The Dark Cathedral

“Good evening, weary traveler - and be welcomed into my house of sin. There are no gods here that can judge our actions, nor any laws changing us down, out of reach from embracing what we truthfully are. This is a place for raw emotions and limitless cravings for power, wealth and entertainment. Now, enter my den of delights. Revel in - wait. Where is the central glass pane? Which one of you imbeciles has stolen a literal window?”   -Antonio del Nero

    Deep within the woods of the Golden Empire’s Penumbra region - there is the town of Lilivia. An idyllic and peaceful settlement hidden among the boughs of the cursed forest. There, within its center stands both the source and the sanctuary towards the darkness that festers over most of the Penumbra Barony.   This is the Dark Cathedral. An idea sprung to life by the stolen blueprints from the Sanctum of Ysand, the largest and central temple of the Golden Capitol. To spite Ysand and his followers, Antonio del Nero used the fundings granted to him by his Dominus-Praetorius to create an anti-version of the holy place. A blasphemy that should represent the very anti-thesis to what the Golden Empire stands for.   It took twenty years to build the Cathedral - but in the end it would never be truly finished. The central window. A blood red glass pane with the face of Antonio sculpted into it with saintlike fashion, suddenly disappeared a week before the cathedral was finished.   This act of vandalism infuriated the man, who refused to put any other window in place. Demanding that one day, they shall find the missing frame.     Unbeknownst to Antonio, one of the workers on his Dark Cathedral was none other than the Holy Imperator himself - disguised as a common peasant. Even without professional skills in subterfuge, his features had never been officially seen - as covered by the Golden Face of Ysand.   This allowed him to blend into the crowd. Tying the glass panel to a wheel and covering it in a cloth - as he rolled it away into the woods. Using his wealth to pretend that he was a famous cheese merchant that would pay a hefty sum to be ferried over to the mainland.   When the Holy Imperator returned to his provinces, he had the red glass melted and remade into an engraved wine cup that was blessed by Ysand.   At one occasion, the Imperator issued a personal invitation for Antonio to come to his palace. Luring him in with a discussion on the potential of his Black Church turning into a state accepted sect of the Ysandrine faith.   As the Dark Bishop thought the Golden Empire devoid of humour, he accepted - oblivious to the trap.   Once he arrived, he was met with a hundred pages long scroll that requested that every single tenet of his be rewritten for his religion to be sanctioned. Worse yet, the Imperator offered del Nero some of his finest wine - presented in the same glass he had forged out of the window. Allowing the man to drink from his own stolen face, while he read the entire codex that he stood against.