When I was a boy I spent a lot of time in the Sanctum at the Heart of the Citadel, as the Holy of Holies - the Shrine of the Temple of Aggedor was sealed to all by the Royal Family and the hereditary priesthood.
Between services when my duties and lessons spared me, I would lie upon the marble stonework of the floor and gaze up into the face of Aggedor.
A face brutal yet serene. Primal yet wise.
The other Royal Houses had their own totems, but it was only the Royal Beast of the House of Peladon that spoke with the true voice of God - this my father had taught me and his father had taught him. This was beyond question. But in those times we could not bear arms against them nor cast them down: the Royal House needed allies, alliances, compromises.
"But know this," my father said. "We must always know when the lies of the diplomat will be heard no more in the land. For a time shall come when we are offered alliances with infidels and monsters, and then the wrath of Aggedor shall rise. Remember that, Hepesh, my shepherd son, and fear nothing!"
(After, THE CURSE OF PELADON)
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