose, as I understand it, was one where the Gods were each worshipped with proper respect - not with their followers at war with one another, but accepting of differences. Yet, what I see here is more akin to the destruction of differences - in the hope that one day the Gods would become but a single united spiritual force. That can't be what Eadfrid wanted, and yet I've seen him here, grinning from ear to ear - his own neck emblazoned with about 20 holy symbols of his own. Is he under the spell of this horrid place too?

I can but shudder at what goes on, yet I feel so powerless to stop it... I don't want this to spread past Cauldron, yet I hear of Amalgamation temples in Greyhawk and New Redgorge... Even a couple of small branches trying to make their way into Sasserine...

I can only hope that Lady Elena and the Goddess can think of a way to halt this flow, for this tide of false faith is enough to make me sick to my very soul.

Oh, please, Lady Wee Jas... show us the way, so that we may protect this world, and Yourself, from this travesty...