It was a warm, humid night. All through the city of Cheydinhal, there was only quiet. Well, above ground, anyway.
Deep underground, in the sewers, people were buzzing. They had heard of the god Temulus, who would support them in the loss of Dagon. Many were unsure, but most were simply happy to have someone to look to in times of trouble.
Upon arriving in the sewers, a man behind a black velvet curtain would ask the arrivals, "Who will we look to in the passing of our Father?"
They would reply, "Our Uncle is a loving guardian." Then the man would step aside and let the new members through. If they got the code wrong... well, the man behind the curtain wasn't wearing a dagger for nothing.
Once inside, they were seated along long benches, set up like a chapel, with a wooden podium for the speaker to stand behind. As soon as everyone was seated, all of the curtains were drawn closed and the torches around the amphitheater were extinguished.
Alistair walked up to the podium. He was wearing a white robe, with a red insignia on the front, in the shape of a cross, the robe of the Pope of Temulus. It was his symbol for Temulus. He stood behind the podium and addressed the crowd.
Standing to either side of him were his Priests, basically, his bodyguards, dressed in red robes with a white insignia. Normally, Kud' would have been standing beside him in the black robe of the Assistant Pope, and all the followers would be in gray robes. But this was the first meeting, and they had not worked all of that out yet. Plus, Kud' was needed for other things.
"Welcome, brothers and sisters! As we all know, our father Mehrunes has been destroyed. There is no changing the past. But we can look to the future. Who is the future? I will tell you, it is Temulus!"
Alistair held up his old journal, painted with the red insignia on the front this time. He had written much more in its pages, detailing facts about the fictitious god. They were not for others to see, simply for reference when addressing crowds.
"This book has uncovered the truth! This is a book from years past. Its true name is lost to time, but I have named it the Book of Temulus. It diagrams the ancient ritual that brought about Mehrunes Dagon himself!"
The crowd was in stunned silence. Under his hood, Alistair gave a broad grin. His lying had not diminished one bit since his younger days.
"According to this holy relic, Mehrunes was created by the gods of old, old times. However, it also speaks of a brother, who would avenge Mehrunes, was He killed. This brother is Temulus. It says that all who worship Mehrunes before death will worship Temulus after, if they wish to reach the paradise that only He can provide."
The crowd seemed to believe him. Fools, all of them. He chuckled under his breath.
"He is a powerful god. He will have nothing to do with the weak, and He will destroy any who do not believe. However, if you do believe, he will give you power beyond your wildest dreams! Let me show you!"
After his little speach, he went through what he and Kud' Ta had practiced beforehand. He called him up apparently at random and made the illusion that Kud' was weak. Then he told Kud' to touch the book. Once he did, he "magically" became extremely powerful. The people seemed to believe him.
"You see? Temulus is sending us a message! By giving you this power, he is sending us all a message to follow him!"
Alistair then made clear, however, that this was not something that could be done on regular basis.
"Know this, though. Temulus does not like for we mortals to touch His holy book. He allows a select few of us to touch it, only so we can spread His word." That would, he hoped, prevent people from going through his Bible.
Alistair went on for another hour, but his performance had sealed the deal, he knew. At the end of the meeting, he handed out robes for all of the newcomers. He publicly elected Kud' as his Assistant, and no one seemed to argue.
He then told everyone to meet at this spot again in two nights, and they would go through the most important part of joining this "religion". Alistair only referred to it as The Babtism, and spoke no more about it.
Afterward, he and his crew headed further into the sewers, to their meeting room. There they discussed what would happen in the following days.
Alistair told them of exactly what was to happen, and who was to do what. While he suspected that at least one of them wasn't exactly happy with what was going to happen in two days, he knew none of them would betray him. If he didn't kill that person, then one of the cultists would.
