#67 The Fifth Petal of the Rose
The ancient door of Barfunweltz Manse rattled on its hinges, dust cascading with each thud pounded by the unseen fist outside. With a flick of her wrist, Lady Beauvoir allowed it to fly open and glared at her visitor as a shabby old man stumbled into the room.
"What is the meaning of this intrusion?" she demanded, eyes flashing. A Glymmsman courier lay sprawled across her lap, entwined in her embrace. Her lips glistened red with his blood and her hand held his dispatch - a letter bearing the seal of Countess Heisenberg.
"Forgive me my Lady," panted the Hermit of Barfunweltz, "but... I have had a vision!"
Beauvoir allowed the soldier's lifeless body to slump to the floor at her feet. She rose, stepped over it and coldly approached the blind necromancer. "What have you seen? You certainly must consider it highly significant if you have left your hermitage and sought me out - unannounced?" The last word delivered a chilling rebuke for her minion's impudence.
But such was the Hermit's excitement that he continued without apology: "I saw in my second sight a mighty creature of undeath - a Vengorian! Behold he was flying high above the clouds over Barfunweltz and was surrounded by an angelic host of the Raptured Court who sang his praise! Even the False Messiah himself bowed down to him!"
Beauvoir frowned as the Hermit expanded on the details of his vision but did not interrupt the old man as he went on: "Then I saw him descend from the heavens and commune with the Empty Hearse of the False Apostle himself!"
The Hermit was working himself up into a religious fervour, but Beauvoir continued to observe him dispassionately - she had seen such displays many times before, yet this was no imaginary vision and she was listening intently. "And then my Lady, he came unto me - even unto my humble hermitage! He enquired of me regarding the Pontifex Surrexit and..." he gasped as if even the recollection of the experience was too much to bear, "he granted me the honour of knowing his name!"
Beauvoir was certain she knew the answer, but she asked anyway: "Which was...?"
"Elohiim the Ineffable, Servant of the Great Necromancer, Lord of the Night, Warden of Gulaab, Primogenitor of the Cinquefoil, Saviour of Angels, Lord of Hosts, and Terror of Barfunweltz!"
She repressed a smirk - Elohiim's appellation had grown somewhat since she had met him in Ghyran. She was not especially surprised that he had followed her back to Barfunwletz: he was after all Nagash's appointed Warden of the King of Thorns, whom she had brought with her. But why was Elohiim so focused on the other three Petals of the Rose, those which had once comprised the False Apostle? And how had he managed so quickly to win the trust of the Raptured Court when they had ever evaded her control?
"My Lady!" The Hermit's delighted cry wrenched her from her reverie. "My Lady - surely you understand what this must mean? The mystery of Barfunwletz has been revealed to us! There can be no doubt: Elohiim is the Fifth Petal of the Rose!"
Beauvoir remained silent for a moment, watching the rapt face of the ecstatic Hermit. He clearly believed his prayers had been answered: here was his Fifth Petal, his ecumenist, the one would would unite the followers of the Sanguine Rose. She could see his faith in Elohiim was already unshakable, and questioning it would only serve to weaken her power over him.
"There is hope in the Way of the Rose - " her voice trailed off as she was struck by the magnitude of Elohiim's achievement. He had accomplished in days what she had been striving towards for many months: could it really be that he had brought all the undead armies of Barfunweltz under his control? For now that 'The Warden' was here, the King of Thorns would undoubtably return the Lost Thorns to Elohiim's control rather than hers. And of course, the mad necromancer's devotion to his 'Fifth Petal' meant the Reformed Society of the Sanguine Rose was now at the disposal of Elohiim. Most remarkably, the Vengorian had somehow subjugated the autarchic Raptured Court, and apparently enjoyed the favour of the Procession of the Foolish Martyrs too! All that remained was to see whether he could bring the Crusaders of the Rose under his membranous wing - whenever the Pontifex Surrexit deigned to return to Barfunweltz.
Lady Beauvoir's power was rapidly waning, and she did not like being humbled. But as the self-styled 'Saviour of Barfunweltz' she was not a vampire who ever gave up, and she knew the Queen of Mysteries would not be pleased if she did. Instinctively, Beauvoir's devious mind started to replan her schemes, reevaluating her position and adjusting her various plots. One thing seemed clear to her: if she was to be the power behind the throne of Barfunweltz, it was Elohiim's throne she must advance. She needed to raise her Coven's profile and make herself and her intelligence invaluable to this new Terror of Barfunweltz.
Her eyes returned to the corpse of the freeguild soldier slumped on the blood-stained rug. "Arise soldier: I am in need of a messenger."
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