When Ed got into town he found a place to berth his horse and carriage and paid the tax on the goods coming in. Plim had told him who to speak with to sell the first of the goods and Ed had made a small, but decent profit on the trip. His travel time from one town to the next had taken over a week and 6 more gold had been added to his bag so he was flush with money to spend.
The first few days in town he got himself a nice room with a good bath. He went and replaced his clothes with some that were more appropriate for someone traveling but nothing that would make him a target while traveling. The last of it he tucked back into a pocket in his bag, promising to invest it somehow.
It was his first trip to the capital ever and Or'Ganel was a bustling hive of activity with all kinds of things to see and do. Things to eat and people to talk to were as easy to find as sand and rocks on a well-traveled road.
And Ed was very obviously a tourist. He tried his hardest to look like a traveling merchant but even his meager abilities to make himself less visible couldn't always hide his amazement and excitement. He was sure it would wear off and he hoped so before he worked his way into town to the church headquarters in the center.
After getting rested and cleaned up, Ed put on his new clothes of black trousers and a light cream shirt. New shoes were something he wasn't used to and he was having trouble wearing them in. They were the first pair that was fitted to his feet and he was having trouble walking when he didn't have to use his toes to cling to the inside to keep them in place. It was making him feel clumsy.
He put his blue coat on over the whole outfit because it was well made and he appreciated the present. It still smelled of the house there in CunStead. That smell of fruit tea and sun-dried clothing from being hand washed that everything there smelled like. Nothing like the clothes he purchased that smelled of some kind of artificial substance, maybe lye or something else to clean the clothes.
And the ride in the carriage from his hotel to the city center was the most lavish thing he had ever done before. The carriage was black with a leather-trimmed interior. Cool water sat in a jug in the passenger compartment with cups to sip from. The coachman would weave the coach in and out of traffic, barely ever stopping, and keeping them going towards the center of town. He took back roads and ways that made sure they traveled smoothly and safely.
Ganel was nearly ten miles from the church in the center to the outer wall. It was a bit too far to travel on foot. It wasn't that odd to stop and use a hotel when going from one area to another, so it also wasn't odd that some people hadn't even seen the whole area. It was just too big to cover on foot if you had other jobs and responsibilities to do. Sightseeing was an affair of the rich or people who could afford carriages. And for the first time in Ed's life, he was one of those people.
The church in the center of the city was visible once you entered Mi'Ganel. It was tall, a pale blue color, and looked almost like a hand pointing towards the sky when you looked at its towers. Nothing like the smaller chapels you see in the countryside.
This was extravagant. And it exuded divine power. Ed could feel it everywhere in the town and his ability to sense divine energy keyed him in where that power was concentrated. It also let him see the gods and lesser divine spirits as they walked and worked around town.
Ed had been introduced, by Rennish in the more run-down area, where lesser spirits and divine beings would go for a drink. In the back of an abandoned church was a small tavern. The roof had caved in and the upper floor had gone with it. This didn't keep those without a corporeal body away, they just walked through the wall. Those like Ed, who was gifted with a physical body, had to go around the back through another abandoned house. A bookshelf moved like some cheesy movie and then you made your way in.
He made many of the spirits there uncomfortable as they were not used to being seen by the living. But the word of Ed's existence had been making the rounds and so most of them kept to themselves and tried not to look like they were staring. They were totally staring though. They looked at him over cups and plates and books. The spirits really couldn't get drunk, the plates and drinks were really more for show and for the spirits to act like people. Even the divine needed to relax every so often.
The access to divine power had made Ed's head hurt the whole time he was there. He suspected he was soaking in too much divine power and politely excused himself. Rennish told him to go home and rest up and not to worry. If he leaked a few miracles in Or'Ganel it would be a welcome relief to the people who lived out here and led more ordinary, work-based lives.
The carriage he was riding in pulled up to the bridge that takes you to the courtyard for the church. He was not allowed to go any further by carriage and part of the drivers pay for the day was to wait for Ed to come back out. A line of carriages was sitting across the way in a park where the drivers were feeding and watering the horses. They all sat around talking and smoking, enjoying what was probably the best part of their day.
The walk to the chapel was designed to strike awe, and it did for Ed. Statues of the divine were scattered here and there and they looked different from the glass effigies used back home. Here Golliad looked a bit more like Golliad but he was holding a Pot-Pie. The Pot-Pie made Ed laugh because he knew the story behind that particular gag. Flowers and plants sprouted everywhere and bugs flitted through the air ignoring humans in a sign that peace was normal here and all knew they were welcome.
Ed had to do his penance and talk to a priest about his visit before he was let into the main building to pray. He told the priest a death in the family had driven him to come to seek prayer for his soul. He didn't mention that the death was his own. And the priest asked for a Tithe, which Ed paid, and received a candle a small bottle for holy water from the cistern and was told which seats were for mourners. It was business-like and efficient.
Ed went and sat down. He held his candle in his palms rolling it back and forth. At home, you would light it and set it near the grave in the yard and the idea was that when the candle went out the spirit would be in heaven. Here he didn't know if he was supposed to light it himself or not. Ed was quietly feeling around in the area for Divine Powers.
Ysennia said she would be here but not where he should be able to feel someone of her magnitude hanging around. But there were so many divine things that his ability to feel anything was overwhelmed. And he still hurt from his trip with Rennish days previously.
Unable to feel her spirit or seeing anything that made him think there was a reason to be here he got up from his pew, walked to the front. Filled his vial with water and walked to the priest. A man in a blue robe the same color as his coat stepped up brushing away the priest who was there. The normal priest looked surprised and upset to be dismissed but seem to know he couldn't tell him now.
This man was obviously in some kind of authority. He had that chiseled face that head priests often had and the scowl to go with it. But his face was warm and friendly. He had a nose that rounded on the end and a square jawline. His eyes were steel blue and had very dark red lips for someone with such pale skin.
As Ed got to the line to be blessed he saw this man smiling at him. He was a little older than him by his guess with a homely welcoming smile. But he also had an aura that was white. And not just white, but a clean white, like the freshest snow that had just fallen before anything else, could taint it.
It almost hurt Ed's eyes to see it, but you couldn't miss it because it was so dazzlingly blinding. If the spirits aura were like the purist spider's silk, translucent, and pure, this man's soul was probably the closest a human could get to it.
Ed walked up and bowed his head. He had the candle and bottle of holy water in his hands like had been taught since he was a child. He was holding them like he was praying and waited for his candle to be lit and the blessing.
The priest spoke to him with all the reverence of one who was in power. "And who are you mourning my brother?" He said while wrapping both of his hands around Eds.
"A friend Ed, was run over by a carriage and his passing has meant many changes in my life," Ed said. It was true, he was still grieving parts of the life he had beforehand. He had only become Erust for about a month and a half now. This life was so different and he felt like people were depending on him. Ed had only ever been just a little better than average and now it was expected of him to fulfill some masterful purpose.
The priest nodded and began to chant and pray. Ed felt something warm in his hands. He was feeling the blessing of entering his body. He had never considered previously that the blessing may be an actual thing. And he should have after his experience, if that is all real then the rest of it must be real in some form or fashion.
Ed looked up at the man when the prayer stop. "Thank you brother." he said prepared for him to release his hands.
The priest looked at him in the eye. "There is something in you, a traveler that makes you unique. Your hands felt warm when I blessed your items like you were taking it in. May I suggest that you spend some time in the Garden before you leave. Light your candle there and I think you might find peace for that lost soul of yours." He smiled at him with a light flickering in his steel-blue eyes and a mouth of white teeth.
Edmund nodded and thanked him. He stepped down and noticed that when he did the priest walked away and behind a curtain into some kind of secluded room.
He was concerned because maybe they noticed he wasn't normal. Who knew. He took the advice and figured if he was in the garden, at least if the church did try to abduct him he would be in a space full of witnesses.
And the garden inside the church was just as magnificent as the one on the walk-in. It was inside and under glass. It was up a few staircases at the top round, a wide tower overlooking the city. You could see the roads to Or'Ganel from here and most of the city of Mi'Ganel.
Ed stood there looking out the glass, feeling a breeze that shouldn't have been there as all the windows were shut. Some kind of divine power kept this place comfortable. It was a lovely retreat in what otherwise was a large stone house of bright white marble or drab gray floors.
As he stood by the glass staring off and thinking about all the people from home who would have loved this view he felt a presence behind him.
"Lovely view isn't it? The chapel dates back before the town, it was a castle and this area was a turret designed to view the whole area for defenses. The church covered it and converted it into a garden. But the view remains spectacular." The voice said coming nearer to him. It was the priest from earlier.
"It's like nothing I have ever seen. The town is so big when you are in it but from here you feel like you should be able to walk across it with no issue." Ed said trying to act as calm as possible.
"It certainly does put things in perspective." the priest said. "My name is Brother Darby."
"Thank you for your blessing Brother. I am Erust, and this is my first time here." Ed said putting his hands out in prayer and bowing just slightly.
Brother Darby nodded and motioned to a bench. "You must have cared for this friend if you traveled just for a blessing of his soul."
"Oh yes, we were close." He said feeling his jacket pocket to make sure his candle and holy water were still in his pocket.
"When do you plan to light the candle to send him on to the next world. We have a small altar there in the middle. This is a beautiful area to make sure a soul travels to the next world."
Ed looked around for Golliad. He wasn't anywhere nearby so souls were absolutely not actually here to visit. As a matter of fact, nothing divine was walking around. It was disturbingly clear of souls.
"That sounds nice." He said. "But in our home town, you do it in the graveyard so souls that are not mourned might be able to tag along with those who are and find their way on ahead. It's a way of making sure your loved ones are never left behind."
"Well, we have many crypts. You surely don't plan to carry that candle all the way back home to light it there do you?" Darby said looking at him with disbelief.
"Oh, no. His body was damaged beyond repair! I think they only buried his clothes." Ed said with actual genuine surprise. "I was going to find a graveyard just outside of town."
Brother Darby, touched by his sentiment to send lost and forgotten souls to heaven, agreed to walk Ed to a special courtyard. It was the courtyard that bodies of those who had no names were lost or were orphans were put. They genuinely had no one to mourn them and send them on to heaven.
Now, if Ed had simply excused Brother Darby at this point and left this story would have changed. But instead, Ed made a fateful decision.
Ed asked Darby to pray with him to send the souls on.
Darby took him to the courtyard and they sat at the small neglected altar in the middle. The last drips of one sad lonely candle sat in front of a statue to Ysennia. It had been a long time since anyone had been here but a small fire was kept lit in case of visitors.
When Ed sat down, the statue was facing him and he was certain he saw it wink for a minute. Ed realized he was being weird, and just paranoid, and ignored the last possible warning.
Brother Darby and Ed kneeled down and pulled out the candle. Ed poured the holy water into a bowl in the altar in the middle and chanted the blessing of Ysennia they had all been taught. He put the candle down and chanted the blessing of Golliad the collector.
Darby smiled to himself, pleased that this man knew the chants so well. Ed had spent many nights sleeping in the chapel when it was warm and his parents were gone.
Finally, after the chants, he lifted his head and spoke as loud as he could. "Lost spirits who should have headed on to heaven. Please follow the light of this candle back to heaven. Pass onto the next life after this or come back as a new soul whichever should you be collected to do!"
Ed took a small stick from the cup next to the lit oil and transferred the flame from the oil to light the candle. As soon as the flame touched the wick the whole courtyard burst into a bright white light. The blessing of Brother Darby and Ed's amassed divine powers were released at once in an explosion of power.
The Divine power was enough to throw both of them on their butts. The candle was unnaturally bright and the light of it shown as a beam straight up through the clouds. Ed was able to see spirits traveling up the light into the heavens. He could hear the sounds of children and people talking as their souls were released back to the heavens.
For about 10 minutes the light-flooded straight up. Even Darby, who had never been able to see the divine, was able to see the souls traveling up the column of light and hear their voices. He was struck in awe of the massive power and miracle before him.
Just as the light was beginning to dim and the candle snuffed itself out guards and other priests came running into the courtyard. Brother Darby got up as quick as he could and threw the candle into the pocket of his robe before anyone could retrieve it. It was an artifact of a blessing. Ed was arrested on the spot by the guards and taken to Brother Darby's office.
Miles away Rennish had been at the bar when the release of power happened. He felt Ed's power and was almost thrown to the floor himself. All over town the divine and spiritual beings were thrown around by the explosion.
Those who were supposed to be a part of the world were left. But spirits who were stuck and uncollected were released. Thousands of lost souls traveled to heaven that day. Almost every ghost story ended that day for over a thousand miles and another ghost or haunting was not reported for over 200 years.
This was the Second Miracle of Erust. It would become known as the Day of Damned and lost Souls. It would be celebrated as the day people who had no one, would be remembered and sent to heaven. You would light a candle in or near the graves of someone who you didn't know. You would say prayers and ask for them to be collected by Golliad.
The day would become a holiday not only for the church but for other places in the world as well. Children would dress up and go around town trying to scare the ghosts out into the open to be sent home with candles lit in church grounds and cemeteries.
The candle Ed used was saved by the church. Ed had blessed it with the holy power of almost every spirit in Or'Ganel. The wax was used to create further candles, and in one case, forge a holy amulet for the dispelling of spirits. It becomes the holiest relic the church had in the power of exorcising spirits.
What the Church was not aware of was that the Relic was actually created by Brother Darby. He would become the church's holiest pontiff later in life before he died but Ed had merely charged up the divine work of Brother Darby, one of the 14 other souls handwritten by god.
The first lesson that Ed learned that day was that anything he did while in the presence of one of the other 14 souls handwritten by god everything they did became more powerful. Ed would learn a few more lessons later on but this was the first and most important.