In the year 2255 Eternal Enlightenment, it came to pass that the Vestry of Persecutors was torn in two. On one side, the call to arms for tradition and the ways of the fathers. On the other, a call to reason for the unveiling of a new Sacred Stanza in the Song of Prophecy.
Events According to the Council of Thirteen
By official decree and record, the Council of Thirteen maintains the strict account that the Betrayers, Zariah and Huldah Praxiteles, lead an insurrection against the Vestiary. Under pretense, Pontifex Douglas Kaarth was lead to believe that Huldah, the then known and acknowledged Voice of the Song of Prophecy, had received a new Sacred Stanza. Even amidst the chaos of fratricide, the good Pontifex, whom had remained neutral and in his quarters, agreed to meet with his long time, and trusted friends.
Luring him into their trap, the Betrayers attempted to bring Pontifex Kaarth over to their side, for the purpose of reframing the Vestiary under a “Imperator of Man,” whom would be the child which Huldah was pregnant with, betraying solemn oaths to the Abrogator, and all the Vestiary’s Fathers through all time.
Refusing, Pontifex Kaarth admonished his friends as rebellious children, and urged them to end the carnage, extending both hands as an offer of forgiveness. Refusing his generous offer, they spat and cursed the loving Father’s name. With tears he declared that they had forced him to order their execution, but confessed that he had not the heart to harm them himself, for he loved them as his own. Turning his back and commanding they leave him, the Betrayers Zariah and Huldah Praxiteles leapt at the chance, brutally and fatally stabbing Pontifex Douglas Kaarth in his neck and back.
The Council of Thirteen, having felt a disturbance of Pressure, had been rushing to offer aid in the parlayence, but arrived only just in time to find the Betrayers standing over Pontifex Kaarth’s quickly fading life. While the remainder of the Council contended with the powerful Zariah Praxiteles, and his concubine, Prelate Reelius Asphorsus heard the faint call of the Pontifex. Bending his ear to his lips, Reelius heard the final account and orders of Pontifex Douglas Kaarth.
Following the Pogrom, Zariah had been killed, and Huldah was shortly executed, but not before she gave birth to their child. Regardless of transpired events, Huldah was the confirmed Voice of the Song of Prophecy. Out of respect for the gifting bestowed upon her, Pontifex Allom Barnabus spared their spawn, decreeing that every child aged one and younger, and any born for the next year, were to be immediately handed over to the Elders on Saturn. The records of these children were also to be taken, and sealed in the darkest recesses of the Library of Abrogation, there at the Temple.
Further, the memory of these children, in all whom were ever involved with them, was to be struck from the mind. Those children born of the Pogrom would be given the surname “Strayer,” and were to be treated as persona non grata in all their dealings within the Vestiary.
Events According to the Sacred Record
Following the end of the Pogrom, Pontifex Allom Barnabus declared that a grand inquiry was to be held to establish a record outside of official decree. Accounts of all survivors were to be recorded anonymously by a single Aligner of Mysteries, whom was to continue without ceasing until all accounts had been gathered. Immediately following, he would give his own account and self-sacrifice upon the Alter of Ascension, both to protect the identities of all accounted and to consign by blood the event as a holy decree unto the Abrogator. By this sacrifice, it was expected the Abrogator would spare the surviving Vestry. It was favored brother Persecutor Obedon Calairendon whom selflessly volunteered for the honor. May his figment dwell forever in the courts of the Abrogator.
Regardless of the implications of heresy in subverting the authority and tradition of the Vestiary’s established hierarchy, the unorthodox methods of Pontifex Allom Barnabus were carried out, and have been inscribed into the Sacred Record. Accounts are as follows:
Praxiteles Innocent
The Sacred Record’s Imprint tells of some Persecutors having been entirely convinced that the cause of the Praxiteles was just. The essence of their belief insists Zariah and Huldah had pure intentions stemming from the Song of Prophecy, and that this cause was to the future survival of the Vestiary of Pursuers, and indeed, of all mankind and the universe. These Persecutors believed that from the offspring of Zariah and Huldah Praxiteles there would be born the first Imperator of Man. This child would bring all peoples together, and ultimately save or destroy the universe.
Praxiteles Misguided
Among pages of the Sacred Record can be found some Imprint that the Betrayers, Zariah and Huldah Praxiteles, had been misguided. Whether the claimed new Sacred Stanza was true or false, it was implanted by an external enemy of the Vestiary, or by a Figment of another plane. The resulting circumstances clashed in just such a manner as to cause a volcanic eruption of pent-up zealous devotion to the Vestiary, from all sides. All were deceived.
Council Instigated – Justified
The Sacred Record washes one in the somaesthesia of those that believed the Council of Thirteen instigated the Pogrom against Pontifex Douglas Kaarth for the sake of all the Vestry. The feeling given is one of perceived weakness in the Pontifex for his dealings with the One Earth Ascendancy. By justification of the Third Law, that being to uproot all weakness, the Council had no choice but to act against the degradation of the Vestiary of Pursuers. This justification was for reasons of pleasing the Abrogator, upholding the Law, adhering to the Six Virtues, and for preserving the Thirteen Founding Phrases for all generations, past and future.
Council Instigated – Unjustified
As difficult as it is for any black-blooded Persecutor to imagine, the Sacred Record gives a true and concise Imprint that some survivors believed members of the Council of Thirteen plotted to overthrow Pontifex Douglas Kaarth. Indeed, the Record is infallible, some brothers felt the Council of Thirteen moved against their own brethren, ordering Preliators and Persecutors to ambush a private meeting called by the Praxiteles. This meeting, to share with the first fruits the new Sacred Stanza of the Song of Prophecy.
Opportunistic Council
Still alarming, the Sacred Record fills the nostrils and lungs with an Imprint that the Council of Thirteen had acted with selfish desire. No secret, it was felt, that the Council had disagreed with Pontifex Kaarth from the moment he ascended to the mantle. Having refrained from participating in the fratricide, as did the Pontifex, the Council intended to use the Praxiteles’ rebellion in a manner which would depose Pontifex Kaarth, and permit the seating of one more amenable to their vision.