The Centurion's Path

Sidor's demeanour cooled. It hadn't seemed possible at first, but now it was downright icy.

Beneath the shadows, his eyes hardened.

"We are three, oh yes. Small in numbers does not mean struggling in Faith," he stood. The movement was stark, and sudden. "The Sanctified in this Domain have stood at the forefront of the Domain's battles. Each member is well respected and considered in their own right. Each of them has striven, and been tested, and stands like iron in their Purpose." His voice was pitched softly, but it made his displeasure well known.

"Or perhaps your definition of struggling is a Covenant that contains two Deputies, two Priscii and a Whip? Or perhaps you believe that each individual has not been grievously wounded in their service and yet continued to stand? Or perhaps, Mr. Fischer, you simply enjoy making yourself look a fool by expressing an opinion that you have no basis for, as you have not yet been in this Domain long enough to make such assumptions?"

Douglas remained in his seat. When Sidor first began to speak he wanted to interrupt but did not. He was a scary man for sure, and made more so by the icy tone in his voice and his shadowy face. Douglas was intimidated, that is for sure. However, he let him speak. And he let him finish. It was rude to interrupt.

"Please Bishop, do not be alarmed. You take offense to a misunderstanding."

His voice, as always, was sure and had no trace of his intimidation.

"For I did not say that the Sanctified in this city were struggling, my my no I did not. And nor would I. In fact I would never be so rash as to assume that any single individual or group of individuals were struggling. Any that has accepted the Truth is strong and it does not surprise me that those here fill such great positions. I am proud and glad for those who have proclaimed themselves Sanctified in a city that they were so outnumbered. This in itself is more than enough for me to prove their worth and, without having met any but yourself, I would gladly call any of them my brother or my sister.

No my friend, the Sanctified are not struggling for they are strong by their very nature. Nor am I so quick to say that any individual is struggling. But the city, the city of Sacramento, is struggling. This poor city only has three noble Kindred who do all the work of a covenant their selves, and that is why it struggles. While you have nothing but my respect for leading these people in the way of the Truth, it is a lot of work to only have two that follow you. Even the great Dark Father himself needed his dark disciples and Monachus had the five martyrs. No no, your strength in this city is glaringly obvious. This is one of the reasons I wish to follow you in your mission in this dark and unfortunately unenlightened city.

And Bishop, please sit down. You are a very intimidating man, and I would feel more comfortable if you did. I do not think you a fool for allowing me to speak to you tonight, please do not think I am one for doing so either."

His eyes were longing. He never did take back anything he had said, and everything that he had said was completely sincere. He longed to fix the misunderstanding. And even though he was a humble man, he felt slightly insulted by Sidor's accusation. It was a large one to be sure.

"Kindly stop insulting my City," Sidor said quietly. His presence filled the room. There was no escaping the frozen, solid gaze. The invisible nature of it just made it more intense. "This 'poor city' is the figure of the work we have done. I am nothing compared to the Monachus, nor to the Centurion himself, but I will not stand here and say this city struggles. For a Domain as fluid as it has proven to be, it is remarkable in both strength and character. None of which you know, because you have not seen it. And therefore you have no right to judge its character."

He spread his hands. The movement was not reassuring.

"If you wish to help this City, Mr. Fischer, then cease your judgement of it and work your fingers to the bone. And when you have remembered what it is to serve and not to rule, I think we will have this dicussion a second time."

The Nosferatu did not move. But his voice was calm, and he made no impression that he was going to lunge.

"Until then, you have much toil to do. And no - you will not go by 'Bishop' or even 'Priest' here. I expect Kindred in this Covenant to earn such titling. Given your extremely premature judgement of this place, you will have to re-earn even 'brother'. Such are the wages of presupposition. Labour well, and your education will reflect it."

Sidor strips Douglas Fischer's status to 1

Douglas raises a single eyebrow. This was interesting.

"You are very presumptuous Bishop Grigoriev."

He folded his hands in his lap.

"You judge me because you feel that I have judged your city. Prematurely in my opinion, however I came to this city to be of assistance and not to be exalted. I do not judge for it is not my place. I am not the owls. All things struggle in time. A struggle is not a judgement of character. I would not come to a city that I felt would not benefit from me. You seem insulted Bishop Grigoriev. Though I fear you have insulted yourself, for I did not. I revealed the nature of my stay very early in our conversation. It does me great sadness that you feel this way about those who seek to assist the Lancea Sanctum in the city that you call your domain. However. I said I would follow you.

Why do you think I seek to rule? I explained my ambitions clearly were not to rule. Thank you for accepting my proposition however. I will not disappoint you and I take this promotion very seriously.

You are a very drastic man Bishop Grigoriev."

Sidor idly listened to Fischer go on.

And on.

And on.

Meanwhile, he considered various important things, such as whether he should repaint the ceiling of the small meeting room, and if it would look nice with another couch.

He thought it would.

"Are you finished? Good. I suggest you mediate on Torments 14:1, Mr. Fischer. I trust you can find your own way to the door, yes?"

No wonder his last Domain threw him out.

Torments 14:1

I fast and pray and beg the Lord for an answer, but all is silence.

Douglas sat there in silence for a moment. He considered everything that the Bishop had said.

"Very well sir, thank you for your time."

He stood up, bowed his head respectfully and went for the door. His last words were a mistake and he knew it. He wasn't the best at thinking on his feet, he much preferred to go with what he planned or written. This did not go as planned however. It was not good that he made such a first impression with the local leader of his life. But as he walked through the simple halls he began to understand why it went the way it did. He would have to earn his position in this city. Sure he could move and start somewhere else again he knew that is not why he was sent here. It was part of the Lord's Plan that he was humbled in this way.

He then opened the door and went on his way.