#abbey lore

Please send me whatever questions/ideas you have about it, I am happy to answer/scream about it. ANYWAY. I think a future sibling passes the test in one of two ways: 1) They show up to the Abbey with good (satanic) intentions. They either know what they're walking into (they've heard and believed the rumors), or stumble up on it when they open the doors and suddenly the building is whole. That's the first test. Some (very few) people have done enough things in their life that are intune with the values of the ministry and are immediately welcomed once their feet pass the threshold. This basically never happens, and is usually a surprise to everyone involved. Dew was walking outside for a cigarette one day when it happened and he nearly had a heart attack when he walked head first into a random person who could see him. 2) there is a ritual. It must be done in the basement ritual room which is a pain in the ass to get to in the abbey's glamoured state. You sort of have to know where it is in order to find it--that's part one. Then, there's a ritual, a minorly complicated one. Nothing like the summonings or things the upper level clergy do. Consider it an official selling of the soul, or pledging oneself to the cause. It involves blood and fire and specific latin and pure, honest, intention. Occasionally, unsuspecting people who have the right vibe/heart/whatever will be lead to that room by unseen forces. A pull in their gut, a phantom hand on their shoulder. This, is just as rare as the Abbey just accepting someone straight off. (Yes I am talking like the Abbey is sentient here, who's to say it isn't, at least a little?) Obviously the ritual is accessible and known enough to keep a steady stream of siblings coming into the church. But you can't just do it as a joke, or a dare. To get it to work, to get the Abbey to accept you, you have to really want it. And don't worry, every ritual is attended by a handful of clergy members, standing in the shadow--not visible until the glamour lifts. So that when, and if, it works the new sibling can be welcomed properly.

Yes!!! YOU GET IT. The air is thick with something. Heavy. Oppressive. There's a cloying smell of inscense on the air. Distant enough to maybe be imagined. And they feel it as soon as they step onto the grounds through the overgrown gate--wedged open enough to squeeze through. But if they walk up the path, toward the ruined building, it will only get worse. Heavier. It's hard to know if it's bad or good, but it's something. Confusing. To some, it feels evil. To others, like a hand beckoning them closer. And yeah, the ones who feel the pull? They'll find themselves in the chapel. Standing in front of a cracked alter. Hearing voices on the wind. Murmured prayers uttered just behind them--in their ear. The phantom notes of an organ, distant, but they swear they can feel the vibration of it under their feet. There is something here. And maybe they never find out what. They go home with a weird story. Their chest tight, disbelief thruming through them. It's a story they'll laugh about later. But some of them absolutely figure it out. They delve deeper. They find the truth.