Church of the Blessedland

The Church of the Blessedland is the dominant power of Solas. It rules from the Blessedland, a city built around four Holy Pillars, sends Couriers to find the Colossal Grave, and has long hidden that its own light is failing. Terrence is a former Church executor (HeroData 10001), and most of the main plot is a series of discoveries about what the Church did.

Overview#

• The Pillars. Four Holy Pillars named Yog (Time and Space), Shub (Life), Xada (Chaos) and Nya (God's Word) are taught as incarnations of God's will; Proxy built the Blessedland around them with the help of the ancient peoples of Solas (UIQuest 30609). Their keys were kept by Proxy and a few Overseers, and the gates have been closed for over a decade since the light began to fade (ItemData 10037-10040).
• The Pillars may be alive. A scholar's record tells of a pillar moaning like a human after the prayer ceremony, and a madman's diary says the pillars are lies (UIQuest 30606, 30607). The pillars hold inscribed fragments of a black sword (ItemData 10032-10036).
• Proxy. The head of the Church. Every Proxy is expected to drive off the Sendrils and prevent the Blessedland's decline (UIQuest 30621). Higgins, the current Proxy, is the boss Proxy Higgins (StoryMonster 6001). Aides' secret records describe him being bled repeatedly while his skin ulcerates and he loses his voice (UIQuest 30617-30619); Hoorn, whom Proxy saved from prison, serves as his hands and legs (ItemData 70058-70060). Another record from Eckhart calls him "a living corpse" and describes Eckhart's own ambition to lead the Church (UIQuest 30709).
• The Divine Sword. Tristram's Mercy is kept on the altar at the Trinity Yard and is claimed to purify Sendrils; each Proxy appoints a master smith to care for it, and Higgins appointed his friend Israel, who disappeared fifteen years earlier (ItemData 10031). It is a Church proof of divine authority. A boss drop says the sword failed to purify the Sendrils in a woman it pierced (ItemData 70061).
• Eckhart. An Overseer said to be the oldest, who has witnessed three Proxies; in the dialogue the oldest Overseer is Norwood's master, and Norwood's master turns out to be the blind priest of the Blessedland (StoryDialog story 7 rows 1881, 1916; story 6 row 1604; that this priest is Eckhart is inferred from story 7 rows 1938 and 1953). Eckhart is accused of sacrificing Teresa to open the Grave's gate (story 7 row 1953).
• Overseers, Bishops and Investigators. The Overseers are the senior figures; Sprenger and Eckhart are named ones (ItemData 10012, 70035; UIQuest 30511). Church Investigators made the special hourglasses that warn Couriers of Marcion curses (ItemData 10012; see Couriers#Overview).
• Sprenger and the Sanctifiers. Johann Sprenger, the Great Overseer, believes he was chosen to find the Grave and leads the Sanctifiers, a conservative group who burn those who refuse the creed (ItemData 70035, 70042, 70044). Sprenger also appears as the boss Fused Sprenger (StoryMonster 5038).
• The Takola. A secretive sub-group that treated corruption with smoke and followed Vaillant into exile (ItemData 70043, 79018).
• Armed orders. Church Knights (from the pledge of Great Knight Périgord) were sent out of the Blessedland for the first time to Katib; poleaxe Warriors served as pioneers; long-dead, plant-covered Church Archers are found at Exilium (ItemData 70032, 70034; UIQuest 30613; StoryDialog story 3 row 646).
• What the Church did. It slaughtered the Marcions of Katib (StoryDialog story 5 rows 1108-1111; story 99 row 1055), then ran experiments in the Sacred Tower to open the Seal (UIQuest 30513-30518), and locked its own research under a parliamentary seal (UIQuest 30614). It also keeps a dungeon in the Karst Cave where prisoners were experimented on (StoryDialog story 7 rows 1871-1873). For the Seals, see Seals of Yekub.

Hidden mechanics#

• Witch's Notes are contraband. Witch's Notes, written in the Blessedland's language, are common there but strictly forbidden elsewhere by the Church (ItemData 10003), which is why finding one in Heggem is a clue.
• The Hound Amulet is a Church military item. It was a noble hunting charm, but the Church's expansion pushed it into military use (ItemData 20031).
• Spectre Mushrooms were a Church tool. The Church used them to attract Marred and clear land around the Blessedland (ItemData 40031), the same mushrooms players offer in the Mist Camp (Deep into the Dark Mist#Raising the danger: the mushroom offering; lore in The Dark Mist and Sendrils).
• Church keys leave with the Journey. The Elevator, Chapel, Tower, Trinity Hall, Revival Altar and Confessional keys all have GamePlusRemove = 1 and are deleted by the restart (New Game Plus#What carries over and what is removed; ItemData 10028, 72100-72104, 72106; structdata/fs_itemlist.lua:137-148).

Sources#

• HeroData.jsonl 10001; ItemData.jsonl 10003, 10012, 10028, 10031, 10032-10040, 20031, 40031, 70032, 70034, 70035, 70042-70044, 70058-70060, 70061, 72100-72106, 79018.
• UIQuest.jsonl 30513-30518, 30606, 30607, 30609, 30613, 30614, 30617-30619, 30621, 30709; StoryMonster.jsonl 5038, 6001 (names; 55038 and 66001 are only text-table keys, StoryId followed by StoryMonsterId).
• StoryDialog.jsonl story 3 row 646; story 5 rows 1108-1111; story 6 row 1604; story 7 rows 1871-1873, 1881, 1916, 1953; story 99 row 1055.
• Code: reference/lua_src/luascript/structdata/fs_itemlist.lua:137-148.