[Doza] A Solitary Life

[Aldin]

Aldin just read a progress report from Abbot Vom regarding Adam's rehabilitation. The initial revelation of Adam's lactose intolerance was, to Aldin, a sure sign of Bous' eternal damnation of his brother. To be denied the enjoyment of butter, and creamy dairy products? It was surely a curse placed upon him. However, the Abbot's weekly reports showed that Adam continued to eat the dairy products provided to the monks, as no special arrangement could be made for him due to he Abbot's strictness. Vom reported that Adam no longer looked sickly, and was in fact looking quite strong and healthy.

"Perhaps... perhaps it is a sign that Adam can be saved, if Bous is allowing his health to return. Bous may have closed the barn door on him, but he seems to have opened the hayloft for Adam."

Aldin then began to walk throughout the Pentheral Palace in solitude. The various Armored Goat Knights stood at attention as he walked by. He wandered into the pentheral audience chamber, the old throne room of Athlon's kings and tyrants. There he saw the Pentheral Throne itself, the Cathedra Craitii, a gift from the King of Craitland. He turned to one of the Armored Goats, "Sir, do you know the history of that chair?"

The knight blushed, cleared his throat, and shook his head, "Only that it was gifted to Theodores Athanatos (the Once-Living God) when he founded the Cult of the Phallus."

"Is that a Bovic order? I've never heard of it..."

The knight looked down at his feet, "I'm really not certain, Your Holiness. We're taught church history in Armored Goat Basic Service Training, so I only know the history of the chair itself. After the final melting of Theodores (the Once-Living God), Pentheros Neoptolemus de-emphasized the cult and it was never formalized as a Cult or Order."

"Thank you, Sir, Bous bless you."

The knight nodded and smiled, "Honored, Your Holiness!"

Aldin then continued his walk, while speaking out loud to himself, "Grandfather founded a Cult of the Phallus? And the cult was then suppressed by Neoptolemus. So much of Neoptolemus' work has been found to be fraudulent, that he was not a true believer. He walked into the archives, and asked the librarian for any of his grandfather's journals relating to the gift from Craitland, the Cathedra Cratii. The librarian provided Aldin with a stack of loose notes.

Several hours later, Aldin moved from the central reading room, to a side table, to a corner table for more privacy, as he was reading about Theodores' revelations and the pantheon in the Cult of the Phallus. There were only three figures venerated in the Cult: Bruno, Priapus, and a Winged Phallus. Aldin read about Theodores' plans to integrate the Cult into mainstream Bovinism, going so far as to suggest that Priapus would be an ideal Natopian patron deity as a protector of livestock and fruit trees.

Aldin was galvanzed, inspired by his grandfather's passion, and angry at the cover-up performed by Neoptolemus. The cult of the Phallus could have become an integral part of Bovic worship decades ago, as integral to the tapestry of the faith as the Dhurist Rite, the Cult of Elijah, and the Bovic-Hazkisi practitioners. He got down on his knees and prayed to Bous, prayed to his grandfathers, that he would restore the Cult of the Phallus to its proper station in the Bovic Church.