Part X: The Celebration of the First Sacrament

By Dagoth Milos, Former High Priest of Kirinibbi

The gaping hole in my side has soaked through yet another set of bandages and every breath I take reminds me of it, but as I watch her sleep, I must confess that I feel the quiet sense of satisfaction that only a good shepherd may know. She tosses and turns in her sleep as the fever and delirium of the Sacrament overtakes her, but I do not fear for her as she moans into the night, because I know she is stronger than I could hope to be. She is greater than I could aspire to be and as she dreams, Lord Dagoth will speak unto her as he once spoke unto me, and she will be reborn as a daughter of the Sixth House and she will be everything that I wish I could be. She will be the one to restore our house to glory, of this I know to be true.

I remember the day I went through with the First Sacrament and how my body had been ravaged by Corprus and how I clung to my sanity by only a few threads as every part of my body felt ablaze from the divine disease pumping through my veins. Dagoth Sanur took his blade and carved from his arm a chunk of flesh and cast it at my feet and spoke aloud, “Eat of my flesh and of my soul and be made eternal through me.” And I did. I tore small bites off from it and chewed it slowly; it was macerated and every bite released more of the bitter, pungent blood that had left his arm-flesh almost spongelike, but I ate of it until there was nothing left and I felt a great fever set down upon me as it had set down upon her. I thought death was nearing as I fell asleep before Dagoth Sanur, but death did not come, only dreams of Lord Dagoth.

When I awoke, the Corprus did not bother me as it once had and the tumors had begun to recede, but I was beginning to undergo the transformation I already see in her. She denies her discomfort with it, but I know she is afraid of the coming changes as she frequently presses her hand against her face and feels it, almost to verify that it’s still there. But it doesn’t matter what she looks like, because we are all remade by Lord Dagoth’s Blessing.

I’m changing the bandages now, but I find there aren’t many left. Perhaps I took too much of myself, but it does not matter if I die now, because she has been brought into the fold in full. Lord Dagoth will teach her what I can not if I do not survive to see the dawn, but that is okay. I have failed my house by not killing the Abomination when I had the chance, but she, she is my redemption. She is my atonement. She is my magnum opus and my greatest achievement, even if I am nothing more than a mere teacher to her of what my house is and what it stands for. She will be everything I could never hope to be for my house and for my god; she will bring about for a new era for the Sixth House and I am blessed to have been the one to celebrate the First Sacrament with her.

Lord Dagoth, hear me if ever you have before, protect my pupil and give her safe passage into the Red Mountain if I do not survive through the night; I have failed you, but she has not. She bears the Mark of the Abomination, but through that Mark, she may serve you greater than I could ever aspire to, greater than any of us could ever aspire to.

Please, Lord Dagoth, hear my prayers: Do not forsake this one. She will bring about a new era for the Sixth House and will restore it to its former glory, of this I know to be true. I see it in her. She is lost and confused, but she speaks as you do and she will be the greatest of your generals in the upcoming war if only you hear her.

Let her be my act of atonement, Lord Dagoth.

Of this, I beg of you.

-Dagoth Milos, Former High Priest of Kirinibbi