Nuevet Order & the Karmanists

In the serene cathedral of the Lady of War, not many were present. The main individuals were pious believers, or priests giving sermons to those who needed it. Lua found himself feeling excluded from the main groups, feeling like an impostor among those who truly believed.

Lua felt a light tap from behind, and was met with the gaze of a priest. He had a soft smile. Lua felt as if this priest was too young - he had jet black hair, and seemed to roughly be in his 20s.

Lua looked a bit skeptical, but asked anyway. "Can I help you?"

The priest didn't break his soft smile, which Lua found creepy. "You do not seem to be a child of the Lady. Care if I explain our bible to you?'

Lua was a bit skeptical, but nevertheless, he agreed. This was because Lua had already wanted to hear a sermon from a priest. He knew most of the Kingdom believed in the Lady of War, so of course, he needed to learn about this subject to fit in better.

Lua followed the priest to a library. The library was located on the outer wings of the Cathedral, and was quite moderately sized. It was still considerably larger than Daniel's library, however.

After an hour or two of the priest's explanations, Lua felt that he knew the religion, and its foundations, considerably better.

The bible opened with the Lady of War descending from the heavens, and rescuing the common people from the apocalypse. She then bestowed powers upon the people, making sure they could defend themselves whenever it occurred next. 

The first believers established the ancient Kingdom of the Lady, but according to newer sources, they called themselves the Nuevet Order. They were fierce warriors due to their faith in the Lady, facing off enemies on all sides. They crumbled Empires. In the end, due to their expansionist nature, they conquered the entirety of the continent of Atherim. They converted their provinces to their religion, and kept their lands under an iron fist for centuries.

In the end, their own division broke them apart. A rebellion started from a split-off faith that believed the institution of the church was too violent, causing the fall of the Nuevet Order. These people called themselves the 'Karmanists' and were focused on the reformation of the Church, and rooting out corruption from its ranks.

In the end, the remnants of the Nuevet Order and the Karmanists came to an agreement. The Order agreed to recognise the Karmanists as their own, and the Karmanists agreed to not push for complete reformation.

This lead to the situation today, where most of the Lady's believers are split between the Nuevet Order and Karmanists. Over the years, many other splinter groups occurred, but they failed to garner the same storm that the Karmanists had from before.

Seeing the Priest finish up his explanation, Lua thanked him. He got up from his chair, and left the Cathedral.

Seeing that it had gotten considerably late, Lua decided to return to the hotel. Per usual, he was hit by the smell of intense booze and cigarettes, that still bothered him, but he knew what to expect this time. He was somewhat prepared.

Walking up to his room, he saw Arc seated on his bed, but he was tinkering with some things. He looked up and saw Lua.

"I thought I would get started making some gadgets." He said, his voice still metallic and rough.

Lua smiled, "Thanks. Where'd you find the materials?"

Arc shrugged. "There's a place a bit down the road. Didn't you see it?"

Lua shook his head. He hadn't gone that far. "No, I was at the Cathedral."

Arc understood why Lua had gone there, so he didn't ask further. "Tell me what you learned."

While Arc continued to work with the gadget Lua couldn't necessarily understand yet, he explained everything. From the Nuevet Order, all the way to the Karmanists.

"Fascinating." Arc couldn't help but marvel at the subject. He had always wondered, but he hadn't bothered enough to check. "Anything else?"

Lua shook his head. "The priest that explained this was a little creepy, but I guess that's because he didn't want to show any other emotions to a potential believer. If only he knew how weird he looked.."

After chuckling a bit, Lua laid down on the bed, taking off his trenchcoat and hanging it by the door. "What are you making?" Lua finally asked.

"A clock." Arc explained simply, not elaborating further.

Slightly annoyed at his non-compliance, Lua pushed. "Seems a bit overly complicated for a watch."

Seeing that Lua was insisting on learning more, Arc didn't refrain from explaining. "It also acts as a bomb."

Lua was mildly surprised, but it didn't exceed his expectations. They were the same person, after all. "Isn't that a bit dangerous?"

Arc shrugged. "Maybe. But someone will buy it, and that's all that matters."

Lua nodded, finding himself in agreement with Arc. As long as they made sure the device only landed in the hands of the "correct" people, they could still profit from a machine that was both utility and offense. It was a brilliant strategy.

Deciding it was enough work for today, he closed his eyes, and soon fell asleep.

The next morning, Lua got up early. Arc had stayed awake through the night. As a machine, he only needed to sleep for mental purposes, and his body could function just as well regardless of if he slept.

Looking at Arc, Lua yawned. "Good morning. Still working on that?"

Arc nodded, showing him the nearly-finished orb shaped device. "My calculations were a bit off. The machine almost detonated while you were asleep.." Arc said, explaining the danger that had been narrowly avoided.

Lua gulped. "How about we do explosive machines in somewhere that won't kill both of us instantly?"

Arc chuckled, finding himself amused at Lua's remark. "That is a new lesson learnt, of course. What matters is that we stay alive."

Lua smiled, and got up from the bed. "I'm going to head out for breakfast, do you need anything?"

Arc shook his head, and went back to fiddling with the explosive clock. Lua opened the creaky door to their room, put on his trenchcoat, and left the hotel.