Futility - The Hagiography of Ecclesia's Master, as Recounted by Lucila Fortner
Chapter Three: The Remains
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“Futility of futilities,” says the Teacher, “futility of futilities! Everything is futile!”
Progress, had, unfortunately, slowed, in the months following that most joyous of days. To speak of breaking the Vessel was one thing, but to actually do it was another. Regardless of what attempts were made, the polished black surface of that eternal coffin remained as though untouched. Not even Universitas- at this point, known as the most powerful Union Glyph- had done anything.
And still, no progress had been made on conjuring with flesh and soul alone. Spirits were low. He recalled this specific protest: "Master Barlowe, you are asking us to create something from nothing. Do you understand its impossibility?” It seemed as though this was a power beyond mortal hands, and he wondered idly if he should admit the futility of this enormous task. No! Never! That brief doubt was yet another test of his faith.
A biyearly progress report was needed soon, within a few weeks, as was customary for the church’s proceedings, and Barlowe had nothing to show for it. The magic sealing Dracula away was too strong. And so, Barlowe, beside himself, set to spending all night studying within the grand library. He worked best on his own, uninterrupted by those less superior to himself, so he disallowed anyone from entering while he set into his work.
In a particularly shadowy corner of the library sat some forbidden tomes, written by an aforementioned Dark Priest who once ruled over the same church that Barlowe had grown up in. Indeed, it was Shaft, the alias he took on upon his disappearance to participate in the black mass, feeling too many limits over his dark abilities within the church (thereafter he had become a frightening tale for children in the time of Augustus’s youth). Shaft had left extensive journals and letters cataloguing the various methods that must be taken to revive the Dark Lord- perhaps not applicable to the prison in which He was kept, but Barlowe was at his wit’s end, and that seemed as good a lead as any. He found comfort in Shaft’s writings, as his beliefs and goals were similar to his own.
In creating this memoire, the master has allowed me to read the very journals that inspired his heart so, and I shall include an excerpt here:
July 7th, 1792-
Progress has been swift. Followers of Darkness have congregated in preparation for the celestial event in two months’ time, and their supplies have been most generous: prayer candles and gold talismans, and the blood of well-bred goats, and so on. Matters of the Black Mass have long been censored by the Church, which has been quite a hindrance- the tradition stays alive only through half-formed rumours and word of mouth. I am grateful for what I have, but it has been difficult to get all the details of the summoning ritual. Still, I have nailed it down to this:
Prepare a coffin, for the Lord to sleep, a vessel in which He will form. Anoint it with blood, and arrange the remains of the vampire Himself in an arcane summoning rune, to give Him back His body. Then, bring a virgin, and lay her before the coffin; you must slay her. The sacrifice of an innocent soul will sustain the Lord as he comes back to true form. (Innocence is key here: the virgin must not be tempered in shadows as we are. Virginity alone is not enough, nor is it specifically necessary, though the Count finds the taste preferable.)
With luck, the forge of Chaos shall burn again.
- Shaft
Yes, the offering of blood, of a virgin soul, would put it into motion: the Black Mass, the traditional resurrection of Dracula. Of course a power equivalent to His own would be what freed him! Despite how He had been contained and imprisoned most horribly, the methodology was the same. It would be more difficult than merely slaughtering a maiden, of course, but that was where the power of Glyph magic would come in. To focus all that chaos into such a purpose... Would not that just be like arranging the remains into a rune? Was not the Vessel His coffin? He would fight fire with fire. And, of course, the sacrifice... It would not be difficult to raise a child for that purpose. Diligent training from a young age would no doubt make them even more acclimated to the powers of this hypothetical rune, the ultimate Glyph, than his current arrangement of warriors. And it would be an opportunity to prove his obedience, like Abraham did, following the words of God to sacrifice his child. He was not doing them an unkindness; until the ritual he would provide the children with years of lodging, food, a family, and arcane knowledge. When the final day came, the chosen bearer would die with honor, which not many could say for themselves. No, this choice was not a “necessary evil”. It was purely good.
As one of his disciples, as we were called, I know firsthand. Trust me as I trusted him.
The true goal of Ecclesia was something that was quite necessary to hide from the children he would raise for the task, after all, it would be far too easy for a young child to slip the truth to a church official, or to resist what they did not understand. He would tell them half of it, seeing as that he is a kind man: that their efforts to ready themselves for Dominus would be for the wishes of all mankind. And, of course, to preserve that innocence was imperative, as was outlined in the ritual. He never told me of this initial plan until it was clear who would be chosen, shortly before the ritual, and that it was not me; if only I had been able to acclimate to the inscription and could have taken on the mantle of bearer! Maybe then things wouldn’t have gone so catastrophically wrong, and our Order would not now be in ruin. But alas, such things were not to be. I was not worthy to be the bearer, and was not afforded the honor of being its sacrifice.
I do not hate him for initially lying about the true nature of it, and I never could. I understand that such things must be done, and we foolish children would have been hesitant to resurrect the Lord if we knew. Barlowe’s choice was understandable, and necessary. It was important that we knew the glory this sacrifice would bring before we knew the cost. To die for one’s cause is most noble, after all; revolutionary in its finality. I was only enlightened to the truth after having proven my unflinching loyalty, and my trust in my master was so unwavering that I accepted it wholeheartedly.
But Dracula’s remains... They would be key to creating this ‘ultimate Glyph’, and he sent for his strongest warriors. The strewn bloodied remains of the Lord were scattered across the land, and he would need them retrieved as soon as possible to begin his work on the Glyph. And, of course, he had to name it, as the name of a Glyph is also a source of its power. He landed upon a name immediately, the name of God in Latin prayers, as its purpose was an extension of God’s will.
The Glyph that would free Dracula would be named Dominus, or “master”.
There was the issue of explaining his aim in the progress report, but he would give another half truth: Dracula’s power would break the seal. Fight fire with fire. He would not mention the sacrifice, or the source of these findings. Furthermore, he knew that the old stories of the remains’ curative properties, near miraculous, would make his plan seem more plausible; whatever consequences he would face for his duplicitousness after the resurrection would be worth the end goal- after all, the eternal paradise of heaven would be there at the end for him. He doubted that the mission to retrieve the remains would be completed before the report, but that was quite alright. His findings were met with positivity and very little questioning, and what had worried him before that night seemed inconsequential now. He was but a servant.
As research continued throughout the day, he spent each night sleepless, and attentively at the side of the Vessel. To it, he spoke of the day’s endless toils, as slow-moving as they were, and how with each rising of the sun, they grew ever closer to perpetuating the cycle. Sometimes, he tells me, he could hear Him whispering back, though the words were indecipherable. His dear Father, encouraging him.
The warriors returned hastily, with all five of His remains sealed carefully in jars: the needle-sharp Nail, the all-seeing Eye, the protection of the Rib, the hungerbound Tooth, and most importantly, the Lord’s very Heart. In addition to the parts of His body, Barlowe was also presented with His ring, set in silver and rubies. It adorned his finger with pride, and he sometimes rubbed the blood-colored stone in order to feel closer to His wisdom.
In the presence of those contained remains, he began drawing drafts for the Ultimate Glyph immediately, and found at once that concentrating the power into one alone would be too much for any mortal soul to handle and successfully use. Thus, he split it into three, a holy trinity of sorts: Ira, the Lord’s anger bright as purifying flames, Odium, that hatred against the darkness that defiled humanity, and Angor, the agony that would help them all to ascension. However, they would come to simply be known as Anger, Hatred and Agony, respectively. He drafted the sigils over and over again until they came to be perfect and thrummed with the power he embued; he repurposed the remains themselves to inscribe in old blood and flesh all over the pages of three dark spellbooks, and it would be within those tomes, the final form of Dominus, that his chosen bearer would be able to extract the power of Dracula Himself.
He could feel that darkness, that repurposed body, emanating from the leatherbound pages, and in the presence of the Vessel it proved what he had been searching for for so long: the runes were cast into their metaphysical Glyph forms- suitable for absorption, but now he needed to prepare their bearer. He carried the tomes up to his office. Something made him feel as though he should not let just any followers near the Dominus- not until he had chosen a sacrifice, of course. If it meant giving up their very minds to make room for Dominus’ power, so be it (and his later research would indeed confirm that this would be necessary).
And the matter of the sacrifice was a vital one! He would need to dedicate years to this training, and even before that, years to understanding what steps would need to be made to acclimate the child for the ritual- to arrange the remains along the rune, the inscription upon the soul.
No, he could not rest. He had so much work to do.
Annotations
-Dracula’s remains are a fascinating bit of lore to me. Just the right amount of gruesomeness, the conflicting legends of them corrupting the hearts of man and granting wishes and curing curses, they give stat boosts while also being used as instruments of summoning the Count and so on. Dominus being created from them is soooo fucking badass since it also carries on this “contradiction”- Dominus is supposed to “grant the wishes of mankind” and protect us all, while also being that dark and corrupting force that steals the life of that which touches it. It’s what defeated Dracula in the end while also being what was planned to revive him. IDK I just think it’s neat
-Shaft and Barlowe have always struck me as similar villains, being manipulators and priests and all, so I thought Barlowe “copying Shaft’s homework” would be a neat inclusion. And then we’ve got Lucila and Celia “copying Barlowe’s homework” as well ;) Anyway, the contents of the black mass are based on a cutscene from ROB, with the addition of the remains being necessary- given their use in other resurrections, as well as by Shaft himself in SOTN, it seemed like an easy fit. I think some of Shaft’s dialogue and his role as a priest alludes to having similar beliefs to Barlowe, beliefs I think are at the center of most of Dracula’s cults considering With Light also carries similar doctrines.
-The idea of a “greater good” is key to the conflict between Barlowe and Albus (and Shanoa, too). Would you kill one person to save more lives overall (if you act under the same deception Albus was under, he truly did believe that’s what Dominus’s purpose was and why he aimed to make HIMSELF the bearer), or is that act immoral? Do the ends justify the means? Barlowe clearly is set in what he believes the answer is, as is Lucila. It’s a bit like a trolley problem, except the passengers don’t know what the real destination is or who is really on the tracks. I think this metaphor is falling apart lol. But as you can see here, Barlowe doesn’t hesitate even when he realizes he may need to sacrifice a child. To him, the “greater good” is everything. But Albus has his own moments of prioritizing a “greater good” (considering he captures all the villagers...)
-I think Barlowe’s upbringing as an orphan in this fic is supposed to slightly inform his decision to take in similarly unfortunate children here. He genuinely thinks he’s doing them a kindness by “saving them from the fate he suffered”.
-Ira, Odium, and Angor are the Latin names of the three pieces of Dominus in the original Japanese text. “Anger” and “Hatred” are accurate translations of the Latin but “Angor” more adequately translates to “Anguish” rather than “Agony”, from what I’ve read. It’s interesting to me that the pieces of Dominus all correspond to emotions.
