Gasping for air after her mad sprint, Emia jumped out of her skin when another woman spoke, having completely forgot that there were other people.
“You look like you’ve just met your Superior” the woman said. She looked young, about Emia’s age, and had quite the grin to her.
“It’s the...Mother Superior!” Emia gasped, and then straightened, getting her breath back. Her new novice looked shocked at this, and nodded softly.
“Well, that would be intimidating. Mine is some fresh young brother who is very easy to distract. Emperor or no, I don’t feel comfortable giving my virginity to a stranger, you know? And he is all hands besides. I get the feeling he’s trying to give his virginity to me as well” the woman leaned against the wall and, while looking young, certainly gave off an air of not being so. Or at least, not as young as Emia.
“But...how do you distract the Mother Superior? She runs the church! That’s bigger than a virgin boy” Emia paced in short steps, but the outburst and her surprise seemed to amuse her new friend.
“Well, I am sure you’ll figure it out. I’m Zali” The woman held out a hand with a coy grin, and Emia shook it after some trepidation. New people were strange but she was friendly enough.
“Thank you, for talking. It helped me calm. I’m going to go pray to The Emperor. Maybe, he will grant me understanding of this path” Emia said, nodding to Zali and letting her go on with her chores, heading to the chapel. Here, she went to the front, took to her knee, and clasped her hands together, praying to the statue. Silent, it was not a prayer of the mouth, but of the heart, and it was her heart that needed guidance. Emia, with dedication and faith, held her position for several hours, searching for that answer that would help her. She spent so long that people came in for the evening prayer, and a person put a hand on her shoulder. Illuminated by a shaft of light through the small window, the Mother-Superior looked twice as majestic as she ever did. Emia’s devout heart melted at such a display, and she sort of stumbled into the Mother-Superior’s skirt by trying to jump up and hug her, but her numb legs refused such a thing and she failed spectacularly.
“How forward of you, dear Emia” Teliandra teased, though there was no malice in her tone, and she helped Emia up, and to a seat where she could work her legs, numb from hours of kneeling, into some semblance of order.
The prayer was a deep one, of more solemn note than usual. Which was explained later that a regiment of Imperial Guardsmen had fallen in the battlefield and one of the sisters from this very chapel had fallen with them. It was easy to forget the war raging in this sector, where they just made and processed food. But there were men and women sacrificing their lives for this peace. It seemed to affect Teliandra rather deeply, and she left shortly after the prayer was done rather than hang around and talk to the people. Feeling somewhat bad for running away last time, among other things, Emia found her way to Teliandra’s room, and knocked gently on it. The Mother Superior answered, and with a gentle but warm and loving smile, took Emia in and showed her exactly how to praise the Emperor. She had to admit, it was certainly an interesting, but nonetheless enjoyable method.
The morning came with aches and a fuzzy head, which went away quickly as she stretched and felt the jolt of pain, reminding her of last night. It was really good for the most part, she didn’t know that she could bend like that, or that the feel of leather could be so good. But Teliandra’s nails needed clipping because she dug quite the deep gouge in her back during the throngs of pleasure. During the night it was so easy to forget, but now it was stinging. Nothing she could do about it but pull on her clothes, say her morning prayer to The Emperor, and get on with her chores. Work was a good distraction, and Zali appearing, while making her blush to remember the last night, was also good, because of conversation.
“So, how did distraction go?” Zali asked, sweeping the floor with Emia.
“On a, distracting front, absolutely terrible. She was sad to lose a sister, so I went to comfort her, and she sort of...showed me how to comfort her” Emia replied, sweeping a very clean stone most vigorously.
“Hmm. My superior had a glass of wine, talked about how he was going to be the new Father-Superior, and then passed out. Seems we have both had a good night” Zali replied, very calm about the whole ordeal.
“You don’t seem very, enthusiastic to worship The Emperor. I know it’s somewhat unorthodox compared to how I grew up, but it is a Chapel. They are holy people devoting their lives to this. The mechanic knows more about the Harvester’s engine than the farmer does” Emia gave her uplifting speech to Zali, who seemed to be thoughtful about the response.
“Hmm. You are right. I’ll...talk to him about it. Guy with nerves would probably understand nerves, you know?” Zali wandered off to sweep other places, and Emia was left to do her chores. She lacked her usual whirlwind of activity, instead being slow and ponderous. Finishing the last one, got her enough experience to a new level, but she was in the headspace to go and pray. So she headed to the chapel. But, she didn’t get very far, because Zali and her superior were worshipping the Emperor. Rather quietly, but there were plenty of cute grunts and meeps in there. Deciding to leave them to their prayers, she offered one of her own, wishing for Zali to be blessed with a baby.
Turning her focus to her stats screen, she had 37 Faith. Surprising for a moment, but then, she had been praying a lot since she got here, it was a chapel so it was going to be more than just an icon, and her rosary gave a great deal towards faith. So, she added the twelve points into Faith, and clutched her heart at the rush of fire. And this time, it was so much more than she could have thought. Her veins were filled with holy light, and a theological epiphany came before her. Apparently rather literally, in fact.
50 Faith - Theological Epiphany: Faith is a strong force, the ability to channel The Emperor into desire and change the world for the better through it. Though one can not simply want this, and must use Faith through specific channels. With potent faith, you have learned these channels through dreams and visions in the sky.
This trait immediately grants three Acts Of Faith: Lay On Hands, Shield Of Faith and Clensing Flame. If the player already knows these, or if they ever learn these in the future, they are immediately upgraded to versions of their brothers twice that of normal.
Acts Of Faith: These special, Psyker-Cousin powers are used by those with passionate faith. Directing single-minded devotion to The Emperor into The Warp, you may call upon his massive signature within it to call down holy miracles of varying degrees and use.
Lay On Hands: With the simple act of touching, the Faithful may be brought back to the fold. This accelerates healing, rapidly fixing the target and creating scar tissue to close wounds. An upgrade at 70 Faith also cures infections and secondary ailments. A second upgrade at 100 Faith heals perfectly, removing any evidence that there ever was a wound.
Shield Of Faith: By praying in His Name, the Faithful shall never fall! This act creates a shield that takes damage before health, at a 1:1 health:Faith basis. An Upgrade at 70 Faith fortifies the shield to be 2:1 health:Faith. A second upgrade at 100 Faith allows you to cover others in your shield.
Clensing Flame: The fire of Faith cleans all, so it is that the flames from ones hand can burn away the sinful and the heretic. Expend Faith to throw fire from your hands and burn the enemy. One shot profile of a Flamer, can damage ambient Warp Energy. An upgrade at 70 Faith gives it the profile of a Heavy Flamer and deals double damage to the corrupt. An upgrade at 100 Faith gives it the profile of a Flamestorm Cannon - double Faith to have it count as a Phosphex gout - and causes lesser Daemons to be immediately banished.
The large amount of boxes were somewhat overwhelming, but she managed to get through them all. And it was good. Looking to her hands, she clenched them tightly and enacted the first Act. Immediately her stinging back faded away to nothing. This power...well, if Teliandra was going to be rough with her, it was going to be a most helpful power.
