Tertullius (chapter)



Tertullius is a chapter in When the Cold Breeze Blows Away. In this chapter, Eclair Crème heads to Surdown, a riverside rural community near Walkerville that has been completely taken over by the Monastery of the Sky King.

It takes place hours after the How I Can Help Make the World Great ceremony ended with a Gerasecian greater basilisk attack.

Transcript
"Peace be upon ye, traveler..." said the mayor of Surdown, Jake Whitaker. "Our holy father Tertullius has already started his sermon, just enter the temple and see the light of truth. We are a peaceful lot, so please keep your weapons and your luxuries sheathed. And... welcome!"

"Formal occasions are a SIN!" preached an unknown man.

"Formal occasions are a SIN!" chanted the residents of Surdown, including its multidimensional visitors who were invited to the first sermon.

"The Lord is merciful, for he absolves those who reject the folly and temptation of formal events, and other sinful lures of the Enemy! And to those who falter He grant salvation, as He has granted us..."

"You're all liars!" a young girl said. "You're all evil! You don't save anyone! They killed my friends... and my daddy!"

"Satan's spawn..." a resident of Surdown said. Residents and visitors alike soon clamored.

"She'll bring the Lord's wrath upon us..."

"Filth, marked by formal wear..."

"Why do we have to suffer their presence?"

"Banish her, that would teach them!"

"Yes! They are not worthy the protection of the Sky King!"

"Exile them! Make them repent!"

"Patience, brothers and sisters!" spoke the preacher. "Patience and tolerance, for ye must accept thy neighbors like the Lord accepts thee, to truly turn their hearts from sin towards the heavenly bliss of true faith! So let us forgive the child, for she knows not the folly of her words... let us forgive brothers... let us pray for the souls of the sinners... and let us forgive the child as the Lord forgives us! Amen!"

"Reject the folly and the sin!" declared the resident.

"Amen!"

"Reject the folly and the sin!"

"Reject the folly and the sin!"

"Embrace salvation!"

"Reject the folly and the sin!"

"Amen!"

"Stay calm, brothers and sisters!" spoke the preacher. "The heretic is trapped, for so willed the Lord!"

"Soon, our brothers militant will be here, and the Lord's justice will be done!"

"Amen!" the residents said in unison.

"Let them kick Edwina Garrington and her spawn out, too!" the resident said.

"Yes! The Lord's justice is our only hope!"